these are revolts and not revolutions yet people's mindsets are revolutionary they want change they're fed up with these or revolts until the structures in place change it won't be considered revolutions in order for democratic position to occur people need to elect their officials right now we're not seeing that we're seeing the status quo in egypt the military state nothing's changed it's a formal change because the more barak was a part of the military the military hosni mubarak who won the united states and its allies are pleading we had their backs what they're doing right now is something that we should call creating a challenger discourse counter discourse is when you have a party in governance and in opposition to do to control both sides now i'm not saying that the protests aren't genuine the protests are absolutely genuine and organic but the fact is that the united states is trying to put its own opposition figures into position to see if the wise men in egypt which are unelected

individuals billionaires people who were it part of the status quo part of the regime in fact who did nothing when mubarak was in power. well the president of the arab lawyers association association burton said the protests across the region were ignited by hatred of too much western involvement and domestic policies certainly the unifying factor is that all of them have had enough of an awful dictatorship the governments that have all been so subservient to the west that this goes against the will of the people in that region generally speaking the interest of the national interest of the west is contradictory to the national interest of that region that of countries have a problem with israel they have a problem with the americans they have a problem with capitalism and this is going to this is a unifying factor. although the u.s. is showing its support for the revolt one middle east expert believes the wave of

demonstrations could come back to haunt america once so we definitely do have the peoples of different countries of burien of the definitely of iraq of libya of yemen of egypt seated who really want to have change now the other aspect that i think that we have to be very careful about is that this will be and i think it is probably being either macro managed and control even and probably is going to be used to favor the interests of certain global power structures float out the united states would like to see regime change in iran but at the same time they would like to see no regime change in bahrain and in egypt they probably knew that regime change was on the way because of the age of hosni mubarak and what iraq is another problem altogether so i think that we have a generalized situation which the united states is for in the state department finding very difficult to control. and further wiki leaks revelations are casting a shadow on the image of unity that nato is struggling hard to project well instead

of being an alliance of equals it turns out to be increasingly controlled by the u.s. with washington dictating both its stance and agenda and as r.t. scott that he has a lot of our reports and even goes as far as america snooping on its own nato allies. cat among the pigeons whistle blower strikes again this time at the very heart of nato according to documents published by two european newspapers a u.s. mole was planted right in the office of the alliance's secretary general several of the cables revealed by wiki leaks indicate america is trying to control nato from within reporting confidential information back to washington this point of view is supported by some of the documents allegedly sent by u.s. diplomat jeff rafter. when under spog rasmussen was looking for closer ties with the collective security treaty organization made up of former soviet states the us was quick to veto the idea after a private dialogue with the u.s.

representative to nato rasmussen took all mention of the two organizations growing closer out of his address to the alliance in two thousand and nine but why would the us try to pressure its allies. as one of nato is key players the u.s. tries to prevent the alliance from growing too close to the russia in the former soviet bloc because the region is of strategic interest to america but they of course would prefer to build exclusive bilateral relationships the strong ties between two military organizations such as nato and the c.s.c. is not in u.s. interests. this is an odds with the image of the alliance tries to project a strong union where every opinion matters even the people in the street understand that washington is calling the shots so. left right left right we're much. this is what is happening in reality that people know the

documents published so far haven't exactly uncovered anything groundbreaking but if every member in nato is supposedly equal it has raised questions over whether the u.s. will really trust the alliance at all cats rena's arvo r.t. . or british foreign policy analyst william spring gave us a damning indictment of nato calling it a bogus alliance dominated by the us. all these cables actually show it's what we've known all along that nato is a group dominated by the united states of america that in fact it's not an alliance at all in the sense of being sovereign states. it's a bogus alliance the united states works under various aliases nato is one of them i sat in afghanistan is another but all the time what the reality is of overwhelming american military power used on usually just totally defenseless

places the secretary general rasmussen has seen the invalidity of the current strategic concept of nato and he is endeavoring in o.c. only way to make build bridges with russia but he's being guarded by hillary clinton i think something from these cables anyway so it appears some sort of pale pink lefty and hillary clinton seems desperate to stop. anders rasmussen making any positive outreach to russia. well your view there are plenty more ahead this hour including a look at the three years of kosovo self declared independence from serbia but it's . breakaway region and equal certain recognition by the majority of the u.n. member states stead it's brought all suppose we are supposed to cross it.

and while your readers line up to admit the failure of multiculturalism we tell you how one activist has now found herself on trial for doing the same. well the u.s. defense budget is going under the knife as the country seeks to slash the national debt from a staggering fourteen trillion dollars well the proposed budget is almost fourteen billion dollars less than last time well even though it still amounts to almost half of all global village terry spending on defense analysts laura calmly told us that america's approach to spending on its own forces can't last forever. the defense budget is is actually higher now than it was at the peak level of spending during the cold war we're spending more on defense than we are spending during the war in vietnam as well and defense spending in the country is actually doubled since two thousand and one so really i think we need to do a better job of matching our resources and our priorities i think since two thousand and one in this country we've sort of gotten into the mindset of buy

everything do everything in a sense we've decided that if we can spend enough money we can sort of in a way address every threat that's out there we can buy perfect security and that's just not realistic actually secretary gates was testifying in front of the house armed services committee and he was asked about this very idea you know how much money do we really need to spend for all these security needs and he said listen you know there's no amount of money that you can spend that can actually take our risk down to zero and that's just it's an illusory concept so we need to do a better job as i said of matching our resources and our priorities and at this. i'm in time with the difficult economic situation in the us we really just can't afford to increase the pentagon budget year after year as we have been doing over the last decade. well ties between moscow and vatican saw a dramatic improvement that this week when president medvedev met pope benedict the sixteenth in rome well the two discussed ways of dialogue between the russian

orthodox and catholic churches the latest attempt to remember relations that were destroyed during soviet times it's just over a year since moscow and the vatican have restored full diplomatic ties all earlier the president met prime minister silvio berlusconi in rome where they signed a multi-million dollar energy deal launched twelve months of cultural exchanges as part of a year of russia in italy. a kossovo has marked a three years since it unilaterally declared independence from serbia well the region is recognized by the united states and some e.u. countries but not by russia more than one hundred other u.n. member states all the anniversary was marred by a recent council of europe report alleging that cos of both leaders including the current prime minister were involved in crimes during the war of the one nine hundred ninety nine and clued executions abductions that organ trafficking claims claims which serbia wants the u.n.

security council to investigate a marker for the british serbian alliance for peace says the u.s. and the e.u. did not look into it earlier because their roles in what happened would have emerged. the key thing is we go back to those eleven years to when serbia was being bombed when people were being butchered on bridges in schools and hospitals or rowing stations where people were being killed in the name of our supposedly good albanian leadership that needed protecting with its population those crimes that were committed a great service at that time was so huge that to admit that in fact the reality was that the albanians that the us was sponsoring at the time were indeed stealers and slavers and villains in a variety of different kinds would be to the legitimize one's own propaganda operation so they couldn't go back from their original claims without admitting that they'd be lying all along particularly in one thousand nine hundred nine and that would have meant those who bombed serbia were culpable in criminal terms for

that bombing and should answer before an international court so of course it would be very difficult for them to say actually yes we are indeed wrong we were wrong we supported the wrong side and under that and that was the one step too far for them because he was to be nobody charged with the task of actually investigating marty's findings so it will require a brave brave security council and a commission security council one that wants the truth to actually appear and i have my doubts whether that will appear out of the security council and coming up in a few minutes the threat of a bashing in bella who as president bush once again wrong was the country's opposition we asked what his latest message signals about the conference future plus. j.p. morgan is responsible for the fact that i'm going to apply we look at how an american investment bank is profiting from the poverty that has led to an increase in those relying on food handouts. or the e.u.

was launching an aid mission to help italy deal with the wave of immigrants from north africa more than five thousand arrived there from tunisia alona during the past week and officials agreed the situation. out of control or causes europe's multiculturalism debate intensifies the leaders of major nations lining up to admit it's not working or even so one else welcome critic from austria has gone on trial for speaking out against religious groups are. reports. of 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 but you do not to burn the koran about your. studying what islam will be learning how to. know your enemy elizabeth supper to channel 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 elites 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 subjects wolf opponents say she crossed the line here a speech is up raged 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

you know 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 mostly culturalism in europe isn't working there are huge muslim communities but frequently such as in all strata they leave in their own areas a physical sign of non integration business district 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 elizabeth subaverage 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 our team from vienna. danish writer and columnist mikhail yelling says it's the politicians lack of action that's led to europe's immigration crisis it's the fault of the government's not really facing the facts standing up to reality standing up to the social phenomena popping up throughout europe in sweden and denmark as well you can you can't blame a whole. group of people for not doing this or that but you can you can blame the politicians for not dealing with the problems not not turning them into subjects that can be criticized and in deep it is good we've allowed that too much multiculturalists to darkness and top issues to being represented in the public sphere and now we've gone gone even further to practice legislation against hate

speech against a defamation and limiting the free speech and and the soul which is european that we have to start opening up to to criticism and start forming a new policy. where they died states as a country all but founded by immigrants but it's cultural mix and diversity are often no match when it comes to trying to bury racial hatred or later report of how white supremacist moods still run deep within society and see here some of what's expected next hour. we're going. back. to our rally and we'll sell lots of their world. they will wear uniforms that will

damage is the black man marrying but very little damming the white. and they are the key to our problem our own right. now unique mission replicating a return trip to mars reached an important milestone this week friday marked the middle of the eighteen month long virtual journey when two crew members carried out a second walk on a mock more martian surface all the three russians telling europeans that a chinese volunteer were taking part in marmaris five hundred simulated landing on the red planet last week they've already spent eight months in a set of windowless two all their only outside contact is delayed conversations with mission control scientists are studying the psychological effects of a long deep space voyage or the third virtual off it happened on tuesday that it's a nine month journey home. the european space agency explains what they hope to

learn. we have to assume. this is. from russia. from china doing their second walk and you see a simulated martian surface which is. not more than forty square metres and what we see of the two when the space suits which are produced close to what we would expect for real martian martian mission. were doing is collecting soil samples and preparing them to bring this. is me or if the cord which of course would not be there will only real mars in the core supplies to the to us to know it's. electricity and also. and of course in the real martian mission that all would be in the big pick or two us notes carry on there or. they're doing very well that. everybody was really surprised that everything is going to go everything

one of the reasons for that it's. really very interesting goal of simulating the first war on the most. you can see you know is that the two are going to take a break in this special chairs because each of the space you would see is aboard. and also if you would expect a real mission or nurse we could expect to turn a fifteen minutes astronauts would would have to take a small break at the major point here is that they're really all everybody of them is really focused on their toes and that's that's the main reason why this is so real and so close to reality. where across that story online at r.t. dot com where there's always plenty of news blogs and analysis for you well let's take you through some of what's there right now fasten your seat belts in russia is developing an atomic power train which can take passengers far there and faster

than ever before also. russian riding it takes center stage in the british capital find out which offers are lining up for the fortieth anniversary london book fair. the president of bella who says threatening b. opposition would be quote bashed in the head unless it stops destabilizing the country alexandr local shank was warning comes just days after the first person involved in last year's vast protested weeks was sentenced to four years in jail or thousands of opposition activists took to the capital streets as polls closed of the country's presidential election in december over six hundred protesters were

arrested and more than twenty face trial including several presidential candidates political analyst a b c babiche from russia's ria novosti news agency says hugo frankel keeps tightening the screws. but what happened in december was indeed. you need because people are not terrorists they were jailed for review on turns. out of position activist more sentenced to four years in jail i think it's a very bad message. trying to show everyone that he is serious about his promise to . the organizers of the december event what we need to use for the west on the stand there we should more drawn you are and soon europe which is not isolated anyone. opposition in belarus did move or soon though it was ruled north to win situation it will win them in this either and all of these are all an update now on some of today's world headlines two german journalists have been released by iran

for more than four months in custody and they're now safely back in berlin iran accused them of acting against national security and illegally entering the country sentenced to twenty months in prison but then finds the germans were arrested after interviewing the son of a woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. thousands have rallied in thailand's capital to remember those who died in violent anti-government protests there last spring the red shirt demonstrators are also demanded the release of their leaders who've been imprisoned since last may up to thirty thousand people took part in the rally which is the fourth this year and the protesters insist thailand's current government is not democratic saying it won the last election only with the backing. and the food stamp business is booming in the u.s. with fourteen percent of americans now relying on handouts but while families struggle to put food on the table the major banks are gorging on the takings the formula is

simple or the number of food stamp recipients goes up so do bags profits as artie's explains. americans are generally known for their healthy appetite. what they crave while others like gabrielle jemma can't use the food stamps here for me to express of only eat what is affordable is there a way to give me two dollars worth. of these you have to go look for the sixty one year old is unemployed and maintains a monthly food budget of two hundred dollars gabrielle is among the forty three million americans relying on federal food subsidy here's what they call an electronic benefit transfer card allows food stamp recipients to spend their allowance the plastic lifeline for the hungry and unemployed is also a money maker for j.p. morgan chase the largest processor of food stamp benefits in the u.s. meaning an increase in food stamp recipients equals more profit for the investment

bank every time i use my debit card goldman sachs or j.p. morgan in this case make a little money off of my transaction j.p. morgan is responsible for the fact that i want to apply so it doesn't surprise me that every every aspect. of this program and everything else has been privatized j.p. morgan chase provides food stamp debit cards in twenty six states and the district of columbia the firm is paid per customer and in the state of indiana j.p. morgan makes roughly one hundred eighty six thousand dollars per month critics say the investment bank is making a fortune off american poverty as long as the unemployment rate remains high as long as families are struggling there's sort of this perverse incentive for j.p. morgan chase to continue to benefit off of high unemployment and they're living up

to this person center because in many states they're actually offshoring jobs related processing steps to save money j.p. morgan has been routing benefit card customer service calls to india where employees report. no more than three fifty an hour. meanwhile in the u.s. abyss of economic hardship nearly fourteen million americans like every oh are unemployed bailed out to the tune of twenty five billion dollars in two thousand and eight j.p. morgan has bounced back reporting a seventeen point eight billion dollar profit in two thousand and ten the same success can be said for the people forty percent of food stamp recipients are working americans unable to keep up with the cost of living. archie new york. i'll be back with the headlines shortly to stay with us.

the latest in science.

welcome back we're here at this week's top stories in our to the middle east isn't golf by violent protests spurred by an arrest in egypt and tunisia but experts warn it's too early to talk of regime change while militaries remain in charge. weaken leaks deals a blow to nato as new cables revealed washington spies on its own allies to influence the block's policies. also the u.s. looks to slash its defense budget with military spending still equaling almost half the global total many see it as just a drop in the ocean. and its touchdown during the longest ever space simulation

experiment the mock mission to mars has now reached half way. over russia and the european union have joined forces to fight the massive flow of drugs from afghanistan as a top official visited moscow on monday for talks next week here how the international effort is going so far with the u.n. man whose job it is to tackle the problem stay with us for that. i'm here talking to mr you're difficult to please the head of the u.n. office full of drugs and crime russia has long been trying to get drug production included on the list of international security threats ms tippett also thank you very much for talking to us now the u.s. seems to have been hampering those efforts to get struck production on to this list of international threats why do you think that it's very think is a matter of fact if yours included everybody considers. that african.