himself has always maintained that these allegations are politically motivated he says that they directly follow on from wiki leaks release of the us embassy cables which were deeply embarrassing to washington and so therefore the u.s. will do anything to get its hands on him to the arguments that the defense will be putting forward are focused around julian assange says human rights they say that his human your rights will be violated if he's extradited to sweden because sweden has in the past extradited people to egypt which is accused of torture they also say that if he goes to sweden there's a risk that the u.s. will seek either his extradition or they will try to apply illegal rendition to him to take him to the u.s. where he may be held in guantanamo bay or a similar detention facility and they also say that he is at risk of being subject to the death penalty if indeed he is extradited on words to america they're also fighting this on the grounds that he hasn't actually been charged with any crime

the swedish prosecution wants to question him about these crimes but they haven't charged him yet and they say that the principle of extradition law is that suspicion of having committed a crime is not grounds for extradition you actually have to charge somebody now the swedish prosecutor's office says that. is protected from transfer eventually to the u.s. by strict e.u. rules they say that even if they do get him to go to sweden sweden can't then do what it likes with us are sweden has to ask the u.k. for permission to extradite him onward to the u.s. and they also maintain that political efficiencies are not involved in the legal process in sweden so any political pressure applied by washington on stockholm would not float in the lower courts in sweden however many say that sweden has an incredibly close friendship with the u.s. and said there would be a lot of political pressure to extradite him onward once he gets to stockholm you know what this is the last day. this particular hearing but we're not really

expecting a decision to be made today the judge has already said that he may take several weeks to consider this decision and then i saw it will be able to appeal if the decision goes against it so we'll have to wait to see how it pans out later on this afternoon. well dr brian palmer from uppsala university believes that saunders safer in the u.k. and in sweden. i think it's quite right that it would be easier to get him to the u.s. from sweden then from britain the swedish government has has shown itself to be more pliant then the british surprisingly given the so-called special relationship of trust between britain and the usa and the swedish press has been and swedish public intellectuals have been less vocal in defending we could leaks than many people and many papers in britain so i think he's he's safe the the once very progressive sweden has become something of

a voluntary. apprentice state some would say vassal state of the usa. that you can watch the full interview with dr brian palmer in about twenty five minutes here up to. now egypt's new cabinet is increasing pay and pensions for public sector workers in attempt to quell two weeks of unrest but protesters are still refusing to back down until hosni mubarak quits the country's vice president who is leading talk to create a new government has been courted by the u.s. with washington considered a question the mediator was all to reports. it's important to support the transition process announced by the egyptian government actually headed by now vice president. omar suleiman hardly the words of

a neutral burka and worse far removed from the people heard ministration claims to be listening to you just don't have it just against him because he is just in boston water government just in that whole game digits and people have already had three military leaders we want to know more military only civilian leaders now. dr meg heads up a human rights organization that teaches each options about democracy he says he don't like solomon for the very reason americans do almost any man is part of the solution we consider american people. don't. want to keep. this little mubarak who was still. in power in those sort of things told to last year by the u.k.'s telegraph is the most powerful spook in the region so

a man is suave sophisticated and fluent in english but the former head of egypt's intelligence service worked for years as the cia's men in cairo for us so. extraordinary. solomon is accused of having been personally involved in torturing suspects this is the problem now in egypt is there's a struggle between not between mubarak and the people but because between the american cia covert operators of u.s. power around the world and the people are having to try to get mubarak replaced with somebody else it's. hard to ignore the fact that the very abuses that drove hundreds of thousands of people into the streets had some assistance from the united states people have collected almost with pride these empty tear gas cylinders that have the words made in the usa written on them and so so much for

a regime change so a man was as much made in america as the dictator who appointed him and who is now being thrown out by the egyptian people wiki leaks cables show the us administration was grooming him for years as far back as two thousand and seven it had already identified him as a possible successor to president mubarak. many of our contacts believe that because of his military background we would at least have to figure in any succession scenario. he has the six. and i don't think that he is willing to see all the time perhaps he would leave the transitional period and if it would be successful he would be very happy and so when obama goes on record and says he gyptian is must choose for themselves it is not the world any other country to determine egypt's leaders only the egyptian people can do that people here lost because you secretary of state is admitting to

something different but we have to do is to set a consistent message supporting the orderly transition. urging you know we transparent is very concrete but many egyptians are afraid of men and think he's more dictator the mr mubarak which leaves the united states out in the cold when it has to explain why it's backing him policy r.t. kyra. well coming up here in r.t. not so neutral switzerland. better than any other european country but the swiss are wondering if it's time to finally say well one ups. boss does absence make the heart grow fonder take a look at how america has chosen to remember former president ronald reagan.

russia's number one terrorist in iraq has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a mosque in international airport last month the suicide bombing claimed thirty six lives and left more than a hundred people injured let's get more on this from tel recover and i tell you what exactly did i say. mark has said that the special operations people at the. scary dad in the school to my to the airport were scary doubts under his orders that the suicide bomber is believed to have been a twenty year old man from the north caucasus earlier doku umarov has promised russia a year of blood and tears in case the country uses to abandon its territory in the school he proclaimed himself the emperor of the caucasus and their rights and his goal is to establish an independent muslim state that you're going to take a step in some other neighboring territories in the region he describes western countries as enemies of the muslims and have been proved to have links to al qaida

also last year he took full responsibility for the two deadly blasts down moscow's underground that to clive's of the foods the people and left many more injured as well as for the explosion on the train for most peterson petersburg that took place in the frame for a two thousand and nine natalia has there been any reaction from the authorities yet this. well there's been no official reaction to this recent statement by the russian authorities nonetheless. russian president dmitry medvedev on monday he has signed a bill that will fundamentally change the work of the country's law enforcement agencies that will introduce new standards of service that will be implemented on the first of march this year now a version first was started working to reform the country's interior ministry sent to a year's school says he was not so happy with the way it was working he thought it was the end of working inefficiently and he's been working to improve it but of

course tightening security right now is does number one meanwhile russian lawmakers are also working to improve the situation with the security in the country today they're going to have a now closed door meeting all in the demented. monday explosion at the damages of airport and they will be discussing introducing a multi level alarm system that will allow. law enforcement agencies and in washington work better and to be better cooperated so the system they're talking about implementing is similar to the one that exists in the good that exists in the united states. for the type you know thank you for. now despite its neutral and peaceful image switzerland has a strong military tradition it has europe's highest per capita rate of gun ownership and every male citizen on the fifty years old is a reserve soldier for many question why a country that hasn't been involved in any military conflict for two hundred years

should have been on the a talk to saucily as much. training for combat preparing for war except these soldiers are from neutral switzerland and are unlikely to ever experience wartime combat. more and more in the centuries old swiss militia is being challenged in february the longstanding tradition of keeping a government issued weapon at home as part of military obligations will be put to a vote on whether they should go on keeping their guns at home or store them in public arsenals but that's just one of the arguments local activists like to stuff by day has been pushing for a complete abolition of the armed forces as normal cold war we're totally surrounded by the european union which is. militarily speaking totally friendly so we have no war in the me so the army has no reason to be no enemy just a tradition do you think that's what someone should have an army. for.

certainly not a joke just make fun you know. just play a bit more games but we don't. we don't need. a nine hundred eighty nine referendum on the issue revealed that more than a third of the swiss are in favor of dissolution a figure significant enough to pressure the government to take some action to rein in military activity the size of the army and its budget while still a substantial four point five billion dollars have been cut and the option of joining the civil service instead was introduced it's not enough there is a political clout which means that the parliament is made most rich people. i mean people wore a moment. because they feel insecure there's still about two hundred thousand army personnel with compulsory military service for swiss males and private gun ownership for all conscripts living up to a local saying switzerland does not have an army it is an army not

a pleasant prospect for young draftees like adrian feller who just don't see the point. to shoot. more. or. in my opinion an army to some kind of. security. well i saw two army can do. anything against the can't do anything to social problems and disorder so why should we are about five billion of swiss francs for something to help us solve the problems we have the arguments are there give the serious way jordi still cannot imagine a nation without their men in uniform. only the political left support evolution we're still a minority in this country it's hard to convince the population because it's really

a tradition that is deeply rooted in the swiss psyche plus there's the rise of populism and demagogy it war is leading. many swiss feel that abolishing the armed forces is a kid to letting go of a tradition of losing that sense of security real or imagined so does a neutral country with no enemies really need an army while support for abolition is elusive the question has been asked and the debate is about to continue just are still here r.t. switzerland. well switzerland's army may not have any adverse serious verse we have a story online about one swiss human rights activists would certainly like to bring to justice the film but u.s. president george w. bush called off his trip to switzerland to concerns of protests. spot on the story it's on our website on t. dot com. and thirteen characters competing for the title of the sochi winter olympics mascots have been revealed. about them and vote for your favorites you can head to our website. dot com. the

only anniversary of what would have been the former u.s. president ronald reagan's one hundredth birthday the american media has spoken glowingly of his legacy but are they reporting more about the myth than the man or teased christina has this report from washington. it was a celebration fit for a king. and even though the u.s. government never had a monarchy if they did this man thank you just may have been the king we give ourselves a little pat on the back for having made republican a proud word once again. ronald reagan the fortieth president of the united states may be gone but his one hundredth birthday saw the mainstream media elevate him to sainthood he stuck to his principles he was authentic which is i think one of the reasons why he's so admired after all of these years but he knew when he needed to

compromise this sunday a president ronald wilson reagan would have turned one hundred years old the reagan presidential libraries concerts a giant birthday cake and the opening of a new museum roundtable discussions on his significance from a historical perspective he knew when to hold them he knew wonderful them he was a gordon early negotiator he had learned all that as head of the screen actors guild while he was i think the most significant republican probably since they were hamlet one of the best things about a president who's dead and gone is it's ok to have a selective memory about what he actually did while in office under reagan the number of employees in the federal government grew from two point eight million to three million national debt grew from seven hundred billion to three trillion during his time in office and he may have lowered taxes but he also raised taxes still here sarah palin president reagan said you have me for big government big

taxes and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy perhaps that simply because reagan wasn't always for the little guy in one thousand nine hundred one he fired more than eleven thousand air traffic control workers who had gone on strike again what you probably didn't see during the reagan. media love that if they do not report for work within forty eight hours they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated scenes like this all but forgotten from reagan's pre-presidential days. instead he is remembered as the man who rode in on horseback to rescue america if an image republicans on the tea party in particular have both excessively resurrected that the mainstream media has forfeited its responsibility to critically assess his legacy in washington christine r t. brief look at some other world headlines for you now britain's former labor

government is coming to fire off the report to you they didn't they could to secure the hoodie this release. is the only person convicted of a corrupt explosion in one thousand nine hundred eight that killed two hundred seventy people you know sentenced to life in prison but returned to the two thousand and nine and compassionate grounds. says the case commercial interests in the country where the driving force behind the deal. two careers are set to sit down for military talks following months of high tensions on the peninsula pyongyang and so broke contact last september the north responded to artillery fire and if it were a tree by showing a south korean island its hopes the talks to take place near the border would lead to higher level dialogue between both countries defense ministers. to bushfires driven by hot summer winds have scorched suburbs near perth australia as

west coast sixty homes have been destroyed and dozens have been damaged forefathers have contained the flames are warning residents to be vigilant meanwhile the cleanup from floods and cyclades on the country's east coast continues the floods have been the country's worst in decades killing thirty four people in. also wants to make it four point six billion dollars of damage. it's been confirmed that told us the truth so. hundreds referendum voted to split from the north ninety nine percent who are in favor of the breakaway. peaceful tension remains high in parts of the oil rich region before the announcement of the results the country is close to its except the upcoming. saddam is expected to become official pendant in july. goats sheep and rabbits making their contribution to that's their most scope these animals are helping pharmaceutical

companies produce drugs to treat diabetes and cancer it's a groundbreaking science that is known as transgenic farming resulting surf earth discovered. just how de rabbit more importantly why would you want. the genetic and modified rivets produce a very valuable drug in the milk which is used in treating cancer. here's a scientific research center on the outskirts of musk a these animals are aging scientists cutting edge research welcome to the pioneering new world of farming pharmaceuticals. this is where the alamo heads these ones or the rabbits but if we gaze through into the next three and you've got the transgenic or genetically modified ones these guys that are proving so vital in the discovery and development of new treatments for diseases. whilst it might sound strange the milk

of transgenic animals has already been used to successfully treat patients and it's not just rabbits around the world traditional farming now morphing into by a farming fantasy to companies are now turning to other domestic animals in new ways to produce drugs it's a breakthrough in fairness you know we want to get to the point where we can. produce in the same drug in their milk. at the moment this research center doesn't have the funding to produce more than a few of the genetically modified species that rabbits remain the main source of research regulation bodies in the e.u. and the us is slowly starting to allow drugs produced by transgenic animals onto the market but it's slow progress russia especially lack of guidelines and solid regulation in this area mean it remains a controversial issue. feel that playing with genes could be dangerous for any ml's

when people haven't fully studied all the erected to remake needs from cheap to resource providers by farming continues to grow with these guys produce seem very well end up in your medicine cabinet there. objects we discuss whether we can expand the jury in a science could face a fair trial but first it's the business with chris. good morning and welcome to our business up here on our team it's been the worst start to the year for precious metals for two. two decades but analysts say there are still reasons to be bullish is surveyed by bloomberg of the most accurate forecasts for the last two years shows that believe both gold and silver could rise twenty percent this year the demand for precious metals is predicted to remain strong as both an investment asset and industry union bank of switzerland says

industrial demand for sober could be the strongest since at least the ninety's the bank also expects hedge funds to continue to hold positions of gold while the world's central bank will end up to their billion. for the third year in a row. now let's have a look at the markets asian stocks are trading makes this. point four percent players in tokyo see better than expected earnings reports in the u.s. and japanese companies accelerating the shift of money out of the much markets into the about one has moved between positive and negative as property developers and owners remain under selling pressure and sanctions around the sun down. and russia's market managed to. recovery on monday session and this is traded mostly in the red all session long find some buying incentives after the positive u.s. opening markets close like the r.t.s. game set. now it's been

a tough start to the week for russia's equity markets fears over inflation undermining sentiment among the financial corp expects the fronts of most investors' minds now is inflation especially off the resource 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 going in part on the margins of victory 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 awnings of exports as. russian banks have seen the volume of household deposits grow by a third last year as according to central bank data the total amount of all deposits in russian banks has reached three hundred thirty four billion dollars

despite global deposit interest rates in some banks being lower than last year's inflation rate of eight point eight percent most russians prefer to save money and then national currency however the central bank sees the positive growth as negative because it means people are not spending in tulsa. that's all for this hour we're back with more in about fifteen minutes from now.

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area without a recap about top stories russia's most wanted man. takes responsibility for the moscow airport bombings that killed thirty six people would you address published on extremist websites the world series said the suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowded. us and ends its support for egypt's vice president to take the nation out of the crisis in an orderly manner but people fear swapping president hosni mubarak but suddenly the country could be beeping after throwing the phone.

during our soldiers and only as well that the wiki leaks founder would face a biased trodden flagrant did not have justice if extradited to sweden. once tried on a sex assault charges which song. for more and why sweden wants a solemn so badly and his fate if he were to be extradited we talk now to dr brian palmer a social anthropologist from southern university that's next here. dr brian palmer social anthropologist who teaches that uppsala university thank you very much for sitting down with us today on r.t. it's a pleasure to be in your program sweden has been in the spotlight quite a bit lately with the wiki leaks scandal and the spy and sex probes into doing a song why does sweden want julian of songs to be extradited is it just for to be questioned rather for the sex crimes alleged against him.