the children of each religion. but you know what you know soto be a troublemaker told you're really cool dear a pretty cold snow angel matosi. in serbia letters available in regency they are going to. cause a growing number of senior libyan officials are reportedly fleeing the country the regime sounds resume to attack on a gravel held city. there will be no american boots on the ground in libya and recent press reports at least in the caves are cia operatives on the ground so boots on the ground as i would the point of. view as top brass gets grilled in congress over the libyan campaign but fails to clear up confusion over the aims of the operation and its mounting comments. georgia wants the world to know its on a complaint to why politic corruption so was ronnie foods the businessman who

georgia owes a hundred million dollars sentenced to seven years in prison all the details are coming up later in the program. and business in russia could be in for a tight spray present event of size the social tax rate which congress pensions and also health care could be low it's that's in twenty minutes. it's seven pm in moscow this is our coming to you live i mean he's now with our top story this evening more civilian deaths from coalition strikes are being reported in libya was seven people found out after the recent bombing of the eastern city of brega the u.k. you said to be holding talks with a senior aide to the libyan regime is believed to be seeking an exit strategy for colonel gadhafi after

a series of high ranking defections but as artie's publicly reports now from tripoli the government doesn't seem ready to back off. we know at this moment of at least two high profile defections the country's foreign minister mr mr moose of course there is currently in london where he is meeting with british officials despite the fact that they say they will not granting immunity and in mr. tricky he's also a former foreign minister of libya he was also an ambassador to the united nations where he served two terms 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 schools in these kind of suggestions of defections when questioned about what is the defection of the foreign minister the country's spokesperson mr morsi it for 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 it would not miss to see him say that they had granted the foreign minister this and going so fast to say that if the foreign minister returns he will be role comes 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 to china zia for talks are actually staying there and among them are a former prime minister and also the becoming 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 four nights one of the most trusted aides of the gadhafi regime has been in london where he's been holding secret talks for it is there over a possible exit strategy for gadhafi so the questions are people are asking another one is exactly planning some kind of exit and secondly for just how much longer can his regime survive with a defection of such high profile members 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 for police. and one such incident that we've been told about is when a house collapsed on the family with small children inside. aren't you supposed to reporting from tripoli you can follow us on twitter to get instant updates from her and one of her latest tweets she talks about how there is high tension ahead of friday prayers prayers i should say in the libyan capital you can call the lost and breaking news from paula's there at our g underscore comp also check out policy and find in her blog on our main web site r c dot com. u.s. defense secretary robert gates and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mike

mullen have faced grilling in front of congress over the libya campaign both struggle to answer vital questions as to what is the exit strategy or how to cover the cost or do you can't afford more. twelve days into the u.s. bombing of libya. u.s. congressman greg 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 so confusion about the u.s. is ending i think a policy success would be the removal of the khadafi 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 and of those who have risen against gadhafi each element has its own agenda. and whether the u.s. will arm them discuss our plans if you need regarding arming the rebels they seem

to be getting better but swift but it's in mind pass the buck on that one deferring to the white house what it was decided to pursue in there and or because he would clearly have a problem 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 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 circular 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 the very few of the armed services. there

wasn't what is clear the cost five hundred fifty million dollars in the first ten days alone and it 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 would be very difficult for the department to eat this cost it's mine repeated over and over again 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 historic and closer support missions are going to cut off his fortunes there's no one on the ground recent press reports at least indirectly through 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 at the same time i say that's my concern is that we read about things in the newspaper and then we get to come and ask the questions for the artsy

washington d.c. for more on intervention in libya we're joined live by barry gartner a member of the british parliament who was among those who voted against the intervention thanks for being with us this afternoon tell us why you voted against the move and why it's so few of your colleagues refused to do the same. i voted against because i believed it was impossible for this to be contained simply to a humanitarian mission protecting the rebels it's clear that now there is real in gauge went by the coalition forces in forty's in effect a civil war in libya and it has always been my view that that is not something that britain should get involved in i favored the un resolution think it was right that that resolution was passed indeed i wish russia had supported it but then i thought it was for the arab league and the story. powers in that region then to take action

for humanitarian protection it was not for britain to get involved in that spirit it's not part of britain's legitimate sphere of influence in my view do you feel like you were missed. no i don't think it's a matter of misleading i think the resolution was an extraordinary really wide one that gave far too great power to the coalition forces and that was always my fear that this could not be contained to the three central elements which it was supposed to love namely humanitarian protection a no fly zone and an embargo on arms to all of libya it now appears that the coalition forces are at least considering arming the rebels there certainly engaged with the rebels in an onslaught against gadhafi its force and its

and that's not i think a comfortable place for power authorized by the united nations to be reassured at all points respect the united nations resolution and that means that those engaged in the coalition forces should not do other than simply enforce the no fly zone and give that humanitarian protection well there are now confirmed more cooperation. as a result of the coalition strike it was details of this intervention are revealed at a later date could it create the same kind of outcry as the weekly leaks created over afghanistan and iraq. i don't think that the two are comparable really in many respects i think the key is you here is are the coalition forces engaged in the way that is authorized by the united nations and in

a way that doesn't mean they're becoming part of a civil war and it seems to me that we have got dragged into a civil war and that is not something that we should have allowed to happen it's very clear now that the coalition forces are bombing and strafing the gadhafi is. encampments and positions the head of the rebel attacks indeed they are hand in glove with the rebel forces this is a very far cry from simply saying that we will go for humanitarian protection in stopping its forces from doing what he undoubtedly would have done which is to have bombed and killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians in benghazi and i six is reported to be on the ground in libya i won with the cia does that correspond with the aim set in the security council resolution. well it clearly doesn't but

then the security council resolution was ambivalent on this point what it said is there should be no occupation force and one of the objections i raised at the time was that although people were saying there would be no boots on the ground occupation force and boots on the ground are two very different things and i was always concerned that there would be forces coalition forces actively engaged with the rebels on the ground and they need not these occupational forces obviously if they are withdrawn at the appropriate time they would not leak but that was part of the problem with the u.n. resolution it gave far too wide a power to the coalition to take action like this. right barry gardiner a member of the british parliament thank you very much for your analysis thank you . well as the military campaign in libya greater than questions remain over who exactly is calling the shots in twenty minutes in cross talk you have shared their

views on that issue here's a quick look at what's. we have to be a little skeptical that that's a us good us strategy to go in and then hope for the i dassent e of hope i guess you could call it the president's own saying to run a strategy like this or we're going to get into some vomiting 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 us 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 a back about see through this is a forty three countries internationally the u.s. and yesterday i'm leaving the country it is the u.s. against. the driving most who got behind this is my point please can i finish my point please five out of countries two of them are engaged in the military action norway canada. and the netherlands sort of denmark

one to three countries france britain you know i dis is not the us against gadhafi and we have not invited you as to come in. seven years in prison that's not doing business in georgia has ended up for one israeli investor ronnie food was found guilty of bribery by it would you say court but his lawyers say he wasn't trapped by top officials so the government could avoid paying one hundred million dollars that he owes the businessman let's cross to our cheesy katherina back chill but she's following these latest developments for us you have to really know why did this business men to whom the georgian government always millions end up in jail how does something like this happen. rony folks is not only a major investor in georgia he's also on record so in turkey a position combining both economic development and all the rock diplomacy he worked as an oil trader in new york for some people teen years and yes he invested huge

amounts of cash in georgia back in the nineteen nineties and of course surprisingly poor humanity to bill last year he received an invitation to visit georgia from the prime minister of the country himself now was surprisingly because for fifteen years rooney folks has been demanding one hundred million dollars from georgia the money which georgia owes him for a bridge to grammont on construction of an oil pipeline back in the ninety's now a court in london that year ruled that george indeed should pay the money back but georgian authorities obviously didn't want to pay that money to rony folks here believe that invitation is just a formality to put an end to this fifteen year old dispute well shortly before that visited in quite a read see a hotel room in turkey there was an unofficial meeting between rooney folks and georgian authorities and there they reached a verbal agreement after. drinking lots of cognac. roni folks would

receive only seventy two million dollars instead of ninety eight george owed him but on one critical condition in return he gives seven million dollars back now equipment was reached only one formality was allowed to come over to georgia shake hands with the prime minister and finalize the deal now minutes after that happened in france so georgian t.v. cameras rony folks and his business associates were arrested for the question is how did it combat a businessman who georgia owes that huge amount of cash and are in a d.c. prison now the lure of it was a trap very wisely sat out by. himself. it was in for a. cooperation a collaboration between four important ministries of the government and probably with the approval of the president or the ministry of finance the ministry of

justice or the ministry of the interior and the prime minister's office all of which came together with the player to intra brewery fugues was there and formed through diplomatic channels that he would not be released until your patrician award was waived. now shortly after his business partner was over they were all for it runs a could be called the runs that was put on the table now georgia said that he could be released but needed to killed and if he gave the money back but rooney refused to do either now we know that juror general wants the world to believe that it's on a war against corruption and. personally wants to attract foreign investment into the country so of course here seat this one hundred million dollars orvis here but the question is how much will he lose because now foreign investors will have to

think twice before bringing money into this country. following the latest developments on the trial of ronnie. thanks for. can't have any of that fish solved are planning to pump out contaminated water from the quake hit reactors at the fukushima nuclear plant authority thought the measure will help africa to restore the facilities cooling systems it comes after radiation detected in crown water plant for the first time available for ten thousand times higher than google goog when it authorities say they don't plan to expand a twenty kilometer of accusation of their own i can back radiation was registered forty kilometers from thirty american writer and japan expert alex kurt that is the action of the government so it's trying. one of the biggest problems they are dealing with here is this whole thing is that left in the hands of the electrical

company and in most of the large countries of the world eric if you had a problem of this seriousness you'd have to now the central government coming in with all the big resources at their disposal the army the navy the resources of this phone company are not up to it they don't have it both cars and vans and so on to get to the site well them that the big wealthy countries like japan there are other ways to do it and yet the government is just seems to realize just unwilling to make a move beyond what some direct threats in the electrical company are telling looks the many problems not only that relations one of the curious questions is why are they staying at a facility that is subject to radioactivity just five hundred meters from the site that has got to have been ways to bring in tents to build sentry shelter say one kilometer or even two which we knew were the amount of radioactivity that they're exposed to so the issue is not so much what the electrical company did or didn't to

grab the central government seems unwilling to step in and it's one of the weirder aspects of this that the japanese government seems unwilling to accept. reality when it comes to serious danger outside the twenty kilometer limit actually it's not just the u.s. results even the japanese government's own results as published according to a. nuclear radioactivity testing facility which was reported about a week ago announced the same results so it's obvious that people in this hamlet forty kilometers away are in danger and yet the government seems stanching lee unwilling to move. i can only guess that it's something to do with face saving. maybe. the government doesn't want to admit that. the painter has

gone beyond a certain artificial limit. well as the nuclear crisis in japan continues to unfold some worry that might turn into another terminal of all the disaster op ukrainian reactor was the world's worst nuclear accident on our website you can find exclusive photos from the area around twenty five years on the seat of striking and our way images up close in all of our columns and watch just had on our dot com. scandal is clearing up after israel confirmed it was behind the abduction of a palestinian engineer in ukraine last month to the accused tel aviv of links with

hamas is now waiting a trial in an israeli prison parties alexy or some ski has the details of this story has definitely more questions than answers and more mysteries than we can imagine the palestinian engineer did out to sea she went missing in ukraine in the middle of february he was on board a train from hike of to kiev when allegedly two men walked into the school of argument and removed the man from the train there had been no information whatsoever on his whereabouts until thursday when the israeli prime minister openly admitted that the man was kept in a prison on israel's territory now his connection to the hamas is being named as one of the reasons for such actions and he is waiting for the charges to be put against him but his wife and himself are saying that these allegations are not true in fact his ukrainian wife and u.k. turns to the u.n. high commissioner for refugees to sort this issue out and she believes that this alleged kidnapping was performed by the israeli intelligence service the mossad now

what's interesting about the story. is how exactly this matter was removed from the ukrainian territory i spoke to one of the former security officers and he told me that in case of a planned operation between the two country's intelligence services this this usually is not a problem with a man is arrested then he is quietly deported from the country but in this case both the intelligence services and the interior ministry say they had no idea of any actions by their israeli counterparts moreover the country's interior minister alexander would you know if he's going to israel to sort this issue so the country's interior minister has now a very difficult task to tell his he's really counterparts not to do anything like that on the korean territory without letting them know. let's take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world this hour at least eight people have been killed as the u.n. office in afghanistan's mozart and sure rock was attacked by demonstrators the

protest was a reaction to the burning of the koran by an american pastor last month the demonstrators stormed the compound chanting death to the u.s. u.n. guards and employees are among the dead some reports saying farm workers were also killed. you know every coast fighter supporting the u.n. backed president a lack of the signing of a power are laying siege to the residents. forces loyal to the torah have been down in recent days seizing a key court and country's capital that has been refusing to step down to feet in november of presidential poll the u.n. has imposed sanctions against him including a travel ban and the freeze of his assets. you're up to date now from the news desk business is next. hello time for your business update and businesses in russia could be in for

a tax break president but that if says the social tax rate which pays for health care and pensions should below it it went up to thirty four percent of the beginning of the year and very honest say it's having a negative impact on all types of businesses whether percherons that is a partner at or a single taxation is not the main issue for investors. i don't think the issue is investment in russia is a tax system i think texas with actually is is one of the core seconds here reasons why russian at some point is not as good as a real wasn't to be. done the research should section shores as a major impediment to invest investment in russia both local and foreign is broken and the tax system. let's not have a look at how the markets are faring stocks of risen on friday after employment not just second straight month of solid gains non-farm payrolls rose more than expected by two hundred sixty two thousand jobs last month jobless rate has fallen to to

below at around eight point eight percent financial markets took the record as a positive sign for the economic outlook. putting on three european stocks here outraising impulse of charity three with banks reaction to the results of the irish stress tests trust that's an arch bank strove for all of them need a total of thirty four billion dollars in order to meet new capital requirements which would see has broken the six thousand point mark in the afternoon session in the energy sector shares and also rose from more than three percent on high at world prices. and here in russia both the r.t.s. and the mice it's continued there we three dozen vessels were encouraged by high commodity prices both in our chosen that my suspicions are more than one and a half cent on either let's now have a look at some of the individual share moves i mean she majors were in the black on friday with gazprom trading more than two point six percent on the rise banking stocks were also out with beer pong gaining around two percent so bank was regime

was among the main losers off repos the poor twenty ten results and it was down around three and a half percent on the my six. monthly inflation rate in russia appears to have slowed down consumer prices in march grew by about half a percent economic development ministry says the april figure is unlikely to win four percent annual rate of inflation russia is somewhere in the region of nine point five percent. the price of oil has reached a two and a half year high and need new concerns about the situation in libya branch crudest currently trading at wrong one hundred seventeen dollars a barrel or light so it is hovering around one hundred seven dollars the chairman of the german energy company which is whole says is expecting oil prices to hold around current levels. we do see an oil prize which is in the order of magnitude of

one hundred ten dollars plus per barrel i think that the recent development you do see in the arabic walden in japan we really keep the oil price on this for the level we do see right now but the volatility will increase depending on what is really happening. globally this therefore we have to deal with the situation but the level in short i do see that. and finally a canadian or two parts company magna may supply components for the first russian hybrid car the your bill is the brainchild of businessman we will talk of same to saving energy and being cheap to buy and run production could start next year with plans to produce ten thousand cars and that's expected there starting price for your more build will be around sixteen thousand dollars a card will have to versions affordable solution after school should pay for shit like it's part of the search engine behind the wheel.

ok and that wraps up the business bulletin you are up to date now join me last the last time for more business stories here on r.t. .