the former president of france, jacques chirac, goes on trial accused of abuse of power. welcome to "bbc world news" broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. find out what made these ukrainian parliamentarians so angry. we have a special report. and a rare insight into the lives of maoist rebels in india. our reporter spent more than a month following them through the jungle. >> libyan government planes have again launched multiple air strikes on rebel fighters. this is the second day of a concerted counter-offensive by colonel gaddafi's forces to stop rebels from moving to tripoli. rebel fighters pushed back from this key coastal town of -- a key coastal town. the libyan forces used tanks and artillery. our world affairs editors sent this report. >> at dawn this morning, it was a media elite clear that the rebels enthusiasm and fighting spirit was fading. it has carried them 150 miles westward along the coast, beating colonel gaddafi's troops back. but other supply lines are stretched and gaddafi's troops are fighting a more friendly territory. we went with the

. >> the trials of former french president jacques chirac on allegations of corruption opened monday. chirac is not scheduled to appear until tuesday, but will be the first president in postwar french history to appear before a criminal court. he faces charges related to his time as mayor of paris. chirac denies any wrongdoing. >> he refused to comment on the trial on monday. the trial has done little to dent the popularity of chirac. many french people still and meyer his folksy style, which contrasts sharply with president sarkozy. but critics insist the misappropriation of public funds is not a petty offense. attorneys for a taxpayers' association contend the investigation was [unintelligible] >> is france a country that honors the rule of law onot? this is an opportunity for the judicial system to be in power. with respect to what is happening in the world, french justice can no longer play second fiddle to the executive office. >> the allegations concern chirac's time as mayor of paris. he is accused of putting almost 500 workers on the city payroll in the 1990's. many never spen

the corruption trial of the former french president jacques chirac has been suspended because of a challenge from his defense team. he is accused of misusing funds. he denies all charges. dozens of people were rounded up in a major police operation against one of italy's largest organized crime groups. it is judged to be more powerful than the sicilian mafia. yet police claimed this is a significant blow to the senate did, thought to be one of the world's biggest cocaine traffickers. duncan kennedy has this report. >> enough manpower to overwhelm any resistance. these officers spread out to raid several addresses in southern italy and near rome. this was a hunt not only for senior-level gang members, but also any member with illicit merchandise. every premises were searched with a new request for evidence. and in this house, police found a secret hiding place behind a bookshelf. big enough to conceal a man. yet this is where one boss hoped to evade capture. add more than 30 mobsters were picked up. more than six italian men were detained in germany, a sign of the extent of foreign interests.

former french president jacques chirac storages a month long trial today it's over claims he misused public funds as mayor of paris twenty years ago insists he's innocent and plans to address the judge himself on wednesday perry city hall dropped its complaint last year but the cases still being pursued by france's independent judiciary a prison sentence is unlikely while the trial itself could be short lived as a paris public prosecutor seeks to get the case dropped. the discovery shuttle is about to start her final journey home after almost three decades of space service the crew have said their goodbyes to those aboard the international space station and are now preparing to undock discovery will then orbit the earth for the last time taking a few pictures along the way before landing on wednesday. and also on the way in a few minutes we'll look at what's in store for libya once the turmoil recedes before that corrina account will bring us the latest from the world of business. and welcome to our business update here in r.t. who has steadily strengthened in the past few weeks larg

in our world update after years of hiding behind presidential immunity a former french leader jacques chirac has gone on trial for corruption he's accused of masterminding a scheme well mayor of paris in which public money was used to pay for work benefiting his party chirac and his close associates have already been linked to a number of corruption scandals but he's never been convicted. the u.s. space shuttle discovery has undocked from the international space station and begun its last journey back to earth and the crew said their goodbyes to colleagues on the s.s. orbit the earth for one last time taking a few scenic pictures along the way upon landing the spaceship will be ferried off to a museum and almost four decades of flight. a crater collapse at one of hawaii's most active volcanoes and sent molten lava flowing into the sky it was match point dozens of small earthquakes around killer whale has been erupting constantly for almost three decades with varying intensity and has now been cordoned off and nearby park and close despite reassurances that there is little danger. i just remi

after years of claiming presidential immunity former french president jacques chirac is finally facing a court trial he stands accused of masterminding a scheme in which the city of paris footed the bill for a work benefiting his party conviction could carry a ten year jail term experts say any prison time is highly unlikely. but this weekend russian people are reducing the winter to ashes literally archy's peter all over takes up the story. it's one of the most celebrated offensive began here in russia months need so marks the stance of lent me over the tradition of the holiday itself as a huge concrete christmas russia. in. the final days of bends culminating the burning of lady mustn't it's that now this is the symbolize the burning away of winter and the arrival of spring even if there is still rather a lot of snow around this year. no food plays they keep costs in any must needs a celebration and the key food stuff this consume calculating all pancakes now these will be in their hundreds and thousands with a variety of toppings both sweet and savory mellow the believing represente

after years of claiming presidential immunity former french president jacques chirac is finally facing court action he stands accused of masterminding a scheme in which the city of paris footed the bill for the work benefiting his party conviction could carry a ten year jail term experts say any prison time is highly unlikely. depends foreign minister has resigned after opposition an uproar over a political donation he got from a foreign national stage admitted accepting about six hundred dollars from a south korean citizen resident in japan this summer as the sun is small but japanese law bans politicians make setting any money from outsiders to protect the country from foreign influence his resignation strikes a blow to current prime minister naoto caught up with as a potential successor. russian law enforcement is has been given a much needed make over this week with public trust in the forest singing to an all time low it's hoped new reforms and in name change will return it to credibility but as artie's caterina's are reports there's a lot riding on the overall paperwork and cosme

. >>> a corruption trial of former present president, jacques chirac, got underway today in paris. here is charged with embezzlement. it is unlikely chirac will be sent to prison but in theory, he could be sentenced up to ten years and fined up to $210,000. >>> although he promised transparency in his management of california, governor jerry g criticized by some of the media for not keeping them informed. according to "the san francisco chronicle" governor brown does not release a schedule of his daily events. the paper says he publishes some of his appearances but not all. the lead -- the leader of the 14 wisconsin democrats who fled the state more than two weeks ago to block a vote on a terrible bill has just asked the governor of wisconsin for a meeting. this was the scene in the state's capital over the weekend as protests continue over the plan that would limit collective bargaining. 14 democratic senators left the state on february 17th and they say they will return at some point but only when they have done all they can to negotiate. >>> scott walker says the controversial b

. >> the trials of former french president jacques chirac on allegations of corruption opened monday. chirac is not scheduled to appear until tuesday, but will be the first president in postwar french history to appear before a criminal court. he faces charges related to his time as mayor of paris. chirac denies any wrongdoing. >> he refused to comment on the trial on monday. the trial has done little to dent the popularity of chirac. many french people still and meyer his folksy style, which contrasts sharply with president sarkozy. but critics insist the misappropriation of public funds is not a petty offense. attorneys for a taxpayers' association contend the investigation was [unintelligible] >> is france a country that honors the rule of law or not? this is an opportunity for the judicial system to be in power. with respect to what is happening in the world, french justice can no longer play second fiddle to the executive office. >> the allegations concern chirac's time as mayor of paris. he is accused of putting almost 500 workers on the city payroll in the 1990's. many never sp

nicolas sarkozy is not jacque chirac who was at bitter odds with president bush.this is a different day. the europeans are heavily involved, and the irony here, look, the united states is putting great pressure on our persian gulf allies to say, why are you sending troops noose bahrain? and yet, at the same time, saying we oppose you on that but we expect your participation against libya? so there is a new order in the middle east that the united states is trying to influence but also seek partnerships with, and so the arab face of this against gadhafi becomes very important. hillary clinton working that aspect of it, getting the arab league to support a no-fly zone. this looks a lot more like the first gulf war than the second war in iraq. i think that's the intention. >> david, thank you very much. >>> and we want to turn things over now to scott from the weather channel to give us a check of the forecast. >> did you have a chance to check out the super moon last night? >> together we did. >> it looked amazing. about 14% larger and third in times brighter than a

so we had in mind, yes, margaret thatcher, before that with jacques chirac or even-- for the last pieceter the election. so but those were only first time more than anything else. >> rose: tell me about your interest and your involvement in politics. >> i think it's very, i mean i'm very interested in politics, yes. i read a lot of newspapers and yes, i'm interested in politics because i find it, well, would be very difficult for me today not to follow the news not only in france and europe but in the world, yes, i'm very into it, to understand to try to understand what happens in the world, yes. >> how do you think your president is doing sarkozy? >> i don't like too much because we are in a very difficult time at the moment, you know. the president is very low in the polls, yes. because of what happened in, so it's very difficult. and anyway i never really answer to political questions on television or even in newspapers. because what actors say, you know, can always become something else. and it's very private for me. if i had dinner with you, i would answer without any problems. you