with north africa and the middle east in turmoil europe's under threat of drowning under a flood of illegal immigration as. three hundred thousand refugees could enter italy . we could leaks founder julian assange brace for a ruling on his extradition to sweden to face sexual assault charges but he supporters say the case is politically motivated. and an end to the space race where u.s. shuttle discovery boys for its final launch many americans say it's a blow for national pride as russia's rockets will become the only way to orbit. and or prices are reaching new highs which is probably handy for russian oil companies but the situation of instability in the middle east is continuing to test

investors in a war and business in twenty minutes. this is our team live from moscow with marina joshie welcome now as the storm of revolt batters the arab world the fallout being increasingly felt in europe italy's declared a humanitarian emergency on its southern island of lampedusa as the tiny outpost buckles under a wave of immigrants desperate to escape the trouble five thousand refugees have already reached its shores was. fears that the number could swell quickly three hundred thousand going off as they are. at eighty miles off the coast of north africa the tiny italian island of lampedusa has fishing and tourism for its main sources. for the first time in years the boats are in harbor

and the mets are drawing. the best of us. they're always out here we haven't gone out to sea for twenty days now and since the recent uprising in tunisia the island has been flooded with with fiji's over five and a half thousand arrived in just two weeks sometimes up to three hundred refugees just one tiny fishing boat to make the perilous journey to the mediterranean it. doesn't have. many of those who have nothing to lose turning the local life here on its head with no money jobs they have already been cases of vandalism and theft not to any who started leaving the lights on at night they always wonder ronde none of the locals ever used to lock their doors now that this people on 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 official say

identifying genuine cases is one of the biggest problems i am that. we historically a free nation and we want freedom we want to live like a prophet told us and to live in an islamic state. most of this refugee center where they're provided with food water clothes and medical aid all financed from the state budget is designed to house only eight hundred people so under tight security hundreds of refugees are flown to the mainland each day. well you know we sent four planes yesterday but on average two planes with refugees leave every day to cutrone and pollute. italy and tunisia used to have an agreement under which most were fiji's were intercepted before even reaching the island but now that the government has been overthrown the floodgates

have opened. with violence continuing to spread in both north africa and the middle east already warned other states up to three hundred thousand refugees could we leave alone for decades limpy those are managed to remain a tiny isolated world of its own for with. the slow lives and no one was afraid to leave their doors on. time something changed and the biggest wave of refugees may still be out there for the only one this tiny island but the entire continent you've got this i'm all for you want to do about you know a. doctor rosemary hollis who is an expert on middle east policy studies at city university in london believes 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 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. 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 sporadic attacks continue in march apparently deserted tripoli for its uprisings point in nearby towns after more than

a week of voluntary opposition. demonstrators taking over the east of the country the u.n. security council and washington have demanded an immediate answer to the violence the e.u. is considering sanctions against libya for colonel gadhafi is bloody crackdown on protesters after some reports say the army used air strikes against its own people several hundred protesters are said to have been killed but the real death toll is feared to stand out more than a thousand. well anyway i'm a shot a former m i five agent says some western countries are exploiting a lucrative relationships with libya ask it off he vows to fight till the year that . it's just a very fertile is he 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 became a new ally in the warden's 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 a 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 it if he had come in from the cold he was the sort of poster boy of being opposed to dictatorship of course after you've seen what happened to saddam hussein who 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 gnomes 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. they don't really just don't know how to handle this sort of backing off but they don't want to overtly spoil the protests either. more on the repercussions from the unrest in north africa and the middle east coming your way shortly before that let's take a look at what to have a sour criminal or political pawn as we can leaks founder julian assange awaits

a ruling on his extradition just his supporters claim the case is political fearing for his fate. 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 into space and find out how the americans are dealing with this dance to their national pride program. was libya in the throes of violence and bloodshed anti-government unrest in the middle east and north africa showing little sign of dying down however idjit as one of the countries that managed to break a decades long cycle of oppression but the question remains whether those fighting for forms will get the change they crave are all over reports from cairo. one month from the outbreak of the revolution mubarak stepped down from power many protesters who stood up to regime they. can tell you square the moment.

it was announced like we had on the screens on the square and it was just couldn't resist for a second to get overwhelmed by the joy you get rid of that big figure of corruption of the regime western leaders were quick to throw their support behind the popular revolution in their country to expend the last. of. these democratic change has to start. it needs to happen now for the growth of freedom and democracy in egypt ultimately of the united states can't have sort of them dictate what you 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

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 but 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 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 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 doesn't stop 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 ahmed shafik a figure of hate for the revolutionaries who met with david cameron during the british leaders visit a visit that was termed in some circles as cameron was on his way to the gulf states to hawk 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 remove barack feel about the future the army is in charge they're taking they're taking action they are the hand the upper hand to give everyone everything on control so yes and getting more and more to figured that out and hated and think about how we're going to deal with it we don't want to be like who plays a military regime with another. potentially elections could take place in around six months all of the political sources in the country suggest this could come too soon for a nation emerging from three decades of dictatorship peter all over cairo egypt.

a london court is about to decide the fate of joining us songe the founder of the controversial whistle blowing website we can leaks a judge is expected to deliver a verdict on whether he should be extradited to sweden to face sex crime charges or you know across life our correspondent or am house following the story and get the very latest from her but laura there has been a lot of controversy as we all know surrounding the swedish extradition request so is there at this point any indication as to what the ruling will be. well essentially we are here today just to hear the verdict this is a case that has already expanded from its original two day timetable there was then a third day and now we're back again this thursday to hear what the verdict will be and in fact observers increasingly are expecting that our sons and his defense team will lose their case they're expecting that the judge will rule that he should be censured sent to sweden at the court's been looking during all this time whether the european arrest warrant that he was being requested under was issued correctly

and whether it would be an abuse of justice to send our sons to sweden for questioning and as i say we're increasingly expecting that the answer to that question will be no it wouldn't be an abuse of justice and that the judge will rule to send him the main worry of course of the defense counsel is that he wouldn't get a fair trial in sweden and that as soon as he was sent to sweden his extradition by the u.s. would be requested and that he would be sent there from the three to where he may face charges of espionage in relation to his activities with wiki leaks of course leaks released very damaging diplomatic cables relating to the u.s. its relationship with other countries in the world and it's expected that the u.s. will then request his extradition. for that we have heard recently though from a u.s. justice department representative in london she said that currently there were no charges against in the u.s. but there was an ongoing investigation into wiki leaks out of which charges could result now during the hearing the defense counsel has focused mainly on the bizarre

what they call the bizarre handling of sex crimes in sweden there's no bail for defendants the trials are held behind closed doors so it's impossible to see where the justice is being done they also fear that if he sent to sweden as songs could be held incommunicado in a prison complex which is known to illtreat foreigners this is being held that the defense also during the hearings have attacked a very very mentally the swedish prosecutor saying that she's got a grudge against men and that she is a radical feminist they've called the warrant for his arrest disproportionate and they say that the rape charges which are being brought against him would not constitute crimes here in britain all that has prompted really an unprecedented outburst from the swedish prime minister friedrich reinfeldt is that the defense team would denigrating his country which of course led the defense to say that sweden was politicizing this case and that there was no independent judiciary in

sweden well a laura what's next for sons one saw the verdict was delivered. well as i say increasingly we are expecting that the verdict will go against us on today that his extradition will be halted but it's very unlikely that this will be the end of the story in cases in the magistrate's court like this one the loser always has the right to appeal to the high court say in fact even if he doesn't lose even if this swedish prosecutors loses then they will also have the right to appeal in the high court so whichever way this goes it looks like there will be an appeal the defense team has already said that if they lose they will go to the high court and then possibly even if they lose that to europe in the course of human rights so very unlikely that. day will be the end of the story saying that this is a case which might not conclusively but it wouldn't be surprising if it carries on way past that all right thanks very much indeed for following the story for us lorena there. the unrest in north africa and the middle east will

force its way onto the agenda at a meeting between prime minister vladimir putin and top european officials the russian premier is in brussels for major talks with members of the european commission and its president. so both sides will focus on energy trade cooperation and high technology and moscow's bid to join the world trade organization and the russia you partnership agreement is also on the table. 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 anti terror effort in the region police sources say weapons and explosives have been found in a hidden militant camp the target a group are suspected of attacking tourist last weekend when two masked gunmen stopped the minibus heading for a ski resort on mount bruce three tourists were killed and two others injured. the u.s. says it's ready to start new talks with russia on further nuclear arms cuts earlier

this month a key new treaty the 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. both sides have ratified the new start treaty and that is. a major step forward what it really is is that continue 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 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 to be you and that is to increase the stability of the nuclear bomb so whatever the problem between us there 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 so many nuclear weapons out there but it's not just a matter of numbers it's doing the kinds of things that ensure those weapons are never going to be used and that take that'll take a lot more discussion and negotiation thoughtfulness on both sides but i'm sure we can make progress now that we've laid the groundwork for further steps. to watch the full interview in just over an hour's time here on r t before that will take a look at what else is happening in the world and police in new zealand have announced the death toll from the country's devastating earthquake has risen to ninety eight we also fear one hundred twenty bodies may still be inside one of the worst effect the buildings two days after the shock hit over two hundred people are

still unaccounted for rescue crews are continuing to comb topple buildings but many are fearing the worst the country's prime minister warned that the toll could rise further. authorities in peru i believe we have to clear the state of emergency as massive flooding affects both countries in believe three people died and almost seven thousand were a left homeless as a result of a strong rains hitting the country for the past few weeks rivers burst their banks flooding farming land and residential areas and there were similar scenes in peru for some three and a half thousand people and lost their homes. america's longest serving shot all discovery is preparing to lift off for the. last time after twenty six years a 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 its space program i just got to check out 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 how. we could make it to the moon person 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 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 all the risk is take the wheel. yes you know you got to let us touch the radio they will 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 family's homes and having dinner with them and likewise when they come to the u.s.

and so i think. maybe we're not competing but we're to working together i think it's more of a time of joint cooperation and learning from one another that's just as healthy as the competition 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 the two year grounding of u.s. spacecraft after the two thousand and three space shuttle columbia disaster columbia exploded during re-entry into the earth seconds here all seven crew members died shuttle track record includes another tragedy in one thousand nine hundred 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. in is long since

become a collaboration the leaders of both russia and the us are saying space is no longer a place for competition it's now a ground for cooperation but the question remains if there weren't hearing the words ready to accept it. r t washington. and remember that you can always go to r.t. dot com for more news blogs and analysis but here is some of what we've got lined up for you right now abortion could sue me murder in the u.s. state of georgia has a new bill seeks to criminalize the practice and ensure that authorities investigate all miscarriages. and the gold rush is about to make a comeback in russia's parliament passes a law which could reopen old vines to tourists and amateur diggers find out more. brings us up to date here ninety time now for the business news with a state with us.

hello and a very warm welcome to the business. and to oil prices have surged to a two and a half year high as the unrest in libya and why did middle east sense for the shocks through the market light sweet crude reached as has breached one hundred dollars a barrel trading up to three point six to five percent on the day brant crude is going even faster than the six percent at the one hundred seventeen dollars a barrel. and it's not just oil that's being impacted by the crisis in the middle east and continues to drive trade offs well the whole commodities market. all kinds of records and according to. chicago board of trade there were to continue. 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 a head 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 literally she ate and the demand will continue to grow. and looking at the markets now the prospect of high energy prices and rising inflation is raising fears the crisis in the middle east could derail the global economic recovery is down for effect. his longest losing streak since july. down two point four percent the bank. laws that missed analysts estimates british american tobacco is losing two point one percent after its net income fell short of found last estimates fear

surfaced trend on the rising point eight percent for porting it's more than doubled . and here in russia the markets are open again after three days break for a national holiday on wednesday both r.t.s. and my six are trading in the south pushed up by energy shares which are among the few to benefit from the shops oil prices let's have a look at some individual moves and gas problem is among the leaders of growth rates up almost twenty percent rising two point five percent it's also being held by news that signed a deal with american vanco international to develop two offshore oil fields and romania and producers are also gaining as prices for the precious metals search higher than certainty the middle east is up. two point four percent. 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 bike reported a five fold increase in net income for twenty ten more than six billion dollars but the head of burbank herman graff says durden won't be raised until at least twenty thirteen as the bank needs the money to more tonight so the development strategy didn't prevent his burbank from raising the bonus for top managers we felt. european officials are expected to ask for a commitment to make reforms necessary for russia to join the world trade organization the prime minister is in brussels to discuss the w t o entry energy corporation trade and investment issues russia is the last major economy that isn't in the w t o goshen which have been going on for two decades are now nearing resolution officials in moscow have repeatedly stated that twenty eleven is your accession will finally be cheap.