here in tripoli the regime is showing signs of calming and it reports that more and more senior officials are defecting on points here in the capital city joined in a few moments and when you will. there will be no american boots on the ground in libya recent press reports at least in the hebrew cia operatives on the ground so boots on the ground as i would define it. u.s. top brass gets a grilling in congress with many still uncertain as to what the goal of the libyan campaign is and who's going to pay for it. plus the integrity of america's motives also come to noise as if the north civilian deaths in gaza south of setia are jumps

of the opportunity to bring democracy to other regions. also russia prepares for a new verse restrains front sending them you so you steam into all of its fifty lives since not a cons most trip to the final frontier. join me in around twenty minutes time with our special guest is lucas county russia's social tax. pro costing live from the heart of the russian capital your watching our team well straight to our top story now the u.k. has reportedly been hosting a senior aide they've been regime is believed to be seeking an exit strategy from the that we market duffy some media sources suggest that more top ranking libyan officials are rough and that the country following in the tracks of acts foreign

minister mr coo some force there is in tripoli. we know at this moment of at least two high profile defections the country's foreign minister mr mr russo qusay is currently in london where he is meeting with british officials despite the fact that they say they will not grant him immunity and then mr. tricky he's also a former foreign minister of libya he was also an ambassador to the united nations where he served a term as president of the general assembly has also announced his departure now there can be no doubt that this is a psychological blow to the gadhafi regime certainly what we're hearing from london is that the regime is on the verge of crumbling but here in tripoli the government has actually laughed off these kind of suggestions of defections when questioned about what is the defection of the foreign minister the country's spokesperson mr him said that this was an old man he was exhausted he was suffering from diabetes and he actually approached the government for a leave of absence in which he could seek treatment would receive for him say that

they have gone to the foreign ministers and he went so far as to say that if the foreign minister returns he will be welcomed back now when we questioned him about rumors we are hearing of at least another ten people who have defected the latest news we have is that a group of libyan officials who traveled for talks are actually staying there and among them are a former prime minister and also the current head of the country's parliament the government has said it is simply unaware of this now almost as important if not more important are reports that we are hearing that for the past fortnight one of the most trusted aides of the gadhafi regime has been in london where he's been holding secret talks with or for it is there over a possible exit strategy for gadhafi so the questions that people are asking the number one is gadhafi planning some kind of exit and secondly for just how much longer can his regime survive with the defection of such high profile members his troops are still advancing the current fighting is centered around the strategically all important town of brega which is on the coastal road to tripoli

now it is essentially fighting that's happening out in the desert. the rebels are fighting from behind and use the strategy they use in small trucks from where they fire rockets artillery they've been seen spotters with iraqi lives to go and see where those rockets landed and to report back we're hearing that they are a lot more organized the rebels themselves but they still calling on the international community for assistance in the form of weapons fighting in the eastern part of the country in the city of misrata continues there in the last twenty four hours we've been told that at least twenty civilians were killed by government shelling in residential areas here in tripoli airstrikes and anti aircraft gunfire continues now for two weeks there almost nonstop demonstrations in support of the libyan leader moammar gadhafi and rallies being held one was held overnight thursday at his compound at bab al aziziya at the same time we're hearing from the vatican's top envoy to libya that at least fifty civilians have been killed in the airstrikes in tripoli alone most of those casualties in the eastern

tripoli suburb of treasurer and one such incident that we've been told about is when a house collapsed on a family with small children inside libyan state television is also reporting what it says is a statement that is from gadhafi himself although he doesn't appear on television it is rather a news reader who reads out a statement saying that these nato airstrikes are just going to cause more civilian deaths and just rock a crusader war. reporting that u.s. defense secretary robert gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff faced a grilling in front of congress over the very great said washington shouldn't assisted living in. other countries. twelve days into the u.s. bombing of libya. u.s. congressmen were hoping to finally get some answers but after two hours of questioning the secretary of defense and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff they

were still confusion about the u.s. is engaged i think a policy success would be the removal of the khadafi regime the military mission is a limited one and does not include regime change. who the rebels are we don't have much visibility into and of those who have risen against gadhafi each element has its own agenda. and whether the us will arm them discuss our plans if any regarding arming the rebels they seem to be getting their butts where it can but gates and mullen passed the buck on that one deferring to the white house once it was al qaeda decided the missile in their story would clearly have a problem about how long the u.s. will stay the bottom line is no one can predict for you how long it will take. for that to happen and whether the u.s. is at war at all these are combat operations were intended to be combat outbursts from the beginning i don't know why this administration has not been on this with

the american people that this is about regime change or your search or defense you ought to be an expert on what's an act of law act of war or not gates told congress the president actually did not make his final decision on what to do until thursday night less than forty eight hours before the first two hundred tomahawk missiles were fired we don't understand what he's doing still and i don't think he has the support of this congress when was the briefing of their armed services committee. there wasn't what is clear the cost five hundred fifty million dollars in the first ten days alone and the estimated forty million dollars a month but not how it will be paid in terms of how to pay for this. there is a. we are in discussions with the white house be very difficult for the department to eat this cost because no one repeated over and over again if there would be no

american ground troops there will be no american boots on the ground in libya who's the person on the ground but historically close air support missions against gadhafi forces there's no one on the ground doing a recent press reports at least indicate the cia operatives on the ground so boots on the ground as i would define it and if other sending troops i guess is we'd all read about it in the newspapers the same time i see that's my concern is that we read about things in the newspaper and then we get to come and ask the questions the u.s. formally handed control to nato today and in operation odyssey dawn and beginning operation unified protect their newspapers quoting vatican sources that forty civilians were killed in coalition air strikes guaranteeing that there will be plenty of more questions for a top american military brass here in washington for an artsy washington d.c. well former u.s. intelligence officer for the generality explains why it's impossible to avoid a ground mission if you know if secret agents are already operating in the

battlefield the problem is if you have several thousand rebels who are not used to using weapons have no idea of discipline or how to fight a battle a general is not going to make a big difference you need to have people training them and directing them at a lower level and of people are doing this at a lower level that means they will inevitably get involved in the fighting and this is what robert gates as recently as today promised would never happen boots on the ground. about twenty minutes sorties crosstalk discusses who's backing the rebels or the military campaign of your rages on is a cretin. we have to be a little skeptical that that's a us good us strategy to go in and then hope for it is the idea acidy of hope i guess. the president's own saying to run a strategy like this how we're going to get in do some bombing and that sort of thing and hope for the best and i just don't see going to war in that way is

responsible and i can't believe the u.s. foreign policy establishment is supporting that type of a half baked option but this is not the u.s. against gadhafi in fact the u.s. has taken aback about super all this is a forty three countries internationally on the u.s. and yesterday i'm leaving the country it is the u.s. against. riding most of the times this is my point please can i finish my point please five other countries two of them are engaged in the military action in norway canada. netherland sort of denmark forty three countries france britain you know if this is not the us against gadhafi and we have not invited you as to come in. let's talk officials across the world continue to rally against his actions some for the very action is inconsistent form a conflict that venus can sometimes get away with crimes like that if they have the

backing of the west that's his children of course from washington. welcome and firm handshakes for someone who just three years ago gave the order to the deaths of civilians in the republic of south korea and i'm dealing with one of the great leaders of the world the georgian president with his fluent english is a welcome guest on american t.v. shows where he's never asked the question why in the middle of the night on august the seventh of two thousand and eight you begin to me george little. of the sleepy . in city of tskhinvali and other peaceful palaces. region which georgia wanted to bring under its control was razed to the ground. hundreds were killed in the attack joe maestas nearly lost his daughter in sacrifice really as bombings she was visiting relatives in one of the counties south of such here i believe

saakashvili should be removed from office i think you should be tried in international court for rule crimes but when it comes to mikhail saakashvili even though the e.u. finding mission determines that he started the war two thousand and eight and ordered the bloodbath in south the safety of the georgian president is still supported in the west they have no strategic interest in. supporting his overthrow the notion that decisions get made on the basis of humanitarian concerns it's simply false it doesn't it's not the basis for the decision about libya it's not the basis for decisions of georgia about palestine about kosovo the question of who is held responsible and how is very much a strategic question it's not a legal question as it should be to boost its strategic importance among other things georgia has dispatched one thousand troops to join allied forces in afghanistan and became the leading troop contributor relative to georgia's overall

population what's the soundless and as this fox news interview shows almost unstoppable praise of the us is also believed to have played a role in the west supporting saakashvili no matter what his crimes america's like because it's based on the banks and america and more and more the roughly more three got religion in this book i say for a graduate holds out in the rest of syria now as the world has declared a no fly zone over libya to stop gadhafi many wonder why a no fly zone was never on the table when the georgian president launched his dad the campaign or when israel bombed the gases. three weeks in a row on the question for example of gaza where you had a blatant act of aggression clearly a violent massive violation of not only international human rights norms but war crimes crimes against humanity being created fourteen hundred people killed of whom

more than nine hundred were civilians more than three hundred were children it was a horrific situation that went on for days the problem there is that israel is the protector protectorate of the united states and the u.s. is not going to allow any united nations or anyone else to actually engage in a serious way in stopping that massacre you would think if a leader commits atrocities he would be pretty like they could daffy denounced bank on travel but that's not the way politics works the georgian president killed scores of civilians but was exonerated by the west patience accept him as a friend its leaders are looking to invest in his country and it seems the white house is happy to continue turning a blind eye to the blood of heads i'm going to strike now reporting from washington r.t. . also the come on the program craft perfected through time. i think that the current thinking was somewhat slow in coming to watch that great film

people here aren't here to make things which are being hunted by watching all that for the world where. the price of what used to do weapons the crossman of the usuals show off their skills in the latest of our russian closeups it's. now the russian space agency has dedicated its latest spacecraft launch the anniversary of you with a current veteran free flight fifty years ago lasting off from kazakhstan in four days time the actual carry two russian cosmonauts and an american astronauts to the international space station so it's also the story. well it's a few days before the a crew of the t.m.a. twenty one it blasts off into space and as expected in a few days in the run up to the actual flight they are going through the preflight preparations and right now what you're seeing behind me is the actual capsule that will be taken to space this is the top part of the a space shuttle where the actual crew will be staying and the crew members that we

have a for this flight are alexandr some antibody circle and an american astronaut one garand now what they're going through right now it's actually called a check literally checking whether they fit into the seats that have been made is designed especially for them each astronaut cosmonaut has a different bill to different weight different heights and they have to customize everything inside the cabin crew area so that they're going to feel comfortable in doing the tasks are supposed to do now the blast off will happen in approximately four four days and they are going to be doing about forty experiments in space as if you can see in the background is that you can see a good god in the first time in space a logo of him having a very special about this flight is that it's happening very closely i mean first really fiftieth anniversary a few to get got its first flight in space that was of course april twelfth mightiness sixty one all the p five preparations are very precise and followed down

to the last detail but it's not just the mathematics the science of the rocket science that is that we actually followed to the last detail but it's also the traditions to be a cosmonauts and astronauts have to go through a few days before the flight and today they had gone to the museum as have the other cosmonauts regard to space they visited the museum got in museum and they put their signatures every single person didn't have launched a blog on its space had done the exact same thing they signed they went to u.t. over the cottage as well be visited that and it's again it's even more special now that they're doing this because of the fiftieth anniversary of the first launch of utica god. that's also the reporting now. some other international stories making headlines this hour. repartees officials are planning to pump out contaminated water from the stricken reactors at fukushima nuclear power authority is a measure will help resume efforts to most of the prisoners is consistent it's unclear when the operational starts radiation levels around the sun to continue to

rise the latest tests show it's now ten thousand tons of equipment groundwater about. intense gunfire has broken out across ivory coast and mention capital as far as attempting to unseat the country's entrenched president on the central region of france on the city come as our forces suppose an internationally recognized president sorry tara took control of the majority of the country in the winter on the resistance and so it was abandoned their posts un has now introduced sanctions placing asset freeze and travel ban on the incumbent president. seven people were injured off the fierce wind and rain swept through an aviation testament some from florida strong gusts toppled small planes and for lives even the tens of thousands of people without and she says the story starting to come from mexico to the east being at the second street when the conditions.

start for rush across the series with a team that travels to the heart of the country's industrial. there is no sort on the border between europe and asia where in the chair you have an screech an enterprise powerhouse that has been a vital cog in the gains of russia's economy for centuries now and so in certain ways are going to fracture america producing everything from military watches to read method works. to discover some of those heralds of the past are experiencing something of a comeback that's correct and the public turned to thomas classics. time stands still it's not almost. the time factor ironically it's like being in the time you heard anything has to be here over the last thirty to forty years and

that's when i look around there are some of the archives i'll tackle resist like this one let's go back to my childhood they were made in one thousand sixty's in one nine hundred seventy one by the bad guy with the bass and was somewhat low income and was like oh what's that great still people here and you. think this is the future by what the world over you may have heard of these russian divers watches they have been hard by collectors worldwide for several decades now but most can only get their hands on costly replicas which have nothing to do with the originals the real deal is being made right here in the town of the most norway financial. we produce these watches until nine hundred seventy four for the soviet navy then was stopped because there was no need for them but now suddenly they do. so we have renewed production but in a very small cars. now these are the famous divers watches which bows to watch by and is known for of course there is nothing dainty about them they're extremely

heavy and well frankly very bulky so i don't think i could pull them off but for any watch and all there was in two big things this may just be the ultimate choice and it's not only watch fans taken care of here but those has something to offer even from modern day swashbucklers. from eight hundred fifteen it's not toast was the center of cold production in the country return essentially supplied weapons to the entire russian imperial army. these days it's down supplies cold steel weapons widely used by russian special forces and military and state officials and state gifts and rewards for outstanding service the young include young. clients include the leet russian federal security service and private collections the cold steel weapons are more of a symbolic item now rather than a functional one they signify power and on to this day i think every officer should

at least have a cutlass in his possession. so whether you're looking to reaffirm your status with a blade or to keep time with a heavy duty military watch as those of the town of iron workers who managed to evolve with time for probably half what you want it includes courts he should have been screeching. yes great craftsmanship that hold me back in just a few minutes with all the business that this. thanks for staying with us here on t.v. and welcome to the business news this hour business is in russia could be in for a tax break president dmitri medvedev says the social tax rate which pays for health care and pensions should be low it going up to thirty four percent at the

beginning of the and many analysts say it is having a negative impact on all types of businesses he also medvedev i pondered and still young joins me now in the studio thank you for joining us today thank you for this now the social tax is actually only been three months since this was raised why are they learning it so soon when they're looking to know it's i simply think the question i think we've heard the say that since of all of the. increase of the federal tax rate was in the back in two thousand and ten other criticizing quite severely. based on the calculations of the major impact stocks had. and if it was for most of it on small businesses which is which is also a point of the russian economy. because. this segment of the of the going action priest allegedly by the thought of two point five times which which is quite quite quite bad especially for a company that you can restructure anyway it's quite significant that's

a large amount you're going to be dealing with this is our last chunk of money especially given the full for most of this company is. selling records i actually the main course that occur. and there's a reason why there is sort of a shortage of advocates and to reduce the tax it's still unclear words if i sold it . for all of the businesses or would be selective days for example on of a small businesses that operate in certain sectors of the country it still remains to be seen but it's. a song which is very welcome but going all the business it sounds like a positive step so how do you think this will change the a vestment climate in russia. from somebody who profits tax but. i don't think tax system is one of the should determines the investment russia clearly reduction of the social tax rates will reduce improving doesn't count that's for tax is an expense and all businesses look at optimizing expense or

recently costs so any reduction costs being great great for business. but don't really see if you look at it over all of us including russia as a tax is not the main issue. i report syntax for give take you can take a bit twenty years and right by now and i long for the single for it invest for cortisol you know can invest in russia because russia does have this or that tax or does he have leases that tax break. a few of them decided to make an investment because russian tax system is real time tracking compared to other bric countries. we are or if not it would have sold bric countries especially if you look at the facts rates. is flat like that sort of thirteen percent i don't think any other country to mention prison some for having social liberal. opposing tax rate similar to twenty percent in the backstory there is a really good very good tax rate that's really i agree with you but you know we

talk you're talking about foreign investors what about local companies because obviously local companies developing it's got to be something to look forward to. for local companies. and that's where i don't think there is a disagreement between foreign companies look and comment as to what is a what is what is the main expectation from from your russian that system overall from russian business client i think everybody stores for predictability. people want to understand ok if it is making us a decision we're going to go to visit for a business and they include in the business plan are going to be paying an x. amount of tax but this is exactly the motive for them they're going to pay is expected to recover of it's you from the refund for duty from the budget because in say three months they should need to get a vision for the most rather than in the next six years maybe. the same is part of its. some new toys for a license and the. legislature here for tokyo this is the most they should need to

get it in three months rather than if it were so we're talking about changing the bureaucracy and actually making things simpler for investors but it is really true because it was on the road surveys for a russian business and what is a major impediment for making us russian bureaucracy is number one by the way for. actually wrote it should talk systems about not go for it you know so this is kind of like a little carrot on the end of everything. it's always the hope that they get a break i don't think it will actually. come out great thank you very much for coming to talk to us later wait to see what happens. and let's take a look at the markets the nikkei edge now is profit taking hits and had a vote advantage sorry so i threw it high shortly after opening with investors concerned lighten recently built new positions ahead of the weekend meanwhile shares of tokyo electric power company the operator of the fukushima nuclear station plunged another twelve percent after initially planned shortly after the

opening and hong kong shares advance to take gains into a third straight session with energy producers leading the way on the road or prices right now on the markets and next the neck as down almost half a percent and the hang seng is out almost a full percent here in russia both the r.t.s. and them isaacs have just opened the start of parity trading slightly out of the us here is almost a point three of a percent and the line six just about point one of a percent. that's all the business news we have time for this out but you can catch us in around an hour's time with.

question is that so much of a given to each musician are you trying to hide from the market or the battle for libya is the so-called humanitarian intervention there so noble and straightforward must intervention. there is not enough space for them on the ground. zero down to. get these nonexistent under the sun. fill the gap of adrenalin to. discover deeply hidden secrets. we are seeing the. final.