we'll talk about lebanon. stay with us. lebanon seems to be on the brink of a political crisis again. a united snations panel has been investigating the 2005 assassination of former prime minister rafik har iraye. that tribuneal is expected to implication members of hezbollah. in a presentation his son tried to implication israel which strongly denied all such claims. joining me from atlanta octavia nasr, she was born and educated in beirut. joining me from washington robert worth "the new york times" bureau chief in beirut. i am pleased to have both of them on this program. octavia i begin with you. tell me about this investigation and what the conclusion seemed to say. >> many conclusions really over the years since the investigation began. but lately as you mentioned, hezbollah members seem to be heading towards indictment. as soon as the news broke we saw a lot of movement on the part of hezbollah basically trying to first of all flex muscles, the sg of hezbollah said that no one touches even half a member of hezbollah.

a rare exchange of fire on the shared border between israel and lebanon. two lebanese soldiers, a lebanese journalist, and an israeli soldier are dead. 3 million people are affected by the worst flooding in eight decades in pakistan. pakistan frills -- pakistan's president is under criticism for leaving his country behind in crisis. hours before he arrived in britain to meet with prime minister david cameron, there were criticisms that pakistan is losing its battle with the taliban. we have this report on the tensions. >> living under the cover of darkness, british and afghan troops are moving. by daylight, they walked into this former taliban stronghold almost unopposed. new footage released tonight by the ministry of defence shows the initial goal of this helmand operation has been achieved, but not the critical part. winning the local trust and holding the ground. today, the president of pakistan declares that is a war he thinks we are losing. he goes to london ahead of his talks with the prime minister on friday with a stark assessment that could not h

united nations security council -- there is the worst problem for years between israel and lebanon. firefighters in russia are struggling to contain hundreds of wildfires that have now claimed at least 40 people around the country. the fires of taken hold, triggering a global rise in we prices. there are some of the villages affected. >> deep in the forests east of moscow, another desperate battle begins. by yourself suddenly erupted very close. the handful of firemen who are available are using whatever means to douse them. there is not even a minute to lose. >> they have managed to do this, but it is highly likely that this fire has continued to spread, " and this is just a little bit away. >> already, great swaths of this forest have been destroyed. the fires of moved relentlessly towards the village over the past three weeks. the villagers also came out today to help fight the flames and save their homes. >> although they have been lucky this time, she told me she was still very afraid. she said the local fire brigade does not have a lot. so one method they have is cutting down

it would be integral role for lebanon to lapse into violence -- it would be intolerable for lebanon to lapse into violence once more. france provides its full support to lebanon's democratic institutions, to the present, and to the ambassador -- to the president, and to the investor. france is a friend to all the lebanese people. this is the whole aim of the mission, to ensure lebanon's peace and sovran team, which all of its neighbors must respect. ambassadors in europe hit wavers between the best and the worse. last winter, it was the worst possible outcome. the greek debt crisis became a crisis of the year, whose credibility had been called into question. allow me to remind you, now that the storm is passed, of a few simple truths. firstly, the public finances of the eurozone are less damaged than that of the united states or japan, both in terms of deficit and in terms of debt. commentators are making extraordinary comments. a few weeks ago, i was at the g- 20 summit meeting in canada. everybody was complaining about europe lagging the rest of the world. they praise to the growth o

everyone at lebanon does is that the special unit at lebanon set up by the international community has followed evidence of which to indictment senior members of hezbollah for the role and fascination of the former prime minister and that is by the way, very surprising so. many of us thought it was something done by the syrians at their request. they were and furthermore they were income pe tenth doing it in a way that they got caught. and this is going to be a very delicate issue and in lebanon, and so what we see is, he standing up there giving this widely anticipated speech about response and accusations putting forward what we're blatantly obviously phoney excuses how israel was responsible for this evidence. i mean that's who has a problem. he's got a problem. this is an issue that's turned down or out being something in which this man can step aside and a void the principal charge against him in eyes of the much of the arab world and it's a good way of seeing you in may with him. and furthermore, it's in his interest to say well, we told you lebanon would be unstable if we're not

we have been monitoring the tensions between israel and lebanon four weeks. the israeli side is complaining about a massive rearmament. at this point in time, nobody seems to want a big war. the incident has the potential to trigger a wider conflict. it is expected to be much more violent than the one in 2006. >> speaking to us earlier from beirut. poland has delayed the planned removal of a cross dedicated to the late president after hundreds of supporters clashed with the people. they had ordered the transfer of the cross from the palace to a nearby church. police were forced to use tear gas to break up the protesters. his plane crashed in russia on the 10th of april. bp says that it is conducting final testing on its latest plan to cap the damaged well head in the gulf of mexico. there are no guarantees that the effort will be successful. >> bp is preparing its latest attempt to flood the well 1,500 meters below the surface. the static kehl operation involves pumping mud into the well and topping it with cement. >> everybody would like to have this ended a

a similar controversy is brewing in lebanon and algeria as well. >>> the u.s. automaker general motors marked a substaery with s largest quarterly profit in six years due to strong sales in north america. gm announced its business for performance for the april to june period on thursday. the automaker said it recorded $1.3 billion in net income in the quarter, some of which was attributable to cost-cutting efforts, including layoffs. the profit is gm's biggest since the second quarter of 2004 and shows the firm's business has been recovering rapidly since its bankruptcy filing in june of last year. the automaker received rounds of bailout funds from the u.s. and canadian governments, putting more than 70% of its stock under government control. in order to repay the bailout funds, it will reportedly submit an initial public offering plan to the securities and exchange commission in the near future. the company's stock was de-listed following the bankruptcy filing. gm also plans to promote generational changes in its management. chief executive officer edward whi

israel and lebanon have blamed each other for the eruption. the israeli military said they were working to maintain the fence along the border which they did not cross. the military said the lebanese army is responsible for the incident. lebanese president michel suleiman held israel accountable and said it would complain to the u.n. security council. in the skirmish three soldiers and one reporter were killed on the lebanese side while one army officer was confirmed dead on the israeli side. the fighting did not continue for long as the united nations worked with both sides to restore calm. however, both armies are still on full alert as the tense standoff continues. now, the u.n. security council has expressed deep concern about tuesday's deadly clashes between israel and lebanon. the council's rotating chair, russian u.n. ambassador vitaly churkin held a news conference on tuesday after the closed-door meeting. >> the members of the security council called on all parties to practice utmost restraint, strictly abide by their obligations unde

the relative calm tonight return to lebanon's border with israel as u.n. peacekeepers have increased patrols along the divide it comes a day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers confirmed israel's troops remained on their own side of the border it is the bloodiest incident between the two since the war in two thousand and six. kenyans are voting in a referendum on a new constitution which seeks to limit the president's powers and force a bill of rights president waica back he is backing the yes vote security has been stepped up across the country where more than a thousand people died in clashes following two thousand and seven as disputed election polls show the constitution is likely to be passed. ninety minutes past nine at night now here in moscow when i website there's always more stories to see on our home page r.t. dot com and a chance to have your say on the story as you see as well that she was there t

and a relative calm has returned to lebanon's border with israel as un peacekeepers have increased their patrols of the boundary becomes the day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remained on their own side of the border it's the bloodiest incident between the two since their war in two thousand and six. that's all the news we have for you this hour the latest business news is coming your way in just a moment. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers on. every month we give you the future we help you understand how we get there and what tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join our technology update on our g. hello welcome to the business program hay on r.t. the global cost of wheat is recorded its biggest monthly increase for nearly forty years mostly due to the severe drought in ru

relative karmas return to lebanon's border with israel tonight is that un peacekeepers have increased their patrols along the divide it comes a day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remained on their own side of the border it is the bloodiest incident since the two between the two since the war in two thousand and six. ten year votes they're being counted after a referendum is held on a new constitution it seeks to limit the president's powers and enforce a bill of rights president michael baccy is backing the yes vote security has been stepped up across the country where more than a thousand people died in clashes after two thousand and seven as disputed election polls show the constitution is likely to be passed. to seventy moscow time millions of children across india are being forced to give up their education to were living with widespread poverty many families can't afford to send their kids to schoo

a relative calm has returned to lebanon's border with israel as un peacekeepers have increased their patrols of the boundary it comes a day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remain on their own side of the border it's the bloodiest incident between the two since their war in two thousand and six . kenyans are voting in a referendum on a new constitution which seeks to limit the president's powers and force a bill of rights president why. there is backing the yes vote security has been stepped up across the country where more than a thousand people died in clashes following two thousand and seven disputed election polls show the constitution is likely to be packed. and b.p. says it's reached a significant milestone after apparently controlling the oil leak in the gulf of mexico with its latest effort a new operation employs a static kill process which uses heavy mud to push the oil back down into the reser

lots of come tonight return to lebanon's border with israel has un peacekeepers have increased their patrols along the divide it comes a day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remain on their own side of the border it's the bloodiest incident between the two since the war in two thousand and six. in kenya the votes are being counted after a referendum was held about a new constitution it seeks to limit the president's powers and in force a bill of rights president michael back here supporting the changes security has been stepped up across the country where more than a thousand people died in clashes following two thousand and seven disputed election polls show the contribution is likely to be passed. at a happy to use now the donkey that was sent parasailing above a russian cruel p.r. stunt that we could to back is these days enjoying the trappings of a new celebrity lifestyle and that it was swamped in w

it comes a day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claims its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remain on their own side of the border it's the bloodiest incident between the two since their war in two thousand and six . time now for business update with the charlotte she joins us and she has news that poland may pull the plug on gas supplies from russia that's right also is yet to sign off from gas problem and it seems poland's premier don't know task is instead eyeing other sources we'll have the details later in the program but first this hour the ruble is enjoying a resurgence against the dollar on the back of the rising oil price which is currently close to a two month high the russian currency now holding below the psychologically important level of thirty to the dollar. reports. the russian ruble is a three month high versus the greenback and analysts say the rising price is not the only reason for the rally since this started we. do need these in

in the lebanon war israel had an investigation by a commission and the reports were everything was laid out on the table now all the others the other side never investigates. it's wrong i don't think it's a tit for tat famous. all i worry about is clearly what i think why it was wrong why does the media pick on israel and start looking at my m r or china or russia or i personally i pick on everyone and everything and i think you realize we're not about. human rights abuses occur in some places doesn't excuse them occurring in other no it's course not so obviously than just a distraction but israel will investigate in israel too little problem with israeli investigations is that israel never investigates properly independently or impartially and if they do never follow through with the decisions of independent investigations when they do occur just one prominent example in the early one nine hundred eighty s. when israel invaded lebanon and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of palestinian civilians in the camps of sabra and shatila they did hold an independent c

. >> lebanon. there seems to be growing concern on the hill about the military assistance to lebanese army. it came out yesterday, we have two people on your team, i.e., the democrats, two democrats, who are holding up this assistance and others from the other side of the aisle who are joining in the expressions of concern. what do you make of this? are you concerned at all that the program to spoort the lebanese army and by extension the lebanese government asserting its sovereignty will be damaged? >> well, first of all we continue to believe that supporting the lebanese government and the lebanese army, military, is in our national interest, it contributes to stability in the region. that said, you know, we expressed our concerns about the incident last week. we still have an ongoing dialogue ourselveses with lebanese officials, including discussions with the lebanese military to try to fully understand what happened and how it can be prevented in the future. we do understand the questions that

is busy were by cyclists will be able to of our own separate bicycle lanes just like other parts of lebanon boulevard. jonathan pond, kron 4 news. --laguna boulevard. and ♪ >> and or mount pam cam, the temperatures are cool coast-to- coast line with the fog is still a factor. you can see that fog is still pressing through the bay. with fog/drizzle tomorrow and closer to the coast line is we're reducing the possibility for drizzle tarif. and temperats will remain on the course side. a look of the fog tracker for tomorrow morning, it is blanketing the bay area by 5:00 a.m., inland areas included. the same with the south bay, and it was still back by 8:00 a.m., just to the bay shore add up to the north bay. temperatures will remain cool in these spots, and lingering into the late morning hours and to the temperatures are going to be on the cooler side, with the to nine degrees in half moon bay. 60s, 70's, low 80s. overall, these temperatures are much cooler than where they should be for this time of year. it is summer! and with 13 degrees than average, and it is going be cooler in summer app

he has been a staunch advocate of our community, requiring culturally competent programs, rebuilding lebanon hospital, san francisco general hospital, and encouraging support for the hepatitis b three program. he was quoted in today's "new york times" for his advocacy to that program. one of the first individuals are asked to come to my office to greet me was none other than this gentleman here, and i also want to remake a quick conversation i had with my mother recently. i told her i was going to present an award to the good doctor, and she asked me -- "i guess it is too late for you to good medical school?" [laughter] without further ado, doctor, thank you so much for everything you have done for us. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. i am almost speechless for this honor, an honor which actually i never sought, and i am humbled receiving. it has been my great privilege to be able to work in this city, and in the spirit of the theme of tonight, which is headed and unity, i need to emphasize the issue of heritage. first of all, like at the academy, and i'm waiting 40 lights to go off short

now the nation of lebanon reassessing black berry service after saudi arabia, the uie and india expressed similar worries. and that's tonight's market focus. >> suzanne: uncle sam is helping ford motor boost its exports. the automaker will receive $250 million in government financing to help it send more than 200,000 cars and trucks to mexico and canada. today's announcement came as president obama toured ford's chicago assembly plant. ford is expected to pay back the loan within a year with fees and interest. the president says assisting ford will help meet his goal of doubling u.s. exports over the next five years. >> suzanne: separately, general motors is promising impressive second quarter results when it reports next week. but, the automaker was less definitive today about a date for its initial public offering. g.m. chairman and chief executive ed whitacre said the company is working as fast as it can to go public. still, the timing of the deal remains questionable. he suggested an i.p.o. before november's midterm elections would be a stretch. while the paperwork has been started, t

>> in my view we need to work very hard on such relationships with syria, israel and lebanon/israel. because the problem with confidence of their security in israel is the fact that they sere close to their enemies. it's not a matter of strategic warning time for them. >> rose: it's seconds. >> literally seconds. that's why ill argue that those relationships should be worked on simultaneously and heavily alongside the peace process. >> rose: turkey. what do you think of the president and where do you think his intentions are? and how have they changed? >> i like prime ministerer wan first of all. i think he is a populist and erdogan and what we're seeing is an acknowledgment that in the country side turkey has changed. it's much more conservative now than it was first of all. second that they have an interest now in what they never did before and this's the question of the palestinians. third, you've got a young population, a large population that has come through the economic doldrums quite well without devastation to their banking system and they're finding themselves more or less

the international community's action is to ensure the stability of the the first -- the diverse lebanon. ladies and gentleman, ambassadors, we waver between the best and the work. last winter it the worst possible outcome, that greece crisis, has become a crisis of the europe, if his credibility would be called in the question. i allow me to remind you now to the storm has passed of a few simple truths. firstly, the public finances of eurozone or less damaged. commentators making extraordinary comments a few weeks ago. i was in canada and everyone was proclaiming about europe's lagging the rest of the world and praising the growth of asia and the united states. the same people are saying exactly the opposite. contrary to what is often said, the europeans were able to react effectively. when we had to say breez -- save greece, a financial guarantee plan was mobilized. it would been better to take swifter action, but in your, the decision making process involves 27 sovereign nations. history will remember that as always, the european -- europe overcame its problems by choosing solidarity

that would be occupation in iraq or lebanon or occupation of palestinian territories and that conflict. it is the united states is to succeed in its initiatives in any part of the muslim world or arab world it needs to hold accountable all parties to the same standards and to same u.n. security council resolutions. it has ignored the resolutions on the occupation of arab lands by israel since 1967. that somehow has to be corrected in terms of u.s. policy. >> you think iraq drains away attention to the arab-israeli conflict. >> i think the arab israeli conflict influenced what has taken place and is taking place in iraq and has been responded to by people in the region. >> there is what your husband told me in 99-1993 when i interviewed him in jordan. i asked him if iraq was a threat. he said iraq is not a threat as far as i'm concerned to jordan or to any at this time. i think we are very, very concerned with the question of the people of iraq and how much they can continue to endure in terms of hardship they have endured so far. the root cause of instability is the palestinian-arab pr

week of heavy fighting between hezbollah and supporters of a pro-western governing coalition brought lebanon to the brink of a new civil war in 2008. rocket-propelled grenades and machine gunfire echoed through the neighborhood. the clash seems to have been sparked by an argument between a local hezbollah official and a member of a sunni faction. it escalated into a gunfight two. people were killed, including a member of his boll threasm lebanese army moved in to stop the fighting. they cor conned -- cordoned off the area and restored calm. the wounded were taken to hospital. both hezbollah and others were quick to insist the clash was just a personal dispute with no political or techtarian -- sectarian dimension. it was a surprise to many lebanese as the two groups have been allies in recent years. but it also ratcheted up tensions in the city where people are increasingly apprehensive and expect an indictment of members that could trigger a new round of sectarian conflict. one ma who didn't seem unduly unnerved was the hezbollah leader. as the fighting erupted, he was giving a speech beame

israel says it is continuing to upper trees along its border with lebanon. on tuesday, and class with the lebanese army let four people dead -- a clash with the lebanese army. that is when this started to crack down a tree both sides claim was in a territory. confirmation that the israelis were indeed on the israeli side of the border. stay with us if you can. still to come, american billionaires who pledged to give most of their wealth away. first, though, a dispute has broken out in poland over a wooden cross intended to honor victims of the plane crash in april that killed the president and many other political and military leaders. several hundred protesters have top officials moving across from outside the presidential palace in warsaw, a compromise plan to transfer to a nearby church has now been put to one side. >> quite extraordinary scenes outside warsaw's presidential palace. on one side of the barricades, protesters chanting in defense of the cross. on the other, scouts and priests are right to move it to a nearby church. as tensions rose, scuffle

surging restraint on both sides to avoid a repeat of the deadly the years ago lebanon says its troops a profile to israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israel will respond aggressively to any attack. in the u.s. so you can ask is a lorry driver has shot dead eight of his colleagues before committing suicide to all those were injured in the incident when it happened was forced to resign for allegedly stealing from the company the man had been working there for two years and had complained about racial harassment. flaunting in. it's palka stone says its rescue operations are almost finished three million people have been affected by the floods which have killed an estimated fourteen hundred people full cost and say that more rains are expected to hit the country over the next few days. i think that is the way things how was he doing away off for a short break out of business update with. hungry for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. welcome to business crude oil is trading a

deadly clashes the un's urging restraint on both sides to avoid a repeat of the dead four years ago lebanon says its troops. illegally entered its territory prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israel will respond the rest of his time. in the u.s. state of connecticut as a lorry driver dead eight of his colleagues before committing suicide see while those were injured in the incident it happened he was forced to resign for allegedly stealing from the company the man. i've been working there for two years has complained about racial harassment i can't work. planting a seed the stand says it's rescue operations are almost finished three million people have been affected by the floods which killed an estimated three hundred people will cost us a bit more rains are expected to hit the country over the next few days. in ten minutes time the tiny arab state playing a big role in the delicate middle east peace process first the business update with danielle. the business billionaire vladimir patani and could turn the tables a little is there a person but boy here miles out of morning join us nic

depending on how good their air defenses are they could be hit but i think it would also react from lebanon and we would see a wave of rocket attacks and there are maybe now an as a land of opportunity but for increasing numbers it's an offer they are not willing to take last year alone over seven hundred people renounced their us citizenship three times as many as a year before arty's lore and i asked one explain why his american dream turned sour. ken o'keefe grew up in america and had a nation that he believed was the greatest in the world a bastion of freedom and democracy in order to protect those ideals he joined the marine corps and went to fight for his country in the gulf war and that's when the american dream became a nightmare i was punished for speaking out about something that my superiors were doing and my life became extremely difficult upon my return with a different perspective i started to look at american history and politics and realized that my whole life i had been lied to and i believed in those ideals you know i believed in them and when i found out that these ideals

left for dead lebanon claims its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed that israel's transfer a main on their own side of the border is the bloodiest incident between the two since their war in two thousand and six. and is r.t. from moscow that later tonight will be talking to a leading jordanian lawmaker about what effect neighboring countries actions having on the security in jordan that's coming up shortly after the business tonight with charlotte. hello and welcome to the business program here on r.t. the global cost of wheat is recorded its biggest monthly increase the nearly forty years mostly due to the severe drought here in russia there are concerns the higher prices could push up the cost of food and therefore inflation but according to a leading retailer x. five russian substantial grain reserves should limit the problem but. it is true that due to the low harvest this year and the ongoing drought signs are pointing to an increase in prices by suppliers simply because there will be a shortage of some goods

there giving israel a political umbrella which protects israel from from criticism when israel invades lebanon for example or more more recently when israel invaded gaza let me ask you now you mentioned this three billion or so dollars of u.s. aid per year and according to international law from what i understand of course it's illegal to give a to any country with a nuclear program so since israel does have a big nucular program with some estimates suggesting up to two hundred nuclear warheads that right there makes it a legal act for the us to give them any money at all in so-called aid and as a u.s. taxpayer myself i've tried to lobby the israeli government to give me back the many billions of dollars that we have given them to filter through my own experience with the economy in the u.s. i figured that benjamin netanyahu probably owes me about three thousand dollars personally i'm not holding my breath that he'll pay me my money back any time soon although i think morally and ethically it shouldn't but let's move on how is this boycott being received inside israel well a lot of people are

typical of the new generation that finds it easy to mix between cultures and she's lived in jordan lebanon and saudi arabia and speaks fluent in english and arabic she grew up in american culture and says she choose western music in movies of a traditional am. any day a lot of us have come from like culturally diverse societies like you there your mom your dad my before and you know this is a new trend in joining it's far more accepting the fact that you know you're not limited to marrying an arab or a jordanian and we all go like a lot of us go study abroad and abroad you get so many different cultures and so many different people but sean is so shocked feel some of the influence also comes from the government he's the first to admit that the fashion that glosses the pages of her magazines no one would ever wear on the streets it's almost like there's a contradiction in society you have that sect of society that is holding on to traditional values and traditional ideas and then you have that side typically the more modern part of the city that is kind of wanting to develop in western eyes

been shot dead in an exchange of fire along the border is the most serious clashes since the monthlong lebanon war four years ago israeli shelling followed the border shooting killing a journalist lebanese officials claim the violence was sparked when israeli soldiers crossed the divide to walk into a tree to aid the line of sight into the country. thousands of protesters in indian administered kashmir have ignored police warnings that they would be shot if they continue to defy around the clock few as a result two people have been killed and one wounded in choose these demonstrations against indian rule news of the casualties brought more activists out onto the streets pelting police vehicles and officers and rocks over forty people have died in weeks of unrest there. to address of all the latest stories rather clogged if not by a t.v. online at r.t. dot com it's twenty past nine at night and i was called time as casual as business tonight shallots here. hello and welcome to the business program here on aussie first this is good news for the ruble is enjoying a strong rally against the dollar