all. india is. the gateway to the ground in period truly the.

road to the colonel was toto treat. your spine and the pulse is the debt limit to avoid criticism that america still faces harsh economic. lied to for the debt both here in washington after months of brinksmanship but the short term political victory. in the months ahead. and security council resolution on syria following the escalation of russia says any decision must meet the interests of the syrian people. and. economic reform but demonstrators complained this summer of discontent. over international media.

international news and comment this is r.t. live here in moscow just turned midnight in the russian capital good to have you with us. so after months of political squabbling in the shadow of a looming default the u.s. can finally breathe a sigh of relief the bill to raise the country's boring limits has been signed into law by president obama after an eleventh. final hurdle in the senate. has the latest for us now in washington. president did come out and speak earlier he called this crisis a so-called manufactured crisis saying that it shouldn't have taken the risk of a default of a catastrophe for a washington to get its after work together interesting words but of course we can't neglect the fact that both the president as well as the both both of the political parties are all equally to blame for the big picture economic crisis that

has brought the united states to this next one which are now what this deal does is essentially raises the borrowing limit of the united states while cutting spending by about two point four trillion dollars there's a lot of sort of strings attached in order to raise that debt deal that limit and the reason that we saw this battle over this fairly routine vote the raising the debt limit keep in mind is something this country has done more than one hundred times since one thousand nine hundred eighty s. what we saw what was different this time is that this became a proxy ideological war between the republicans in congress and the democrats now of course we are entering an election year and so the republicans chose this time to sort of dig in their heels and to really fight with the democrats over issues that both sides are diametrically opposed to what do these so-called tea party republicans they're right when republicans want no taxes much lower taxes they want very little government spending with the exception on occasion to of course defense

spending democrats meanwhile want to keep spending on social programs at high levels they want to close with they call corporate tax loopholes and essentially have the wealthiest folks in the society the brunt on the economy at this at this stage in the economic game both courses are unsustainable of course we ended up seeing this political battle erupt bringing the nation to the brink of a first ever default and the irony at the end of the day is that both sides walked away very very unhappy one of the things that this legislation does is essentially guarantees that there will not be any more stimulus spending so in the short term there's going to be huge effects where of course the. with the country the united states that has abysmal unemployment rate levels at nine point two percent the g.d.p. has barely been growing one point three percent over the last quarter the housing crisis is still an issue and in the long term this legislation does nothing to assure world markets that the united states is on a sustainable fiscal path as i said earlier does kick the can down the road and so

world markets are standing by they don't know exactly where the united states will cut whether taxes will be increased whether revenue will come in and so the ratings agencies have also sort of remained a mom on this we did see fitch come out and say that essentially the triple a rating will not be threatened or the united states of course which was not the one that threatened to downgrade at any point in this crisis we're still waiting to see where standard and poor's stands on this they want to see cuts of about four trillion dollars the deal only promises about half that amount and moody's has still been silence a lot of questions and of course the biggest the biggest losers in this whole deal are the american people who are simply struggling to get along to survive and what has been one of the most catastrophic recessions this country has seen in a long long time. well now let's get more on what's in store for the u.s. economy from paul craig roberts former assistant treasury secretary in the reagan

administration paul bearing in mind your previous post this is something of great interest to you the u.s. is narrowly avoided but so many people have said to me today this isn't the end of its financial troubles what do you have to say about what you've been witnessing. my prediction here is that as the economy worsens which theory there will be a new deficit projection and issued new budget for parents surely. the governors of deteriorating economy the deficit is widened by more than the debt limits. deal and it's cut and so you have parents that debt will be reduced rules will be wiped out by the new budget forecast and it will all disappear and they experiencing economy so hell sustainable is it to continue increasing the debt in the long term

can washington really carry on in this way. well they they will never default on the debt because it is denominated in u.s. dollars and so the federal reserve can create all the necessary money to redeem the debt it's not default that's the problem it's whether the continual rise in the debt causes the loss and foreign confidence in the dollar and the and it has been doing that in the dollar has been declining relative to other currencies in this raises energy prices and food prices in the united states but what the real problem here is is the wars with military security budget equals to seventy five percent of the government's deficit and yet the republicans want to continue these wars and they don't want to pay for them with taxes they want to pay for the wars by cutting

the income support programs for the poor but the problem is the total discretionary spending that is the spending on the only income support programs is only twelve percent of the budget but the wars are seventy five percent of the deficit so it cannot possibly finance the wars and so until they reassess the financial capability of the united states to be permanently at war you know we've been at war now for ten years until they reassess that and then this hemorrhaging of debt will continue what about the average american how are they going to be affected by this latest bill and indeed by future austerity measures because after obama hasn't actually what tough the possibility of tax rises in the future either house they have met middle american going to be affected by this one . way or the way it's set up if it actually goes into effect will be

no extend. about employment benefits so the people who've lost their jobs which is now roughly twenty three percent of the workforce will be out without any sort of support. you produce tremendous political instability don't you. isn't a bomb losing the very support that he wants as a result of this obviously wasn't his decision to have all this decided upon but this is going to have an effect on not only his perception of him as a leader but also his future. well it should have an effect on the entire government look are you aware that now the banks are bulldozing foreclosed homes so that the united states is throwing people out of their homes creating homelessness and then they go and knock the homes down those bulldozers.

well. what kind of policy is this. i mean it's mindless and if you can should be can do this and very easily be overwhelmed by it struggles and of course we can see that economy economic problems can affect the leaders of the country we've obviously seen the austerity measures having a quite an effect on those in the euro zone in the e.u. will we see the american people speaking out in the way that we think well what's being spoken about and the action taken in the likes of athens and grace. as as they become more homeless and as their unemployment benefits disappear than medical care disappears i think even the americans will start protesting in the streets that's that would seem to be a rational conclusion you know it's like the general salinity says when people have nothing left to lose they lose it. or leave it there paul craig roberts very

interesting to hear what you have to say good to talk to the former assistant treasury secretary in the reagan administration talking to us live in the u.s. . the first outbreak of violence brings more death to syria's government forces for again government protesters the un security council has resumed discussions on the situation in the country amid reports of over one hundred being killed on sunday well let's get more on this from or to use marina portnoy she's joining us from you'll know. what has come out of those discussions at the u.n. security council there. well this is the second day that discussions at the u.n. security council are taking place what's clear is that all members of the security council understand that the international community has to react somehow to the uprisings and the violence and the crackdown that has been taking place in syria at

this point all fifteen members are trying to come to a consensus a compromise and an agreement on how me how to react to syria because there's a lot of differing opinions we know that western countries or the u.s. are calling for condemnation either in the form of a resolution or a presidential statement but we know other countries such as russia say that they would not support counterproductive measures which would possibly exacerbate an already sensitive problem and those measures include any sanctions or pressure that would be put on syria there's other countries such as brazil india china that have also has achieved it from supporting any any kind of resolution or indefinitely sanction so at this point what all the countries are doing they're trying to come together and figure out a common consensus on how to react because clearly this is a very violent situation and this is a situation the international community cannot turn away from but they're all just

trying to find a way of agreeing on what the best approach is and that is what the members of the security council are discussing at this moment behind closed doors and that made. the result may be resolution by the security council or presidential statement but they are working diligently to hammer that out right now just briefly remind us of the path that's led to the situation we have now in syria. the path as it's led us to the situation and led the security council to meet behind closed doors is the fact that for over four months there has been our prize ng and a crackdown taking place in syria back in mid march that's when uprising against the president. began and it was anti-government protesters that took to the streets demanding that he step down and over a matter of these months the protests are still continued going to the streets. some groups human rights groups have estimated that more than

a thousand people have been killed in the interim of this crackdown and fresh violence did occur on sunday in the syrian city of hama when anti-government protesters took to the streets there we are told that they were shot about there's been reports that they were shot at their estimates that up to one hundred people were killed in the violence continued into monday the first day of ramadan so clearly this is a very serious situation one that the international community is paying attention to but at this point they're divided on how to react and they're working to come to some kind of compromise thanks so much. joining us live from new york. well still ahead this hour an information vacuum we report on why mainstream media remains number one hundred fifty thousand israelis demanding social change. and it brings a whole new meaning to overtaking the turning versus the mercedes find out what's

about a little later in the program. the person expert independent panel says they're adults about the objectivity of putin's investigation into the plane crash that killed president kaczynski along with much of the country's political elite or so agreed that part of their recalls the tragedy in russia last year but differences remain between its findings and those of the moscow based interstate aviation committee you want is going to have the details. in general it's clear that the conclusions mead earlier by the polish side and those made by the interstate aviation community here in moscow are similar in the sense that it were the actions of the pilots and caused this task but after the media conference held here in moscow by the interstate aviation committee it also it's also clear that their approach to detail is a difference first of all the interstate committee says that the pilots ignored the warnings from the air traffic controller and decided to attempt to land the plane

anyway despite the weather conditions it is a fact about the hand off the polish air force was present in the cockpit at the time when they were trying to land the plane and the interstate committee says that that alone can be viewed as direct psychological pressure whilst the polish side says the head of the air force was simply standing there monitoring the situation i was able to personally speak with the chief technical expert off the interstate aviation comedian here's what he had to say on this is the presence of the commodity in chief over the portion of forces who was treated as a poor from who. i mean c'mon all the crew members if profile like that. and there's a cook. and we can see that several times he informs. me when i say that during some of the actions of the pilot more flying so as

a technical investigation we definitely can see those used to be psychological emotional pressure on the crew members another issue very important here is that the polish committee concluded that the airstrip itself was not ready to receive the plane all the while according to the interstate aviation committee that airstrip is certified to see flames and even though there were minor defects soul he could not have possibly away had to be plane crash be interesting to me is also about they are an independent international body whilst the investigation conducted by poland was being done by a committee questioning its objectivity. r.t. if you got this kind of reporting there in israel tel aviv a central square has been turned into tent city crowds of protesters of express their discontent with soaring prices and plummeting salaries but as poor as reports

their peaceful demonstrations often go unnoticed by their government and by the world's mainstream media. tens of thousands on the streets of israel angry and protesting for change but is anyone listening when it comes to a lot of the foreign media want to see more of an action movie and this has been very violent it's been very hadn't been violent at all it's been very positive. well into week three the largest demonstration in israel in over a decade and how did a.b.c. c.b.s. and n.b.c. cover that they didn't a younger woman set up the tent while the editors of france twenty four b.b.c. and sky coughed up just a few meager seconds perhaps not even that interesting. you know back in the studios ok there's a protest what exactly is a protest a social protest for the revolution it's not the same kind of story that they used

to it's not as big and dramatic some of the bigger revolutions happening around the middle east and i mean isn't surprised by the worldwide lack of media interest he's worked in the israeli press for decades reporting from media both foreign and local there is a box that the international media has put israel in and that is the israeli palestinian conflict or so israeli lebanese and syrian conflict anything that doesn't kind of further into that. type of of news item which is unfortunate the street has been dubbed your corner by some of the people here an optimism perhaps the base to bring down the government in the way the neighbors in tough with square. but where is the. there was nonstop here they put up signs that just makes hundred wayas and others angry for nine days she's been camping here furious that she can't make ends meet as a university student in excel says that when egypt decided to stand up and say

we've had enough and eleven and they decided to say we've had enough the media was all over there i haven't seen anyone from c.n.n. or fox news or any other big news channel here and it's really sad we also deserve a chance to be heard out but without foreign media a very few people around the world will even hear what protestors here are shouting it's a missed opportunity at a crucial time just weeks before palestinians plan to announce the very own state policy r.t. tel aviv. no to more troops into kosovo after a week of conflict between ethnic albanians and serbs tensions were raised in police to crossing checkpoints to enforce a ban on imports from serbia. canadian film directors told me earlier that whatever the sides may agree it'll just be serbia making concessions. they're sending five hundred fifty more german troops and one hundred fifty more austrian troops. they

would not be sending troops into kosovo if they didn't estimate that the situation could explode into a larger conflict and considering that the international community has an interest in solving the so-called north cost of the issue it would not be unreasonable to suggest that they are trying to sort of fix this issue as fast as possible and i strongly believe that if force is necessary to do what they have planned they will use it this escalation of violence of course is not helping belgrade because. the people of serbia. see this as a provocation and it is making their sentiment against reaching a compromise. not very favorable for their side so i think this is not definitely helping anybody whatever the both sides are urged to negotiate it is mostly for the reason to get the serbs to accept something rarely are albanians out to make concessions to the serbian serbia has already made many concessions to the

so-called republic of course so they recognize their documents their i.d.'s their license plates so i think calling for the albanians to negotiations is another call for serbs to accept more things that are just leading to serbia recognizing kosovo . by the way you can check out dot com that's our website online all the time plenty more stories there and eye catching videos where you can watch the news you want twenty four hours a day online here's a quick taste of a couple of stories there at the moment a terror suspect confesses to making a bomb that injured a five year old girl in eastern russia homemade device was brought as a gift box and left on the kindergarten terrorists. on the web site a legendary russian military helicopter is coming back to the front line in afghanistan this time it's courtesy of the usa you can get all the details on that at r.t. dot com. heavy traffic and chaotic parking is

a daily headache in just about every major city of the world people unable to find a parking space will often just leave their cars in any available spot be it a pavement or a bus stop but the mayor of lithuania's capital vilnius has decided that ticket just isn't enough and you can see how he employed simple yet effective means to solve the problem the owner of this must say these used to be one part of the bicycle lane many of these car comes off worse in a scuffle with the vehicle in the video was published by the mayor's office is a reminder to those who violate traffic and parking rules. any hazard a guess at the experiences that i've had from the owners mouth were just sort of put in there sweeping changes then the streets of illness and clearly working got a car in sight. well that's what it all looks at the moment here on our team next will be taking you back in time and space to

the famous apollo thirteen mission which failed to land on the moon because of a technical failure of all three nasa crewmembers did return safely to earth and. called up with the mission's commander for his memories of that spaceflight and the interviews coming next and i'll be back with a review of all my new stories in seven minutes from now stay with us tonight.

jim well it's a great pleasure and honor to have you with us it's nice to be here now you've started out for the moon twice without ever landing on it is that fair while the first time was deliberate we were merely going to test out the navigation communications look for a suitable landing spots for the people who would make the first lady and thirteen of course was supposed to be the third lunar landing. as you probably know we had the explosion and so had to go back home again fortunately we were successful in doing that. jr moonwalk in your dreams oh yes before the flight i would try to figure out what i would be doing there at a place called from mile but after i came back. i never really dreamed about it

after that i mean once i was you know safely back on earth i just forgot about it when you spoke about the moon you spoke of fast loneliness that was inspiring. to get homesick to join to go back. no as a matter of fact we're around the bill in eight and going around on thirteen we were still sort of attached to the earth but we did have this idea of being you know. away from the earth and separated from the earth and although i have to admit that when we look back at the earth and we could put our thumb up to the window and everything behind our our earth was was disappeared and everything that we've ever known was behind or thought it was that's sort of a musical feeling a feeling of how insignificant really we all are back on earth if i could put my thought up and hide everybody. and of course that incredible shot of the earth

rides you guys went to france to show us they aren't i think for everyone it has a special personal meaning what does that shot signify to you while i think and that one photograph which was not over here my personal impression of what we saw but to everybody who saw that picture and it's perhaps one of the most famous photographs of the last century. again that we are a. space ship here on earth and we're all astronauts whether we want to be or not and we have to live and work together if we are to survive because you guys were very religious. all three of the on apollo eight he had very strong religious convictions right well we did but we were not that religious to know that. you know that that we were violated the sanctity of heaven. because god is with us

on earth as it is with us just two hundred forty thousand miles away around the moon and so as a as a better fact you know in part away we were read the first ten verses of genesis the old tested but we did that because it reality the old testament was the basis of the three basic religions. on earth islam christianity and judaism and so when we were thinking about what to say being the first three people around the boom what can we say and we said lady who was the wife of a adieus paper reporter said read for the first verses this will appeal to both of the people who will be listening to you and most of the earth is not

christian it's other religions too so that's what we did to appeal to the greatest amount of people that were listening to us when i think of ostinato retire now you are successful businessmen but many of them can't really find their place in life after that fate i retired from active duty a lot of them suffer it clinical depression alcoholism why is that why is it that when awesomeness retire they can't always find the right way on earth. well i think it's very similar to that old saying that after you've been perry what else is there you know. it is it's a high point in everybody's life and then when that high point stops and you come back down to living in a doorbell life again a lot of times it's hard to recover because many people will say yes i understand what you did but what can you do for me now and so.