the russian and american presidents full talks on the sidelines of the apec summit in hawaii their focus missile defense syria and russia's future at the w t o we'll bring you all the latest just ahead in the program. and the leaning tower of berlusconi finally fallen severe talian prime minister resigns after parliament approves a new austerity package intended as a last line of defense against a collapsing confidence in its economy. the arab league suspends its syria recommending sanctions against the country in an effort to force president assad to end of the deadly unrest that has claimed more than three and a half thousand lives.

and broadcasting live direct from our studios in central moscow this is r.t. i'm john thomas and let's get right to your top stories world political and economic heavyweights are meeting in hawaii for the annual asia pacific summit russian and u.s. presidents have just wrapped up their talks artie's associate joins us live from honolulu with more and on this the sea of thanks for joining us so could you tell us more about what about that meeting and what issues were discussed there. well sean definitely a lot of issues touched upon one of the mean topics of discussion was of course missile defense united states plans it's important to say that the u.s. and russia or rather russia and nato agreed in november two thousand and ten to work jointly on a european missile defense project however so far there's been

a stalemate because the united states has been refusing to provide russia with legal guarantees that any such plans would not be a threat to russia and this was discussed at today's meeting between the two presidents they did say after the meeting that there is still certain disagreements when it comes to missile defense plans but talks will continue on this issue also another important topic of russia's participation and membership at the world trade organization which we as we expect to be to become of russia to become a full fledged member of the world trade organization by summer two thousand and twelve this is something that russia has been desiring since the ninety's and an important part of that is has been the issue of the jackson valley commencements that has been imposed by the u.s. congress back in the seventy's and even though there's been a moratorium on calls on this amendment all throughout the years this is created difficulties when it comes to treats between russia and the united states and the

u.s. president barack obama has said today that he will start working with the u.s. congress to cancel this amendment to get rid of it so it is no longer a cornerstone when it comes to trade between russia and the united states this is certainly very important because this is something that russia has been indicating that it would like to see happen for a very long time now in other issues the leaders have discussed syria of course with the anti-government clashes on the ground we have been hearing in the last several days from the united states saying they call for the resignation of the syrian president whereas russia has been calling for negotiations and the leaders we know did touch upon that. problem and the other topic was. course terror on the iranian nuclear program was discussed the two leaders agreed to work together in trying to come up with a joint plan of action when it comes to ensuring that iran sticks to its obligations you know aside from the sideline talks which are always things that

happen at these types of events there is also some very ambitious plans for this year's apec summit in general has anything been agreed on there and what are the highlights of the summit so for. well sean you're absolutely right you have the apec summit is a gathering of one of the biggest gatherings in the world an economic group that comprises as many as twenty one economies and in the short time that leaders have here the two days of the summit they're focusing on trade issues such as are lifting barriers for making the trade and investment and economic cooperation easier for countries that make up the asia pacific and this is certainly something that's been a focus here for the last day or so we also know what's that tell the leaders have not been able to avoid a headache when it still comes to their european financial crisis since this is something that's looming over the entire global economy and here we're hearing pushes for europe to work harder in finding solutions to the financial crisis we didn't hear barack obama the us presidency earlier that the united states is

looking forward to really seeing the upcoming changes with the leadership change in italy and greece the u.s. hopes that this will give sort of an opportunity to reform and restructure the way things run in those countries and essentially since they have been spearheading the financial crisis to be able to create positive steps in coming up with solutions this is something that he reiterated earlier today thank you for staying on top of things for us is very hawaii i was honest as you're going to joining us live from around the world. it's the end of an era in italy as the country's charismatic prime minister silvio berlusconi steps down it comes after the lower house of parliament gave its final approval to a vast new austerity package which was a precondition for his resignation. the prime minister's seat though won't remain vacant for long with better and mario monti looking set to take the baton from

berlusconi the public reaction so far has been mixed with some celebrating berlusconi's fall while others are wary of the future our correspondent in italy sorry for the details. that will start a lot by leigh sales silvio berlusconi's fate and he stepped down as prime minister of the country now for better or worse he was certainly a character and it's going to be a massive change and now that he's resigned from that post optimism certainly for a future he too will be right now remains uncertain as to that a caretaker government is going to be put in place and the man is being paid for the top spot is very well respected economists here in the country. he's a former you commissioner he's a euro he knows the system inside and killings in brussels this certainly a question mark over whether he's going to have the democratic legitimacy that is needed to gain public support of course and an elected government taking the reins does raise

a lot of questions once we've seen these measures pass through these are just the initial steps almost as a short term measures certainly they're going to be some way to stirling that panic that we saw at the beginning of the week and coming somewhat the fear that if he was literally about to be sucked into that spiral that we've seen countries like greece be sucked into a bit of course short term measures only last so long you can really now need to look at whether whatever government now follows is going to be able to put in place long term sustainable measures to get the country out of the crisis situation that it's found itself was in the virus speaking to people in the town there he were holding a protest there were a couple of thousand and one of the measures that they were protesting was government spending a waste of taxpayers' money and really what they were saying was very clear is that whatever happens that whoever takes power is at the really going to want to see

their politicians and those people in charge leading by example and of course they simply haven't seen that under berlusconi especially in the last couple of years and quite the opposite in the face. the crisis palace again is being perceived as this partying his way very. very critical time for the country and really now where the focus is caliente and the country is has been suffering is under economic social and political stagnation and kickstarting that is going to be a major challenge and a big part of that is going to be regaining public trust and credibility that's been lost in recent times because without the public support these reforms simply not going to work. for us reporting for us there from me one italy and peter mandelson from the former british secretary of state says that it is incredible that market pressure on greece and italy and i'm going to oust their respective

leaders when millions of protesters most countries cannot do it. well what we've seen recently in the year is there is some governments not as strong as all those not taking the decisive action that they need to take frankly not getting on top of events now their elected governments is for all the difficult for democratic machinery to be used simply to take out a government this be democratically elected and actually what we've seen to be in the case i think of greece and italy we've seen the bond markets people are able to achieve what normal democratic means have not been able to do and that is to put those countries to get the governments they need at this particular time now i don't attach any value judgement to that it's merely an observation that in these circumstances we've seen. rather more effectively than ordinary democracy and coming up for you in just

a few minutes. the pro-equality occupy movement blossoms in germany as thousands of protesters flood the political and financial capitals of the country demanding the government rein in corporate banking greed. and china's a booming economy isn't always and that with open arms and with the united states sometimes taking the emergency power as a dangerous prospect. in syria crowds armed with sticks and knives have reportedly stormed the saudi arabian embassy in damascus and the french and turkish consulates in the city of latakia this comes after the arab league voted to suspend syria until us peace plan is implemented to stop the bloodshed there member states have also been urged to withdraw their ambassadors from the country and use economic and political sanctions but decision which has already received the e.u. so full backing and was praised by u.s. president barack obama came at an emergency session in cairo an overwhelming

majority of member states supported the move but only eleven are voting. against the director of the center for research on globalization michel chossudovsky believes the league's move is an act of provocation orchestrated by washington this is not a decision of the hour of lee all the arab world is a decision of washington. and it is there to justify war plans directed against syria which are already on the drawing board of the pentagon this is not a protest movement it is an armed insurrection immediately following the peace proposal of the arab league armed gunman which are al qaida affiliated entities paramilitary where sent in to trigger a new round of civilian casualties it is not to say that the government of bashar

al assad doesn't bear responsibility but we must understand that the very parties to this to this arab league decision uls so complicit in supporting an insurgency and our agency with but if you could destabilize syria as a nation states nato and the united states are perry for obiter she can be directed against syria are big humanitarian pretext but at the same time they have supported the rection which has created this this process of instability dr you brought him all professor of economics at. university in jordan says russia and china should try and curb the arab league's ambitions. it's very important for russia and china to use as a veto in the security council because the arab league has said that the issue will go to the security council the international organizations namely the u.s.

and the u.n. shortly what we have here is a plan to topple the syrian regime and clearly establish a nato friendly regime in that splays so we have to look at this in geo strategic terms the arab league does not represent the arab people that represents nato at this point i do not think that we can call it evolution especially after the new revelations that there's an armed insurgency and now there are open the collaboration's by the people conducting these operations against the syrian army and against syrian security troops so now they are openly performing military operations all over the place against the syrian army and the military apparatus so we have seen support from turkey from the g.c.c. and from the european union for an i pad that encompasses economic

military as well as economic political and diplomatic means the pro-equality occupy movement is quickly gathering pace in germany with almost twenty thousand people protesting in berlin and frankfurt protesters waved placards and a lot arms in solidarity seeking to draw attention to rep and corporate greed creasing party of the masses the german occupy movement has also made significant steps in legitimizing itself having earned the support of two major political factions juta sentiment of the pro-equality attack germany group believes berlin is partly responsible for europe's economic woes. it is needed to have protests and broad movements in all european countries and we know that here in germany germany is one of the countries that course is quite a lot of the trouble we have in europe now because of the way international competition is organized germany is very often on the winning side but that means

that be exported also poverty and closeness for people and to be learned during the last years there it's a very very soon tex players are forced to help to save the banks we learned in two thousand and eight what happened in such a very short time when billions of euros were given to the banks if you ask people here on the streets they agree with the protests they agreed the other people of the occupy movement that it is needed to go out because everybody learns that democracy is in danger but in our country too there is no person active how to go on if this crisis is going on further and it's real and still ahead for you this hour it is the return of our new york resident this week harvest of fines out of passers by are fed up with political correctness. we've got thing in england where the sun comedians are being complicit with this is being carried aboard people were

getting a little crazy with being you have to worry about every little word they say should we censor every word that comes out of our mouths more than what the people in the big apple think in just a few minutes. amid of the financial woes of america and europe investors are making a sharp turn to the east where china keeps on rising in the ranks on the global economic stage beijing's might however is not being met with the enthusiasm in the u.s. . assesses the you have kids. ways i'm not what you always will tell me i'm not made was old chief we come up against the sea so they make what he ends on t.v. so i think. well let's come to the process. jen sacramento to get warm and go. into the future you have to yikes

ok let's just get right down to it shall we should we be afraid of china. well what other place in washington d.c. is chinatown to find out i don't think we have to be a parade of china but i do think that we should be concerned well concerned might be the right word for it and angelina isn't the only one a march twentieth levon b.b.c. poll shows that many in the west aren't exactly thrilled about china gaining more economic steam in the span of just five years negative attitudes towards china have skyrocketed with france germany italy the u.k. and the u.s. on unhappy at the thought of china nipping at their heels and for the us nowhere is that clear but in the race to the white house china is on almost every dimension cheated this is no longer a time for us to sit back and say we're going to let them steal our jobs we need to do is start in reaching china with our money i want to be china i want

to go to war with china and make america the most attractive place in the world to do business woah woah whoa does it have to the us or them and is anyone buying it the world changing you know so like the fact that they like china's economy is modernizing. isn't the reason why our economy is doing poorly right now. and so it's maybe just a straw man when. presidential candidates bring it up but he did it in a business sense in a economic sense was countries to just work with china as any other country so yeah i don't know where it comes from from the u.s. about china well there you have it it seems china is the new kid on the economic block and it's up to the us ever go west to see how they deal with reporting from washington and i can say oh i see dr caroline held a man from occidental college in los angeles says feels the need to paint china as

a new evil empire. china becomes this very convenient target we need an enemy right the cold war is over terrorism doesn't provide a concrete enemy for the united states to confide so when we hear this republicans and others talking about china as an enemy i do think that it fills that notion of having something to oppose in order to prove the resilience of nationalism and again i find i take issue with that nationalism but at the same time i think it's good for the u.s. to have competitors it's never good for a global superpower to be the only one at the top of perceived because then they act with impunity and i believe at various points in u.s. history we have seen the evidence of that i think having china in the mix would be very positive for social political relations has a political correctness gone too far from this as the president hits the streets of the big over find out.

a recent poll indicated that people are starting to feel like political correctness is having a negative effect them for society how do you feel about it this week let's talk about that it's been carried overboard people were getting a little crazy with being having to worry about every little word they say whether it's actually politically correct or not well if you live in this country you should be politically correct because this is your country what does that mean that is so you can you have to censor what you say you should think about what you say you should you should take time to use the correct words before you say something that you don't mean i think i mean we've got thing in england where comedians are being pulled up on political correctness well i think you just got to realize special of comedy. just loosen up you know everyone's going to be offended by something and i just think there's always going to be someone who looks for something to complain about my generation we don't really cat we just laugh it's

funny so it just depends if like generations are crossing if you're talking to people then yeah i respect even if you know you don't completely think it's necessary it's different when you're young but when you start getting a bit older you realize that sometimes what comes out of your man is not a. it's refreshing to see somebody like chris christie from new jersey close here that speaks his mind regardless of what the consequences are versus always being worried of people are going to think what the poll numbers show or you'd rather be offended in at least have the truth yes very much so whether or not you feel like political correctness is having a negative effect on society the bottom line is it's probably just going to keep becoming more and more prevalent. in kazakhstan at least seven people have died in an attack by a suspected islamic militant five police officers were among those shot by the

gunmen in the southern city of tehran and he also killed the owner of a custom by a weapon store and hijacked a car reports say the attacker then returned to his home work he collected a rocket launcher and fired on a security forces building authorities say the gunman then blew himself up once cornered by police. now for some other stories making headlines across the world. iran has been rocked by a powerful explosion at an ammunition depot about forty kilometers outside of tehran with at least seventeen people reported killed and sixteen wounded two consecutive blasts riki through the site southwest of accountable shattering windows in nearby buildings the munitions facility supplies and the country's revolutionary guard the blasts were ruled accidental but the exact cause remains unclear. the crippled fukushima nuclear plant in japan has opened its doors to journalists for the first time in eight months quarters had to wear fully

protective clothing before being allowed in the plant suffered a series of meltdowns and explosions after being daily huge by a devastating tsunami in march it was the world's worst nuclear crisis since or. the turkish prime minister has visited the region of van which has been struck by two earthquakes in a matter of weeks the latest on wednesday claimed the lives of more than thirty people the body of a japanese aid worker has been returned home he was rescued alive from the rubble but died later in the hospital two journalists were also among those killed and they had been reporting on the previous quake which had left six hundred dead and now it's time for our close up series as we put the spotlight on the many wonders of russia for you.

and we are on the black sea coast in the south a place bustling with tourists who come here to get their dose of relaxation under the sun but now this region is also attracting hundreds of thrill seekers as well archie's town barton tested the waters. slowly the old soviet resorts on russia's black sea coast are becoming centers of very modern water sports throughout the week hundreds of children and adults have been competing here in the black sea cup windsurfing trophy and it's hoped that with the right support this region could become a real center for water sports. it's the black sea cup in southern russia the waters full of jellyfish the sea full of waves and the wind whips the air with salty spray and that's just what everyone here has come for. children and adults have traveled from all over russia to show their skills and sharing the growing water sports experience here and on is one of the best thing that. when you ride in your board

at top speed your feelings so low you have control of two forces of nature in your hands wind and water. he's currently number two in russia and his skin the waves in european competitions and sport isn't cheap and he's short of financial backing to match that of his european and american competitors but he's hopeful for the black sea coast as a potential world class water sports center. this is a wonderful place with a great wind the infrastructure is ok but with some investment it could be good we had a freestyle competition here not long ago and we have hopes of hosting a world championship he'll be trying to win that championship i was just getting the hang of standing up i'm surrounded by hundreds of well as of all ages waving in the black sea it's the evidence of the growing status of water sports but i won't be joining them any time soon. i neither would i be taking part in even more tricky

kitesurfing here too they had been battling it out to prove their speed and agility surrogate has been crowned number one in russia. is a lot of adrenaline that's what it's all about tricks and a lot of adrenaline now it's easier to master trick you have to fall a hundred times the black sea provides good conditions for this book too. it's a difficult sport to master with many of these young riders taking years to reach this standard. we have a number of good spots for arriving this wonderful day and on the other side of the black sea here in russia the season is short so we don't have much practice time on the water but the advantage of russia is we can snow kite. again it's money that's the problem for most kitesurfing now however it's on the way to joining the list of the limp exports and that raises the profile of what is still

a fledgling perceived in russia. or the sport needs young people in ten years i want to see hundreds of kids kiting here then we'll be in good hands we'll have a future. a future that will be played out here in the surgeon blue of the black sea tom watson artie. i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in a few minutes i'm going to. fix. you.

feel. to the limited to just say you must seem. to feel. if.

thanks. wealthy british style summits sometimes it's fine if accurate. hi pat. markets try not to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike brown no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report.