road coming into brussels. you can see there is an industry on the left and the right, but the infrastructure is really very scary for even for daily cyclists as i am. what we are quite doing and it is also quite important if you were a town, let's say, taking off with the bicycle policy is that we have been very successful in organizing events and in setting upestal programs. of course, my criticism and the parliament was like take care. you have a big responsibility because of the events and because of the educational program, you invite people to take the bicycle on the street on a regular day, you have a big risk because your infrastructure is not yet there. so that was part of the political debate. still, i am willing to defend that policy that organizing events, this is in front of a mayor bank in the heart of brussels where the employees have been invited to come to work not by a car and to have a taste, as it says, of another mobility. it is part of the european car-free day which is organized every yea

jonathan joins us live from brussels. you give us an update. >> i can tell you that finance ministers are meeting in the building right behind me. this is also where members of the group met last night. certainly it is a matter of if, not when this bailout is going to happen. whenever ireland might say, the banks have to be bailed out. the debt being carried by ireland in the banking sector has been declared unsustainable. by a land -- ireland is not in the crisis done yet but many members are worried that this will happen. >> europe's finance ministers are in brussels. a possible bailout of the irish government is foremost on their minds. >> [unintelligible] assessing the situation of the banking sector. >> we will do what i it -- what is in britain's national interest. ireland is our closest neighbor and it is in our national interest that the irish economy is successful. britain stands ready to support ireland in the steps that need to take to bring about that stability. >> the irish government has repeatedly denied it

do we have any idea perhaps what conditions brussels might be putting on dublin? >> again, no, nothing official. again, a commission spokesperson was asked specifically to comment on the corporate tax rate in ireland which, somehow, most notably the germans and french, has been saying is not competitive and therefore perhaps should be raised -- as part of the package to give loans to ireland to help them out. we have been told behind-the- scenes the corporate tax rate is off the agenda, it is not being discussed at the moment. although, the commission's answer about questions but tense -- taxation is ireland is ireland has stood devise a budget that helps them more than just balance the books but to actually make savings and reduce that deficit in the coming years. and obviously taxation, as the irish minded -- prime minister has been saying, taxation is one of the areas of course they will looking at. >> ok, magdy, thank you so much. magdy price with clearly not a clear picture yet of what is going on in brussels. you can find out more details of the bailout bill

what i think in a way brussels just paid heed to russia's concerns about. not doing enough in terms of fighting against drug drug traffickers in afghanistan at the same time i don't think that brussels has the same concerns as russia has because brussels realizes that drugs is probably one of the pillars of the current i've got economy and if we continue fighting against drugs well that's a very sort of. high speed it will just end up having no i've got the economy at all which will lead to bigger to come because just a free the going to stop which is what i think they're trying to sort of produce an impression that. they are heeding russian russia's concerns but in fact i don't think that our positions on the rate as sort of getting getting close either way i don't think that it is happening in chile still with afghanistan or russia has become a supply route for nato troops there how successful in your opinion has this been and how important is it for nato. world made to blames the tough ones very old friends for mates in terms of being the supplier and we

the pressure on ire land is intensifying again here in brussels. e. finance ministers are meeting in the building right behind me as yet another crisis rocks the euro. at stake is the whole question of ireland's financial debt, 32% of its goodell unsustainable. that's having shock waste across the rest of the euro members. making it hard for the euro to raise their debt. that's why they are pressing ire throoned accept a bailout package. the ministers here say yes you do. you have to stop this escalating. even britain's finance minister, george, went into the meeting and said britain would also be taking part. >> we're going to do what's in britain's national interest. airplaneland is our closest neighbor and it's in our interest that we have a stable system. so we stand ready to support ireland to do what it takes to maintain that stability. >> as we heard britain there. saying it will be taking part in this. the 16 members who met last night, late into the night said they'd do whatever necessary to protect the stability of the euro. they were fine w

we will be discussing this evening how we address the difficulties. >> brussels is scared that the irish debt crisis risks spreading to the edges -- to other countries like portugal. the president of the european council said today that the very survival of the european union was at stake. >> the first year of the lisbon treaty has been clearly marked by the crisis of the eurozone. it was a period of survival. >> you could sense the tension in the irish parliament as the prime minister defended policies that have rocked financial markets. >> dealing with a crisis of such magnitude, i say that's ollie. >> ireland's problems go back the property bubble burst. it has left ireland with ghost towns and left its banks deeply in debt. the government has taking over these debts of a country as a deficit of over 30% of gdp. the problem is the financial markets don't believe austerity alone can solve ireland's debt problems. most people today [no audio] >> that is why we joined the european union -- for support in an emergency. we do have an emergency at the moment. >> if it has to happen, it has

joined by our demornt brussels and berlin, matthew price and steve evans. matthew, if i could start with you on the remarks. they do sound pretty cataclysmic, don't they? >> well, i suppose some will pick up on them and think that way. but i spoke to someone who said this isn't anything new from the president of the european council. he's voiced similar concerns in the past and other european leaders have voiced similar concerns and i think it probably would be an analysis that many in brussels would agree that the biggest threat, if you like, to the euro at the moment is the debt crisis. if the debt crisis can't be panged, then the euro could be in trouble and spell a death nell for the european union, but a spokesman points out this morning that the president to have european council uses the words again. and the finance ministers met with how to deal with the debt crisis and how to prevent it from spilling out into other european nations. so they are not the sort of words helpful at a time when they are trying to calm things down. >> certainly not helpfu

let's go now to brussels. >> it has been a day of apocalyptic language in brussels, not least from a leading member of the european institutions, the president of the european council. he says the whole future of the european union could be threatened by the debt crisis which some countries in the eurozone are suffering. it's all been triggered by what's going on in ireland, the market feeling that maybe the irish government is not doing enough to handle its debt and therefore jacking up the cost of money being went to ireland. ireland would now have to borrow money at 8% or 9%. despite that, the prime minister says in the parliament today that there was no question of going cap in hand and asking for bailout money. >> this government has, since this crisis began, take necessary steps to secure our economy and the finances of this country and provide a functioning prospect for recovery. this country [unintelligible] we made the point that we are funded up until mid 2011. >> in public, the languages crisis, what crisis? in this building in brussels, most of the evening was spent by th

that is why many in brussels question the results of the u.s. midterm elections. politically, could he use clout in international politics? at the same time, u.s. and europe administration is looking at the global financial recovery. the u.s wants to fuel economic upswings with more deficit. things could still become a bit clearer. president obama has been expected to jump this -- joined the summit with the e.u. leadership later this month. >> that is our "in debt" on the new political landscape. stay with us. -- that is our "in depth." u forget it. yourself, so don't fall. u forget it. now he tells us. how far am i off the floor? about twelve inches. twelve whole inches?

cover what's going on in brussels it says it's like watching paint dry so. if they want excitement gods and circuses where they go to the house of commons but politics is not entertainment duties considered business of how to govern the various interests and it is very sad really that. this relationship between the govern and the governors is so orpik in europe i think it's possible at this stage to then take that power and give it back to the individual countries but i think that'll happen in time because the construct which has been created the european union is getting increasingly are unmanageable. for example we have created a forty minister for the whole of europe who speaks with one voice for the whole of europe. but there's also going to be a foreign minister for twenty seven member states so how can you how one voice is william hague not to utter a word as a british foreign minister stumps of course not william hague will set out his own stall his own policies and his own agenda and so will the polish pollard restore the left we had all the estonian

presence of broad come from republican games and the midterm vote threat to china and the wrong end brussels nuclear might where all this. object of the bush era veteran. and eurozone finance ministers brainstorm of banking recovery after the e.u. president warned the single currency is facing a fight for survival britain says it's ready to help struggling are loaded with billions of pounds of direct loans. and with the nato summit just around the corner we sat down with one of its key participants to get his view on what could come out of it this way and president the new low turk says a russian partnership could play a big role in the alliances future he also discusses his country's battle with the financial crisis and whether there are any regrets about joining the e.u. . the president of slovenia thank you very much for being with us today it's my pleasure but a nato summit is coming up in couple of days and you have played an active role in promoting closer ties between russia and nato how much do you think nato has to change in order to recognize the value of partnership when labor has

from its eurozone part us it's a meeting of finance ministers in brussels it says it is not in danger of defaulting on its debt to discuss what's going on i'm joined by michael singh foreign exchange strategist from h.s.b.c. mr michael thank you very much for joining us so why is either so important to the european economy it is not very big. well that's that's the main point it may not be a big economy because and still quite a big impact for the european economy as a whole and really what it comes down to is that say conditions in our lingo a lot worse from a financial market perspective and what it could mean for the real economies elsewhere in europe is that what what what could actually happen to contagion so yes arlen has a problem but could it impacts possibly portugal even more so and eventually even the spain so this is what the market is quite nervous about it's more about the contagion risk rather than just the story by itself. but in terms of the latest bailout talks what might be the action of the currency exchange market. well i think what the what the market wants to se

headquarters there in brussels in the manhattan business district in defiance of u.n. recommendations trax is still buys congolese cult. is this texas could i speak to mr case. we don't wish to comment on a t.v. program about our politics our presence or activities in africa. they. are used to importing co ten from eastern congo the congo yes. and you know where it comes from. yes we make our checks we have our information and we do know where it comes from. we take the necessary measures to ensure that our suppliers check for us they're very sensitive about that kind of thing. according to track says the coltan brought in the congo could under no circumstances come from a war zone but trixie's own supply it sees it differently security seals will be it's difficult to distinguish between what is good and what is bad just give my view whether the minerals have been sold by an armed group or not that is going to be because in the mining zones you have the local population who work in the mines and who sell to the dealers five bills after is now illegal so yeah and in the

energy mississippi corps says it boils down to a so-called gas problem caused in brussels this will because the gas giants from buying into e.u. energy pipelines and to foreign firms can do the same in russia and interfere with r.t. court ruled that out. but these sore point in our relations guess proem has already made some investments in europe and we should protect those investments more carefully is they were in good faith trade intensive dialogue with the energy commission today and will continue to look for a mutually beneficial outcome. will russia let foreign companies use its just pipeline system as the e.u. demands on your program at this point is not up for discussion we have strict national laws completely garden monopoly control of the gas transport network from the world's most inefficient use of energy you'd go so far as to say saving energy is now your number one target and energy efficiency today is our key priority who waste four times more energy than to europe or japan because both homes and industry get power on the cheap it's affecting our competitiveness today they're

police here in brussels say they busted an islamic terrorist cell tied to russia's republic of chechnya which is planning attacks throughout europe so it is swooped on fifteen people suspected recruiting jihad is to fight in iraq and afghanistan that comes just hours after all sorties launched pre-dawn raid on homes of another eleven suspects who were tied to a chechnya linked network the belgian prosecutor's office said quote there were an international terrorist group using a stream is an internet site and saw to plan an attack it comes as part of massive coordinated raids across europe in countries like the netherlands denmark and germany where thirty one year old russian man of chechen origin was arrested suspected of training. to fight terrorist campaigns those arrested or belgian. and russian origin this is seen as among the first top level links that police have found between russia's chechen. rebel organizations and the worldwide al qaeda network and also to say those arrested are suspected of gathering recruit some money to finance a chechen terrorist organization called the ca

brussels is a kind of our next to the pentagon so even afghanistan everybody history tells us you cannot win a war against scattered tribes we choose nato mission in afghanistan they don't need all because they were more or less forced to be there according to article five of the nato charter so they are there to basically just to support the americans and try to find osama bin laden lot more and i'm and also will you which are not in afghanistan by the way they're in baluchistan or he was serious stuff so what is nato doing over there not see now they're trying to make an arrangement with the russians so they can extract their through through tragic is that in the biggest and russian territory. buying influence doesn't come cheap the promoter can tax payers of funding and to their cost the u.s. is spending billions of dollars to finance opposition politicians and parties overseas that fit in with washington's foreign policy plans well in the second part of a special report makes artie's jihan her visit explains how it's being. a. great party but who's picking up the tab apparently the a

because you cannot every anyone who's been to brussels know that you cannot in brussels if you know even to agree on the sauce you're going to have with your stick can't imagine when a foreign military and economic walls drive there's no greater example of the discontent with nato it's called thinking we think we're on the state that live there would be filled thousand right i mean by protesting the alliance and it i mean. by that. we don't want to we don't think it's necessary it's awful for example for us and so a country in crisis is spending so much money on something it's cold war what we have is a very powerful military alliance with no democratic accountability the leader is announcing the statements no problem and is going to get a chance to vote on it and as a result everyone's military expenditure is going to go up the message is entirely wrong nato is out of date now out of time and we need a world of peace and justice not one of preparing for yet more wars and after introducing a new strategic concept to high hopes at the summit nato's challenge now is to turn concept into re

and the irish government has also been in touch with brussels over concerns that it may need a bailout. we have the latest from our correspondent in athens and our european business reporter, nigel cassidy. >> very little has changed in ireland. ireland's leaders spent much of the day trying to reassure the financial world they had the cash for the next year. in ireland with its bond out banks, they look to be the one in the same. 80 billion euros was on the table. politicians said there was pressure from outside to take it. >> there is a lot of pressure on the government is shifting between sovereign debt and bank debt. the speculation is stacking on the banking situation, removing the sovereign situation. >> today, the irish government maintain that no aid had been asked for. >> we have really dealer contacts -- regular contact. it is very normal. >> but the german chancellor made clear the survival of the single currency is going to be a main concern at the meeting in brussels tomorrow. >> i am telling you, everything is at stake. if europe fails, then europe fails. and with that th

police here in brussels the. islamic terrorist cell tied to russia's republic of chechnya which is planning attacks route three throughout europe and this evening or thor it is fifteen people suspect of recruiting jihad is to fight in iraq and afghanistan it comes just hours after or storage is launched pre-dawn raid on homes of another eleven suspects who were tied to a cicily are linked network the belgian prosecutor's office said quote there were an international terrorist group using extremist internet sites and saw al mujahideen to plan an attack it comes as part of massive coordinated raids across europe in countries like the villains denmark and germany where thirty one year old russian of chechen origin was arrested suspected of training jihadists to fight in terrorist campaigns those arrested or belgian dutch moroccan and russian origin are these arrests being seen as yet more proof the chechen terrorists are just part of a wider structure. you know this is seen as among the first top level links that po

independence party as you are joining us from brussels thank you. world news update for you brief a perfect splosion pakistan's largest city killing at least ten and wounding nearly one hundred others and destroyed a police building in karachi and happened close to the heavily fortified u.s. embassy emergency crews are searching for survivors in the rubble witnesses say the crater left by the blast suggests it may have been a car bomb the. iraqi leaders have agreed to create a unity government after eight months of political standoff nouri al maliki will serve as prime minister for another term under the new deal which includes parties from the shia sunni and kurd most times we go see ations been ongoing since election should march failed to produce a decisive result it's hoped the deal will help stabilize the country's fragile security situation. millions of people across europe are marking armistice day paying tribute to the victims of all conflicts since the first world war these are pictures of the two minute silence held in london to remember t