and i think that there are people in france who will say... it's kind of interesting that strauss-kahn was in some ways overrated as a presidential candidate because there's no certainty or likelihood he would win. >> rose: but he was far ahead of the polls in a one on one match with sarkozy and he was the one that sarkozy most feared >> there are people who tell you that sarkozy didn't mind the idea of running against him because there's a pattern in france there is that there will be some strong man in the center who will do very well in the polling before an election. belladur was like this in '95 and when the election actually happens it tends to be the men of action rather than the men of poise who actually do the best but, yes, of course, i think that that's the case. and part of the tragedy of this, i think charlie, even assuming he is innocent, is in france it has a way of diminishing french politics, of degrading the general tone of french politics and making them-- and this is something i've heard from a lot of friends in patience th

spends over thirty billion euros a year on france france has more than twenty thousand soldiers currently on foreign soil in lebanon kosovo a new military base in the united arab emirates is fighting wars in libya ivory coast and afghanistan each french have a missile costs hundreds of thousands of euros so just five months into twenty eleven the forces of broke even with madame kyoto's pension that's pretty much up. operational budget for the year military excess snaps france's reputation as a careful spender investors now plan to scrap the country's troy's aaa credit rating which lets it go on the cheap course if you have a country which is very rich. and can afford it but france has been named as possibly losing its aaa status so everyone can you shoot is closer to lose include a state france should have stuck to the un peacekeeping agreements in the ivory coast and libya wants x. premier dominique de villepin in now pays the price of gunning for regime change and for each. for the liberation it's important to follow strict principles the one of the international community the treatmen

eight can regroup and split in its years and he's now a r t v france. and of course we'll bring you extensive coverage of the two to the g eight summit as well as expert analysis of the event and issues discussed there right here on r.t. . afghanistan. weapons of mass destruction. terrorism. as protests. drug trafficking. global financial system. the world is turning good will be eight speak with one voice. so we'll g. eight summit on r.t. . that's now return to our top story here and a lot in president obama's visit to london and for more on this i'm joined live by barry gummies a labor member of the british parliament is there in the capital there thanks very much indeed for joining us now there is a lot of talk about leisure this joint security plan that the u.k. and the u.s. want to establish but some would say the british foreign policy has been very dependent on washington anyway so is this going to change anything. well i think it's interesting that people are talking about the security plan but there has been no response to parliament there has

invasion of iraq french fries quickly became freedom fries after france u.s. relations soured despite summit smiles but with a new french president came a new friend turkey was a has rejected entirely the path of goody a friend playing a constructive role in a multi multi polar world and has aligned himself with the single superpower the united states nowadays france is barking much louder with more soldiers involved in foreign military conflicts of brawn then ever before it's a globalist modern. it's not just the friends it's a whole. global plan to change governments as they want. france played a central role in ivory coast's bloody presidential stalemate and is considered the unspoken leader of the intervention in libya this great sarkozy wanted his to participate and to be one of the first. ruler western ruler to go there and just for his political agenda critics say this new global policy was meant to win over french voters but hasn't worked france is a kind of small united states with many interventions that are very costly and very little thinking about

eight in france. to us judges are convicted of dishing out dodgy discipline making millions by throwing teenagers into private prisons for only very minor offenses. and hot stuff in subzero season our latest on target to report we need to the creatures calling the icy ocean home. francais separation of russia's oil and gas for arctic is back on track with sheldon likely the place to be in the deal we'll bring you more on that story in business at around twenty minutes time. eleven am in the russian capital you're watching r t with me arena joshie welcome to the program at least two dead and dozens hospitalized protesters in georgia have found out the hard way why they shouldn't speak out against their leadership but we showed a little restraint in a crackdown on crowds who turned out for what's been called georgia's day of rage demanding that president saakashvili resign sarah ferguson is gauging the mood in tbilisi for our team. certainly this morning after the scenes of violence that we saw break ou

>> it is a big shock in france. it's different things all together with the political tsunami and if you look at what happened in the political scene in france, he was seen as the front runner in the next presidential elections. he was supposed to announce his candidacy and according to the polls he was ahead of sarkozy in the polls, six points ahead. obviously, yes, he had a reputation as a seducer. he liked to -- he didn't like -- he had lunch with some of my colleagues that he likes flirting with women, but has nothing to do with what happened here. he has been accused of attempted rape and sexual assault. obviously, he was -- was received by big disbelief and the pictures today of seeing strauss-kahn getting out of the police station handcuffed was a bit of a shock. as you know in france, we don't show those pictures before the person accused is convicted. and a lot of the french reacted strongly. >> we are showing on air the moment his appearance in court. you don't see these images in france but they will be o

while germany has taken steps away from nuclear power, france remains optimistic about the potential. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >>> president nicolas sarkozy stressed that france will continue using nuclear power as the best choice even after the incident at the fukushima plant. the plants generate 80% of the country's electricity. though the safety of nuclear power was called into question in hearings in march the french government is making it clear that it will continue using nuclear energy as its national policy. [ speaking in a foreign language ] . >>> in fact, an accident similar to fukushima occurred in france in 1999. in december of that year, the plant in france's cooling system was temporarily shut down after flood water from a river inundated the facility. the accident didn't lead to a major problem thanks to a back-up cooling system. but the government ordered the power company to beef up measures against disasters. the company built an eight and a half meter high wall that prevents storm waves from entering. the company also introduced a system which can convert

france played a central. well when ivory coast's bloody presidential stalemate and is considered the unspoken leader of the intervention in libya this. vote is to participate and to be one of the first. ruler western ruler to to go there and just for his political agenda critics say this new global policy was meant to wean over french voters but hasn't worked france is a kind of small united states with many interventions that are very costly and very little thinking about the relationship between rhetoric and the cost and cost is the killer european countries are facing more and more protest over huge spending cuts in an attempt to lower taxes it and save a drowning euro and at the same time spending hundreds of millions forcing their way into the libya conflict they don't see eye to eye but they going to try to regroup around. the idea that it's a humanitarian intervention and the u.n. resolution a resolution that china and russia didn't veto but have claimed has been manipulated to suit western interests p

says france's teacher greeted c.e.o. which would see tourism investment in the troubled region but mr newspaper says the countries may set up a two billion euro venture to build new resorts but the deal comes with conditions russia will have to ensure graceful safety from terrorist attacks french president nicolas sarkozy's to sign an agreement to develop the caucuses during the g eight meeting on things. and that's the latest business for now i have more for you in less than one else so stay with headline news up next. the official antti of legation jong phenomenon called touch from the substance. on the. video on demand. smiling old girls and omissions fish now in the palm of your. question on the call live next to the border of the gulf of egypt but also on the border of peace the more. they are responsible not only for themselves. but also for their loved ones. they are ready to take any risk. mission. station three three. three.

trying to sign it in france in november. is the creation of trinity of a universal instrument of international playing instead of these dollars is it still on the agenda is russia supporting that idea and how extensively will it be with intensively will be discussed in the view russia's position is that we don't need to substitute dollar is there any other instrument the we are down the billions of dollars. to play a role an important role in the interest of mine for the system but for those of the present. with the other instruments are you or is playing a higher all eastern europe or limits this role at the moment china greater transforms its financial system opens more to the world and. all aspects and political leaders believe that at some point the chinese currency will become an important one in the international system and will be in other instruments that will be widely used in the global community also rebel can play a role given the size. the russian economy and its neighbors. and not being. a little frugal will be

aware that france took over our initiative and suggested. discussion at the time says the college aid to the russian friends the spotlight and we will be back shortly after we take a break so stay with us we'll continue to simply read the last. of. more than a month. in one of the most extreme environments on the planet this is antarctica and people have to be aware that they are far away from civilization and sean thomas discovers what makes antarctica so special that attractive for many the wildlife in antarctica is both elite and the fragile. expedition to the bottom of the earth on our team. welcome back to spotlight on al gore and often just a reminder that my guest here in the studio today is the one according to the aides to the russian president and we're talking about the summit in the world that will that is gathering the leaders of the g. eight countries. how fear of god the so-called currency war was a very big issue discussed discussed at a summit in south korea does it remain to be and is she when he will be discuss. saying in

he was the former finance minister of france. he's part of the political generation that helped forge the euro. he has excellent contacts with all the leading politicians of the euro zone countries and really that's why his advice from this position at the pinnacle of the global financial world is going to be missed not just today at the meeting but also in the weeks and months to come. >> that was correspondent in brussels. we'll take an in-depth look at the scandal surrounding strauss-kahn and implications later in the program. to other news, following violent clashes along israel's border, a complaint with the u.n. council. israel is accusing syria and lebanon of doing nothing to prevent hundreds of palestinian protestors from storming their borders with israel on sunday. israeli troops opened foor to stop them, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds more. lebanon says it, too, has launched a complaint with the security council against what it calls israel's aggressive policies. the chief prosecutor at the internatio

behaves as if it's still in control france. is there for decades now and the religious movements have had their people there for decades so they're going to do whatever they can and use their influence to change the regime in a way that they see fit intervention would leave france fighting in four walls that hasn't happened since it was a colonial power for its defense ministry hasn't been this busy in over fifty years already fighting in afghanistan libya and the ivory coast is now turning its sights on another former colony syria but expose think the real target is serious key ally iran france is growing increasingly angry at tehran's nuclear ambitions and is part of international moves to stop that program damascus would become a. springboard for the sarkozy administration as it pushes east if it meant in syria progress according to the libyan scenario we will probably see a similar development in iran unfortunately that is iran will repeat the syrian scenario russia watches with the military interventions with rising along

political life stopped in france.his was the biggest political event since april 21, 2002, when the ladier of the extreme right went through to the second round of the presidential elections. on sunday morning, many jaws dropped in shared disbelief. but now things have gone worse. we see these images which are extremely violent to us because it is illegal in france to actually show anyone handcuffed at such an early stage in a case. and also because this man was considered as the next president in france -- >> let's put it in perspective here. the allegation is of rape, which is a very serious violent crime. would it have played out like this in france? >> no. and we should remember that he is insent until proven guilty. that is what the french recent so much, that he is treated as a guilty party while so far we are talking about alcombations. >> hang on. he is being treated like any other suspect. >> that's true. any other foreigner would be treated the same way. but we are not used to seeing somebody who is just bei

when you look at the numbers in france, only 2% of rapists are actually convicted in france. >> what is it sneer. >> here it is over 21%. that is still not great, again, like you mentioning it was the idea of rape is serious crime needs to be focalized. the poor victims, one in three women, american women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. when you look at the numbers in france there really is that cultural attitude, even dominick mentioned it where he said about cash, women and being jewish. like he -- >> that's what he was saying were his weaknesses. because he was supposed to be the lead guy coming up after sarkozy. >> i'm always skeptical when the variation, is that show themselves up in statistics. our values really that different, certainly we certainly should -- when it comes to rape. but are our values really that different? i wonder if it tells us more about how the french respond to such an accused. this country we had a uniform way of treating you when you are accused of crime. that's exactly what we should do. and i don't know in france if suspects, famous or not,

it can afford this but france has been named as possibly losing its aaa status so everyone you shoot is closer to losing aaa status france should have stuck to the un peacekeeping remit in the ivory coast and libya wants its premier dominique de villepin in now pays the price of gunning for regime change and for each. foreigner parisian it's important to follow strict principles the one of the international community the treatment of the united nations costs are reportedly hidden from the public its military advisors back from libya he says for months france has set soldiers on the ground there contrary to its claims we have gone troops and i think. in that we had . already called for to find the dogs and so on but it was not revealed but kids who says she worked all her life for a decent retirement no politician or if she wanted to put money spent on campaigns abroad cost of war production was forced to cover up because the concert for good they are the military campaign is worth it if the government called take care of people that's from the new bush or to paris. international news

in france, 3/4 of its power comes from nuclear plants. president sarkozy emphasized it will continue to be a main energy resource. >> translator: while recognizing the need to develop alternative ener energy, many countries believe there is no alternative to nuclear power. >> france is helping japan deal with the aftermath of the fukushima daiichi accident. it will provide technical support to clean up radioactive contamination at the plant. one example is contaminated water. there are 87 tons of it on site at fukushima daiichi. japan will use french technology to decontaminate the radioactive water. >> these big international meeting often attract protesters. are we seeing any protests in deauville so far? >> the main ones are focusing on the safety of nuclear power. the accidents at fukushima daiichi has given a boost to anti-nuclear campaigns around the world. in europe the feeling is different regarding this type of energy. germany and italy have decided to stop promoting nuclear power but as we heard from president sarkozy, france is

that france being an active player in major military interventions experts in syria may be used as a stepping stone of person released. economic desperation intensifies and u.s. debt collectors resorting to math here start backwards to make americans pay their way. and as many countries question their nuclear safety in light of the fukushima crisis our team is calling a new russian to assess its own ability. you're watching r.t. world news twenty four hours a day while breaking news this hour the u.s. president barack obama has confirmed that the world's most wanted terrorist osama bin laden has been killed a news flash around the world with some sources suggesting the u.s. is now in possession of his body for more we're joined now by our use a couple of from washington d.c. lucy there was a massive rumor and speculation this morning but now some confirmation. there is in fact and the president just finished speaking shortly ago u.s. president barack obama addressed the nation to announce in fact that the united states has can finally confirm that osama bin laden has been killed by u

france's military spending on foreign operations spirals out of control the government's accused of not standing up for people's lives back home. and as that may not justify the means u.s. methods in the war on terror including charges of torture and overseas prisons again a security following the killing of osama bin ladin and. the world's most successful rocket russian soyuz giving the green light for a summer blasted off from a european space port. and the russian markets opened lower and with the r.t.s. falling even further from thursday's thursday's five month low that's as crude prices dropped overnight i'll have more from the business desk in twenty minutes. eleven am in moscow i met president good to have you with us here on r t our top story the billions spent on france's military for easer broad already account for the years defense budget with paris only stepping up its foreign adventures the political price could be costly for the french president as art he's getting a bushel reports. eat or eat that's the choice faced by murder kids so instead of supporting the elderly fran

a man many believed would be the next president of france. but this morning in room 130 of the manhattan criminal court, he was just another defendant. >> docket 2011 ny 0 p 5773. dominique strauss-kahn. step up, please. >> reporter: dominique strauss-kahn, 62 years old, unshaven after two nights in a new york jail, stood stone-faced. as the prosecutor announced the grim charges against him. >> -- restraining a hotel employee inside of his room. he sexually assaulted her and attempted to forcibly rape her. when he was unsuccessful, he forced her to perform oral sex on him -- >> reporter: the employee, a 32-year-old immigrant mother working as a maid, has told police strauss-kahn emerged naked from the bathroom, chased her, locked the door, and as the complain against him puts it, engaged in oral sexual conduct and anal sexual conduct by forcible compulsion. the maid immediately reported the incident to hotel authorities and the police. the alleged attack happened saturday, here, in a new york hotel suite that cost $3,000 a night. that kind of

france's military spending on foreign operations spirals out of control as the government is accused of not stumping up for people's needs back home. the ends that may not justify the means u.s. methods in the war on terror including charges of torture and overseas prisons again face scrutiny following the killing of osama bin laden. the world's most successful rocket russian soyuz given the green light for a summer blast off from a european space port. eight am in moscow i matras so good to have you with us here on our team our top story billions spent on france's military forays are broad have already accounted for the years defense budget with paris only increasing its foreign adventures the political price could also be costly for the french president or his daniel bushell reports. heat or heat that's the choice faced by modern kids so instead of supporting the elderly france's government is accused of using that money for war france says it doesn't have enough funds for a time and pensioners must hasten their parents but it now spends over thirty million euros a year on defense

what's your opinion what's your reaction to the complete ban on the veil in france is it is it like. restriction of freedom or is it. defense of european values and traditions. this is. something quite prance with their tradition. but i would note i am coming from scandinavia we have have a much more pragmatic approach if they do come across. in the group come with a real threat to the society i would say that we should have a law against it but it is not a big problem in society. i'm living in france and i never see any woman in the world cup so why should we have a law against it. but france has a very different production on this song well i can't say i'm not a good guy is threatening human rights but i would say that the fact that many women are forced to wear a book is a problem it's very difficult to make laws against so while we're talking about a symbol it's a purely symbolic thing the burka the burning of the book like the qur'an the things that these are symbols they don't mean anything for for a real life example if an american priest burned a book it is nothing to do with

france brings in new security measures to counter possible revenge terror attacks for the bombing of libya but with soldiers on the streets and legal wiretapping critics say the public's more scared than safe. also this week saw the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl disaster the site of worst ever nuclear catastrophe may still pose a danger again raising doubts over the safety of atomic energy. and a fine line between artistic protest and vandalism a controversial russian art group with the highest state of war the work of many dismissed as an obscenity. heloise one am here in moscow you're watching the weekly our roundup of the top stories of the last seven days here on out with me kevin now in this hour and revolutionary fever in syria shows no sign of letting up around seventy people have reportedly been killed since friday in military crackdowns against anti-government demonstrations that's on top of some five hundred other deaths in two months of syrian our people in the wake of the latest bloodshed the u.s. has tightened sanctions and intensified its rhetoric against th

dominique strauss-khan has been talked about as the next president of france. instead, the 62-year-old was in court, stone-faced and unshaven, as a prosecutor accused of him sexually assaulting a hotel maid. >> restrained a hotel employee inside of his room. he sexually assaulted her and attempted to forcibly rape her. >> repor >> reporter: strauss-khan is an economist. a leader of the french socialist party and the head of the international monetary fund, a global bank created by the united nations, with powerful friends. >> i'm very sad. and upset. he's a good friend of mine. >> reporter: this isn't the first time strauss-khan, now married to his third wife, has been accused of sexual misconduct. four years ago, on a tv talk show, a french writer said strauss-khan attacked her in 2002. but she never filed charges. this time, the judge denied bail for now. his lawyer says it's all a mistake. >> mr. strauss-khan is innocent of these charges. we think this case is very defensible. and his principal intention is reestablish his good name. >> reporter: a name now

and france being an active player in major military intervention experts warned syria maybe this is a stepping stone to move east. economic desperation intensifies new u.s. debt collectors resorting to stuff your style and it's making americans pay their way. and as many countries question the nuclear safety margin from consumer across its parties pouring a new russian reactor to assess its own ability. for watching r.t. with all the news as it happens but breaking news this hour the u.s. president barack obama has confirmed that osama bin laden has been killed in a special operation in pakistan a news flashed around the world with the u.s. claiming it's now in possession of his body well it seems missing from the house the latest from washington d.c. . u.s. president barack obama addressed the nation to announce in fact the united states has i can finally confirm that osama bin laden has been killed by u.s. special forces we're hearing that it was not a drone attack this was actually a firefight on the ground by u.s. special forces right outside of us lot of blood there was a firefig

eight in france. to us judges are convicted of dishing out dodgy discipline making millions by throwing teenagers into private prisons for only very minor offenses. and odd stuff and some zero season our latest target report with meet the creatures calling the icy ocean home. it is eight am in the russian capital you watching r t a marina joshie welcome to the program today out and dozens hospitalized protesters in georgia have found out the hard way why they should speak out against their leadership a brutal police crackdown and huge crowds would turn out for what's been called georgia's day of rage calling for president saakashvili to resign the government had vowed that nothing would interrupt the country's in afghanistan a military parade later on thursday police firing rubber bullets and tear gas began to move against the crowd shortly after midnight a pro opposition t.v. station was the first scene of violence clashes with police beating and arresting hundreds of people the unrest been labeled t

something for france with their tradition. but i would like i'm coming from scandinavia we have have a much more pragmatic approach if. because. it could grew cold water a real threat to the society i would say that we should have a law against it but it is not a big problem in society. i'm living in france i never see any woman in brooklyn so why should we have a law against it. but france has a very different tradition on this song well i can't see the threatening human rights but i would say that the fact that many women are forced to wear a book club is a problem it's very difficult to make laws against inserting while we're talking about a symbol it's a true symbolic thing in the book the gurning of the book like the qur'an the things that these are symbols they don't mean anything for for real life example if an american priest burned a book it is nothing to do with life. on the other side of this isn't the point an important symbol and i think there today this is this competition between between the east and the west an