region of western nations proceed with blocking tehran's exports this comes as new sanctions from washington began targeting the rugs the financial and oil sectors. and six republican hopefuls are vying to take on the president in november's u.s. presidential elections as support for obama is on the wane across the country veteran senator mitt romney is seen as the front runner after building a huge national momentum after his win in the iowa caucuses. now the eurozone unemployment and widening cuts have spilled over into the new year with warnings that parts of the region could already be in recession up next a prominent dutch economist tells r.t. what two thousand and twelve might bring for the struggling you. well today we're joined by our yo climber an economist author and professor at the erasmus university in rotterdam thanks very much john mr clymer for joining us today and the first question is in one thousand nine hundred one you wrote

a newspaper article that a monetary union is not sustainable cannot be maintained without a political union well after all that said and done we have the euro exists and there is a crisis can that a political union save the euro at this point given the circumstances that it's in ideally. you could say that a political union could be formed to have a stronger fiscal. coordination but also a better social policy that would sort of supporting dural only in my system it is that this europe will not be able to form such a political union there is too much heterogeneity to countries to different. countries or to attach to their own so often t. they have different styles they have a hard time working together on international issues think of iraq. and so it will be very hard to to have one address that foreigners can coal have

and emerge she is there. that they will speak with one voice that are willing to give up their very seats in the united nations and the i.m.f. and that they will speak involved voice it is at the moment inconceivable that britain will give up their rights but also france is not even thinking of giving that up. germany will become too powerful there's simply too much that prevents europe from becoming one political union if you want a german chancellor angela merkel she said that political union is already taking shape is it though and what is she basic that's. well from where we are we are making progress in the in the sense of her suggestions of because these are suggestions or plans to have stricter rules and to enforce those rules and her

view and in her reality that is working moving towards a political union but my critique is that what is lacking and what they're really needed for political union is also in sense of society i think as an example germany germany is a society how do we notice that germany is a society the part of germany for me east german states. that are a real dire financial economic situation much worse than than greece is right now do you notice anything about that in the rest of the world because west germans take it as as self as something self evident that they are to support the east german states those massive transfers of money going from west to east to maintain a sense of unity and a sense of stability and for a sense of society those conditions are not in place and not. can be

imagined to be in place in europe at large how realistic is this transfer significant transfer of powers to brussels spending powers taxing powers given that you have so many different countries there's resistance coming from different places how realistic is it that it will actually happen the pressure is huge and the financial crisis is big and the euro threatens to fall then lots of things are possible and politicians will agree on all kinds of things including transfer of power that was inconceivably before or is actually can see inconceivable right now because people don't want to transfer the power but when the crisis. really there then i see them. being able to do such a thing but it won't resolve matters because it it means that you put some kind of control in the hands of a few brussel but they don't have the power to control the financial market they

don't have the the financial power to deal with these kind of instabilities and they don't have the political influence to deal with all the different interests throughout europe it is sort of an. idea that i think that in the end to a backfire because if you make centralized this power too much. then what we will see is is it means a lack of dynamics a lack of the flexibility as we've seen already because it takes forever to get these decisions and then take for ever to go through all these different parliaments and it takes even longer then to implement that i mean that we talked about long lags. and so it just makes the politics too complex for greek government spokesman said quote unquote greece faces an exit from the europe lot unless it clinches a deal on a second one hundred thirty billion bailout from its international lenders how much

do you think they really believe in this threat is it something they really think is likely or are they using this rhetoric to gain support for pushing more steady measures i think that they use it now as an argument to enforce all kinds of cutbacks and to get popular consent which they need to in order to make the policy effective i think that greece still an overall desire to hold on to the euro and the reason is that the greeks are very suspicious of their government's. do so they desperately want to have european government involved in their country because they're sort of a countervailing power against their own politicians the same story applies to the italians. another issue is whether this is going to work i don't think so i think that the left right and center are preparing for. the fall out of

greece that the greeks are forced to step out of the euro because this is unsustainable. they will not blame it on to meet. economy is going to do worse which also makes it more difficult for me to quit and so it is simply not a sustained this is a sustainable situation the best spreadsheet is to do what iceland did from argentina has gone in so many other people countries have done before is allowed to have their own currency the value would so to make their country much cheaper i use that as sort of the beginning all the. efforts to organize commercial activity that the neighbor has done to sell you have to recover that and sort of and one way to do it is by lowering the price which you only can do with your of your own currency and to make it much cheaper if you don't do it the only alternative strategy is the very painful one is lowering salaries and wages and

cutting back and that causes a huge depression in the economy and a real harsh way of making that adjustment well let's talk about politics now the two main cheerleaders pushing the euro forward of course and germany's angela merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy now there will be the french elections in two thousand and twelve that germany will have theirs and why thirteen what do you expect to happen in these elections and how would it affect the european union and the euro zone would we see a change in government a change in rhetoric that would eventually play out differently in the euro to hold on to the european union and especially to hold on to be euro. everyone has to make sacrifices. and it's always possible the european interest prevails over national interest and as a message message is very hard to sell to any lection time you see in election time

the people usually withdraw behind back behind the border so to say and basically talk about national interests interests that are close to the people who are going to cause their vote. turns out this whole european story is a hard sell for politicians it's true in germany in france is also true in the netherlands. and so politicians always have a difficulty of asserting the sort of common european interest. that is costing. money but also resources. will suffer until that also is again an illustration of a lack of political union like a society that will become an issue and at the fate of european union is dependent upon local or national elections and that's of course crazy i mean you can of the

magine that a country any country. that faith of any country is dependent upon the outcome of local elections. that's unheard of and that illustrates once again the the union in europe is not all that strong and is forced to exist among the sort of european establishment so if you walk around brussels you feel like you are you the european union is for real but as soon as you are away from brussels and walk around in the country and the rest of europe you see the brussel is far away from from them. and it's not real reality the people we live with now when we talk to experts analysts and economists even if they are euro skeptics as the situation seems to have gotten so complicated that they would also mention concessions and they're saying that there are two choices now one is being forced into more europe more integration otherwise the alternative is

a financial crisis are these the only two options left. i do think that if if you give up you up the euro which i think you need to do we will face a so-called crisis i mean all kinds of institutions will get into serious trouble banks will fail countries will look at the trouble unemployment go up we will see your face a serious depression i think all that will materialize but what i also see is the possibility and that's what i would focus on of restructuring rethinking the way be doing things rethink also the way we view the economy focus less on economic growth focus more on quality being more concerned with sustainability and so if you as we have for that i see action an opportunity arising if we give up on ideal that i think is an old fashioned one. and sort of people for the next

stage now when you look at what politicians are doing right now it seems that they are walking on eggshells when it comes to dealing with financial markets and banks are careful not to rock the boat they're careful not to instill confidence in the markets what role do you see the financial markets and banks playing in this right crisis lest we forget that they had also that just gone through the two thousand and three national crisis and they were painted in a negative light at that time well the terrible thing is that we see that one sector the financial sector is keeping the rest of the economy hostage including the politicians and all the politicians are too scared for these banks to fail it is is unfair it is unjust. and it's also dangerous for should say debility of our economies so that has to stop are you a climber thanks very much for your time.

no it's not about spilling blood. it's the war of the barricades from one side and fears blockade from the other. invisible border has cut people from the land for twelve years. the conflict that divided serbia into two hostile parts is still not over.

soon which brighton if you move the song from phones to print is so. nice for instance on t.v. dot com. the latest news and the week's top stories a fresh clashes in syria claimed dozens of lives as the arab league decides to carry on with its observer mission it despite criticism of that if the organization is not achieving its goal in ending the bloodshed. iran says it will continue war games in the persian gulf threatening to close a key oil route in the region if western nations proceed with blocking tehran's exports this comes as new sanctions from washington began targeting iran's financial and of oil sectors. and six republican hopefuls are vying to take on the president in november's u.s. presidential election as support for obama is on the wane across the country

veteran senator mitt romney is seen as the front runner after building huge national momentum after his win in the iowa caucus. up next on our team kate is here with all of the latest news. hello welcome to the sports and these other top stories battle of manchester wayne rooney schools twice and paul scholes returns from retirement as united winning three two at ten thousand six hundred to knock out the holders in explaining how the tie and the next tension have a pull. up andy murray enjoys the perfect preparation for the australian open with a straight sets victory over how xander build apollo when the brisbane international. lions tamed drew brees throws a three touchdowns to meet the new orleans saints to an n.f.c.

wild card to travel to detroit in the n f l. but first a football of the sort of arises when rooney scored twice as manchester united survived a riveting fight back to win three to attend our rivals manchester city to knock out the holders in a pulsating f.a. cup third round of the against the run of play rooney headed united in front after ten minutes and it got immediately worse the city as captain vincent kompany was controversially sent off for a twofer to tackle or not which the club later announced they would appeal however united took full advantage danny welbeck volley them further in front of the half an hour and rooney headed in the rebound from his own penalty to make it three no i have time to look to exact some revenge statistics wanted to create a traffic tobar but the home side fought back straight after the break through and found a lot of free kick so i wear i pulled back another following error from returning

substitute scholes after sixty five minutes however despite a frantic finale is penalty goals for both sides we wanted to go through to the first round. i don't much else he scored three times in the last five minutes as this one cornell is home to portsmouth second half goals from sebastian lawson and james maclean gave sunderland to nose with peter brown and chris o'grady snatched a late winner as leave ground sheffield wednesday and west found it had a tendency saved twelve following those times the draw for the fourth round was made and manchester united's reward for winning at city was a pretty hot rivals and the support in the thick of the sixteen time is otherwise all leads the play on monday will close in the last you can also go to either brighton wrexham stark make the true trip to darby everton rock and fallen in an all premier league fixture. elsewhere one of michael stills and bolton's replay will have swans they want are the empty dons all q.p.r.

will place six time when chelsea. wolves will go to sheffield united as a team. ne obvious sunderland welcome little brother so i'm getting here's what i want food and respond take on all those games will take place on january twenty eighth or twenty nights. probably means i'm paul scholes decision to come out of retirement was announce an hour before kickoff at the end he had stadium and he played the final half an hour but gripping cup tie the thirty seven year old had called time on his glittering career at the end of last may and was coaching at old trafford he made his united debut in one thousand nine hundred ninety four and went on to make six hundred seventy six appearances when you ten premier league titles the f.a. cup three times and the champions league twice however the sixty six capping the midfielder has now chosen to carry on playing until the end of the season before his injury had former missing darren fletcher and don't cleverley images feels. tennis now and andy murray has enjoyed the perfect warm up for the upcoming australian open with a comfortable victory over alexander dog apollo in the brisbane international final

right from the start of the world number four showed his intention to clinch his twenty second title and first under the guidance of new coach former waterborne of on lendl the scot won his first three service games without dropping a point on the way to a four one lead a little resistance from ukrainian before taking the first that six one the world number fifteen instead the crowd into life in the second it is not enough to stop murray for wrapping it up six three four an impressive first victory of the new a.t.p. tour season murray's focus now switches to the australian open has been beaten fines for the past two lives the first down sound of the season started the sixteen . goals i want to thank. mr learned think you got there somewhere hiding. out first with your team and you know it was good i really enjoyed it so that will bring more success in the future. fine. thank

you very much the crowd the whole week not just for my matches but for. of matches it is pat you know it makes a huge difference when everyone comes out on sports events and really really appreciate it so thank you all to come back. moving on to the n.f.l. now where drew brees drew four four hundred sixty six yards and three touchdowns to lead the new orleans saints to a forty five twenty eight n.f.c. wildcard victory over the detroit lions new orleans to set a new postseason mark a total yards of six hundred twenty six three from the previous record set fourteen years ago fired the ball downfield fifty every henderson the quarter in his stride running for a forty one yard touchdown as new orleans went seventeen fourteen ahead in the fourth quarter brees made a forty one yard pass. to edge of the end zone to downs later handed the ball off to pierre thomas who took it in for the game serious cool so

decided to beat the last forty by twenty eight to advance to the second round the playoffs now come to san francisco to take on the forty nine ers next saturday. now let's continue our look back over some of the big events of last year and this time it's the turn of swimming in october american style michael phelps took just two goals from six races at the world cup stage here in moscow while russian world record holder kenny cata teach again did perform to his best winning the one hundred meter butterfly comes in but out of his that. despite we're going to be form where i have to below point is plan to use me for in time olympic champion michael phelps produced almost an identical santa result on day two of the world cup in the russian capital in the two hundred metres freestyle the twenty six year old american was overtaken in the last fifty by john the world record holder paul be there month and had to settle for silver. and phelps competing in moscow for the first time frame to make it to the body i'm in the one hundred metres butterfly

where world record holder you gain you can out the skin ripped first place to the delight of the home crowd. you mean you have all of the it was very important for me to win today so i can say i want to beto and know my aim is to win a war and by that i mean the london olympics. however just as he did on the opening day phelps showed his competitive desire as he bounced back to claim gold in the two hundred metres backstroke after being fourth for the first one hundred fifty meters then there confounded burst of power and managed to surge to victory it's all working on some of the small things to really get to the end of the year being able to tie together some of the stuff you know the starch turns under waters have i can do that as many times i can leading off in the field but chiles and for me session writer for the london olympics are just nine months away and berber ations are well underway for the swimming event however there are still four stages to go

before the end of the world cup even press fondant and swimmers alike were to change it to gauge who will be queen xing the gold medals at the twenty twelve games is a bit of a o.t. . let's move to the golf course russia's only female professional golf for maria the trial of a missouri law scholar last autumn preparing for a tournament in south korea but she took the time to talk to our business correspondent consenting to tap off about her colorful life on and off the course. might even is arguably one of the biggest commercial attractions in women's golf since you turned professional in two thousand and six if you want to five year old muscovite remains the first and only russian playing full time on the ladies' european tour following an impressive amateur career that included victories in the russian austrian liftin and slovenian championships. because i got to go on tour and i was the only russian player and i was there all the girls were half of

them were english british and australian and it was quite tough to get myself like good mates and you know in the end of the day they're playing as well the germans showed great improvement in her second year on the tour with her career best finished tied for fifty cents being and boss of victory a little round of sixty six in dubai as a result to shaun finished fifty fifth in the door rankings in two thousand and eight to do her best placing so far and despite having some injury problems she's doing dishes and has lots of goals to achieve with her new coach definitely play for another five years because of my back i don't know how well my body will give me a chance to play golf but there we set some goals when it went to the eighty and hopefully i get to win down there with a major that i can go. professional golfer who spend most of their time travelling from one tournament to know that we can be the hardest part of the job however well

in search of success some ladies european tour and many funny stories have a reason. to make area i don't mind to say that it is a cheap hotel and i put my pajamas on i want. to throw came back and my room was completely locked away inside so he had to go because it was going away out so i went outside and all the guys are like oh uncle we go through with this now. despite bringing mourners to results over the last two years the trauma stays up to. and focused on golf however the one meter seventy six told brunette directs a lot of attention not only with her performances on the way but obviously all to because of her appearance i'm not trying to attract more attention i'm trying to bring something more in go and that the girls who play females sadly here and is again better and better now so many young girls attractive girls beautiful girls getting to go there charlie isn't deeded by any sport which is widely considered to

be a hobby for wealthy people in her homeland and there is still a long way to go before being accepted as a mainstream sport in russia but with the likes of virtue and work the country couldn't ask for a better ambassador to lead the way. and that's all the sport i think. wealthy british style it's not our. market weiner scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in cars a report on r g. he

leads. you.

to. the latest news and the week's top stories fresh clashes in syria claimed dozens of lives as the arab league decides to carry on with its observer mission despite criticism that the organization is not achieving its goal of ending the bloodshed. iran says it will continue war games in the persian gulf threatening to block a key oil route in the region as the west imposes stricter sanctions on tehran. and six republican hopefuls are vying to take on the president in november the us presidential election and support for obama is on the wane across the country.