you were in brussels correspondent from 2002 through 2005. the early years as the euro project developed. i would -- i would love your sense of the internal german dynamics on this but appreciate the anti-german sentiment we are saying in the south. how does the german foreign policy and economic policy react to that? we look forward to your comments. thank you. >> thank you and thanks for your patience. i know this thing -- it is 10 days old. angela merkel said -- they ask, what is your name and would international become a german. she said i am just coming for vacation. icthey know they have a problem. i also would like to talk about that. and i guess i would like to comment on that as well. i think i would address two or three basic misperceptions i have observed here in d.c. german crisis management. i think no one in germany commensurately not the delran has any plan for this crisis trade what they're doing now is they're trying to define what they did as a plan. it is a little bit unfair because no one has anticipated this. there was no

states like greece losing their sovereignty in effect handing over national decisionmaking to brussels in return for aid so it's good he said that russia doesn't need help slide help now for the countries however is not too small novelty for price changes as some may think this listening to what he had to say seeing. all the social initiatives connected with oil and gas revenues we shape but it according to a conservative scenario for protocol prices and even if the oil price falls to seventy dollars a barrel will still be able to meet. you in the most to the surprise of truth does stay high russia will be one of the world's fourth biggest economies by p.p.p. those purchasing power parity he said but he admitted the country still lags world warbles in cheap areas for two teaser you call first time that means it takes twice as long for russia working to achieve the same amount he also said that there will be laws to ease doing business of bringing guarantees for investors he's discussing with president medvedev creating a public prosecutor who will control a level playing field for busi

greece the idea of a losing big national sovereignty in other words control over decision making to brussels in return for financial aid so he said it's good that russia still controlled its own destiny as you put it with the current economic growth which is the third force that is in the g eight off to china and india within three years while she will be one of the world for biggest economies boy p.p.p. that's purchasing power parity but he admits of the countries still like small global's in cheek areas productivity is only twelve as high that means it takes a russian worker twice as long to make the same result as a western one for example if for missiles to ease doing business for investors also guarantees he talked about discussing with president method of creating a new public prosecutor who will control a living playing field for business but as you say overall the term of the speech was optimistic it was well received boy n.p.c. with a standing ovation at the end all right thank you for that. i we've got time to take a look at the russian markets how they're faring and they're lookin

all times of being on the program much pre-shared for belgium and pillage joining us now live from brussels and here. are the headlines today several torture techniques used by the united states against terror suspects have been labeled war crimes in a leak secret state department officials burma which also reveals a warning to the bush administration about their use and as marina porter explains next for r t some believe president obama is turning a blind eye to america's past. america's so-called war on terror produced images and accounts that ignited a world of questions about torture and the u.s. treatment of suspects american people need to know or using techniques within the law to protect them two years after george w. bush left the white house let's talk about waterboarding the former commander in chief admitted his stamp of approval for the use of interrogation techniques like waterboarding dubbed into humane and illegal under u.s. law and the geneva conventions why is water political in your opinion as a lawyer said it was legal. or within the. latter torture. and. let's go first

to keep an eye on when it comes to the future of afghanistan you know washington is is right now in brussels trying to talk to its allies about raising one billion dollars a year to a. security forces in the country just how willing to things will european nations be who are already suffering major economic problems do you think they can scrounge together a billion dollars to take over a war that appears to be going on in the so-called graveyard of empires. there are two sides to this story on one hand one billion dollars much less than what they're spending on their own troops in afghanistan it would be a cheap investment on the other hand even one dollar coming from taxpayers from there is the world falling into the pockets of. officials off corrupt government is too much so we have to deal with two things one we have to explain to the europeans and the american constituency that their investment that they're going to make in the afghan military and security forces is much cheaper than what they're spending on their own security forces on the other hand we should hold our government and ot

syria has more from brussels. well the museum director has started burning artwork he's calling this the art war basically it's a symbolic protest against the way that the economic crisis the european debt crisis is being handled until this point and he also says it over a thousand artworks are already doomed to be destroyed anyway because of the government's indifference to their situation subsidies have been cut to the cultural institutions and again this just brings about the message that no live and nothing is spared from these harsh cuts being imposed by governments in europe because of the debt crisis and it's the same story you have here art and cultural heritage of italy being prized assets and it's going down the drain the same goes with its workforce its assets their human assets bearing the brunt of all these pots and this is a symbolic protest follows what we've seen recently already suicides and suicide attempts in greece and italy as well over a pension cuts or loss of benefits or loss of jobs and th

govern it collapsed on monday when return resigned as it failed to agree on painful measures demanded by brussels a political crisis has already been described as a revolt against forced even steroids and journalist neil clark says there's every chance now the netherlands will abandon iraq which he believes will be disastrous for the single currency. the big divide across europe and not just in the south but in the north as well is between the people and the elite the people have had enough of austerity and they're now being told that because of this absolutely insane act if you agreed at the end of last year that they are going to be fifteen billion cuts in billion cuts in government spending and this basically will destroy the whole and it will destroy the economy it will destroy the good life that the dutch people used to over the years and unsurprised the dutch say that's it's enough if holland were to leave the euro and that's not such a far fetched idea as it might have appeared a few years ago but it really is game over because hollande has been a strong ally of germany in the kind of driv

government collapse on monday when mark rather resigned as a fail to agree on painful measures demanded by brussels the political crisis has already been described as a revolt against enforced you are sterile the u.k. based journalist and blogger neil clark says there's every chance now that the netherlands will abandon the euro which he believes would be disastrous for the single currency. the big divide of course europe and not just good in the south but in the north as well is between the people and the elite the people have had enough of austerity and they're now being told that because of this absolutely insane if you school act which was agreed at the end of last year that they've got to be fifteen billion in cuts but fifteen billion cuts in government spending and basically will destroy the whole and you will destroy the economy it will destroy the good life that the dutch people have been used to over the years and unsurprisingly the dutch are saying it's enough all and will to leave the euro and that's not such of a far fetched idea you know that it might have appeared if you. years ago bu

brussels in eastern ukrainian city of slowly getting back to normal after its residents were left in a state of shock by a series of bombings friday thirty people were injured ten of them children while doctors continue to treat the injured police are sifting through c.c.t.v. footage of the blast sites artie's aleck's airshows q reports from q. for some residents of new bit of skin ukraine of their regular crime joran and through the city was cut short because the police and i just got up from my chair when i heard the explosion of the doors was smashed the windows shattered all remember that when i got up there was smoke and dust everywhere and women were crying. i was selling tickets when it came out of nowhere i grabbed my knees trying to hold on there was blood all over i got out sat down on a bench and like doubt it was a powerful blast the trousers i was wearing were all covered in holes i couldn't see if my legs were injured but it's not like it's a horror of previously unseen in ukraine's third largest city for homemade explosive devices hidden in trash cans detonated one aft

still threats or is this growing resistance already the tip of an iceberg tell us are still here r t brussels. well the first round of the french presidential ballots on marine le pen's national front do better than ever as a came third with almost eighteen percent of the vote french journalist says sarkozy will have to work hard to attract these far right voters in the second round. i think the reason one of the reasons why a man like ben had such a high score which is the highest of our party ever is partly because of rejection of nicolas sarkozy so this rejection those people who voted for that reason that would have to be overcome in the coming two weeks if he wants to sway them it's probably all that he will carry on as he has in the last few weeks trying to send messages more strongly on the issues of. security and immigration and will not like this kind of talk so it's really a tricky game to play for sarkozy to be able to get his speech just right to sway people he needs i still think. we need. programs specially on economic matters. very close there was very little to tell them apart

evidence in support of that regime change so who's got time answer now is washington and certainly brussels with nato of the world what they know about about that ship if we follow where the facts lead in the coming days i think there's going to be a remarkable. result in investigation of exactly what's going on. the political leaders of the syrian opposition have been calling for foreign military intervention but that's something many people on the ground refuse to accept the boy to reports now from damascus. almost everyone in syria these days is in opposition to something ready to lash out at opponents at any moment and seventy six year old my feet mohammad is in opposition to that he's thousand syrians are so worked up about politics has become difficult to make people smile but he found the way. i like dancing in the street and i like their reaction it was . remiss way yet even if he can stay away from politics when i ask him about his biggest concern is that syria should not dance to somebody else's. head we don't need any countries meddling in our affairs. while the prospect of belie

vision and version of here are the obstacles are getting bigger from voters rallying behind that to brussels candidates to oppose also putting back border controls some e.u. leaders have dismissed them as populist threats but the question is are they merely still threats or is this growing resistance already the tip of an iceberg tell us are still here r t brussels. you know what you are to live for moscow still to come on the program back on every year thousands rally gets revolution where are venting their frustration over the upcoming elections which they say represent their voice . and detecting the truth russian m.p. andre look at boyd takes a radical step to rubbish britain's accusation that he killed former security officer or example of any of. our friday series of explosions have hit the city of never a trough skin eastern ukraine almost thirty people were injured when four consecutive blasts went off within an hour in public areas causing widespread panic the suspected terror attacks stoke fear at all only among the locals but also abroad as a country prepares to host the euro two

vision and version of fear of the obstacles or getting bigger from voters rallying behind their anti brussels candidates to oppose also putting back the border controls some e.u. leaders have dismissed them as a populist threats but the question is are they merely still threats or is this growing resistance already the tip of an iceberg tell us are still here r t brussels. it's good to have you with us here and all to you today still to come in the program of. thousands are rallying in egypt's revolution roof square venting their frustration over the upcoming elections which they say will not represent their. detecting the truth russian m.p. on the very little boy takes a radical step roughish britain's accusation that he killed former security officer alexander litvinenko. on friday a series of explosions of the city of the in a property off script that's in eastern ukraine almost thirty people were injured when four consecutive blasts went off within an hour in public areas causing widespread panic that suspected terror attacks stoked fear not only among the locals but also abroad as the co

evidence in support of that regime change so who's gotten an answer now is washington and certainly brussels with nato of the way what they know about about that ship if we follow where the facts lead in the coming days i think there's going to be a remarkable. result in investigation of exactly what's going on. chris hedges author and u.s. worker responded to the middle east says under the guise of democracy washington is pushing for regime change in syria. i don't think anyone in the muslim world thinks that we care much about human rights or democracy we have since the first gulf war planted military bases some the size of small cities i think there is at this point absolutely no credibility i'm talking about within the middle east when the united states claims that it would like to bring liberty or democracy to syria my feeling is that everything should be pushed through to create some kind of a ceasefire rather than pass a resolution that calls for assad's removal or resolution. that calls for intervention or anything else there's no real formal opposition you know it's a sort of a mess

if accuses the european union of harking back to the cold war as brussels moves to boycott the euro twenty eight well football championship in ukraine and poland over the case of jail ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko more details to follow in a few minutes. the founder of wiki leaks prepares to take center stage once again as the host of his very own interview show right here. quizzes the new president as. he was swept to power by a popular uprising just ahead. international news and comment live from the russian capital this is r.t. with you twenty four hours a day in syria a bomb blast has reportedly rocked the city of it lived just off the nine people were killed and around one hundred wounded in twenty explosions there the government and the opposition of blaming each other for orchestrating the attacks the united nations warns the own going violence threatens the peace plan it helped broker the head of the expanding u.n. observer mission to syria says the roadmap is futile unless all sides observe a cease fire meanwhile damascus is preparing to hold nationwide parliame

shipments who have come from lebanon into syria so who's got time answer now is washington and certainly brussels with nato of the what they know about about that ship if we follow where the facts lead in the coming days i think there's going to be a remarkable. result in investigation of exactly what's going on. and watching r.t. now the world's most famous secret spiller is here again to unleash further controversy with his shows next episode airing on r.t. this change of course julian assange she's already spoken to the hezbollah leader in his first international interview and over six years and brought together two political extremes from both sides of the atlantic laura smith now joins us live from london with the details of the next upcoming storm laura good to see you so what can we expect this time around who is the guest for songs on cheese today. well this is the third episode of the program and the guest this week is the first president of the new tune is the president. of course is where the arab spring first really kicked off and the jasmine revolution as it's come to be known was on

financial desperation and the continuing harsh austerity measures are these tests are simply reports from brussels. on the bigger picture it is a symbol of the desperation on the street of the ordinary people across the e.u. who are suffering from all the a steady cuts in the financial difficulties other countries are going through at the moment the seventy seven year old man before shooting himself in front of parliament alpha's as he would be leaving so as not to leave debt with his children and this is a sentiment that is called by a lot of people they may be suffering as silently or they may not be protesting out of the streets or are killing themselves but it is certainly a sentiment that is reflected across the e.u. and it's not just the increase this country is seeing a rise in the suicide rates but also in italy there have been a string of recent to suicides directly linked to their financial problems we've seen a seventy eight year old woman who threw herself off of the balcony of her third floor flat and she said this was because she had said before that that this was because of the cuts

in brussels well there are more details for you of this extremely sad and very public suicide in greece. we've accounts from the scene where money pressures just got too much for one elderly man as we've been saying where and also accounts from shocked onlookers wondering what this says about their country so our website now r.t. the calm. russia is accusing a group of western and arab states who supported the syrian opposition of undermining peace efforts gulf nations are calling for weapons to be given to the rebels but wasco says the opposition will never defeat the army even if it's armed to the teeth our middle east correspondent paula sleep has the latest. these comments by the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov come just as they do is take a trip state hillary clinton has restraints to the united states' position that they want the syrian president bashar assad to step down immediately against the backdrop park ongoing peace talks you can say that the u.s. want to decide to step down in any situation and the sooner the better now at the same time we are witnessing increasing

calling from brussels for us to talk more about the toll that it's taking on people sort of proudly is the executive director of the investment consultancy t.v. advisors rather patrick always good to have you on the program and throughout this whole thing we've always talked openly about. fiscal policy the big story the big picture what's going wrong what's not going right about it we often don't think about loved ones grandfathers grandmothers who are going through these awful problems day by day this particular pensioner who committed suicide today left a note as we've been reporting that he refused to scrounge for food in the rubbish and how reflective is his situation of most the rest of the people in the country how many other people are going through this all for awful predicament now. well this is truly a tragedy kovan it's what unfortunately we were always concerned was going to happen not that the reality is upon us it does not make it any less stark this is a ghastly situation because of the whims of indus economically and continent politicians who believe and listen to equal

as a bureaucratic mess which takes more then it gives really i mean is this it does dumping on the brussels vassal ban like enter as the e.u. influence waning well the e.u. influence is waning but for reasons that have to do with the so-called dead crisis that is the way europe needers a try to solve a crisis which banks invented by not taking the appropriate measures and also all these new liberal policies but make the rich richer and poorer but there is an tag in his employ is that on the part of many people but even the people who are against this kind of europe and against the euro in an idea percy they want a different kind of europe they are hostile to the way europe runs its policies or is totally incompetent when it comes to solving this problem is if we had a functioning central bank it would be no problem so there is this weariness and hostility but not necessarily. against europe as an idea but against this particular kind of europe and of course there is room corporate civility within europe and things can change whoever's elected president. in may. but last month of course he t

own minority dot com report i know brussels far reaching ambitions to move the tantalus up or grabs a scientist first have plans to be at the forefront of a status they are prominent man mention of their service. plus an american fighter jet crashes into apartments in the state of virginia injuring at least seven people you can see the footage of the aftermath on our you tube channel. these are the images real world in seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day. sea of red flags flooded central moscow today as hundreds of communists gathered to show their political support dishonest side with the results of the presidential election they want to revamp the party image and see the movement become a real opposition force to have the mark say was that the event. the red flags of the communist party as well as they play cards and day banners have been flying high here in pushkin square in moscow with slogans saying a decent life there parliamentary elections as well as russia with each and now this gathering here was all apologies to the party members talking t