in indonesia oh geez available in the ground you're sure it's a media hotel the ritz carlton hotel i leave the hotel to tell me the millennium hotel in chile you can seal it censored. grown to be there till the coming of an issue marco resort hotel the same.

with resorts michael beverly plaza hotel macau riviera hotel in the current situation. the russian president pledges and drastic measures in a bid to create a better investment climate in the country. the centralizing power and stifling corruption goals voice pieds need to maintain a different year at the international economic forum in st petersburg join me and he said now wait for more details in just a moment. no consent and no cash u.s. congressman say they'll cut funding for the libya campaign unless the president gets the proper constitutional go ahead for the ongoing war obama's ninety days of action without sanction it runs out this weekend. and palestinians are out of pocket after israel holds back millions in tax dollars leaving tens of thousands of people without their wages.

a very warm welcome to you this is our life from moscow on. russia must modernize its economy in the next few years regardless of who is in charge president of. the countries direction at the st petersburg form of top business leaders he also warns that the government's large role in the economy along with corruption threaten development and must be tackled and he said now in our reports from some petersburg . but there are certainly a lot of obstacles and president medvedev knows that became very clear and has for real with his whole term as president that he thinks modernization is the way to go into the future with russia he clearly outlined all of the obstacles that the country is facing first let's take a listen to what he had to say about modernization as a whole for russia and it's

a call. at the studios choices not only a major green you'll of outdated elements in the economy but all public institutions used we need to hesitate to say sorry about many bad habits we can focus only on the step by step development question that would be a mistake that would be which we should focus on the following improvement of the investment climate in russia to create new jobs in the regions creation of police and other security forces the improvement of the effectiveness of the jurisdiction system and finally the modernization of government applying modern approaches to the centralizing power which of course one of those bad habits so to say as the president phrased it that he was talking about was corruption it's no secret that corruption is widespread in russia of course in many other emerging economies it's widespread as well and the president clearly wants to fight it this is the morning he have for us and officials that are corrupt. the noose around the neck of those who practice corruption should be toilets and and the whole of russia agrees with

this without exception which corruption is very difficult to do with the government should be purged of corruption in a more decisive way for that purpose we should enhance the way those suspected of corruption or dismissed from public service. but joining me now here is a few years for to speak more about modernization and the challenges that process facing especially in terms of the economy danielle translate this from u.c.l.a. thanks for being with us i'd like to begin with the president's speech of course once again we heard the trend of monitors ation corruption decentralizing the government. what are the details problems if you could tell us briefly that are hampering this process the bus ride will be touched on some very familiar to sleep but a lot about the from the rupture of the need for police reform the need for the judiciary and so on to prove that it's just fine but life that's part of the trial

but the problem really has been implementation in many speeches and many programs that mailed so it's less clear ground level that this has really changed the way that you're such a business throughout the civil rights how do you think those odd steps can begin to be taken where does it need to start at the lowest level let's distort the whole of the civil tenuously to i think everybody knows the most effective techniques for fighting corruption to improving the effectiveness of the state and that is to introduce more political competition although it's at the same time as i think recent freedom of us of course sometimes we exaggerate or in the west that the restraints on the press washouts of the saturated fat still to have was a genuinely independent publication so the television travels with help tremendously the question is whether to teach if at this point it's fair to take

more risks introduced elements of political competition. media freedom of course that all will add to the push for modernization as well tenuous reason thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. and ali right there from some petersburg on the artes business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum a much as it was that. president medvedev announces that the government is planning to privatized more of its assets and move toward a more open economy more live from st petersburg coming up. to get some more insight on the economic forum in some petersburg coming from the international federation for peace and consideration based here in moscow good to see you so

corruption is one of the issues the president at that brought up at the conference was saying that it's one of russia's main stumbling blocks that is basically preventing or slowing modernization and that of foreign investment do you think you think political cleansing strategy can pay off. so i think the corruption this is the problem of course for russia but also for the country so. the solution of this problem differently important for any economic stabilization in any country. it seems to me that some steps which have been taken before in the fighting corruption will really show that if the fight will be consequent the results will come and it seems to me that in the present time this is quite good collaboration and good intention to move forward in this struggle so the president's intentions are good they optimistic about also showing as you were saying that corruption is not just

in russia it's all over the world particularly in developing nations but the president is also promising better conditions for private enterprise that's after a decade of the state controlling concentrating on securing the main industries how do you think how can russia benefit from allowing a greater role for the private sector so i think that the world economic experience shows that the private sector is not in confrontation with the great interest it's they should. help each other in development of economic growth and from this point of view if the decision to taken to support the private interpreter ship especially if the economic conditions will be created for them to move forward i think it will be good support for great industries is the way we'll create the opportunities for the young generation and to shore up their opportunity when you're when you mention about the economy moving forward how is the russian

economy at the moment. i think that the valuation is different depending on what sector you will cover and what are the perspectives for this economy so i think that there is definitely positive developments in the. natural resources the natural. resources i mean there are many analysts say that you know russia is most probably the richest country in the world because of its vastness and its natural mineral resources if i may talking about mineral resources and energy medvedev also argued speech the russia cannot rely on high oil prices forever what are the most effective ways you think to reduce the country's dependence on energy i think that differently it's very. heavy industry inter-process and i think that we can find examples of the improvement of the situation in these fields into really. all the exploration industry speech which provides a mechanism that is going to be. more drilling more more expert exploration for the

natural resources here i have in the exploration view also speed up the development of the industrial inter-process which related to this industry and the second thing in my opinion this is different. to create opportunities for new technologies especially when you talk about the sort of trouble you talk about new technologies if we're saying that russia must press on with its modernization program regardless of who's in power do you think that the process has taken a good start so far in russia i think that the promise is very good and we knew that there is quite a lot of technology. by russian institution. by actual scientists and if the state will provide. the president a good ground good basement for using these technologies and i think the

declination will be. correct just now there are some people out there that are saying that i'm going to have speech it was almost like he was outlining a possible future presidential candidate's political course what do you think is he going to run for the presidency again in two thousand and twelve. so it is for the presidency i think this is the decision of each person. on their own on his own but what is your what is your view on this i think that there is not a final decision the take and the and the speech of this is just the attempt to show all that. he is a president he was. doing it for in order to create the first pictures for the next doing a lot of work as you write a lot of initiatives and modernization programs and a lot of optimism but is he going to run for two thousand and twelve yes or no. i think that he can do you think he can do it all right coming from the international federation for peace and conciliation post here in moscow thank you very much. now

our u.s. congress members are threatening to cut funding for america's military campaign in libya which is racking up a bill of ten million dollars a day but the white house is refusing to ask for congressional approval of military action which is required by law the president is allowed ninety days before asking permission and that runs out this weekend he's garnered you can explains. u.s. lawmakers are saying that president obama has to either stop waging war in libya or ask for congressional approval the lawmakers claim that the military action will violate the nine hundred seventy three war powers resolution if it does not and by friday and they mean this friday ninety days after the intervention began under the u.s. constitution to wage a long term war the president needs to get authorization from congress analysts say the obama administration will certainly find a way to get around the requirement by referring to his rights as commander in

chief as well as certain legal speak to this day the administration has refused to say war when it comes to their actions in libya they call it kinetic military action as a result of that kinetic military action civilians are bombed every day a group of international observers is now in tripoli including a former u.s. congresswoman cynthia mckinney we spoke with her a few days ago she said they've heard and they counted eighty nine blasts in just one day those are civilian neighborhoods eighty nine bombs dropped in just one day there is a lot of concern that the voices of those who are caught up in that war in tripoli go unnoticed in the national community but here in the u.s. it seems the voices of the majority of americans those who oppose the u.s. military involvement in libya also go unnoticed by the white house the administration continues to stress the good cause that they pursuing leiby of but some analysts say the administration also seems to be in denial when it comes to the will of their own people regarding the issue as well as constitutional

procedures legal experts say there is not much congressman can do to force the president to comply at least with the u.s. constitution because there are ways to get around ways the obama administration seems to be using extensively most congressmen now criticize president obama for as they say ignoring congress but top of the hill observers say it's mostly political games that the lawmakers are playing to score points by snubbing. president come the day to actually vote the majority of them will vote for more military spending as they always do but there is a small bipartisan group of congressmen ten people in it who went further than verbal review they sued president obama on the grounds that he's violating the constitution but everybody here knows that the lawsuit is certain to be dismissed on procedural grounds because the u.s. supreme court has determined that members of congress do not have standing to file such suits and this is where it hits a dead end that it makes me wonder whether or not u.s.

lawmakers actually have the capacity to effectively represent the people. you can right now are coming up for you here on the program a woman's world the bottom of the earth rejoin a russian film during her eleven month expedition in antarctica to hear why she was drawn to work in the icy isolation. the u.s. judges casting doubt on charges against alleged russian and gun runner victor boot calling the prosecutor's evidence against him thin boots accused of smuggling arms to colombian rebels labeled by the u.s. as terrorists and is currently awaiting trial in a new york jail his lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the charges claiming they don't prove who knew the arms would be used in america was extradited to the u.s. from thailand last year but he was arrested in an american sting operation in march of two thousand and eight. or you would not see let's bring you up to date now on some other top stories at this hour syrian security forces have expanded assault

deploying tanks into northern towns the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters has already forced over nine thousand to seek refuge in turkey the syrian army's actions against its own people have been denounced by turkey's leader human rights groups say more than fourteen hundred have been killed since march. a top saudi official says the yemeni president. will not return home although it's unclear where he will stay there was no detail as to whether the decision was taken by himself and the government demonstrations have been taking place in yemen for over three months now to force him to quit he flew to saudi arabia for treatment after being wounded in a rocket attack. greece has appointed a new finance minister in a major government reshuffle to try and stave off a catastrophic collapse of its leaders are trying to force through deeply unpopular cuts which sparked violent street protests this week greece and needs to secure

billions of euros in a second you. and i.m.f. bailout meanwhile germany and france say a quick deal is vital to stop greece's debt problem spilling into other countries. north korea is accusing seoul of forcing its citizens to stay in the south warning that it could worsen relations between the two countries but seoul says it won't extradite the group which defected by boat last week saying they have asked to resettle in the south in february the north responded angrily when its neighbor refused to send back for fishermen who had asked for asylum. well israel has been holding back millions of dollars of palestinians money leaving thousands of people without any wages it's tax revenue that supposed to be passed back to the palestinian people but since the political groups hamas and fatah reconciled the payment of stop. has now been meeting some of those who are suffering at the sharp end. i look we are we gods the palestinian ministry of finance his job is

to check everything that comes into this building but he has no control over what goes out least of all his salary which is paid by the ministry and sometimes comes a long overdue powdered my salary comes later it's like my life starts i simply cannot do anything i have a wife and four children to feed and when i don't get paid on time it makes lots of problems for me and my family. i want to keep the ministry get its money from the israeli government it comes in the form of customs and tax treaty said television been collecting on goods arriving at israeli ports and destined for palestinians the arrangements in one thousand nine hundred three is part of the oslo accord giving television control of the international borders between israel and the palestinian territories with the money transferred each month to the palestinian ministry of finance which uses it to pay wages except now we're talking about the budgeting for a million dollars for this ministry if can be five hundred fifty pounds. ask anyone

of them and then tell you if they were freed the situation could still. palestinians fear their tel of of could again choose to withhold text money like you did last month is where it is argued that if we wanted to do so if they suspect the money could be used for buying weapons this salaries to the hamas terrorist paid for the same bank account so i don't want to find these terrorist only in order to kill me but palestinians insist the monies for ordinary workers it is. sore because it's a punishment but on the other hand it's a punishment it's a collective punishment that would mainly weaken the moderate elements within the palestinian society and play into the hands of the extremists the relationship between hamas and fattah is a turbulent one but both groups are trying hard to work together ahead of september's planned declaration of statehood no doubt is rob will be working in. even harder to. feel its interests.

israel's other big worry is one that concerns the rest of the world as well as we report. dot com the new head of. threats for both israel and the united states it terrorism expert tells us online how the world still needs. the fishes. way why the scientist has a bearing all for a loop go. twenty minutes now past the hour here in moscow now to work in some of the world's hottest conditions in you need to man up and muck in or in the case of one antarctic work it's bringing an essential woman's touch to the tough life john thomas has been to

meta. as a filmmaker olga stefano the likes of the penguins and seals but for her aunt arctica is about something much greater so that i had the flu. even though it seems like this is a naked land make it's. nothing special sound like and it's no more than what happens inside of you when you are here for the whole year and are removed from all other external factors it's a very valuable experience that i'm seeing through an antarctic winter is serious business and so every member of the winter team has a specific purpose and they rely on each other to make it through is one of only a few women to have ever been allowed to be a part of this experience. and the team was a big bonus for us it's the first time such an intelligent young woman in such high professional objectives has been on the winter team which is definitely the existence. of close to us some difficulties and attractive girls with fifteen men

for the. difficulties but we've learned to manage them all this experience in a wintering of building a house and gave her a true rare opportunity to experience and document life here in antarctica now she's working to expand on her project and find an audience for her work. that makeup at the minute ran out and putting the finishing touches to the second part out film the first one is already finished it's cold weather in the winter but the second part probably because this series and it and it will feature all the antarctic summer as it brought that the state of the country to debut her documentary olcott invited some special guests the same antarctic winter team who are the subject of her film the fact that makes her slightly nervous you know she was as i loved. and respect them. to me and they have such huge background knowledge they know people and they know the interest is in first hand and they have been through this themselves. as for the thoughts of those who have seen the

film. makes a big impression on me there may be some. professional. showed that the way it was showed it the way she saw. a unique look into a world that is inaccessible to most. thomas. and you can follow more of our strong's of discoveries in the world's coldest continent with his videos on his blog. one of the most extreme environments on the planet. and people have to be far away from civilization. special and attractive. and.

more headlines coming your way. more about movers and shakers in the st petersburg . business is coming your way next. i madressa with the r.t. business team live in a land where the sun doesn't set out of the st petersburg international economic forum where the highlight of the day has been president medvedev his keynote address to the assembly here among the things he highlighted were innovation and modernization of the russian economy pointed out to examples of that young decks and mailed out room having their i.p.o. as he said those are successful models that other low but other russian businesses can look to go to have international success and also there was the goal of bringing international business and innovation to russia he hopes to accomplish

that through the salish made of a state in fact ten billion dollars private equity fund and also the expansion of a thirty billion dollar program of asset sale in order to help privatizing government held assets or to help bring more investment and innovation to the russian economy something that he highlighted during his speech. bush is going to meet such a lonesome ounce of truth it has only through skate you fool privatization of major companies the implementation of these plans is necessary at the very modest government who's in to the first of the scale of one of the tones they should in order to resolve this i'm sure we'll be able to go through with it in a movie transparent way to attract. the events does generate sufficient funds for the russian budget. and on that note of transparency transparency and openness something the president was highlighting during his address here at the

forum also had a hand with that russia's accession to the w t o something that he says is going to definitely spur innovation and investment here in russia along with that he highlighted that state capitalism is not what's needed in russia but that the role . the government should be a healthy spurring investment and make an environment where business can thrive here. the country needs it less regulate regulation and less lead tape in order to have less barriers to doing business in russia and that needs to bring about more efficient development in order to help business here now for more perspective on all this i'm joined by andrew cranston a senior partner at k.p. energy in russia and the c.i.s. thank you very much for joining us here on business r.t. thank you now russia is pushing for companies development international accounting standards do you think this will make foreign investors happy or do you think this will bring more money and it's definitely a all sorts of stuff because it's it's parts of being a modern transparent economy and that's what investors would expect by itself it's

not going to change the picture overnight but it's one of the steps that you needs when you take them all together they give you the investment climate that people are talking about the one that they really want very good develop market companies are seeking acquisitions in the emerging world and russia is a popular target what do you think this is and do you think that trend is going to continue at all. as you say foreign companies are looking at all the emerging markets because that's really where the growth is so it's a it's a no brainer i think they have to consider all the options not just one of the other bits but really look at all of them and they're all quite different the thing though the sun so with russia if you look over the past ten years or so it's not only given huge growth but it's given very high profile ability so it's this kind of magic so it is a very attractive market despite all of the problems and issues that we hear about that there's a lot of hope for small and medium sized businesses to further economic growth in

china that's something the president highlighted in his address he said that private private businesses need to be the spur the engine of the russian market what role do you think those small and medium sized businesses will play do you think they'll continue to grow it's that it's really really important for russia's further growth that this sector. expands quite dramatically and it's it's a area i think where there's still quite a lot of concern because it's it's easier to operate in russia if you're a big company you can get your voice heard if you're smaller it's not so easy but if we look at some specific examples innovation is a sector where typically a lot of the bright ideas are driven by small or middle sized companies but also i think if you look at its for example the new automotive factories that are being built in russia you know as you build a big factory you get a lot of knock on effects into the economy where you need services and materials supplies and that's often room for small middle sized posts all right thanks very much for your perspective and your class and from k.p.

energy we have a couple more last minute things to mention to you johnson and johnson and skolkovo here are made a deal they've agreed to invest thirty million dollars to support russian medical start ups also gazprom an american to shell creating a joint venture to develop difficult to reach oil supplies in to russia and there's a bunch of news about a deal that could become an important deal of this decade the failed arctic tie up between rosneft n.b.p. countries were planning to jointly develop the arctic but the deal collapsed in b.p. and another russian partner they are opposed the agreement despite this b.p. says they are optimistic. we were not successful in reaching a set of commercial conditions that were acceptable to all of the companies involved i think the concept though of the strategic partnership like this was good for russia good for. the energy markets and good for all of the companies involved.