on a plane to moscow with just a note saying she just didn't want him anymore. and the fear is that this man could do a dot com disappearing act but he's behind a file sharing website a mega upload and america wants him extradited because multiple i.d.'s mean he stays in custody. student faces extradition to the u.s. for setting up a web site giving people free access to movies online it's not a crime in britain but in america he could get up to ten years in prison it's because of a controversial treaty between the two countries originally intended to extradite terrorist suspects but as r.t. as i'm about it found out the deal is putting many british citizens in an extremely vulnerable position. from running a website in his bedroom with links to pirated movies to up to ten years in a u.s. federal prison richard o'dwyer is the latest victim of the u.k.'s controversial

extradition treaty with america his actions aren't even a crime in britain but counters copyright infringement in the u.s. for the judge that was enough for richard's mother it was devastating. very telling . you about the gulf states i don't think that richard citv shack was seized by u.s. authorities last year this is what you see on the home page now he didn't host any illegal videos itself but posted links to where users could find them u.s. prosecutors claim richard banked two hundred thirty thousand dollars in advertising revenue from the site although he's never been to america they claim his actions had a direct consequence is there to be treated unfairly slightly. here because he was just pro extradition. but i'm just going to go with the other side anyway so. all that work that we thought. i know all but you were there when you i'm not sure if

you were there last time time before when he said with a good strong argument that all went out the window completely. you know giving up no no we can't make up. for. the u.k. u.s. extradition treaty was signed in two thousand and three supposedly to bring international terrorists to justice but many feel it's unfair to british citizens it makes it far easier for america to extradite someone from the u.k. than the other way around so far extraditions of five to two in america's favor better and british m.p. simming campbell's leading a review of the treaty by his party the smaller partner in the governing coalition what i argue for is that the position of a british citizen should be no worse than that of an american to and at the moment you think it's impounds i'm in no doubt that out of bounds richard wires are

innocently caught up in something which was never intended to deal with people like him gary mckinnon case is another that's left british m.p.'s crying out for change the asperger's sufferer has been fighting extradition for seven years he's wanted for hacking into pentagon files that he claims he was searching for evidence of u.f.o.'s a recent parliamentary debate on the treaty was so one sided in favor of changing it that a vote wasn't even needed but what's happening in there is still not enough to stop richard o'dwyer is pending extradition his case is certainly highlighted the need for something to be done but any changes could be too late for him his case is now in the hands of home secretary theresa may who has been accused of abandoning plans to change the treaty richard and his family will get the chance to appeal the decision at a higher court but their options are rapidly running out either bennett r.-t. long. and before we get to dmitri with the business so now it's time for the r.t.

world update let's start with iraq it's where a wave of car bombs killed fourteen and wounded more than seventy or all across the iraqi capital the blasts occurred mainly in shia areas of baghdad threatening to revive sectarian conflict in the country the violence has dipped in iraq for the past few years attacks are still common one and two hundred people have been killed there in a month since the u.s. military withdrawal. ten soldiers have reportedly been killed in southwestern somalia after a suicide bomber detonated a lorry full of explosives outside a government building the base is used by ethiopian troops who entered somalia last month to help the country battle an al qaeda linked militant group insurgents now control many areas in somalia. turkey has slammed france for passing an armenian genocide bill after it cleared both houses of the french parliament under

the new law people who deny the mass killing of armenians by ottoman turks nearly a century ago would face up to a year in prison a media says one and a half million were killed in the massacre but turkey claims the number is much less and the bill still needs to be signed off by president sarkozy before it becomes law. japan's kept no records of its nuclear crisis response the energy minister admits that no details from top level meetings were taken by the body set up to manage the fukushima tragedy thing klute discussions about evacuating people living near the plant there's already been a wave of criticism over the way the government handled the disaster. and in just a few minutes here on r t a rather unique forecast for the future of the world's economy that will be a right after the business with dimitri. welcome

to business r.t. good to have your company in the rally in oil prices has paused traders awaiting the next move in the escalating dispute between iran and the west tehran has responded to the decision to impose an oil embargo by threatening to close the strait of hormuz twenty percent of the world's screwed supply passes from it however hot him on to pick from plants energy agency believes the warning and the embargo should be seen as bargaining points. the wording also says that they'll be a review in may so there almost means that i am ready to do something in july but i can change my mind in may i don't think anybody wants these things to happen really because europe right now is very weak financially economically and the last thing that europe really wants is a confrontation because that would be even more disruptive for the economy here the oil that was supposed to come to europe from iran will go to asia and oil that was

going to asia from oil locations like west africa or even russia will now go to europe so europe can always one place the oil that's not the issue the issue is the level of pain. right to some stuff. and russia fell at the end of last year the jobless rate dropped twenty basis points from november to six point one percent in december according to a survey by bloomberg analysts had expected the rate to be significantly higher rising to six point six percent. led to the markets now we start with europe band the stocks are down as greece and as private creditors continue to negotiate over the terms the terms of the hoped for debts one deal and the brits in the forty's down one point nine percent survive miners and banks for more it's banking group among the biggest losers germany's dax is down one point two percent it's led by thomas franklin's down around four percent and there's also

a big loss for siemens with the drop in fiscal first quarter profit. the russian markets still improving somewhat after the statistics on unemployment payment person expected the r.t. is down point six percent of my six point three percent. bank and ending stocks are among the main decliners when tb is still down half a percent a new poor shedding one now. office said the company is planning to invest more than one billion dollars a spoiled rich tribes to top field in siberia and chemicals producers are close bucking the trend it's up one point two percent after reporting almost five percent increase in production for the year twenty eleven michael stein from authority bank says the upcoming devils economic forum obama's speech and the u.s. corporate results will all be keeping investors busy. given the improved outlook for the oil price because of the iran news that we saw yesterday and given

the very low valuations for russia generally and the fact that many of our clients continue to see fund flows into the russian dedicated funds we think that the market will gradually melt higher and that's it investors will pay attention to global events and this week there are a lot of them investors will look at the f one c. meeting coming up president barack obama's speech his state of the nation's address in addition we've got the world economic forum and more than one hundred twenty companies and you know the states are releasing their fourth quarter financial results so we'll be quite a busy week on the external side and then here at home in russia investors and pick close attention to macro data most notably the unemployment report in russia for december in addition to industrial production figures on the corporate side will also see operating updates from the metals and mining companies including metro police and m.k. the financial woes european banks are affecting their business abroad one of germany's biggest lenders commerzbank could be leading the russian market it's

selling a fourteen percent stake in one of the top fifteen local lenders promise west bank the sale as part of an effort to increase its capital by roughly five billion euros you know whether to comply with the european legislation. coming up next on out see the headlines with rory i'll be back in fifty five minutes time with an update of latest business news.

to do to please. me. if. i am.

thanking. now five thirty pm here in the russian capital this is our city time for your headlines fresh rounds of violence in libya as khadafi loyalists retake their former stronghold of bani walid at least five people were killed with further clashes between supporters of the old and new regimes in several cities across the country. gulf states to withdraw or observers from syria as the troubled country

rejects an arab brokered peace plan calling for president assad to go meanwhile the e.u. slaps more heavy sanctions on damascus. and india reportedly finds a way to go by iran's oil despite the e.u. embargo is set to paper black gold with the yellow report suggested iran's biggest customer china could follow suit. now here on r t it's one of europe's leading economists raising the curtain on what he thinks we can expect from the upcoming world economic forum in davos that's in our spotlight right now.

hello again the welcome to spotlight the interview show on our team i'm out here now and today my guest on the show unger's. the world economic forum is kicking off and dr during the next few days leading businessmen economists and politicians will be discussing the wells at harlem is the most pressing issue and the issues are quite a few especially after nine years those countries had their credit rating cuts this month so what should we expect to happen to the world economy and the neoprene maybe the forum in davos will be helpful so we're asking one of europe's most prominent economists former advisor to the russian government. office. on january thirteenth standard and poor's downgraded nine european countries including the stronger ones like france and austria both received

a negative outlook considering the european leaders inability to cope with the debt crisis the weaker spain and italy were downgraded to an economist say they are one step closer to the greek scenario being part of europe russia has to come up against the global challenges but as for now it's managed to cope and recon amaze still growing. players. oh mr austin the walk into the show thank you very much for coming my pleasure well on the eve of this year's davus world economic forum the organizers warrant that i quote the world is facing significant and urgent challenges that we have only on prospects for future growth and the cohesion of societies and quote while it's struck me that exactly the same words we used last year during the forum well it is

just a repetition of the same very good phrase but does that mean that the world politician the world policymakers proved unable during a year to do anything to tackle the crisis except ride war it's. a pretty accurate analysis it's discipula european politicians have not done the work you should have done and we are now coming to an end game of a euro crisis. there is a solution or bid euro zone breakdown personally i think that there will be a solution to the euro crisis and the human next quarter also we will see both of your economies bottoming out and that the solution is fine so what would have a solution be. more money is needed to provide confidence and personally i believe the fiscal adjustments that are undertaking are pretty much of

a right once the banking situation is probably becoming somewhat more stable now that we have seen substantial the leveraging and then we have a greek default that has to be completed so these are the big issues that i think will dominate the discussions in doubles this year you sound pretty optimistic speaking about the solution that you thiel or you trust will be found during the next couple of months the the forums. issues group as he calls it calls on the world leaders to deliver concrete actions to find the solution what what are these actions that could prevent the wave of the new wave of recession. i think that we are seeing a recession in europe already and probably we are seeing a decline in their g.d.p. or one percent or so in the european union this year but that's not a catastrophe

a catastrophe if we get a real financial meltdown and it. really needs to be done now it is the would be i.m.f. can mobilize the more money it's trying now to get five to six hundred billion dollars more funding and i think that is a critical issue and indeed that the greek default is properly handled so that it's a sorted out to be subject to big issues that need to be resolved and the european politicians simply need to undertake proper. decisions about we don't get the start off way and are losing credibility evermore all the time the unifying theme the unifying motto of this year's there was for him is the great transformation above this this is the sort of the the subject that all the gathering around well what kind of a transformation has the world economy facing in your opinion. of course there are

several transformations here one is about the bric countries brazil russia india and china or rising. the big emerging markets are now becoming as large a part of the world economy as. the developed economies and it's also a question of the particularly in europe that we are seeing substantial reform of the public sector. labor markets are being. deregulated public administration is becoming more efficient and finally education and health care are being reformed and we're seeing the reforms very much moving from the north and east of the european union towards the sound that is the big problem what else are in the question of transformation you mention the brics countries well no actually today when the when the with advanced economies are facing sluggish economic growth

does it mean that we are facing or we are we are ready to to witness a transformation shift of economic power from the east to the west or rather maybe from the the west to the. in newly emerging economies to the brics we have seen very very strongly for the last decade and the question is rather for whole long it will continue and i think that you are seen to use coming up the one is that europe finally is reforming itself and increasing productivity and dealing with problems better should have been handled much or. more optimistic on europe than most people are and beyond it is than the. number of countries emerging economies or approaching the middle income.

trap as it's called and if we discuss russia concretely russia has had wonderful growth for seven percent a year. for ten years until two thousand and eight and then a much lower growth rates an r.v. expect asians are three to four percent that's a grove instead and the question is if russia and other countries that are reaching with need the income level if they manage to do. reform further and reach a growth rate of five to six percent that should be possible here or if they will stay at a three to four percent growth rate you know i've talked to my priest in the bank to couple weeks ago before the new year and she said that you'd rather. keep your money in euros rather than in the u.s. dollars that's why she said so look at all those troubles she said it's a good sign when europe was saying we're winning we're all together i knew you knew

we were really to be the united states well it was so so but now when europe starts talking about severe economic problems admitting those problems and trying to solve these problems which are actually problems of growth this is a better sign than saying everything's fine do believe so it's extremely difficult to prove the exchange rate in the short term but if we discuss it in broader terms you can say about europe has an immediate crisis of them which is acute it has moving it is a step in the right direction as. i thought was same in russia in the summer of ninety eight but russia had problems that had to be resolved and instead we saw a default which i don't think was necessary but. the united states has more long term fiscal problems and it will be us is not likely to have

a crisis any time soon the. fiscal situation that is long term sustainable nine european countries including france which was a a rated yes there is ratings downgrade how does this affect the situation on the european market situation with the euro because of it it has to do with ace one is that it's a wake up call to beas countries where the should not be. particular forth from. in austria that has a aaa rating and lost it and we gather. if it is banned the european financial. stability facility lost. its standing and the situation in europe becomes moot difficult from a financial point of view to handle all s. and p.

another reaching rating agencies they are often blamed for and for for organizing for the global economic and canonic meltdown for for actually being the drivers of problems in world economy there's this reputation that they're losing doesn't still mean they still have a say in the world economic issues will they will they be listened to in dallas by the world leaders certainly have a big role because they are mainly institutions insurance companies and pension funds which are large to have. assets of the sort. rate and therefore if borne aaa rating it means that it looses a certain part of of the market in pyrrhic really. the rating agencies or tend to be behind but they are acting too late and if you take the more

securities better they gave aaa or rating. the problem was about they thought. mortgage securities mortgage basic you're it is we're better than they were so when . rating agencies are downgrading we should rather see better this means it's a really bad if even the rating agencies say this is a difficult situation what's your opinion of the efforts of the european authorities to create their own rating bodies is there is it just mean that they're angry on the rating agencies or is it a step in the right direction. the problem is wrong or that if there are only three big rating agencies is in the words about best a little competition among them and it's also a problem hall they are being financed better they are being financed by the

parties that the there are being rated to have a state border doing the raking would robbing introduces in addition and by as when we want to get rid of the biases ok thank you and we will say goodbye just for a couple of minutes just reminded of we talking to anders aslund one of the europe's most prominent economist and once an advisor to the russian government spotlight will be back to man in minutes after we take a short break so don't go do it. wealthy british style holds a spot on the title. market

why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on. me it is easy to. see. that.

a walkabout a spotlight on an arguer knob and just a reminder that my guest on the show today is mr astley and one of europe's most prominent economists and former advisor to the russian government mr austin and most of the countries today are starting to implement severe austerity measures to tackle their debt problems would you say that this is the best the politicians can do or you would expect something something more imaginative. where you can't amend . really beyond very limited. to be as it is today the euro zone has an average public ninety percent of g.d.p. and. my colleague in washington come and rinehart and harvard professor can draw golf they have. made it in period of study which shows that

if you can get over ninety percent of g.d.p. in public debt then the growth rate tends to fall by one percent but if you can you have to limit it when you come to that little well i would agree to that but when when the story to measures and taken on such a large scale and i used to tackle such such big problems they mainly penalize the the ordinary people the people that we see in the streets next day why are people have to be penalized while the banks are feeling pretty relaxed during the. periods when the governments are trying to tackle the crisis shouldn't be penalized first of all for for inadequately fulfilling their role yes they should be. have been working quite a bit with latvia.