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extradition approved court rules the man behind the whistle blowing web site wiki leaks should go to sweden for questioning over sex crimes. and insists the case. join me for more in just a few moments. let the people decide their own future that's the message sent by prime minister vladimir putin as he addressed western meddling in international affairs at a meeting in brussels russia and the e.u. agreed to coordinate efforts in the ongoing political and economic crises in north africa a few moments. braces itself for a massive flow of migrants and calls on the e.u. to rescue it from a humanitarian crisis which could see more than a million people flooding the country from the troubled arab. and space shuttle

discovery blasts off from cape canaveral in the u.s. on its final mission after almost three decades of travel. this is r.t. in the russian capital one am on a friday morning in moscow and ten pm at night in london where a court has ruled in favor of julian assange and his extradition that wiki leaks founder is wanted for questioning in connection with sexual assault allegations during a trip he made to sweden last summer and so his lawyers for he won't receive a fair trial in sweden and risks being handed over to america on espionage charges u.s. is currently investigating his website which released a swathe of secret diplomatic wires washington wants him help responsible for leaking classified information what is your image brings us now the latest from the

hearing in london. in order to actually what we saw this morning was the judge knocking down these defense argument out of the water essentially one by one he said that our songs had not in fact made himself available for questioning whilst he was in sweden and that our soldiers swedish go ahead misled the court when he said that he had. was unco on contactable and avoided interrogation while he was in sweden he also said that the european arrest warrant had been issued for might be disproportionate but it was valid and it was definitely issued with a view to prosecuting asked for these charges and he also said that certainly one of the charges that's being brought against these allegations that are being made against student assaults for sexual assault certainly one of them would constitute rape in the u.k. and all four of them that were extraditable offenses now are so she has always maintained his innocence in this case and in fact he says and his defense team say

that this is politically motivated in connection with his work with wiki leaks wiki leaks of course we've seen releasing a series of cables relating to the u.s. diplomatic service some of which were deeply embarrassing for the u.s. government has always maintained that this is in order to facility. his extradition own words to the us we have heard in the last couple of days from the justice department in the american justice department in london saying that there are no charges currently against assault in america but that there is an investigation under way into wiki leaks but the judge again said that there was no evidence that assad should be extradited to america all of that he might be tortured or that he could be executed or that he could be sent to guantanamo bay if he indeed was sent to america well this is very unlikely to finish the defense team have already said that they're going to launch an appeal they have now have seven days in which to do that they will take the appeal first to the high court and then if that doesn't

sixty up to the supreme court here in the u.k. and then if they have to they say that they will go to the european court of human rights so this is a case that will certainly continue into the summer but i wouldn't be surprised if it carried on for much longer than that. and that reporting there from london well international extraditions lawyer douglas mcnabb says that if washington wants to lay its hands on a songe american prosecutors will certainly find something to charge him with. very little evidence needs to be shown in order to support and extradition from u.k. to the u.s. so i would see that if the u.s. wanted to extradite mr of songs at some point but now would be the time to do that i suppose to seeking to have him extradited from a realistic point of view i think the politics does come in deployed i think that the united states very very much wants to get their hands on mr a song

in a u.s. courtroom what they're ultimately going to charge mr a song for we have i don't know. we have something like four thousand three hundred federal crimes in the united states. and approximately fifty five additional cry. times are added to that list every year. if a federal prosecutor wants to indict mr of songs they're going to find something to try him with whether it would be something very serious like caspian are usually or whether it would be something less serious if anything in the federal system i can tell you is it is serious. and so i think if the u.s. government wants him they're going to get him. libya has seen more bloodshed as kind of gadhafi is clinging to the last vestige of a country which only a matter of days ago he presided over entirely the capital tripoli now reportedly

the only part still under his control could after it's called on thousands of mercenaries to defend his bastion as he's faced with more defections from his regime every death toll for the ten days of unrest has been difficult to determine conflicting reports put the number between three hundred and two thousand meanwhile the swiss government has ordered the freeze of any locally held assets belonging to the libyan leader ahmad badawi from the berlin based conflict analysis think tank believes the crisis we're currently witnessing in the arab world is the consequence of years of wrongful policies in the west. what is happening at the moment in the arab world. taken everybody by surprise there is definitely an intelligence failure on the part of the worst big part of it is actually the outcome of years of policy failure from the worst in not being able to understand correctly the mood of the people in the street and the arab word and their continuous support of leaders

in this part of the world while the leaders were continuously losing their legitimacy there was this faulty assumption that he can rely on leaders like mubarak and ben ali and even that there are few recently in the last few years. by giving weapons and arming these leaders to the teeth thinking that they will be able to control their population of course that proved to be a very faulty assumption indeed on behalf of many people in the west the continuing crisis in north africa has highlighted the need for russia and the e.u. to coordinate their efforts in terms of foreign policy and economy that's according to prime minister vladimir putin who addressed the media following a meeting with the european commission president jose manual and daniel bushell has been following events in brussels for us. jhon is dominating world affairs at the moment and this was no exception although vladimir putin has kept his powder dry on the issue up until now we have come out with a passion plea for foreign powers to stay out of the conflict in so much as to

allow the democratic process and the people to elect their own leaders in that region themselves he gave several examples of how interference has brought the reverse effect it was because as that which is today we say we're concerned about things happening in libya please note the following the north african cell of al-qaeda is also concerned about what's happening in libya do you think that's a coincidence i would like to go back in history a little the former leader of the iranian revolution where did he live he lived in paris and as a whole he was supported by the western community now the entire western community fights against the iranian nuclear program i remember just recently our partners were very active in supporting democratic elections in the palestinian autonomy and her mass won and immediately they declared her mass a terrorist organization and started fighting against it we need to give people a chance to determine their future themselves we need to give them an opportunity

to take a natural way without any foreign interference to build their future he also said that the is the mystification of north africa was unlikely in his view if the democratic process was allowed to take its natural course of course this is having an effect on the economy already we're seeing brant oil prices at one eighteen dollars a barrel analysts say it's set to double in the short period there were putin was very open about the fact during the conference that had the e.u. already allowed such gas projects as north and south stream to pass through the european union the prices for energy would be lower he reminded the e.u. that it was in both sides interests to to allow maximum corporation between a u. and russia. italy will be brought to its knees as a new wave of immigrants is expected to flood the country thousands of refugees have reached its shores from the unsettled arab world the government is called on

the european union to help with the predicted invasion of up to one million people and reports on how locals are dealing with the situation. 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. but for the first time in years the boats. and the nets are dry. but. 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 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. doesn't have. many of those who meet it have nothing to. fear on its head. jobs they have already been cases of vandalism that just.

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 out here will feel uncomfortable due to its location lumpy doozies for millions with refugees but never so many in such a short period of time and with many voicing strong beliefs official say identifying genuine pieces is one of the biggest problems. we are historically a free nation and we want freedom of islam we want to live like a prophet told us and who leave us to live in an islamic state. 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.

we sent four planes yesterday but on average two planes with refugees leave every day to. and pollute. italy and tunisia used to have an agreement under which mostly a few g.'s were intercepted before even reaching the island but now that the government has been overthrown the floodgates have opened. i. violence continuing to spread in both north africa and the middle east already warned other states up to three hundred thousand refugees could flee libya alone for decades. to remain isolated world of its own people when he spoke and no one was afraid to leave. the biggest wave of refugees may still be out there. on this tiny island but the

entire continent you are the one. just minutes ago the world's most journeyed spaceship discovery successfully blasted off from cape canaveral in florida on its final mission well this mission to the international space station comes after almost three decades of travel and beginning of the end of the u.s. space shuttle program with the remaining two craft also heading for the scrap heap late this year and. it's a loss some americans are finding hard to accept. 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 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 first and build this wonderful equipment and then. and now we're we're reduced to being passengers on a russian ship and that's that's sort of it's a wounded pride thing one declined 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

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. 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 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 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 segment 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 us are saying space is no longer a place for competition it's now a ground for cooperation but the question remains is that the one clear in the was ready to fully accept it i'm going to take an art to washington d.c. . well for more on what the shuttle and indeed the retirement of the shuttle means

to americans we can now go live to our washington studio and speak with william anderson he's associate professor of economics at frostburg state university professor thanks so much for joining us aaron r.t. now this is the end of an era for america and as we heard in that report many would say wounded pride a tragic mistake would you agree. absolutely no that's nonsense i'm sorry but that that that really is nonsense this is not a country versus country remember i came of age i remember yuri gagarin i was in grade school. and their reaction after sputnik. i mean yes it's wonderful we want to the moon but. we're in competition with the russian stuff i mean that's you know we're talking fifty years ago and we need to grow up. so what are we going to see now we're always going to see a collaboration with the russians along with private enterprise in the states but just how much will that private enterprise really be able to pick up from where the

space program is left off. well it's hard to know i mean i think you want to definitely see some different things and keep in mind something let me ask this question i think this might put things in a little bit more perspective what if. nasa had taken over computers right after steven jobs and steven wallace and they built the first. personal computer in their garage in a vacuum nine hundred seventy six or seventy seven what if do you think that we would have all of the stuff and all of the wonderful technology that we have today or would the computers look something like computers did nineteen eighty and i think that's part of what's going on as well i mean nasa has turned basically into a just another bureaucracy full of careerists people who don't like to take risks in something that frankly is a very very dangerous thing in that space travel so does that mean that we perhaps will see some exciting dynamic developments now maybe space tourism literally

taking off. oh it could i don't know i mean i cause i do know how far along the technology is and frankly how much it would cost i mean who can afford it right now but remember this in the early days only very wealthy people could fly and the idea of just ordinary people flying in a plane you know paying a fair and and flying a plane was just unheard of and right now probably only very wealthy people could actually foot the bill but over time if this is allowed to develop yes i think that's a possibility just finally i'm here in moscow asking you these questions how much do you think russia will really benefit from being the only carry into space for the immediate future. oh i think. it'll be good for the russians. i mean the soyuz craft it's reliable it's always been pretty reliable it's a fairly simple craft i think that. in an end it's like listening to

that one astronaut talking about how good it was to have contact with people from another country are like that i mean why you know why does this have to be some sort of extension of the cold war i mean you know that the cold war was ridiculous and you know it seems to me we need to bury it and that includes bearing the nonsense of the cold war the space program just finally what about space travel for you would you have entertained the idea does appeal to you. all the aero hey i'm game for anything you know i would like to do it i'm not sure that i could do it right now but i don't have a very big checking account but sure and i think you know who knows what will happen but i do think that we have we are in need for a change especially given that it seems to me that our space program has been in the seventy's time warp and you know and i think president obama was right to say look we need to take a different tact with this and not just continue to have the same of bureaucratic

approach i applaud him on that but just briefly from a point of view really is that time that the u.s. can't afford to invest all this money into space travel just briefly i mean the country is in dire financial straits and. we're broke yeah i mean you know it just exactly right i mean this is. not only that it's been like animal house the last few years instead of admitting that we were broke we had one big toga party and now i mean the chickens are really coming home to roost as you know as they might say so i absolutely agree with you there that we don't need to keep pouring resources into the space shuttle in the same old thing here let's let people try something else i absolutely agree. with you professor william anderson great to hear what you have to say associate professor of economics at frostburg state university thanks for joining us live there in washington. well that brings

up to date i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in about ten minutes from now but next we'll be talking to former u.s. national security adviser brant scowcroft about his views on the current revolts across north africa and the middle east as well as america's relationship with russia. mr scowcroft thank you very much for joining altie you belong to the school of foreign policy realists that's what they say for this and your public come up with

a career stretching across five american x. administrations so i would like to discuss several foreign policy issues with you in your view what are the consequences for the u.s. middle east policy after the toppling of mubarak in egypt and ben ali in tunisia you know one is always caught off guard by revolutions. because there are surprises if there were a surprise to president ben ali and to president mubarak it's hardly unusual it would be a surprise to the united states the instabilities in the region are of course obvious and have been for a long time the question is can they be handled can they be dealt with in a thoughtful sensible way or does it have to involve unrest and violence and i think. we have to wait and see so far the egyptian crisis has been managed i think quite well to try army behaved i think very well neither repressing the

demonstrations nor encouraging. its changes coming to the region but that was that was inevitable as the old leaders. past from the seed so i think we need to be careful but i'm optimistic fundamentally our policy should change in our policy is the development of open societies cooperativeness and progressive development for all the countries of the region and that's always been paul do you think that the nato mission in afghanistan is doomed just like the british failed in the nineteenth century in the soviet union just thirty years ago no i don't think so because i think we are the united states is there for a different reason which is not to control afghanistan but to make sure that there

are other terrorist bad don't use afghanistan as a base from which to attack costs you or anybody else so our goal is much more limited and i think therefore one can have more optimism than one did to the previous occupants of afghanistan you yourself i think have been saying that the term war on terror. was compromised it has indeed been compromised how does that marry with the you know with the terrorism threat that is not going anywhere where terrorism threat is one thing a war is another and terrorism is a technique of combat it is not you can't make war on a technique so i think war on terrorism was designed to motivate people for a maximum effort terrorist something that we all have to deal with and i'm going to

have to for a long period of time it's in part a product of the modern age like television like radio people are now politicized by issues that they didn't care about before because they didn't know about and so i think it's a long term struggle against extremists. who want to destroy a civilization that they can't cope with it seems that there is no progress in stopping the iranian nuclear program in your view what are the chances that the united states may resort to the military option i think there is still the possibility to avoid a confrontation i think iran is a case that's related to the reason that i'm here and that is cooperation between the united states and russia on the whole nuclear fuel cycle iran has every right to have nuclear power it does not have the right to build nuclear weapons and

i think the extent to which we can cooperate to induce iran to take the opportunities that are available that is nuclear fuel from russia return a nuclear fuel not insist on enriching its own uranium or doing things like that and i wouldn't rule out that. that we would be successful how much is you know is this the opinion shared in the united states i don't think i'm alone i am not sure but i don't think there's any eagerness. to deal with iran by force and i think the extent the increase in degree of cooperation between the united states to russia on this issue will have a big impact on iran and what it decides to do what is your assessment on has the recent with russia and as my.