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literally fears a tidal wave of immigrants fleeing the turmoil in north africa inundate the country as the rest of europe gets ready to foot the refugee bill. renewed violence in athens as greeks fight back against all stirred sea measures it comes on fears that billions of dollars in aid is going to the middle east at the expense of europeans but details to be done your political coming up. hiv patients in ukraine blame corruption and mismanagement for delays in getting lifesaving drugs. to am in moscow i match reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story

begins in italy where rome has been raising the alarm about the potential influx of up to three hundred thousand libyans with the country in possible throes of a civil war italy has demanded the e.u. share the burden of the so-called exodus stemming from the unrest in north africa thousands of tunisians have already flooded italy's southernmost point of lampedusa the closest european shore to the troubled region. as more. we don't call them to do so they get into europe for nothing you see. tiny italian island in the mediterranean is located just around eighteen miles off the coast of north africa and over the past decade many refugees came here looking for a better life and while we were sent to other european countries nevertheless this place still managed to remain a peaceful isolated world populated mostly by fishermen and holiday makers but just recently the peace was disturbed after the recent revolution in tunisia in just two

weeks the island became flooded with a wave of refugees many spend their entire days this wandering around tell there have already been reports of and vandalism and several have been arrested we've been talking to the locals and some of them are even afraid to come out on the streets when it's dark it takes around three days to seal from tunisia to lampedusa and these are some of the actual boats used by the refugees to get here and you can see they're not really that big so it's really hard to believe that sometimes up to three hundred people can cram on each one and actually not all of them even make it to the island some get lost out there in the open sea and some sink dozens of refugees have already died this is the center where many of the refugees are being house you can see it's like a separate itself they're being given out food and water and clothes and the necessary medical assistance as well all on the state money the problem is it was

initially designed to house just around eight hundred fifty people while it had to receive in reality much more than that and another problem is it's really hard to identify all these people an official say that some of them could be criminals or even terrorists would be violent protests continuing both in northern africa and in the middle east italy has already warned a new bigger wave of refugees can flood not only this tiny island but the entire content. it has come off forty one who is a. libyan leader colonel moammar gadhafi is fighting to retain control of the capital as he's faced with more defections from his own regime much of tripoli is currently deserted with reports of uprisings in nearby towns and the nine days of all to demonstrators have taken over the eastern part of the country thousands of foreigners are rushing to leave with chaos reported at the main airport the u.n. security council has demanded an end to the violence while the arab league has

suspended libya the us and e.u. are considering sanctions against the country for khadafy bloody crackdown on protesters three hundred people have been reported killed by the italian foreign minister says the real death toll death toll could stand at more than a thousand. madi darrius now. research associate from the center of research on globalization says khadafi is clinging to power and trying to rally support across this country. it's too soon to say from what i've heard from libya from my sources there. to death he had a meeting with three of the major tribes in the south he's made them promises i'm sure lucrative promises and he's also promised democracy much like what barak. has promised democratic reform and these tribes seem to be siding with him right now those are three out of five tribes that are known right now to be one colonel gadhafi site. in regards to his time being up well matthew

the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces libya. he made statements that sounded like he defected earlier but he's also said that it's against a civil war and possible international intervention and american influence that his country he's actually stopped the people in his city from going to tripoli and that his city is forty kilometers from the libyan town. but will he stop them so it's too soon to say whether gadhafi will leave immediately but i think in the long term that his time is up the united states is very much involved and like the case of egypt it's politically hedging its bets as well it is supporting opposition officials so it is showing support for them and at the same time we see military support for gadhafi in the form of hardware. it's come to light the u.k.

has been selling military equipment to libya but since the unrest london's been calling for democracy condemning qaddafi's actions former m i favor agent any make says the west that has armed khadafi to the teeth is now unsure how to respond to the crisis the west has been cozying up to gadhafi ever since two thousand and three when he came in from the cold became a new ally in the war against terror means that he's of course very tooled up with lots of new weapons which been supplied by countries like france in the netherlands and the u.k. so he's in a very strong position and also votes from position financially to fight back and i think perhaps that some of his new ally friends in the west every little confused on how to respond to what to do about him and i think because of that because he's been held up to be the way to go the way that the west can deal with dictators and bring them back into the fold it really just don't know how to handle this sort of back but they don't want to support the protesters either but i would not be surprised if there is a sort of tacit under the table encouragement of those oppositionists within libya

at the moment that the west just can't show its hand. the first stage of evacuation of russians from turbulent libya has successfully ended with more than three hundred people safely brought to moscow all describe the situation in the arab country as a nightmare they say that don their weight aboard the aircraft they had a flight of the flight huge crowds of desperate libyans attempting to flee scores of russian workers remain trapped at a railway construction site on the libyan coast there reportedly surrounded by an angry mob that's attempting to leave the building russia's emergencies ministry has set up a ferry to pick up the workers. and interview with r.t. edward look baka writer and u.s. military strategist says the people of north africa may want democracy but he believes the foundations for it are far from said. democracy is not some day you come in a short it takes centuries of development to go to democracy for example united states when. remove saddam hussein. would have given the

nod to the iraqis became in the region so sweet they remained who they are believed to be called additions to the democracy and to close the window. stay with us here on r.t. that full interview coming up in about ten minutes. greece is battling a wave of fresh protest against austerity measures that will see cuts in spending and a hike in taxes this comes as the e.u. and u.s. are seeking ways to help conflicts stricken north africa in the middle east many europeans say western governments should be helping out their own citizens first parties daniel bushell has more from brussels. well the nationwide strike has basically brought greece to its knees hundreds of thousands downed tools across the

country in the first major labor protests there of twenty eleven mostly use in fact through bombs and drops at police who responded with tear gas and it was the tear gas actually covered the city center which. which forced many peaceful demonstrators to actually use side streets and avoid the avoid the city center peaceful demonstrators were forced out of the city center by police. chanting don't to be the rich fight back your rights in use smashed or paving stones in front of the central bank another group of use went on to the parliament and said they wouldn't leave until the socialist government in greece changed its austerity measures which had been forced upon it by the european union but in fact is proving vasya unpopular with the greek population one officer was attacked his uniform caught fire and there were casualties on both sides there are also casualties among

the demonstrators and it leaves you e.u. citizens saying that they don't want billions to be sent to uncertain regimes new regimes in the middle east north africa while back home they're not being provided with the services the benefits that are being caught on the streets behind me today arab immigrants are calling for the states to do much much more in fact use force to force out dictators like gaddafi but if you talk to the passers by watching the demonstrations they were saying that they need help themselves the number of unemployed is rising and they pointed for example the number of beggars young able bodied people on the on the streets you can find the most main streets of brussels here. basically with culture pop pleading for money something that you wouldn't expect to see in western europe and an exam. of how bad the situation is and the e.u. leaders are saying that they support these new democratic regimes but today the interior

ministers of the southern states which are just across the mediterranean from north africa where a lot of the violence is happening they met countries like italy spain cyprus or more minutes to find ways to stem the flow of of these desperate migrants who are trying to get across the water to or to safety from the violence in north africa so on the one hand the e.u. leaders are talking about supporting these new regimes but they're not really ready to deal with the consequences more on this for our correspondent laura mint in the battle for hearts and minds in the middle east a new front has opened up influential voices from the heart of europe to washington are urging western politicians to take advantage of on rest by pumping involves sums of money in eight to show the new liberated people of the region that democracy does carry rewards but it's cash that many europeans don't feel they have a regular search on with well give it

a broader many of those that i think we should be close to on that it will mean obviously they did save some money for helping to democracy but we need to be casserole farce frizzy should probably try to look after us but on a whole first before you strike that they can try and sort themselves out reading at this moment in our country's going through these big cuts and that money i think could be used for foreign bend with the aid package being proposed by e.u. and us leaders is potentially debate it since the end of the second world war it's being dubbed the new marshall plan after the money that america gave to europe after the war to help rebuild a decimated economy and create jobs but robert oulds from the british group says we should be concentrating on trade not aid. countries such as egypt and tunisia and other countries developing nations are hurts their agricultural policies are

damaged as a result of the european union's policies we need to have trade policies which stop hurting the third world would stop hurting developing nations and that that would be the better way of securing a long term prospects. for countries that are these emerging democracies instead europe in the us are talking about handing over billions of dollars to the middle eastern mediterranean to countries torn apart by revolution and unrest and despite the opposition in the u.k. there are also some who believe it's the duty of developed countries to help those in trouble we're lucky to have a democracy. democracy throughout the world i think the middle east needs our help it's going to. question transition that's the moment. to despise our problems are told we can't just close up we have to look at the world this place we live in but it may not be as simple as that unlike europe after the second world war egypt

and tunisia our own tool toward developing economies going through revolution and it's very unclear at this point who is going to end up in charge and who would take receipt of any aid package the governments made extensive attempts to build relations build up regimes which are now being destroyed by religions whether we're looking at military aid over the years to egypt so what we're looking out it's a big deal the time when i was shaking hands on just a few years ago in libya with gadhafi so when you speak of really careful particularly when we don't know what the shape or form for the final government is there is will be we don't wind up with resources when in rome so if the muslim brotherhood takes over in egypt do we want them to be taking over with institutions which we've built up with western taxpayers money west. it's just been the scene of ugly demonstrations against government proposals to cut funds to some of the u.k.'s most vital services while some doubt simply believe it would be

a sad day when western countries refused to help build democracy others say it's the wrong help potentially going to the wrong people at the wrong title for a cash strapped to your average quality. you're looking for more any of our top stories for all the latest features videos and blogs be sure to check out our team dot com here's what's on the line right now. president obama may soon have to do more with the last as the g.o.p. says they want to take his teleprompter away. and russians who enjoy a late night tipple may soon be disappointed as parliament mulls a complete ban on shops selling alcohol after ten pm.

ukraine's health ministry is under fire for failing to prevent aid to provide hiv sufferers with a vital life prolonging drugs supply cuts have been blamed on government corruption their country has europe's worst aids epidemic and authorities are alexa herships q reports many hiv positive ukrainians are resorting to risky medications just to stay alive. ever since you're young they learned she was h.i.v. positive her life has been a nightmare and the last few months have made mountains even worse a local aid center which had been providing you with medication told her that they no longer had even a logical serum for her three year old son andree also infected with a deadly virus. they told me that i have to give my adult ones two hundred eighty and then i have to split each piano into three how can i speak it into exactly three. hearts and how do i know if his body will accept these people late last year several ukrainian regions reported

a shortage of immune strengthening drugs used by hiv positive patients experts point the finger at the country's health ministry was that the little official say this happened because the bidding for the purchase of drugs happened too late not in the summer but in the winter they received funding too late this whole system of buying drugs by tender is corrupt through and through. following this delay in supplies some hiv patients have had to alter their treatment and find alternative medication doctors say they have no choice but such changes can pose a grave danger. that is when a boy that has got used to one drug we replace it with another it took or is another adaptation period we never know whether a patient's body will accept a new drug if it doesn't then they can be different outcomes from a rapid growth of all virus else to allergy and even imminent death. experts say ukraine which has one of the highest hiv spread rates in europe can hardly afford

to take such risks to graze health ministry reports of at least one hundred thousand people to people in the country however experts say this number is diminished and the real amount of the infected may go to three hundred and fifty thousand people. official say for the present the supply crisis has been dealt with . for now all regions have received the required medication the only drugs which are still on their way to children's bills between a stand they will be delivered within a few days but doctors say within six months the hiv positive may feel the damaging effects of the recent halt in supplies and roundabout that sign they are expecting another shortage of anti-viral medicine you know hopes she and her son will be able to make it through all of this once more. see. if costs. out of suspected militants has been destroyed in russia's north caucasus

republic of covered you know ball carrier it's part of a major anti terror effort in the region special forces are still searching for a suspected militants who opened fire on law enforcement overnight the same group is a specter of attacking tourists last weekend when two masked gunmen stopped in minibus headed for a ski resort on elbrus three tourists were killed two others injured. turned out of some other stories making headlines across the globe rescuers in new zealand as christ church educated went to try to pull survivors from the rubble following tuesday's devastating earthquake seventy five people are confirmed dead nearly three hundred remain missing a national state of emergency has been declared as hundreds of rescue workers including foreign teams have rushed to the city that tremor was the country's deadliest natural disaster in nearly a century. oh yes ten soldiers have been killed in fighting between the forces of two political rivals in ivory coast some reports suggest the real figure could be as high as forty violence was some of the heaviest since the country's disputed

presidential election nearly three months ago the fighting was concentrated in the stronghold of. the internationally recognized winner of last year's poll incumbent president laurent gbagbo who has ruled the country since two thousand and two continues to refuse to resign alleging voter fraud. the u.s. military says fifteen somali pirates detained after killing four americans could face trial in the united states the victims a married couple and their two friends had been hijacked on their yacht off the coast of oman while attempting to sail around the world u.s. military forces had been trailing the vessel trying to negotiate with the pirates but on tuesday they stormed the yacht after hearing gunfire however three of the hostages were found dead in the fourth later died from her wounds. it's got more on our continuing story of an arrest across the arab world in his recent article in the wall street journal edward lud voc a writer and u.s. military strategist says the removal of egypt's hosni mubarak would lead to either

an arche or islamics coming to power or he spoke with him to get more insight the interview coming up next.

right now well. nobody's pulling the strings because this is a crowd. this is the popular. it's not the revolution it's not the cool it's not some clever colonel who takes. this is a real. people are living under a government for one. hundred thirty years and one day. because of something. no. one. was pushed around. there was a crowd. through. popular uprising. there were some very interesting. states turned their back on. quickly.

yes i know but the american government is always in a state of embarrassment when its friends are not democratic so the united states. has always to manage a contradiction on the one hand we are normal american people we like friends and we don't like any on the other we also want democracy we talk about crossing so when you become a friend states you're not about your difficult question because the americans are always talking to mark so it's always been about the americans of course on the one hand mubarak is a friend on the other he's a dictator so once the people go around the rule is this if you open fire. there is so long as you don't shoot the americans can be half and once you tell the police

to should be rainy and shoot the crowd the syrians can shoot the crowd but if america is your patron you cannot shoot also if you look at what's going on right now starting from tunis it's a chain reaction of like you said popular uprising and. they do not want to cater should know what they want to yet they don't know have a leader who to follow no you don't mean the leader to have a democracy but you do need to have respect for political rights could there islamization instead of democratization in our skin is quite possible islamization i mean if i look. at this there is a she is retreating in iraq because they have islamic government if you got to turn around today have to people are drinking whiskey not because of the life history just to give it to the cover so islam is ation is increasing in egypt

when this preacher this fanatic. went to cairo one. people can do this because at this stage of development religion is much more meaningful democracy and to have democracy have to have real respect for human rights and personal individual rights but let me tell you the middle east lost its supporters already with the cold war and it's even less important it generates a lot of headlines but the real politics now is in the pacific and it is china and china that's where world politics is it's not the middle of middle east is just pictures television pictures of people shouting what is this what's going on there nothing there's nothing going on. this is you're talking about countries that don't really produce anything they don't invent anything they don't develop. they're not

you know some of them have or that's. the center of world politics is completely different to that do i understand correctly that you believe europe is most likely to suffer the most out of this wave of unrest tourists here in europe is yet like of course i already know already started last week while my prediction in the wall street journal is they paid the price if you read the article first boats arriving from tunisia people just want to enter italy they the boats arrive in these islands they have like lampedusa. the islands first said in the article there be refugees because you have bizarre the upheaval tourism industry is dead so right away people have no money so they made to immigrate here and this is a big problem for europe illegal immigration coming in and of course from a business point of view egypt did much more business with europe the united states

united states was providing strategic support money weapons. but the business is good europeans go on holiday. and you know if there is a government in egypt you can forget about going to the beach or something to say. thank you very much for this interview thank you. for sure is that so much. more. middle east is the era of dictators coming to. reach. the west.