to push through.

this country. italy has a strong economy and. its lee could now face a similar fate these countries having to see convergence. despite being one of the year isn't largest economy we're not greece we're not greece because we have a lot of savings we are not greece because we have been very prudent in this recession we haven't done big recession may not be greece but with. soaring borrowing costs just how did italy and in this situation right now nobody. nobody spending all or all of europe consumers are not spending they are saving they're scared to death of what's going to happen meeting you raising demands to be . tough reforms in the last part was made with growth in the country so you

difficult. government being able to bring about positive change we have had too many years. that was not credible outside and. i don't think it's only. having the squire. was not able to deliver what he promised i think there might be a transfer of yeah we're. going to be you know. we need support from europe otherwise everybody and that's the scariest part of the situation in italy right now the u.s. is saying face its biggest challenge yet it's unclear whether they like details of the peaceful and culturally united europe can survive that failure to adapt and to find decisive leadership at this point and they could be in ruins.

with the fate of the eurozone and perhaps even the e.u. now squarely in the hands of italy and greece. where this is all heading. director of state. at the paris institute of democracy and cooperation joining me now live to discuss the latest chapter in the euro crisis so good to see you today so certainly a time of change or this past week or so are the greek prime minister papen drove giving up his post to former president of vice president of the european central bank a while back as coney's premiership looks set to go to a former e.u. commissioner is it possible john that we're finally seeing the right people take the right jobs. absolutely not these people who have taken power in greece and shortly to take our in italy have never been elected these are men who made their entire careers through garnering important appointments in places like the euro in commission or the european central bank they have no democratic mandate at all and precisely what is so frightening about what is you know as the european union and the euro enters its death agonies because that's what i think it is is the way in

which the european union really is showing and i say this without any exaggeration it's true nature as a dictatorship after all it is europe which has effectively commanded these two prime ministers to leave office and really had to leave office the moment he suggested a referendum on the debt package and berlusconi had to leave office the moment he said that italians would become poorer under the europe so we're seeing really a very ugly development in europe where people are being put in power because they serve the interests of the demands of the year in union not because they have gone at any and electoral support in their own countries or indeed been of course let you know you're bringing up the issues of democracy in the principles of democracy but with the greek prime minister patton dro giving up his post to the former v.p. of the european central bank only stepping aside for a former commissioner who better to deal with the euro crisis and any suggestions well i think the best suggestion was the one made and drew the former group proud

of the now former greek prime minister he suggested that this monumental austerity package and the. associated. to a referendum that was a very intelligent thing it was perhaps the most intelligent thing you've done in his premiership cotterell if you're asking a country to make major sacrifices that is to say sack sacking large numbers of civil servants people taking pay cuts engines becoming poorer and surely you need to legitimate it through a public debate and winning of her referendum up and drop asleep thought he would win the referent but when you when you say when you say give it a public debate i mean why should the greeks and italians actually be given a choice here i mean are the ones who who are elected their governments in the first place ultimately responsible for the crisis. they are of course the governments are responsible for the crisis but there is a co responsible element and that is the euro itself and the greeks and the italians as a matter of fact as people did not vote for the euro itself i'm not saying that

they are against it as a nation but the fact is that the euro was never subjected to a referendum in those countries but the point is that. in situations of crisis like this it surely makes sense to have the maximum amount of democratic legitimacy instead of which the european union has showed that it is afraid particularly of democratic vote it was terrified when the greeks announced the referendum and as i say with those coney you never proposed a referendum but he said he said the europe the italians have become poorer under the euro in other words he implied albeit in a very attenuated way that is really could perhaps live with europe and that was anathema it was as soon as he pronounced those words it is political career was ended by the people you know control europe in brussels or indeed anywhere where as you were saying when he did make that announcement for a referendum he was a swiftly summoned to cannes where the e.u. leaders were having their summit there and and as and many suggest he was and just basically given the boot and said right well that was

a bad idea for the referendum you need to be retiring right now and yet are the people there were for once perhaps going to be given a voice now it's near impossible to argue that the e.u. project has failed i mean living living standards in the block often touted as being the envy of the world and yet perhaps you would just see it all dismantled because of financial irresponsibility in a peripheral state. i am absolutely convinced that the euro project is certain and i can't say when it's going to break down but it is at an end yes that's been financial irresponsibility in greece initially but the situation has been made worse well catastrophic by their membership of the euro if they had not been members of the euro currency of greece the currencies of greece initially would have devalued. and they would have been able to sort out their problems on their own particularly italy and they only need bailouts from the european union because they don't have the option of devaluation they don't have the option of managing their own economic and monetary affairs and that is why i say that europe has

caused these problems obviously the underlying debt issue is there and it's a very serious one but if they did not have the euro if they were not in this straitjacket of the euro then they would be able to sort out those problems on their own so it's the euro which has aggravated the situation not the euro which has prevented it or will all which or europe which will indeed help it one of the people that your reporter interviewed in rome said that we need the help of europe no it's precisely europe that has got them into this situation all right john walker always a pleasure director of studies at the institute of democracy in cooperation in paris thank you. here with r.t. now nato may have finished its bombing mission in libya but now there's a full scale western invasion energy corporations are queuing up to do business with the new government which is rewarding the military victory with the lucrative oil and gas contracts artie's laura smith looks at how the harvest of war is being raped. first british bombs tourists apart

now british companies will get paid to put it back together libya is open for business and u.k. firms are being encouraged to join the gold rush. country. and i expect. british. companies to get involved in the reconstruction of libya philip hammond is urging c.e.o.'s and sales directors to pack their suitcases and head to the north african country the u.k.'s bill for its part in the nato intervention in libya is estimated at just under five hundred million dollars but according to the u.k. department of trade and investment the value of contracts to rebuild libya in areas ranging from electricity and water supplies to health care and education could amount to upwards of three hundred billion dollars over the next ten years and the

british government will make sure it takes a leading role in that just as it did in the war and that's raising more questions about the u.k.'s motives in playing such a big role in the recent conflict john hillery of war on want says it has shades of post-war iraq when companies from countries involved in the allied invasion were awarded all the best gigs. journalist john pilger says there was evidence of battering before nato even got involved transitional council told the french. on. thirty five. the u.k. department for trade and investment already has staff on the ground in libya ready to welcome british companies. warded contracts wanting to get in on the action

shell and b.p. shares roos on the news they were talking to the transitional government and generic firms and mark macdonald also reportedly keen but the latter refused to put up a spokesman when asked preferring instead to send basic statements which critics say is a new tactic to avoid defending their ethics it's better p.r. for them not to be involved in any form of public discussion of why they're doing what they're doing around the world. so far the conflict in libya looks like an excellent investment hoth a billion dollars to oust a dictator with a return of three hundred billion in business contracts when it's all over now the humanitarian goals no longer need to be touted wall suddenly makes great business sense nor a smith forty london and there's still plenty more to come here on the program for

example armed to the teeth. to ring the alarm for an increased amount of weapons being smuggled into the country as opposed to extremist factions fighting the regime. and we delve deeper into the causes of a vicious circle in ukraine political protests and brawls are a daily reality no matter who holds the reins of power. the un security council is expected to review palestine's bid for un membership in new york at the motion was filed back in september so march to much of. the west bank there citing vote may come as soon as next week. chances. palestinians have resigned themselves to the fact that it's unlikely they going to get the two thirds majority they need in the united nations security council for the statehood bid what this means is that they will not become full members of the united nations and the united states will not be forced to exercise its veto right

there are eight countries amongst the security council who have indicated that they will vote in favor of the palestinian bid these include russia china india south africa brazil levanon nigeria and gabon both the british and the french have announced that they will abstain from the vote there they will abstain alongside portugal and bosnia while germany and colombia might either abstain or vote against it alongside the united states now this radii of the palestinians with two options the one is that they can still next week demand that the security council vote on the statehood bid this will force those countries who are not supporting it to publicly justify their position and the palestinians might go ahead with this although they know that they're not going to get that admission into the security council the other option and this seems likely is that they still take the bird to the general assembly what this will give them is upgraded observer status although

they will not become full members of the international body this it seems a lot of pressure going on behind the scenes the palestinians have accused the united states of meddling and putting pressure on other countries not to support the statehood but you just need to look at the united kingdom as one example and here the foreign secretary william hague has said that it is to quote him technical judgment why the u.k. is abstaining from this bid now the palestinians were relying on the british to support the bird and the foreign secretary has now been accused of being hypocritical and abdicating responsibility when you mention the e.u. nasco admission to the palestinians you need. the following that the united states canada and israel withdrew will stop giving funding to the bodies so much so that an escape has had to suspend temporarily its activities now that kind of pressure comes while israel continues to build settlements in occupied east jerusalem and the occupied territories so certainly while the palestinians a short time ago had

a lot of euphoria that the international community would back the bid for statehood this kind of pressure going on behind the scenes seems to be paying off. right there with the state for the business news in about six minutes time for now though russia is calling on the syrian opposition to stop aligning itself with extremist gangs which are smuggling weapons into the country and only triggering more violence this comes amid an increase in illegal shipments of arms ammunition and military supplies from neighboring lebanon over the last few months a professor of international relations out of a mark almond says that syria falls victim to lebanese political games the people doing smugly maybe doing it for money but of course somebody is paying and i think there's grounds for thinking that in lebanon for instance the explosive situation there is being made worse by the fact that one faction of politics the sunni muslim factions promised to have also backed by the saudis which. see the full syrian

regime because it's its rival and it supports its rivals has a law on the christians in lebanon who don't wish to see a revolution in syria bring to power a sunny fundamentalist regime which will likely be hostile to the religious minorities and so we are seeing there are cynical people who do anything for money we're also seeing people who say the way to paris or the barrel of a. it's good to have you with us here today just ahead for you in just a few minutes now. to join us as the rush hour close up teammates the king of rubbish instruments can make a note out of almost anything that washes ashore all. the former ukrainian prime minister yulia tymoshenko faces new criminal charges this time of tax avoidance it relates to when she was leading one of the country's

biggest energy corporations back in the one nine hundred ninety s. just last month she was sentenced to seven years behind bars for exceeding have powers while signing gas contracts with russia and two thousand and nine many countries condemned the case against him a shank saying it was politicized as all season now reports it seems that in ukraine history is bound to repeat itself. it all started with this man viktor yushchenko fist fights in parliament mass street protests and destruction of gas supplies to europe were common in his era as president and it kept ukraine firmly in they had lines the world's media had been having many sleepless nights reporting on the rollercoaster events in the country back then writer and journalist meeting if we didn't publish a book poking fun at all the major political players. there is times are extremely fun for the media the regime used the media it is a drug for society but if you do so you have to raise the debt to see every year

which is fun to watch when the temperature rises in politics but for society. which is the limit to all this wildness to which society here is mad with you should we surely breaches go but many now say it was the message of you should get scared and see which helped which swept to power and they felt his arrival would become a breath of fresh air centralizing the power instead. they called me a war big first priorities when he became president of ukraine for more than a year it had been relatively quiet here but the case of former prime minister units in fourteen months of his presidency propelled ukraine back into the global headlines the culmination of her trial for exceeding her authority while prime minister shocked many hardly anyone expected to go to land such a big sentence seven years behind bars. tonight. i want to point out the c.n.n. one nine hundred thirty seven games return to ukraine this verdict and the

rationality of the people we all have to be strong today and the feeling to all the people of goodwill to all the patriots of ukraine to defend ukraine tarion regime and the lack of liberty from the lies and injustice morsi while the so-called joint of arc of ukrainian politics was stein traveling inside the courtroom her seething supporters clashed with police outside. days later veterans of the chernobyl clear up stormed the parliament demanding a raise to their ridiculously low pensions they demolished everything in their prague attacking the police with blunt weapons growing social unrest scared the country's president when the. agencies tell me that people are buying firearms and they are planning attacks on state police nationwide people have completely lost their shine conspiracy theories and public protests of late have created and

nuff scandal for any media to be swamped with work and the chief editor of one of ukraine's leading news websites believes it could get even worse. the first year human condition power was to come because people expected a better life after the wild years you should just cadency was filled with madness but at least that choosing was open and predictable that now we don't know what to expect tomorrow and anything like it but. devaluation of our currency can explode the country experts say ukraine may again quiet down for a while but with the euro two thousand to twelve football championship and a crucial parliamentary election looming the temperature of scandal will most certainly be rising again next year. r.t. reporting from kiev ukraine. is coming to life in a very snowy moscow it's good to have you with us today the russia continues its journey across the biggest country on earth we are about to join them right now.

and today is another chance to discover more of the black sea coast of the southern cross. peoples and love of nature is reflected in all walks of life from saving animals who have become street photographers slaves to turning rubbish into art. reports. all year and i have new need to find construction materials. now a bit of paint and i'll turn this bottle into something beautiful. some critics might call nina's complete rubbish and they'd be totally right everything you see in her gallery is made from little machine emotions that we are covering

over a living space with little or no need to have contributed to is good for me to use this waste creatively. her friend alexei provide some creative accompaniment also using rubbish as instruments was a problem i started with just one barrel i was invited to a festival before i even had time to work on my instruments so i just experimented i just walk around listening to things and what sound they can make nina collects her rubbish from the coastline the winter and spring storms bring her greatest harvest there has come to the seashore every day no matter where the weather or the time of year it's all the same to me or gratian inspiration conservation but it's not just pieces of rubbish but got a second life one month old leon they're here has just been rescued from captivity but she'll have to spend the rest of her life here recovering at this special center where as nina rescues pieces of rubbish the staff at this park rescue far

more vulnerable things most of these animals were formally kept by street photographers who let people pose with them for money. they're kept on drugs so they remain tranquil have their teeth pulled out so they can't hurt people and starved so they remain small this is it that go with me if we take circus bears who have finished their usual life it's not a secret that they could well be made into sausages many of the animals we receive we just can't say they've been treated as just a commodity. big cats like rameses lord arthur and homer here make up most of the parts residence there isn't the money to give them as much space as they would have in the wild but at least here they have some exercise a good diet and the veterinary care they so often need there is a lot in the air the clerical workers try to do something to save the situation so do i try to save the earth from the savagery of people so we're colleagues really.

from plastic bottles to lion cubs saving the planet can come in many shapes and sizes here on the black sea coast they might be rubbish to some but not to everyone . tom barton marty. now at twenty five minutes past the hour here in the russian capital let's go to business news now with here. oh and a very warm welcome to your business update a russian court has tendered major b.p. a win in its legal battle with minority shareholders in its russian oil venture. the court rejected two claims for around sixteen billion dollars minority shareholders say they suffered financial losses by being excluded from the strategic alliance between wilson aft and b.p. to pull the arctic for oil that deal was blocked by these russian partners in

taking the heat on the grounds it reached a shareholder agreement minority shareholders say they will appeal before object. rogers entry to the world trade organization would obligate the united states to establish normal trade relations with moscow barack obama has called for a cold war era provision which restricts american businessmen from working with certain countries to be able to the jackson family commandment is suspended every year with russia but it's still for the remains on the statutes basically u.s. companies don't benefit from the expression of russia from the lower tariffs and the improved administrative procedures until the u.s. congress repeals ducks divide it so it creates a low interest for appealing jackson verdict in the us but it's a matter for congress not the administration so obama called promise it but i think that do are very likely to see a repeal of jackson verdict following russia's deputy accession and president to

trim it better says russia's economy is in a stable position compared to other g. twenty nations he made the statement while visiting the eastern city of. supports that on the economic situation in our country looks better than in many european countries despite recent difficulties we have managed to achieve fairly rapid g.d.p. growth this year it will reach four to four hundred percent while in europe and the us g.d.p. growth will range from zero to one percent this year we will also have the lowest inflation in the last twenty years of around seven percent but i cannot say we are protected from danger we need to cut our dependence on fluctuations in commodity prices and develop the industrial sector. and then we will get a quick check on the markets stocks are rising across europe after the talent sets approved an austerity package raising optimism that the euro area second most

indebted countries will contain the debt crisis and here in moscow the markets have reversed from gains and up trading in the red the archdiocese to negative and the my sense is losing half a percent or so have a look at some of the individual moves in the might six energy majors and banking stocks alone well joined look oil is dropping more than two and a half a centimeter breeze also about one percent in the red and poor metal is flat to positive gaining momentum on higher gold it's. ok that's it for today it more business stories in about thirty minutes time.

in two thousand and ten especially economic zone for industrial production was established in russia somalia region with a total area of six hundred. it's investors are granted exclusive tax and customs benefits which includes a five year exemption from property law and transport taxes as well as an income tax reduction to fifteen point five percent. the special economic zone operates as a fleet customs own which enables manufacturers to market their products in russia free of employer g t's the same our region is currently witnessing a sewage infrastructure construction the somalia region special economic zone promise is exceptional for developing fuel business in russia will come to the small region for more information. invest in somalia you.

a quick rundown of the top stories now the senate approves this harsh new austerity law hoping to stem a growing consensus that the euro zone's third largest economy is falling to the. crisis. and is expected to push for statehood even if it loses it once the big to justify the decision. by the united states. to libya. the cream off the riches the following nato's. chemical companies produce.