breaking news this hour the egyptian high court has declared all parliamentary seats void there it also allows us made should think the former premier of the ousted leadership to run for presidency ahead of the runoff this weekend and there are now fears it's all a throwback to the pre-revolutionary regime examine that ahead plus a suicide car bomb explosion in just ten in damascus with syrian officials saying terror tactics of being stepped up to pave the way for foreign military intervention. and a russian opposition journalist claims he was threatened with death by the country's top investigator but the official has dismissed the accusations as the ravings of a mad. it's

five pm here in moscow this is r.t. coming to live with me kevin now in our top story the breaking news hundreds of police and troops of former security ring around egypt's high court which has declared in the last void a third of the parliamentary seats from the recent election it also allowed. the former premier of the ousted leadership to run for presidency ahead of the runoff this weekend all this after egypt's government restored the army's power to arrest civilians that's something that's only usually allowed in a state of emergency as part of cairo based journalist and blogger while eskander told me to move may mean a return to the revolution. the military would do everything in its power to get to presidency and the point they would take every measure to every oppressive measure to crackdown on dissent and things would be it would reproduce the mubarak

regime once again this is an expansion of the military presence presence in egypt and it. direct contradiction to the promise of the military to hand over power because at this moment they seem to want to grab on to power by extending the power of the police what has happened is that they've given the police a boost by adding in military officers and personnel that have the same role as the police but this time without any kind of supervision because they only respond to a military prosecution and military judiciary and this gives gives the military impunity to act as they wish without any questioning from the civilian parties head of the presidential run off the muslim brotherhood's warning that the military could effectively take control of the country even after that election but it's islam is domination that some fear the most especially the countries women. picks

up the story. she's young and ambitious and planning to become egypt's next president but she needs to wait ten years until she turned forty so she can run not for the sake of you know winning the seat or so but for the sake of proving that egyptian women can do with it but they're not doing it at the moment this woman trying to run for president this time around and couldn't even get the fifty thousand signatures to qualify our it wilson is for the equality states or the freedom for the dignity and when this value those values when success we can see a woman president but with radical islam on the rise and the muslim brotherhood's candidate making it to the presidential runoff the fact that women played an important role in the demonstrations that brought down mubarak doesn't mean much the number of women in the egyptian parliament has fallen from twelve percent before the revolution to just two percent now and that's despite the fact that some

fifty one percent of egypt is female noticeably absent from the presidential election campaign trails was the issue of women rights and women equality leaving many egyptian women to fear that in the post mubarak period their lives will get worse afaf crème has been trying for five years to divorce her husband but divorce is tough to achieve and with an islamic influence it will only get tougher i don't want to go whatever deep i don't mind giving up all my financial rights even the money left to me by my father who recently died my husband doesn't give me any money and he treats me barry badly after a brutal cream is hoping the courts rule in her favor even if their means she'll be out on the street with nothing but she wants the judge to decide soon before hardcore islamised get into power and human rights activists like dr side i bring him are worried the future. over in the countries. to the role of women.

the full equality of women. living in the undermine their. members it is the handlers. in the road to progress to for development and so widely and might be inspiring her generation and she's received awards from around the globe for her fearlessness in tweeting and blogging about the revolution more people are asking if it's possible that the revolution that was supposed to liberate its people might just land up in slaving at least a part of it policy r.t. cairo. so egypt is about to decide who will have the state's top job them but it still lacks a constitution of course and next more of an r.t. we'll hear from an expert about how he thinks that's affecting the path to democracy. we were told just say we are going to solve the problem with the presidential election that's not going to happen then look at what is happening

there so we have even people saying we have to stop the whole the process because even the fact that we have someone who is representing the regime they should be how come then be still here where they were saying that we need to put in the constitution that the people who are from the old regime cannot present themselves for the next ten years but you cannot come with this because it's not in the constitution and constitution is going to be written after the election it's a mess it's not there is no transparency and how can you speak about democracy procedures if there is no transparency in do with. the syrian capital has been rocked by a powerful blast that's left ten people wounded in a suicide bomber set off a car bomb near one of the holy shia shrines there which attract tens of thousands of pilgrims around the world it's believed the blast was targeting a security police department office located nearby that explosion came just days after the release of a video in which al qaeda second in command called on islamists to help rebel

groups fight syrian government forces syria's ambassador to moscow says the opposition is using increasingly violent tactics to pave the way for foreign interference. syria is now under an organized terrorist attack some of the world's mean powers are behind those acts and they also fun terror the syrian government strives to stay committed to the unarmed peace plan but we are constantly provoked by terror groups and we have to respond to those provocations just as the syrian government has absolutely no interest in murdering defenseless people it's armed terrorist groups who are responsible for human rights violations and bloodbaths and syria that is being done to justify foreign intervention in the creation of buffer zones. the syrian ambassadors also deny that of moscow's supplying the assad regime with attack helicopters allegations earlier also refuted by the russian foreign minister lucy cuff and off looks at where the claims came from and the bust response that followed. while the top top u.n.

official may have labeled the syrian conflict a full fledged civil war according to the u.s. secretary of state russia could actually be to blame for the escalating crisis secretary of state hillary clinton to raise some eyebrows and stirred some diplomatic controversy on tuesday when she insisted that russian attack helicopters were on their way to syria take a look we have confronted the russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to to syria and we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from russia to syria now washington seemed to be caught off guard by a secretary of state hillary clinton's remarks in which stumped even the pentagon's own spokesman can you provide any details as to what kind of helicopters where they live or how are they being delivered. i have not seen reporting that

indicates. that the russians are providing attack helicopters to the syrians i have just not seen that now while washington was left to sort out his confusion over the comments russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov was very clear in his denial of those allegations that yes we are currently fulfilling a preexisting signed and paid for contracts for one of these contracts are related to defense only and exclusively we do not export to syria or anywhere else or anything that could be used against peaceful demonstrators because you believe that's markedly different to the united states which regularly ships such weapons to the region just recently one such shipment arrived in a certain persian gulf state but for some reason the u.s. considers this normal when you're now russian attack helicopters are in hot demand right now that's because the u.s. pentagon spends millions to buy russian made seventeen's on behalf of the afghan air force. moody's has slashed spain's credit rating to near junk status today in

the latest blow to a struggling economy that's after e.u. leaders agreed to provide spanish banks with a bailout iran of the week as the country's unable to rescue the banking sector on its own cyprus too is also been affected by the great escape speed on this earth seems to be to move it down because the r.t. business center news desk the proverbial rain in spain it continues to pour there's an investor saying about it well basically on the stock market the reaction has been quite moderate so far but on the bond market we did see a jump to a new era high of more than seven percent seven point zero one percent in yields for ten year bonds and spain and any value above seven percent means a much higher risk of danger zone of a nation defaulting on its debt but it has since come down to around six point nine percent the yields and this is all because not only moody's downgraded the rating by three notches but is also put the rating on further review so that in the end in

the future we could see further downgrades i'll tell you more about that around twenty minutes time. yes thanks to retrieve more of those big issues later to do on this later today on this show most cars of stacy herbert focusing on what they say is fraud dressed up as rescue measures. being bailout terms to be agreed within a week urgency reflects a growing consensus that spanish class might start chain reaction that could topple italy and destroy the euro well you know it's pretty much all the game and some are more well known than others the greeks or the spanish or the irish they are the instinct they're too polite to question the con artists because they're talking they wear suits they have nice hands you know they come in there and they target good game and they want maybe we're wrong maybe we're the ones that need to really examine what our position and they're very polite and they can. as to walk out the door with their money step broder get their pockets picked by too big to fail banks

don't waste your time a good liar lives and then look. russia's top investigators denied allegations he took an opposition journalist to a forest where he threatened to kill him alexander her street can call the accusations put forward by a russian newspaper the ravings of a madman artist peter oliver has more on the story would seem there is a scandal brewing in russia with on one side the country's leading opposition newspaper and on the other russia's most senior investigated nothing i guess yet as editor posted an article in which he claims one of his journalists was taken to woods in russia where threats were made against his life by the head of the investigative committee this all stems from an emotional and very opinionated article which the journalist wrote where he was damning of the investigative agency

in the work which they do now this resulted in a heated exchange between the chief of the investigative agency and the journalist in question well the chairman of the investigative committee in russia alexander that he can and has denied out of hand all of the allegations against him going as far as to describe them as the delirium of an inflamed brain and accusing the newspaper of publishing a blatant and shameless article now he categorically denies that any journalist was abducted he does say that there was a heated exchange an emotional exchange and perhaps he got a little over a motional more emotional than he should have done for a man in his position during that exchange we have the reaction from the via has yet to here it is. mostly concerned about the safety of our journalists and we want guarantees for that we might have certain proof but it's not the most important thing we do it coming out with the accusations because we expected a meeting with mr best strike and. and wanted to settle everything peacefully we

sent our journalists of abroad until we get guarantees of his safety and bullshit. is the newspaper which investigative journalist anna politkovskaya wrote for before she was murdered in two thousand and six now there is expected to be a meeting between the editor in chief of the newspaper and the head of the investigative committee later on on thursday we'll bring you all the latest on that as soon as we get it here on r.t. here is more of a doxie dot com don't forget in culture they're all stories you've missed and a lot more too like these. gambling on red stay with me his body is currently in but open to the public at the most a limb of course is highly famous most of them on moscow's red square but now bookmakers are taking bets on where and when even lenin might be going when to be buried where he'll be buried small amount on line. and most americans agree that the best way to elect authorities is direct democratic voting but in one texas city

it seems a throw the dice may be enough find out more about tito call. it all make sense and i can promise you a raging recession social problems soaring the two go hand in hand and in ireland growing a drug addiction is among the many difficulties being faced there now as artie's laura smith explains next a government struggling to keep the country's economy afloat also struggling to foot the bill for people trying to get off drugs as well. it's a tale of two cities a happy go lucky dublin where locals and tourists shop drink and make mary rubbing shoulders with the seedy underbelly telamon blocks where the poor struggle to make ends meet and drug workers estimate one person in sixty takes heroin tony gagan

runs a needle exchange and rehab program where he sees marginalized people who take a cocktail of drugs leading often to crime and recessions making it worst he's seeing eleven new people a week. when people have less disposable income and can't find work or can't find no. more recourse. you know which in turn. takes off on people you know it's a two way street between drugs and crime and knoll not his real name is recovering from years of drug addiction his is a story of economic privation and boredom leading to drugs and the breakdown of relationships with family friends and community when what i was saying or more to says is. we lived on social welfare and my father would have been around. to. know did everything except heroin finding his

brother dead from an overdose as a teenager saw to that he's in a four month rehab program partly funded at least for now by the state work isn't getting any easier for the people who run vital drug programs in drop incenses needle exchanges seventeen week residential course it's none of that is cheap to run and despite increasing numbers of adding death threats against a drug and rehab center the seeing that government funding for like every year state drug program contributions are being slashed by ten percent a year and for them. varies drop in center for the homeless waiting lists a growing from a few days to weeks or months he says addicts need immediate attention something they're less than less likely to get the become tomorrow's the say no point in even trying i'm never going to do it so how they can access to treatment programs to my

mind is vital if in this fight against drugs the treatment programs in ireland are hopelessly inadequate and as the recession bites even harder they won't get any better with disastrous consequences for addicts for communities and for society laura smith r.t. dublin the ongoing dispute over the falkland islands between britain and argentina will be discussed by a u.k. committee later a un rather committee later today in new york it's thirty years to the day since the war over the british territory ended around nine hundred people died in the ninety two conflict before argentinean troops surrendered argentina says the british illegally occupied the falklands which of course of melvina is almost two hundred years ago islanders will hold a referendum next year than in the future political analyst martin mccauley says it's what lies off the island's coast though that's fueling the dispute. it's if you like a signal to start is that the focus is or is the argentinians call them last month

venus wish to stay part of britain and don't wish to become a province of argentina if you look at the leg which is coming from what is r a's there argentina government is using very very strong language and some people might say threats about security of the falkland islands the falklands have been claimed by spain britain france and even the dutch and the i.g. to claim is a very simple one but argentina is concerned about structure. under the water there the idea to you to discover. that it's possible that the extent whites through to the. british companies. prospecting for the wrong to foreclose so we see find. that makes. strategically

and economically very very important and. of course very very wealthy. also making headlines this thursday afternoon british prime minister david cameron will testify in front of a u.k. media ethics inquiry saying press regulations need to improve cameras come under fire after the phone hacking scandal rupert murdoch's now defunct news of the world tabloid british officials are accused of helping the media giant avoid investigation cameron is also being criticised for the way he handled murdoch's bid to take over british sky. its culture in the race was large areas of central china is triggered mudslides and forced hundreds of people from their homes one person is missing and officials are set up shelters to house the people displaced by flooding but it is also work to try to save one man trapped amid the raging waters successfully though they did manage to pull them ashore one hour after of the rescue effort started the emergency repairs are underway to with several highways have been destroyed by the landslides and cave ins. classified

documents highlighting the obama administration's achievements in his war on terror have been leaked to the us media the white house is facing tough criticism for what some claim was a deliberate league for the sake of political gain one former foreign service officer at the state department believes the now public documents paint the president as a hypocrite. the leaking information it papers you is not unique to obama i think what's unique you are two things first the secrecy of these infor of this information the stuxnet worm the things that are going on in iran this raid that killed bin ladin information came out in those instances that was beyond top secret and was known to very few people that's something new coupled with obama's aggressive persecution of whistleblowers his use of the espionage act that's the other side of this story and that's the other thing that's unique in this case obama's ratings go up he watches the polls very carefully they put out this

information that he practically does these things himself with his bloody hands and his popularity goes up so this information was being kept secret from who from us the american people and is being released now who incidentally in the run up to a contested election to make obama look like superman superman with blood on his hands and somehow that now appeals to american voters. big business news today spain's borrowing costs a fresh moody's cup we'll talk about that on their own with you dmitri also oil is in the spotlight as well prices been pretty low lately that's going to affect rusher i guess as it were to change well it could actually change because we're having in one hour's time and we're having a meeting in there in vienna of the opec nations that it's all about production quote says so you know these could be moved this or that way i think crease would decrease depending on who gives in to whom you know which side let's actually talk more about that with. oil and gas analysts that renesas capital in london and we

are going to see you so what do you expect to come out i think areas well what do you expect to come out of that meeting in vienna today well. interest in them enough not much at all i mean our expectations on expectations of the broader market are that the existing thirty million barrel a day quality well not be changed if you look at that fundamentally hundred dollar oil. it has it's a good balancing point it's good for producers because it's not leading to demand destruction and that's good for the countries that the biggest oil consumers because it is low enough not to slow down the kind i'm a growth and the saudis have been specifically targeted in this kind of a hundred dollar plus minus five box range so it seems like the status quo is here to stay so you don't think that countries like venezuela and iran could have some weight in pushing production to be to be decreased. not valium and if you know if you look at the way the balance of power because of work that was on the cartel over the past several years the one the only poor idea that can swing the policy

appen down have been the saudis because they are the only country with a substantial enough spare capacity that is not being utilized right now and they they you know they had just that well prize way taking the capacity bringing it on the market and taking it off the market and actually if you if you look what has been happening over the past month and you can see it from the i.a.e.a. that the saudis have gradually started to take some of the capacity or the more i get a little bit now they still have a place in the volumes that have disappeared because of the and sanctions so the market is adequate the supply but they have been lifting the prize that they've been asking for their cargoes a little bit is there a buy incentivise in the consumers to cut back on the purchases so iran sanctions are just a fortnight away from coming into force do you think that factor has been priced in already you know. yeah i think i think that is what we don't know the way the market is going to work exactly but just in terms of any place in the volumes i think the saudis will be more than capable of replacing you know deflation whatever

has come of the market so far i mean. you know any and experts have always said that from two and a half million a barrels a day to one and a half with no evidence just that option and that in the in the global crude market and if you you know if you think if you think the last year when they live beyond civil war as they can one point six million barrels a day of production capacity of the more i get that well put i stayed you know what and that is a number in the ad ends because the gulf states were able to actually talks of them all right and your colleagues at credit suisse bank have today issued their forecast for the oil price saying that global imbalances right now much worse than seen in two thousand they expect prices to fall to fifty dollars a barrel what do you think about that i mean typically typically we don't comment on competition that is serious but to me. it is we have seen oil at fifty dollar level it's not the brought that out of the possibilities but i find the

difficulty imagining that anyone in the you know what's in the existing supply demand environment would be taking fifty dollars a barrel as their base case assumption. you know that's the spare capacity is still very limited as it is at the end of the day is going to be additive and but by what happens to the demand trends both in china and europe but i mean if you're talking about fifty dollars oil to your talking about global broad based economic collapse and i might not be an economist i'm just i'm just an oil analyst but i don't think we're anywhere close to that yet all right and you have all of the senior oil and gas and those that are nation's capital in london thank you so much for your time. thanks for that move quickly over to some market figures we've got time for that oil right now is looking at above eighty three dollars per barrel barely for light sweet sub half a dollar and brant is moving downwards they have been very much in correlation lately so we'll see what happens next when we have maybe some of the some

information from that opec meeting we were talking about now in in europe european markets also moving down words around more than half percent this is after moody's as we mentioned earlier in the program downgraded spain's rates by three notches to near junk status and we did see bonds go up above seven percent which is a new europe era high but they've now come back down to greece's actually feeling much better is up around seven percent the market ahead of its crucial elections and finally in russia we're seeing the r.t.s. in the my six decline around how the percent but that's kind of logical it's a correction after several sessions of gains we've seen the previous week one of the best weeks of this year and the moving there my six financial stocks are leading the losses with bt down point eight percent well lukoil is actually now up a force of a percent despite easing off the oil price. has all we have time for this hour be

back in one hour to tell you more ok thanks so much to me trick coming up to expert opinion fear about what the future holds for debt ridden europe after you brought your world today with the latest news headlines live from our team or sco just ahead.

the. comfort is the least you have. the money is the last you need to if you travel this way. language is common i'll get you and the. emotions are intense. and experience priceless. the. thing is so.