group the fictional the guru goes how would. a visit. between the. practical steps towards improving. developing a strong. security at the forefront. of the government looks for. the.

danger of losing control of its. fuel to a few. minutes before the closing bell and the. short of expectations more on that. this is. expressed hope to cement the trend towards more positive relations as the russian foreign minister meets his british counterpart today in london. following the trip for. we have seen a series of meetings today which have really focused on the positive points in what has become a rocky relationship between russia and the u.k.

and because of that a lot of what was talked about were economic ties and trade ties of course trade between russia and the u.k. amounts to around seventeen billion dollars and russia is one of the u.k.'s most important trading partners foreign minister lavrov outlined six priorities for improving the trade relationship he talked about finance he talked about working together in the nanotech sector energy efficiency of course one of these big projects coming up for us here is the lympics corporation on olympic infrastructure strengthening the small and medium business sector in russia and also improving the business environment in general they also talked a bit about modernizing communication links between london and moscow this is obviously love rovs first visit to london in this particular official capacity let's hear what he said about those communication ties that they're looking to improve the. visit to london an invitation if you could government symbolises

a new quality of our relations based on partnership interest economic cooperation between our countries is on the rise since the strategic b.p. . later examples would be to look at the agreements on establishing a direct line between the british prime minister and the kremlin it's an important new elements of our communications that's meant to take you to a more high to live. and taking that relationship to a more high tech level is really symptomatic of how important russia and the u.k. are as partners together talked about how important u.k. was as its partner in it starlost with and with the e.u. and also the partnership that it has in dialogue with nato and on improving european security and william hague the british foreign secretary also underlined the importance of that relationship let's hear him. see patient. relations. giant leaps measured

steps this visit is an important part of the steady improvement in relations which we initiated on our side when the coalition government came into office. working relationship. issues and global issues it is undoubtedly on an employee free trade but it does seem that in the past every attempt has been made to put this relationship back on track has been deemed railed in some way latest example of that is new car doing the guardian correspondent who was refused entry to russia this month there was something wrong with his accreditation and that's why he wasn't allowed back into the country but of course that's not the only thing we're really this relationship was the merger of alexander litvinenko in london in two thousand and six and the british law enforcement main suspect is under a look of war who is now a dealer deputy and it's against russia's constitution to extradite him that's something that the british have been calling for for some time now but it hasn't

happened also there are forty people around about living here in the u.k. who are wanted for crimes in russia and so far refusal to extradite them as well the most notable of his buddies but his old ski the russian tycoon and also. the former chechen leader and alongside the bilateral relationship that these two countries have and are trying to improve their obviously their cooperation on the international stage and in terms of that they have issued a joint statement on afghanistan which talks about the transfer of power in afghanistan also talked about troop withdrawal set up assessing a sort of loose timetable for that and also the fight against the production of drugs in afghanistan which is a huge problem with russia in terms of transport. now they also thought. iran and the new perish nuclear issues russia has been an important negotiator with iran in terms of its nuclear program. said that rather than introducing further sanctions

iran should join the nonproliferation treaty and should also try to become part of the i.a.e.a. and that and only that will convince the world that iran has no hostile nuclear ambitions that it does indeed want to nuclear program merely for domestic use so no new sanctions for iran but that it should push to try and join the i.a.e.a. and other nonproliferation organizations artie's lorimer reporting and still to come for you in the program here on r.t. how the recent unrest in egypt is courting a domino effect across the east and which countries are hostile and want washington and twitter to do but the bottom. russia is taking a new measures in its fight against terrorism in the latest special operation five militants were killed in the northern caucasus region three policemen died and three were injured in an suing gun battle to bring us out of

a has more. a number of terrorists were surrounded by a local law enforcement a gun battle ensued in which five militants were killed one is supposedly on the run and is being sought after as we speak in the gun battle and this of course is just the latest installment in the on go wing battle against terrorism in russia specifically in the volatile caucasus region one of the a suicide blast that was a detonated in a village in the republic of the guest on that was a car that was detonated by a suicide bomber he himself was in the car of course and died on location another suicide bomb that also took place in that same village in the guest on a woman who walked up to a military outpost and detonated a suicide belt with a bomb of course killing herself killing one. security officer and injuring many

others course the investigation into moscow's airport bombing is still ongoing but we do know that authorities have now managed to confirm the identity of the suicide bomber the facts are coming out as soon as the identity of the suicide bomber was established the authorities of course are now gathering more and more information not only about the man himself but also about all of his accomplices who helped him put together the detonating device who actually made edge said made sure that he got to the airport that he detonated that device everyone and anyone of course who came into contact with the so side bomber is now under even further scrutiny from the security forces russian authorities if it please the russian president dmitry medvedev has ordered security forces to be stepped up a lot not just a notch on all major transport hubs in washouts of course including airports train stations metro stations the president ordering heavier police. presence and

a lot more devices such as metal detectors to be implemented on train stations for control to be doubled at airports and that of course is being implemented as we speak but the full effect of those measures is of course yet to take place as it is quite a serious amount of work for the security forces. that are in and out of our reporting that well the controversial debate over multiculturalism and in europe has now taken a new twist as more migrants flee their troubled countries in search of stability and security europe is giving them the cold shoulder more than five thousand arrived in italy in the past week that his interior minister warns they could jeopardize the institutional and social structures of the continent it comes on the back of harsh criticism of multiculturalism by some western european leaders a free speech activist in austria who described it as a failure as going on trial for speaking out against religious groups that the

charges of inciting hatred and violence were dropped she was found guilty of denigrating religious symbols elizabeth of wolf is appealing the case and claim she should not be prosecuted for speaking out on the circuit that looks at why some are free to speak out while others on alt. a european citizen peacefully debating islam with a muslim is nothing unusual in a multicultural country like australia but it's a topic not always discussed in such gentle fashion i advise you not to burn the koran but your readers. might studying what islam so far will be learning how to. know your enemy elizabeth supper teacher has been on trial in a vienna court on charges of making what is described as a hate speech against islam a left wing all strand magazine recorded and published a speech at one of her seminars landing here in court i have nothing against people

who want to practice their faith. but i would like them to do this in the privacy of their own homes your ideas she says are nothing new and when europe's political elite express them they are not prosecuted for the same views multiculturalism has failed this is nothing new and my group and i have been saying this for years now all of a sudden. and others come out of hiding and agree with us i don't know why but elizabeth wolfe opponents say she crossed the line here a speech is outraged not only the muslim community but also made. it's not a matter of free speech that i can spread hatred about large groups of society now we have to respect individuals in our society and we have to ask them to integrate and we have to help them to integrate yet european leaders such as german

chancellor angela merkel french president nicolas sarkozy and british prime minister david cameron say multiculturalism in europe isn't working there are huge muslim communities but frequently such as in all strata they leave in their own areas of physics. sign of non integration there is this trick to in vienna is known as a little a system while people here speak their native language they prepare their national dishes and where the clothes which they are used to and this is exactly what elizabeth subaverage wall found here a fellow like south taking a stance against self segregation a top pick which was once taboo is now at the top of the european political agenda with multiculturalism now open to multi criticism from some of the continent's most influential political leaders we've yet to see how their views might fully influence debate on the ground and the future shape of europe exiting the church

over r t from vienna. you without a life from moscow where it's now just turning thirteen minutes past the hour just a little bit later we get a glimpse into the future of a major sporting event it's a taste of what's to come in russia as with the city of sochi as the host of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics with the brad slope to the test. in the wake of the gyptian revolution activists in the middle east are turning up the heat on their governments riots have broken out all across the region actually thousands are rallying in yemen for a fifth day on monday to demonstrators were killed in the rain to activists were also killed in clashes with police in the iranian capital the protest in tehran took place just a day after the u.s. state department began inspiring iran's opposition with tweets and i suggest it's the first such riot in the country for over a year on tuesday iranian m.p.'s called for the opposition leaders to be tried and

executed u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says washington washington quote clearly and directly supports the protesters on r.t. contributor wayne madsen thinks the americans stance on iran is actually harming the opposition. the regime in iran can always point to that and say this is the united states behind this whether we're we are behind some of the groups but legitimate opposition is suppressed because of that mantra that's put over all the opposition by the iranian government iran is under economic embargo from the u.s. and u.n. it's also facing us u.s. troops in afghanistan in iraq so the regime there can point to the fact that they're under siege and also under the threat of a military attack by politicians in israel the united states they can point to that and say you can't be can oppose the regime we're under siege that's because we have

basically frozen iran out there was probably a mistake on our part. by doing that we're suppressing the legitimate democratic opposition in iran. well middle east expert about mikhail says that the u.s. is willing to serve the interests of any group in the region as long as washington feels its agenda is not under threat the united states have been developing a global policy throughout the last decades global policy in which it came in to support most of the authoritative governments that you can see actually let's say on the broad middle eastern scene the americans consider that defending their own interests in the region can't come without making as if they were really supporting the democratic processes that are prevailing in the region and that is why we could see as an example that in the beginning when you had the riots in egypt they didn't really support the public opinion became much more with the opposition that was

keen to what hosni mubarak wanted but when they consider when they noticed that they couldn't do anything against the river result and the revolution that was taking place then they decided to compose with the public opinion and to say tell them that it was in favor of democratic process but i think that anyway whether united states i want are willing to do is consecrating or is defending their own interests and that is why they try to anticipate things and they try to make as if they were the best friends of the public opinions that are present in the ground. it's good to have your company today let's check out some other world news in brief this hour and a senior official of sudan's ruling party has accused the north of backing rebel attacks which killed some two hundred people last week the death toll is twice that of earlier estimates with most victims being civilians including children the u.n. secretary general called on both sides to immediately implement a cease fire agreement that's all coming one month on from southern sudan's voting

to secede from the north the split is fortunately. italy and judges given the go ahead for the trial of prime minister silvio berlusconi he's facing charges he paid for sex with a significant number of young women including a seventeen year old girl and he used his influence to cover it up or scone has strongly denied the allegations in our faces three years in prison if found guilty of paying minors for sex and from six to twelve years for abuse of power the trial of shows will to begin in early april and will be heard by a panel of three judges all of them are women. the nasa spacecraft stardust has started beaming back the first pictures of a comet that swept past it the encounter will give scientists unique information on how these great balls of ice and dust change over time the craft hoped that the more than seventy high resolution images would be all the extent of the impact

crater and surroundings if the first time a comet has been viewed by two different spacecraft six years ago another nasa probe unleashed a couple of bullet but carved a crater on the carpet. well as the united states tries to lessen its deficit there's one place the obama administration does not want to make any major cuts and that's its defense spending with thousands of military bases around the world the u.s. needs its taxpayers' money to support them because often reports. bad. home they are signs of american power and might. military bases spread all over the world just how many apparently too many to count what i've read of. thousands that means that u.s. bases are cycles and. while there is more than we just can't be sure but what we

can be sure about is that the us defense budget is now about the same as no it's harry spending in all other countries combined and since nine eleven military and security expenditures have soared by one hundred and nineteen percent military expenditures in faraway places like new zealand colombia and japan and have you ever heard of the marshall islands khwaja an atoll specifically well the united states is there too and some locations serve dual purposes like kuantan i'm obey and they're all sustained by hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money just how much money i don't think in. the. end it's going to and speaking of those miscellaneous expenses other reasons. i think i'd rather have. golf courses and see life in ski lachesis.

that's a little bit action isn't it and brian becker of the answer coalition says it's not just the golf courses that are extra clearly there is no need and from the point of view of self-defense for the us to have military installations all over the world it's really part of me. a far flung global empire place the us has a military base the us has political power economic power and it's a matter of coersion a corps and that isn't always welcome in fact it usually breeds more anti-american sentiment for example in kyrgyzstan. we're living here and raising our children would we need this us or an aco now where locals have to give up ten to twenty percent of the island to the united states for a military base that they associate with noise crime and pollution and take a look at this in the wake of demonstrations in arkansas will last year activists place this ad in the washington post trying to tell the obama administration that they don't want to base in their hometown all of the proxy governments that accept

u.s. military bases in to their country become vulnerable once the people actually start to rise up and mobilize which they almost always do rising up against a double standard the u.s. would never tolerate china having military bases in canada in mexico in haiti in the dominican republic in other words in the countries that ring the united states the united states is the seven hundred pound gorilla it sets wherever it chooses to sit and choosing to sit down wherever usually means that those most affected by these bases both here at home and abroad don't have a place at the table for our tea. you can always have many more stories we are on line for you twenty four hours a day. a journey of human experience. simulated. an experiment a mission to the red planet. hollywood.

star a russian language movie. would . help. in. the winter olympics in the russian resort of sochi may be years away but the city's already gearing up for the grand event training runs for the alpine skiing european cup of kicked off on a brand new slope which will host the games in two thousand and fourteen. reports. the resort is situated in the cross napoli on the mountain range about forty kilometers away from the central part of the city and it will be connected with the olympic village near the coast by high speed rail way and highway now what we see

here today is one of the first field tests of the sporting facilities before the actual games to see how they perform under live conditions even though the olympics are three years away russian and european athletes already are getting a chance to test some of this key piece now during the two thousand and eleven alpine european cup and also domestic competitions while the mountains are covered in snow now there were plenty of nerves beforehand organizers were very concerned about the weather since just a few weeks ago it was raining here in the mountains and everyone was waiting anxiously for the snow to fall and as you can see their prayers were heard and the steep mountain slopes are now in excellent condition for ski but if the weather fails to deliver enough snow there is always a plan b. in the form of recently installed snow making machines to ensure there's plenty for competition what we see here today is the initial stage of the l. point european man's cup the skiers are having a training day this tuesday and the main part of the competition will be held

during the coming days a total of seventy four test events will be held in sochi before the two thousand and fourteen winter games twenty nine of them international competitions it's the start of serious testing of the olympic infrastructure not just the venues but also roads bridges tunnels and power lines the construction of most venues is still underway although the organizers say it's answering the final stages and it's over the most difficult initial phase the organizers among them members of the russian government sports industry pros and construction companies will use feedback from these events to fine tune preparations for the olympics themselves. now time for the business news with dmitri. banks story hello and welcome to business chances of becoming a global financial center could be hampered if the bank acquires bank of moscow

without attend that's according to president carter you've got a coach of d.t.b. wants to buy out one hundred percent of one of russia's top five bags in the first half of this year the bank of moscow's biggest shareholder the moscow city government estimates the bank at six billion dollars decided to sell its stake in the bank in late twenty ten after the previous mayor of moscow you to cough lost his position some minority shareholders say the bank should be worth up to nine and a half billion dollars. staying with the industry the british banking giant barclays is planning to sell its russian retail door so by the end of the year the head of its russian division says the company plans to focus more on its investment business in russia barclay's bank added the russian market for the second time back in two thousand and eight one to quiet russian land expo bank for seven hundred eighty million dollars previously barclays had to quit russia after the fault in one nine hundred ninety eight carrying a loss of around four hundred million dollars most of us offer music critic

europeans believes that this move only shows that the russian banking sector is continuing to become more competitive. competition in russia is intensifying. and to be really successful in the retail banking the rush or any kind of bank for a local bank has to have. good scale has to have a presence and if i'm not mistaken barclays scaled back maybe half a year ago. it's a retail business outside of moscow. speculative the markets now u.s. markets have opened low as retail sales in january only point three percent that's what this that expected this is bearing worries about the pace of recovery of the world's largest economy of course the retail gloom is not having much of an effect on the european markets for slightly over banking stocks so strong with barclays in

the lead and the dax is up one percent a change in direction on the russian markets just a few minutes before the close it is used now losing half a percent and best of the. difficulties finding reasons for growth these are enough to see the ongoing decline a buying opportunity yet more you see on some of the stocks gas prom is one of the biggest losers down one point two five percent is up however two percent come as is leading the game that's up six percent after the last technology corporation suggested that the russian drug makers should unite with the belorussian rival mars into one company. but russia's unemployment rate is declining the problem of an aging population is ever growing pension ages are being increased in many countries proposals are running into protests all over the world last year finance minister executed him that in the next six to seven years russia's retirement age would

start to creep up russia currently has one of the lowest retirement age thresholds with men retiring at sixty women at fifty five yes felix q go manpower russians. yes there's no quick way to fix the problem. and there isn't much the government's fault though thousand been quite some work so that this sort of a process is well documented well known i mean there are a number of come countries that raise the retirement age has a fix the problem no it wasn't there is no quick fix the problem has to be worked with i mean let's put it this way theories are in the. deeds must be. so for now back in one hour sign with an update of course headlines i saw.

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