this week's top stories a former general recommend outage denies charges of genocide in front of the hague tribunal but serbia handing him over has done little to speed up e.u. membership. nature's extension of the military campaign in libya and deployment of attack helicopters spots concerned a ground operation in the country could be next. also spreading hysteria over killer cucumber cripples european vegetable markets pushing spain from a trip the excuse of starting the deadly outbreak to the brink of a breakdown. on the man suspected of shooting dead journalist anna politkovskaya is

officially charged. claim they have enough evidence to prove the chechen fugitive pulled the trigger. but in a back of the many developments over the last seven days and the latest news this is the weekly edition from. prosecutors in serbia one permission to question recommend how to choose a potential witness in their own investigation into what happened in the balkans conflict back in the ninety's the former bosnian serb general is in custody at the hague where he's accused of eleven counts of war crimes including genocide this week he made his first court appearance before the tribunal he didn't make a plea but told prosecutors the charges against him were monstrous and of noxious his next appearance will be in a month or not it should be on the run for sixteen years before being arrested in

serbia just over a week ago the e.u. said his extradition was keyed to hopes of joining the union asked catherine is a reports the e.u. dream doesn't appear any closer. still waiting for the green light serbia's arrest an extradition of former bosnian serb army chief can love which was one of the key conditions for a chance to get one foot and the european union's door potential membership could mean billions of dollars worth of grant aid and for struggling serbia it's a lifeline but what two official belgrade is a step closer to the e.u. is actually no step at all and a go secure this is very good news this is a very courageous decision by the serbian president this is one additional step for the integration of serbia into the european union one day is really a no go there so that is your. other steps remain to be taken your right to say

that the rest of the political chief croatian serbs go and had speech who is still in hiding electro legislation reform engagement in regional cooperation with neighbors for serbian president boris tadic there is no task too challenging to take on and the quest for a new membership. rests. in the next few weeks. before. this is a crystal clear the sort of fulfilling all nations while officials prepared to jump through yet another hero who most wonder if the list of conditions who ever and some e.u. officials are also talking about the fact that. serbia has to recognize de facto recognize its own problems of course before it can really get into the e.u. as long as hard it is in power and his party the list of the mans will be less

still serbia hopes its corporation will be rewarded and continues to be a path to the e.u. door the offices of the e.u. delegation to serbia proudly display the flags of all of their member states and serbia. really want to join the group but the list of conditions for a possible accession seems to be neverending and for official belgrade membership is always visible and always out of reach cattery not art belgrade serbia. recommended says he needs more than the official thirty days to study the charges against him and his son says no matter how much time he's given is simply not able to take part in the trial. he can't even read he has to go through thousands of pages to be able to testify in court with the police simply unable to do that he has difficulties with speech to power will even so with his lawyers it's impossible . you can watch the full interview with dr mlodinow the son of the former bosnian

serb general recommend outage pollo website at party dot com any time. this week nato intensified its bombing campaign in libya and decided it would last for at least another three months a u.n. report is accused colonel gadhafi of war crimes alleging the rebels are guilty of similar abuses of britain france of deployed low flying combat helicopters to the country the move was brought up aeration is close to the ground prompting concerns over an imminent land based offensive because russia's foreign minister to warn that pushing the boundaries of the u.n. mandate in libya may lead to future resolutions losing credibility. when we expressed our opinion over this last collision of the military operation with what's happening is a shift towards a ground operation this would be very regretful because divine illusions of the security council resolution already taking place are more than enough to think about doing that to choose towards against decisions. during nato intervention in

libya colonel gadhafi loyalists have been using cluster bombs these are burned weapons that dispersed many more and over a wider area with civilian casualties almost inevitable and the sort of first reports it's embarrassing for madrid because the money trail behind the weapons leads right back to spain. which is one strike a cluster bomb can spread thousands of smaller explosives even wider areas fired into populated areas if they were in misrata recently they always guarantee civilian deaths one of the many reasons more than one hundred countries and their production the markings on the shells found in the libyan city belong to the spanish company instead. there were arms that one twenty are prohibited that were purchased by gaddafi that were used against the residential area in these about that and they were put in spanish company and financed by spanish banks security. forces come to acquire spanish made arms in two thousand and seven and

still hasn't made the most of the lifting of sanctions against libya because that ship leaving sheen fell back into favor with west. spanish company what a contract to supply get out these forces with their custom nish ins. until two thousand and eight in spain signed up to the international convention banning the use. we're living in now once again the enemy spain is part of nato finds itself fighting a regime that in itself helps to arm and the trail goes back much further to spanish banks which provided the financial fire how it insta loss and to make the deadly weapons of war who want to bring this forward uses are a way to illustrates what the there is between a bank. civilian deaths and conflicts without legislation through means a direct connection between civilian deaths the weapon produces and the chance that

financed and therefore to banks customers ransom not really transparent about what they are using the savers money for so it's not that easy to find a recent report by spanish and years to ten revealed that as many as fourteen banks since they pulled with funding weapons produces the v.a. is the spanish bank that's been most active in financing producers of controversial weapons and it's exactly this kind of large scale financing they complain is now trying to rein in pushing for the development of more robust policies to ensure the banks are held accountable many of the banks named in the investigation and now coming forward to say their policies on funding arms production are to change with or without sledge distillation that's until that happens in the murky world of arms production wall means of profitable business sarah firth r.t.

the curate. and while the profits of war in danger civilian lives in libya in afghanistan the deaths of innocent bystanders go unpunished later this hour we'll report on the controversial acquittal of polish soldiers who killed a number of civilians in a mistaken attack on an afghan village. this previously unseen video when in rainy and plains deadly crash during an air show two years ago. a story still to come but first germany is considering e.u. aid to spain it wrongly accused the country's queue cumbers of causing the deadly e. coli outbreak it has so far claimed twenty two lives most of them in germany where a restaurant is now being investigated as a possible source the negative publicity over spanish produce has destroyed the country's vegetable exports and there's reports it may mean another round of global hysteria. some cucumber scale that much is clear and it's also become

apparent that although germany planed spain as the source of the e. coli it's not that's costing innocence punished brewton vegetable export is around two hundred million euros a week and it would all be obvious statement sure an absolute lack of responsibility what is happening today is a check i mean to the spanish vegetable and fruit industry calling the european health watchdog discredited russia says it had no choice but to ban all friesen vegetable imports from the entire european union a reaction in brussels called disproportionate use of our colleagues from the european commission say russia's decision goes against the spirit of the cio frankly i don't know about that but the cucumbers are kill people after they eat them that's not the kind of thing that raises your spirit it's a very delicate time for the spanish economy which is teetering on the edge of needing an e.u. bailout this is decidedly not

a good moment for one hundred fifty thousand tons of produce to go unsold. all the. time. you cannot all. cynics say all this is just the media whipping up its latest health hysteria in two thousand and five the united nations warned the world that bird flu could kill up to one hundred fifty million people in reality the seven years until the end of two thousand and ten saw three hundred three people die more recently swine flu was the killer encouraged by pharmaceutical companies european countries spend billions of dollars on unnecessary vaccines and probably will see that very soon behind all those. large pharmaceutical industry like they did with the swine flu they have some. people against the. color screen and

social unrest across europe all these health scares adversely affected economies this looks no different and germany's baseless accusations may be what finally pushes spain into bailout territory spain will now seek reparations from the relevant authorities in europe after its prime minister criticised the european commission for not supporting the country enough particularly after the infection was proven not to have conference punished q cumbers spain has a tightened task ahead of its repairing its reputation as a reliable exports or a freeze and vegetables all over the u. a position essential to its ailing economy nor ever is r.t. brussels. one or two a country which has already been bailed out of greece may receive the next installment of its one hundred ten billion euro loan in july things as promised to

implement strict austerity measures to stabilize its economy a goal it's failed to reach so far well for more on greece's chances of recovery i can now talk to professor of political science peer he's in paris thank you very much indeed for joining us here on r.t. so tell us what has greece got to do to get itself out of trouble and prove it is able to pay off its debts well actually i don't think it's only a good problem of greece greece was not too honest about its budget. under the last government it's mostly. europe and the i.m.f. one greece to tighten its belt a more and more so there's no no way the grease can get out of the crisis is if you tighten your belt more and more you create a recession and if you create a recession the situation gets worse and worse and it's harder and harder for you to be back in debt so it's not something about it it's on the greeks. had

a quick. they ask you what why why not throw in or i should say by throwing money to this problem in greece would that not sort out a problem would a bailout not actually stimulate the economy and get it out of recession but look the larger means should lend money and this money has to be back and if you take in your belt it means you create a recession you don't create the resources to pay back going to announce i think the banks are trying to europe and the i.m.f. are trying to appeal are the banks that lend the money to the greeks rather than greece itself. i don't see how this money can restart the economy if people stand less and less it's total antique engine ism it's nearly a group that someone would need is a new form of engine is and. these ideas are not particularly original this is what all krugman the nobel prize winner for economics keeps raging in the new york times

. it's a dead end and the only which get out it is then and it's needed to do works people are nice and good but is there if used to be bad for the banks. but unfortunately for the greeks the greeks are within the euro so they cannot. be currency there is talk of greece upping out of the your own propping the euro is that really likely to happen we did get word from the greek e.u. commissioner saying such things that they may well bail out of the euro is that likely. but actually it could be a political thread it could be all rhetoric but i think suggested now goes on there's a real danger greece will have to back out of the euro in order to be able to do that you its currency to have more tourists to sell more products and so on so this is not a possibility now because i think the big countries in europe will see germany and france want to be allowed not only the country but they want to be large events and in order to be large the country the exhorted. to sell all it's assets and the

people buying the assets are the germans but also the chinese so they're encouraging greece to sell itself to foreign powers to get out of the crisis but then you could create another crisis and nearly broke races which can only be solved by i think. solutions let me quickly ask you before we finish about spain now that scene is in line for a bailout for e.u. aid how damaging has this latest cucumber crisis triggered by germany been for spain could it actually put push spain over the edge and force it to ask for a bailout now but actually it's very bad for spanish agriculture but i don't think it should come across estate self and push to spain one way or the other but spain is in a different category from greece it's like all the banks in america it's too big to fail and europe cannot afford to see spain collapse start paying back its debts

you have to be bailed out and the. in the world in order to plead out restructure its debts. europe would have to be far more careful with spain is a chunk then when greece just briefly i want to ask your reaction concerning the comments that many say this could be the end of the eurozone in the long run do you think that the euro really is in trouble and we could see a collapse of the eurozone well some economists are arguing precisely along these lines and or originally when you the euro was created left in europe was there much against it because you had a strong economy used a strong currency that dean mark germany forming a monetary union with weaker economies and that is a recipe for trouble so we don't know yet whether the euro will bear the storm but this what is certain is that it's going to be there if it will is the euro. not

like the us it is no solidarity no common political system. it is not something we can exclude yes one of two countries could be left out of the euro some people even want to have a europe of northern europe germany and the netherlands. and all the other countries would have a different currency. without a strong economic integration but a strong political integration the euro is in danger as could be foreseen going to start i think. professor of political science joining us live from paris thanks very much indeed for your time. well this week saw a breakthrough in the investigation of anna politkovskaya as assassination five years ago and then suspect a chechen fugitive has been officially charged with the murder of the prominent russian journalist police say they have enough evidence to prove that the thirty seven year old was the one who pulled the trigger piece on other reports on this latest development. this is the man investigators say fired the shots which killed

anna politkovskaya. had been the subject of a wide ranging manhunt after spending two years on the run in belgium he was arrested by police in his home village in chechnya on tuesday and later charged with the murder. of the rest was carried out with the help of belgian police who had been hiding for several years we've been in constant contact with them and it was this cooperation that helped us capture the suspect belgian police triggered the manhunt and market of was forced to leave the country investigators are currently questioning him in connection with the murder of anna politkovskaya mahmud of two brothers along with a former police officer who were acquitted of the murder in two thousand and nine futile lack of evidence but the russian supreme court no verdict and ordered the investigation reopened what it cost her son told me the family hopes this arrest will bring them closer to finding out who killed his mother course it's

a very important step but we have to wait and see if one would off kilter will be proved but even that is not enough we have no clue who the mastermind of the murder is nor about the organizers it's a significant part of the journey but it's certainly not the end and internationally renowned journalist anna politkovskaya was shot dead in october two thousand and six that she returned home to spain a small investigative work particularly reports into human rights abuses former colleagues believe that due to the close family ties of those accused of the murder there will always be some unknowns surrounding the crime was done as well as the point of it's hard to tell how many people are involved we have the three mood of brothers and their own called he's a criminal bourse and could easily be the mastermind of the murder but relatives especially chechens are unlikely to testify against one another pollack of sky and murder isn't the only high profile case to see a recent breakthrough journalist nino gian of the things that. this arrest along

with the conviction of the killers of freelance journalist understand the border and human rights lawyer stanislav mark a lot of children these type of murders do get solved in today's russia this is definitely a landmark victory in the fight against impunity and journalist murders not just journalists but also the rights defender lawyers. and to see that there is significant step for. mood of currently in moscow where his lawyers are preparing his defense while for the family and friends of. their long wait for justice continues. r.t. . to poland now where a military court has cleared seven nato soldiers of killing civilians in an attack on an afghan village four years ago a panel ruled the evidence was not sufficient to support war crimes charges saying honest mistakes or faulty emanation might have been to blame the reports the verdict outraged many observers and fueled calls for troops to be withdrawn from

afghanistan. civilians killed and nato soldiers go free the same old story in afghanistan the threats and for a moment to be different polish soldiers were put on trial for including a pregnant woman and a child. on the sixteenth of august two thousand and seven mortar shells that were fired by polish troops afghan villages. as a result six people were killed three were severely wounded but the soldiers were cleared of all charges one of the accused told r.t. it's all been a big mistake we didn't see people. we were accidents. of our. lives it was. a problem we've got a grenade well functioned and missed it tell it. target by five hundred meters

claims a shit ski but prosecutors alleged it was revenge for a roadside bomb which killed another polish soldier earlier in the day experts say it's unlikely anything could go so catastrophic leigh wrong this is not logical operators of them or could not make such a serious error with such a large distance the question is did they to say to fire themselves or did they receive this command from above but there is no doubt they were shooting at the village not the nearby hills and the defendants their commanders ordered the attack and these should be the one standing trial activists while the conflict continues civilian deaths from nato bombing or inevitable and will only rise and the longer the war goes on the war situation is so the answer is i think quite simple to withdraw troops from afghanistan as a beginning of any process of the opposition of that country because their troops

western troops doesn't bring stability to afghanistan does the opposite as the death toll goes up on both sides support for nato mission plummets a majority in europe say opinion polls now think the conflicts going in the wrong direction. this was already unpopular in the e.u. there's the hundred billion euro of course service is that being cut a hole the size of our boys coming back in coffins is even worse leaving the death of civilians punished the week of the case to stay in afghanistan even the afghan president's turning against nato after the latest fourteen civilians were killed how many because lloyd delivered his strongest words yet giving a final warning and threatening war if it happens again the new bush will r.t. . well give us your thoughts on the stories we're covering at the moment here on screen by heading to. website news and analysis updated every minute and here's what's there to discover day. to several villages in the central russian republic

and ammunitions disaster lights up the night sky the details on video. dot com. and see how hundreds exercised their first amendment rights at the jefferson memorial in washington by dancing it's often people arrested last week for similar including a nod to the american presence of police actions described as aggressive and constitutional. of the tried and tested soyuz spacecraft has been towed into position ready for blast off in a few days in a carry three crew members to the international space station for a six month mission on board mankind's most remote outpost and lindsay francis at the baikonur cosmodrome for. the twenty eighth expedition to the international space station blast off in just under three days from here at the baikonur

cosmodrome so far everything is run according to plan very smooth indeed we've got three people heading out into space from here russian cosmonauts sergei volkov japanese astronaut seto chute flew a coward and american astronaut mike fossum and with us is mike fossum son he's going to give us a little inside story as to how it's been living and preparing for a space expedition with an astronaut what is it like actually living with an astronaut day in and day out he's just a normal guy you know we were just talking a minute ago about how he seems like a nice guy and he really is he is really down to earth and i feel like a lot of these guys are they're just it is due to managed to get this job and you know i was going to space is pretty cool here what are the things you notice about your dad may comes back from a trip out there where you know he's kind of a macho man. and so you know he likes to think that he's going to be ok when he comes back but we'll see because you know if they're really weak when they come back i'll be up there for six months and his muscles will be weak it's going to be

weak so we'll see if he if he takes that wheelchair like so many of the other astronauts do thank you so much for talking about it we will all right guys this rocket is being put into position to hold steady upright for the next three days until launch i'm told and we'll be keeping a close eye on the operations seeing how everything is going to make sure that it is smooth sailing for blastoff on june eighth well more space stories coming your way in the next hour as the mission to mars enters its second year. and his place participants in the longest ever space parts of a nation to the red planet and back. previously unseen video footage of surfaced online allegedly showing the crash of an iranian military jet at an air show two years ago you may find these pictures disturbing the haunting video was filmed by the crew of another plane flying in the show just outside to run it captures the moment an oil seventy six military plane

falls to earth and explodes after a midair collision with a fighter jet. seven crew members were killed in the crash. well but the reason is so sorry that's not a story that we were going to run but we'll get out of it later for you that brings up the date for the moment it's two minutes to go before and back with a summary of our main news stories this hour stay with us life here in.

the live comfortably next to the border of the gulf of egypt but also on the border of peace and war. there are responsible not only for themselves. but also for their loved ones. they're ready to take any risk. in the streets an orgy.