this week's top stories egypt's military dissolved the previous parliament and suspends a constitution president mubarak steps down and hands power to the army while the west hails it as a triumph of democracy if an external agenda could be behind the events. russia's most wanted terrorist dr model of claims responsibility for moscow's deadly airport. attack exposed the country's security at major transport hubs. and. is in legal limbo waiting to see if he'll be extradited from london to stockholm to face questions over sex crime allegations supporters claim it's washington's attempts to ensnare him.

with a look back at the top stories from the past week and the latest developments this is r.t. here in moscow the military supreme council in egypt has dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution after president mubarak stepped down and handed power to the army following eighteen days on rest across the country the military authorities have now begun clearing the makeshift tents in tahrir square that have been the epicenter of the protests for hundreds of thousands of people the president's resignation on friday was hailed by the u.s. president as a victory for democracy. reports washington's long term support for the president has many question the sincerity of obama's sense of. hosni mubarak from power is eventually departure not without the help of washington he had a phone call from the white house that persuaded him to leave. the former egyptian

president left cairo just hours after he addressed the nation saying he was not going anywhere the screws have been put upon him a by the on a no doubt by the u.s. state department but it was a very serious risk for washington and in the end they decided it would be safe to dump mobarak in the west mubarak's departure was hailed as a triumph of democracy with the cheerleader in chief buraq obama gyptian said made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day but it's egypt's military largely financed by the united states which will now control the country until it gets into their next president they have a very cool relationship with a pencil don't always very very close to robert gates they talked on the phone at least five times this past week or so or because the washington will be supervising him missing that happens that's unlikely to satisfy the overwhelming desire of many

egyptians for change which drove the revolutionary events of the past few weeks if you heard the slogans that were being chanted it was egypt egypt egypt meaning we have fed up of being bullied by foreign powers and forced into peace treaties which don't do us any good and our generals bowl to directly with billions of dollars by the pentagon mubarak is yesterday's man for the us now after thirty years of being their top pants man in the arab world when a blind eye was turned in the west to appalling human rights abuses under his rule bigger problem with the us policy and that is cozying up to. dictators in the first place that we really don't need to cozy up to and then when they get into trouble we get into this hypocritical position of supporting an autocratic regime when we're spouting democratic rhetoric here in the united states mubarak was kept imp.

our by american support and huge payments to making him one of the richest man in the world we had a lot to do with mubarak being in power and staying in power like we subsidize and we own him these are puppet dictator he does what we tell him because he gives so much money he's gotten probably sixty to seventy billion dollars and understand his family probably has sixty or seventy billion dollars stashed away in swiss accounts and other places around the world as if that is the second largest recipient of american aid in the world after its neighbor israel the us is pumping billions of dollars into the egyptian military which gives washington huge control over the running of the country and its future now celebrates the end of rule by an autocratic leader who restricted political freedoms and economic progress so too did people rejoice for a time on the streets of carriages then ukraine in recent years after so called democratic revolutions with western approval but the leaders who came to power were

later rejected by their own people even though there's a lot of celebration in jubilation going on in cairo we don't know really whether the military is going to give up its power and authority and if they do to whom how far will they share or what's going to happen some say the lesson that the west could learn from recent revolutions is to abstain from supporting a leader just based on how convenient they are for the west rather than how much they can do for their people got a check on our t. washington d.c. . well author and journalist afshin rattansi told me earlier that while mubarak may be gone there are a lot of reasons why people will remain unhappy there for some time well i think the people in tahrir square certainly don't want to see field marshal tantawi and. vice president they don't want these people in power people like moment el baradei who do have close ties with international institutions such as the international monetary fund and those kinds of globalized institutions how far these people can

really play a part egypt's economy is in the doldrums it's in chaos a lot of those companies that are stationed there have been stealing the money so a lot of the egyptian people might see the companies can be named b.p. shell trans ocean they're masses of companies there that are enjoying huge privileges you mentioned a little earlier the implications this could have on other countries and you mentioned saudi arabia but bearing in mind what we're seeing at the moment happening in yemen algeria even a few stirrings in morocco what is your prediction on what's going to happen i mean tony blair is saying the egyptian revolt could help spread democracy throughout the middle east would you say democracy or could we see further chaos. tony blair is usually a reverse barometers if he says that they can be a breakthrough of democracy in the maghreb we probably have to be a bit pessimistic for the peoples of north africa i think algeria is the one to watch the french are certainly watching it with is because there are oil interests

there the people have suffered have not benefited from masses of money masses of exports we'll have to see what happens in algeria and i think that's the country to watch at the moment. we just heard from mr a mood of discontent in the region has also been spreading to algeria where thousands have been gathering to demand the resignation of the president more than thirty thousand policemen have been deployed to prevent an uprising similar to that in egypt hundreds of demonstrators have been detained in clashes across the capital of kiev as the country's been under a state of emergency for nineteen years to outlaw public demonstrations in the wake of the uprisings in tunisia and egypt the government said it would lift emergency. if you just joined us welcome this is r.t. come to you live from moscow we've got plenty more ahead for you this hour including american dream or american nightmare cities across the u.s. are hard hit as the government faced with record debt slashes wages and cuts vital services. so they have more guns per person than any other european country swiss

voted several proposals for tighter controls. plus the problem of underage drinking russian youngsters are finding it easier to buy spirits without being asked for id it's a lack of law enforcement is leaving the country with thousands of teenage alcoholics . those stories still to come but first this week one of the world's most wanted terrorists claimed responsibility for this suicide attack on moscow's busiest airport last month that deadly bombing drew attention to serious security lapses at transport hubs which is president inventive discovered himself haven't all been addressed. as this report. russia's most wanted terrorist claims thirty six more innocent lives have been taken by his deadly complain chechen born model said this week he was the mastermind behind january's bombing at the idea of the airport when one of made the claims in

a video message posted on an extremist website he described the suicide bombing as his special operate and promised more terrorist attacks security experts say the massachusetts enforces why he's no longer described as just a chechen war lot but as an international terrorist these groups move more fiercely round the world and you know there are undoubtedly germans operating in parts of afghanistan but some have been skeptical whether mark was indeed behind the bombing the terrorist is stalking himself they say as a self-styled bin ladin to make sure foreign investments. he's a man who wants to put all the trappings of bin ladin isn't if you will is sort of ground. to his actions and therefore it's not always clear how much authority he really has in fact from within his own group and there was a rebellion i think of last year when he resigned and then he read his resignation

and the younger members apparently wanted him out so it's not quite clear where they who is in charge of a barge a number of these militant groups or where they can simply putting himself in a position of their own near in order to gain more authority him self and meanwhile this week security forces arrested three suspected accomplices of the airport bomber all three are from the north caucasus republic of english it here and are believed to have known about the attack planned by a twenty year old evil with a manhunt is on for seven other suspects wanted in connection with the bombing as the security operation gathered pace the president shifted the focus from what has been down to sort out the op. so much of the tragedy what is being done to prevent similar tragedies from happening again the best thing to do he decided is to go on inspection personally. he checked security at one of moscow's busiest railway stations and was left unimpressed to say the least. as i see private

security agents here but where is the police and where are any metal detectors i don't see them we don't have metal detectors that's true these baksh and didn't reveal any says the t.v. either and just to compound concerns no police in sight. through the whole station and i haven't seen a single policeman no police but there's a church well at least you have some place to pray. but the time when people relied soley on god not police may finally be over russia's anti terror law is likely to be seriously amended so just as the country's police force is now undergoing a major overhaul it's hoped the changes to the police will put an end to cop corruption and security lapses. are to. the extradition hearing a wiki leaks founder julian assange has been adjourned until the end of february he

appeared in court in london on friday as he continues his fight against extradition to sweden where he faces questioning over sex crime and occasions he claims a case is being fabricated so the u.s. can use we need to get its hands on an bodies and he said no you know explores the cozy relationship between washington and. 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 new trial. strong 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 in

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 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 is. a willingness to. do the ariens of the united states over many years from. question seven. making asylum seekers in sweden. both to the cia buddies

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 u.s. with fierce reaction from one of the country's most notorious neo cons is not a particularly credible source and he is a hero to millions my mind as it is a criminal only ought to be out of delta grow. put on trial for what he has done you're 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 songe for sex crimes with another link to the us thomas bostrom is claimed to have handed the cia asylum seekers from sweden who were then tortured questions about neutrality became even even clearer thanks to some of the documents from exactly with. the big question now is there enough room in the british justice system to protect julian assange from the united states of sweden america and let him keep blowing his whistle and he's in no way are to stockholm sweden. or yet another legal battle looms for julian assange you can find out about the bitter breakup between the former but the u.k. guardian newspaper clashes with its collaborator weaken it was even threatened with voluble by the whistle blowing web site that's coming your way in the next hour along with. the tactic in iraq we look at the plight of christians to flee their homes or to be continuously targeted by extremist groups. their

stories next hour for you but in the meantime with the russian government trying to rein in the country's excessive drinking it seems our efforts may be missing the real root of the problem parties are going to find out how russia's youth maybe under the age limit but rough and over the drinking limit. these teenagers just may be russia's future and it's looking rather bleak. the problem is that kids start drinking around fourteen fifteen years of age regularly dependence it takes a few years to four so when they are brought to us the process has already been for and not always we can pull them out of this tough situation according to n.g.o.s there anywhere from twenty to sixty thousand in the country and many blame the fact that it's far too easy for a teenager to buy alcohol legal drinking age in russia is eighteen years old so how easy is it for a teenager to get his or her hands on some hard liquor we're going to follow

a couple of enthusiasm a russian youth organization into that liquor store right across the street which is one of the largest supermarkets selling hard alcohol to find out whether or not they were successful in getting their hands on a couple of bottles of whiskey we went in with a hidden camera but the experiment didn't work the first time around so no go here the teenage girls were not sold any alcohol they were elsewhere than to the station when they didn't provide it they were refused service but we're going to go to another place just down the street and see whether they will be able to get some vodka or beer there follow us. sure enough each of them had no trouble getting a beer from this kiosk. when confronted this serious woman got defensive but didn't seem too fazed with breaking the law oh not that we have it though how many times did we tell you not to sell alcohol to the under-aged and you still continue to do that. unfortunately practically every second or supermarkets sell

cigarettes and alcohol to adolescents and we have to mark positive tendencies to russian parliamentarians have been trying to implement stringent punishments for those who sell alcohol and cigarettes to minors but so far there has been very little progress parents are responsible for the children until they turn. eighteen you know i think if we make parents behave fine when the kids smell good drink it will raise the level of responsibility because presently teenagers do all these things practically with a parent's permission. several routes of this alcohol became an intrinsic part of the russian culture after world war two we have a tradition to drink for any reason and that's a huge problem we need to tackle fortunately many youngsters themselves realize the scope of the problem. they want to relax to feel grown up but i don't think if you drink two three bottles of beer you automatically become an adult as things stand there is little consequence or punishment for kiosk or store owners willing to cash

in on minors health but it could be the country's future at stake it even goes corti. by the way you can always find more and have your say on the stories we're covering on our website is r.t. dot com online all the time he was there for you right now. twelve championship promises a new wave of excitement and a brand new soundtrack you can find out about the traditional instrument which hopes to strike a chord with. space travel finally about to pay off with a landing on the red planet and find out how the crew of the simulated mission is preparing to go where no man has gone before. as the u.s. economy struggles in the wake of the downturn many states are strapped for cash and

debt ridden city authorities a cutting back on key services lister explores how budget cuts seem to be pushing the american dream further and further away from reality. it's the reality america cannot escape with the city's roughly two hundred eighty million dollars debt. more and more people are talking about bankruptcy news of debt like that hitting cash strapped cities and states all over the country altogether it could amount to two trillion dollars and a bill many may not be able to pay the problem of the state and local debt is more serious than the real estate bubble serious because with millions of americans still unemployed and losing their homes there isn't enough taxpayer money to pay creditors local governments which aren't allowed to operate in the red must come up with the cash this means some may be choosing between default or devastation in many cases it will be fairly simple for cities to cut services before they actually

default on their debt cities and states coast to coast seem to be trying this route and the toll it's taking on the streets of america is undeniable. camden new jersey is the second most dangerous city in the country you didn't see many cops on the streets to begin with and now may really see any the city's had to lay off nearly half of their police force in detroit a city where people have been too broke to bury their dead the city's too broke to repair dying infrastructure to fix roads or lights in the desert state of arizona cuts have been a matter of life and death. governor jan brewer taking a lot of heat over the death of another transplant patient after the state cut funding for the operations here in new york city huge piles of garbage like this one are all over city streets this city's behind on picking up trash after getting behind cleaning up after our snowstorm public officials blame that on any number of

reasons but one accusation that keeps coming up is this is the result of budget cuts cuts have consequences you can't just sort of cut and there isn't enough wasteful spending so to speak to cut you're actually do have to cut services that people depend on analysts say the slashing will. to an increase in unemployment and a lowering of wages dragging more americans down and the economy with it the prospect of bankruptcies threaten the pensions of public workers and may cause a run on municipal bonds so that will push the city counties over the over the cliff. either scenario seems to be causing a widespread decline in the american city once relegated to ancient history the feedback towards economic shrinking downsizing and the urban ization exactly the same thing happened in the roman empire when in the end broom was left almost a deserted city and all of the production shifted back onto the land that's faced

here although the land in this case looks like it'll be abroad rather than in the united states as investment flees to other countries threatening to take with it the american dream lauren lyster r.t. new york. well political activist and rapper m one says many americans are ready to take action against their government and our interview is coming up for you in the next hour but here's a quick preview for you. we have young african black and brown. community colonial subject being sat down in the street and an obsessive kind of way fifty shots sixty shots laying on our stomach in our back as we run or as we watch or flee in retreat from the scene this is an abuse of power which is the powder keg upon which we sit now and we've discussed our already the jobless rate we've discussed already the idea that there's a crisis even in the ideology of america and who would be the next to lead so there

isn't a competition about that happening as well and people are charged people are charged and are waiting to jump into action. swiss voters have rejected a proposal for time to controls on gun ownership. in a referendum on supporters had been panicked kevin had campaigned on the fact that switzerland's rate of farm suicides is the highest in europe however the debate goes much further with many people questioning whether the country with its neutral image even needs armed forces. has more on this. training for combat preparing for war except these soldiers are from neutral switzerland and are unlikely to ever experience wartime combat more and more the country centuries old militia is being challenged the swiss are voting on the longstanding tradition of keeping a government issue weapon at home as part of military obligations public outcry

about high rates of fire arms suicide and lot of calls to tighten gun ownership regulations but the militia and the country's beloved village shooting clubs under fire whatever the result it's just the tip of the iceberg of a much bigger battle local activists likely stuff by day has been pushing for a complete abolition of the armed forces as normal cold war we totally surrounded by the european union which is. militarily speaking totally friendly so we have no war 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. you know it's a joke guys make fun you know. just play with words 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 substantial four point five billion dollars have been cut and the option of joining the civil service instead was introduced. there is a political clout which means that the parliament is. rich people and rich people want an army. 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 false security you say well i saw two army can do. anything against terrorism they can't do anything against social problems and disorder so why should we every year about five million of swiss francs for something to help solve the problems we have the arguments are there give the swiss will jordi still can. not imagine a nation without their men in uniform to your concerts is a coup not only the political left subordinate believe we're still a minority in this country it's hard to convince the book elation because it's really a tradition that is deeply rooted in the sleaze psyche the bus last there's the rise of populism and demagogy each one is leading. many swiss feel that abolishing the armed forces is a kid's a 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. will join r.t. as we explore the caucasus nature reserve declare unesco as a world heritage site that'll be coming your way right after the headlines which will be within about two minutes from now stay with us here on r.t. .

discovery. communicate with you while. yourself and become free. and. see what nature can give you the. world. bringing you the latest in science and technology from around the world. we've got the future covered.