starting over. in the u.k. after years of tension between both countries. practical steps towards improving. towards developing a strong. security at the forefront of national. seek refuge in europe some countries. danger of losing control of.

multiculturalism. well this is. just after seven pm the visit of russia's foreign minister to london has seen the promise of future cooperation with the u.k. . following the death of former federal security service agent alexander litvinenko that was in london in two thousand and six foreign secretary william hague said that russia and the u.k. have now turned a new page. 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 the 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 a lover off 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 on the invitation of the u.k. government symbolises and you can see of the relations based on partnership interest economic cooperation between our countries is on the rise the strategic

b.p. rosneft is among the latter examples we happy to look at the agreement 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 it to a more high to levels 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. countries continue to see patient steady improvement in relations. giant leaps it is a very measured steps this welcome 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 bilateral issues and global issues it is undoubtedly on improving trend but it does seem that in the past every attempt has been made to put this relationship back on track has been de railed in some way and the latest example of that is carving the guardian correspondent who was refused entry to russia earlier 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 them is bodies but it's all 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 there's obviously that cooperation on the international stage and in terms of that they have issued a joint statement on afghanistan which talked about the transfer of power in afghanistan also talked about troop withdrawal setting 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 routes now they also talked about iran and the new. nuclear issues russia has been an important negotiator with iran in terms of its nuclear program. said that well they've been introducing the sanctions iran since joining the nonproliferation treaty and also tried to become

part of the way that will convince the world that iran has no hostile nuclear ambitions that it does indeed want to nuclear program but in my state. i met reporting that still to come for you here on the program how the recent unrest in egypt is causing a domino effect across the middle east. which country or in the crossfire and what washington and twitter have to do with the violence. rusher is taking a new measures in its fight against terrorism in the latest special operations five militants were killed in the northern caucasus region three policemen died and three were injured in the ensuing gun battle. has more on this. 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 the edge so make 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 specific leave 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 russia that's 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. he's got to reno is not about reporting for the controversial debate over multiculturalism in europe has now taken a new twist as more migrants flee the troubled countries and social stability and security europe is giving them the cold shoulder more than five thousand arrived in italy in the past week alone and its 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 it's a free speech activist in austria who described it as a failure as going on trial for speaking out against religious groups over charges of inciting hatred and violence were dropped she was found guilty of denigrating religious symbols elizabeth supposition of wolf is appealing the case and claims that she should not be prosecuted for speaking out the second looks at why some are

free to speak out while others are not. 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 reader. might studying what islam so we learn how to. know your enemy you elizabeth supper to twelve has been on trial and 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 his 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 here 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. will sign of non integration there is this trick to in vienna is known as the little estimable 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 hell is about subject wall found here a fellow like south taking a stance against self segregation at top 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. just a little bit later here on r t we get a glimpse into the future of a major walking event. of what's to come and russia's resort city of sochi as the host of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics puts

a brand new slogan to the test. well in the wake of the egyptian revolution activists in the middle east are turning up the heat on their own governments riots have broken out all across the region thousands are rallying in yemen and in bahrain where two demonstrators have been killed two activists were also killed in clashes with police in the iranian capital on monday the protest entire arm took place just a day after the u.s. state department began inspiring iran's opposition with twitter messages in farsi 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 meantime u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says washington quote clearly and directly supports the protesters contributor wayne madsen thinks the american 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 us in the u.n. it's also facing 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 or under siege that's because we have basically frozen iran out there was probably a mistake on our part to by doing that were suppressing the legitimate democratic opposition in iran. meantime middle east expert bharat mikhail says the u.s. is prepared to support any force in the region be it a dictator or a democratic movement just in order to safeguard its own agenda. the united states

have been developing a global policy throughout the last decades global policy in which it came in to support his most of the authority to have 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 you 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 that position 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 to say tell them that it was in favor of the process but i think that

anyway whether united states i want willing to do is contact 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 . and key to america defending its interests in the middle east and around the world is a military presence while the u.s. tries to lessen its deficit by cutting social programs and raising taxes there is one place the obama administration does not want to make any major cuts and that's in its defense spending with thousands of military bases around the world the u.s. needs the taxpayers' money to support them because oscar reports. back. 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.

us bases or circles and. what there's 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 terry 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. good. news and speaking of those miscellaneous expenses other reasons. i

think i'd rather. golf courses and see live in ski lodges. 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 maintaining 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 usually breeds more anti-american sentiment for example in kyrgyzstan the. we're living here and raising our children would we need this u.s. or an arkansas 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 well 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. well it's now we're just turning twenty minutes past the hour here in the russian capital you are without let's check out some other world news in brief now at this hour 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 of them is being civilians with children among them the u.n. secretary general called on both sides to immediately implement a cease fire agreement this comes one month on from the southern sudan voting to secede from the north that split its shuttles for july. an italian judge was a given the go ahead for the trial of prime minister silvio berlusconi he's facing charges that he paid for sex with a significant number of young women including a seventeen year old girl and then he used his influence to cover it up palace kone 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 is shojo to begin in early april and will be heard by a panel of three judges all of them women. the nasa spacecraft stardust has started beaming back the first pictures of a comet it has flown past the encounter will give scientists

a unique information on how these great balls of ice change over time the craft is taking more than seventy high resolution images it's the first time the same comment has been viewed by two separate spacecraft six years ago another nasa probe unleashed a projectile that carved out a crater on the space object. we can always have. much more of the stories we're covering online to you twenty four. is a taste of what you'll find there right now if you log on staying in a space two russian cosmonauts make their first simulated steps on mars experiment replicating a mission to the red planet. in hollywood georgia which is now a star of a russian language movie lucky trouble at a theater near you. finding a new home sending thirty would bison to russia to help conserve endangered species .

now the winter olympics in the russian resort of sochi may be years away but the cities are already gearing up for the grand event training runs for the alpine skiing european cup of kicked off one of the brand new slopes which that also be the scene of the games in two thousand and fourteen. is that. 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. reporting to stay with us here on r.t. the kaiser report is coming your way in about ten minutes time it will be when our hosts talk about the shoot throwing index saudi oil reserves and the haircuts on investors but now is the business news with dmitri. welcome to business good to have your company this the tuesday evening moscow's chances of becoming a global financial center could be hampered if the bank acquires bank of moscow

without attend that's according to presidential aide he's got a coach he wants to buy out one hundred percent of one of russia's top five banks 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 it decided to sell the assets in the late twenty ten after the previous mayor of moscow you do risk of loss his position some minority shareholders say the bank could be worth up to nine and a half with good dog. same with the banking sector the british banking giant barclays is planning to sell its russian retail daughter 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 and to the russian market for the second time back in two thousand and eight one is acquired russian lender expo bank for seven hundred eighty million dollars previously barclays had to quit russia after the

default in one thousand nine hundred eight carrying a loss of around four hundred million dollars it was somebody else off from you to create securities believes that this move only shows that the russian banking sector is continuing to become more competitive the competition in russia is intensifying. to be really successful america russia 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. retail business outside of moscow. so going to the markets now u.s. markets opened with a pretty much they're still the dow and nasdaq down point three and point four percent respectively this is retail sales in january only point three percent that's half what and they said expected this is bearing worries about the pace of recovery of the world's largest economy retail gloom is limiting gains on european

markets in the final minutes of trading is slightly down two point four percent the dax is up just a notch or the banking stocks are strong with barclays in the lead after reporting for us and for those of us. bursts which operates the eurex futures platform in frankfurt stock exchange has agreed to buy n.y.s.e. zero next for nine point five billion dollars the long awaited deal will create the world's largest owner of equities and derivatives. markets frankfurt bourses will control sixty percent of the new corporation. and let's move back to the figures on russia's markets the change of direction and the end of trading in the seas losing point seven percent to close investors are not finding reasons for growth easily enough to see the ongoing decline a buying opportunity and

a look at some of the stocks the gas from one of the biggest losers down two percent of the close bucking the trend was rosneft up one point six percent leading the gains up six percent after ross technology corp suggested the russian truck maker should unite with a russian rival mars into one. and on tuesday russia's stock markets were affected pretty much by the release of inflation from china and the u.k. . from financial corp explains why these figures are very important for the russian equity platforms the first things that we should highlight for sure is the all important inflation number in china which came at four point one percent or a little bit below the consensus expectations it is a very important number for russia because potential above trend inflation in china means a potential increased risk of aggressive taking and we have the chinese central bank which means in turn a potential slowdown in china and

a potential decrease in raw materials demand in china which is clearly negative for russia headline the next so you would go way. wealthy british style. time. markets finance scandals find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our.