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with north africa the middle east in europe is under threat of being drowned by a flood of illegal immigration. is three hundred thousand refugees and. wiki leaks founder is bracing for a ruling on his extradition to sweden to face sexual assault charges. only allegations against him and said that this is a political case. from inside the courthouse in just a few minutes here. and an end to the space race with the u.s. shuttle discovery poised for its final launch many americans say it's a national. brushes it will become but the only way to get into

a. very warm welcome to this is live from moscow where it's not just after two pm well as the storm or for of all the arab world before being increasingly felt in europe it's a humanitarian emergency on its southern island of lampedusa the tiny outpost buckles under a wave of immigrants desperate to escape the trouble five thousand refugees have already reached its shores with fears that the number could swell quickly to three hundred thousand. in office that. eighty miles off the coast of north africa the tiny italian island. fishing in tourism for its main sources. for the first time. in years the bolts on the mets are

drawing of that for us. they're always out here we haven't gone out to sea for twenty days now since the recent uprising in tunisia the island has been flooded with refugees over five and a half thousand arrived in just two weeks sometimes up to three hundred refugees or just one tiny fishing boat to make the perilous journey to the mediterranean island dozens have already drowned many of those who made it have nothing to lose turning local life here on its head with no money and jobs they have already been cases of vandalism and theft and 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 here will feel uncomfortable due to its location lumpy tuesday's 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. that. 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'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 over eighty g.'s are flown to the mainland each day. we sent four planes yesterday but on average two planes with refugees leave every day to crew tony and pollute. with. 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 battleford in the middle east already warned other e.u. 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 the world the world for all these lives and no one was afraid to leave their doors on. five something she said the biggest wave of refugees may still be out there the only one this tiny island but the entire continent you've got this going on or you want to do about it we. meantime dr rosemary hollis who's an expert on middle east policy studies at city university london she believes the influx of immigrants will be a real test for the entire 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 you 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 across the deserted streets of tripoli with reports of uprisings ongoing in nearby after more than

a week of the opposition is consuming news games with demonstrators taking over the country the u.n. security council and washington have demanded an immediate end to the violence the e.u. is considering sanctions against libya colonel gadhafi is a bloody crackdown on protesters after some reports saying that the army used air strikes against its own people several hundred protesters are said to have been killed but the real death toll is fit to stand at more than a thousand. well former m i five agent she says that some western countries are exploiting lucrative relationships with libya as gadhafi val's to fight until the end. it's just a very brutal 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 in the came on you 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 from 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 life 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 post where dictatorship of course after you've seen 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 don't really just don't know how to handle this they sort of backing off but they don't want to overtly support the protesters either and that's more the repercussions from the unrest in north africa and the middle east that's coming your way shortly but first let's take a look at what else is ahead this hour here on our team a criminal or porn wiki leaks founder julian assange on the way it's

a ruling on his extradition to sweden supporters claim the case is political fearing for his fate if he ends up in the united states 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 send humans into space find out how the americans are dealing with the national pride that's coming your way later in our program. with libya in the throes of violence and bloodshed antigovernment unrest across the arab world is showing little sign of dying down however egypt is one of the countries that managed to break a decades long cycle of oppression but the question remains whether those fighting for reforms will get the change they crave is pretty relevant reports from cairo. one month on from the outbreak of the revolution it's all in the bot except down from power many protesters who stood up to the egyptian regime jubilant what they achieved until you square the moment more works that down and 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 of like 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 the growth of freedom and democracy in egypt ultimately of the united states can't be kept sorcery dictated what happens 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 tyrone 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 that might be greater from what is happening in the chart 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 there the hand the upper hand to give everyone everything on. so yes. more and more to figured that facts and hated and thing about how we're going to deal with it we don't want to make we place a military regime with another. potentially elections could take place in around six months other political sources in the country suggest this could come too soon for a nation emerging in three decades of dictatorship feature all over cairo egypt while 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 prime yet is in brussels for a major tool with members of the european commission president jose manuel barroso the sides will focus on energy trade cooperation in high technology and moscow's bid to join the world trade organization a new russia e.u. partnership agreement is also on the table. but the u.s. says it's ready to start new talks with russia on further nuclear arms cuts of this month's key new treaty the new start between the two countries to come into force but that will see both sides slashing their arsenals by at least a third former u.s. national security adviser brant scowcroft told r.t. the deal is a way to make sure nuclear weapons a never used. all sides have ratified the new start treaty and that is. a major step forward what it really does is that is

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 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 used and that is to increase the stability of the nuclear. well so whatever the problem between a story is no incentive to use and i think now the way is clear for us to sit down and have that kind of discussion 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. thoughtfulness on both sides but i'm sure we can make

progress now that we've laid the groundwork for further steps. and you can watch the full interview and in about fifteen minutes time but a london court is about to decide the fate of julian assange on the founder of the controversial whistle blowing web site wiki leaks a judge will deliver a verdict on whether he should be extradited to sweden to face sex assault charges . that now has the latest from outside the court. in fact observers increasingly are expecting that ourselves and his defense team will lose their case they're expecting that the judge will rule that he should be essentially 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 songs to sweden for questioning 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 sweden where he may face charges of espionage in relation to his activities with wiki leaks of course wiki leaks released very damaging diplomatic cables relating to the u.s. is relationship with other countries in the world and it's expected that the u.s. will then request his extradition for that now during the hearing the defense counsel has focused mainly on the bizarre what they call the bizarre handling of sex crimes in this week and there's no bail for defendants the trials are held behind closed doors so it is 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 ill treat foreigners are still being held and that the defense also during the hearings have attacked and berryman them and leave the swedish prosecutor saying that she's got a grudge against men and that she is

a radical feminist the defense team have already said that if they lose they will go to the high court and then possibly even if they lose their to the european court of human rights so very unlikely that today will be the end of the story some are saying that this is a case which might not conclude till the summer but it wouldn't be surprising if it carried on way past that. laura reporting that you can always go to r.t. dot com for more news blogs and analysis and check out some of the items were lined up for you right now one article portion could soon mean murder. in the u.s. state of georgia has a new bill seeks to criminalize the practice and ensure that oath or he's investigated all miscarriages. and the gold rush is about to make a comeback here in russia as parliament possible which would reopen old mines to tourists and amateur thinkers find out more. 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 terror effort in that region police sources say weapons and explosives have been found in a hidden militant camp that targeted groups are suspected of attacking tourists last weekend when two mosques the gunman stopped a minibus heading for a ski resort on mount elbrus three tourists were killed and two others. are now it's just about seventeen minutes past the hour here in moscow you without some of the international headlines now this hour police doing have announced the death toll from the country's devastating earthquake has now risen to ninety eight but there are also fears that one hundred twenty bodies may still be inside one of the worst affected buildings two days after the shock two hundred people are now still accounted for rescue crews are continuing to come through the rubble but many are fearing the worst the country's prime minister warned the toll could rise for a week. in peru and bolivia at the cleared

a state of emergency as massive flooding affects both countries. three people have died almost seven thousand left homeless as a result of the strong rains hitting the country for the past few weeks rivers burst their banks flooding. residential areas that were similar scenes in peru some with three and a half thousand people lost their homes. mexican authorities have captured the main suspect in the fatal shooting of an american immigration and customs enforcement agent a little. over a week ago six men were snared during a raid on a dying safe house it's believed three of them participated in the attack which u.s. authorities described as a deliberate ambush and a second american agent was also wounded when the gunman opened fire on the officials as they drive toward mexico city. while america's longest serving special 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 send a shuttle into orbit for suspends its space program he's got an extra can of found out for the last means 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 fear oh gosh i. can't 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 burst and 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 one did 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. reportedly up the cash then after right on the hope of the backseat all the risk is 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. used 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. maybe we're not competing but were 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 russian rockets during the 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 seconds here 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 wanted here in the was ready to accept it i'm going to check on our to washington. well to come to you live from moscow to investment giants are locked in a lawsuit over undesirable assets with lehman brothers suing j.p. morgan chase for over eight billion dollars well the financial guru max keiser explains how banks swapping toxic assets it's a common occurrence. the bank state just exchange cocktail napkins they say they're worth a billion dollars they swap them they charge other fake and then there comes out

that there is nothing there they go to the government for a bailout they 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. reporters on r.t. in just over an hour's time so about up next those the business news. hello and a very warm welcome to the business update oil prices have surged to a two and a half year high as the unrest in libya and the wider middle east sense of the shocks through the market which is a wrong the world have been reacting negatively to events but here in russia the high oil price is strongly supporting the energy sector let's take a look at some of the numbers now in news that oil companies are shutting down

their operations in libya which is the world's twelve biggest producer has sent light sweet crude to one hundred dollars a barrel up two point eight percent on the day branch crude is growing even faster up twenty percent at nearly one hundred and fifteen dollars a barrel. turning to equities both e.r.t.'s and the my successor but that's all because of the energy sector with a little help from gold stocks retailers banks and miners all down let's look at some individua. gas problem is among the leaders here and it's up almost three percent is rising two and a half percent it's also being helped by the news it signed a deal with american banker international to develop two offshore oil fields in romania and gold produces samples of giving us prices for the precious metals surge high up. is up two point four percent. and it's

a similar story on your of course this oil majors and gold miners are providing the relatively few bright spots that sit down for a fifth day its longest losing streak since july the dax is down over one percent it's heavily weighted with banks and industrials two sectors that are struggling most with uncertainty created in the middle east. there is a guessing game over how far the end breast will spread in the middle east and how this will impact the oil market some analysts speculate if iran gets caught up in it or oil will spike above one hundred fifty dollars a barrel or what happens if the world's biggest oil producer saudi arabia becomes suffused with revolutionary spirit to consider some of these questions i'm joined by richard swan managing editor well europe and middle east africa from platts agency in london that's just what thank you for joining us or well prices have been particularly volatile during the recent years but where do you expect oil prices to

peak are there on a real roller coaster at the moment there's just this morning we were up six dollars in the space of two hours at one point before they came down a little bit the markets are going up at the moment on two things they're going up with the physical loss of supply from libya which is serious but the fear factor is in there the fear factor is that the on the rest could spread to other oil producing countries as well but it's very hard to put it to people in this market the moment nobody is going sure. is there any real oil shortage so far or is this more a psychological factor pushing up prices but the psychological factor is clearly there and you should not underestimate this people are worried what will come next but there is a physical element here as well libya is not the world's biggest oil supplier but it's a significant export export about a million and a half of barrels per day of good quality light sweet oil mostly to europe most of this seems to be shouting it's very hard to get

a precise figure we know western companies been pulling out their workers and shutting. the head of it easy and i said today he thinks one point two million barrels is now shot i don't have any confirmation on this number but there is a loss of physical oil here. to say that oil is currently moving quite freely but of nations such as russia make up for the supply shortfall if any. russia is an interesting one it's the world's biggest oil producer and the second biggest exporter but it can't really make up for libya the reason is russia doesn't really have spare capacity everything it has is currently producing in the future it could increase production with new development but it has nothing in reserve that it can just turn on there's only one country that does and that's really just saudi arabia that the world's top export and they hold spare capacity the estimates vary but it's believed to be around four million barrels a day which is very significant and more than enough to cover libya obviously it's never been tried they've never produced.