pro-car sting live from the heart of the russian capital this is r.t. it will be a soul searching weekend for the euro zone with credit rating agency standard and poor's downgrade ing nine countries the biggest blow was to france the currency union second largest economy which has been stripped of its top not status along with austria the e.u. commission calls decision inconsistent this hour syria has more now from brussels. this comes at a time when often as it was just about growing 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 support your goal 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 is 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 eurozone 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 vestment analyst petra young says the downgrade has been a long time coming and there'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 neverland 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 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 in 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 sits on the precipice tragically and that's a terrible thing for all our viewers throughout the world where italy dropped two notches in the latest downgrade decisions at the nine thirty g.m.t. and marks kaiser and stacy herbert expends those who are still raking it in spite of the tough times. mom now italy's number one bank as crisis bites the sky mariel monti is now running italy. a leg

breaker with ties to goldman sachs goes back years already so he's a capital capital you know he's of course he's asking the go more in the course of nostra from the south to come on up north baby we've got a lot of people here you can find actually rape with your predatory loads mario monti says a three card monte. to news is marking the first anniversary of the revolution that triggered the arab spring and change the face of the entire region the country can boast a peaceful transition radical religious ideas on the rise. 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 either with muslims than muslims. 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 verses the authorities have evidence that's had. so this went on strike saying

their freedom was being oppressed almost for. 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 and during the exams it's a question of security and of trust and professor believe he acknowledged the 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 protect the woman from possible unwanted advances and activists for women's rights in the country believe the underlying political tendencies are filling veiled by the strikes at the new beginning versity. the bad about whether a woman wears any cop or whatever else this thing's an important 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 i've had the cove can look 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. the larger leaders have with us a certain sense that they're not going to turn to media interest to sharia law states but maybe the country are already saying that the worrying signs are here in hugo's r.t. tunisia the middle east expert erica they told r.t. that the new islam is leaders are indulging in emotional populism instead of trying to bring any practical change the way in which the army has been operating the way in which this extremely unintelligent president marc will see has been operating and the way in which the new justice minister than being slimy the

sort of going social and moral crater to decide what can go on and what can even go on and what shouldn't go on television is avoiding the real problems of photogrammetry which are social and economic problems and a plan needs to be implemented to help the poor the people who outreach aapl the dictators the fact will be so-called moderate islamists of basically concentrating on moral censorship and what people should do in general is a sign of the bankruptcy it's because they are not other people anything else so they are receding along. well meanwhile in syria there's a warning from the head of the arab league that the conflict torn nation is sliding into civil war becomes those tens of thousands rallied on the streets of the largest civilian opposition group the sight of corporations with an armed faction western leaders continue to put pressure on president assad regime beatty's hour

ago when the russian proposed draft resolution on the table but ashley byrne from the lebanese based conflicts forum that taught the west is but we just did in regime 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 has 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 has basically been very explicit about the regime change agenda of the u.s. they've been very careful up till now to acknowledge any kind. perpetrated by any others apart from the government forces in syria but i think just a few days ago the u.s. ambassador didn't mean it that actually there is violence there is there are. actors active who are not government forces. well thus to the head new this hour on

our table q your way to promote healthy eating united states is this for nutritious lunch in american schools we explore why pizzas have been classed as vegetables tree where one in three kids are overweight. plus signing up for success rate and ex-pats entrepreneur in the recruitment business explains why moscow is the place to be right now. at the cia report says the situation in afghanistan is mired in stalemate contradicting recent optimistic pentagon statements a sobering conclusion is deepening divisions between u.s. and vergence and the military but the outcome of the decade long war report also claims that attempts to improve security are being undermined by corruption competent governance and taliban fighters operating safely from neighboring pakistan where defense analysts hunted believes america needed a scapegoat and found one just across the afghan border. basically what the

americans are now trying to do is their past the responsibility of their failures and of what imus found upon pakistan and this is also corroborated from the fact that the nato supplies that pakistan has blocked today in pakistan then the military hardware which is that i envision level hardware almost nine armored infantry divisions and their subordinate government supplies weapons and ammunition bar stock in pakistan and the concern in pakistan army is that if the americans are talking of the drawing from of understand they're talking about peace leave a taliban then why would be americans need air ground and one in one main battle tanks and almost nine armored in front divisions. well the pentagon's reputation has also taken a battering from scandalous footage of image apparently showing u.s. marines urinating on dead taliban fighters ati's a major contributor says soldiers of them are allies in mission turning out

differently from how the army said it would be a real challenge is to understand what is the motive behind such a despicable act presented by this video from afghanistan the main mission of the u.s. marines in afghanistan was supposed to be to break the bad bowl of the taliban and their associates among the local warlords and drug lords in southern afghanistan instead the u.s. marines were employed as a free of charge guardians of the opium poppy fields that could have provoked this type of total unexplicable behavior in a full contradiction we've worrier ethar of the us marine corps but few of foreign wars while battling more issues on the home front at least be what most americans want from their presidential candidates but we often it's now asked

voters in new york whether 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 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.

around the first. accident off italy's west coast. four thousand people were on board the costa concordia when it hit a reef and in the video late on friday most of been evacuated from the vessel but at least six people dead and several others are missing after jumping overboard at the ship began listing passengers reported a loud bang june dinner and were told the ship had stopped because of a trickle problems. the bus exploded into a fireball in peru during a crash which killed at least eleven people it was carrying dozens of passengers but it hit a cement lorry head on causing a massive explosion many on board suffered severe burns while recovery teams say they're having trouble identifying some of the worst affected victims it's not yet known why that we can provide it. polling stations are open across taiwan voters choose the next president result is likely to have a major impact on its relationship with china which is to the key issue for most

holidays despite a strong economy and high unemployment china regards the island as its territory recently signed a vital trade deal encouraging taiwanese exports to the mainland the islands current leader is seeking a second term but is a strong opposition. now millions of american children are classified as obese as a result of the u.s. government is making sure they get a full serving of nutritious vegetables from the school cafeteria but there are still some unhealthy definitions making the menu in the guidelines are in a partner explains why. it's a super sized crisis impossible for america to disguise and insatiable love for food and big portions has served up a nationwide majority of overweight children none of us want 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 how problem her efforts 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 to tablespoons of tomato paste as an official veggie survey in november u.s. congress rejected a request from the department that would have changed requirements and ultimately removed from school menus congress has really shown who controls them and that's the big corporations and the big food corporations companies like con agra and swans these are the makers of the 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 granted issues such as corporate control and obesity are not new problems for america but over the years the hunger for profits has come. as 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 epidemic so bad experts say threats to national security.

our short but quite telling unscientific poll found americans picking logic over the world of their lawmakers like pizza. he doesn't want it to mean a. real way to table some service but that's not enough for what it's like is much made of beer at all that's what. that's what the nutritional value of. the terrible whatever it is i don't think whatever they're feeding in public schools is terrible knowing that u.s. leaders have a hand in cooking up the greedy and can also leave a bad taste in many mouths or in a port in iowa r.t. new york with more firsthand experience now what it means to be an entrepreneur in russia has passed on this talks to ex-pats who are discovering the country's potential.

but russian manages certainly have a perception problem even domestic companies tend to hire foreigners the evening local time and isn't up to scratch but terry lindeberg created the stuff while the crude mentation see 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 sefl 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 our being successful one of them a very 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 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 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 has a temper 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 you know 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 are some 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 have 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 everything. that's the key wow i'm also really heavily engaged in sports here in russia so i i do taekwondo i play broom ball i would go bowling i play softball so a lot of different sports i'm involved with a metal really helps the first of all networking are fantastic and the focus that a lot of it brings is really great like the type mondo for instance 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'm always accomplishing it 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 who wants. well from dentistry to the big screen that we've been meeting all kinds of ex-pat success stories and passion and i find the series and if you missed any of our profiles you can that's. let's have a look at what else you'll find. a russian pensioner gets how instead of finding good off the accidental being sent a deadly arsenal can actually come from rifles instead of winter fuel. and pointing the blame that seventy six year old millionaire who's in hot water after breaking await his finger at the spunky restaurant in florida the true story of ulti dot com. but

a special report on the journalists caught in the crossfire in the war in iraq that's coming up in five minutes time right after a recap of a story stay with us. if they shoot something inappropriate from the public they can easily be shot by

sebastian's was ok. i wish she would have never happened but it has. been a war a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary what destroys their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave room. and it's clear what happens with such witnesses i got him on my site. one of the many objects above the be sure to nurses shooting on our t.v. . this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one that won't we breathe the we hope. to me the american dream is to live in peace and prosperity and freedom and

a government under socialism is not a government a free. man. you . have very motivated out cross the country who are activists who are willing to fight for what they think is right for themselves but the fact is forty four bridge. we are counting. properly drowning and i think it's spread by it's cutting off our. it's making the marker see. all but impossible.

there are those who desperately need it to survive i am misspoken is the time give money to on the lookout. for gold in the fish. and the suppresses the prize the rights of the fruits of first new clothes of. those who don't get their share of the traits. good by downloading god's. place and you know don't last but not the one not us that people need to do know about it i mean not look at it it from the company from. the those who suck it out to prosper. the seeds of saying. come in the problem is it's a. nice life is. no one can live without it's in one of the largest blood banks in the world. a lot of

nigerians. on our team. to me. to. just say. michiru free accreditation free in-store charges free. range month

free. three stooges free. download free volunteers clothing videos for your media projects a free video dog r.t. dot com. that sap a look at the main headlines for you down the eurozone suffers a fresh financial blair was nine nations get a downgrade credit ratings agency standard and poor's france and australia have lost their top schools and markets into shop for the single currency that was knocked over here. to new zealand marks a year since president ben ali was toppled by an uprising but also spearheaded the wave of revolutions across the aisle one of the sort of breakthrough mood is being mocked by whining.