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 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 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 commencement that has been imposed by the u.s. congress back in the seventy's and even though there's been a moratorium imposed on this amendment all throughout the years this is created difficulties when it comes to trade 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 called. for negotiations and the leaders

we know did touch upon that. problem and the other topic was of 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's 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 far. well sean you're absolutely right 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 the trade issues such as 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 of course that the leaders have not been able to avoid a headache when it still comes to the 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 did hear barack obama the us president say 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 two 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 and i thank you for staying on top of things for us there in hawaii that was an associate you're going to joining us live from a little. 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 veteran 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 are starting a lot finally say oh the soviet 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 now that he's resigned from the post optimism certainly for a future what that future will be right now remains uncertain is that a caretaker government is going to be put in place and the man has been pegged for the top spot is

a very well respected economist here in the country mary muncie he's the former commissioner he's a year old he knows the system inside and a good links with brussels there's 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 and was is a short term measure certainly they're going to go some way to standing that panic that we saw at the beginning of the week and to calming somewhat the fear that it was literally about to be sucked into that that's that we've seen countries like greece be sucked into it but of course short term measures only last so long you're going to 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 and doesn't the virus speaking

to some people in the town there who 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 now and whoever takes power is that 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 i mean quite the opposite in the face. quizes palestine is being perceived as just partying his way very carelessly to be a very critical time for the country i'm reading now that's where the focus is coming to and the country is and has been suffering for years and this economic social and political stagnation and kickstarting not just going to be a major challenge and a big posit that it's going to be regaining public trust and the credibility that's

been lost in recent times because without the public support these reforms simply not going to. for us reporting for us there from milan italy and peter mandelson. the former british secretary of state says that it is incredible that market pressure on greece and italy managed to oust their respective leaders when millions of protesters in those countries could not do it. but what we've seen recently in the year is. taking the decisive action that they need to take frankly not getting. their elected governments in the difficult democratic machinery to simply to take out a government that's been democratically elected and we've seen in the case i think of greece and italy we've seen the. chief.

democratic means have not been able to do it for those countries to get the governments they need at this particular time now i don't attach any value 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. and china's a booming economy isn't always with open arms with the united states sometimes taking the emergency power as a dangerous problem. 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 a 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 the decision which has already received the full backing and was praised by u.s. president barack obama came at an emergency session in an overwhelming majority of member states supported the move with only eleven 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 us against syria which 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 on 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 also complicit in supporting an insurgency an armed insurgency with a view to destabilizing syria as the nation states nato and the united states are preparing for a military campaign directed against syria on the humanitarian pretext while at the same time they have supported the other big rection which has created this this

process of instability dr in brahimi all professor of economics at st louis 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 the veto in the security council because the arab league has said that the issue will go to the security council to 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 and its place so we have to look at this in geo strategic terms the arab league does not represent the arab people at represents nato at this point i do not think that we can call it a revolution especially after the new revelations that there's an armed insurgency and now there are open that deliberations by the people come but think 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 military apparatus so we have seen support from turkey from the g.c.c. and from the european union for and i think that 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 locked arms in solidarity seeking to draw attention to rampant corporate greed and the increasing poverty of the masses the german occupy movement has also made significant steps in legitimize ing itself having earned the support of two major political factions. of the quality 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 read no they're tearing germany germany is one of the countries that courses quite a lot of the trouble you have an europe now because of the way international competition is organized to germany is a very often on the winning side but that means that we export also poverty and joblessness for people and to be learned during the last years there it's 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 asked people here on the streets they agree with the protests they agreed with the people of the occupy movement that it is needed to go out because everybody learns that

democracy is in danger that in our country too there is no perfect if how to go on if this crisis is going on further and it's a real. and still ahead for you this hour it is the return of our new york resident where this week. finds out of passers by are fed up with political correctness. please go thing in england comedians are being told. it's being carried aboard people who are getting a little crazy with being having to worry about every little word they say should we censor every word that comes out of our mouths more of what the people in the big apple think in just a few minutes. amid 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 us r t's adriana assesses the attitudes.

ways of us young out of what you always were tell me obama maybe we can see something like thirty one years old she's twenty. one months of the boss and. she going to get warm and go. change 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 afraid of china but i do think that we should be concerned well and concerned might be the right word for it and angelina isn't the only one a march twenty seventh 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 that in the race to the white house china is on almost every dimension cheating this is no longer a time for us to sit back and say we're going to let them steal our jobs so what we need to do is stop enriching china with our mani 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 be us or them and is anyone buying it the world is changing you know so like the fact the fact that 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 that up but think of it in a business. countries do just as any other country so yeah i

don't know where the fee comes from from the us 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 and the west to see how they deal with reporting from washington. see dr caroline held a man from occidental college in los angeles says washington 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 confront so when we hear these republican competitors talking about china as an enemy i do think that it fills that notion of having something to oppose in order to buoy 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 will be very positive for social political relations. political correctness gone too far or you are finished better known as the president hits the streets of the big apple to find out. a recent poll indicated that people are starting to feel like political correctness is having a negative effect on 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 word they say whether it's actually politically correct or not if you live in this country you should be politically correct because this is your country what does that mean is that so you can 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 and i mean we've got a thing in england where comedians have been pulled off on political correctness where i think you've just got to realize specially with comedy just loosen up you know everyone is 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 we just laugh it's funny but it just depends if like generations are crossing if you're talking to people then yeah you show some 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 this but sometimes what comes out of your math is not a pearl. it's refreshing to see somebody like chris christie from new jersey cause he speaks his mind regardless of what the consequences are versus always being worried that people are going to think what the poll numbers show so you'd rather be offended and 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 islamised militant five police officers were among those shot by the gunmen in the southern city of tehran. he also killed and the owner of a customer of a weapon store and hijacked a car reports say the attacker then returned to his home where he collected a rocket launcher and fired on a security forces building authorities say the gunman then blew himself up once cornered by police. and is 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 ripped through the site southwest of the capital shattering windows in nearby buildings the munitions facility supplies of 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 reporters 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. 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 as 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're 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 ortiz tom barton tested the waters. slowly the old soviet resorts on russia's black sea coast are becoming centers for 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 share in the growing water sports experience here and on is one of the best that. when you ride in your board at top speed your feelings saw you have control of two forces of nature in your hands wind and water. he's currently number two in russia and has skim the waves in european competitions the 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 when service of all ages bathing in the black sea cup it's evidence of the growing status of water sports but i won't be joining them any time soon. and neither would i be taking part in the 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. so there's a lot. of adrenalin that's what it's all about tricks and a lot of adrenaline now it's easier but to master trick you have to fill one hundred times the black sea provides good conditions for the sport too. it's a difficult sport to master with many of these young riders taking years to reach this standard yet 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 whether it's on the way to joining the list of the lympics sports and that raises the profile of what is still a fledgling received in russia. this sport needs young people in ten years i want to see hundreds of kids kiting here and 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. might be back with a recap of our top stories in a few minutes don't go anywhere.

it's. the british. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our.

and broadcasting live direct from the heart of moscow this is r t let's take a look at the top headlines the russian and u.s. presidents meet to discuss the most pressing issues between of the countries on the sidelines of the apec summit in hawaii at the end of an obama agreed to work on

a joint approach to both iran and syria to ensure both countries meet their international obligations. leading tower of babel stonie finally falls the italian prime minister stands it down after parliament approves a new austerity package intended as a last line of defense against a crumbling confidence in its economy mr berlusconi it was of met with jeers and is true except the presidential palace where he handed in his resignation his likely successor is euro crash mario monti. the arab league suspends syria recommending it sanctions against the country in an effort to force president assad to end of the deadly unrest that god has claimed more than three and a half thousand lives a move won the support of washington and the e.u. while critics are concerned there could be a repeat of the libya military intervention. up next our financial guru max kaiser along with his co-host stacy herbert.