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e.u. credit rating agencies after a downgrade of portugal's debt to junk status leads world markets panicking over a fifth and the. high profile photographers arrested in georgia suspected of spying as nine others are convicted for espionage the country's opposition says the government is muzzling the press to cover up its own problems. and greece to take the last of the boats headed to gaza and the un is expected to publish a long awaited report on israel's deadly assault from last year's flotilla. russia's foreign minister describes nato as cynical saying it's come to high a price of civilian deaths and continued stalemate.

international news and comment live from moscow this is. unjustified and unfair 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 wrought by a second greek bailout the panic is proving contagious with fresh fears emerging that may also need another cash injection it comes as germany the biggest economy debates the very legality of the bailouts but the only fault of the ratings agencies is that they didn't downgrade portugal in 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 shaw are saying that oh these are discreet 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 there being almost strikes and suddenly the politicians want to shut them up realistically i think the question the ratings agencies must ask themselves because they were at fault here 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 had 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 bowl back in their fears with comprehensibly doing

something to try and 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 well 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 and reforms that began under the many strands can but as artie's at christine reports there's still more interest in muckraking than money matters. from violence on the streets of the middle east. to protests 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 if not the sexiest of news stories but will be inaugural press conference for the new managing director of the i am and then garner quite a bit of media attention most likely it had left 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 lagarde will take over then yes you have a couple of issues what were resumed the most la garde did 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 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 her 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. well still ahead for you this hour an hour to you why seeing the light could be deadly. pilots of a process ally now arriving from istanbul work dazzled by

a possible green light aimed at the aircraft by someone on the ground but nothing went wrong but some damage from time before that accident occurs. that story still to come for you here on r.t. four people have been arrested in georgia suspected of spying among them high profile photographers including the president's personal snapper the country's opposition has described the arrest as a publisher to start it follows the heavy sentences handed out there for spying earlier this week to a group of russians and georgians. reports now on what might be behind the arrests . there i started to late on wednesday and went on until early thursday and some really high profile photographers have been detained including the personal photographer off president mikhail saakashvili the official photographer off the georgian foreign ministry and according to lawyers this man has gone on a hunger strike in protest to his detention also

a photographer from the european photo press agency was detained as well and one from the associated press although we did receive word that he was dead released after having been questions via relatives of the 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 on wednesday nine people were found guilty by georgia north or these 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 this one was given to our russian citizen u.-t. squealy girl who is believed to by the georgian authorities to be the head of all

for this aspiring and also its connection with the russian intelligence service but a lawyer say that this man is grieving the ill and his relatives say that they can't even picture of him being a spy because this man could hardly use a mobile phone 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 there are these are probably city stands being conducted by n.p.r. stories to divert the public's attention away from a real economic and political problems and they do exist as was just remember the recent violence clashes between anti-government protesters and police in d.c.

. by the way we have more on the stories we're covering here on screen at all t.v. dot com that's our web site online all the time here's a quick look at what's there for you at the moment how a man does yourself out of a grave to take revenge on the man who tried to kill. and with a prank causes huge traffic jams on one of moscow's busiest roads as drivers rush to pick up fake money more or less an ati dot com. rebel fighters in libya have blamed a lack of ammunition and a lack of nato support for their failure to advance towards the capital tripoli it comes to stays off the libyan reportedly intercepted two vessels with building weapons intended for the rebels well for more about what's going on there let's now cross live to tripoli and dr franklin lamb he's the director of americans concerned for middle east peace thanks very much indeed for joining us there live in tripoli now from what you're seeing on your visit is the nato bombing helping the situation in libya or hindering it. no no i think it certainly enjoying it because

besides the fear that we're seeing here among the young people and the children i just came from a meeting of the children foundation here alone longer than half an hour ago and the numbers of trial most for the children and the fears of the medical attention needed first and the psychological consultation. in rise up rise in that that's just to do with the children but now the bomb being needlessly puts the population on edge it increases anxiety and anger if they do is try. and to weaken the regime it seems to me that as history teaches us when the a bomb a population it's often the unite behind the government of the day and rather the breaking the connection between the people and the leadership it seems to increase it so i can see of no value of virtue was so ever about the nato bombing that's

been happening here since we've arrived was databases not nato says it's not bombing the population in bombing military targets from your visit what you seeing there so far is that true yes no that's not true and i can give you five examples one is the down syndrome children center which was completely demolished by bombs that serves over five hundred thousand children around this country their headquarters was bombed as you know secondly as you know the killing of eleven shakes up in breakdown who were on a peace mission they were bombed the micro bus that was bombed two weeks ago that killed nine people know they are hitting civilians we had a report this afternoon from a fellow from human rights watch who estimated that for every one military person that was supposedly a casualty there were ten civilians why didn't get any to that at the moment and let me just ask you in a civilian matter little family who lost five relatives in

a nato airstrike which the alliance admitted was a mistake they are now taking legal action over those deaths now i understand that you've met other victims' families what if they tell you are very right going to try and follow suit now. well well if that's right and every story your people the media here knows where you sit with a family it's it's heart wrenching. when in the member loses a family here the same as around the world so there are that family you mention pursuing legal action but also others who are exploring the possibility of. holding nato responsible because nato and their commanders do not enjoy impunity what they want of people all around the world i think for any sort of crime like this and it is a crime of killing civilians is not excusable however many collateral damage arguments we have with the kind of precision weaponry and the laser targeting this is

inexcusable it's careless is negligent it's criminal so i suspect that there will be. lawsuits and litigation filed against. those responsible dr lattimer i'm holding my hand an article you just posted from tripoli and counted in titled countdown to invasion is there really a feeling among the libyans particular around the tripoli area that an invasion is imminent and if so by whom well yes i would like to say that. we've gone to a lot of meetings have you talked to a lot of people and that's baby key topic now and the argument goes like this nato cannot afford this was it was a mistake obama election maybe on the line cannot afford a defeat and the victory comes like it's a pulse of the acid in saddam and osama you've got to kill the bad guy so it looks to us like it's now

a game of targeting the leadership otherwise nato ruses if they don't loses the consequences are enormous there's enormous trillion dollar financial consequences for those members of the nato countries who are seen as aggressors and invaders here so the feeling is that they've got to do something the only thing they can do possibly to achieve a victory is either assassinate khadafi and some of his circle ordered to end to do that they might have to come on the ground having said that there's worry about this i don't think there's a belief that it's going to happen i think it's it would be a disaster as colleagues are advising the same. i'm way in lebanon as you know i've been based in lebanon the only reason israel housen invaded they cannot afford the casualties and the price we think the same thing is likely with with nato ok cannot take the casualties are the world opinion that would result from by lacking invasion let me just get from your experience the feeling that if an imminent

invasion isn't imminent by nato what about as we're hearing reports about rebels in circling and getting closer to tripoli what's the feeling among the civilian population there and how are they preparing for this. yes well i spent the last week visiting a neighborhood committee says think of them as neighborhood watch over a million have been armed i've seen women here some as old as in their sixty's and one woman who served in the training i think we're going to see a popular militia a popular army. emerge from the neighborhoods if it's an invasion so there you are competent unlikely also given if that's the case do they not welcome those arms shipments coming in from foreign sources they they need those arms that they do they're not welcome there is reported on his deliveries. i think i missed your question i don't know what the root rebels view of the rebels view is i think they want the arms shipments of course the people here consider that a betrayal and

a violation of u.n. security council resolution one nine hundred seventy three that france and qatar are supplying weapons it exceeds the mandate as you know of that revolution of that resolution as far as the rebels advancing and i'm frankly ignorant of of the degree to which they're doing that the reports are that nato could clear an area and i assure them a few kilometers nato leaves and then there's a struggle and sometimes they get pushed back but it is clear that mabel from my point of view that nato has joined the side of promoting the rebels against the government again a clear violation of nine hundred seventy three dr franklin lamb we'll have to leave it there thanks very much indeed for joining us live there in tripoli. my pleasure thank you. russia's foreign minister slammed nato for its cynical actions in libya in an interview with russian t.v. said that the tactic of bombing the country until he steps down has inflicted too many unjustified civilian deaths noughties has been following what had to say

we heard from a very vocal surrogate lover of today really criticizing what t.c. says the essential mission creep of the ongoing outside intervention into the libyan situation now he too comparisons between what's happening in libya and the bombing of the former yugoslavia and fight 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 for of to speak about he also brought up syria he did say that he was concerned that the

focus seems to be wholly on the assad government and how to get rid of. it isn't acceptable that the opposition should resort to violence provoking peaceful protesters to join acts of violence and therefore making them a target for police or security forces a 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. a french ship bound for gaza with aid has been stopped in crete it comes as the un is due to report on last year's israeli raid on a humanitarian flotilla which killed nine turkish activists the report has been held back because of the rare between israel and turkey which followed the attack neither side can agree on the wording of an apology has now explains. well at 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 the 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 foes of legal claims to be made against the jewish state instead israel says it will express its were great 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 prior to the u.n. issuing this report because it will help in terms of the conciliation it will be much harder for every conciliation 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 them out the 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 eighty twelve people on board it's a sail used to date wednesday but today when it stopped to be fueling crete there it was stopped by the greek authorities and now the ship known as the audacity of hope its american captain was booted 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 at all because another ship the canadian ship that is known is that he met that ship did sit 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 that's. board a flight and that is an expectation of some six hundred activists from fifty european destinations flying into israel's largest airport thing going on tomorrow

friday night as many other parties as you can well imagine are on high alert israeli press 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 fertility but for the people of gaza and palestinians in general. they're reporting that their line is are at their most vulnerable during takeoff and landing and now there's an increasing threat from the ground with a beam of light katrina travel reports on the police hunt for the who begins with laser pointers which blind pilots the worst possible moment. i very 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 shallow but the consequences could be catastrophic if some want to star get it while flying an aircraft with hundreds of passengers on board blinding pallets by laser beams

has become an increasing new says in russia with over fifty attacks registered since the beginning of the year. the latest incident was at the small school port when the pilots of a tupolev passenger airline a riving from istanbul were does old buy popple 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 a 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 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 courtrooms in court everyone's waiting for new laws so there's 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 allowed and their high tech hooliganism it did in a grouch over fourteen moves. now let's check on the global markets business news is next with kareena. hello welcome to business our thanks for joining me here is and it's tightening is tightening the belt the e.c.b. has decided to increase its key interest rates by twenty five basis points it out of cool inflation the move could help europe stronger economies to avoid overheating but could also mean a significant increase in borrowing costs for peripheral countries james asked me for a large capital markets believes inflation is the main motivator. if you look at the

levels of debt they're all perfect stable for the year as a whole again it's a difference between the rich as a whole and the individual karma is really so complex it's the total g.d.p. that's followed in the us in these poor comparable to that in the u.k. the real issue is with some of the individual calmly such as we saw in the portugal . the second point in perhaps even more important from the c.b.s. perspective is that the debt problems our fiscal problem require fiscal solution lisi p's mandate is monetary policy and delivering the state reflation of the medium term horizon you can see in the end if it is to do so i think that does require further time in human to policy so easy can operate in a bubble that has to take into account the fact that these debt problems are continuing and that 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 inflationary look at the time when the policy is still required. let's take a look at the markets now or prices are climbing after two new reports offer some

positive news about jobs but sweet is trading at around ninety nine dollars a barrel brant is at one hundred seventeen dollars per barrel u.s. stocks continue to rally boosted by better than 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 and european indices closed in the black that's after this in european central bank raised main interest rates to one a half percent and hinted at more increases and coming months the bank of england has kept its key interest rate unchanged as worries about the economy's recovery outweighed concerns about above target place in london hedge fund manager amanda group rally three percent after reporting record sales of nine billion dollars in the latest in the last quarter. russian markets closed with biggest gains in two months the r.t.s. ended one point nine percent in the black bottom isaacs and it over two percent

higher. have a look at some individual moves on them isaacs we're seeing gains in the energy sector and made stronger crude oil and it over two percent in the black and gas problem gained over three percent spare back with also offset the supported by music may see a record net profit in the first half of the here maxime shushing called head of equity sales that were also wraps up a straight. for the market to the record strong more six is up more than two percent. across the board which is a good sign i mean there are a few major drivers who have seen quite the substantial old fool money from so-called e.t.f. exchange traded funds linked to russia but the truth is this old flows can turn and contract to i believe is a temporally relief of the greek problem then finally purely on technical room people who for them work it's believed that.