egypt's president addresses the nation those antigovernment protests swelled karo central square demanding he steps down we bring you live pictures from cairo. the new exodus christians in iraq fear they're being driven out of their country for instance a terror attacks targeting the minority group. also reporting this hour surprise visit by the president produced concerns over transport security in russia committing it personally discovered major one of moscow's main train stations. and with some u.s. politicians famous for the bloopers they make one of the guys in the world of democracy it seems the american people are being turned into the object of ridicule .

live from our studios here in central moscow this is our team with you twenty four hours a day so the egyptian president hosni mubarak is currently addressing the nation and we can now see that live address some of the egyptian president and earlier the egyptian military announced they are siding with the anti government protesters and that the president would meet their demands it's been more than two weeks since the mass uprising in the country which has been accompanied by a wave of violent clashes between pro and government protesters. the author william engdahl says the u.s. has long been planning to get rid of mubarak for his opposition to some of washington's policies in the middle east. mubarak's government realized that the u.s. was preparing

a regime change that along the lines of the so-called color revolutions in georgia . and so forth. activists to the united states sometimes received in the state department sometimes at the national endowment for democracy or freedom house these are all quote unquote private n.g.o.s that specialize in regime change for washington and. what's going on is really a major not destabilization of the u.s. ally mobarak has been opposed to most of us policy views of iran reason be persian gulf nations and visibly levanon over the last several years so he's become in effect a thorn in the side of washington's greater agenda since two thousand and one and we'll keep you up to date with developments there in egypt as the program progress is in the meantime sectarian violence has forced iraqi christians to seek haven in

a relatively calm northern region of kurdistan hundreds of thousands of the minority group fled in the years following the two thousand and three u.s. led invasion and sebastian maher reports from iraq those who stayed are continued time to fix treatments. every night miriam gets ready for bed with her family but it's not her bed it's not even her house miriam and her family are christian iraqis who have been forced to flee from baghdad to the semi autonomous kurdish region because they become targets of extremist groups in the country in two thousand and seven miriam was hit by a bomb that was planted outside her house the lack i went out with my arms just to buy some chocolate and come back and went out and didn't see anything i just had the bomb and i fell to the ground miriam was lying in the street with her foot dangling from her leg her father i had rushed outside but. i saw my daughter lying like it was a live in my my daughter was lying the growing and people were running. everything

was covered in dust and a charge of glass so i picked up my daughter with her leg dangling i almost lost it i was shaking my daughter's gait she's been hit by a bomb but. luckily i had was able to get her to a doctor who could repair her leg but others have not been so lucky in october last year fifty six people were killed by militants when they attacked the our lady of salvation church in baghdad in the following weeks dozens more were killed in attacks across the country many fear that eventually christians will be driven out of iraq completely of the eight hundred thousand christians in the country before two thousand and three almost half of fled in the past month alone four thousand have moved to the comparative safety of the northern kurdish region here they can worship and live in peace but in leaving their homes they've lost absolutely everything many like miriam's father and are forced to make

a living cleaning toilets in bars and restaurants these are mostly i served for seven years in the military under saddam hussein i'm an iraqi christian and i don't have a square switch of lions in my name why what's my crime many in the church feel that countries in the west are responsible. americans are liars we don't trust their reputation is terrible because everywhere they have light the us train the sunni and shia and they just watch while they kill it is impossible not to see all these murders but they don't get involved. it's the end of a long day and time for the family to go to bed everyone gets ready and eventually the lights are switched off in the darkness and uncertainty miriam and the rest of her family are left to dream about and hope for a better tomorrow sebastian meyer r t so i'm in the iraq. just returning to our

top story this hour concerning egypt we've just learned here in r.t. that egyptian president hosni mubarak has confirmed that he will stay in power he will stay in office and a transfer of power will begin after september the presidential election so just confirming that president barack has vowed to stay in power until september we'll have more reaction more news from cairo later in the program still to come for you this hour also brain drain in the baltics lithuania has one of the highest levels of every great should it be you many of the young people who i've spoken to here say that they see their future employment beyond the borders of country we explore why so many people in the way here are looking abroad for opportunities. and germany's chancellor squeezed over the killing of dozens of afghanistan civilians in an anti taliban airstrike two years ago. i noted investigations being launched after the russian president personally discovered major security

lapses at a railway station here in moscow it came when dmitri medvedev paid a surprise visit to one of the capital's main stations and sara first discovered the check up has caused many red faces. start the passengers. train station feel extremely surprised today by the arrival of president meditative . spot check to check out the security systems at the train station we know that he was extremely displeased with what he found when he entered the station he couldn't see any police officers in a metal detectors now he was accompanied by the heads of the federal security service and the interior ministry we know that he addressed the staff and the some of the police officers here and he was actually quite angry when he was questioning that as to why exactly these measures were in place but as for the order i haven't seen a single policeman at the railway station i understand that there are c.c.t.v. cameras but still what about. their standby duty and ruwi station holds we've

walked around the whole together with the minister but i haven't noticed a single policeman that transport security has been the talk of president made vader's agenda since. the date of course and today carrying out spacek is saying that he is extremely serious in ensuring that the measures and now up to scratch no when he visited here is he said he spoke to they stuff and we've heard him speaking at the crime instead of course the finger of a play pointing a number of authorities that he really highlighted the federal security service as really holding top responsibility and what he was saying to them is they really need to be making sure that they're doing their job not just immediately after the attack but they're putting these merged in place that will stay in place. from now on the federal security service will be responsible for coordinating security measures on transport the railways must be protected exactly the same as you must know what your officers are exactly doing at that moment they must not drink tea or

walk without any purpose they must do their work. there's a strong was there from president of again in the wake of the attacks we had to talking very seriously about what he caused us to. the failure really they need to get this up to standard now and they're going to be very serious about implementing this and if people aren't at the job we've heard him say simply be replaced by people who are we've already seen a number of high profile firings. the chief of the federal transportation security says again today with this highlighting some major security lapses possibly some further fiery instinct but the essential message now is that the security system needs to be tight it needs to be solid and uncompromising and the shakers going to continue until that's in place. so for us reporting there from central moscow we're back to our top story now egyptian president hosni mubarak refuses to stand down in a live televised address he vowed to stay in office until september and will not

bow to what he said was foreign pressure well for more on the situation in egypt i'm joined from san francisco by a journalist and author richard roman thanks very much indeed for joining us here on r.t. well it's a case of willie clearly he won't know what you make of this even the cia were predicting he was going to step down they've been wrong footed what do you think's going to happen now. well i think there's going to be a lot of unhappiness by this story. he made some very very clear threats at least what i interpreted to be true threats he said that the blood of the martyrs will be will be met with the most. punishment and penalty against people who are responsible now just what people he means i don't know he also referred to . ever happens will also be implemented by the armed forces. the only substantial changes he promised were the appointments of two committees and a reaffirmation of his decision to retire after the election there's nothing new

but he seems to be all this with the armed forces they were saying just a matter of hours ago that they will support legitimate demands of the people so. perhaps we see now the military seizing power ahead. well i think there's a distinct possibility we've already had at least one general told the crowd at the square that the military will do what they want. and they clearly don't want hosni mubarak to remain in power what about these comments about intervention. clearly so much has been talked about the u.s. supporting his regime is it now a case of in effect him turning round and biting the hand of this fed him although i suppose you could accuse the u.s. of doing exactly the same to him. well i don't until i feel kind of actions against the interests of the u.s.

or israel. until then i'm not going to think that any change is going to really happen. because he's doing exactly what washington wants. well he's obviously received a lot of money from washington in the past and i know that you've written an article recently. that he's earned a huge amount from usa now whatever happens in the future he's talking about september transition of power whoever takes over we're going to see exactly the same situation of the u.s. bankrolling yet another leader in egypt in order to satisfy their needs. that's clearly. clearly what washington would why. people now the president has defied them. it's up to them to be fired what happens. i have the army and i was an army big boy are here i was talking to an analyst early and he was saying that he is a classic case of democracy the voice of the people having some sort of influence

here and in fact u.s. influence could be diminished because if the people get what they want and maybe not what the u.s. wants what about the u.s. is influence not just in egypt but in the whole of the middle east is a question now isn't it. definitely definitely a question. but there are very powerful forces in place there's the international financial system which is with the united states which effectively and for through the organ of international point. can i just ask you one other question which are clearly the u.s. has to distance itself from a regime which has become transparently very corrupt as a result of much aid being and money being given from the u.s. and other western governments the u.s. now has to distance itself doesn't it not but many people are asking how come the u.s. knew after all easy is that this money was being squandered it wasn't being shed to

the people throughout the country that all went into mubarak and his cronies and his family's hands how come that could have happened. because he was fulfilling the wishes of the people in who run the american government. the. wishes of the corporations the stablish major present in the. the interest of finance b i am now the other institutions of money he kept the status quo and money stability. what i think will have to leave it there for the moment thanks very much indeed it's very timely to talk to you as we see these developments there in colorado richard brautigan thanks indeed for joining us there live from san francisco. well to other news now u.s. politicians don't often hold back when it comes to their views of the well but it seems they haven't always check their facts and it's all he's gonna judge can

reports it's the american people who are becoming the butt of the joke. advising other countries on democracy seems to be a must for any u.s. politician and some of them get so carried away that they confuse what countries exactly they're talking about i also want to thank the president with the way you know group of our members of congress visited with her choose a great leader we also had the opportunity meet with members of the opposition many of whom have fellow countrymen residing in prison have been beaten and tortured. during the same conference the former presidential candidate don't one of the most influential republican senators referred to russia as the soviet union we all know that our missile defense were rather modest. earmarked and. we are proceeding with it because of the threat we face from iran not from the

soviet union but senator mccain's gaffes don't stop there i'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle particularly given the situation on the iraq pakistan border probably only in mccain's mind did pakistan share a border with iraq but he's not the only u.s. politician who's quick to share their expertise in world affairs without checking some facts george w. bush will not prides himself on having pushed democracy in egypt during his presidency thought africa was a nation africa's a nation or suffers from incredible disease the winner of hearts and minds of millions of americans sarah paling two thought africa was a country some two years ago but now nothing seems to stop her from handing out advice on how to deal with egypt because this pale in has further contributed to her credibility in foreign affairs when commenting on the u.s. stance with regards to north korea obviously got to stand with our north korean allies were bound to create by trees and worry about by well the paradoxes is that

politicians who really know nothing about these things have to appear to know something. they have to speak out on all of these issues to be considered credible figures so sarah palin you know who could see russia from her door in our window you know is now an expert on russia or whatever else the reason why us politicians feel free to make bloopers on your national issues could be that many of their audience is can't catch the inconsistences well it's very easy to manipulate people when they don't know anything so generally americans. indifferent they don't pay attention to world events and you can easily manipulate them crossing over their public ignorance or ghastly after waging wars in iraq and afghanistan for years figures show most americans still have difficulties finding the countries on the map given the i think. if the public is not able to notice the ignorance of their politicians they won't

be able to hold them accountable for their decisions some say that is one of the biggest threat to democracy in america i'm going to check our reporting from washington are to. just remind you there's always more news on our website dot com here's what's lined up for you on line right now this is a tempting sort of one hundred twenty thousand dollars a bus driver in russia takes the road after finding bags of cash. and customs officers in russia get into hot water after appearing in an amateur video showing the bling side of the job you've heard more about these stories and plenty more on our website. dot com. which is experiencing a warring brain drain with a population plummeting by more than ten percent in the last decade and the impact

of the world financial crisis has made the people even more aggressive. young educated and unemployed a rhenish curvatures a twenty four year old computer science graduate she can't find work in her native bilis so is headed to another country in search of a job she's one of the lucky ones she'll be reunited with her mother and father who have already made the switch i have finished university here and i couldn't find a job because of their economic. situation in the country. and my parents and they are living in ireland for six years whole already and i decided. to ireland today with them and find a job there more and more lithuanians are falling victim to the baltic brain drain young people finish their studies at home and then look for a job in western europe where salaries are much higher however the global financial

crisis and crippling recession in countries like ireland means that the move abroad doesn't always provide the opportunities it once did it's always a risk but. it's now a days it's better to go to ireland. to find a job their. way to his job then sitting just here and doing nothing this lithuania is carrying out a census in march to determine the current population demographic preliminary government statistics for twenty ten show that last year alone an estimated eighty three thousand people left the country many in search of work elsewhere lithuania has one of the highest levels of emigration in the e.u. many of the young people who i've spoken to here say they see their future employment beyond the borders of their native country this is one of the reasons that the twenty eleven census that will take place here will be the most comprehensive in the nation's history. with questionnaires in english russian

polish as well as if you were in the department. social statistics are desperate to find out how many people are living in the country they expect to see the two thousand and one population of three point four million four by almost five hundred thousand with no apparent end in sight to the exodus the long term estimates paint a bleak picture for the next forty years here to. our. projections. in year two thousand and fifty will be on local. the task of bill this is to try and keep the best and brightest from being lost to the brain drain to safeguard the future the house social security the second is to provide health security to maybe is to provide conditions for people to study because now it's. difficult because it is becoming expensive people spend money on

something i mean after money and when i can do. think we have to rearrange back system access some for people for especially for young people any changes come too late for arena she's already made her move to pastures new and the search for employment in western europe peter all other party bills. german chancellor angela merkel is being questioned over military a strike which killed dozens of civilians in afghanistan's province almost two years ago it comes as the country's parliament voted to extend the military mission in the country by one year two hundred forty two people were killed dozens of them civilians as a result of the strike on two fuel tankers hijacked by taliban militants incident sparked a political storm in germany claimed the jobs of several top military officials peace activists of our nato countries are just puppets controlled by the hands of the us when it comes to the war in afghanistan. from the point of the americans

germany is certainly reluctant but from the point of view of the german pope population. the government is eager to be in alliance with the united states in the question of to afghanistan any other questions what really happens is certainly a play. completely a chess game on. on the international scale that is led by the united states foreign policy and united states think tech. the europeans and the nato countries our allies in this system and. as i said they tried to benefit from. resource influence from oil influence the politicians are in the close alliance of close dependence with the military industrial complex so they are in this thinking. gaining from this war only in minor

questions can nato allies deviate from this from the general united states strategy. relations between london and moscow have been rocky in recent years with many unresolved issues still hanging over the two well r.t. spoke to the new russian ambassador to britain and xander think about how he expects the relationship to progress that interview is coming your way in just a few moments nabil back with a summary of the news stories later stay with us. today i'm at the russian embassy in london talking to mr alexander yet again kay has just taken up the post as the new russian ambassador to the u.k. is the academic thank you very much for talking to us he congratulations on your new pasting and a very warm welcome to london on a human level relationships between the u.k. and russia are very good lots of persons work in russia russian culture is widely celebrated tear but on

a diplomatic and political level they're not saying why do you think that is well i think it's it's the task you know for the diplomats and for the political leaders you know to get the of course. to do their best to have good to political relations and as far as the russian britain ration who i would like to say that the last year was very fruitful from that point of view there were two meetings of the. president of russia and the prime minister of britain that was in canada and in seoul we expect the visit of mr this will be next week which is very important in the mr hague was. in brush where you know the negotiations were very productive and we expect the visit of mr kim room this year with i mean the embassy we're studying preparing this visit so the texture of the political contacts a very important but i would like to see what is even more important you know of

course the. as you say the the. actions between the people and the russian culture is the probably this is the test for that and we know that a lot of events going on in london a lot of people are coming russians feel comfortable in london we have thousands of them who doing business who just simply leave here and what is very important that they cannot relations are going very well and the recent deal between the b.p. and the rust nafta was just one of the examples but if you look at the in the broader sense what's going on the good the business this the good indicator is the level of the trade but the last meeting of the international committee of trade and investment just showed that we had a six day mentions directions of the corporations and we are planning to cooperate

in different areas like for example. the brits will help us to make the international financial center we expect to cooperate on the energy efficiency so basically i am very optimistic about the economic areas of corporation between our two countries and as far as your job case what areas if you target said that you will focus on in times of cooperation altshuler frankly i have to to to to to to point to know all the all the areas they'll say this is politics definitely this is economy this is technology because you know we're building skolkovo with the brits building you know the same center not far from london reason regime we're in favor of the better conditions you know we want the same conditions as we have with the rupee and union and we're ready you know to move in this direction and definitely we'll try you know to see good reaction you know from

the u.k. the run no small questions in the by the relations you had of the press department at the ministry in moscow how do you assess the british press particularly the notes to have it. taken up by tabloid newspapers do you think that british people can get an accurate perspective on international affairs from that press well i think i think that the first of all the british press is global they're not concentrated just on the local issues the taking the issues globally and in this sense they're very competitive second you know the reserve growing internet. and the third or what is very interesting to me is that the in britain you are trying to find the new ways how you know to present the news and the last idea of the murder you know to issue the the new let's say the brit between the new space between the i mean in the internet in the in the printed version it's

a very interesting it's very challenging question and of course definitely it's very interesting you know for the russian press because you know if you look at the russian internet you know it's it's basically the same as in the u.k. but if you have a global look at the press of the u.k. i would like to say that the get. adequate picture was going on in the world and on the national level to the u.k. still harbors people sort under the russian legal system people that they sell ski . and most recently. the subject of the largest claim ever made in a u.k. commercial court and what do you think it will take for the u.k. to change its position on that kind of cooperation with russia that you just say you know in general. this is there are some specific case and of course we have to deal with the every specific case you know case by case basis ambassador you have yet to come.