e.u. credit rating agencies saw after a downgrade of portugal's debt to junk status leaves world markets panicking over a fifth in bailout and the knock on effect elsewhere. high profile photographers are arrested in georgia suspected of spying on others or convicted for espionage the country's opposition says the government is muzzling the press to cover up its own problems. and greece is the last of the boats headed to blockaded gaza while the un is expected to publish a long awaited report on israel's deadly assault on last year's. russia's foreign minister describes his role in libya as a cynical saying it's coming too high of a price of civilian deaths and they continue to stalemate. and in business russian equity markets close with the biggest gains in two months tracking global trends

all majors the best performers join me for the details in twenty minutes from. twenty four hour global news live from the heart of moscow this is artsy unjustified and fair 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 the 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 contagious with fresh fears emerging that ireland may also need another cash injection that comes as germany's the e.u.'s biggest economy debates the very legality of the bailouts but the only fault of the

ratings agencies is that they didn't downgrade portugal and greece any sooner. that's according to writer and editor patrick young. the european union to three years ago said the problem with credit ratings were that their their ratings couldn't be trusted then all of a sudden when they actually come up with plausible ratings against the european union suddenly the finance ministers such as mr shargel are saying that oh these are discrete small companies because actually they're trying to get at the truth but actually one of the biggest things that they got wrong was the fact that they weren't being pragmatic enough when it came to the debt and the debt problems of the european union not their being almost right and suddenly the politicians want to shut them up realistically i think the question to richard c. john sees must ask themselves because they were at fault here or was why they didn't get better returns a couple of years ago when it was absolutely clear to a large number of us that the european union has really significant problems and they were caught up in the way of the euro euphoria that was going on at that stage and actually the e.u. itself has been dragging its feet for months over problems in portugal and greece

and the difficulty therefore is that the e.u. hasn't acted fast enough and hasn't tried to cure the situation and i think greece well you know what i mean everyone ultimately gets fed up with someone who just keeps passing the begging ball back in their fiercest comprehensively doing something to try to help the situation and i think that it would be a very very neat thing if greece were willing to sell their gold reserves because at least that would choose some willing to write their economy to deal with their taxation problems and to do with the fundamental problem of the public services while 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 is picking up the baton from her predecessor to deal with the problems and reforms that began under dominique strauss kahn but as i think it's a christina for azhar reports there's still more interest in muckraking than money matters. from violence on the streets of the middle east.

to protests in north out. to europe. where 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. did garner quite a bit of media attention most likely it have less to do with christine lagarde herself and more to do with the reason why she's here. what lessons do you think ought to be drawn from the way the u.s. legal system handled this current case we could be any reforms in the human really 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 lagarde will take over then yes you have a couple of issues what worries you the most law 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 or low 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 austerity 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. still ahead for you this hour here on our seeing the lights could be deadly. pilots of a passenger ally now arriving from stumbled were dazzled by a possible green light aimed at their problem by someone on the ground but nothing went wrong but it's only a matter of time before that deadly accident occurs. so our seven minutes past the hour here in moscow for people who've been arrested in georgia suspected of spying among them high profile photographers including the personal snapshots of the country's president the country's opposition has described the arrests as a public city stunned it follows the heavy sentences handed out there for spying earlier this week to a group of russians and georgians. you've got this going on for more details on this device developing. right now what more do we know about today's arrests the

arrests started early on the wings there and why it all until early thursday and some really high profile photographers have been detained during the personal photographer or president mikheil saakashvili the official photographer off the georgian foreign ministry and. fourteen to worst this man has gone on a hunger strike in full just to his detention also a photographer from the european photo press agency was detained as well and to want to from the associated press although we did receive word that he was released after having been questioned should be a relative selfie detained see that they could be charged with espionage their homes have been searched their computers and cameras have been seized and now human rights groups in georgia say that this is a direct violation of the freedom of press and are demanding their immediate release. how are you going to what about what about the other case we mentioned concerning a group of russians and georgians are getting some pretty stiff sentence for

espionage and what's been the reaction to that at this point. on wednesday nine people were found guilty by georgian our forty's of being a quarter of a spy ring and supplying secret information to the russian intelligence service and they were given some really heavy jail sentences ranging from eleven to fourteen years of imprisonment the along with this one was given to our russian citizen you east really go who is believed to by the georgian authorities to be the head of all for this the spy ring and also its connection with the russian intelligence service but a lawyer say that this man is grievously ill and his relatives say that they can't even picture of him being a spy because this man could hardly use a more well form but in general very aspiring scandals and controversies the conspiracy theories are not new in georgia they've been happening quite often since president mikheil saakashvili came to power one of the biggest scandals was

probably a few years ago when georgian authorities announced that they prevented a coup at one of the country's military bases but the opposition says they're into these are probably cities stunts are being conducted by india. to divert the public's attention away from my real economic and political problems and they do exist so i just remember the recent violence clashes between anti-government protesters and police if you see. you're going to live in moscow thank you. well in a couple of minutes here on r.t. we report on how some people in russia coping with the age old problem of growing old. while in the west people are perhaps different mainly because of the associated health problems here in russia is linked to poverty a loss of dignity. just off of tampa past the hour here in

moscow russia's foreign minister has slammed nato for its cynical actions in libya during an interview with russian television so he left off said the alliance his tactic of bombing the country until colonel gadhafi steps down has inflicted too many unjustified civilian deaths. has been following what laugh it off to say. we heard from a very vocal surrogate lover of today really criticizing more t.c.'s is the essential mission creep of the ongoing outside intervention into the libyan situation now he drew comparisons between what's happening in libya and the bombing of the former yugoslavia in fact saying that the bombing campaign by nato against colonel gadhafi has actually gone on far longer than the bombing campaign that was conducted against parts of the former yugoslavia. 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. well it wasn't just libya that was on the agenda first for of to speak about he also. brought up syria he did say this he was concerned that the focus seems to be wholly on the assad government and how to get rid of. you because there's an acceptable that the opposition should resort to violence provoking peaceful protestors to join acts of violence and therefore making them a target for police or security forces 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 there have 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 is according to mr knox one of

those stumbling blocks when it comes to the missile defense shield there's been many many many hours spent discussing this subject mr lavrov had more to say on it today russia would be willing to be part of developing a missile defense shield in eastern europe should they be allowed to join he did also bring up the fact that nothing's being written down on paper to say that this missile shield won't be used against russia which is something that. really isn't willing to tolerate he did also say that there was too much reliance upon dealing with the united states to do some of the idea of a european missile shield belongs to washington and right now there is a pros asunder way nato to join this u.s. around global projects europe can only make a minor contribution adding some second tier details therefore are a key partner in the negotiations is washington a busy day for a lover of the russian foreign minister

a triple header as you will of issues that he brought up today. reporting. a war of words between the e.u. and russia find out why moscow is saying a mind your own business to its european neighbors that's on our website. dot com also online for you however dug himself out of a grave to take revenge on the man who tried to kill him. and the prank calls traffic jams on one of moscow's busiest roads as drivers rushed to pick up fake money more on that and many other stories at all it's. a ship bound for gaza with a has been stopped in crete it comes as the u.n. is due to report on last year's israeli raid on a humanitarian foot which killed nine turkish activists the reporters being held back because of the round between israel and turkey which followed the attack neither side can agree on the wording of an apology. explains. well at the heart of

the dispute is the whole question of an apology and here is the bill is insisting that tel aviv apologize for its role in events so far the israelis have refused to do this the israeli foreign minister in particular i would believe him insisting that israel will not apologize presumably because the israelis are fearful that it will open the floodgates for a whole photos of legal claims to be made against the jewish state instead israel says it will express its regret for the loss of life now for the last few days almost round the clock israeli and turkish representatives have been meeting in new york to try and hammer out some kind of agreement that is acceptable to both sides we understand that the sticking point is over the wording of the document now no doubt both sides want to reach some kind of agreement quiet to the u.n. issuing this report because it won't help in terms of we conciliation it will be much harder for that reconsideration to be made after the report is issued but we do understand at this stage is that the view is that the u.n.

report says that the blockade is not illegal but it does criticize israel for excessive use of force and you need to remember that that excessive use of force lift nine turkish citizens on board the largest ship the money mamma did athens has imposed a blanket ban preventing any ship from sitting sail if it plans to sail to gaza what we do know is that one of the ships the french boat which is called the dignity that has some eight to twelve people on board it's a sail used to date wednesday but today when it stopped to refueling crete there it was stopped by the greek all foreign cities and now the ship known as the audacity of hope its american captain was already detained the charges were that he was in danger and the safety of passengers he has been released but that is not necessarily a good sign that all because another ship the canadian ship that is known is there to hear that ship to see it sail it's also been forced to return to greece and made all the passengers and all the crew on board have been detained at the same time

there is something happening. it's being called a flight and that is an expectation of some six hundred activists from fifty european destinations flying into israel's largest airport being go in tomorrow find a nice many appointees if you can well imagine are on high alert israeli place is reporting that they have the names of some three hundred people who plan to fly in the israeli police are not confirming that but no doubt they will be a lot of attention tomorrow on the airport where people plan to show their support not only for the tiller but for the people of gaza and palestinians in general. audience policy reporting the airlines are at the most of vulnerable during takeoff and landing but now there's an increasing threat from the ground with a beam of light. and i reports on the police hunt for the hooligans with a laser pointers which blind pilots of the worst possible moment. i already have become clear proof that the dazzle of a laser in the eye can be

a major distraction for food bill or christian right now do it mount and missed but the consequences could be catastrophic if someone a star get it while flying an aircraft with hundreds of passengers on board blinding pilots by laser beams has become an increasing musa's in russia with 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 done as old by popple green light aimed at the aircraft by someone on the ground just minutes later and now that probably. but i think what but yet it's only a matter of time before that that accident occurs 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 all aircraft can land on autopilot and even if they do those in the cockpit 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 a blind you potentially lethal laser guns imported from china can be bought in russia for as little as one 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 was in court if everyone's waiting for a new laws those no excuse for police and action on the ground or 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 risk from laser louts and their high tech hooliganism it's in a grouch over our t.v. movie. all right how twenty minutes past the hour now here in the russian capital it such a got some of the headlines from around the world for you this hour in india at least thirty five people were killed thirty nine injured after a train crash into a bus at a railway crossing and drag it along for a five hundred meters the bus was carrying guests from a wedding party that had stopped at the crossing due to a broken x. on the injured were taken to a nearby hospital with the help of local people who rushed to the same. parts of

southwest china suffering from continued heavy flooding with rain triggered mudslides cutting off access to a pivotal highway in the province of sichuan state media reports 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. well i know it all regular russia close up series our crew takes you to the gateway to siberia. russia has occurred again regionalized south of the mighty ural mountains and is bisected by the famous trans a siberian railway area is one of russia's a main food suppliers giving it a rich cultural heritage with one of siberia oldest cities as its capital it also

has an aging population but it's artie's oksana boyko reports it's found a novel way to give them a helping hand. she may be eighty nine but the xander ivana doesn't have too many happy memories to dwell on a loveless childhood a work color to youth a hard working adult life at twenty five she married an older man and devoted her time to caring for him they didn't have children so she always knew eventually she'd be alone most people used to ask me why i worked so much they would say you don't have kids why do you need money and i would respond if i had kids they'd help me when i'm old and since i don't have children i needed to work hard at least they would accept me in a retirement home yet her faith to get turned she could never have expected when alexander could no longer care for herself and was about to move into a nursing home a local family offered to adopt her overnight she received two grown up kids and

a granddaughter who seemed to need her just as much as she needed them my mother passed away and we just couldn't come to terms with it we were really longing to how grandmother in the house for advice accompany an elder prussin around this family's part of the senior adoption program pioneered in that regard to region six years ago the local authorities say it's a win win for all involved senior citizens receiving family care and their adopted family getting benefit payments in return. one hundred dollars a month may not seem like a lot but in remote rough. in a village is where jobs are scarce any source of income is valuable. if you place a sunni or a citizen in a nursing home it costs the local budget between four hundred and five hundred dollars per month but they live with families is down to about one hundred dollars per person they cannot make a fact is obvious but the most important thing is that elderly people enjoy the

comforts of family life yet despite its apparent all round appeal the program is still small involving only around fifty passionate and there is a cultural reason for it traditionally in russia elder care has been seen as a responsibility of family members being placed in a nursing home with still associated to shame and stigma and it seems that the ideal flipping with strangers is not the easiest sell are there. one dysfunction or join galene that and her mother the arrangement was it would be only for a year or so not to seventy two and has no children no close relatives and she's deeply concerned her deteriorating health will be a burden for others. like it here we haven't heard a single fight between my for them why should they care for me when they can barely move around i don't want to burden anyone while saying that doesn't feel there is a lot to celebrate about being all that helps her remaining time will be brief she

says at least now she has somebody to talk to. getting older is one of the biggest fears in the russian society on par with worse over terrorism natural disasters and crime and while in the west people are apprehensive about ageing mainly because of the associated health problems here in russia aging is linked to poverty loss of dignity and more innocent but at least for these two pensioners it's no longer the same old story. orat c. program the region. talk about the business news with kareena to stay with us. hello welcome to business this our europe is that it's tightening belt e.c.b. has decided to increase its key interest rates by twenty five basis points in order to call inflation the move could help europe strong economies to avoid overheating

but could also mean a significant increase in borrowing costs for peripheral countries james ashley from r.b.c. capital markets believes inflation is the main water there. if you look at the levels of debts they're all perfect stable for the year as a whole again it's the difference between the rich as a whole and the individual karma is really so complex it's the total g.d.p. that is followed in the us and these poor are comparable to that in the usa the real issue is with some of the individual calmly such as we saw in the push to. the second quarter and perhaps even more important from the sea these perspective is that the debt problems are fiscal problems require fiscal solution lisi please mandate is monetary policy and delivering the state reflation of the medium term horizon you can see it if it is to do so i think that does require further time even to policy so e.c.b. can operate in a bubble it has to take into account the fact that these debt problems are continuing in that he's having spillover effects into financial markets in the real

economy in certain pockets of the euro area but nonetheless when you look at the inflationary look at the time someone is policy is still required. let's have a look at the markets now all prices are climbing after two new reports offered some positive news about jobs but so it is trading at around ninety nine dollars per barrel this hour while brant is at one hundred seventeen dollars a barrel stocks in the u.s. are high at the start of the trading session boosted by better news on jobs the government reported thursday that the number of people making first time claims for unemployment benefits was the lowest in seven weeks target corporation costco wholesale corp and other major retailers are also reporting strongest sales for june european indices extend their rise after the european central bank raised main interest rate to one and a half percent and hinted at more increases and coming moms' the bank of england has kept its key interest rate unchanged as worries about the economy is recovering outweighed concerns about above target place in london hedge fund manager man crew

probably three percent top reporting record sales of nine billion dollars in the latest quarter. and russian markets closed with the biggest gains in two months the r.t.s. and want. point nine percent in a black bottom isaac's and it over two percent higher let's have a look at some individual movers album isaak's we're seeing gains in the energy sector i mean stronger crude with a we'll look up over two percent gas from gained over three percent bareback was also off supported by news it may see a record net profit in the first half of the here. that's all for now stay with us for headline news with rory things.