for the. we've got it for. the biggest issues get the human voice face to face with the news makers on. the. game. barack obama reportedly authorizes secret cia operations in libya sparking concerns that the ground intervention is being prepared. and nato countries consider arming the opposition forces in libya despite a checkered history of weapons ended up in the hands of terrorists or maybe even colonel gadhafi some. work kept of hands of damage to the nuclear power just suspended from radiation levels are rising just attempts to call leaks of country by race. thus we travel to siberia teams who prepare

a soft landing space truckers returning to work after their missions a little bit. russia's president called for changes to improve the country's investment climate and join me for that and more in around twenty minutes time. they're broadcasting from the heart of the russian capital this is r.t. and kerry just u.s. president barack obama has reportedly signed secret orders around the cia to try out covert missions inside libya teams of operatives are thought to have been gathering intelligence for military air strikes and something on links with rebels rather be on the foreign minister has arrived in britain saying he's no longer willing to work under the regime of colonel gadhafi. cross-line rossi's poor he was

in the libyan capital tripoli paula bring us up to date on what's happening across the country right now. well they have strikes in the east and south eastern suburbs of tripoli at a military base there while the front line seems to have been pushed ever so further back it is now not far from the town of ajdabiya which is just seventy kilometers rates of the rebel stronghold of benghazi there have been a number of coalition air strikes in and around darby i would switch certainly does suggest that the coalition is afraid there could have his forces are closing in on this town and also they do not want to forward to the gadhafi forces now the terrain that a little fighters are fighting on is working against them it is essentially one highway in the desert it is very hard for them to get supplies and certainly at this stage it does seem as if this coalition in strikes are making very little difference on the ground gadhafi is winning the war but certainly he has been dealt a psychological blow his foreign minister recent koussa has defected and he is

currently in discussions with the british intelligence in arkansas has been a foreign minister of this country since two thousand and nine he headed the libyan intelligence agency for some fifteen years an acquisition earned him the nickname of the man of death he is gadhafi his right hand man he is trusted via gadhafi but he certainly has been described as a shrewd operator by the international community so many here are asking what is it exactly that mr russo koussa knows that has caused him to defect and just how important the information he has to the coalition partners. paula there have been reports that washington could see to become even more importantly what do we know about that. well the first reporters of course the whole question around weapons this is a concern a tripoli has had from the beginning and it is a legal question whether or not that united nations resolution nine hundred seventy three actually allows for the arming of the rebel fighters the rebels themselves

have shown themselves to lack good leadership to be quite loosely organized and by and large not actually know how to use the weapons that they do have they do have surface to air missiles they've used them but if you remember it was just a few weeks back that they actually shot down one of their own aircraft so the questions that are being asked are that if the international community plans to arm the rebels are movies weapons actually just not be falling into the hands of people that essentially are inadequate and actually cannot use them nato has taken over the full command of all military operations here but increasingly the christians impose not only vote for people of it but by the international community are that they might be liberating the rebels but this certainly is a very different scenario from the arab democratic revolutions every saw in tunisia and egypt ironically though what tripoli is saying is that it might be a good thing that the discussion is now on the international table on the international agenda in terms of arming the rebels because it is forcing the international community to revisit the question of who is among the ranks we have

heard the united states admitting that there is al qaeda that there is hizbullah within those rebel groups and certainly this is something that tripoli has been telling international community from the beginning that these demonstrations that these fights are being inspired from forces outside the country at the same time it is questioning the whole of just from the city of this operation as my colleague it's thought for. the your international community intervention in libya to protect civilians from canal khadafi in washington wants to go further than that and is considering arming the rebels while officially denying that toppling is the objective of its involvement in libya broadening our military mission to. include regime change would be a mistake president obama has reportedly signed a secret order authorizing covert american support for rebel forces seeking to oust the lead in leader critics of the u.s. taking sides in

a civil war warn of the consequences or we help accelerate the chaos. and in creating more chaos we're to rethink somehow we're going to be able to direct the outcome it's the same hubris that has visited the united states in iraq the same here that keeps us penya and in afghanistan causes us to believe that somehow we are going to wreck. any outcome in libya we cannot do that nor do we have the right to determine who the leader of libya should be many fear radical forces could take advantage of the chaos in libya former jihadists nomen bennett men who renounce his ilk affiliation in two thousand says he has two mates one thousand jihadists are among the rebels in libya one levy and rebel commander has openly admitted his fighters have hokkaido links other reports say terrorists seized libyan surface to air missiles when arsenals were looted nato intelligence

reports claim flickers of al qaida and hezbollah have been found among the rebels in libya but maintained there is no reason to believe their presence is significant but a u.s. military study three years ago said lidia's made up the second largest group of jihadists in the world right after saudi arabia all of that seems to be discarded as the u.s. is trying to prop up the opposition in libya as some analysts say in an attempt to forge a relationship with them that would be favorable for the united states in the future but experts say as of now the opposition in libya hardly has a defined face or power these people. will not be able to take control over the situation as soon as the current regime. goes off and that means that somebody else will be. tempted to take over the country and we know that. will organize the world force in the region not in

the country but in the region is unfortunately i was. some say arming the rebels could backfire we've been in this situation in afghanistan one day we help people and the next day they shoot at us if we are cautious about military intervention could blow back their chalmers johnson johnson wrote famously about is sure to happen in libya and afghanistan back in the eighty's the u.s. had a narrow goal to help the mujahideen fight soviet troops subsequently the same militants turned their weapons and training against the u.s. among those of them was osama bin ladin whose group of eventually evolved into al qaida this cannistraro cia and alice is an operations chief in the 1980's says that then the us didn't see the dangers of arming the afghan militants know good and well and what we've seen where the tribal society you know interests.

and leading to. some reconstruction code over two decades after arming the afghan mujahedeen america is now considering giving weapons to another rebel band with an unclear identity simply because of who they're fighting against ghana shekau r.t. washington d.c. . moving forward the other big concern is just who is going to train and equip and assist these rebels in terms of being able to use those weapons it's going to be the united states what is it going to be you would be empowered and what the government is saying is that if this happens this will be just one step closer to the deployment of fallen soldiers in this country as we heard in that package the american president barack obama about two to three weeks ago signed a secret order that enabled cia agents to work in this country we understand that they have been making contact with the opposition fighters have been assisting the

needs determining restraints and certainly this is only in train ching foreign involvement in this country that much more. than arwa thank you for that update. of the united states has a long and mixed history of supporting rebels in internal conflicts but exulting is going to try to turn reports helping out anti government forces can sometimes for. there's going to be a period of time really trying to figure out you know who is in charge who's really genuine who's really interested in the goals of the future of libya and then who is really corrupt and out to herself again. and you're not going to gain that from buying them twenty thousand feet above the air or less you're going to only gain out from from boots on the ground the american people are not stupid and i think you just really really really good for for our government and our leaders to just come out and say we want the leader of libya out of power whether he's captured

whether he's killed whether he's sent into exile but that's really what we want we want regime change and we're entering a revolution that we know very little about and we don't know and be careful what comes out on the other end and be prepared to take the secular tyranny or the religious tyranny that might evolve into from this action by the you were either all in on this thing and we're going to do it right or we're looking at another eight to ten year escapade as what we've done in the other countries and that that is not the formula for success right now. following their latest setbacks the rebels are pleading for more help from nato to regain the momentum against gadhafi who is in buying guns they say that since government troops were forced from the city they've been shocking revelations about the crimes and to the current regime well to support the scoffers behind the opposition. this is. their fees a little my people love them for you know by hundreds or thousands on the phone

this is so well these people know about those before the revolution no no no no these troops were pushed out of benghazi every day the locals find out something new about his regime and extreme methods. this used to be the premises of a secret police and the doctor himself even stayed here during his visit. we've been told that ordinary people were able to enter this territory for the first time only after the revolution and when they did many began hearing these cries for help and they couldn't figure out where they were coming from at first until they found these holes in the ground and saw sticks coming out of them and we wise that the sounds were coming from the opening which turned out to be ventilation holes for this huge secret underground prison which normally even knew about. in egypt and tunisia in the spread to libya open protest against gadhafi was met with

a group will be sponsored with demonstrators guns down the rebel stronghold of benghazi came under a sustained attack by government forces who'd been driven out the city almost retaken before needlepoint began airstrikes against gadhafi under a un no fly zone resolution. graphics said he loved been well this is how he loves us if nato planes would have gotten involved just a few hours later they could have killed everyone his whole army was here would need to bombing these forces from the air the rebels quickly advanced west even reaching the colonel's hometown sirte around half the distance from benghazi to the capital but with a shortage of arms and organization there once again being pushed back east by going to the superior firepower and better trained forces if the u.s.

air cover were withdrawn gadhafi were going to reassert control over the country if however that rebel army manages to get into the western areas they will carry out a tribal vendetta many of the rebels are teenagers only with a key forty seven's. in new. retreat mimi caught up in spirit while news of the rebel retreated to france was greeted with a warm there's more western support but here in benghazi there is no compromise only the demand for gadhafi to go saying we will fight. the war is going to be reporting from going guys the media. also to come in the program the latest in our russia close observers. there is no tell exactly where card will live in. here anything that could possibly. be russian. exercises just. take

a look at how the earth prepares to greet explorers returning from orbit. and the stars of politics and show business flops that's all in london on the first president to sell. in japan the operation to make the stricken from the sheema nuclear power plant safe and they were trying to cover the damaged reactors with high tech resin which will then dry out and vent radiation leaks but rain is hampering their efforts so full of radiation in. the city is now about one half thousand times higher than the. safety agency has recommended twenty kilometer exclusion zone around the site why didn't the operator has failed to regain control over the nuclear site since it was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami twenty days ago but the pendants consultant

says the crisis shows japan was ill prepared for such an emergency. the problem is really the fundamental nuclear safety culture in japan and generally in the rest of the developed world is flawed what happened here is that the japanese considered this cascade. of tsunami could never happen or would happen so infrequently that they didn't have to take account of it and as a result they never practice is not a rehearsal it's quite an accident and we can see affectively that the japanese for the first two weeks have been running around to coin an old english phrase like headless chickens not knowing what to do the real problem is this if they take a measure like flood in and quench in the reactors with water that may well lead to serious consequences later on when they have all that accumulated water inside which is highly radioactive then they have to make a decision of how to deal with the water whether to keep it in sight. or to

actually destroyed it to see with the consequences on the marine environment so whichever way they turn they've been ill prepared and they poorly planned for the consequences of this succeeded action. moving on down today russia close up texas to the doorstep of siberia so you have instruments renowned for its nuclear research and development engines shut off to all foreigners until as recently as the early ninety's now it's wide open. yes to. party returning cosmonauts and astronauts as well making space capsule landing zones special recovery teams are always ready to tracking just minutes after they land. reports it's not quite as easy as it sounds.

months spent in space i mean stars and constellations orbiting the earth in zero gravity being a cosmonaut or an astronaut is no easy task. but after their mission is complete and they return to earth the mission for other men and women begins. obviously there is no telling that clearly where cause the land itself in order to be for care for anything it is possibly go wrong rationalisation and russian space agency regularly pulls exercises just a month before a scheduled landing cell they can visit there for anything in fact and the rescue operation kicks off even before the capsule with cosmonauts lands. it's one of the most exciting moments hearing in your headphones the day goes on the radar they're watching us and following us that's awesome that means that always are vital practices that we had won't be needed. but though this is how it usually happens

the search and rescue teams on land know that it's better to be safe than sorry there are. such trainings are conductors regularly right before every wending the objective is to test the condition of the equipment and vehicles of the preparedness of the personnel or team has an extensive experience in this field and we are ready to work in any condition with. the process involves several teams of specially trained air force personnel from parachutists to medical staff finding the landing capsule opening it up and then in the conference out into the open back on terra firma of course during the training one of the rescuers acts as a stand in for the cosmonauts the whole process normally takes twenty five to thirty minutes but in order to achieve such speed a months of training are needed after all there are lives at stake and one of the most important factors and weather is also one of the most unpredictable almost all

of this is the hardest when helicopters can fly into the ground and shalon can get to the cosmonauts ever create them and get them to the nearest airfield we always have very little time and we must get them out as soon as possible. hardly a low pressure working environment but there ward is priceless so i'd like to say for all cosmonauts we greatly respect you guys and really love you and i hope of all knowledge and lifesaving skills that you have will never be needed by you or us but i thank you. even goes r t. now some other international stories making headlines the un security council has voted unanimously for an immediate end to violence in ivory coast sanctions will be imposed on incumbent president on his inner circle council of. his able to use all means necessary to protect civilians but came as quite

a supporting internationally recognized president some with seized control of the administrative capital. former american presidents jimmy carter has criticized u.s. policy towards cuba at the end of a three day visit to the island said decades of financial and economic sanctions have ended before carter urged in the media tenting of u.s. imposed a trade embargo and travel ban calling them unproductive of a single like cuban leader role castro who said he was please visit. police in syria have reportedly opened fire at a demonstration on the city of the turkey and it's unclear whether shots were fired protesters or into the it's part of a speech by president bashar al assad made no offer preschool for him as i've been writing predicted according to human rights groups over sixty people were killed in a government crackdown on protests since march.

the last survey leader mikhail gorbachev turned eighty this not the biggest party has been taking place in london weld stars and politicians flocked to the royal albert hall for a charity concert in his own party's lower end it spoke to some of the ip guests on the red carpet. this star studded evening brings together influential people from various walks of life for a charity dollar to mark the eightieth birthday of mikhail gorbachev known as the man who changed the world and the first and only president of the u.s.s.r. former british prime minister john major x. german chancellor gerhard schroeder and two time california governor arnold schwarzenegger just some of the political figures from the world of showbiz to sharon stone downs kevin spacey a hasting the evening earlier i spoke to some of the guests about why they're here

we're in search of the problem he could've. had to change really through prevented from food and he did and for that he deserves a nobel prize so we have an opportunity to thank someone for being such an extraordinary example of good citizenship what democracy really can mean and what it means to be a beacon of light and hope in the world we see people fighting for their freedom and expression and being able to travel freely i think you can probably draw a straight line to mikhail gorbachev and see that he began it this is also an award ceremony a shelf to own a people he changed the world this dollar called says aims to raise around eight million dollars to charity that money will go to gorbachev's a foundation which researches social economic and political problems around the world and to cancer charities all right meaning that the stuff that.

city. thanks for staying with us here on r.t. and welcome to the business news for this hour new rules for russian state companies have been spelled out by president medvedev he says regulation needs to be significantly improved in order to help the country's investment climate we are pretty much still it in order to reduce the influence of state companies on the investment climate we need to do three things first of all to publicize the show jewel of state companies privatisation of the next three years then to eliminate practices where government ministers hold positions on the board of directors in

competitive companies and thirdly state companies need to establish a procedure for publicizing planned procurement including prices and information about contracts that would you feel that haven't grasped the c.e.o. of russia's largest bank says measures to improve attract investment are critical for the country. the space in russia is this thick skulled the seventh largest economy in the world and it gets around the heart of the stance of the world's foreign direct investments this is definitely unacceptable and the fact that these measures were spelled hours is an important step to pushing all government institutions towards working on this problem so. now let's have a look at how the stock markets are performing the asian markets are trading in the black the nikkei has improved this hour up around two percent point to two percent and the hang seng is slowly advancing up toward one percent spurred on by bank russia's united company roussel has traded in haunt that trades in hong kong sorry it is posted very strong two thousand and ten financial results results shares

added almost three percent on the news and here in russia the r.t.s. and the my six days session in the black recovering from tuesday's losses with the mice extend more than one point five percent and only ask yes up point nine of a percent at the close there's those trading in russia is expected to be driven mostly by international markets oil prices and some corporate developments. we'll see reporting for us. companies we don't expect any surprises. recommendation to motorola and hold information you have us we still don't see any serious inflows the. fortunes of the market is trading on tiny volumes and that's why we see very good interest for two years for save blue chips but it is for second use and third two years. almost almost. from international investors year. russia's budget is currently being boosted by higher than expected all prices there

rising significantly amid tensions in other producing countries while some analysts suggest that the government should use the extra earnings to increase public spending the world bank thinks work first needs to be done on fiscal policy. when commodities prices rise there is a temptation. for governments to slacken their fiscal stance and to increase the expenditures and delay necessary fiscal adjustment but i think ingrassia there would be a mistake i think that the sustainable long term fiscal deficit in russia has been estimated by various experts from the order of about four to five percent of g.d.p. growth so for about half right now it's about twelve and the gap between the two represents the magnitude of the necessary fiscal adjustment or with the medium term in order for a principal policy to reach a long term sustainable level so that's a challenge and that i just learned should not be delayed into the future just

because the oil proceeds are high temporarily. while that's all the business news for this hour and you can always keep up to date online at r.t. to come forward slash business c within the hour.

plus some team has been to the yaroslavl region where handicrafts have become a major industry. now close to a former top secret military stronghold. which today has a limitless possibilities for extreme sports. with the most secretive damask seal has been discovered. and the real soviet fleet divers watch is a may. well come from the chelyabinsk region of. russia close up on t.v. . for news today violence.