the italian senate approved harsh new austerity law to date hoping to stem a growing consensus that the eurozone for the third largest economy is falling to the ravages of the euro crisis. palestine is expected to push for a vote on its un statehood even if it loses it once the opponents to justify their decisions which it believes will be dictated by the united states. and western corporations oil rich libya seeking to skim the cream off the riches following.

news from the heart of moscow this is r.t. . the tremors of the euro crisis have been echoing loudly inside italy's government sparing its senate's a push through the country's harshest austerity package yet the nation's president has promised that once the law is past prime minister silvio berlusconi will resign with his possible successor being a former commissioner let's get some more details on this now cross live to our he's our correspondent. standing by for us in rome good to see you so the vote appears to have gone quite smoothly especially given the severity of the austerity measures being passed what can you tell us from where you are. but certainly it is happened rather quickly that that was to be expected point of course no one wanting any in decisiveness it's all when it's the instant such a critical position now the senate passed

a measure is fairly easily one hundred fifty six votes to twelve and that bills now going to pass to the lower house which is also expected to finalize decision and part. of kools will then pave the way mr berlusconi's resignation that could happen as early as tomorrow evening and we could then see the formation of a new technocrat government now here in italy the favorite to take any top spot is the foamy commissioner mary a month say now he's that much they've just the politicians here but of course by brussels and the usa needs as well he said described as being someone who knows the system inside and out and what they're really looking for at this point is someone is going to be able to lead a new government in whatever form that will take them through this very difficult time and give a very strong signal towards the markets that they call someone in place he's credible you can be trusted and of course he can push through these very harsh austerity measures and you know they prefer extremely controversial in the past

we've seen rising here in italy a vis some of these measures including the eighty hikes and pension part say it should be unpopular measures be deemed here in the country certainly amongst the political elite is absolutely necessary for sure you mentioned you commissioner mary i want you coming into the helm here but there are many saying that italy really is on the brink do you actually think this along the way he reshuffling was leadership will give the country what it needs to pull through this crisis. well certainly the markets again to be looking very very closely now what happened save the next couple of days as we said about that decisive action being taken but also a time when the new government does come in and you have this heading that whether that is going to have the political will to actually be able to fish these reforms because actually they're not so you did similar to what with a promise under berlusconi's government it's just that these reforms have been long promised. to materialize they first say. a big factor of importance at the moment

is sending a very strong signal to the markets but you know there are concerns certainly a lot of people have been telling us and economists we speak and see if this is by no means going to be a quick fix simply ousting the old government and putting a new one in place well it might bring some stability to the markets in the short term is not necessarily going to have a stabilizing effect as hopefuls research these measures do you still have to be passed now. as we said they did not just by the politicians said it will say by the year its own leaders you also look to greece at the moment he's got a former official of the e.c.b. in power and there's a lot of criticism from the people in these countries that i what they're saying now is really process is extending its influence in these countries and in the political sphere and that has proved extremely unpopular. president of poland. she made a very clever chesney by appointing a senator for life that's made him much more politically acceptable to the m.p.'s

here and leaving for someone who could be favored to run in the top spot but of course as we said well you know looking at is these former east the e.u. officials people who are very very close with the process elise now in power these guys a year across they do you know the system inside and out of this going to be a lot of questions about whether they're going to be doing what's in the best interest of the country or whether they're simply going to be marching along to the tune of years and. it is a that's certainly a big question mark at the moment but the next couple of days you can speak very quick very decisive decisions being taken because italy is a very critical point now we saw a lot of concern over the last few days about its borrowing costs soaring and that's really pushing its lead economy into a very dangerous situation indeed i had a little look at some of the situations that led to bringing it to this point earlier you can take a look at that now. the italian

brand has always seemed to be going strong. the best business press is. it's in fashion it's a country that economy wise it's least putting its best it forward. recently at least in its economy stagnating has now become the latest country to be dragged into the center of the eurozone crisis. italy has a strong economy and. so are better than it is now its lead could now face a similar fate these countries having to seek a bit to see parallels despite being one of the year is its 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 deficits in this recession might not be greece but with that soaring borrowing costs just how did italy and in this situation right

now nobody is spending nobody spending in all or all of europe consumers are not spending they're saving they're scared. of what's going to happen meeting your isn't it miles to be. tough reforms in a large part of what's made repeating growth in the country so you did the. government being able to bring about positive change we have had too many years of that was not credible outside and very divisive insights i don't think it's only an italian problem i mean there's quite some support for mr berlusconi was not able to deliver what he promised i think there might be a transfer somebody else. that's not going to be enough we need support from europe otherwise everybody on its own and that's the scariest part because situation in italy right now the euro thing faces its biggest challenge yet it's

unclear whether they'd like deals of a peaceful and culturally united europe can survive the failure to adapt and to find decisive leadership at this point and they've ideals could be in ruins. and with the fate of the eurozone and perhaps even the you now squarely in the hands of italy and greece concerns continue to grow rich on law and the director of studies at the paris institute of democracy and cooperation believes that too much blame for the crisis is being put on the weakest nations. these people who have taken power in greece and shorted to our initially have never been elected these are men who made their entire careers through garnering important appointments in cases like the european commission or the european central bank and they have no democratic mandate at all and precisely what is so frightening about what is happening in none of the european union and europe 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 eight hundred 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 euro so we're seeing really a very ugly development of course the governments are responsible for the crisis but there is a code responsible element and that is the euro itself and they only need bailouts from the european union because they don't have the option of people emotionally don't have the option of managing their own economic and military affairs i am absolutely convinced that the euro project is at an end i can't see when it's going to break down but it is an end yes this in financial irresponsibility in greece initially but the situation has been made worse well catastrophic by their

membership of the europe and as we continue to cover the ongoing euro zone crisis here on our now actually across the two live pictures of a look at the top of their most the latest the greek prime minister now being sworn in as we speak i think the live pictures from the ceremony you're seeing in athens here mr part of them also serve as the vice president of the european central bank for eight years and here is a short list of greek premiership after the resignation of former prime minister george papandreou of course up and drove just a couple of weeks ago calling for referendum a. on the next round of ballots he was then summoned to cannes. and then suggested by certainly some sources to his resignation again these are live pictures right here from athens. minister being sworn in. and with europe's debt burden growing ever harder for the block to shoulder but all eyes are turning to the east in the hope that china will commit his vast cash

reserves to save the e.u. but so far it's reluctance has been all too obvious the reasons why one of the things being discussed in today's cross talk that's coming your way here in our next hour. every country goes after self interest in geopolitical interest as well no where near is cutting and strategic as china does and we've got to be clear that finding our moral hazard in keeping us behaving badly either in europe or the united states is not in china's long term best interest there it's only want to see the west continue to harm itself i mean who decides how it's going to pay via ok greg you want to reply who decides to measure a very good question moral equivalency arguments really interesting until you come to face somebody who is truly here but we went through this whole same argument in the 1930's criticize the germans a lot of american companies whatever their business and said it's not our business if you're here if you pull your creator or you're in china today to nazi germany of

the one nine hundred thirty s. absolutely although i think you know tried in some way worse. and you can see across talking about an hour and twenty minutes from now here i see nato may have finished its bombing mission in libya but now there's a full scale western invasion but energy corporations are queuing up to do business with the new government which is rewarding the military victory with lucrative oil and gas contracts. with looks at how the harvest of war is being raped. first british poems tourists apart now british companies get paid to put it back together libya is open for business and u.k. firms are being encouraged to join the gold rush is

a relatively wealthy country with oil reserves and i expect there will be opportunities for 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 it's 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 national transitional council told the french. they were good coach told her to be fired what should. be. the u.k. department for trade and investment already has staff on the ground in libya ready to welcome british companies. awarded contracts wanting to get in on the action shell and b.p. he shares roos on the news they were talking to the transitional government's engineering firms are up 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 better than you are for them. any form of public discussion of why that's what that's going around the world. so far the conflict in libya looks like an excellent investment half a billion dollars to oust a dictator with a return of three hundred billion in business contracts when it's all over now that humanitarian goals no longer need to be touted wall suddenly makes great business sense nor is smith r.t. london now a quarter past the hour here in moscow plenty more to come here on the program here including armed to the teeth syrian authorities are going to be alarm bells over an increased amount of weapons being smuggled into the country to move to extremist factions fighting the regime. and we go deeper into the causes of

a vicious circle in ukraine where political protests and brawls are a daily reality that no matter who holds the reins of power. when you are in a security council is expected to review palestine. by the motion was filed in september so much euphoria in the west bank for the deciding vote it may come as soon as next week paulette's leon always up palestine's charges. 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 but what was 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 rights 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 eleven and 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 really leaves 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 us although they know they're not going to get their admission into the security council the other option and that 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 it use 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 tactical judgment why the u.k. does abstaining from good now the palestinians were lying on the british to support big bird and the foreign secretary has now been accused of being hypocritical and abdicating responsibility when you mention the unesco admission to the palestinians in need. the following that the united states canada and israel withdrew will stop giving funding to the bodies so much so that eunice there 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 or so while the palestinians a short time ago had learned for yet that the international community would that they bid for statehood this kind of pressure going on behind the scenes seems to be paying off. but what we're reporting right now eighteen minutes past the hour here

russia is calling on the syrian opposition to stop aligning itself with extremist gangs of smuggling weapons into the country and only triggering more violence but this comes amid an increase in illegal shipments of munitions and military supplies from neighboring lebanon over the last few months professor of international relations are mark almond says that syria falls victim to lebanon's political games . the people doing struggling may be doing it for money or somebody is paying and i think there is grounds for thinking that in the interest of the explosive situation there is being made worse by the fact that one faction of politics the silly muslim factions prime minister hariri also backed by the saudis which is ranches see the fall the syrian regime because of its its rival and its supports its rivals has a lot of 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 seen as a cynical people who do anything for money or also seen people who say the way to paris or the ground to come. here with r.t. now the former ukrainian prime minister yulia timoshenko now faces new criminal charges this time of tax avoidance relates to when she was leading one of the country's biggest energy corporations are back in the one nine hundred ninety s. just last month she was sentenced to seven years behind bars for exceeding her powers when signing gas contracts with a writer in two thousand and nine many countries condemned the case against him a shank a saying it was politicized. as artie's alexy garces he reports it seems that in ukraine history is poised to repeat itself. it all started with this man before you should these fights in parliament now street protests and destruction of gas supplies to europe were common in his era as president and it kept ukraine firmly in they had lights the world's media had been having many

sleepless nights reporting on the rollercoaster events in the country back then greater in journalist meeting if we didn't publish a book talking fun at all the major political players. there's times are extremely fun for the media the regime use the media is a drug this is science but if you do so you have to braise the do see every year which is fun to watch when the temperature. rises in politics but for society it's bad but there's a limit to all this wildness after which society carries magic with you should we surely breach it should go the mission of. many now say it was the mass of you should get scared and see which helped you know which sweeps of power and they felt his arrival would become a breath of fresh air centralizing the power instead of lies in the economy of war victory on account of his 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 the fourteen months which is presidency propelled ukraine back into the

global headlines. the culmination of her trial for exceeding her authority while prime ministers shocked many hardly anyone expected to machine go to land such a big sentence seven years behind bars. of now i want to point out that the year one thousand nine hundred thirty seven has returned to ukraine and this verdict and the oppression of the people we will have to be strong today i'm appealing to all the people of goodwill to all the patriots of ukraine defend ukraine on the whole for terry and regime from the lack of liberties from the lies and injustice. while the so-called joint of arc of ukrainian politics was stime traveling inside the courtroom perceiving supporters clashed with police outside. a slighter veterans of the chernobyl clear up stormed the parliament demanding a raise to their ridiculously low pensions they demolished everything in their path

exactly the police with blunt weapons growing social unrest scared the country's president when you come across when you want to enforcement agencies tell me that people are buying firearms and 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 the craze leading news websites believes it could get even worse. the first year of human cognition power was calm because people expected a better life after the wild years you should as cadency was filled with madness but at least badging was open and predictable but now we don't know what to expect tomorrow and anything like a possible devaluation of our currency can explode the country experts say ukraine may again quiet down for a while but with the euro to a twelve football championship and a crucial parliamentary election looming the temperature of scandal will most

certainly be rising again next year. looksee russia r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. there are plenty of going on in the financial world today let's get all the latest with you. thanks for your very warm welcome to the business program russia's entry to the world trade organization would obligate the united states to establish normal trade relations with moscow broadcom has called for a cold war era provision which restricts american businessmen from working with certain countries to be abolished the jetson valley commandment is suspended every year with russia but it still formally remains under statutes. basically u.s. companies don't benefit from the expression of russia from the lower tariffs and the improved ministry of procedures until the u.s.

congress repeals tax advantage so it creates a lobbying interest for repealing jepson value in the u.s. but it's a matter for congress not lead ministrations obama can't promise it but i think the two are very likely to see a repeal of tax and grant following russia's deputy accession as president michel medvedev says russia's economy is in a stable position compared to other cheek twenty nations he made the statement while visiting the thought eastern city of. simple pleasures that on the economic situation in our country looks better than in many european countries this point recently difficulties we have managed to achieve fairly rapid g.d.p. growth this year it will reach for two full half 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 and 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 a look at the markets now stocks are rising across europe after the tell it started to proved an austerity package raising optimism that the euro area second most indebted country will contain the debt crisis but here in moscow the markets have progressed from early and they're trading in the red this hour but they're adjusting the bias it's too negative. here's a look at some of the individual share moves in the mix of energy majors and banking stocks are lower world gentle while it is losing more than two and a half percent basically it's also more about one percent and the metal is flat to positive gaining momentum on high gold stocks. the russian court house ended all major b.p. a win in its legal battle with minority shareholders has russian oil they venture. to court for chapter two claims for around sixteen billion dollars minority

shareholders say they suffered financial losses by being its quoted from a strategic allies between rosneft and b.p. to explore the arctic thought well that jill was bought by the russian partners in thinking on the grounds that breached their shareholders meant the minority shareholders say they will appeal the forged. russia's heavyweight carmaker after the us is moving into kazakhstan the company has agreed to launch full cycle production. with a local call from ed just it will take longer to design the prime time and another to build but in four years ninety thousand cars should be rolling from the new plant and it is hoped the project will meet the growing demand for cheap cars and cars of stan russia and central asia the companies say the project will require half a billion dollars of investment. so that's it from all your up to date for most websites archie dot com slash business.

move. to.

the book. rock and plenty of those come. squandered morning. more than sixty square kilometers of the most nations and those who are still surprising. i'm finding are just there it's getting bad out here but not saying hardly any birds squirrels you know. you know i don't know what's going on. on on screen.