on air and online twenty four hours a day your watching r.t. it will be so searching weekend for the eurozone with credit rating agencies standard and poor's downgrade ing nine countries the biggest was to france the currency union second largest economy which has been stripped of its top notch status along with austria so syria has more now from brussels. this comes at a time when optimism was just about going up when it comes to the euro zone with some positive data coming out first week of two thousand and twelve well clearly a new such as this would again dampen investor confidence and stall that process now france one of the countries is leading the efforts and bringing about this fiscal compact agreed upon by the european leaders now this downgrade of france was not entirely unexpected i mean s. and p.

had given it warnings the last year and even a lot of the analysts we've been talking to had said that a french downgrade was imminent so now that it has actually happened still the markets reacted negatively to all of this is happening because of france's role in the bailouts is one of the reasons in the role in the bailouts of greece of italy through the european central bank as well as of portugal so it has left the financial system the banking system of france in a very vulnerable position now what it comes to italy now this is one of the countries that has been considered too big to fail and it comes just days after the premier mario monti had met in berlin with german chancellor angela merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy where they stressed the growth prospects when it comes to credit ratings agencies there's a lot of indignation coming from e.u. leaders there saying that all of this is happening at a time when the euro zone is trying to get out of the crisis and they've put out bad news like this and in the past they have attempted to limit the influence of credit ratings agencies in the financial markets and if you remember we go back to

the question the credibility of these agencies going back to two thousand and eight financial crisis the role that they played in that crisis where they had backed assets as well as financial instruments that were essentially junk still the investor confidence one of the most important aspects of all of this which is more often than not psychological than rational and if this is affected we can see a chain of events unfolding and unfortunately it might more most likely be negative . but investment and mr patrick young says the downgrade has been a long time coming and it's disastrous news for the euro it's been deserved frankly for several years i mean the french government has been economically incontinent for the course of several decades they've lived in never never land they have no concept of how to run a reasonable economy in terms of not spending more money than they can afford it's a disaster for a for mr sarkozy but then again it's been coming since the start of his presidency

it's been building for twenty five years and he did nothing about it so he's just as culpable as everybody else and this issue on the future of the euro everything is not up for grabs again it emotionally destabilizes every single aspect of the euro because we still have no leadership in the eurozone we've got situations like greece needing fourteen and a half billion euros to refund in march alone the euro cents on the precipice tragically i'm not a terrible thing for all our viewers throughout the world. well italy dropped two notches in the latest downgrade decisions in about twenty five minutes time mexico and stacy herbert expose those who are still raking it in the spotlight the tough times. now italy's number one bank as crisis bites the sky marial monti. running italy here a leg breaker with ties to goldman sachs goes back years already so he's

a cap with a capital you know he's of course he's asking the go more or in the course of north from the south to come up north baby we got a lot of people here you can find actually rape with your predatory loads mario monti says the three card monte. marking the first anniversary of the revolution that triggered the arab spring and change the face of the entire region and while a country can boast a peaceful transition radical religious ideas are on the rise as reports. it may have looked like a successful revolution getting rid of authoritarian regime while retaining its westernized facade but in parliamentary elections that followed tunisians voted for another and islamist party which now firmly holds the majority of seats in the new parliament. political culture. of the first

experience. making the choice between. political programs and towards hard. pushed people to choose either with muslims and then muslims. if you. go but western tourists need to have nothing to fear the party's leaders say beer and bikini's irregular staples of tunisia's holidays hotspots are here to stay yet recent events at the maneuver university one of the largest in the country show the tunisian ways are indeed changing their protests that erupted right here we're going to verse three several female students came in wearing. this the islamic headdress which covers most of the face leaving does the eyes open they're going to versus the authorities have evidence that's had. so this went on strike saying their freedom was being oppressed. it was

a minority of students and they were on strike for three weeks two of those weeks the university was closed on the provost instigation council's decision the majority of students were against the strike but they were threatened by those in the minority we held out on principle we are against girls wearing head dress in lectures and during the exams it's a question of security and of trust between professors and students it's an acceptable professor believe be acknowledged as students right to wear whatever they please after all she says this is the essence of freedom but in the case with niqab she felt a different from the simple issue of dress code since usually head dress serves to . text the woman from possible unwanted advances that. if you male student in a head dress personally debases me as if i were some kind of an angry animal which can harm her this is where we're faced with the issue of mutual understanding without which they do occasional process isn't possible and activists for women's rights in the country believe the underlying political tendencies are thinly veiled

by the strikes at the new beginning versity. whether a woman wears an a cop or whatever else this thing's an important universities schools provide education i'm not afraid of women's desire to wear head dress i'm afraid that this issue may be used to provoke other problems the parliamentary opposition meanwhile fears this may mean bad news for the newly born tunisian democracy you know because . we're worried that we may slump down to a new hedge monye ruled by one of the representative parties and not to receive forty percent of the seats in the assembly the post of prime minister is also there's every tunisian is afraid that confrontations and riots may occur. not only those have made it worse this year and says that they're not going to turn to media interest to sharia law states but maybe the country already saying that the worrying signs are here. are tunisia the middle east expert

told r.t. that the islamist leaders are indulging in emotional populism instead of trying to bring any practical change. but the way in which the army's been operating there with. this extremely unintelligent president mark good to see has been operating and the way in which the new justice minister than the slow minister of going social and moral crozier to decide what can go on what can even go on and what shouldn't go on television is awarding the real problems of photogrammetry which are social and economic problems and a plan needs to be implemented to help the boy of the people who outreach aapl dictators go facto the so-called moderate islamists are basically concentrating on moral censorship and what people should do in general is a sign of the on the bankruptcy it's because they are not of the people anything

else so they are receding along these flights and meanwhile in syria there's a warning from the head of the arab league and the conflict torn nation sliding into civil war he comes as tens of thousands rallied on the streets are the largest of an opposition group decided to boost cooperation armed factions western leaders continue to put pressure on president assad's regime. is now politics when the russian proposed draft resolution on the table the national ban on the lebanese based conflicts forum told on the west is more interested in change. this is actually a project very much about regime change and the aim of it is that it's part of the war on iran which was effectively started and there were comments by the national security advisor from the us tom donilon by jeffrey feltman in his testimony to congress which are basically been very explicit about regime change of gender of

the u.s. they've been very careful up till now to acknowledge any kind of. being perpetrated by any others apart from the government forces in syria but i think just a few days ago the u.s. ambassador. that actually there is violence there is there are. actors active who are not government process. but are still ahead of you this hour out here peculiar way to promote healthy eating in the united states how's this for lunch in american schools we explore why pizzas have been classed as vegetables. one in three kids a little weight. loss signing up for success we meet an expert on there in the recruitment business explains why. the place to be right now. a leaked cia report says the situation in afghanistan is

biden stalemate contradicting recent optimistic pentagon statements sobering glutinous deepening the missions between u.s. intelligence and the military about the outcome of the decade long reports also claims that attempts to improve security are being undermined by corruption incompetent government taliban fighters operating safely from the pakistan defense analyst side when it leaves america needed a scapegoat and found one just across the afghan border. basically what the americans are not trying to do is their past the responsibility of their failures in afghanistan upon pakistan this is also corroborated from the fact that the nato supplies that pakistan has blocked today in pakistan contain the military hardware which is and i envision level hardware almost nine armored infantry divisions and their support equipment supplies weapons and ammunition are stuck in pakistan and the concern in pakistan army is that if the americans are talking of the drawing

from of understanding talking about peace leave the taliban then why would the americans need a bronze and one a one main battle tanks and almost nine armored infantry divisions . fewer foreign wars. issues on the home front be what most americans want from their presidential candidates the lawfulness. in new york they think the upcoming election will bring any tangible change to u.s. policies. this year the us has the opportunity to elect a new president are they ready for radical change this week let's talk about that changing that much i just don't think is realistic at all we don't move that quickly it's not the way our system works i think we'll move in different directions over time but i don't think it's going to happen do you think that's a detriment to us that everything takes so long. maybe but it's the way the system

works and i think that those checks and balances in the way that it moves slowly actually is good in the long run well they thought they were ready four years ago for radical change do you think they had radical change so far i feel like they had a radical change in the wrong direction so what direction do you think it should go in the way of the people which is what which is when the government actually works for us not for themselves the change i would like to see would be probably they would be complimentary because there are some libertarian ideas that are great but you just can't pull the social fabric out from the folks that need it you can't do it i'm a really hard time with the fed and i think we should be out of all countries you know we should be occupying anything but we need to take care of our own i think you need somebody who is prepared to stick his head out and do big changes or i like to say do you think that the u.s. people would get behind the leader that that that if they get desperate enough

because of the split that's happening with people who are employed not employed to have money and no money they desperately nuff you look at it whether or not the u.s. needs radical change the bottom line is it remains to be seen whether or not they'll vote for it. a look now at what else is making news around the world and first to a deadly cruise ship accident off it was closed more than four thousand people were on board the costa concordia when it hit a reef island late friday most have been evacuated from the vessel but at least six people are dead and several others missing after jumping overboard as a ship began misting passengers reported a loud bang during dinner we were told the ship had stopped because of electrical problems. gas has exploded into a fireball during a crash which killed at least eleven people it was carrying dozens of passengers

when it hit the cement head on i was in a massive explosion when on board suffered severe burns while recovery teams say they're having trouble identifying some of the worst affected victims it's not one of the two. polling stations are open across taiwan as voters choose their next president the result is likely to have a major impact on its relationship with china which is still the key issue for most taiwanese despite a struggling economy and high unemployment china regards the island as its territory recently signed a vital trade deal encouraging taiwanese exports to the mainland the island current leader is seeking a second term against strong opposition. now millions of american children are classified as obese as a result the u.s. government is making sure they get a full serving of nutritious vegetables from the school cafeteria but there's still

some unhealthy definitions making the menu in the guidelines what is more important or explains why. it's a super sized crisis impossible for america to disguise an insatiable love for food and big portions has served up a nationwide majority of overweight children none of us wants this future for our kids as first lady michelle obama attempts to tackle the epidemic by advocating more exercise healthy eating and penning a book about the white house garden u.s. lawmakers are getting kudo's for stirring the health problem which i applaud in a single woman tension fear will go nowhere given the allure of the. recent decision by the congress to send pizza was a vegetable you heard correctly the greasy cheesy cheap meal known as pizza is served as a lunch vegetable to thirty two million public school children how because u.s.

department of agriculture guidelines qualify two tablespoons of tomato paste as an official veggie serving in november u.s. congress rejected a request from the department that would have changed requirements and ultimately removed pizza from school menus congress has really shown who controls them and that's the big corporations and the big food corporations companies like. these are the makers of these frozen pizza and they have huge financial interests in that obviously according to published reports food companies spend five point six billion dollars this year lobbying specifically to keep pizza friendly u.s.d.a. guidelines in place the social consequence of overweight kids has millions currently battling diabetes and millions more vulnerable to heart disease and shortened life expectancy we know that one in three children are obese or overweight in this country one in five four year olds are over actually which is

astounding and the fact that congress is. not willing to change the food policy in our school cafeterias to benefit the health of our children is really appalling granted issues such as corporate control and obesity are not new problems for america but over the years a hunger for profits has compromised the health of an entire generation the u.s. department of defense says twenty five percent of young americans are too overweight to join the military and the damage so bad experts say threats to national security for. our short but quite tally unscientific poll found americans picking logic over the world of their lawmakers like pizza. he doesn't want it to mean.

we turn to this service but that's not what it's like it's much made of beer at all that's what. that's what the nutritional value of. whatever it is i don't think whatever they're feeding in the cheese is terrible knowing that u.s. leaders have a hand in cooking up the ingredients can also leave a bad taste in many mouths. r.t. new york more first hand experience of what it means to be an entrepreneur in russia as opposed by this talks to ex-pats who are discovering the country's potential. just u.s. and russian that manages certainly have a perception problem even domestic companies tend to hire foreigners but even talent isn't up to scratch but terry in the book who created the stuff well

commitment agency has a different story to tell. i am really fortunate that i've had a really good run with our business in russia i started southall in two thousand and that was still during a time when it was a little bit of a crisis here after the ninety financial crisis and i think the key to being successful one of them a very big one we had an excellent chief accountant who really helped us set up the whole financial side of this business and that to me for going to set up any company in russia you have to have a good finance team it's one of our strongest areas of placements in russia and it's so crucial to any business here because you i mean there's a lot of administration with the tax authorities and with the legal authorities and everything else all the administrations that if you. can do that right and without you know any error you're going to do really well i think that's a key part we have one competitor here who set up their business right at the beginning of the actually right before the crisis so they came in about two

thousand and seven and they really i mean they did not survive i mean they're here but they've had to downscale their offices like a skeleton crew and that's because they i mean some of the things that they did you know they did wrong they had management that was not successful they had huge huge expenses you know they've almost failed i mean they're a big company globally so i'm sure they'll survive but they've taken massive hits here in russia i mean right now i mean we're still in an upswing at stafford which means that recruitment is moving along nicely i mean we're a little bit hesitant going into next year but we've all said we just need to get through the election period and then things will probably go very smoothly with any business for it to be successful you've got to constantly be on top of it and constantly motivate everyone to just keep going if you want to succeed no matter what the market environment is i think there's a lot of opportunities here you have to have the you have to have the drive to do that and that's what i think you know naturally in the world russia as well as

anywhere else sometimes there's a fear of putting that drive into place or there's there. you know barriers maybe but but anything can be done here if you just put your mind to it i mean look at me i open my company and it's you know one of the strongest recruiting firms in russia and who was i you know i don't have the big education or the big experience but i had the drive and i had the will and i had a love of what i did and i wanted to succeed and i just pushed myself and i worked extremely hard day and night nonstop and i loved every single minute of it so that's the key i'm also really heavily engaged in sports here in russia so i. played broom ball i would go bowling i play softball so a lot of different sports i'm involved with a medal really helps the first of all networking and the focus that a lot of it brings is really great like the type on tour for instance is something for me it's just you know it's hard it's

a really really hard workout which for me it takes away a lot of the stress that i may have sometimes on different things and i can bring it in here and just be much more focused and i am always accomplishing it so it just makes me feel great and i stand taller walk taller and more confident i mean i'm confident. but it just gives me even more confidence and just revs me up which is a good thing i think my family is you know it's extremely important to me and that's one of the things that has kept me here obviously is we're here they're very happy here and now i get a lot of support from them in terms of i mean everything i do it's for them really you know the love of my life my little boys are just incredible and i really have a great family and very close and that's why you do everything i think you know in life so it's very positive place to be and that makes me happy i think it makes a lot of people have. this from dentistry to the big screen that we've been meeting

all kinds of expo success stories in russia and i want this series. if you missed any of our profiles you can find them or r.t. dot com well let's have a look at what else you find online there right now a russian pensioner gets firepower instead of firewood after accidentally being sent a deadly arsenal of kalashnikov rifles instead of winter fuel. and pointing blame at seventy six year old millionaire who's in hot water after breaking waves his finger at a swanky restaurant in florida under the full story of r.t. dot com. but in a few minutes global finance debunked in the kaiser report before that recap of our main headlines.

wealthy british scientists are some time to. find. markets why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines. kaiser report on our.

the mop pan am. probably a bit. odd. to me it is easy to get.

to. sixty. if they show up to something inappropriate for public they can easily be shot by accident as is a lot. i wish they would have never happened but it has. been a more a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary what does their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave america and this clear brush up on the set was such witnesses they got him on my side camera one. many objects.

to merciless shooting on our.

let's have a look at the main headlines now the eurozone suffers a fresh financial blow as nine nations get a downgrade from credit rating agency standard and poor's france and austria have lost their top score sending markets into shop for the single currency hitting its lowest market over again. in these earmarks a year since president ben ali was toppled by an uprising that also spearheaded a wave of revolutions across the arab world and the civil rights movement is being marred by a worrying signs.