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the e.u. credit rating agency after a downgrade of portugal's debt to junk status leads world markets panicking over a bailout and the knock on effect elsewhere. russia's foreign minister described the nato its role in libya as quote cynical saying it comes up too high of a price of civilian deaths and a continued stalemate. and grease it detains of the last of the boats headed to the blockaded gaza while the un is expected to publish a long awaited report on israel's deadly assault on last year's. worldwide news live from moscow this is r.t.

i'm research and welcome to the program unjustified and fat but with the power to determine the fate of entire countries that's the verdict of germany's finance minister on the world's big three credit rating agencies after portugal had its debt downgraded to junk status the move is having a disastrous effect on the e.u. ripping apart the relative calm by a second greek bailout the panic is proving contagious with fresh fears emerging that ireland it may also need another cash injection it comes as germany the e.u.'s biggest economy debate the very legality of the bailouts now for more on this we're joined live by professor philippe doesn't tina from the high finance institute at the university paul. thank you for joining us today why why are we seeing such a strong reaction from the e.u. to this downgrade on the credit rating agencies simply doing their job. i mean here we are exactly we have to face the situation where there is not there.

which is really the markets and. that's why i. think you were right to say this actor is not very good one but indeed what is very bad. it means that today there is a need in many countries in europe and communities in this specially insecure resume that was one of the big points that we can see now and on the island are. today on light and maybe tomorrow so are you saying you saying then that the e.u. is using this as an opportunity to offload responsibility and if so why now. yes i think that could be seen as real to be a real big point of. today's interview tries to find responsibilities and maybe to say to the public opinion we've got a problem here and that's not the only our opinion what is very very. obvious is to

say for instance that. european politicians might say the financial markets are today a very bad word it's a european that's not true in fact investors aren't trying to see a trade to understand what what could be zero to keep the cash in it's a different countries of europe the european countries and then seven let's let's i'm sorry for interrupting let's address the issue of control here i mean is the e.u. using this as an opportunity to push through legislation which would give them some level of control credit rating agencies do you think. that's could be of course you see the i think it's a bad case today really see is there any real big criticism that the g. don't go on for instance rating agencies mental there is always no there is absolutely no possibility see that's the way that for instance a great deal of rating agencies could be considered as a bad one. european commission that's tried to for instance it's

a different different process that would be. on work on the european debt and each times the conclusion was the same rating the rating is correct the only problem that we've got that's maybe on the agenda of the don't grating some of the european officials trying to ask rating agencies to stop the communication but you can understand that we are exactly far from rule rules or rates which is to give you obedience only an opinion it's nothing more. and it's an opinion as you say and nothing more but as we've reported the latest wave of panic now spread to island many that wondering whether the crisis is about to ignite and fans just to find anything. i think fear could be just defined by investors but again that's not the sign of a justice which is the fear in process it's real easy enough i don't really there

are different problems to see it's a big european countries we are going to see that we did it and we've got a real real big issue considering the cash in which does not call me to find instances of the refinancings of these two countries because also to make them groups that benefit is coming from the lake of groups in countries there are bad economic news and this year again it's a question of grading it's only we can see. real greek ness responding to responding to. things and europe when you mentioned you mentioned that the great mass and you're saying that the fair among the eurozone is justified by the e.u. sort of greece to set a huge part of its national assets to raise capital often a prices fall market value and this sort of fire sale even make a dent in greece as mountain of debt do you think. i think that there are these different issues in for instance that brooke was a proposal to sail part of i said so maybe. it's owned by the

greek states maybe one point is trying to say to the european countries that we have to be here let's be clear he's going she's going not to pay for us up there are pros he also took them to europe we have to pay for them so we have in the public opinion sorts of different countries for instance in france or you gemini something risky we can say. right some something like that again it's really it's against greek case or irish autumn or part of this so what is missing from this country is to say we try to do our best for instance we have a vote in the us there are plans and now we we are. to sell ourselves it's means that we try our best to solve this is reaching pretty sweet can't we really mean and here or maybe there is a missing girl by. the degree of the politicians and the europeans own to be

induced to buy their own or really good ones i read somewhere some aside some are saying that these bailouts it's just a way really to maintain the pain professor doesn't mean i'm afraid that's all the time we have for today from the high finance institute and the university of paris thank you. but the cash strapped e.u. is giving christine legarde much to think about in her first days in charge of the i.m.f. she told reporters that she's picking up the baton from her predecessor to deal with the problems on reforms that began under dominique strauss kahn but is not is christine for reports there's still more interest in muckraking than money matters . i from violence on the streets of the middle east. to protest in north africa to europe. for portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. and in greece. where unemployment hovers at about

sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger nearly all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the us as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like a housing crisis and slow financial growth. this is the world christine legarde inherits as she begins at her new post as managing director of the international monetary fund in her first formal meeting with the press at the i.m.f. headquarters in washington she seemed optimistic in her hopes the international monetary fund is here to serve and to provide services to its hundred and eighty seven members it's not the sexiest of news stories but still the inaugural press conference for the new managing director of the i.m.f. then garner quite a bit of media attention most likely it had less to do with christine lagarde herself and more to do with the reason why she's here. campbell what lessons do you

think ought to be drawn from the way the u.s. legal system handled this case we could be any reforms in the human rights and human resources policies here do you plan any changes in them in light of the controversy over mr strauss kahn the controversy of course with dominique strauss kahn accused of raping a hotel maid in new york that case now starting to crumble after it turned out the maid had credibility problems but back to the i.m.f. or lugard will take over then yes you have a couple of issues what worries you the most guarded her best to stay on message we cannot be only driven by the hope to reduce fiscal deficits and organize fiscal consolidation in a big way whether you look at advanced economies or whether you look at emerging markets all income countries the issue of employment. is

a critical one the one hundred eighty seven nation organization has already lent one hundred sixty billion dollars to cash strapped nations many of which have little hope for paying it back. so the real questions are manifested here on the streets of some of the nation suffering the most are accepting aid from the i.m.f. has been presented at times as the only option as i stared the measures are now being put into place the questions too are in the dollar and how its value may or may not change under her watch for managing the debt crisis around the world will fall at the top of her agenda as the rest of the world watches with hope first ability in an unstable world in washington christine for south r.t. . minutes past the hour now here in moscow you with r.t. and russia's foreign minister has slammed nato for its quote cynical actions in libya during an interview with russian t.v.

sort of a left off said that the alliance is tactic of bombing the country until colonel gadhafi steps down has inflicted too many unjustified civilian deaths has been following all of it off had to say let's cross over and speak to him right now. moscow has been criticizing the his campaign in libya for four months already and it's staying firm on its stance isn't it. well that's right we heard from sort of deal of it all of today was really russia reiterating what has been its stance concerning. discord in the middle east since that's discord began now the message that russia has been wanting to put across has been that they want to hear voices not violence to try and come to peace in the middle east and in north africa as well concerning libya though so good luck for all of sets out his stall again today saying that it's when it came to situations like syria or to yemen that russia. vehemently opposed any form of outside intervention because feel they. so

let down by the what they see is the mission creep essentially of outside intervention into libya. somewhat more emotive in his language today as he criticized actions in libya. nature's bombing libya longer that it was bombing yugoslavia several years ago and there is no end in sight it's obvious that politics is a cynical matter we hear from the western capitals that the bombing should go on until gadhafi backs off but the human cost of these political statements is very high. used to wish. a sort of a love role for the for russian foreign minister also went on to talk about relations between russia and the united kingdom. this comes after the had been some reports coming out of the u.k. that a proposed visa free regime visa free travel between russia and the united kingdom

was going to be affected by the death of alexander litvinenko in two thousand and six while the former russian security offices death. according to mr knox one of those stumbling blocks it's as far as his talks with downing street go this isn't something that has come up as a problem when it comes to the discussions on visa free travel between russia and the united kingdom and there is a stumbling block in relations between russia and nato the u.s. missile defense project in europe what was more comments on this. well regarding the nato missile defense shield based in eastern europe. had something interesting to say he said that if russia was to be involved in the discussions and the construction of a missile defense shield. russia would be very willing to be part of it and they

could involve their expertise on. technological ability building not shields however this is something that. has been said by. doing we had expected to hear something positive from. between russia and nato didn't come out so russia now saying no that. didn't friendship. vailable and we're willing to be. defiant stance as well thank you. for you this hour here on seeing the light could be deadly. but. that's. nothing.

more. now a quarter past the hour. a french ship bound for gaza with has been stopped in crete it was the last of the ten vessels initially taking part in the voyage to the blockaded palestinian territory it comes as the un is due to report on last year's israeli raid on a humanitarian flotilla which killed nine activists israel still struggling to settle the role that followed. explains. today thursday is the deadline that the united nations gave itself to submit a report into last may's patella incident in which nine turkish citizens were killed while trying to break israel's blockade on gaza for the last few days israeli and turkish citizens have been meeting around the clock in new york to try and reach some kind of formula that is acceptable to both sides at the heart of the dispute is istanbul's insistence that tel aviv apologize for its role in events but

so far israel has refused to do those offering instate are great for the loss of life now the head of the commission jeffrey palmer has said regardless of whether or not both sides are able to reach some kind of quiet mutual agreement he is issuing death reported today thursday and this has been an impetus for both the israelis and turks to try and find out their differences for reconsideration because most people do understand that if the report is issued with all three conciliation it will be much harder for the reconsideration to be made at a later date now it is also widely understood that the report is likely to uphold israel's illegal weight to impose a naval blockade on gaza but at the same time it is likely to charge the israelis with using excessive force that israel has so far indicated that it is prepared to pay compensation but as long as this doesn't create a precedent and open it up for food that such illegal claims. are reporting that where you are without your life are most going to search your house might have eyes

from around the world for you this hour in india at least thirty five people were killed and thirty nine injured after a train it crashed into a bus at a railway crossing dragged along over five hundred meters the bus was carrying guests from a wedding party that had stopped at the crossing due to a broken axle the injured were taken to a nearby hospital with the help of local people who rushed to the scene. the roof of a football stadium leading dutch football player has collapsed it's still unclear if anyone has been killed or injured in the accident at the home ground of f.c. twente either they are finished actually second in the dutch league last season it's not known what caused the collapse which happened during work to upgrade the stadium capacity to thirty two thousand emergency services are working at the scene to identify any casualties. southwest china suffering from continued heavy flooding it with rain triggered mudslides cutting off access to a pivotal highway in the province of sichuan state media reports that at least

twenty five people have been killed across the country over the past week due to downpours seasonal floods have already taken the lives of around two hundred sixty people in china over the last month. airliners are at their most vulnerable during takeoff and landing and now there is an increasing threat from the ground namely a beam of light that reports on the police hunt for the hooligans with laser pointers which blind pilots at the worst possible moment i really have become clear proof that the downs a laser in the eye can be a major distraction for food bill or christian or not to do it meant and shown the consequences could be catastrophic if someone is stung while flying an aircraft with hundreds of passengers on board blinding palace by laser beams has become an increasingly uses in rush over fifty attacks registered since the beginning of the year. the latest incident was that this most important one the pilots of

a tupolev passenger airline a arriving from istanbul were does old by paul paul green light aimed at the aircraft by someone on the ground just minutes later and now that problem. but nothing but but yet it's only a matter of time before that that accident occurs to me we were going to during landing just one hundred meters above the ground when we were only a kilometer away from the runway as a result we were in danger of losing control the crew was dazzled in a catastrophe could have happened. in the worst case scenario pilots can land automatically but not full aircraft can land on autopilot and even if they do those in the cold feet need to remain in control and be able to see. the effect of a laser beam on a pilot can be compared to that of lightning it blinds you. potentially lethal

laser guns imported from china can be bought in russia for as little as a hundred dollars firing a laser beam as far as five kilometers they can burn through paper and even plastic . in the u.s. sales of such devices are banned russian legislators are also considering outlawing them and toughening punishment for this offense though some are shining a spotlight on the police calling for more action the question is in court of everyone's waiting for new laws there's no excuse for peace and action on the ground of our current legislation is good enough is allows for the arrest and imprisonment of such fools for up to ten years in prison as of now there has been only one arrest in russia for intentionally targeting an aircraft with a laser with this suspect still under investigation attempting to down a plane by other means would be classed as terrorism public concern in russia is rising about the potentially equally serious waste from laser louts and their high

tech hooliganism exceed in a grouch over our team still. nine high profile photo journalists have been convicted in georgia of spying two of them russian and georgian citizens were sentenced to fourteen years in prison the others got eleven years the initial arrest of the group was described as a publicist a stunt by the georgian opposition now let's cross live to what is your office going to for more details on this and you're not a good time to be a journalist in georgia what more do you know about a outcome of the airing of this is quite an interesting story because nine people have been found guilty of cooperating with foreign intelligence services and supplying secret information to them these are high profile of photographers including the personal photographer often president mikheil saakashvili his wife was actually also means that during the course of the investigation there also

photographers from well known news agencies like the associated press or the european afforded press service now what's also interesting is that most of these people were detained on wednesday just yesterday and so now on the leg. they be being given quite heavy jail sentences we're talking about you when you're a long sentences to fourteen years in prison that one was actually received by a russian citizen and was the longest sentence out of the entire group now i'll be a lawyer off the defense signed peepers illegally obliging him not to disclose any information all of this case the only thing he said is the only proof the opportunities were using. in this case was that they found some sim cards with classified information on them but that's all we know we don't know what type of information and one else they used in this case all of the defendants have pleaded

not guilty. nevertheless most of them have been found guilty and it looks like they have a long time to serve in jail now and now the opposition in georgia claims that this was a publicist who stands conducted by the authorities to divert attention of the public from the a real social and economic problems in georgia. all right so you go to chris going to i'm sure this is not the last we've heard of this the story that you're going to thanks very much. tonight how you would r.t. that such a got some business news now kareen is here in the studio. hello welcome to business here now to good to have you with me europe is tightening belts the central bank has decided to increase its key interest rates by twenty five basis points in order to cool inflation the move could help europe's strong

economies to avoid overheating but could be a double edged sword for peripheral countries now to discuss this issue i'm joined by james ashley senior economist at our capital markets hello to you thanks for joining the program now let's actually what does this e.c.b. decision mean for the troubled economy such as greece and portugal. decision to tighten monetary policy means higher interest rates across the whole of the euro area and for she that doesn't apply uniformly so what russia is seeing is that whereas in the pre-crisis period for a given level of interest rates businesses and households across the euro area would face would be comparable interest rates regardless of where they are situated right now we have a position whereby interest rates in say germany are far lower businesses and households and we are in the periphery say for greece or portugal so although we do although to raise interest rate increase does mean higher rates across the whole of your area unfortunately is the areas that need least tightest movement because it

actually may have the most tightening as a result of this decision. now tell me if it's so hard for the four per for all countries why does the e.c.b. choose tightening policy is the risk of overheating that high. the z.b. is always been absolutely clear that it focuses on the euro as a whole. and for the negative headlines we get coming out about europe at the moment have to remember that greece portugal and ireland combined together only account for around six percent of your area output much larger economies such as germany and france russia performing relatively well here obviously capital markets we expect during the for the region as a whole to increase by around two percent in a similar pace next year and inflation is locked in for back below two percent in store march or april next year so all. i wouldn't say in any way that the the euro area is in danger of overheating it's certainly quite difficult to justify such a community of monetary policy when you look at the region as a whole now debt problems on the one hand and inflationary pressures on the other

hand where should the balance be between the two policies. i think from the she beast specular there are two important points that question firstly if you look at the levels of debt there are perfect stay nable for the euro as a whole against the difference between the rich as a whole and the individual carmen's within it so complex it's a total g.d.p. that is followed in the us in these poor comparable to that in the day the real issue is within sort of the individual economy such as greece are the political force the second point in perhaps even more important from these these perspective is that the debt problems our fiscal problem require fiscal solution lisi these mandate is monetary policy and delivering stable inflation of the medium term horizon if it's in if it has to do so i think that does require further time in winter policy so e.c.b. can operate in a bubble that has to take into account the fact that these debt problems are continuing in that it is having spillover effects into financial markets in the real economy in certain pockets of the euro area but nonetheless when you look at

the inflation outlook i think the type of monetary policy is still required and well how do you think the e.c.b. decision will influence the euro exchange rate which is fluctuating moment. i think today's immediate decision shouldn't have a big impact it was widely expected in financial markets and certainly in terms of where your dollar has been trading and since the decision was announced forty five minutes ago there's not been much of an impact but if you look further ahead i think what we can expect is that in the near term if we get any positive news to move out of periphery we could actually see your strength and then moving ahead into next year we see we do expect to see we will be weakening somewhat but also this actually the e.c.b. says it will refuse to accept restructured greek bonds as collateral in the event of default which weightings agencies are threatening to impose so what's the solution to the problem you think. this is an extremely poor point so if the c.b. were to stop accepting greek collateral then that would have an immediate

ramifications and consequences for the greek banking sector and that would obviously reply across the euro it's extremely important but i think you have to remember that the she has a great deal freedom to set the rules for the collateral that it accepts and if it wants to wiggle out of the position it's got itself into it can do so and that could either be through providing the greek banks emergency liquidity assistance through the greek central bank or by instead of relying on the external crazy credit ratings agencies relying on its own internal rating so i think the c b is not going to be the one that pulls the trigger and says that actually greece is in default and causes a banking crisis is an important point but i think that we should be able. to create extricate itself from the position it's now in ok james astley senior columnist of at r.b.c. capital markets thanks for sharing these thoughts in the program thank you very much and that's all the business for this hour be back with more in just under an hour's time stay with us for headline news up next.