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protesters in the middle east and north africa refused to back down while europe's under threat of drowning in a wave of immigration with a state of emergency already declared on one italian island. we could reach founder is said to fear whether he'll be extradited to sweden to stand trial for alleged sexual fantasies but his supporters say the case is politically motivated. and no place in space as u.s. shuttle discovery prepares for its final launch russia's rockets will soon become the only way out of perth with many americans taking it as a blow to their pride. and after a one day break for

a national holiday on wednesday the russian markets opened on a negative note tracking asian losses one of the sectors to watch today find in business in twenty minutes. welcome to r.t. coming to a line from moscow marina joshie was libya in the throes of violence and bloodshed anti-government unrest in the middle east and north africa showing a little sign of dying down however egypt is one of the countries that managed to break a decades long cycle of suppression but the question remains whether those fighting for reforms will get the change they crave peter all over reports from cairo. one month on from the outbreak of the revolution it's on the bot a step down from power many protesters who stood up to the egyptian regime jubilant what they achieved and tell you square the works that. it was announced like we had

on the screens on the square and people just couldn't resist for second to get overwhelmed by the joy of getting rid of that big figure of corruption or the regime western leaders were quick to throw their support behind the popular revolution in the country that spent the last thirty years under mubarak and that these democratic change has to start now. it needs to happen now for growth for freedom and democracy in egypt ultimately of the united states can't have sorcery dictate what happens but you know we can but what we can do bill is we can say that . the time is now for you to start making a change in that country or however support wasn't the only thing coming from these nations during the uprising western rumors were rife that mubarak had fled cairo he was headed to germany and later british foreign secretary william hague said that colonel gadhafi had left tripoli in the midst of the ongoing crisis there the

protesters are now very heated up it's all very hot in each of these countries and the fact that they might be falsely made to believe that they have won that they have a victory is very dangerous because they are heating up of the situation opens the door for other countries other power structures to come into egypt and to come into libya into coming to tunisia and all of the other countries to try and take some advantage in some cases might be greater than from what is happening in the charge shell of a political party's headquarters in a country policed by the military todd levy image many in the west would associate with a democratic nation however this hasn't stopped world leaders from speaking about a newly democratic egypt. the country is now being watched over by the armed forces while a partial curfew was still in place in cairo many key figures of mubarak's regime remain in the current cabinet including prime minister major feature a figure of hate for the revolutionaries who met with david cameron during the

british leaders visit visit that was termed trance in some circles as cameron was on his way to the gulf states to hold the u.k. arms industry political groups in egypt are calling for a million man march to demand a new cabinet so how do those who helped barack feel about the future their armies in charge they're taking they're taking action there the hand the upper hand to give everyone everything on. so yes. more and more to figured that fact and hated and thing about how we're going to deal with it we don't want to like who plays a military regime with another. potentially elections could take place in or around six months other political sources in the country suggest this could come too soon for a nation emerging received three decades of dictatorship featuring over cairo egypt . meanwhile libyan leader colonel gadhafi is fiercely 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 uprising similar by towns after more than a week of revolt demonstrators have taken over the east of the country the once ruled council in washington have demanded an immediate end to the violence the e.u. is considering sanctions against libya for colonel gadhafi as bloody crackdown on the protesters after some reports say the army used air strikes against the people several hundred protesters are said to have been killed but the real death toll is feared to stand up more than a thousand. former m i five agent says some western countries are exploiting look writ of relationships with libya as khadafi vows to fight till the end. it's just a very talented of the regime that's been in place and the fact that the west has been cozying up to gadhafi ever since two thousand and three when he came in from the cold and became our new ally in the war against terror means that he's of course very tooled up with lots of new weapons which have been supplied by

countries like france in the netherlands and the u.k. so he's in a very strong position and also very strong position financially to fight back and i think perhaps that some of his new friends in the west are a little confused on how to respond to what to do about him he had come in from the cold he was the sort of poster boy of being a poster dictatorship of course after what happened to saddam hussein he did offer up what little technology had which might mean taking him towards a situation where he had weapons of mass destruction and then of course he was welcome back into the international fold with with open arms and has been allowed to start opening up his country to a certain extent but certainly financially so because he's been held up as the the way to go the way that the west can deal with middle eastern dictators and bring them back into the fold they really just don't know how to handle this and they sort of backing off but they don't want to overtly support the protesters either. more on the repercussions from the unrest in north africa and the middle east will be coming your way shortly before that let's take

a look at what's ahead this hour here in our team a criminal or a political pawn as we can leaks founder julian assange away to rolling on its extradition to sweden his supporters claim the case is political fearing for his fate if he ends up in the u.s. and. now we're we're reduced to being passengers on a russian ship by the end of the year nasa will no longer be able to sand humans into space find out how the americans are dealing with this dance to their national pride later in the program. italy has declared a humanitarian emergency on its island of lampedusa as a small land mass drowns under a wave of illegal immigration from the stable region five thousand refugees already reached its shores with rome warning about up to three hundred thousand more to come and work is going off as the details. at eighty miles off the coast of north

africa the tiny italian island of lampedusa has relied on fishing and tourism for its main sources of income but for the first time in years the boats on hold and the nets are drawing both for their board they're always out here we have been going out to sea for twenty days now. since the recent uprising in tunisia the island has been flooded with refugees over four and a half thousand arrived in just two weeks sometimes up to three hundred refugees would grab on just one tiny fishing boat to make the perilous journey to the mediterranean island dozens have already drowned many of those who needed have nothing to lose local life here on its head with no money and no jobs they have. already been cases of vandalism and theft and you know who started leaving the lights on at night they always wonder ronde none of the locals never used to lock

their doors now that this people out here will feel uncomfortable due to its location lumpy doozies familiar with refugees but never so many in such a short period of time and with many voicing strong beliefs officials say identifying genuine cases is one of the biggest problems. we are historically a free nation and we want freedom of islam we want to live like our prophet told us in holy books to live in an islamic state. most are at this refugee center where they are provided with food water clothes and medical aid all financed from the state budget is designed to house only around eight hundred people so under tight security hundreds of refugees are flown to the mainland the. central plains yesterday but in average two planes with refugees leave every day whether they go to turn

a bowery palermo. italy and tunisia used to have an agreement under which most refugees were intercepted before even reaching the island but now that the government has been overthrown the floodgates have opened and with violence continuing to spread in both north africa and the middle east italy's already warned other e.u. states up to three hundred thousand refugees could we leave a little. for decades long people were managed to remain a tiny isolated world of its own a whirlpool with calm and peaceful lives and no one was afraid to leave their doors on. find something she said the biggest wave of refugees may still be out there the police on this tiny island but the entire continent you want to come on board you want to do you know he. has a storm of protest batters the arab world europe is bracing itself for a human avalanche experts believe the influx of immigrants will be

a real test for the continent the europeans thus far even though there are an aging population in western europe even though there are dwindling population in western europe are not ready to receive more african migrants or arab migrants who also have some other voices in europe being raised where they're suggesting that there is a crucial moment where the europeans need to be seen to be doing more for the safety of libya and that they should not be talking about sanctions because those can't be activated quickly and they're not going to have an immediate impact they can freeze the assets of gadhafi and family if they want to but again he's fighting for his survival he's fighting to the death he said so so something a little bit stronger than sanctions is called for. the un rest in north africa and the middle east will force its way into the agenda at a meeting between prime minister what he reported and top european officials the

russian premier is in brussels for major talks with the european commission the sides will focus on and as you trade cooperation and high technology and moscow's bid to join the world trade organization a new russia partnership agreement is also on the table. the u.s. says it's ready to start new talks with russia on further nuclear arms cuts earlier this month a key new trading of a new start between the two countries came into force which will see both sides slash their arsenals by a third former u.s. national security adviser brant scowcroft told r.t. that the deal is a way to make sure nuclear weapons are never used. all sides have ratified the new start treaty and that is. a major step forward what it really does is that it has continued the framework that we've built up really over fifty years of how to talk and how to deal with the military nuclear issue that if it continues

that process and now we can look at ways we still possess over ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons so we need to work together to ensure that those weapons are never never need be used and that is to increase the stability of the nuclear bomb so whatever the problems between us through is no incentive to use them and i think now the way is clear for us to sit down and have that comment there's still there's so many nuclear weapons out there but just not just a matter of numbers it's doing the kinds of things that ensure that those weapons are never going to be used and that take that'll take a lot more discussion goshi ation thoughtfulness on both sides but i'm sure we can make progress now that we've laid the groundwork for further steps. and again watch the full interview in just over an hour's time here on our team.

now special forces are stepping up the hunt for a gang of militants hiding out in a mountainous area in russia's southern republic of korea it's part of a major and terror effort in the region police sources say weapons and explosives have been found in a hidden militant camp but target a group are suspected of attacking tourists last weekend when two masked gunman stopped and minibus heading for a ski resort on mt bruce three tourists were killed and two others injured. the founder of the controversial whistle blowing web site if we can leaks julian assange will learn if he will be sent to sweden to face sex crime charges a london court is due to deliver its judgment later on thursday on whether stockholm's extradition bid will be successful denies the allegations saying they're part of a conspiracy to hand him over to the u.s. he outraged washington after his website published american secret war logs and

diplomatic cables laura amate is following the case. the court's been looking at whether the european arrest warrant for assad's was issued correctly and whether it would be an abuse of justice to send him to sweden for questioning during the three day hearing earlier this month the defense team focused on what they termed the bizarre handling of sex crime cases in sweden there's no bail and trials are held behind closed doors which they say meant justice will be done the defense also pointed out that solves could be held with no contact with the outside world in a prison complex which is being criticized for its treatment of prisoners the defense also attacked the swedish prosecutor bringing evidence that she has a grudge against men and is a radical feminist they called the warrants disproportionate and said the rape charges which he is wanted for questioning under wouldn't be crimes under british law soldiers lawyers cues sweden of politicizing the issue calling into question

the independence of the judiciary in this case the defense's main fear is that if extradited to sweden as soldiers could be sent from there to the u.s. to face espionage charges a member of the u.s. justice department in london has stressed that no charges have been brought against our songs in america but confirm that there was an ongoing investigation into wiki leaks whichever way the verdict goes today it's very unlikely that this will be the end of the story the losing side has a right to appeal in the high court and will definitely use it some are saying this case won't be resolved until this summer. reporting there and you can always go to r.t. dot com for more news was an analysis but here are some of what we've got lined up for abortion could soon mean murder in the u.s. state of georgia as a new bill seeks to criminalize a practice and ensure that authorities investigate or miscarriages. and the gold

rush is about to make a comeback in russia's parliament passes on more which could work. find out more and. take a look at some other stories from around the world and police. have an. earthquake has risen to eight hundred twenty bodies inside. the building.

over two hundred people are still unaccounted for. the toll could rise further. former serbian police chief has been jailed for twenty seven years for playing a key role in the murder of more than seven hundred. nine hundred ninety nine. showed no emotion. in the hague read out. against humanity including the. two hundred thousand people. who was a close aide. to the success of the criminal enterprise. as a result of the. hitting the country for the past few weeks. areas

there were similar scenes and to rule worse some three and a half thousand people lost their homes. and armed group has killed at least ten soldiers loyal to ivory coast disputed president laurent gbagbo the army vehicles were tagged by a group supporting al assad atara who is internationally recognized as the winner of last year's election and african union backed panel is currently trying to resolve the deadlock some three hundred people have died in violence between supporters of both men following the disputed poll. america's longest serving shuttle discovery is preparing to lift off for the last time after twenty six years the spacecraft will be put into retirement it's also one of the last times the u.s. will sand a shuttle into orbit before it's a spans of space program artie's got an edge to found out what the last man for americans. by the end of this year nasa will no longer be able to send humans into

space according to obama's plan responsibility will go to private companies which are expected to come up with cheaper ways to ferry astronauts to low earth orbit they know that they have a big step to take when they if they're thinking about putting humans into space and that's going to take a you know the next phase of their development so i have a oh gosh i. can even estimate exactly no one can say for sure when the private american companies will come up with a new spaceship for years to come it will be the russians so use that's going to be the only means for people to reach the international space station which is perfectly fine with the leaders of russia and the u.s. but doesn't sit well with many americans how could this happen we could make it to the moon first build this wonderful equipment and then. and now we're were reduced to being passengers on a russian ship and that's that's sort of it's so

a wounded pride thing wounded pride revealed itself in comments by some american lawmakers astronaut scientists and former nasa officials comedians in the u.s. did not miss out on poking fun at american sense of pride so we pony up the cash then after a ride on the hope of the backseat of the take the wheel. yes you know they're not going to let us touch the radio they won't let us eat snacks or stop to use the bathroom should have gone before we left. use but those the nasa who now actually work with the russians like astronaut sunny williams have different sentiments i couldn't imagine when i was growing up walking through red square or going to a russian company and working hand in hand with my russian colleagues or going to their families homes and having dinner with them and likewise when they come to the u.s. and so i think the. maybe we're not competing but we're to working together think

it's more of a time of joint cooperation and learning from one another that's just as healthy as the competition that we had in the past it's not the first time americans have to rely on the russians to take their crew to space they depended on washing rockets during a two year grounding the few s. spacecraft after the two thousand and three space shuttle columbia disaster columbia exploded during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere all seven crew members died shuttles track record includes another tragedy in one thousand nine hundred eighty six the space shuttle challenger broke apart seventy three seconds into its flight. the russians so use proved to be the safest way to deliver people to space and now with the shuttle retiring it will be the only way we're no longer racing against an adversary we're no longer competing to achieve a singular goal like reaching the moon. in fact what was once

a global competition is long since become a global collaboration the leaders of both russia and the u.s. are saying space is no longer a place for competition it's now a ground for cooperation but the question remains if ever once here in the was ready to fully accept it i'm going to check on our two washington d.c. . two investment giants are aloft in a lawsuit over undesirable assets with lehman brothers suing j.p. morgan chase for over eight billion dollars later our financial guru max kaiser explains how banks swapping toxic assets is a common occurrence. bank state just exchange cocktail napkins they say they're worth a billion dollars they swap them they charge other thing and then when it comes out that there is nothing there they go to the government for balance i think we're joking about this but clearly the headlines prove exactly what we're saying the banks themselves call the assets that are swapping with each other go to.

well the kaiser report is coming your way in just over five minutes time here in our city before that though we'll take a look what's happening in business with. hello and a very warm welcome to the business update soft commodities have skyrocketed in the past month from supply concerns cocoa and coffee have jumped to the highest level in nearly three decades show is up forty percent in one year while cotton has added forty five percent since the beginning of twenty eleven. john from index futures

group although harvests have been poor there's also been a fundamental change in demand we should support prices over the long term a lot of that has to do with the fact that we are looking at what were emerging nations and economies turning into developing economies you know when you've got rising middle classes china is a wonderful example of that where we have more and more people going from an agrarian lifestyle into an urban lifestyle the demand for soft commodities around the globe is increasing we cannot stop that and it's not just soft commodities that are set to go higher. oil prices of two hundred fifty dollars a barrel within the next five years as a result of the new demand fundamentals. remember what we're talking about is maintaining purchasing power parity over the course of the next few years because if we take a snapshot of commodity prices over the course of the last decade we've seen very stagnant moves we've seen very little movement as far as real fundamental core

inflation goes but i believe what we are going to see ahead of us primarily driven by what the central bankers are doing is going to be a very very quick acceleration in the velocity of the rise in commodity prices so grains and i believe energy i think is going to be a wonderful commodity i think in another five years we'll be talking about two hundred two hundred fifty dollar oil just from the fact that the dollar will depreciate and the demand will continue to grow. ok let's have a look at how the markets are doing asian stocks are mostly down for the second day hampered by the libyan crisis and weakness on the wall street japanese exporter stocks were pulled down by the continued strength twenty six off the thirty three topics indexes below with honda motor down one point four percent and so only down one point three percent japan's nikkei lost one point two percent and hong kong's hang seng is just point four percent lower. and here in russia the markets are open

again after days break for a national holiday on wednesday this hour both the r.t.s. and my sense are down. sperm banks minority shareholders are asking for bigger twenty ten dividends they want the payment to increase to fifteen percent of the bank's net income from the current ten percent that's after the bank reporters a five fold increase the net income for twenty ten more than six billion dollars but the head of a suburban cameron breath says divergence won't be raised until at least twenty thirteen as the bank needs the money to more tonight through the development strategy didn't prevent burbank from raising the bonus for top men are just twenty fold. and european officials are expected to ask pushing for a commitment to economic reforms necessary for russia to join the world trade organization the prime minister is in brussels to discuss the w t o energy corp trade and.