so you see that stat one point of course this is the first day of a two day extradition hearing is going to carry on on choose day and we're not even sure that we're going to have a result at the end of choose day in fact the judge might says that he might take several weeks to deliberate the outcome of this the charges that julian assange is wanted for for questioning in sweden include allegations of rape molestation and unlawful coercion made by two women back in august in sweden he has always said as knowledge itself that the charges are politically motivated as in relation to the release to all of us embassy cables on wiki leaks which are deeply embarrassing for the american administration human rights are understood to maybe be being violated sweden has in the past extradited people to egypt which has been accused of torture so that's one of the arguments and there's also some of his lawyers say a risk that the u.s. will seek his extradition in turn or even illegally subject him to

a legal rendition to the u.s. and then from then on there's a risk they say of him being held in guantanamo bay or indeed elsewhere they will say they say arrest that he'll be subject to the death penalty and if they can argue that then his extradition looks like it won't take place because you countries can't extradite jurisdictions that have the death penalty too i mean we'll have to wait and see what the outcome of this is but it looks like we're not going to know for at least several weeks don't him and washington have a very close relationship and that may mean that it's easier for politicians to get involved and extradite ourselves to america although again the prosecutor's office says that politicians are not involved in the legal process in sweden but my colleague i need to now way has filed a report on a still claims relationship with washington so let's see what that says. so we didn't a quiet little neutral scandinavian nation the current foreign policy establishment

in sweden has a remarkably close relationship with the united states the country that gave us our flat pack furniture for dollar meatballs top models and lawn bombshells may not be so neutral after all american influence is everywhere from food to feature films but in sweden it seems to be supersized just the other day the deerhunter film was shown again on swedish t.v. for simply sixtieth time it's an awful film it's the worst propaganda politics through the back door like sweden's times with nato you have the military and some politicians cross-breeding intensively with the united states and with nato and the large mass of the population being totally unaware of all the stuff going on but it's not just what swedes are taking in it's also what their leaders are ready to give from julian assange to terrorist suspects to nato support when

america wants something they get it but why and what's in it for this so-called neutral nation they get. all the benefits of being an intelligence partner of the united states without the baggage of being in nato it's a partnership decades in the making there's been a willingness to. do the errands of the united states over many years from. questions have. making asylum seekers in sweden. both to the cia freddy's is particularly strong now with a raid leaning government in sweden and with the us wanting him for spying and sweden wanting him for sex crimes julian assange is wanted by quite a team and the songe wiki leaks case. seems to be just the next continuation of this very old intelligence relationship here's some other relationships we dug up

julian assange ticks off the us with fierce reaction from one of the country's most notorious neo cons is not a particularly credible source and love and he is a you know tamil in my mind as it is a criminal and he ought to be hunted down and grabbed and put on trial for what he has done here these words from karl rove who claims he's part swedish and just happens to be advising the country's pm while the former swedish minister of justice is a partner in the firm who filed charges against a songs for sex crimes with another link to the us thomas von stroheim is claimed to have handed the cia asylum seekers from sweden who were then tortured a question about neutrality became even even clearer thanks to some of the documents from exactly wiki leaks and if the u.k. can secure asylum for bodies because of ski and ahmed's a car you have both wanted for serious crimes in russia it could be argued there's

another room in the british justice system to protect julian assange from the united states of sweden merica and let him keep blowing his whistle and he's now a r.t. stockholm sweden. still ahead this hour a battle of epic proportions in the name of the old russians vote for their favorite animated characters to be mascot for the twenty fourteen winter olympics all the details on my calendar and their fight to the top and a couple of minutes. now the antigovernment protesters show no sign of giving our two weeks of honor rest a sweeping egypt's president hosni mubarak out of power the country's new cabinet held its first meeting is fell's and maintain a human chain in cairo's central square paullus leader how the latest on the situation in the revolt torn country. but cabinet has just met for the first time an announced that the salaries of government employees would be increased by

fifteen percent now they're hoping to address one of the reading calls that took people to the streets and that was low wages rising food prices and massive unemployment the immediate reaction from the thousands of people who remain in tough here square is that it is too little too late and with me to discuss this is our dollar as schelde a former assistant to the egyptian minister of foreign affairs and a professor in international law and relations thank you very much for joining us who is running egypt at the moment is it mubarak is it the vice president omar suleiman or is it the army. i think we have two parties now we have that a year including mubarak vice president and on and we have the people in the streets so now we have the cycle for we go forward with both of them the streets are maintained. and calling for change the government has given concessions mubarak has said that he cannot step down right now which is what protesters want

because he is legally not allowed to is a truth that the constitution refuses him from being able to do this no it is not true if he wants to sit down it doesn't care for that because the constitution is we lost it and we can find a way for him it's a matter of political decision so let him sit down and after that everything will be the the united states what kind of role or they playing behind the scenes in terms of looking at this new constitution and this new government. including the affairs of egypt very much because they think that egypt is the best of the american interest influence in the region and i think this is one of the misgivings of the american policy so the new regime would be totally dale of according to the interests of the egyptian people were fed up of the interference with the little states the united states supported mubarak and he. how is this unpopular figure when we see these protests on the streets is the same going to happen elsewhere has

the united states been propping up regimes that are not popular and as a result we're going to see more demonstrations like what we see here in egypt then this isn't confused between the street and and this is why this hectic position of the net is states so the lettuces and facts are supporting this one enters but she doesn't know exactly where the service lie so are i had a comment then that this is not good to repeat the failures of your survey and it had been supporting all the dictators in the region there is what should be very faithful to the principles of the medical and support the pulses of the streets of egypt the muslim brotherhood says it is not going to continue with talks with the government because it doesn't believe that the government is committed to real constitutional change are they right rather aguirre because they have you have asked whether thirty now the you've got credibility and legitimacy as well so the again to sense has legitimacy and the national authority at the same time they came

back to the streets where the muslim brotherhood is one of the focuses of what people around the international community and here in egypt too are focusing on i caught up with a lot of people got their analysis and filed this report it didn't get more than a passing mention in the mainstream media hizbollah a mass and muslim brotherhood members in a jail break. from here and one to have been on there is no way to go to lebanon from egypt to go to the sea or to fire so who helped them any one of the thousands of protesters on egypt streets was support for the demonstrators has played fast and although the muslim brotherhood the country's largest opposition group with an islamist agenda got involved only on day three that says mamdouh ramsey is part of the plan the muslim brotherhood will appear when they're sure the presidency will fall. when they have the support and power to control everything as they work in every arab country there they're below the surface and they're now talking with the

government and its supporters are here shouting on the streets in two weeks of demonstrations they are rallying call hasn't changed step down mubarak has made any neven of his friends traveled for forty eight hours to get here they've come all the way from electorate to be part of what they believe is the new revolution sweeping the middle east i was in eritrea and i watched everything on t.v. i wish i was here before but coming here now is my contribution i'm asking all my brothers in egypt to express their opinion without fear it will never leave the blood of our martyrs who was killed in this revolution with a vengeance and then we'll both bugger the brotherhood get some of its funding from the ran and tehran is already cashing in its foreign minister says the protests show the need for an overhaul in the region and ayatollah ali khamenei has called the protests an islamic awakening there's an opportunity for an increased role for muslims in the international arena from a political and economic perspective for the first time in quite

a long while six years ago the american national intelligence council which is linked to the c.i. eight warned of exactly this it mapped out of a point in the global future it consisted of a caliphate one big muslim state created through social unrest a slowdown in the economy and fueled by religious movements if such a pan regional union did genuinely coming to being such a regional union would necessitate the breaking of very strong very resistant bonds that exist between the us and many of the participants in such a putative arab muslim world and the us is already feeling the heat with confusing messages coming from an administration that's unsure what to do when the protests first started president obama was careful not to abandon his old friend hosni mubarak but his loyalties soon shifted and he sided with the protesters to trying to keep on top of things for sure of. muslim brotherhood reached the top of egypt's though imposed those special agenda will go ahead to establish

a religious state and despite them saying they don't want to be in the government they do they want to rule egypt and it's not just egypt many fear much of the arab world today saying if it can happen in the streets of cairo but it can happen so as the brotherhood sits down for talks with the government it despises it's not just egypt's future that's at stake but so to that of the region policy r.t. . russia's law enforcement agencies will go through a fundamental overhaul after the president signed a new reform bill it involves a complete rebranding in the introduction of new standards of service. connected i'm sure to have details. petey's a long awaited report what is a key plank of president made better if the reform agenda ideally this law on police said was just part of this major reform of russia's interior ministry which the president started about two years ago and he has said that the main aim of these police reform is to make russia's police officers more efficient and the work

of police transparent. i've been asked many questions as to what exactly this law means it's just what we need it's a detailed regulation of police rights powers and duties it's fundamental for police to work effectively not to be tempted to abuse their powers this is why the bill is a breakthrough should look like any other law it's not ideal and we should bear that in mind from the very outset i'm sure that implementing the law will trigger a number of suggestions and opinions which we can also use in the future russian milly's to have a but image for a professional shortcomings for not leading up to social romney to all protecting its citizens said russian police officers are known for severely beefing demonstrators who are being corrupt for not following the rule of law themselves for power abuse one of the worst examples of that was the so-called cold case when

a police officer went on a shooting massacre in moscow killing two people at a supermarket and endangering the lives of over two dozen others but the most obvious change will be the change of tack from its both soviet name elites it will be renamed into beliefs a russian or police or another dramatic change was actually how the law was at all . cost in russia because for the first time the public was invited to contribute to this debate on this truck bill hall among the mountains introduced on measures to increase public and paul mantra control over the police and to ban the force from the private security sector where it is now the key player also one of the restrictions imposed on the bill. this is a bad on the use of the probably songs and tear gas during demonstrations even if these are unsanctioned rallies also it allows for a telephone call to a lawyer and interpreter in case of detention this is something new to russia's legislation on police all and all over the thousand to man must work considered and

four hundred of them rejects that now that these bill has been sealed with the signature of the russian president it will go into force in less than a month. for a new and big icon is almost over for seen animated characters have just pulled it out in a line t.v. event to find out who we the mascot for the full she went to twenty fourteen all that's left is for the russian public to change its favorite what it's called. he was at watching the conversation for us to catch up with a great selection of cute and cuddly counter this is tell us how do they go about finding an finalizing the lucky thirteen. alice they've already done a lot of work originally over twenty four thousand potential mascot ideas and drawings were submitted to the committee who in the forest had a very difficult task of narrowing them down to just thirteen that's ten for the

main olympic games and three for the paralympics a games that will of course take place around the same time also. the lucky thirteen that are being presented to the people tonight are all as you said cute and cuddly some of them very traditional russian symbols like father frost which is of course the russian analogue of santa claus also a hair which is a prominent character in a very popular russian cartoon so that one is guaranteed to be a popular with the younger generations also some very traditional winter symbolics such as a snowman a snowflake and various other snow related mascots have been presented and chosen by the jury they've made the short list there are some other. also other potential mascots on the short list among them a bullfinch a very beautiful winter bird a white bird with

a pretty red breast that is said to be by some in this country to be a sort of a lock a woman if you do see one in the winter it is said to have disposed to bring you luck because they are quite rare so that people. of this country will then have to engage in a nationwide vote and that will of course take place at the end of the month at which point the jury the jury will announce what the people have chosen they'll be one mascot for the main olympic games one mascot for the paralympic games up until the moment. actually comes without however the website of the russian olympic mascot will be operating available to everyone not just russian citizens because there will be a very handy feature that will allow users and browsers basically to choose the language that they want the presentation to run in all of the shortlisted mascots will be on that website basically themselves explaining to the visitors of that

website why it is them that have to be chosen to represent the russian winter olympic games and i have already chosen my favorite having just across all screens now but of course the visit to the the wider public to choose you mentioned coming at the end of the month is that when we can expect to really find out who's won and bowl kind of fame and fortune awaits the victorious. it is indeed it's going to be quite a suspects filled month of course as people browse the web site as they get acquainted with all of the shortlisted mascots see what they have to say for themselves they've been animated of course and placed on that website to tell. a little bit more to the people that are going to vote for them about themselves and the voting itself the results of that vote is going to be announced on the twenty sixth of february just under twenty days until we do finally know what exactly those mascots are going to be

a rush of the russian winter olympic games will be showing to the world of course after that there will be a lot of souvenirs made with them as the official symbol of the olympic games they'll be decorations. probably be incorporated into various designs of the games of course the official opening and closing ceremonies all of that the mascot is going to play a huge role in so everyone of course very eagerly looking forward to the actual announcement of the vault ever wins can expect to become a household name here in russia thanks but that of a bad talking to us about the competition to become the mascot for the she went to games in twenty forty. now moscow has the new japanese criticism of a visit by president dmitry medvedev to russia's cruel islands which take it claims as its own the foreign ministry has also protested japan over the burning of

a russian fly by activists in tokyo the islands in the pacific ocean past the soviet union after the second world war i have been part of the russian federation ever since then we've had better pay his best visits to the curls in november russia's defense minister also went there just last week foreign minister sergei lavrov gave a short shrift to the japanese criticism and said moscow wants only friendly relations with take a. new people were to the expressions used by the japanese officials are far from diplomatic and in great contrast with the polite and friendly tone of the meeting between president give and prime minister naoto kan. i don't know perhaps it's judy the so-called northern territories day that's been celebrated in japan today at the same time as we have said repeatedly we are still willing to closely cooperate with the japanese in carrying out specific projects lose regions of russia. i have is

going to check now on some other international headlines this hour anti podium all battling for a full successive day over disputed border area the conflict is centered around a temple internationally recognized as belonging to cambodia although tile floors used to speak this the clashes of say fall claimed five lives since friday and forced thousands of villagers to leave their homes has the u.n. security council to intervene to prevent the conflict from escalating. election officials have confirmed that almost the entire electorate in south sudan's independence referendum have voted to split from the north nearly ninety nine percent are in favor of the breakaway while they last month vote was peaceful tension remains high in parts of the oil which border region before the announcement of the results the country's president said he would accept the outcome of the vote southern sudan is expected to become officially independent in july. bushfires driven by hot summer winds are raging on the outskirts of

australia's western capital almost sixty homes have been destroyed and many more damaged hundreds of people were forced to flee the area which has been declared and natural disaster zone meanwhile the cleanup from floods and cycling's which struck queensland victoria on the east coast last week continues it left percy five people dead and calls an estimated five point six billion dollars in damage. a series of volcanic eruptions in russia's far east of posing a potential threat to ak raft local experts are warning of the danger to t.v. painting childcare speed a column of several kilometers above sea level they will think that a series of minor earthquake the volcano is all being constantly monitored and i considered no risk to nearby residential areas. it is cause they were the business deaths now would be. good to see you now not of us nickel shows they dipped on

monday so you just may why is right they were down three percent at one point this is because the company is suspending its own share buyback program following a ruling from a court in the caribbean the injunction in saying kitts and nevis was sought by elected in part because they live in a cell which owns twenty five percent of nor cynical roussel isn't a fierce takeover battle with interest group for control of the mine up there's been talk in the market that north nickel would have to scrap its dividend to fund the buyback program this has been seen as a blow to resell as it would not receive money to pay off debt. because of the markets now and of course to the u.s. first where trading is on the market almost a percent higher that's for the nasdaq at least on the deal news and earnings reports london based oil rig operator ensco as agreed to by rival pride international in a deal with some seven point three billion dollars this has been pushing the dow up

european stock markets advanced on monday banks were among the strongest performance in shares of mobile phone make a nokia rally three point seven percent on reports of a planned management shakeup in russia the picture was quite depressing during the day but they managed a last minute recovery of monday's session in the seas traded mostly in the red to find some buying incentive after the positive u.s. opening. p.t.b. was shedding one percent at the close the weakness in the bank's current. share price in student bonuses the buying opportunity norris nicole was worse than the markets on that news it suspended its share buyback program and the down one percent well as i mentioned before falling up to three percent during the day but overall worries about inflation are something which have been causing concern for investors as tom on the explains from. other fronts of most investors' minds now is

inflation especially after we saw john reason for nation numbers coming out at the end of last week it's very difficult for the market to believe that inflation is not going to be a big problem this year for russian equities and at the high levels of inflation on one side impacts at the margins of particularly of russian miners russia still names. on the other side that the government's reaction to high levels of inflation is going to imply a stronger ruble which is going to impact the earnings of exports as. told monday there for a month it's always biggest insurer generali could become a primary invest in the privatisation of v.t. be the prospectus for russia second largest lender says generali may take around one percent in the bank that's a stake worth around three hundred million dollars that's as d.t.b. which is currently eighty five percent state's own starts a road show to sell a ten percent stake overall in the bank to raise around three and a half billion dollars is the first big sale nauseous and vicious privatization

program but. the deputy head of research credit says b. to b. is a special case. i don't think it's excess of displacement real have any influence on on the whole predation program this kind of special case the possible investors will be reduced to investment funds where there is solar investment funds or insurance companies for example or straight into the i think investor mr bug repellant sure so it's going to be probably long term investors which are interested in russian financial markets the headlines are next on r.t. stay with us.

more news today violence is once again flared up the film these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations are on the day.

we've got. the biggest issues good voice face to face with the news makers. it's half past the hour here in moscow this is the embattled founder of whistle blowing web site wiki leaks is. finding it had to have him extradited to sweden. and could pass them on to the us some. egyptians officials trying to woo the find opposition with concessions hosni mubarak's regime residents are told from the brotherhood movement which is bound in the country but after a fortnight of rallies demonstrators in cairo say they think the streets until the result it's. russia's police force is in line for

a massive overhaul after the president signs the bill the have the rebranded that form the changes aimed at fighting corruption and abuse of power as. well for more on the save the hall as well as the crime problems in russia's capital so if you sat down with the police chief. just as you heard almost a thank you very much for joining us today. that's what we're calling the recent clashes at the square in moscow what measures should be taken to stop growing extremism and intolerance that we are observing at the moment. there is no universal measure we need a set of measures to.