rocketed since foreign troops invaded the country in two thousand and one and its most rapid in areas controlled by foreign forces that's the view of afghan president hamid karzai in an exclusive interview he sat down with r t you can catch it later today when afghanistan was. in complete anarchy poppies were not so much but when the mage idea of the puppies were not that high wyndham was left and thought of and came poppies went up but then there were questions talked how come when the entire international communities in afghanistan would have so much talk of the water on drugs and all that there is such a rise in the cultivation of poppies where we are in charge. but we have reduced poppies in twenty two provinces of afghanistan in some of two spots is completely eliminated perhaps where we are not in charge we want to provinces where there is taliban or with more foreign forces and in those provinces of course poppies of

entries and that's a question all of us together afghanistan of the size including russia in a very important significant way must help afghanistan get treated the and get to charge of its own affairs and to defend our own country and to run our own country so by twenty fourteen we are not in need and there is no reason for the international forces to continue to stay in afghanistan. karzai is due to hold talks with dmitri medvedev in moscow later today russia's one about ghana stands key allies in fighting drug trafficking with the two leaders meeting three times last year in october russian special forces helped afghan troops destroy several hire and production plants in eastern afghanistan karzai said he hopes his country will be able to take charge of its own security by two thousand and fourteen when u.s. troops are due to leave. the russian political opposition has many faces and one thing they have in common their frequent visits to the u.s.

embassy in moscow new weekly leaks revelations show just how often they requested financial and political support from washington are these intel you know the covert reports. of the article talks about the inability of the russian opposition leaders to law be their interest on the domestic level and having to reach out to the third parties to achieve their goals in this case the third party being the united states of america now they believe that harsh criticism from the u.s. would ensure a healthy human rights ad most fear in the country but the response from one of the top per ranking u.s. security officials who spoke to the opposition leaders was that it shows the incompetence of the current opposition in the country and that they have to learn to negotiate with their thirty's on their own in achieving their goals and that even though. the bush administration the us has shown support to the countries opposition the situation has changed nowadays it is up to russian activists to

build up their relations with their administration with very tree lighting on america so much has changed in the relations between russia and the united states since the bush administration of especially after the so-called resets over the relations between russia and the united states but ever had of the presidential election in two thousand and twelve russia's opposition wants the united states to side with that in order to lobby their interests but the response from the us ambassador to russia to that's was that it shows the fact that russia's opposition do not have the same understanding of democracy as americans do. investigative journalist webster tarpley believes the wiki leaks revelations merely show that russia's opposition movement has no real political influence. what we see in these papers is the russia director of the national security council michael mcfaul who is interested in grooming boris nemtsov as

a candidate to stop putin from becoming president again in two thousand and twelve which but powell obviously thinks this is what's going to happen and it seems to me the gaggle of people that they have working for them are not going to be adequate to the task mcfaul is is someone who goes back quite a ways in russia his history in the in the one nine hundred ninety s. was to support everything that yeltsin did because the u.s. was supporting yeltsin it was shock therapy that was democratic it was sending tanks to shoot up the parliament that became democratic and now he looks at this this group of opposition which includes skinheads and national bolsheviks neo fascists in every way he says we're going to somehow get these people together and do something in the two thousand and twelve presidential election thanks to the fact that we have leaks and our son john our sides just the word about him soft

this of course was one of the young wolves of the chernomyrdin yeltsin era and if you look at what he did every conceivable disaster in the book of economics the need visited hyperinflation a bubble a crash moment of privatization the coming of the oligarchs all of this is the handiwork of softened who now thinks that he should make a comeback and really softly be the only people who believe this is possible. for more be sure to check out our website all the latest developments blogs and analysis all online for you at our team dot com here's what's on the line right now . i think it's thursday created smoke and then a fine now those charges that i put forward in the con against speak to boot don't relate to that is accusations that the american fast was talking about one in ten yes. and what followed expects from the forthcoming trial of her husband who's been extradited to the u.s. for alleged arms deals she believes the case against him is propaganda her

exclusive interview is on our web site r t v dot com plus to. join an online yoga master class as an ex-pat instructs r t on how to mix russian soul with indian spirit and let your stress go away. as chinese president hu jintao visits the united states the two global powers get a chance to define their relationship better with china on the rise so americans see the eastern power as something to be feared but. it's others are taking the chance to make more money. here city's chinatown is a go to for many things authentic meals designer knockoffs manicures massages and

now money the bank of china one of the country's name is stayed on lenders has on locked up particular door to u.s. citizens american customers are now allowed to come to this bank and open up an account trading their u.s. dollars for the chinese who won a currency bet some experts believe is worth making a currency exchange of up to twenty thousand dollars per year and while plenty of u.s. banks try to entice new customers with special offers the bank of china might be offering something irresistible today growth experts say china's currency is likely to go up as the country remains a manufacturing powerhouse the chinese have been saving and investing over thirty five percent of their income and the united states we've been saving and investing two percent of our income we've been borrowing in consuming they've been saving and investing the world's largest export are currently coasting with the new enormous trade and budget surplus while the us is hardly treading way down by

a crushing fourteen trillion dollars national debt so are americans ready to give benjamin franklin the push us dollar. for meet their evil were interested in investing in anything you think well how come not the u.s. dollar. bill goldman sachs already owns that and instead embrace now is a dong if you find surprising that americans are swapping dollars for you know american currency chinese currency you know what is in the price because it puts all of the papers out trying to you know if you take over and it's doing so well blah blah blah. it's holding china's money becomes as trendy as holding the i pods it manufactures economist max wolf says the yuan may eventually become a. force to be reckoned with if wealthy people around the world or in the us begin to hold their money in chinese currency renminbi guan and they associate it with wealth and they associate with a good investment it legitimizes and jacks up the usage in the acceptance of the

chinese currency. as with any gamble banking on the you want it does have its risks us private consumer takes one side of the bet the bank of china takes us i bet fair the only thing is the bank of china makes a decision on how valuable do you want this. so as more americans flock to china town some may be looking to satisfy an appetite for such one pork or peking duck others possibly seeking economic security in a foreign currency marina point nine r.t. new york. for more about the global giants r.t. spoke with rick ross off the manager of an engine called stop nato i for one remain skeptical about whether a better state to state in geopolitical. interests between the united states and china are going to improve in the in the year there's too much at stake and i think washington is hesitant to give up what it sees as its dominant role in the western pacific the united states which is going to talk to the good half dozen naval

maneuvers and other war games in the journal neighborhood of china since late last july you might be accused of being militarily more assertive and aggressive in the region defense secretary robert gates who when he was in tokyo on the thirteenth of this month stated that a continued u.s. presence in japan was necessary to contain it in so many words to prevent increase chinese aggression as well as being used against north korea and to promote of the concept of selling japan advanced u.s. jet fighters i would say if i were sitting in beijing i'd be a bit nervous about the u.s. engineering some equivalent of what's been called in over the last decade and asian nato to contain china. well china and the west vying for the world's resources wall street isn't sitting idly by max kaiser and co-host stacy herbert explain how those behind the u.s. financial crash of two thousand and eight may be added again this time with government support the report coming your way in the next hour here's

a sneak peek. for wall street you've got debt maniacs they like to destroy things with debt and they like the price of debt to be as cheap as a pack of matches and what is the obama administration doing they are giving the pyromaniacs and the arsonist more starting fluid more lighter fluid more matches whatever they need to destroy the economy so they have to ask the question is obama in the pocket of the financial terrorists yes he says don't. you korean police are investigating two simultaneous blast that took place at a market and the government building in the east of the country no one was injured in the blast in the eastern town but one of them but those behind them threatened more if they didn't get a ransom of more than five million dollars there was panic as parents rushed to pick up children from schools and kindergartens administrative buildings were cleared the town is in president viktor yanukovych his home region of done at

ukraine's security service chief said no money was paid bombs elsewhere in recent months which injured no one were dismissed by police as hooliganism rather than terrorism. the european parliament has voted for each new sanctions including travel restrictions be imposed on the regime in bellerose amy pease also on the assets to be frozen in retaliation for the conduct of presidential elections one in a landslide by president alexander lukashenko which international observers said were rigged the vote comes just before his inauguration and also in response to a brutal crackdown on protesters that followed his win european parliament doesn't have the power to impose the sanctions itself but it awaits a meeting of an e.u. leaders at the end of the month among whom support is growing for action. shango was dubbed europe's last a dictator has ordered retaliatory measures be prepared should the e.u. strike against his regime or instructions have been placed on the bell or russian leader before british the richard how would relieve the pressure on him this time

will be more intense. this is a man and a regime which is seeking to suppress human rights creates free expression by civil society political opposition and what we need to do is to be seen to say that the european union and instructional community is for change that we will act and the whether it's today tomorrow or sunday in the near future there will be consequences on this by the russian regime otherwise we are letting down the human rights groups and political prisoners who are suffering today in the power so i was very blunt approach to start all over nothing you know what we are saying today over a tune today a small sanctions financial sanctions against himself or others in his regime who are not at the moment siding with that should people on the family members we're saying that the motive that true track should stay open we born batteries to be part of the eastern partnership with its neighboring countries and into our local

the european union but multilateral a three d. or an effigy peretti report to be cut off but yes there are these further steps that we could make in the future and we'll put saying personally on notice tomorrow he's going to have a secret. you know gratian with no international gas there and that's because the international community does not recognize the election results and will not stand . as innocent opposition members are imprisoned or beaten or tortured and civil society suppressed in this country we will not look the other way. take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe south korea has accepted a fresh proposal from the north to hold high level talks to cool tensions over nuclear weapons and recent live fire incidents made several proposals earlier this month for discussion but they were rejected by seoul tensions have been high on the korean peninsula since a northern artillery attack on the south killed four while seoul carried out large

scale war games near the border on thursday south korea welcome to statement from the u.s. and chinese leaders urging peace and stability on the peninsula. irish prime minister brian cowen has announced elections in early march which polls suggest heavily the day was announced after five ministers quit but his green party coalition partners refused to back replacements opinion polls suggest the government is the most unpopular ever after ireland was forced to take in the. bailout late last year recent troubles stem from the revelations that he played golf with the head of a bank weeks before its huge debts triggered a multi-billion euro state bank wrecking national finances the irish leader insists he never discussed the bank's financial affairs during the game and the dinner afterwards. former british prime minister tony blair is due to testify before the iraq war in korea later today the hearing caught up with a british m.p. an anti-war activist jeremy corbyn who was with the labor party when it was in

power under blair stay with us. we are here as tony blair appears before the chilcote inquiry for the second time jeremy cotton thanks very much for talking to r.t. now this as i've said is not the first time that blair is appearing before the iraq inquiry can you just remind us what happened last time will he was very nervous to

begin with came into the room and was asked some questions of a moderately robust way about the evidence leading up to his decision to recommend to parliament that we know very few to rock and then the latter part of the year it turned into a sort of tony blair lecture in defense of his policies on what he calls humanitarian intervention and then went on to warn the whole world about what he perceived to be the danger from iran and i thought the whole thing was a travesty because this is meant to be an inquiry looking into the absolute final details of the decision to go to war with iraq and it turned into from totally to force and i'm quite pleased that he's been recalled to the inquiry and i hope this time the inquiry shows it's metal and goes through again with tony blair. the legal advice he was given why he sort of second u.n.

resolution if he thought the first one was efficient to authorize an invasion and why he then recommended to parliament that there was an overwhelming case of danger of weapons of mass destruction and why we should go to war and i think he's got a great deal to answer and blair's really their key witness he must be he's absolutely essential to the whole process because he's the only one that was involved in every single one of the decisions in every single one of the meetings but this is in a sense the last chance saloon for british public inquiries if we're to have any reasonable standing as an effective democracy then this inquiry has got to go into some. very serious detail about it and recommendations about what's going to happen next no it's not a judicial inquiry which many of us wanted but i get the feeling that a legal process could emanate as a result of the evidence that's going to come out and how impressed are you with the inquiry say far even do you think its depth and usefulness has been what you hoped it would be i have mixed feelings about it. i don't. denigrate it i think

they have tried quite hard in many ways they have spoken to families they have taken a great deal of evidence families of soldiers who tragically lost their lives in iraq and they're now taking evidence would turn in coming back but i remain on the judgment slightly skeptical that it isn't going to just say there has to be improvements in the processes of government and the has to be better recording of meetings know what sort of things probably yes maybe that's not the issue the issue is this country involved itself in what i believe to be illegal invasion of another country we've lost a considerable number of british soldiers a much larger number of american soldiers and others have died and tens of thousands of iraqis probably half a million iraqis have died as a result of this and is the world a safer place no is the threat of terrorism there's no is this

a good way forward for world international law no you mentioned it a legal process might result from the chill cos inquiry. do you think that if tony blair was prosecuted for war crimes as many people want that would result in the world in fact being a safer place i think if a european politician former head of government in the case of tony blair was actually brought before the. international court in the hague and investigated the rest the world would have far more. specked for the international process because the moment the most prominent people who have come before it have been. the attempts at arresting the president of sudan the current trial that's going on of charles taylor from liberia and the past process on milosevic and the situation in

yugoslavia but the perpetrators of this war. iraq war are in the united states and in in europe and i think it would do an awful lot for the standing of this because there is a bit of a feeling around that ok you go off to big guys in small countries you won't go after big guys in big countries was labeled bush's spoilt puppy by the british media do you think that the u.k.'s relationship with the us has changed at all since he left power blair associate himself totally with bush and the strange thing was after nine eleven everybody else condemned it but blair went one step further with a very strange speech about we have to pay the blood price for the relationship with the usa it's went to war with afghanistan he associate himself with bush more than anybody else and i do remember at one parliamentary labor party meeting i asked him said well where's the benefits of our special relationship with the usa how much employees do you really have over bush and his reply was of i told you that the

implants would form which was not made overseas because a lot of people blair is a politician who has very high regard for his own abilities has very limited respect for international law hence he would not have promulgated this idea of humanitarian intervention instead he would have worked through the un and international law i think that's his legacy and made it clear that he wouldn't allow iran to develop nuclear weapons do you think if you were still in charge we'd already be at war with iraq he seemed to me to be building up a case for action against iraq from very early on. i think we have to recognise there's a terrible danger in all of this absolutely condemn human rights abuses anywhere in the world are condemned under saddam hussein i condemn them what's going on in the present time the purpose of intervention in iran is not about human rights and over

the whole thing is about iran's. position in the world iran is a powerful country has a great deal of oil it has a great deal of military it also has a great sense of its position the persian empire the derivatives of it they also have a sense of grievance against the west for the kuwait nine hundred fifty two for the exploitation of the oil for the imposition of the shah and also the behavior towards the islamic republic and so i think we have to have a dialogue with iran they don't have nuclear weapons at the moment they are signatories to nuclear nonproliferation treaty they have withdrawn from the following three supplementary protocol i think we should be upping in gauge with iran rather than the sanctions policy and the isolation of iraq engagement is likely to bring about improvements in human rights engagement is likely to bring about the prospects of iran working with the rest of the world and engaging would actually strengthen the hands of civil society in iran as well. thank you very much

you very welcome thank you. wealthy british science. writer. margaret why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser reports on our. news today violence is once again flared up.