in italy, we are about 6%, so much, much lower. [abrami] i think that as far as the specific aspects of marriage, italy is very different from other european countries, even different from some southern european countries, like portugal, for example. in italy, still 95% of births occurs inside marriage. so the postponement means postponement of marriage and after marriage, perhaps postponement of childbearing. but i mean, marriage is still, for the time being, a must, apparently, for italian couples. [speaking italian] [translator] yes. my priority is to get married and have children, rather than pursue a career. yes, of course, but first i intend to finish my studies, and then i'll be thinking of having a family. i think that, um... the value of the family is something that can't be surpassed and comes probably before everything, even before a career. women students in italy still expect to have children. the reality is that the birth rate is still falling. [montanari] i believe that the italians are still interested in having big

talking about italy.l this is pivotal to the future of the eurozone, the other 16 countries that share their common currency alongside italy. pauline. >> thank you, nina. we'll see you soon in just a couple of hours. "world business today" will be right back. >>> welcome back to "world business today," i'm pauline choiu at cnn hong kong. first let's see what's going on in europe where the markets are now about 90 minutes into the trading day on this wednesday. the major indices slipped at the open. most of those losses have been regained at the moment. here is where they stand as we are here at around 90 minutes into the trading day. the london ftse is up by a quarter percent. strong performances are luxury retailer burberry. they reported good first quarter sales. gains from mining and metal companies as well. the paris ka kwan is up a tad. automakers are up and that's driving the xetra dax up about a third a percent. in the asia pack region, stocks crept higher in the region. second quarter gdp took inv

than four hundred billion dollars connally's now we're going we're seeing spain and italy attacks italy is a two trillion dollar economy with two thousand tons of gold twenty four hundred tons ago italy it's the second biggest position in the euro zone and if that's the mother lode bethink that's been the target all along the green the ireland portugal those are side shows there are little micro-cap countries not much of a deal there but italy's got actual gold at the i.m.f. and the people who support the i.m.f. the terrorists as i mentioned like eric cantor they're helping to facilitate the thieving of that twenty four hundred tons of gold because that is meaningful yeah of course because they need that gold because of course is the i.m.f. going to get the airport landing fees from naples or sicily. no but italy is a little foreign country to look at it i mean it's kind of berlusconi is a media tycoon he owns ninety percent of the media there he's the murdoch of italy yeah even more than that but this is why you know this ugly old buffoon who runs a country into the ground. and the pop

italy orders short sellers to disclose positions and this is interesting because italy financial market regulator moves to curb short selling after the country's benchmark. stock index fell the most normal skive months and bonds tumbled on investor concern italy would be the next victim of the reasons debt crisis so the regulator is forcing short sellers to reveal their positions when they reach a point two percent or more of the company's capital but the original headline of this article which they failed to capture was that they were going to ban naked short selling but then that means they haven't banned that so they often confuse the two short selling per se it is a perfectly acceptable strategy in the market offsets buying stocks using borrowed money or margin selling short would be the equivalent of the sell side because you're doing that also in a margin account so these two balance each other out and create a fair price discovery that's fine but naked short selling is counterfeiting this is when you sell stock or security in this case that doesn't exist or simply selling somethi

on this thursday in italy, italy is struggling to get its massive debt under control. italian senators are expected to approve an austerity plan that could be worth more than $70 billion. italy is also auctioning off billions of dollars in bonds. no one thinks there's a chance italy will default on its debt but the bank of italy's governor says the long-term solution to the country's indebtedness is dramatic financial reform. >> i think there is no credible alternative to a determined european action of the stuff that leaders are discussing to credible fiscal consolidation in the various countries. and to structure reforms that could revamp growth, especially in the weakest parts of the area. >> many bankers and other business people in rome tell nina that they believe austerity is the only way forward but for many people there austerity may also mean getting used to changes and their expectations of what the government provides. nina, that includes perhaps health care won't be free after this austerity package. >> well, that's not entirely true, pauline. health care g

this is not against italy. it is against the eurozone. >> here is italy's problem. it is looking to make 42 billion pounds in savings over three years. it is under pressure because its total debt is 1.6 trillion pounds. if italy wants trouble, it is too big to be rescued. -- if italy gets into trouble, it is too big to be rescued. italy has world famous vans. what it lacks is low productivity and low growth. some of those who opposed to de's austerity package fear that without growth, italy cannot escape its problems. >> yes, we need to get the debt under control, but this package is not enough. you have to promote growth. in autumn, will be back to square one. >> financial markets also remain wary. most of the savings will not take effect until 2013. italy's borrowing costs are not just high, but close to being unsustainable. the austerity package will be in italy's lower house tomorrow. it is expected to be passed. the real focus remains away from here in greece. there are still deep divisions over how to organize a second bailout for that country. >> kenya's prim

italy's got actual gold that the i.m.f. and the people who support the i.m.f. the terrorists as i mentioned like eric cantor they are helping to facilitate the thieving of that twenty four hundred tons of gold because that is meaningful they need that gold because of course is the i.m.f. going to get the airport landing fees from naples or sicily. no. you with r.t. live from moscow now russia has less disagreement with the u.s. on the libyan crisis than with some european countries that's the view of foreign minister sergei lavrov after talks with the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. brings us more from our bureau in washington with regards to leave both russia and the u.s. have the view that colonel gadhafi must step down and that the leaders should be able to choose their future leader it's the path towards those aims that moscow and washington disagree on the world russia criticizes the scope of the into the foreign intervention in libya possible sees the actions of the allied forces forces there as a violation of the u.n. mandate minister lavrov sai

spreads to italy. and stacy how discuss whether the country's gold reserves might actually be making it a bigger target because a report is now. this is the kaiser report gold hitting new highs and euros and british pounds u.s. dollars all across the world people want gold and out o. the currency beatrix to see her tell me more well max the entire world's financial system is once again crumbling and part of the reason of course is the oligarchies that rule our world and have not faced justice for that because they are part of the oligarchs you there's no differentiation between the heads of these banks and the heads of the government but also importantly the other importing greedy and its propaganda and how propaganda confuses the populations in the west half of us social program recent believe they have not used a government social program so this is from the united states and if you look at this chart of the top four demonstrating the most ignorance of being receptive audience of government welfare.

now it is italy. why has it in been drawn in to -- why has italy been drawn in to this? >> when they were discussing the second bailout for greece, they made it a second condition -- a condition that you had this private sector -- it means that investors would not get all of their money back. the general repricing of the risk in the euro zone, including spain and italy -- on top of this, you have had some domestic, political problems in italy with respect to the finance minister. you also, on friday, you had a nasty probable economic shock with the very bad jobs report -- nasty, global, economic shock with the very bad jobs report. >> will it be as bak as a greased -- bad as greece? >> italy is not comparable to greece. they have a primary surplus. they have a tight fiscal policy already. italy is not as dependent on foreign financing as greece was. it has more ability to fund itself from domestic sources. as a result of the last couple of days, we will see a very accelerated decision-making process in the european union as they tried to deal with this issue. i have been

italy represents seventeen percent of g.d.p. of the euro in g.d.p. which means that italy in its own is almost three times as big as the smaller countries want to go together so this is really something quite frightening and if indeed italy really goes into big trouble on the financial markets this is certainly a totally new face of this euro crisis a new dimension now in terms of the scale of italy's economy as you had mentioned as large as the as large as greece portugal ireland come by and do you think that it will be all but impossible to prop up economy of this size. well it will be certainly very difficult and the major question with respect to this issue is what will be the attitudes of germany and the other countries that still have a aaa rating and it certainly means that you would you would have to beef up the stabilization for at least double the amount that is in it at the moment and it is everybody's guess or not whether germany. holland filament and a few of the other countries are prepared to put up this kind of money or the input of t

suddenly it's italy. why italy and why now? >> well, i think the proximate cause it was dispute between berlusconi and his very well respected finance minister tremonte. but at a deeper level people are stating to say wait a second, if greece is going to default-- which an increase last week has seemed inevitable--s where it going to stop? why should i keep my none a bank in italy at 1% when i can have in the germany at .5%? that's what's putting the pressure on. >> suarez: mario, is that a good comparison? isn't the italian economy about six times the size of the greek economy? >> will, in a way it is. but, you know, i think we're also have to start to define what default is because there is lots of confusion. the markets are very volatile and investors get worried. so, now, for example as part of the negotiations germany and france would like to see the banks take a bit of a cut in their positions with greece which is a fair distribution of a shared cost. now, standard & poor's and moody's come out and says "well, if you do t

it is in italy next? damascus, the embassies of the u.s. and france come under attack by supporters of the syrian regime. and he is cute, but he is also fast. meet the world's champion buddy hopper -- bunny hopper. eurozone finance ministers have been discussing options for resolving recent ongoing -- greece's ongoing debt crisis as a u.s. rating agencies claim there's no threat of default in the eurozone goes the third largest economy, italy. angela merkel called on the parliament in rome to respond by approving spending cuts, but so far, the italian government and lawmakers have yet to agree on a common way forward. suddenly, this man is in the sights of the markets. the italian finance minister. he has long been seen as an anchor of stability in the government, but a corruption scandal around a close adviser and disputes with cabinet colleagues have thrown his future in doubt. now investors are worried his latest austerity plan will not get through parliament, and those worries are driving up italy's borrowing costs. berlin is trying to

brings in budget cuts to avoid that worst case scenario will italy be swamped in civil unrest. i think it's to be expected i think that in many ways it's really like many western countries have been living well beyond their means for many years and this will mean significant cuts in spending which will mean job cuts it will need a reduction in public sector pensions all this will be painful and of course the public sector tends to be much higher unionized than the than the private sector and therefore union militancy and civil unrest is is to be expected mark up here triple the financial advisor always good to get your views on the program get a bit of insight from you too thanks very much. the half brother of afghan president hamid karzai has been assassinated in his own home initial reports of just because i was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards the taliban has claimed responsibility described as one of its biggest achievements cars ahead of the kandahar province a volatile region on the border with pakistan he was often accused of media reports of a link to afghanistan'

you know but italy is a little for any country to look at it i mean it's kind of worthless kone is a media tycoon he owns ninety percent of the media there he's the murdoch of italy yet even more than that but this is why you know this ugly old buffoon who runs a country into the ground. and the population seems happy with it because he has lots of breasts on his television shows and in all his media and porn stars that he nominates for it to run the economy and they seem all perfectly happy with that but one that i'm of comes and takes their gold i think somebody else is going to have the last laugh they might have had real fun with this before but. look stacey i think this is incredibly important can you stay whole the overpass the break is not ok. i think i could say all right don't go away we'll be right back after this. brief for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get the cuban voice face to face with the news makers on the. show to be sued right. from fines to corrections. stunts on t.v. dot com. welcome back to the kaiser report was stacey heard you know we were talk

you know italy is a little foreign country to look at and mean it's kind of. goni is a media tycoon he owns ninety percent of the media there he's the murdoch of italy yeah even more than that but this is why you know this ugly old the food who runs our country into the ground. and the population seems happy with it because he has lots of breasts on his television shows and in all his media and porn stars that he nominates for it to run the economy and they seem perfectly happy with that but when the i.m.f. comes and takes their gold i think somebody else is going to have the last laugh they might have had a real fun with this before but. look stacey i think this is incredibly important can you stay. i hold you over past a break is not ok can you stand i think i can say all right don't go away we'll be right back after this. we'll. remind you the latest in science and technology from the realms where. we've got the future of covered. welcome back to the kaiser report stacy herbert you know we were talking about that fraudulent think don't put berlusconi in the

italy is just too big to fail. are we unnecessarily worrying about this situation in italy? >> we are right to worry about the situation in italy. and the reason why we're worry about this situation in italy as a marketplace is because europe failed to solve the smaller problems. they failed to solve greece, they failed to solve portugal, and now ireland downgradeed to junk as you noted in the beginning. so there's a lack of confidence in the european officials. italy is different in two ways n. a bad way, it's much bigger than the other three economys and much more important, and therefore, much more systemic. it's also different in a good way. it doesn't have the same severity of debt problems and adjustment problems. our hope is that this will be a wake up call to europe to get its act together and once and for all to solve the problems in the peripheral economy. too much debt and an inability to grow. >> susie: mohammed, we have less than 30 seconds. let me swing back. do they have to change their time horizon

italy does have impressive designers and world famous brands. what this masks is low productivity and low growth. some of those who oppose today's austerity package fear that without growth, italy cannot escape its problems. >> we need to put the debt under control but this package is not enough and you cannot put that under control if you do not promote growth. we would be back to squre one. -- square one. >> most of the savings will not take effect until 2013. borrowing costs are close to being unsustainable. the austerity package comes here to italy's lower house tomorrow and it is expected to be passed. it is causing concern but the real focus remains away from here in greece and there are deep divisions about how to organize a second bailout for that country. >> of italy, the home of antiquity, facing many problems. no such concern for an antique manuscript written by jane austen. it sold for $1.50 million. we have more on "the watsons". >> an exit from the unfinished novel. describing the heroine, the daughter of a clergyman. , also atin's

abuse of office is a minor crime in italy.'t corruption, just to be clear. >> but for this proud judicial official of perugia, the public humiliation was humbling. it was during this very time when giuliano mignini was facing embarrassing charges of abusing his office he arrived at the crime scene of meredith kercher's murder. his investigation into kercher's death would not wait for the forensic evidence to be processed. he already had his suspicions. within days, he announced the horrific crime was solved. >> dr. mignini, is it possible that a prosecutor who is facing his own troubles, perhaps rushed to judgment to solve a sensational crime? >> translator: i did not take any opportunity, because that day i just happened to be on duty. a tour of duty of a week. so i did not take an opportunity. >> the morning after our interview with giuliano mignini, the prosecutor spots our camera, walks towards me, and off camera asks what i thought of the interview the night before. if i thought he was being truthful. clearly, mignini is

they use scrambles to cut spending as a dead plague sweeping you were very just the shores of italy. burdick's misery mounts the f.b.i. looks into whether or not an eleven victims phones were happened while the fallout of these empires of british armed forces it out of a multi-billion dollar t.v. takeover. and america's two faced torture tactics human rights activists uproar over the us training brutal interrogators while condemning other nations for doing the same. it is a.t.m. in the russian capital you're watching our joshua welcome to the program drastic spending cuts are on the way in italy as parliament desperately tries to fend off a spiraling debt crisis it all bodes badly for the euro italy's finance minister even compare the currency troubles to the titanic as are two sarah first reports there's only so much that can be done before the people take power into their own hands. there will be one significant difference between the people who take to the streets between greece and italy and that is that greece at least thank goodness the taxi drivers don't go on strike where is

italy's markets plunged on. tuesday over fears the country may become the next you states to ask for a helping hand if the finance ministers already promised to approve a set of budget cuts within a week in an effort to avoid a huge for the largest economy get more insight on this and talk about italy's financial woes with financial advisor mark. mark a very good evening to you just how bad is the situation in italy are always fears justified. well the fears are justified in the last few weeks the situation has deteriorated substantially and italy is having to pay. much higher interest now to it to raise money and it's essentially an issue of perception if the markets fear italy is unable to sustain the level of debt will service the level of lead it has moving forward then they keep demanding a higher and higher interest that in itself pushes pushes italy closer to the brink because they're having to pay higher interest so it is a matter of perception and the situation is deteriorating all right so things get r

could cave in because if italy goes italy's economy is in that's why and with spain's and spain we go then we are in serious trouble. all right as we're running down the week's top stories here on r.t. let's pause for a moment and check out some of today's world news police used tear gas and short rounds into the air to disperse a crowd who tossed a police station in the capital a clash followed an incident on friday when security forces fired tear gas to break up a demonstration and not skin the city many tunisians remain unhappy with the way interim leaders are ruling the country rather since january's revolution that ousted president ben ali. egypt's foreign minister has resigned ahead of a massive reshuffle spurred by renewed public protests he'd only been in the job for a month but the interim prime minister has been forced to make changes after widespread anger over the government's record crowds returned to cairo as many believe little's change since president mubarak was ousted. the u.s. led coalition in afghanistan has handed control over one of the country's thirty four prov

italy represents the seventeen percent of g.d.p. of the euro g.d.p. which means that italy in its own is almost three times as big as a tree smaller countries greece i want important go together so this is really something quite frightening and if indeed italy really goes into big trouble on the financial markets this is certainly a totally new phase of this euro crisis you mention throwing money at the problem whether it's greece portugal ireland and certainly not also italy that is not enough or that can't solve the problem on its own enormous amount of what i call political capital as been invested in this euro project so giving it up as a very tough decision and a decision that will be made you just overnight so a lot of energy and a lot of additional money will certainly be spent before we arrived at such a situation and according to me there is no such decision on the rise and if italy comes into this ballgame with the amount that they're involved with this country that might change things quite rapidly. also making headlines tonight packed trai

treatment as tensions grew in italy for the eurozone officials met to figure out how to get banks to participate in the next round of bailouts for greece these negotiations have been undermined by threats from ratings agencies and say that they're going to consider a bank roll over of greek debt as a default so how serious are these threats of collapse in europe and what could it mean for the global economy and for even i. prospects here at home how would affect us and joining us now to offer more insight on today's news from the euro zone is max prague wolf economist and professor of economics at the new school university graduate program in international affairs max welcome back to the program always a pleasure to join you thanks for having me thank you how serious is the threat of collapse of your of the euro zone's third largest economy of italy i think that the italian economy is in much better shape in the perception of the italian economy or than the trade in the italian markets would suggest from the last few days that being said the situation in the euro zone and in to a les

european investors were screwed today as the markets are going to nosedive amid fears that italy the third largest market the eurozone may be the next european nation to succumb to an economic collapse traders fear italy's banks will take heavy losses on the debt of bailed out greece ireland and portugal and that the italian government's debt will ultimately prove too big to manage without international help last week ended with a heavy sell off of italian assets and european markets on friday an apparent falling out between prime minister silvio berlusconi as finance minister mr g. . treatment as tensions grew in italy for the eurozone officials met to figure out how to get banks to participate in the next round of bailouts for greece is negotiations have been undermined by threats from ratings agencies that say they're going to consider a bank world order of greek debt as a default so how serious are these threats of collapse in europe and what could it mean for the global economy and for. and prospects here at home how the fact us joining us now to offer more insight on today's ne

thing could cave in because if italy goes italy's economy is intertwined with spain's and of spain and italy go then we are in serious trouble. several lasco streets were impossible on sunday often in not because of the the tourist traffic jams they were sealed off to temporarily become the realm of the fast and the furious and high octane performance formula one drivers in some serious rub up against the amazing backdrop of the kremlin boards. of all the annual moscow city racing show featuring famous f one stars on the windows of world rugby championships is a taste of things to come for russian f one fans of the country will get its own from prix in three years from now. well recap today's and this week's main stories for in just a few moments so don't go away stay with us live here in moscow this is the weekly auntie. forty two thousand americans die each year car accidents only a thousand. seven hundred thousand people. and thirty two thousand will kill themselves cancer in all its forms kills five hundred sixty thousand of us here part is easy even more devastating they killed ov

the eurozone debt crisis now focuses on italy where the senate has approved tough new austerity measures the package is to receive a fine. approval in the country's a lower house on friday it comes amid concerns that italy the euro zone's third largest economy may become the next to ask for help and and it follows that both ireland and portugal have a very reading's downgraded to junk status dealing a serious blow to the bailout ridden euro block which struggles to prop up its weakest economy writer and editor patrick young says that italy's public will perhaps protest budget cuts at least as fervently as the greeks. there will be one significant difference between the people who take to the streets between greece and italy and that is that in greece at least thank goodness the taxi drivers don't go on strike where is nuclei expected almost everybody is going to end up on strike and it's going to be absolutely chaotic the only way they can slip this through is perhaps because we do have this long lead in time until the cuts really start to make an impact in two thousand and thirteen but

could cave in because italy goes italy's economy into trying for spain under spain and italy go then we are in serious trouble. in the struggle for land rights in israel there is one place that's still a deserted territory it used to be a flourishing palestinian community but now israelis are eyeing it up as a luxury getaway or trees or possibly or has the story. this old in the mountains of jerusalem are the remains of a once bustling community only the memories of those who once lived here have survived intact i feel is. the answer to be. i village. hard since this. also. on my car there. among the cacti and fick trees but in one nine hundred forty eight just before the state of israel was declared his family evacuated unlike the hundreds of our villages that disappeared in forty eight and sixty seven most of the original houses of lifter are still here so they really were headed to the. they will shoot to the middle of the hall with a whole group a whole. hour mother of us inside the room in a corner and then there has been so as to protect us here cook was one of seven hundred th

the known action these words but i'm glad you mentioned it in italy there because well it's no secret there to sleep verging on the brink of its own possible disaster what will happen if it falls into the abyss where the free falls into. each other you will have social turmoil but are likely released we will may have. political consequences kountry could be split i said well no northern italy is very developed it's very it's economy it's very strong in southern italy where i come from it's economies really and we saw. foreign italia but i would say also for europe to prevent these. there from occurring and they italians and europeans as well and germans as well to make up for all of these lawsuits which hold europe any talents are bound to incur but realistically speaking isn't this just a big political club that's trying desperately to save face at any cost. well there's not only save face i mean fortunately it's not face it's a funny face is where involved would be easy it is to lie and solve hundreds of millions of people in europe which is a bold and i would say hundreds of millio