first. the russian president pledges drastic measures in a bid to create a better investment climate in the country. decentralizing power and stifling corruption goals for inspired me to meditative here at the international economic forum in st petersburg during me and you see now a few more details in just a moment. no concert no cash u.s. congressmen say they will cut funding for the libya campaign and that's the president gets the proper constitutional go ahead to the ongoing war obama's ninety days of action without sanction runs out this weekend. plus the e.u. moves towards a new sanctions against syria that pushed its fear to be a build up for a libya style intervention. international

news and comment live from our studios here in central moscow this is. russia must modernize its economy in the next few years regardless of who is in charge prism if it has been one of the countries direction at the petersburg form of top business leaders he also warns that the government's large role in the economy along with corruption threaten development must be tackled auntie's and he said now reports now from st petersburg. well 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 of the whole process and it's

called. at the studios my choice is not only a major green knew all of outdated elements in the economy but all public institutions used we need hesitate to say sorry about many bad habits we can focus only on the step by step development question that would be a mistake with 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 improvement of the effectiveness of the jurisdiction system and finally the modernization of government applying lowden approaches and the centralizing power. 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 unless 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 are dismissed from public service. but joining me now here is a few years first to speak more about modernization and the challenges that russia is facing especially in terms of the economy danielle transgressions 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 and that's why well he touched on some very familiar good sleep but a lot about the rupture of the need for police reform the need for the judiciary and so on so that it's for climate law that's part of the trial but the problem

really has been implementation in many speeches let in many programs that failed states it's less clear ground level that this has really changed the way that you're that's because it's throughout the surplus letting you think those steps to begin to be taken where does it need to start at the lowest level let it start if all of the civil tenuously. i think everybody knows some i suspect it circulates fighting corruption so if through things like the state that is to introduce more political competition let's call the city at the same time letting three six three to sit for some time sweet saturates or in the west that the restraints on the press markets the tax credits that still let to have the oil genuinely independent publication television chats with help tremendously the question is whether it's

reach if at this point it's the fear let's take more risks introduced elements of political competition. media freedom of course that all adds to the push for monetization 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 the top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. and this in their reporting from st petersburg u.s. congress members of threatening to cut funding for america's military campaign in libya which is wrecking up a bit 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 time runs out this weekend he's going to check on 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 you know up to this day the administration has refused to say war when it comes to their actions in leadership 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 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 international 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 what we sent 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 suit and this is where it hits a dead end and it makes me wonder whether or not u.s. lawmakers actually have the capacity to effectively represent the people going to church and analysts don't whether congress members really want the u.s. to pull out of libya washington watcher and voice of russia radio host common russell slip chance he told r.t. the hawks on capitol hill will only benefit if the military operation drugs. the problem is that when there was a prior lawsuit during clinton's four into the former yugoslavia dentist to sit in the group of other congressmen and even at that time filed a very similar lawsuit saying that it was illegal and it went to

a district court for the district courts the individual congressmen did not have any sort of standing the reality is i think still a majority of congressmen are are you know going to support the the actions in libya and afghanistan and so on congress is not going to. come and say we shouldn't be doing this and try to defund it and besides obama is currently using discretionary department of funds discretionary funds to get around it anyway so you know it's a question of how effective it would be but it works to their benefit we do live in a military industrial complex type of world where they have they have the purse strings they have the power. you're with r.t. we come to you live from moscow twenty four hours a day still to come this israel opens up another front against the palestinians this time it's financial the tel aviv withholds millions and tax owed to the palestinian authorities leaving tens of thousands of workers without their paychecks we find out why. that's still to come but first

a fresh round of protests a flare up in syria against president assad's regime with sixteen people reportedly killed in clashes on friday meanwhile the e.u.'s planning a third round of sanctions because of the government's crackdown on protesters and the war activists brian becker told me earlier that he thinks the west is targeting the syrian regime to replace it with a proxy that will serve their interests the if it adopts these new sanctions the third wave of sanctions there incrementally ask a lady in the u.s. and western european intervention into syria i think that we're going down the road as we when libya where one step leads to another step there climbing the escalation ladder they have a very sort of selective concern for the lives of protesters and democracy movements or movements that call themselves democracy movements you take bahrain they're they're they're condoning the crackdown on peaceful protesters i think what's really happening is that syria syria has been targeted by the united states

and also in principally by. france and the u.k. for regime change and i think they see this growing protest movement and the possible slippage of the country in the direction of civil war as an opportunity to overthrow what has been considered to be independent government in syria. brian becker talking to me a little earlier u.s. charges casting doubt on charges against alleged russian gun run a victim boot calling the prosecutor's evidence against him phin boots accused of smuggling arms to colombian rebels seen by the u.s. as terrorists and is currently awaiting trial in the new york jail his lawyers also just to dismiss the charges claiming they don't prove new the arms will be used against america big to boot was extradited the u.s. from thailand last year where he's arrested in an american sting operation in march two thousand and eight. well let's bring up to date on some of the other stories making headlines around the world at this stage of the day the alarms being sounded

by the i.m.f. that the world economy now faces increased risks is debt ridden european countries and the u.s. are playing with fire unless it make immediate moves to cut their deficits making it worse is america's internal wrangling over raising the national debt ceiling and others say that even if the country only technically defaults its credit rating its credit rating will suffer and that'll reverberate worldwide. meanwhile greece has appointed a new finance minister in a major government reshuffle to try and stave off a catastrophic collapse of the country's system leaders are trying to force through deeply unpopular cuts which got violent street protests this week to secure billions of euros in a second e.u. i.m.f. saying as we well germany in france a quick deal of vital to stop greece's debt problems spilling into other countries . north korea is accusing soul of forcing nine of its citizens to stay in the south warning that it could worsen relations between the two countries but also says it won't extradite the group which defected by boat last week saying they were

asked to resettle in the south in february the north responded angrily when its neighbor refused to send back for fisherman who asked for a sign of. china is on its highest disaster alert level after heavy days after days of heavy rains forced more than half a million people to evacuate their homes in central and southern provinces officials say over one hundred people have been killed by the floods and sixty five are still missing the downpours are expected to continue into next week on the troops have been mobilized for the relief effort. israel has been holding back millions of dollars of palestinians money leaving thousands of people without any wages it's tax revenue that's supposed to be passed back to the palestinian people but since the political groups hamas and fatah reconciled the payments stopped pulis has been meeting some of those who are suffering at the sharp end. guards of 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 long overdue and if 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 cleave the ministry gets its money from the israeli government it comes in the form of customs and tax treaty said television 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 seven hundred five million dollars for this ministry released papers can be five hundred seventy pounds and. ask anyone to mentally tell you if they were freed the situation should still. palestinians fear that tel of of could again choose to

withhold tax money like it did last month israelis argue they have every right to do so if they suspect the money could be used for buying weapons the salaries to the hamas terrorist are paid for the same bank account so i don't want to find these stories. in order to kill me but palestinians insist the monies for ordinary working as 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 to the hand 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 israel will be working even harder to thwart them should it feel its interests are threatened policy r.t.

women are. israel's other big worry is one that concerns the rest of the world as well as we report on our website at r.t. dot com a new head of al qaeda with renewed threats for both israel and the united states a terrorism expert tells us online how the world still needs to stay. also opti dot com feeding the fishes in a totally new dwain why the sun to says bearing all the beluga whales. brings up to date for the moment here in r.t. i'll be back with a summer of our main news stories in about fourteen minutes from now the meantime martin andrews runs rings around moscow is exploring one of the capitals all but all roads but one which is perhaps one of the prettiest you'll find that's moscow

up next on r.t. . hello and welcome to the moscow outsell in the program this week i'll be exploring

the capitals gautam bring approximately sixteen kilometers in succumbs friends it was recently created in the early days of hundreds as a tree lined boulevard to replace the city's outer wall today it's undeniably the heart beats of the russian capital i'm a salsa here right next to the mosque at the famous public outdoor space goalkeeper hog. the golden ring consists of seventeen individually named streets and squares. it's not the same circular layout as the moscow metro a mistake many people commonly make the brown line actually overlaps it in several areas and features metro stations outside this facility also known as the cell to a console in mission new visitor to the russian capital the famous and chaotic golden ring road to a starting point a cool keep down to amusement park was named after the writer maxine gorky. bluefins in one hundred twenty eight in covering an area of three hundred acres along the river the outer space is currently undergoing a major renovation it's the perfect place to relax in the city and the perfect

place to start out. moving around the ring. and had to. drive around the. it's a cultural mishmash of. shops and. drive. including. just make sure to get on the right a mistake. exceptionally

. it's much cheaper. cities. to expand. to fill in with many buildings were to create. a whole route completely built. for filled and today the bridge and buildings around the ring change constantly most notably you can see the. skyscrapers that were built between nine hundred forty seven and nine hundred fifty

four. symbols of. and still stand proud. there are many around this location pretty bridges impossible. place to. some a sun. impressive looking building. five star swiss situated not far from the. views of the city and. moving on next week you'll see a house of music it has various stages concert halls. in russia. taking. music. and outstanding.

performances russian and international peace and ballet companies to showcase stadium houses three. station is located one of the largest in the city center. at night if you think. street brand shops supermarket cinema restaurants and cafes all under one roof. a city full. of people. it's time for some entertainment and for a ninety minute destruction head to the cinema. is housed in a. building but a trip to the. ecologists

of sufficing will leave a year because the film festival programs. nationals. from all over the world a book and gift shop also runs inside the building you can find newspapers and books a russian and international cinema. a favorite place of moscow's intellectuals and see the cinemas name comes in the face of the series used the original thirty five millimeter film at this dusty project a room here i'm sure looks like it did decades ago with some new technology and sound equipment added it off as a first class experience. in a cinema and let's move on to around the dog bring us to christiane metronet prospect mira we're just about at the top of the range here we meet a beautiful church with a screen on. one of the oldest and most got its history dates back to sixteen thirty two in the end of the seventeenth century the church was especially guarded

by piece of the great he donated a large sum of money tourists it's a beautiful landmark which i have seen many times sitting in traffic nearby is also located one of moscow's main hospitals the swiftest scientific research institute of medicine the history of this complex of graham buildings dates back two hundred one can show methods from an old russian noble family to the hospital on the spot in the memory of his beloved wife in one thousand twenty three discus lawsky institute has found it instead of the old hospital and now within fifty thousand patients here were treated in the hospitals fully equipped to meds he said to raise an intensive care rooms. a one of the largest such religious you should see in europe. than eight hundred thousand operations a year including trans bunch of heart liver kidneys pancreas and nowadays even logs of. moving around to the west of the city now and there are several large hotels in the golden ring such as the peking that you can see here. built in the style and

this is in style it open. in one hundred fifty six cyl bracing friendly relations between the us song and china the building of the hotel itself is a state historical and textual monument located near scar metro just up the central to postcard street it's walking distance from the main. opposite the hotel makes the most obvious if it's true hidden away so it's surrounded by statues and fountains it's a peach rest area to relax in it's also where we are meeting this week's guests. the smi so it's your first year here in the russian capital yes as a chef and yesterday. i got the job back in london when i was working there and so i know you will and i am what you think of arson capital how do you think it would look before you came here i've had mixed reports. coming instance of me thinking it might be

a bit grim and i quite like it is pretty divests in my mind so it's a pox and restaurants cafe coaches explains it and i just i'm really enjoying being here actually and i'm bringing really is for the at the center or the heart beats of the capital yeah yeah i mean if you're going to have around the center you very much and on that one problem with the golden ring is. being with the traffic it's horrendous the traffic. pretty bad i mean if i go to school but in the morning which is a little bit outside it takes me. twice a day so that you can be sitting in traffic for hours not something about the golden ring culturally to say many museums around moscow and galleries and there is ballet and. beautiful old mansions dating back and. said this doesn't pop star surrounds and so hidden

away ok which. the fountain accent could be any way of saying that about sums up the school system and things i said about a school. that's. obvious to me thank god bring in especially well thank you very much i'm loving it and. the gold ring is the it's made to black south to buy from sadie's waits in the traffic alongside serbia trolleybuses a new trend of european bakeries open next the typical old fashioned russian productive jungle stools that space and time will start. the final location at the intersection of time the golden ring also sums up truthiness russia the luxury center the plaza by the south korean retailer of his a five star hotel department store and several expensive restaurants. on heading up

the popular clean about elites high rise office some of the best feast in the capital food for the rich and fabulous it's about sky high prices. those who think they're going to bring office just the traffic ridden concrete jungle mistaken there are numerous going to speak for historic mentions quinn's cathedrals and many secret hideaway around it sixteen kilometers a conference to dig deeper the most to hold some amazing secrets. from the. city as it was called in the seventeenth century the gold ring has come a long way and looking down on it as the safety veins of the capital i just wonder what it will look like in centuries to come. wow that. is just brilliant. we have in this week's program i'll see you again the same time next week and tell them for me that same. title. by.