it is ten am in the russian capital you're watching r t with me joshie today we take a look at the top stories of the week a widely publicized reshuffle in the putin invaded tandem and sudden departure of the or trusted finance minister has dominated this week's news headlines the so-so prompted an unexpected interview with the president as he took the time to clarify his latest political moves but as our. reports the pre-election period in russia may hold even more surprises. i see where this week's headlines have been made that if putin putin made that it the news of the jumps was brought up polemic switch russia hasn't seen for quite some time while some criticised others applauded the tandems deal and the kings of photo shop rolled out some of their best work yet with the general mood being that the deal had been done long ago but it was an

exciting for just a few days until the first rich shuffles in the corridors of power began immediately or the like you know if you think your views on russia's economic agenda differ from mine as president you can resign ship what's the. my opinions do differ from yours but only take such a decision after i've talked to the prime minister has been the most successful still you can talk to whoever you want including the prime minister but as long as i'm the president i make these decisions. was the surprise right now between the president and putin's longtime ally aleksey could rent left many questioning is there a split in the tandem at the solution is the situation with mr cooder it is a matter of discipline in government service we are a presidential republic not a parliamentary ones it implements the president's policy much if you don't agree you should step down meanwhile many read it not as a sign of a split but of a new maturity in russia's democracy i believe is wrong most were mostly

a wish for thing carol all the bottles of born out of these people probably remember the times of the hobart show where there was a rift inside the party bureau which ultimately was one of the reasons for the collapse of the u.s.s.r. and i remember before coming to power i mean there gave an interview where he basically said that russia will not survive another conflict inside the elites the big news of putin yet again running for president brought up so many questions that may trim it betty of how to meet top. t.v. hats to cross the t.'s and dot the i's. of course it's nice to know that people trust me as president and that my approval rating is quite high under current circumstances but i also know that prime minister putin undoubtedly remains the most popular politician in our country and his rating is even higher. the election campaign has just started let's ask ourselves a simple question what if our people reject us with medvedev and putin what will

happen to these decisions by the convention these decisions are merely the party's recommendation to vote for those people that's all the choices made by the people and these are not me a word to top saluki true any politician and any political force may lose an election but many questions are still in the air like why would a politician like nixon advantage of whose approval rating is still so high in russia not seek reelection and what will the face of the new cabinet of ministers look like on to him should he become pm immediately fell to the united russia for progress maybe rejoiced in the fog of the country's top political ways is finally over and they can go about their usual business but the end of the week has shown that when it comes to the chess game of russian politics there are many more to be made before the final makeup of the new government is no. till the actual votes are

. all just after president we have showed x. finance minister during the door a fears arose that the dismissal could throw the russian economy into stagnation however london based a russia expert martha macauley thinks the country has the potential to overcome financial hurdles. russia has a pretty good economic situation at present if you look at the oil revenues if you look at gas if you look at gold. room materials diamonds and so on russia is a very strong position in the world down to isn't really affecting russia really because it has reserves of over four hundred billion dollars. it can take some buffeting but at present economic situation is is quite good because the i.m.f. is expecting something like four percent growth this year which is vastly superior to the european union america. still to come on the program. the future of

palestine is clouded and entry with the shadow of an imminent u.s. veto hanging over its statehood bid at the u.n. security council. eight months after the overthrow of president hosni mubarak r t looks at whether egyptians managed to get what they were fighting for. the end game is rapidly approaching for greece as its government admits that it only has the cash to pay its bills for eight more days after which the only option will be at a fault and response to its bureaucratic machine into gear in an all out effort to release more cash for athens this french president sarkozy admits that the much criticized bailout approach is the blocks of last line of defense and preventing the crisis from consuming the eurozone he and germany's and angle mirco also announced a meeting in the coming days to finalize a radical expansion of the blocks emergency cash for what is r t s sarah ferguson

reports it may all yet come to nothing as the greek economy crumbles under the weight of unprecedented to stere. greece has been the poster child of the euro crisis with germany voting to expand the bailout fund the country looks that's to get that much needed cash injection with the help come with some conditions here in greece that people say is the price that being made to pay them the new high earning that. is the 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 for people. supposed to help plug some of the massive deficit in the budget bill for more than a year is salary cuts rises in living calls. people have already at breaking points

the last two years almost everybody has lost at least thirty percent of his salary of or of his. era cost analysis from the opposition movement entitled pay he tells me how the maze meant expanded rapidly in recent months as more and more people hit that financial wall before. most of the people were not paying because they wanted to protest against the unjust situation know there are thousands and dozens of people who will not pay because in most people's desperation has become increasingly evident on the streets of greece the violence is repeatedly pray can out between riot place and protest as she states even more clashes this parliament again fated in yet another austerity measure in the fall of any property tax where organizing all the various desirous to put goodies on there are. just for political reasons and critics do not

need the i.m.f. many people in greece now question just here it is the thing control unfortunately today very a leaders in your resume are the bankers. because mr. bunker . shareholders are being. called again and again and again are the. taxpayers in the euro zone despite germany having baited positively to expand the size and power of the european bailout fund where the critics are questioning whether that will be enough concise now turn to the many challenges. still faces the problem will move from. other european countries then to german banks. even germany.

will be you know. will be affected. not just for all the european union countries with past measures failing to have the facts in this political leaders continue to struggle to convince the public the future is . still hangs in the balance but these protests. continue many people hated 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 the e.u. may be throwing billions to prop up its economy and create the appearance of stability but the greek crisis has now grown too big to be contained that's according to what i. associate professor in athens. i think that the big question facing us today is not whether we are going to default but how we are

going to default i mean all the measures taking by this throwing by the european union that it's a b. and b. i.m.f. leads one way or the other to some sort of default some sort of moneths default but this default is going to be accompanied by us that even a concert or stare at the mess or some sort of so symbolic but is this is a vicious circle something that this must stop i think about the society as a country we have the times to default on our own our own terms which means the immediate stop of payment to the debts the immediate exit of greece from the euro zone from the euro meanwhile in the u.s. at least seven hundred people have been arrested after a police crackdown on the ongoing anti wall street demonstrations in new york dubbed the occupy wall street movement they say they are protesting against the tremendous influence and misdeeds of corporations and billionaires marina fortnight has more on this. this clash and confrontation between and why he gave the new york

city police department and thousands of protesters took place on the brooklyn bridge the police showed up and basically cornered off both sides of the brooklyn bridge and started to move in on the protesters to make arrests that's when things got ugly to say the least the protesters were were banging drums and chanting the whole world was watching police moved in there were paddy wagons brought to the scene and things got very physical and this is just the most recent incident that has taken place in new york in the past two weeks last weekend we saw demonstrators get maced in the knees five police officers police officers using netting to our rights demonstrators that have been camped out on wall street now these protesters have been demonstrating for about two weeks this is a group occupy wall street a group of americans that have called on all those that are frustrated over the

u.s. economy over the fact that people are losing their jobs people can't get their jobs people are struggling to find money to make ends meet and these americans are now saying this is their their american spring and there are they are planning to stay down there through the end of the year and i can tell you this week by week this group of demonstrators that you know call themselves out of wall street this group is getting bigger and bigger there's no doubt about that. and as the wall street protests again tracked we look at just what's fueling the growing anger. the governments don't rule the world goldman sachs rules the world. are resonating revelation mainstream media is abuzz after an insider tells the shocking truth behind it was really pulling the strings in washington. violence flared up again this week around cost of his northern border as nato troops to tampa to dismantle

a serbian roadblock local serbs don't recognize a person administration as a legitimate authority and have barricaded roads to disputed checkpoints that albanian seized earlier with the help of k. four troops are just like here chefs who want a cost of wood to witness the deadlock. in some parts of the world this walk a road would probably be part of an extreme safari impossible it is now a fighting chance of. ever says july's border dispute many lives have been dependent on this godforsaken grable road through the mountains now this is the only way that belgrade can use to deliver food to the tens of thousands of serbs living in northern kosovo the course of the serbs have been barricaded in the road since july in response to the cost of the police checkpoints which enforce the trade embargo between belgrade and the meeting of itself on tuesday the situation turned critical again clashes between the barricading serbs and the k. four troops led to multiple injuries on both sides ok for blame the cause of

a serbs for starting the violence but. each a father of two saw it differently. we were standing by the barricade when the soldiers started shouting and shooting at us i didn't know what they were shooting with so i got scared and started running away and i was hit on the shoulder and it turned out to be a perforating wound of my lung nato forces also claimed they used only rubber bullets and tear gas against the protesting mob this was quickly rejected by doctors in. fuelling speculation as to who started. seven man and have a condition gunshot wounds fractures and bruises there were not wounds from rubber bullets not a single of them had a rubber all those wounds were caused by regular bullets which we extracted from their bodies the delegation of us teaching on fighting. the barricades

serbs but they came too late i did see their trucks pulled up at the border crossing before had already forced the barricades how exactly nato troops managed to disregard the un's plans is unknown but they quickly set up at the limits to their weapon. that journalists and issued should do q. who would have for anyone trying to penetrate it they've totally and openly stepped out of the u.n. 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. there infantry so this is what we have this is a clear breach of the u.n. charter and of resolution twelve forty four it's totally destroyed their standing as any sort of mediator belgrade has reacted with indignation and halted negotiations with kosovo until the dispute is resolved meanwhile gate for refuses to comment on their actions and bulldozed the border barricades the border is open

now to share of trucks blocking a breach just speeches away from the destroyed world block suggests this battle is far from over betters like this one are scattered all across northern kosovo and they pretty much reflect the mood of the local serbs it seems they would never give in and accept the fact that they're living in a self-proclaimed state and in this book canyon melting pot nobody knows where this standoff go. or become yet another frozen territorial dispute let's. see reporting from kosovo. pisano is john laughlin says the situation in casa remained relatively calm until the e.u. stepped dan. it's the european union and the nato so-called peacekeepers or other in forces who have caused this problem the kosovo issue the situation in the north of costs of those is what we call a frozen conflict in other words it's an unresolved anomalous situation that has

been relatively peaceful now for more than ten years and it seems that the european union is determined to make it not peaceful anymore in my view the powers of you lex which is the european union body that sent the troops there to enforce the new customs regime i believe that your leks itself is illegal i take the view that it's the united nations which should be governing kosovo according to resolution twelve forty four and not you lex. and indeed i think one can make a case for saying that there are parallel structures now in kosovo the european union on one hand and the united nations on the other but legally speaking it should be the united nations the european union itself in a state of advanced collapse why on earth is serbia trying to join it and why is serbia determined to sacrifice part of her own territory a very historic part of their own territory to that of that's the reality and i'm

afraid the situation won't improve until belgrade abandons this in my view suicidal goal of joining the e.u. . well keep you updated on the tan situation in the region of course but in the meantime you can always watch the latest videos from there on our youtube channel you'll find they are all the latest news. and analysis and you can also give us your feedback via the comments section so that's all at. slash.

revolutionary euphoria back in february soon gave way to disillusionment with both the people and political forces dissatisfied with the way the country's being run. man to feel led down by the transitional military council which has so far failed to implement promised democratic reform or has any so now we went to cairo to find out more. well. we knew that change had come to egypt a new chapter of freedom and democracy don't judge a book by its cover when reading post mubarak egypt it's between the lines where you'll find the new chapter hasn't been published ended or slightly revised we still have the supreme council of the on poor souls of those. i cannot say that they have been. in any sense gearing this country towards democracy barak may be gone but his policies are not the most new mubarak's case is ongoing at this tribe

you know new figures from human rights watch claims more civilians have been forced to face military trial for the last six months some twelve thousand during the entire thirty year rule of mubarak average civilians are giving five to you know seven years in prison a lot of torture has occurred since scaf has come into power. actor ali sabri doesn't clown around when it comes to the supreme council or scarf he has taken part in protests since day one and still has scars from being detained because looks are much worse he said very long they told people they had to stick at home me from it and after that i was shot with a stud gun and beaten with bats on the head least only because i'm well known now most allowed to leave the country for thirty years according to know if i have to

seek asylum but all stay and fight for freedom like mubarak skaf gets the supported needs to rule egypt from abroad and the aid that we get from the us that one point five billion a year the easier proceeds from from the usa. and most of it entirely goes to the to the supreme court to the to the army you know the scout and while the west coast . history books will change for the better the arab spring is a massive opportunity to spread peace prosperity democracy egypt sions are left reading the writing on the wall in many areas it's the same as before don't want to pay from in some areas it's getting more worse and he's now a r t congress. a special admissions committee of the un security council has held its first meeting over the fate of the palestinian statehood bid it was put forward for consideration this week with the membership application review period expected

to take several weeks. at total of nine out of fifteen votes in the security council are needed to push the application through with no veto being cast at the same time at this stage analysts believe america will try to stall the process to avoid blocking the resolution among the international bodies endorsing the bit as the european parliament which called the palestinian quest for statehood legitimate you know while israel has yet again come under fire from much of the world community after at proving more settlements on occupied palestinian territory . a senior official told r.t. that unconditional u.s. support and aid for maine a major factor behind israel's behavior. it is going to construct the one thousand one hundred something months units in jerusalem and this is actually

a total erosion of the international duty to bring the two sides to the negotiating table even the companies that has said the jewish settlements in the butt as an obstacle to be the autumn of legitimate them so on we also them today the european union the united states israel is announcing the use of a month but what are you going to do about it so i think this is the question for the entitlement community there is. a very big value led to the months by evaluating international legitimacy of all. related to united nation the question is what is it that their international community is doing about it we hope that the international community does not go into new to deal with this that i this board could be a wash. some european cup with those. an eye opener for those struggling to make ends meet in the current age of austerity came from the financial world this week and in japan and traders revelations went viral after he had better volatile

markets play right into the hands of people like him and that's not the only reason why his confessions are causing uproar. the governments don't rule the world goldman sachs rules the world it was the comment heard around the world one that generated widespread reaction from papers and pundits alike we appreciate your candor however it doesn't help the rest of us does it but instead of talking about the comment itself most outlets media at least not to shoot the messenger alessio forbes called him a psychopath c.n. b.c. suggests it might be a hoax new york magazine wonders if it is a hoax or perhaps our worst nightmare well regardless of our intentions the bigger question has been largely ignored was he wrong about the power of goldman sachs and why was everyone so shocked after all right here at r t in our studios we've had several guests bona fide traders even former goldman sachs employees who have said

the very same thing washington is not the biggest player in this the global bankers are the biggest players the global hedge fund managers that's where the action that is determining the outcome of this mass not the players in washington they have already ceded control to the global banking industry wall street has been pulling the strings in washington from the get go it is the largest sector of campaign contributions and that's to both parties but for the mainstream media who don't share views like these are studies honesty was unexpected survive and thrive t.v.'s george hamon story when they asked him nice questions on b.b.c. he just let it all hang out and the actual truth came across. recently also sent shock waves around the world when he told the b.b.c. that most traders don't really care if and when the economy is fixed personally i've been dreaming of this one for three years i have a confession which is i go to bed every night i dream of another recession the

b.b.c. interview has now gone viral if you could see the people around me jewels of collectively drop what you just saves perhaps there. it wouldn't have dropped they only read matt taibbi as july two thousand and nine a rolling stone article the great american bubble machine in it he famously described goldman sachs as a quote great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money t.v. discussed with us recently how although people are unaware of it the big bank has profound power in society how much you're paying for gas how much you're paying for electricity how much you're paying for your credit cards. your mortgage how much you're paying in taxes and how much of your tax dollars are going to debt service. unlike the mainstream media few here would be shocked by rest on his comments was shut down for nearly two weeks these protesters have been out every day hoping to

bring an end. or at least awareness to what many call a corrupt system really was. and still others have argued for years that the government's actions are dictated by the big banks the very special interest in on wall street the insurance industry these guys these are the people who are writing the laws that obama is passing they are keeping him in power they are the ones that have financed this campaign and the laws are being written for their benefit. as anger builds here perhaps better questions need to be asked here so that a different message is sent to decision makers here that the system that has been sustained and protected for decades might need to change in washington christine for r.t. we are up to date here in our actually with more state less.

welcome back here with r.t. here's a look at the top stories pre-election fever grips russia with president we had a force to clarify both his power swap plans and the important and the sudden departure of moscow's longstanding finance minister. greece on the brink e.u. debt inspectors scramble to secure a war bailout cash for the crumbling economy with just a week to go till meltdown with the french president warning of a new global crisis. seven hundred people arrested in new york as authorities adopt a zero tolerance policy towards the rapidly escalating and tell you wall street movement protesting corporate greed and inequality. and of explosive stand off serbian blockades at a disputed border post in northern cost of are hit by nato troops having leaving rather several.