if the man was kim jong-il's son he was outside the country before his birthday.he second son plays a less report role now that his younger brother has effectively been appointed to succeed his father. >>> the commanders of the u.s. forces says the annual military exercise with south korea will focus on deterrents and defensive operations. the joint drills are due to start at the end of this month. the exercises, which were formally announced tuesday, will involve around 200,000 south korean and 12,000 u.s. troops. they will run from february 28th through march 10th with further drills planned through the end of april. south korean military sources say u.s. aircraft carrier will also be taking part. they are expected to simulate operations at command posts, preventing enemies from using weapons of mass destruction and responding to localized military provocations. commander of the u.s. forces in south korea general walter sharpe says the aim of the exercises is to practice crisis management, deterring and rapidly overcoming provocations and defensive operations. t

. >> north korea has been celebrating the birthday of its leader kim jong il. he turned 69 but records show he is 70. >> children waved in the light on this apparently happy day. north korean tv showed presence from the leader being delivered to a remote part of the country. it is impossible to say whether this gratitude was heartfelt. >> our glorious leader sent gifts to our two kids. there is a carefully displayed -- flowers and bows at the statue of kim jong il pulse father. people may look contented, particularly if they can be allowed to live in the capital where conditions are less harsh. in neighboring south korea which is still at war with the north, they were filling balloons but not in celebration. they float them over the border. >> we are sending a message to the north to fight kim jong il's dictatorship. >> but there is not much chance of that. very few north koreans will be aware of uprisings elsewhere in the world. it is synchronized swimming displays to glorify their leader. the man was not filled in public which is not unusual on his birthday.

north korea celebrates the birthday of kim jong il. is it his 16 ninth or 70th? -- 69th or 70th? >> hello. the winds of change are flying across north africa and the middle east, stirring up youthful populations against authoritarian regimes. in libya the attentions of a human rights activists have brought protests in yemen with reports of more unrest in iran. all of it inspired, it seems, by the revolutions in egypt and tunisia. bahrain is undergoing its third day running. >> anger over the young man who was shot dead on monday, this tiny kingdom has been rocked by anti-government protest. this is the third day demonstrations there. two protesters are dead. a majority shia population with discontent at the way they are ruled. today some of those on the street went so far as to call for the overthrow of the ruling family. trouble in this unpopular state comes after the overthrow in this most populous country. unrest in libya as well, ruled by colonel gaddafi for years. hundreds of protesters clashed overnight. the riots were triggered by the arrest of a human rights campaigner th

. >>> lawmakers in south korea have sent a birthday present to north korean leader kim jong-il. they released balloons across the country's shared border carrying 100,000 leaflets denouncing his dictatorship. six lawmakers from south korea ruling grand national party carried out the protest on wednesday at imjin gak, near the demilitarized zone, coinciding with kim's 69th birthday. the balloons were equipped with timers so they would drop the leaflets over north korean territory three hours after their release. the literatu rerature criticizes north korea's hereditary rule and features photos of kim jong-il drinking wine alongside starving north korean citizens. >> translator: i believe it's our responsibility to let north koreans know just what's going on outside their country and also to pave the way for them so they can decide their own future. >> this is the first time south korean lawmakers have taken part in this kind of protest against north korea. they were apparently motivated by the country's shelling of a south korean island and its alleged sinking of one of the south

the leaflets compared ousted arab leaders to kim jong-il and his son kim jong-un. they warn hereditary rules and dictatorships don't last long. some defectors in south korea say protests recently occurred in some parts of north korea, mainly near the border with china. they say protesters demanded more food. a south korea expert says north korea's tight control of the internet and its people makes it very unlikely arab-style demonstrations will spread immediately. >>> relations on the korean peninsula took a turn for the worse in 2010. north korea attacked south korea on at least one occasion. as south korean president lee myung-bak started the fourth year of his five-year term today. improving relations is high on his to do list. but with the approval rating up, his top priority is keeping south korea's economy on track. president lee has placed top priority on economic growth. the country has bounced back faster than most from the global financial crisis. in december, the government estimated the economy grew 6.1% in 2010. the official figure will be released nex

shows it's widely believed leaders healthy after a stroke in two thousand and eight and the son kim jong un is being groomed as his replacement. japan has a temporarily suspended its annual antarctic whale hunt before. it's quota after repeated disruptions the sea shepherd conservation society has been chasing the fleet for weeks in the i.c.c. s. off antarctica that comes a year on from a collision in which a japanese whaling ship. blamed each other. for a u.s. immigration and customs enforcement agent was killed another one hurt while they were attacked when driving through northern mexico on choose day one was critically wounded and died from his injuries the second he was shot in the arm and leg remains in stable condition it's not clear if the incident was related to the escalating drug violence in the country where u.s. and mexican officials are working together on the investigation. the czech republic's health minister and a group representing the country's doctors have reached a deal to end the cold a bit of speed hit a peak in december last year when three thousand of them handed

korea is celebrating the birthday of its leader kim jong il who was turned sixty nine although some records show he's a year old of. people climb to the foot of a giant statue of the country's founding leader and kim's father what we call festivities including exhibitions ice skating and music shows it's widely believed the leaders health is ailing after a stroke in two thousand and eight the son kim jong un is being groomed as a replacement. and animal rights activists in china condemning a magic trick with synchronized fish they say cruelty was required to make the fish move in unison the actor was made famous after being broadcast on state television during a lunar new year celebrations last month in the most watched program you know the magician responsible says there's no abuse but refuses to give away the secret of the trick. for us president barack obama has unveiled his two thousand and twelve federal budget proposal in which he highlights to the country's financial priorities the plan includes a budget cuts and tax increases all aimed at reducing the deficit over the next decade an

how do you know that kim jong il had a lead role in the shelling of the island? that is part of what i call the process of demonizing foreign leaders that we don't like. we did it to polk achievement whose life we saved at the end of oral board ii. he reached out to us countless times asking for recognition and we refuse and fought a war we should never have fought. we also demonized saddam hussein, a man who deserved the the but because we thought he was such a bad guy we set of course he has nuclear weapons and has been in bed with al qaeda. we can't prove either of those things but we will invade iraq and then find a nuclear weapons and prove he had been in bed with al qaeda neither of which was true. the process of demonizing kim jong il and now his son has reached a fairly high tempo. year-ago i wrote vice-president joe biden advocating that he be invited to the united states for an orientation tour. he spent a couple years in switzerland and speaks some english and was a basketball fan. his classmates said he was a regular guy. i thought at that point in su

how do you know that kim jong on had a lead role in the shelling of the island? that's part of what i call the demonizing foreign leaders that we don't like. we did it to ho chi minh, whose life we saved at the end of world war ii. he reached out to us countless times asking for recognition. we refuse and we fought a war that we should have never fought. i think that we also demonized saddam hussein, a man who deserved demonizing, because we thought he was such a bad guy we said of course he is nuclear weapons and, of course, he has been in bed with al qaeda. so we can't prove either of those things, and we will invade iraq and they will find the nuclear weapons and they will find a prove that he had been in bed with al qaeda. but knew were true. the process of demonizing kim jong-il and now his son has reached a fairly high tempo. a year ago i wrote vice president biden urging that kim jong to be invited to the united states for an orientation. he spent a couple of years in switzerland. he speaks some english. he was a basketball fan. his classmates said he was

bak to make a remark which could be interpreted as giving up on dialogue with the north's leader, kim jong il. the south korean government has proposed holding working-level military talks with north korea on february 11th in response to requests by the north. however, the government said it will carefully consider what the north says about the sinking and shelling incidents. >>> experts are warning of a possible explosive eruption at mt. shinmoe in southwestern japan. the volcano's lava dom has rapidly grown to about 500 meters in diameter. a team of the national research institute for earth science and disaster prevention analyzed satellite data of the volcano, located on the border of kagoshima and miyazaki prefectures. it found that the lava dome was about 50 meters in diameter on thursday. but on sunday it grew to about 500 meters, covering more than half of the mountaintop. this means it has grown ten times larger in just three days. >>> in biz news, crude oil futures surged overnight in both london and new york due to concerns over political unrest in egypt. in london futures soared

regime kim jong il has now turned seventy crowds have started to gather in the capital pyongyang to celebrate his birthday the government officially lists his age is sixty nine records show he is a year old is thought celebrations will be more low key this year due to a food shortage in the country. the czech republic's health minister and a group representing the country's doctors have reached a deal to end a rout over paul pate the dispute had a peek into somebody's last year when three and a half thousand doctors handed in resignation that was under the deal hospital doctors are to receive a pay rise of about three hundred and fifty dollars a month this year and next the deal still needs the approval of the cabinet and doctors. ok let's get to business news now with you. hello and a very warm welcome to the business update this week's news maker ficci b. which successfully sort of ten percent of its shares on monday and is plenty to snap up bank of moscow is expecting to the record profits for twenty ten in addition to these positive developments ficci b.'s deputy chairman get that morse s

other world international headlines now this hour from the leader of north korea's communist regime kim jong il he's turned seventy years old started to gather in the capital pyongyang to celebrate his birthday and the government officially lists his age as sixty nine their records show he's a year older it's thought celebrations will be more low key this year due to a food shortage in the country. and japan has temporarily suspended its annual antarctic whale hunt for filling its quota after repeated to strong. the sea shepherd conservation society has been chasing the fleet for weeks and the i.c.c. is off antarctica and comes a year on from a collision in which a japanese whaling ship was damaged there you see shepherd wrestle both parties and blame each other for the incident. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement agent was killed and another hurt when they were attacked while driving through northern mexico on tuesday one that was critically wounded and die from his injuries the second he was shot in the arm and leg remains in stable condition it's not clear if the incident was relate

the leader of north korea's a communist regime kim jong. hill has just turned seventy years old crowds have started to gather in the capital pyongyang to celebrate his birthday the government officially lists his age as sixty nine records show he's a year older it's thought celebrations could be more low key this year due to a food shortage in the country. and the czech republic's health minister and a group of representing the country's doctors have reached a deal to end the raul over paul pay the disputed peak in december last year when three and a half thousand of them handed in their resignation letters under the deal hospital doctors are to receive a pay rise of around three hundred fifty dollars a month this year and next the deal still needs to be approved by the company. a little bit later here at r.t. will be looking at one of the most liberal leaders of the soviet union before that though the business news with you. hello time to get the latest from the world of business the any old russian business week is underway in london it a

. >>> one of the sons of north korean leader, kim jong-il, has reportedly been seen in public for the first time in five years. of all places, at an eric clapton concert in singapore. the 29-year-old second son of the reclusive leader was wearing a black t-shirt. he was surrounded by plainclothes security guards who were trying to block cameras. >>> if you're looking for a cure to the common cold, you may want the to try some zinc supplements. taking some within 24 hours of the onset can shorten a cold by the day. our dr. richard besser has some doubts, though. >> some of the studies show it works. but in those studies, some were taking a 10 milligram lozenge every hour and a half when they're awake. that's a lot of zinc. and many people experience the metallic taste, as well as the nausea. you have to weigh those benefits -- i mean, those problems against maybe a one-day shortening of your illness. >> the new study also claims that zinc will decrease the severity of your cold symptoms. >>> and a different study says what many women already know. they are up during the night more than

night live," our first guest impersonated a wide range of powerful women from hillary clinton to kim jong-ilcan see her now on the very funny show "parks & recreation" thursday nights at 9:30 on nbc. please say hello to amy poehler. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: well, i can think of no more delightful guest to have here on our anniversary. >> happy anniversary, by the way. congratulations. it's amazing. >> jimmy: thank you. [ cheers and applause ] i know it is. i don't know if that's good, but yeah. >> i'm really surprised. >> jimmy: really, this is shocking. >> i did some research. i know you were talking about bronze is the, like, traditional gift. and then the modern anniversary, eighth anniversary gift is an appliance. >> jimmy: oh, really? >> and the place you're supposed to travel to on your eighth anniversary is a casino. >> jimmy: really? >> so i got you a ticket to reno -- >> jimmy: wow. >> and when you arrive in your hotel room, there will be a bronze montel williams juicer -- >> jimmy: are you kidding me? wow. [ applause ] that is -- that's too generous. reno, you say? >> they

in the case of north korea with kim jong-il two is not the greatest democrat in the world, people aresaying the emphasis in on the are gentlemen and finding a solution based on the property, negotiation. this is the reality. you know, you can say whatever you want to say. people are not to see that if you have nuclear weapons or if you have even the capability as iran is trying to do now, then it differently. there are countries no matter what or privileged countries. they have nuclear reference or 13 countries live under the nuclear umbrella, which means that the nuclear weapons does matter and we are protect it at this nuclear umbrella. what to tell the other 160 countries that, you know, if you cannot touch a nuclear weapon or umbrella because you cannot have a security concern. but any policy, as we were discussing today, any policy which is not equitable is not sustainable. so either to ever change of mindset and accept the security system that's on equitable sustainable or continue with the message that we can't have nuclear weapons. with the natives cannot. unfortunately if you

another tough winter, not much food, precious little fuel, and the ongoing secession between kim jong il and his son. guest: the biggest fear is the collapse of north korea the way that east germany collapsed. east germany was easy compared to north korea appeared it costs -- a cross west germany about $1 trillion to receive reunification. south korea would inherit the problem. there is no infrastructure. they would have to rebuild everything. it would be several trillion dollars to rebuild north korea, which is something they are anxious to avoid. host: would there be western support for a unified north korea? guest: there would be support, but where will the money come from? programs are being reduced all over the place. i did not see how that would be possible, how the western world is going to inherit the problems of a destroyed north korea because there is nothing there to make a viable state. host: so how will this situation resolved? guest: i think that south korea has to go on helping north korea and of to make sure it does not collapse appear. host: hartford, connecticut, dem

the purpose of demonizing kim jong il and his son has reached this tempo.the spurs and the biden about his son having an invitation to the white house. i thought at that point, the summer of 2009, that would have been a good chance to bring in to the united states for he could learn some things about us and we can learn some things about him that we could not learn sitting here. that was not done. the democratic to to me as to why they would not have that it was because there robins would have laughed him out of town. i am all for that kind of move towards north korea. i love the koreans. i have worked with them since the korean war and the people there are not that different than the people in south korea so excuse me if i'm impolite, but that is what i believe. yes? >> what do you see in after 20 years of the biggest failings of american presidents in regards to korea? what are their biggest success in their politically, culturally, socially? >> the biggest failure was the complete turnaround from the end of the clinton administration to the beginning of