tarion situation on the ground. and broadcasting live direct from the heart of moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us let's get right to the top stories nato troops in northern kosovo have bulldozed a barricade that was set up by serbs near the border area that's after all journalists were forced away barbed wire brought in along with a promise to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross that artie's alexy has sent this report. now the latest developments in the ongoing dispute at the border crossing between. serbia is that the case for troops have brought in bulldozers and demolished the serbian barricades this was the closest barricade to the border post between kosovo and the case for bald. men from the

manmade barricade which was down close to the border crossing the k four troops have set up a perimeter and they say that should anyone try to break it should try to penetrate into the zone into the border crossing they will shoot to kill and some of them are even pointing their weapons towards journalists towards the serbs who are stationed here this particular checkpoint was in the spotlight of the major violence on tuesday with more than eleven men injured in those clashes has now been removed or under control of the k. four forces. now eleven men still remain in hospitals with different wounds despite that the k. four forces and nato claimed that they used only rubber bullets and tear gas grenades to pacify the crowd most of the people injured have gunshot wounds we managed to speak to the doctors in the hospital they confirmed this information to us that surgeries were performed on these men to remove bullets from their bodies some say this may ask you late into

a serious violence in particular the russian foreign ministry has already expressed deep concerns over the situation saying that it could destabilize the things in the already stressed region the melting pot which is in the balkans and indeed everyone is watching how relevant. political analyst alexander pov is belgrade told us that nato peacekeepers are more likely to revive the war than to bring peace. they've totally and openly stepped out of the un mandate and there really really now just like during one nine hundred ninety nine during the bombing when there was the air force for the albanian separatists are now acting as their infantry so this is what we have this is clear breach of the u.n. charter and of the resolution twelve forty four all they're doing right now is that they're actually. destabilizing the situation there actually bringing conflict. everything was reasonably peaceful until they gave the green light for albanian

special police forces to forcibly take the administrative border back in july and ever since then they've been giving them full support so they're encouraging actually the government in prishtina. headed by ha shem toci who is wanted for various charges from organ trafficking to drug trafficking and they're encouraging him to more violence that they're not a peace factor at all they're a total factor of war and the stabilisation russia's president says he's and not seeking a second term because prime minister putin is more popular in an extensive interview with the russian media dmitry medvedev stressed the next year's election result is not pre-determined and that it is up to the people to choose their future parties you've got a piece of details. to me the difference explains that this is a decision was made based on two major aspects the first one is that him and prime

minister vladimir putin share their views on most social economic and political policies and the second aspect according to the president is based simply on reading the native says that. various polls show that he himself enjoys a positive approval rating among the voters but its prime minister vladimir putin who is truly the most popular political figure in the. country and that's why it's so vital in order for the current policies to go all in for. him become the next president but you can be very distressing that this was simply a recommendation and it's still going to be up to the people did decide to become so russia's next leader whilst there will be other politicians from other parties will force also to pour in this election next march who were the choices made by the people and these are not me who would see top saluki true any politician and

any political force may lose an election what do you mean everything has been determined that the people decide who they should vote for whose popularity is great oh this is what democracy is about the president also talked about another major recent political event which is the sacking of finance minister alexander koodoo the president now saying that this was a matter of political discipline and also perhaps that he couldn't just got bored of all this position with me that he didn't stress to do to be extremely high level and caliber seek to do as an economist as a professional who will have no problem finding another job in order to serve his country in the future which is you got a piece going off reporting there and of course we will bring you the highlights of president medvedev his interview later this hour but you can watch the full version of the conversation on our website r.t. dot com. and head for you on our team europe some money masters are in greece to

take a look over the books as the debt racks up. but the people there are at breaking point after salary slashes and tax hikes from the government trying to prove its fit for another bailout shot of money medicine. in libya thousands of civilians have fled the coastal city of syria as fighting between forces loyal to the interim government and pro get off the group's continuous heavy shelling. and a tank fire has been heard on the eastern and western fronts and nato planes were seen flying overhead a red cross official in tripoli says the internally displaced people or i.d.p.'s are being driven out of their homes by a lack of food and medicine by the situation in search we have heard accounts of i.d.p.'s about. watcher and electricity being cut of and a lot of difficulties with the with the water supplies with with the access to food

and access to medical supplies and medical health services we have not been able to have the guarantees from all the sides all the parties to the conflict so we have no idea of what's going on right now in the city of sirte unfortunately what we do know is that there are a lot of i.d.p.'s coming out people are fleeing from the city of sirte passing through a bridge and many of these ideas pieces have choosing to remain around as closely as possible to their hometown they are living in difficult conditions there are a lot of children and women also pregnant women who have difficult access to medical care so the situation is dire we are very concerned especially about their health situation right now and there is a grim outlook for the procrit off the supporters robert perry from online

investigative magazine consortium news says those who backed the colonel have no chance in the new libya because no one will protect them. but seems that the goal now is to simply wipe out what's left of gadhafi forces and to bring the country under the control of the former rebels who are now recognized as the official government of libya in other words the people still this is billions of happen to be on the side of gadhafi are not going to be protected they're going to be punished how far they go with that it's unclear there may be efforts to negotiate some final surrender but clearly there's a great deal of suffering going on and these civilians are not being protected there is evidence even going back to the very beginning that the eastern part of libya was a hotbed of islamic radicalism some of these people have been connected to al qaida one of the al qaeda leaders who was killed recently it was a libyan and he came from this general area and now we know that one of the leaders

of the rebel forces that took tripoli was also considered very close to al qaeda and was indeed detained by the united states for some time before he was allowed to go free so it appears that the people with the guns on the side of the libyan rebels are now the government are people who have this very mixed background and it's not clear how that also sorts out when you get down to the point of once the country is under the control of this of this force which side of this force will will be predominant international debt inspectors are having trouble visiting team ministries in greece because every workers are occupying them and the latest anti austerity protest the delegation is in athens to decide whether greece is a fit enough for another slice of the bailout the government's last chance to haiti collapse later this month the decision was suspended earlier over doubts that the country is doing enough to reduce its enormous debt leaders have pushed through

pension cuts and extra taxes to try and please their creditors but the public remains convinced that the relentless austerity policy is only making things worse partings her first before. greece has been the poster child of the euro crisis with germany baiting to expand the bailout fund the country look starts to get that much needed cash injection the help come with some conditions here in greece the people say the price they're being made to pay simply too high earning that. is deadline day for the first to be hit with the greek government's new special tax it's one of the measures they put in place to try to secure the next tranche of money the country needs to avoid bankruptcy the extra tax which is about another three percent from people's annual income supposed to help plug some of the massive deficit in the budget but after more than a year's salary cuts rises in living costs the people here are already at breaking

point the last two years almost everybody has at least thirty percent of his salary of. people's desperation has become increasingly evident on the streets of greece the violence is repeatedly breaking out between riot place protesters. are organizing. to put on. just four. bricks do not. many people in greece now question just who it is the thing control unfortunately very very. are the bankers despite germany having voted positively to expand the size and power of the european bear not fund already critics are questioning whether that will be enough in size now turn to the many challenges the year is still faces the problem will

move from. other european countries. and. even germany. i mean if you're being you know. will be affected you will find a solution could be not just for greece but for all the european union countries with pos measures failing to have the facts and its political leaders continue to struggle to convince the public the future of the euro is a still hangs in the balance but these protests. continue many people hate is that the greece is a country now at risk of having not only a financial but it democratic deficit as well sir. outside the parliament building in athens and while the greeks and the eurozone take another belting over bailouts across the atlantic it's the epicenter of finance that's in the firing line as are two reports online right now. the occupy wall street movement it just keeps

building now the unions are getting in on the nationwide weekend wake up call to call corporate greed plus. great britain the u.k. is singled out as a europe's worst place to live in a new quality of life poll find out why it's abysmal for brits the details are at our two dot com. some other world headlines making news this hour. fresh clashes between security forces and government anti-government activists have reportedly left at least eighteen dead in central syria this comes as nations circulate a new u.n. draft resolution proposing a targeted measures at but stopping short of sanctions against of the syrian government russia is strongly opposed to wholesale sanctions and the latest move is seen as an effort to win moscow's support for action against damascus. the u.s. says of the killing of

a key al qaeda figure near the yemeni capital of assad on friday was a major blow to the group u.s. born terrorist anwar lucky was allegedly involved in a number of attacks on america including the failed christmas day bombing in new york in two thousand and nine a lethal strike was reportedly carried out by a u.s. drone after i'll walk you along with several of his companions were tracked the hunt for the terrorist who was a launched back in two thousand and ten however he survived several attempts on his life american writer and investigative journalist jeremy scahill says it's still unclear if lucky he posed a genuine threat to u.s. security. most of the people yapping about anwar locky had never heard of him or if they did they probably knew something that was factually incorrect you know the reality is that most credible sources say that this was a guy whose primary threat to the united states was his ability to go on youtube

and preach his message of hatred and let's also remember and no one wants to talk about this on moral locky after nine eleven was a mainstay on the news hour with jim lehrer he was in the washington post as a voice of moderation condemning nine eleven but also condemning u.s. policy so it's quite likely that anwar lucky himself was radicalized as a result of what was perceived widely in the muslim world to be a war against islam we don't spend a lot of time studying or talking about blowback in this country but we should because you could make a reasonable case that he was a product of u.s. policy he seemed to be a guy that was very much critical of nine eleven up to the u.s. invasion of iraq. and i'll update you on the main stories in a few minutes now on arteta me trim and explains why he is stepping aside from russia as russia's presidential election gets underway next year.

with under sniper fire. mr president last week a major and long awaited event happened in politics at the united russia convention you suggested that lead him or putin should run for president what was the primary motive behind your decision usually presidents see korea elections you're a politician and politicians are ambitious people what was your ambition in making his decisions. but you have an embittered limit yet my biggest ambition is to be

useful to my country and my people this may sound a bit pretentious but it's true unless you have this ambition you shouldn't go into politics but you should focus on something else instead of politics or government service we both belong to the same political force. putin and dmitri medvedev were nominated for the presidency first him then me under the current model of power by the united russia party yeah putin was number one on the united russia slate and yours truly is this time. so we really represent the same political force we belong to the same political force and the views of very close so sharing the same views should we compete against each other thing. should we argue and fight which i've read a few pieces by political analysts the basically say why don't they go into the political arena and vow to fight each other to the end why don't they have an open rivalry but that's not the way it happens anywhere in the world people who represent the same political force always decide between themselves who will run for this or that

office in some countries they use primaries for this purpose we don't have much experience with primaries or on a ship although we have seen positive examples in some countries the decision is made simply by at a party convention or by the leaders themselves can you imagine barack obama competing not hillary clinton which you may remember that they both saw a moment. that would be impossible they both belong to the democratic party and their decision was based on who would get better results and this was also how we made our decision. of course it's nice to know that people trust me as president and that my approval rating is quite high on the current circumstances. i also know that prime minister putin undoubtedly remains the most popular politician in our country at this point somehow people tend to forget about that what we are after is a political result we want to win the elections with the parliamentary election in december and the presidential election on march not just to satisfy our ambition is

what it's for every responsible person should have an ambition to serve their country i strongly believe that that's where you stand and that a must. or speaking of your plans for two thousand and twelve you've had quite a few interviews in recent months where you hinted that you did not rule out the question of running for office why was that. you feel this way at the time or you simply didn't want to break the news to the decision you made together with putin ahead of the time. the ship it did not let me tell you and of course all our people absolutely frankly we are dealing with practical politics and practical governance issues everything may change in his life. putin and myself are holding the top two posts that of president and prime minister and we must basically be a backup for each other because we're ordinary people after all therefore when i said i did not rule out such a possibility naturally i was not cheating anyone what life could have taken an unexpected term but we did have

a certain understanding between us what it sees mr president now a few words that are the united russia convention as it astounded me first third a huge number of participants which i'm sure we are learning from our foreign colleagues exactly it looks foreign to me with all the cameras banners and flags at the same time and the atmosphere was very warm and friendly and i would even say intimate then to crown it all to very respected figures appeared and said they had agreed on how to distribute two top jobs in the government between there are many people watched theirs and said it has all been decided already well spent money on the elections was the point of their actions if everything has been decided what was with us know it all here slimness english was first of all i agree that the atmosphere of the convention was very warm now about those ideas you mention that i consider them absolutely irresponsible misleading and even provocative what are you talking about the election campaign has just started so let's ask ourselves

a simple question what if our people reject us both medvedev and putin what will happen to these decisions by the convention these decisions are merely the parties recommendation to vote for those people that's all what you mean everything has been determined let's imagine for a second that we've reached an agreement with these ugandan of the deme is it and of ski said again that on off and others that they will not run whereas we the big time politicians will come would have really been an imitation of that but. they will they will take part in the elections both in december and march they will take part in the state duma election and they also have presidential ambitions let the people decide who they should vote for whose popularity is greater but only our people can make a final decision by voting for a candidate or a political force or turning them down this is what democracy is about yes democracy still mr president in any people felt like everything has been decided what it is that they were only bored for

a few hours until it's equal doing with cell how much of good is resignation was a matter of discipline it was like how much of it was his differences but you did you really have serious differences with the finance minister she was the point but it didn't achieve the situation with mr cooder it is a matter of discipline in government service that's all there is to it but you know we don't have a coalition government to gush or but yet we are a presidential republish not a parliamentary one with girls our government is the president's government it implements the president's policies it but if you don't agree you should step down because that's the only way it can be that it's a tough rule but i'm very strong about it and i will insist on it in the future and i'm sure that whoever is the head of state and future they will follow the same principles not as for mr cooder and it seems to me that perhaps he stayed a bit too long in his job and was bored in fact he came to see me in february or march and said he was aware that it made no sense for him to work in the future government because he'd been finance minister for a very long time naturally he knew nothing about our understanding with mr putin

and the recommendations we were going to give at the convention does he did not have any illusions that's where his remarks amazed me anyway the decision has been made that's for alexi good or in future he's a good professional with a lot of experience so he will find a good job and a way to be useful to the state police. which you know we mr president you're the only person at the top of the united russia federalists how much are you personally going to be involved in campaigns. who else or what else will united russia u.s. for its complain and do you expect tough competition tearing the skin pain it is that no one is accusing that indeed i am of the top of the united russia list which the party asked me to do this and it's a serious choice for me at the same time let me remind you that i am still president i have a lot of responsibilities both domestically and internationally person actually are not going to take a vacation and i will not occupy myself with any special campaign activities i will

be performing my duties of the same time i'm sure there will be tough competition competition will be tough but hopefully proper and we have the necessary legal mechanisms to ensure that. and. speaking of society mr president elect he quit his dismissal or the united russia convention all of that didn't go down well with the russian goes here as an active internet user do you feel any pressure from the global sphere have you applied to any of the comments posted to your account lately or would you like to apply to them right now. is what you're you know if i literally felt the pressure it would be very difficult for me to work as president of the same time you're right to say i pay a lot of attention to the internet but there are people who start saying that's terrible democracy is over and then there are people who cheer and say finally you should be even tougher on them i think the fact that the internet the blogosphere the social networks react to politics is a good thing it means there's

a vivid feedback to what we're doing because reactions vary but this difference of opinions is one of the elements of direct democracy the modern twenty first century democracy of course internet polls and their results are not legally binding for governments nor do they accurately reflect all public opinion it's great that they're all those different opinions and i believe that the authorities should react to what's going on in the blogosphere without giving in to it pressure of course the government should be up to date and it should pay attention to appear. expressed including those expressed by the internet it's a must for any politician of any level in the world today switched because it's an optional coslet never to know mr president he noticed one alarming trend with our society lately namely that the public has been turning its back on politics turning its back on the government and no matter how successful some individual companies or managers could be there is a distinct feeling that some people have been in their jobs for too long what needs to be done for new strong individuals to appear in this country because obviously

that you demand does exist. first let me say a few words about the weariness i've been thinking about it quite a lot mr dougherty if you must remember how our people myself included perhaps you to although you're a long time media professional used to watch news bulletins in the early one nine hundred ninety s. we were glued to the screens hours of political broadcasting overshadowed everything any movies or t.v. series i think that's a clear sign of poor living standards the better our life is the less attention people will pay to them because they are more or less happy with their life however they should not become indifferent they should go to the polls and vote for this or that political force this is the constitutional duty if you will of every citizen who is not indifferent to the destiny of their own country their homeland now what concerns the need for the new faces you were talking about i'm fully with you on this it's not only about stagnation stagnation is always dangerous and may lead to

very bad consequences what's crucial is that those in power should eventually muster up enough strength to leave it to somebody else such changes should not happen abruptly with everyone resigning at once waving their hands in farewell with putin and me saying goodbye wear off there must be continuity we must know who succeeds us at the helm of the state however there must be a renewal and a very serious one and if i become in charge of forming a new government it will be a totally reshaped go. and a government that will feature fresh faces this is what i believe to be of paramount importance so. mr meant that if thank you for the scene but she sank you. know.

me he. says.

and broadcasting live a direct from the heart of moscow this is r.t. glad to have you with us. headlights on the warpath at nato troops in kosovo impose a shoot to kill policy after bulldozing barricades erected by angry ethnic serbs. over the seizure of a disputed checkpoint trouble reignited in the region after pristina sent in troops to take control of a border post leading to serbia two weeks ago. president medvedev says putin's popularity was the key factor in backing him for president in two thousand and twelve particularly a sense that they stand for the same policies he was explaining his much publicized withdrawal from the race and during an interview with the russian media. and.