only result in sponsor sunday a beach hotel the result use of dual club med bali sofrito somalia both aston goalie resort and spa on the rich cultural ground many articles of each of the seasons hotel the sultan who took. in tripoli the regime is showing signs of crumbling and the reports that more and more senior officials are defecting on policy in the capital so he joined in a few moments i'll bring you more. there will be no american boots on the ground in libya recent press reports at least indicate there are cia operatives on the ground so boots on the ground as i would define it the 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. the integrity of america's motives are scrutinized as i think nor the civilian deaths in gaza and some sense here to jump

to and to bring democracy to the region. and also russia prepares for the number three space flight center to do so you steam into orbit fifty years since nine kinds first trip to the final frontier. businesses in russia could be in for a check strike join me in twenty minutes but all the details. around the world and around the clock with all the news that matters this is r.t. our top story the u.k. has reportedly been hosting a senior aides to the libyan regime and they've to be seeking an exit strategy for the market some media sources suggest that more top ranking libyan officials have now fled the country following in the tracks of ex foreign minister. is in tripoli

. we know at this moment of at least two high profile defections the country's foreign minister mr minister mussa koussa is currently in london where he is meeting with british officials despite the fact that they say they will not grant immunity and then mr ali abdul salam 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 lost all of these kind of suggestions of the factions when questioned about what is the defection of the foreign minister the country's spokesperson mr mousavi brought him said that this was an old man and 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 not miss receiver him say that they had granted the foreign minister this and he went so fast to say that if

the foreign minister returns he will be welcomed back now when we questioned him about rumors we're hearing of at least another ten people who have defected the latest news we have is that a group of libyan officials who travel teacher newsier 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 will for if he's 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 of his troops all still advancing the current fighting is centered around the strategically important town of rigor 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. the strategy they're using trucks from where they fire rockets artillery they vincent spotters with knocking as to go and see where those rockets landed and to report back we're hearing that there are a lot more organized the rebels themselves but they still calling on the international community to 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 at his compound. 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 the family with small children inside you can stay to vision 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 the statement saying that these nato airstrikes are just going to cause more civilian deaths and just spark a crusader war. for more views on the events unfolding in libya british rapper and political activist who he says he figures in the ongoing military campaign such as the u.k. care more about their. ratings in the country. as a human being i don't believe it is right for griffin or any other country in the world to have any type of military base in libya believe me if these powers get their way when all is said and done there will be

a foreign military base in libya and i also feel that if britain is interested in defending itself against terrorism this is really not the way to go about involving itself in a war which it doesn't need to be involved in the fact that david cameron himself. in november two thousand and ten really tells you all you need to know about the british government when it comes to libya. and u.s. defense secretary robert gates chairman of the joint chiefs of staff well and faced a grilling in front of congress over the b.n. campaign kate said washington shouldn't a sister there shouldn't the nation building to 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

there is still confusion about the u.s. is ending i think a policy success would be the removal of the could after regime a military mission is a limited one and does not include regime change. who the rebels are we don't have much visibility into into those who have risen against each element has its own agenda. and whether the u.s. well armed them plans. arming the rebels they seem to be getting it but it gets in mind past that line defraying to the white house but it was a cater to. it would clearly have a problem about how long the u.s. will stay a 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 become a better approach from the beginning i don't know why this administration has not

been honest with the american people that this is about regime change they're your circular defense you ought to be an expert on what's an act of war 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 most of 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 the discussions with the white house to be very difficult for the department to eat this cost gates and mullen repeated over and over again there

would be no american ground troops there will be no american boots on the ground in libya who is the person on the ground but it's direct in close air support missions against gadhafi forces there's no one on the ground in recent press reports at least indicate there are cia operatives on the ground so boots on the ground as i would define it and of other spending troops i guess is we'd all read about it in the newspaper but at the same time i'd say that's my concern is that we read about things in the newspaper and then we get to come and ask the questions he hasn't formally handed control to nato today and you know operation odyssey dawn and beginning operation unified protect their newspapers quoting vatican sources said 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. . a former u.s. intelligence officer for that explains why it's impossible to avoid the ground

mission in libya if secret agents are already operating in the battlefield problem is if you have several thousand rebels who are not used to using weapons have no idea of their supply 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. top officials across the world continue to rally against moammar gadhafi exactions some believe their reaction is inconsistent former leaders can sometimes get away with crimes they commit if they have the backing of the west. african reports from washington. welcome and firm handshakes for someone who just three years ago gave the order that led to the deaths of civilians

in the republic of south ossetia 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 a georgia begin the major artillery bombardment of the sleeping city of screen violence and other peaceful towns nearby. the 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 second bombings she was visiting relatives in one of the towns in the south the city i believe really should be removed from office i think he should be tried in international court for rule crimes but when it comes to mikhail saakashvili even though the e.u. finding mission determined that he started a war in two thousand and eight and ordered the bloodbath in south of here 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 is simply false it doesn't it's not the basis for the decision about libya it's not the basis for decisions about 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 the found lists and as this foxy. the show's only stoppable praise of the u.s. is also believed to have played a role in the west supporting saakashvili no matter what his clients and their

throats like because it raised them better than the murder of archer and more will be roughly propre got religion is to say for a regulation the bastards are you 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 lee campaign or when israel bombed the gallows of those 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. was not going to allow anyone the 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 defeat it now and then from travel but this result that's not the way politics works the georgian president killed scores of civilians but was exonerated by the west's politicians accept him as a friend business leaders are looking for the best in his country and it seems the grass is happy to continue turning a blind eye to the blood of the head on but it's like our reporting from washington r.t. . to israeli businessmen one hundred million dollars by the georgian government been found guilty of bribery cruel according to the scene it comes after the trial that both pieces maintain that the weather victims of the government set up. folks was handed seven years in jail and three hundred forty thousand dollars fine associates see frank your was given six and a half years and a sixty two. follows an international court ruling that sucker's for the government

paid to breach the contract controversial trial has also caused him to be sick of israel canceling a planned trip by georgian official. craig says is that the peace is when it was trapped by the georgian government so what paying millions. it was in for a. cooperation a collaboration between four important ministries of the government and probably with the approval of the president of the ministry of finance the ministry of justice the ministry of the interior and the prime minister's office all of which came together with the. british fuchs was the informed through diplomatic channels that he would not be released until the arbitration award was waived so to come on the program

a craft perfected through time. with anything was done not in coming to us like oh what a great deal people here continue to make things which are being hunted biological that the world over. there is from the front seat watches to cold steel weapons across one of the you will show off their skills in the latest russian close ups of . the russian space agency has dedicated its latest new spacecraft launched the anniversary of you could garlands a legendary flight fifty years ago blasting off from kazakhstan in four days time the launch will carry two russian cosmonauts and american astronauts to the international space station. 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 the actual flight they're going through the preflight perforations and right now what you're seeing behind me is the actual

capsule that will be taken suspects this is the top part of the a space shuttle where the actual crew will be staying and the crew members that we have of for this flight are excited there are some. circle and american astronaut ron garan now what they're going through right now is actually called a fifth check literally checking whether they fit into the seats that have been made it is designed especially for them each astronaut cosmonaut has a different build a different weight different height a survey have to customize everything inside the cabin crew area so that they're going to feel comfortable in doing the tasks are supposed to be a blast off will happen in approximately beltre for four days and they're going to be to be about forty experiments in space let's marshal about this if you can see in the background is that you can see a uti a good god in the first time in space a logo of him a pattern having a very special got this why does that it's happening very closely i mean first with the fifth anniversary and a few to got its first like the space that was of course april twelfth and my team

is 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 rocket science that is that we actually follow to the last detail but it's also the traditions that 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 who had gone to space they visited the museum got in museum they put their signatures every single person that had launched a call gone into space had done the exact same thing they signed they went to be a good audience cottage as well they 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 larger community got. no other international stories making headlines. properly officials are planning to pump out contaminated water from the stricken reactors at fukushima nuclear plant authorities hope the measurable help resume

efforts to restore the city's cooling system it's unclear when the operation will start as radiation levels around the site are continuing to rise the latest tests show it's now ten thousand times the legal limit in groundwater maybe not. intense fighting has broken out across the ivory coast but actual capital us forces are starting to see the country's entrenched president on bunker begin attacking his residence fighting comes after forces supporting the internationally recognized president alassane ouattara took control of the majority of the country and regular army put up with the resistance as soldiers are around in their posts the un has now introduced sanctions placing an asset freeze and travel on the incumbent president. for russia a close up series where the team travels to the heart of the country's industrial power.

yes nestled on the border between europe and asia where in the chilean screech an enterprise powerhouse that has been a vital cog in the gears of russia's economy the centuries now so it's a major manufacturing area producing everything from military options to mean great metal works. discovered that some of those handlers of the past are experiencing a comeback as collectors and the public turn to timeless classics. time stands still and looked almost. of this time katherine rightly is widening the time i heard anything has to hear over the last thirty to forty years in fact when i look around there are some of the archives i'll catch phrases like this one there from back in my childhood they were made in one thousand six hundred nineteen seventies what's this i could think was the word incoming it was like oh what a great deal people here can feel you make things which are the funk if i want to

call them 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 coast. we produced these watches until nine hundred seventy four for the soviet navy then we stopped because there was no need for them but now suddenly they become popular so we renewed production but in a very small capacity now these are the famous drivers watches which the what those watch brands 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 all but for any watch in those years tell there was in two big things this may just be the ultimate choice and it's not only watch fans taken care of here like those has something to offer even to modern day swashbucklers history from school. from eight

hundred fifteen was the center of calderon's production in the country return essentially supplied weapons to the entire russian imperial army. these days the town supplies cold steel weapons widely used by russian special forces and military and state officials and state gifts and rewards for outstanding service. our clients include the great russian federal security service and private collectors the cold steel weapons are more recent balik item now rather than a functional one they signify power and on it 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 is that those of the town of iron workers who managed to evolve with time but probably have what you want it in a godless carty to levels krege and. cross ship there let's cross over and out of

business desk with country. thanks for being with us here on r.t. and welcome to the business news for this hour the price of oil has reached a two and a half year high and with new concerns about the situation in libya libya sorry brant crude is currently trading around one hundred seventeen dollars a barrel while light sweet is hovering around one hundred seven dollars so how is this affecting the spike in the market has a spike effect on the market and the russian economy as a whole i'm joined here in the studio by constantly in seven off head of the national energy security fund thank you for joining us here today thank you for that look should russia be rubbing its hands with glee as we are all prices to continue to rise and why not why not go for course it's not a secret bad. in comes from oil and gas is very very important for russian federation and the share of for them because business in our budget is very high so that is why of course it's

a good news for russia and that's why we are waiting for the new mexico on the downside perhaps could it be a disincentive for russia to innovate you know for example when the money pours in without any effort being put into it well you know it's a typical interpretation of some of our economies and some foreign economies. speaking about hauling disease was picking the wild resource proof and so on so and so on you know. this strong and in your such theories and i had a lot of discussions about the i simply you miss it was personal program of well this. resource curve because it's a very important question what you know i have two simple ladies first is that if you want to you know we if you want to give something the wish and you cover strongly denied it and explain me away we can find not example in this business in russia so it's a very simple thing and another idea is also a simple one of them gives business to be very very difficult in this. why him who

in no way you say this of i'm guessing reasons we have one project we can approach you can argue in. the stream live difficult from technical point of view i want you we want to go in there which is why not. so you're talking about the extra revenue being very helpful where do you think it should be put do you think it should be put back into the oil market or into the oil businesses are you going rushing through and yes absolutely i sing but first the wall we must think about increasing more production. and in the north. because it's not a secret but if all prices will be more than one hundred fifty dollars per round why don't you possible to produce more of them because on the most part of russia i mean air to exhaust all that is what first of all we must think about increasing the coal production because our brownfield part of. it is worthless through must

build this money to increase our oil and gas production fusion now rising oil prices off and running a foreign global growth how insulated from that effect is that russia will be cuddliness so you want to. let's return for example two thousand and eight it was the beginning of the global economic crisis please show me one economist who pulled the main reason for this economic crisis was high oil prices we can remember that in two thousand and eight you know that oil prices were more than one hundred fifty dollars per barrel but nobody was stoic and the prices is the main reason for this crisis so there is a way we can remember the situation on the market with united states involved this barwell in the real estate united states so these two of the main reasons for this crisis and the price of it is why it's not correct now to see that if we turn to the situation in two thousand a two the price of oil more than one hundred fifty dollars but why don't you do the

beginning of the new spiritual crisis. so you see why i say it's oil prices rising it's an absolutely sure that you will feel great as it will be not because of my presence on the world fair enough and i thank you for joining us enjoy your constant gig and now let's take a look at the markets. businesses in russia could be in for a tax break president dmitri made sorry will go to the store medvedev says the social tax rate which pays for health care and pensions should be lowered it went up to thirty four percent at the beginning of the year and many analysts say it's having a negative impact on types of businesses however he also medvedev. young says the taxation is not the main issue for investors i don't think the issue is investment in russia is a tax system i think that says that actually is this is one of the second see your reasons why the russian economy is not as good as a real wasn't to be. done the research with such a short as

a major impediment to invest investments in russia both local and foreign is bureaucracy and the tax system. and that's all the business news for this hour thanks for watching but you can always keep up to date on line at out c.n.n. dot com for slash business.

for. russia would be so much brighter if you knew about songs from phones to the russian and some of. these for instance on t.v. dot com. we'll. bring you the latest in science terms are going from around the russian. we've got the future covered. question is that so much of a given to each musician or a person on the mark when the battle for libya is the so-called humanitarian intervention there so noble and straightforward must intervene age. fifteen.