, watch europe. it's going to start to fall apart and they're going to start rioting in the streets and i read the book, right? was i nuts at that time? your friends all said, crazy. right? and greece was the one to watch. greece and france. now, here is greece. greece became the leader. and greece was the one that they said, if it's going to fall, it will pull everybody down. >> they saw potential domino. the economist refer to it. greece is not a huge component of the european community, but it starts it. they're concerned if that starts, then what happens to the other and the dominoes because many of them are insuring greece's safety. so if it starts to roll, it would start with greece. >> come here. greece is a state of the european union. >> it is. >> they're a capital s. it's a state. sovereign nation. so a state in the european union. tell me about greece. >> it makes up a small percentage? terms of its economy. when we talk about the european community or the european common, it's 2.5% of the

london erupts in protest in response to the latest in a string of government austerity cuts in europe thousands of students intrigued units flooded the streets of parliament asking new log crippling university tuition fees and a fat cat deal even with unemployment and homelessness in the us out of a fifty year high the country's largest banks may pay out record bonuses early to help the wall street at least avoid paying higher taxes. and the arrest of the wiki leaks founder shows the west has no right to dictate to others what democracy means according to russian prime minister vladimir putin he was commenting as moscow demands an explanation from nato by the online whistle blower suggesting the alliance has secret defense plans against russia in eastern europe despite the ongoing reset relations. up next our debate show cross talk host peter labelling his gaffes discuss whether the euro's days may be numbered stay with us. well we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from around russia. we've got the future covered. and you can. follow in welcome to cross talk i'm peter

issue that means if the euro really will go then europe also will drown europe needs to have one was and has to be one power and this power is only defined by a currency by a common currency if this currency this current currency is falling then europe lose its voting rights in the world and this is what the politicians are well aware of so they will do everything to keep the euro alive of course if the periphery falls german will be the lender and at the end of the day also germany will all fall finally if we have interest rates of four five six percent also germany is not able to beare this and so we will have big problems there's no other way then germany has to pull out of the euro if this is a possible or practical way this is of course another question but i don't think the german politicians are going to pull out of the euro they will stay there until the end. over on our website tonight amongst all the gloom as europe's leading the financial pinch we have some good news but a practical move may be a god so saving money would buy some top tips for shopping. and six. but it all

helped investors look past festering concerns in europe. found in europe the footsie finished up more than two percent the dax gained two point seven percent at the close which was the biggest gain in three months as investors speculated that the saudi debt crisis may force european central bank policymakers to expand their arsenal at their meeting on thursday for shared funds to six point two percent off to investors approved a six point six billion dollars stock sale to reduce the comic was debt before its margin with books fog and distant croup and climbed with metal prices. and in russia the mindsets of the r.t.s. finished wednesday session most of the blue chips were high with gas from leading the gains it shows sort of four point seven percent this comes off to the german energy company on sold as we in the hopes and stake in the bush and gas giant. royal dutch shell and brawn plan to expand their partnership and explore while in western siberia and russia along with distribution projects and you're the companies have not revealed the

a grand staircase leads to galleries that are among the best in europe. the hapsburgs were enthusiastic collectors and much of the artwork created in territories claimed by the empire found its way back to vienna. peter paul rubens was appointed to the service of a hapsburg governor in brussels, where he painted many of his exuberant portraits. and you'll find works of many other old masters, including raphael's madonna in the meadow... rembrandt... there's an especially good collection of pieter breughel the elder and his superb landscapes and genre scenes. the museum's collection is so large you'd be better off concentrating on just a few areas, or, even better, returning for a second visit. just across the street, vienna's magnificent new museumsquartier unites baroque buildings with avant-garde architecture. always a generous patron of the arts, the city recently opened this cultural complex on the site of the old imperial riding stables. the center draws together fresh, offbeat exhibits... working artists in residence... and inventive galleries in a

all western europe. different food different people different attitude basically a nice treat because a lot of people say luck or like to go to russia. but now it's a world cup and a cultural thing altogether it might be a good foot to football fans get a warm welcome here in russia yeah i mean generally if the fans behave themselves if the don't irritate anyone always there was one welcome think about it that's the champions league final back in two thousand and eight man united playing chelsea know everything there was a bit of a rumble beforehand that they could be some crowd problems that could be some trouble there with british fans not always having the best reputation but that kind of works off ok and indeed we saw the british fans saying that you know they were quite happy with what they saw and they were treated quite well well that's exactly what i said i mean the france came together was british fans against british fans and they gained if you take the locals much and they didn't interfere and

but for children all over europe, the snow spelled good news. in many places, school was canceled. >> one man says his organization faces an aggressive and secretive investigation by u.s. authorities. he said he believes the u.s. justice department will try to have him extradited on chars of espionage. his website has drawn anger from politicians around the world with its release of thousands of secret american diplomatic cables. the wikileaks founder has been released from a british jail and is fighting extradition to sweden. authorities want to question him over allegations of sexual assault, charges which he denies. >>> with the things going wrong elsewhere, germany continues to get it right. europe's sovereign debt worries have failed to dent the german economic recovery. the business climate index is ending the year at a fresh record high. the 7000 companies participating in the monthly survey are more optimistic about their current business situation and their outlook for the next six months. retailers in particular have given an upbeat as

and on the other side of the atlantic president bush is for common security any europe telling the always that the stereotypes of the past have to be overcome. it's the last kick of the game for the football world cup is trying to impress people officials a day before they make their choice with russia among the favorites to host in twenty eight. you're watching r t broadcasting live from moscow welcome to the program top story now president obama has used his last opportunity to push for u.s. legislators to ratify the nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia before the holidays as republicans continue to stall the process balmer once the senate to put aside political squabbles and focus on security. following the meeting in washington. obama basically has two weeks or so to have his arguably major foreign policy achievement passed by the senate and his pushing really hard the christmas break is coming up and after the holidays if by then the treaty is still not ratified there will be some dark days awaiting obama started more republican senators will come will take office than many of t

europe's wary of the threat of islamic extremism with the recent arrests over a suspect. along with other incidents fueling the problem. you shall. song desperate measures to confront consumerism us as the country's financial troubles don't seem to have cured america's credit card . news twenty four seven this is. him and his business partner sentenced to fourteen years in prison for all investment. money laundering both men were coming to the end of the previous. ruled. out of an hour joins us live outside the courthouse here in moscow. so they've been sentenced to thirteen years bring us bring us up to date. was a very a long process a much awaited decision of course ever since the reading of the verdict began on monday everybody was guessing exactly when the most interesting after the guilty verdict of course part of the verdict the exact amount of prison time that could and his former colleagues will receive exactly when that will be announced many were guessing that the verdict could take as long as two weeks to read of course how long the previous verdict took and m

hope you come out of the euro and get back to having euro currency fresh protests sweeping across europe against the need to bail out failing economies with italy among the next risk following the fates of greece and. president the better calls on the leading players and european security to push aside the stereotypes of the past and work together for the sake of future stability. this is r.t. welcome is one am here in moscow is kevin owen with a top story for you the fight for the right to host football's world cup presented its final stage with candidate countries making their last presentations russia's bread for the twenty eighteen tournament said to be one of the strongest but it does face stiff competition from western europe as you'd expect our team covering this event comprehensively telstra city is reporting the fifth media center. now we saw a lot more of the big names coming into town i was just at the headquarters convoys coming in the media waiting outside so there's a lot of excitement surrounding the event of course well we've heard that prime minister vladimir putin won't

campaign we the british people have never been asked whether we want to be in the united states of europe we were asked did we want to be in a common market a trading regime yes we did back in seventy five but do we want to be in it now i said the british people must be given the choice and seventy five percent of british people the latest poll agree with the e.u. referendum come by and we should be asked do we want to be in or out now we've got a position we've got students rioting on the streets yesterday protesting on the streets of london and they've been doing it for several weeks now this will continue because what's actually happening is we're increasing all the government the coalition government trying to increase education fees to go into higher education to nine thousand pounds a year with out of welfare benefit cuts of seven billion pounds but that's the same amount of money seven billion pounds sterling that we're going to give to ireland to help them out of their present situation and we're not even members of the your side i think people in britain get very angry it's a com

lack tribulation you know agree with you rodney in your analysis that it's well why it isn't just europe i would agree gentlemen gentlemen i think it's very very interesting is we brought in the comparison of the united states because it seems to me over the last two years or so it countries are can fail ok they can fail in a sense it's banks they can't fail the banking system isn't allowed to fail and that's one of the things that's very very interesting here is because it's saving the banks and then it doesn't really care where what's happening on the ground because they're so far away from the people anyway and it sure in there if they're like they went in to save the banks of greece the is going to save the banks of ireland because it's all internet acted that way so it really cuts away from the real economy go ahead rodney. yes that there is an elite and unfortunate that view of things is reinforced by mainstream neo classical economics which basically says the banks may create money administration costs and interest and then can lend it for any reason and the more lending that they

well russia is looking to build greater stability across europe in asia especially in europe borders that's according to victor mizzen a political analyst from moscow's institute of strategic assessment who says such conditions are important for the country's modernization. russia is not seeking any kind of confrontation because the. where from call is salted to you know where you see. the boy told the interests of russia security also calling for angels goes where sibylla it is for any kind of various forms but what russia wants it's a very secure environment especially on its borders because we needed for the on the go in very deep. large scale but then if they show which just invisibility of cold war and i think the russian diplomacy was the way to active person be it in the last year we're going forward very interesting the very innovative bulls also these should you draft three deal in european security including. well russia's premier of legendary putin has also been discussing the country's security policy and an interview with american t.v. host larry kane he says moscow want

western europe. different food different people different attitude basically nice street because a lot of people say like or like to go to russia people forced from you but now it's a world cup and a cultural thing altogether in my view the world we hockey for sickleave year but we're getting to it and a lot of people are coming to the ground to the domestic football and obviously the world cup the big un never been hold in russia and i think it will be of great interest and the fans will be welcoming and really the eighty it's time the football hooligans policy or whatever but after this policy might change their might say oh we're back off we are too old now for this and this security security wise russia is really trained to take to take really serious situations not even the full football hooligan violence now we're saying that yes we want it and we're not going to turn we wanted to lympics we wanted to lympics and now we've got lympics now we want the big football we went and we want to have it

and is ready to resolve differences of a conventional arms in europe. has more from astronaut. president it has sad that. our vision for security and cooperation in europe is currently seriously outdated indeed the last overseas summit took place eleven years ago and a lot has changed in relations between russia and or c. in the past eleven years relations have been severely damaged during the hears of a bush administration and russia had to pull out soles agreements of conventional arms in europe because all the u.s. plans to deploy its missile defense shield in europe and russian president has said that there's a need to modernize always seen of course because of the reset relations between russia and the united states as well as recently during his annual address to the nation russian president has said that there is no other way forward but for russia to cooperate with nato on its a.m.d. plans for europe and to introduce nuclear warheads otherwise and nother arms race will begin he also spoke of the end of his ability of security and the pan europea

london erupts in protest in response to the latest in a string of government austerity cuts in europe thousands of students and trade unionists flooded the streets as parliament narrowly passed a new law triple the university tuition fees. deal even with unemployment and homelessness in the u.s. at a fifty year high the nation's largest banks made record bonuses early to help the wall street elite ovoid paying higher taxes. the arrest of the wiki leaks founder shows the west has no right to dictate to others what democracy means according to russian prime minister vladimir putin he was commenting as moscow demands an explanation from nato after a leaked by the online whistleblower suggesting the alliance has secret defensive plans against russia in eastern europe despite ongoing resets in relations up next our debate show cross talk this time host paedo a bell and his gas discuss whether the euro's days may be numbered stay with us coming your way next. if you can. follow in welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle a currency in crisis and under siege what does the future hold for the

often, this is equated with europe. europe is more than the european union. there is iceland and norway and switzerland, others in the southeastern part of europe. and this is a country that has survived the economic and financial downturn. and this leads me to the question, what is your government view on the enlargement of the view. iceland -- we're both negotiating, trying to become members. i would like to know your view, of the turkish entrance into the european union. >> with the european character, this is very european. this was -- we have the homogeneous comments. the european union must be close, and we have to have the association, with a different cooperations. norway is a european country. this does not want to clearly be in the structure. we have access to the european markets. we have to respect this. and we cannot really make this a member of the european union. poland is the last countries -- we have become a member of this and we want to close the door to the club. those who meet the criteria, those who commit to the criteria, this is alimen

europe to date now from the news desk on his year with the latest business stay with us. welcome to our business program i'm sure on. russia's hydro power holding us hydro has expanded its ambitions along with its investment plans it will spend at least three billion dollars on new plants while modernizing old ones will stay out by about a thousand megawatts profits are up ten percent so far this year at over seven hundred million dollars in the first half of two thousand and ten. the investment program for the next three years was confirmed next year we plan to invest over three billion dollars around twenty percent will finance the technical upgrade of the existing plants the rest will fund construction of new hydro power facilities oaky priority is to increase the value of the company in this regard the asian market offers outstanding opportunities the region has vast hydro power resources it also enjoys growing economies and business. as a company representing a whole segment in the energy industry we're interested in a wide range of cooperation from engineering to ex

interest to agree to it because europe is an economy that is slowing. so we need these agreements and this should be about trade, this should be about consumption and production and if necessary they could also be about dealing with currency issues. >> rose: what kind of rules and regulations should there will be with respect... and what should the international body of nations agree on in terms of rules having to do with capital requirements, having to do with other rule making that might affect the financial sector of every country. >> rose: charlie, you're absolutely right. this is the second big issue. growth is the first issue, a financial system that works at a global level is the second issue. and i'm worried, because, you know, individual countries are having to deal with the problems of their individual banking systems. but if we don't have a coordination of that across the world, then we will still again have a race to the bottom. and i think what caused the biggest problems in the financial crisis where the people were able to adopt financial

also missile defense for europe must be addressed and u.s. officials should watch what they say we may reveal details of my dear prudence interview with american t.v. veteran larry king. but first another eurozone country another threat of an imminent bow out italy is the third largest economy that uses the euro and there are now fears it may start plunging in the same direction as greece and ireland with the euro failing the amount of money it costs rome to lend to debt ridden countries is rising dramatically spain portugal and belgium are also at risk of being pulled into the crisis of doubts about the future of the single currency and the e.u. itself have been intensified by fresh protests sweeping across europe people are angry at facing savage cuts to pay for it all european parliament member nigel farrar says countries are trapped inside the euro zone and should get out to save their colonies. if spain went down remember that the debt they've got is about seven times the size of them so we'd be talking there about three hundred fifty bi

helped investors look past festering concerns in europe. and europe the footsie finished up more than two percent the dax gained two point seven percent at the close which was the biggest gain in three months as investors speculated that the sovereign debt crisis may force european central bank policymakers to expand their arsenal at their meeting on thursday for shared found six point two percent off to investors approved a six point six billion dollars stock sale to richie's big company because debt before its merger with blanks fog and just encourage and sells could have climbed with metal prices. and in russia the my six on the r.t.s. to next wednesday session up most of the blue chips were higher that counts from losing the gains its shares so what four point seven percent this comes off to the german energy company on soldiers trying to help percent stake in the russian gas giant. russia's hydro apollo holding bruce hydro has. some bushes along with its investment plans it will spend at least three billion dollars on new plans while m

and on the other side of the atlantic president bush is for common security in europe telling the always seize summit that the stereotypes of the past have to be overcome. but we should be doing is saying to our friends and we will help you come out of the euro and get back to having euro currency as a new wave of anti austerity protests across european capitals experts say it's time to reconsider the euro zone's membership policy. because it's the last kick of the game for the football world cup betters trying to impress fifo officials a day before they make their choice for rochelle among the favorites to host in twenty eighteen. that's three pm here in moscow this is r t coming to you live with me and he said now a first stop president obama has used his last opportunity to support for u.s. legislators to ratify the nuclear arms reduction treaty with russia before the holidays as republicans continue to stall the process obama wants the senate to put aside political squabbles and focus on security cam is following the meeting in washington. obama basically has two weeks or so to have

given free air time and the country known as europe's last dictatorship. and in other news this week thousands of europeans are rage against tough austerity cuts across the continent politicians struggle to slash debt at a summit in brussels leaders agreed to set up a permanent fund to rescue failing eurozone economies. security forces are on high alert here in moscow after ethnic involving russian nationalist groups and gangs from the caucasus more than two thousand people were detained in the past three days. and nationalism is a common disease he belongs in prison so says russia's prime minister these are just some of the issues brought up by the public that is at me and you will q. and a session. next week report on how the colombian army is being scrutinized and blamed for killing innocent people that's right here on r.t. do stay with us. really. going to be. free you're going to. die.

hundred turn into is said to be one of the strongest but it still faces stiff competition from western europe artie's team is covering the events with our teams tests are reporting outside the fee for media center in zurich. now we saw a lot more of the big names coming into town i was just at the afifa headquarters convoys coming in the media waiting outside so there's a lot of excitement surrounding the event of course well we've heard that prime minister vladimir putin won't be coming because he doesn't want to put pressure on the fact well we'll talk more about that later on but first let's have a little bit of a background and a look at russia's bid. twenty eighteen we believe this banner at russia's latest international friendly described how france felt about russia getting the world cup but does the country with a rich football tradition stand a chance of becoming hosts. the dutch coach of the national team certainly hope so even though his home country is among the big. we need the world to. put the infrastructure. because the majority of the. many experts agree with that notion beli

plans for europe and to introduce nuclear warheads otherwise and nother arms race will begin he also spoke of all of the interviews of billets of security and the pan european security treaty proposed by the russian president back in two thousand and eight have been discussed for nearly two and a half years now and the russian president during this summit has said that maybe it is not something that can be decided over just one summit. and even if we're looking far into the future that i always see is a perfect platform for these discussions on the new european security architecture and is that here we see a lot if you see a lot of support from european leaders who have spoken during this summit and they have spoken in favor of president invidious idea. ok artes and how to not have a from the overseas summit in kazakhstan thank you for. now for a look at some other major headlines from around the world this hour. interpol has put wiki leaks founder julian assange on its most wanted list it says swedish authorities want to question him over a sex offense which he did not dismiss it as

as europe's biggest paymaster, europe will carry the can that anything goes wrong. from the first day, there has been frustration with germany. angela merkel's approach delayed agreement on a greek a bailout. this was seen by some to have actually triggered the crisis in duin. then she wanted a treaty change. she effectively block to agreement on the euro bonds which some say would improve the situation regarding portugal, spain, and other countries. yes, germany is increasingly isolated but some of their supporters say that this is with good cause. they are the biggest paymaster and they have to tread carefully on every move because- they can end up caring the biggest financial burden for any future bailout. >> with a germany undergoing pressure, we asked our correspondent if berlin was pushing its own interests at the expense of its european partners. >> that might be one way of looking at this but certainly germany seems to be willing to fight in its own corner. we had the german spokesperson coming out and saying that germany is not engaging in on european activ

press protests sweeping across europe against the need to bow out telling a colonies italy is among the next time risk following the fates of greece and our . president medvedev calls on the leading players and european security to push aside the stereotypes of the past and work together for the sake of future stability. now as a major o.s.c. east summit is in full swing we get the view from the inside as we hear from the organization's secretary general that's next. mr bush of us thank you very much for talking to us during this summit in a stand to what extent is organization for security and cooperation in europe is interested in proposed by president. security whether proposals by pres medvedev had one great merit because they were sort of a wake up call that not. everybody was happy with in the family of greater europe when the current arrangements regarding security a fresh look if fresh approach had to be given to those issues this clearly energized the discussions and you will see years you know there was a so-called call for process and i think this laid the groundwork for the

hi, i'm rick steves, with more of the best of europe.s to be every italy connoisseur's... prague has always been beautiful... germany... the irish civilization... the eiffel tower was built... hope you've enjoyed the magic of... stonehenge is roped off and viewable only from a distance, but england is dotted with less famous but more accessible stone circles. my favorite... avebury. the avebury stone circle, just 40 miles away, is as old as stonehenge and 16 times as big. and best of all, this megalithic playground welcomes kids, sheep, and anyone interested in a more hands-on experience.

and europe and the u.s.a. let me before i let you go, talk about -- he has a book out as well, former president jimmy card carter has a book out about china. >> china has been very cautious. they decided to move with open and trade -- the enterprise system. trade, commerce, moving around, competing in business that, sort of thing. they decided to keep tight control by the communist party or the political system. and i think in the future, it is inevitable that china is going to have to liberalize their democratic system, as you probably noticed, 23 of the top chinese leaders, some of them out of office now, wrote a letter to jintao recently condemning the chinese government for tightening up on free speech. tavis: there are president carter's thoughts. you of course talk about it in this book. it is impossible to have this conversation without talking about china. >> i think president carter is right. human rights and democratic freedoms will become a major issue in china over the next few years and i suppose

in europe probably. ten top ten i think for sure a bright future sledge holding russia is also no doubt for the russian paralympic committee. to go who are currently in talks with some sponsors i think will sign agreements soon sledge hockey is a very entertaining sport therefore it's interesting for the sponsors. and the national sledge hockey team will hope to get more investment and draw bigger attention as they're aiming to wean medals at the paralympic games of two hundred fourteen in saudi but here's iraq r t. and finally russians home as want to silver's all the opening day of a short course well championships in dubai. the peak of wednesday's action however saw a chinese women post a new world record eight hundred meter freestyle relay recorded finishing with a time of seven minutes thirty five point nine nine hundred four seconds that's nearly two seconds quicker than the previous mark said by the dutch team two years ago amazingly the other top four finishers all stranded in france and the unit

and on the other side of the atlantic president madrid of course is for a new security treaty for europe at the o.s.c. e.u. summit we told the leaders of fifty six member states it's time to overcome the stereotypes of the past and resolve differences over conventional arms in europe. because it's the final day of lobbying for countries vying to host the football world prompting twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two people will decide tomorrow and brussels among the favorites sports officials say that win or lose the country will still benefit from the new stadiums. their european security is at a key crossroads as major summit gets underway we get the view from the inside as we hear from the o.s.c. e secretary general that's next. mr bush of us thank you very much for talking to us during this summit to what extent is organization for security and cooperation in europe is interested in proposed by president. whether proposals by present medvedev had one great merit because they were sort of a wake up call not. everybody was happy with the family of greater europe with current arrangemen

just as the christmas travel rush begins, europe is buried in snow.e of its business airports are all but shut down. heathrow grounded all but a few flights this weekend. and a fresh wave of sno has added to the chaos. officials advising people not to travel to the airport. in frankfurt, one flight in four has so far been cancelled today. three out of every 10 in paris. hundreds of passengers are camped out in waiting rooms across the continent. here in germany, some airlines are suggesting passengers give up and take the train. but rail officials said might be better not to travel at all. even the roads offer only a poor alternative. clearing crews are having trouble keeping up with the new snowfall, and traveling by car can be treacherous opposition. here's a look at the travel situation across europe. >> even santa claus is no real comfort this christmas. most people at frankfurt airport just want to get away. that is one present he cannot come up with. the forces of nature have brought many european airports to a virtual standstill, just when they

and an exhibition in bonn about napolean's influence on europe. wikileaks founder julian assange has been granted conditional bail by the high court in london after a judge rejected an appeal by swedish prosecutors. julian assange is fighting extradition to sweden where prosecutors want to question him about allegations of rape. for the time being, he will be living under strict conditions in england until this case is heard early next year. >> julian assange emerged from the high court to the cheers of supporters. >> it is great to smell fresh air again. first, some thank yous. to all the people of around the world who had faith in me. >> after posting 280,000 euros bail, julian assange remain subject to stringent conditions. he must wear an -- electronics tag and is restricted to living here. swedish authorities are still trying to have him extradited on allegations of sexual misconduct. he denied the charges. his lawyers called them politically motivated. julian assange turned himself into british authorities in days after wikileaks released th