misses promises that have been made under them inventive presidency and did not lead to any concrete reforms and again we're still waiting for him to do something . you know whether cameras and all the stuff are nice but again i think they're cosmetic and there are easy concrete steps to put in can take to prove that he is serious about some kind of liberal program or put into point the question putin says in this article that political rivalry is what pushes the country forward the great phrase but does he really mean it does he consider the other four presidential candidates really rivals or rather never to attribute of democracy yes i agree but you know put in. bitterly need needs. equal contender you know big real right. understanding would make him happier if somebody if you know he's sick and tired of this figures who are trying for twenty years to do

something in the political sphere and without any success you know it's like mind their shareholders in the corporation so he i think he's a fighter by and by the way you know he he knows how to fight and he's must over do door so well you've got to tell you agree that it is a fighter. but. i'm not sure that the absence of a real rival makes makes him unhappy did they do believe so i don't think i think he's my comfortable the way it is he has never existed in a situation of political competition and still in this political election we're seeing that he refuses to compete even with the granted rather weak candidate that reveals recall the end of the ninety's session to power it was very very strong competition from let's say and the score for the time so. that was there was mainly i mean i don't want to go. back to ancient history but that was mainly

decided. back stage of the kremlin and with a lot of influence from the old why don't you it was after the people you know it's for the people to decide in the election of two thousand well i can congratulate you i can congratulate you on his victory in two thousand yet in his victory in two thousand dollars the fear but the situation as he admits in this article has dramatically changed in society you know bands of society are for political competition by refusing to debate with his can the readers the reason his life and gauging in political competition on the reasons why. we don't have the real rivalry because we don't have real opposition leaders in the country what i am saying this is this is interesting because putin takes credit in this article for the emergence of the middle class as such yeah it's true the middle class emerged under the economic policies of the put in regime thanks in part to the to the high oil price however he does not take credit for the political system that emerged in the past

twelve years that did not allow for robust interesting political figures to emerge those who tried to participate in elections or register political parties were routinely denied however in this election as i think again a concession to the people in the streets we see me. you know is he a puppet candidate nobody knows he says not up his opponents say yes but he is. really charismatic he wouldn't agree to be in office and also then the question is you know open. he is a charismatic new figure he speaks really well i mean he's been practicing politics i think it will be a fascinating debate learning very fast learning very fast so i think would be most interesting to see the two of them debate i mean i agree that the other contenders are sort of old school politicians that so well according to the article that we're discussing today putin once did make the russian parliament into active let's hear

what he writes about that. i propose introducing a rule for having a mandatory review in parliament of all public initiatives which collected data one hundred thousand online through charged a similar practice is used in britain for example the anonymous internet cannot serve this purpose of course although we know the cases it can help avoid the public. well this is interesting we're already started discussing whether we're the put in is changing or not well i would say yes because in two thousand and ten put in openly declared that i quote half of what's published in the internet is for novelty that's his words but now today he addresses the internet he he changes the ad it towards the web to was the internet community so is this a sign of change and you are sure you know what only because of technology last

last couple years. definitely has become accustomed to the using of internet and here he became not deeply involved as president and good if who has his twitter and so on but nonetheless this suggestion of. it so it says clearly that he see he sees the internet as a powerful resource for promoting democracy in the country. he's speaking about the the the effective dialogue channels between the power elite and the society is internet from wouldn't point of view one of these these channels i'm not real in december fifteenth during his live call in show with the russian public five days after a massive protest in moscow he said i don't really use the internet very often and he was asked directly do you in a country that has more internet users than any other country in europe. i think that's that's incredible it's true that now he is at least in his rhetoric saying

oh wait the internet exists i should should respond to this somehow as a politician i'm not saying he's not a flexible. intelligent and capable politician he is and he's maneuvering every which way what is the quote that you just showed says and this was pointed out an article and kind of caution he seems to be one step behind the duma whether he likes it or not is already becoming more open because in the last round of the elections in december. more than fifty percent of the popular vote went to the opposition the duma is opening up and now putting the saying oh the duma needs to open up well whether you like it or not it is so he's playing catch up in a lot of ways and knows exactly when putin writes in this article that the state is lagging behind the society he actually means in. some sense i don't know if it's a kind of self-criticism i would agree you know well there's a lot of critics of criticism by the way in article after article the prime

minister criticizing the existing situation russian economy social sphere so and so forth but he's been in power for twelve years but. to two terms as president one as prime minister so it is twelve years is enough to do a lot that's right. on the other one but at the same time he's trying to explain why measures taking which is being taken right now was impossible to implement. ten or. five years ago and there is clearly explained nationwide you need one question i have to listen putin says the new state must work out a tool to catch up with the complicated social realities he needs a tool. he proposes the so-called selfridge you later well i'm not sure i know what that means but what's wrong about the media as a tool about the unions as a tool why do we need to create something else well all these two tools the media

and the trade unions are they not effective in the modern society there are many tools how to promote democracy and to make political sphere more transparent but you know it's interesting question what the head of state is responsible for. in russia it's. general saying that the president is responsible for everything yes but at the same time first priority and most responsive sponsibility of the head of state i see that he's responsible for the shape of power for the quality of power and this article precisely about this and there is a part of this article called building a competitive nation it's i would say it's not exact translations from russian because in russian version of this article it's called the building of competitive state but this is the difference of mythology western and russian you know but

nonetheless seven points about how to i would say to reset this state how to remade it. to make it really more than just new to meet the challenges of which civil society in russia is sending you know english think you very much so and i hope it would continue but we're running out of time and just to remind that might. yes today would be i need police call from the general political science department in the high school of economics and simon shuster of the time magazine moscow based reporter and that's it for now from all of us here if you are now you are so spotlight we have someone in mind you think i fit into the next time joe johns milan algren up ads. are used and let's keep the show interactive we'll be back with more first and comments on what's going on in and outside russia until then stay on r.t. and take care. of.

me.

the generals refused to step down as the egyptian capital braces itself for a day of massive public protest against military rule exactly a year after the former president was ousted. divisions and the armed way of the syrian opposition over claims of responsibility for the deadly bombing at the security service have waters in the country's second largest city. and these threats to national security america's growing obesity problem is expanding waistlines and corporate bank accounts is big business is harvest big profits from fattening the people.

coming to life from moscow now a year after president mubarak stepped down the egyptian capital is bracing itself for a massive campaign of civil disobedience calling for a new revolution thousands of protesters want the ruling military council to relinquish power but the generals are locked in to hand over their reigns let's get a latest now from all correspond to read english girl is a forest. hello to you now barak has been out of the picture for a year the military to call over one he went so what's behind the latest public discontent with the armed forces. apparently we're having some problem with the sound there and we'll try to reconnect with irina later to get the latest from. now to syria where violence is

escalating was more than one hundred reportedly killed on friday political leaders of the uprising say they expect official recognition from some arab league states later this weekend i made having fighting for the flashpoint city of homs the country's second largest residential air. aleppo suffer a twin car bombings that claimed at least twenty five lives responsibility was initially claimed by a senior member of the armed opposition but that was later denied by the free syrian army is chief was no un mandate to intervene in the crisis the united states is now said to be gathering a coalition of countries willing to prop up the opposition and piled more pressure on the mask but some activists say intervention will be a costly mistake in syria i think it is a matter of there are some very legitimate interest in the country of people who would like to be able to participate more in their government and i think the government has made some effort to respond they think it needs to make more of an

effort but i don't think that comes through foreign intervention it comes through indigenous processes of the people in the country if you look at any foreign intervention over the last several years you see that after the foreign intervention many more people died then could have possibly died through any type of indigenous process even one involving violence and i think that moscow and some of its allies on this matter are very wise in seen the pitfalls of foreign intervention and there is a u.n. charter makes it very clear the use of force should only be the last possible means of trying to deal with the conflict. and i was courtesy of our activist an international human rights lawyer talking to us from geneva. the greek cabinets has unanimously approved a new set of desperate measures demanded by the e.u. and i mapped meanwhile a two day strike in response to the harshest area measures continues throughout the

country passing the package was crucial to satisfy international creditors to get a second much needed one hundred thirty billion euros package to bolster countries crippled economy a draft bill now has to go through the greek parliament and european finance ministers agreement came after a few years and prolonged cabinet debates which and it was six ministers quitting their jobs meanwhile on friday anger over the plan spilled over into the streets of athens where police used tear gas on protesters who hurled rocks and fire bombs and why financial journalist demetri casino assess the action taken by greece leadership it's nothing to do with the people's well. the government's doing what's in the people's best interests it's just doing what's in its own interests and the people don't trust the government the government had an option they could have just said no we're not going to accept these measures that will go to default and by the way there's no reason that a default has to equal an exit from the euro zone i don't see that that connection other people have made that point and that's used to to intimidate the population

in greece to scare them to say well if you don't accept these measures that are going to default and are going to be part of the chaos from all the drachma hyperinflation disaster and you know these are scare tactics because the people that are in power are bent benefit from a system where they can cooperate with the euro kratz in brussels i don't believe anyone within their right mind would think that they'd be able to to pay those debts back clearly there's an interest for the banks that are on the hook the european central bank is obviously bought a lot of that debt so they stand to lose but at the same time if they just keep rolling it over they're going to lose anyway i think part of this is just a function of good of the system and people just trying to you that expression all the time kick the can count down the road but that's something that people do all the time in their daily lives and they certainly do it in politics they do. they don't want to deal with the problem and they just rude rather procrastinate and push it along and i think in many many cases that explains a lot of what you see here. are you watching are you coming to you live from moscow

let's go back now to our correspondent who is in the congo and who's following the developments for us there. hopefully can hear us better this time now as we know mubarak has been out of the picture for a year and the military took over when he left now what's behind the latest public show of discontent with the armed forces. well like you said mubarak has been out for a year but a lot of people here in the country are saying that nothing really has changed over the past year maybe gone but he is his legacy so to speak lives on so and that of massive civil disobedience it has begun last night in cairo and in several other cities in egypt is going to continue for as long as the people can hold out a matter of fact the two of the acts of civil disobedience and a strike which they're calling on everybody in the country to join has been staged by by they're going to comprises which is comprised of fifty most active revolutionary movements in the country including six of the most of the most

prominent revolutionary movements they include anybody not just the political groups but pretty much everybody from from from workers to students university students university professors as a matter of fact a lot of the people who are involved in this act of civil disobedience are mostly young people they're the driving force behind who were the driving force behind the . toppling of mubarak last year they are not satisfied with what they've seen over the past year or so they're calling on students to not attend classes as a matter of fact classes this semester has started most of these have seen the verses used today as their color so they're not going to go to classes they're going to boycott lectures exams professors are not going to go to lectures as well workers are encouraged to stay away for. work. there are massive sit ins at universities at the ministry of interior where this it actually has begun last night also of course it's a very square which is right behind me there is there will be

a very major rallies and protest a leader on a day but already there are people gathering there right now again sitting in there a very tense with people basically expressing their disillusionment and their frustration with the current situation in the country. right now let's talk about what's been actually achieved and watched change in the country for the better after all it was the people who fought in their revolution so what has been achieved. what people have fought in the revolution yes and mubarak is out and we can talk about the elections which took place not too long ago so we did have a chance to make their voices heard they didn't have a chance to cast a vote there of course of course there were some doubts as to whether or not the vote was conducted fairly but you still have to face the fact that the. elections did take place people did go to the polls and a lot of the a lot of those who we spoke to say that the elections were free and fair that they

have succeeded in reaching at least some of the goals but again a lot of people are saying that still not everything has been achieved a lot of their evolutionary goals the jobs the economy education and also. doing away with massive corruption which was left over from the mubarak era a lot of that still has not been done it's a matter of fact my colleague the looks at the finer points of what exactly people are trying to achieve by continuing to stage protests. around a thousand killed at least six thousand injured and even more still missing egypt's people have played a high price to live in a new country but despite all the sacrifices the shadow of the old regime still lose large during mubarak thirty years of mubarak's rule to meet a number of people try them under military tribunals where one to two thousand now you know within about ten months or eleven miles we have twelve thousand which is of course a humongous number for a country ruled by the military the supreme council of the armed forces scaf that's

no surprise but surprisingly enough those discounts took over from who'd previously run the country are not themselves before military tribunals are for. suspected killer. thought. to be. court system. where ordinary people there may be. military courts this is a better way and this is illegal hasty with no proper investigation usually with no lawyer and behind closed doors and with no right of appeal human rights activists complain military trials provide no justice and violate human rights you know you have a nineteen year old getting a twenty five year old send your centers because he has a box of mouth of cocktails and people who are found guilty of killing somebody by

brutally beating him up and torturing him until he died these are getting seven years in jail so i mean there obviously there's something wrong with this picture a lot of these people are trying for absolutely no reason i mean someone just just being in the wrong place at the wrong time is enough to get you in trouble that's exactly what matters is his case september the time these really embassy. i wrote the place. the young screenplay writer was present at clashes between the army and demonstrators and began helping the injured arrested he was brought to military barracks after summary trial which lasted just twenty minutes he was taken straight to prison to serve almost four months for terrorism he says the military dishes out a very rough justice. emerging a seventy year old who's been in the army for at least thirty years it must be hard for him to take off his uniform and this lifestyle and this was the only way they

know how to deal with problems. for several days one did know her son's whereabouts who were the one who says when his sister came to me and said i have to talk to you i knew it was about him hoping for the best i prepared myself for the worst. a month after ahmed was released he now faces yet another trial from the same incident at these really embassy. they go is to intimidate people the message is clear if you go to torah you'll be arrested and it makes us even stronger how is it they don't understand that med is now working on a book he wants a title you must shut up he explains if people didn't give up after bin britain and humiliated they'll never give up until their voices the herald. the citadel in cairo egypt in medieval symbol of power and strength it was fortified centuries ago to protect the region from his enemies at that time cross aides and procedures

today egypt's rulers are doing the same striving to defend themselves and to keep power with thousands in jails and dozens killed the concern here is that they may have been working too hard. griffin optionality cairo. coming your way in the program here in our testing the slopes russia's major ski resorts are begins its first rehearsal for the winter olympic games by staging a competition for the world's leading winter athletes. also extreme canine agility meet a family food show that excels in the art of extreme sport park or. has become an online celebrity because of death defying feat. in the u.s. the obesity epidemic is growing with around seventy five percent of americans now considered overweight and as waistlines across the country swell out so do the

pockets of big corporations who every year make millions from the fattening of america first lady michelle obama warns that obesity could be the next national security threat whether one of four adults unable to serve in the military because they are overweight actions leading by example keeping yourself physically fit and teaching children to the corpus of healthy eating obesity costs the u.s. department of defense one point one billion dollars a year and that looks unlikely to improve as big corporations continue to choose profit over quality was walt reports. we're broke. and we need to stop the out of control spending spree that's growing our abortion as the debate over cutting government spending rages on billions of taxpayer dollars wasted each year on junk food between one nine hundred ninety five and two thousand and ten over two hundred fifty billion dollars was spent on subsidizing foods that are making americans fat seventy four percent of all the subsidies go to just ten percent of the agribusinesses these are not the small farms public funds go to agra

giants like monsanto the company produces genetically modified seeds and claims more than ninety three percent of soybean and eighty percent of the corn market in the u.s. but this is not what americans are consuming the crops are turned into products like high fructose corn syrup which end up in most processed foods the effect on american health is devastating seventy five percent of americans are now overweight and advertisers today target can't the most important part of the mcdonald's happy there is even a superman this is kryptonite for. the results one in five kids in america are obese they like sweets and they like all the additives that are added to fast foods and sodas and snacks meanwhile corporations are profiting from the fattening of america they spend millions each year lobbying congress to uphold policies that keep the big businesses profitable david rosin calls the system the obesity and

duster complex that this system is essentially it's you know it's a pay to play system and if you can pay. to support your local congressman or senator you have a stronger opportunity to both not only influence the laws that are passed but actually draft the was like congress recently declaring pizza a vegetable agribusiness is spend a lot of money on capitol hill and making sure that the funding is going towards things that are going to drive down the products of the most profitable products also cashing in on the. of america pharmaceutical companies the u.s. spends one hundred forty seven billion dollars each year treating obesity related illnesses countries from china to hungary require labeling of g.m.o. foods but the power of corporations and lobbyists to englewood's politics no such laws exist in the u.s. today and washington liz wall artsy. but remember you can access all of our news

and much more by logging on to our website are two dot com here's what's in store for you there right now stay on the safe side germany delays the signing of controversial new and piracy laws after protests erupted in europe also online. striking fire man in brussels give local police a cold shower at the main entrance of the prime minister's office find out why at our team dot com. sochi welcomes some of the world's best winter athletes as they prepare for its first skiing competition which kicks off today it's to tast of facility ahead of the winter olympics which the russian resort will host in two years' time reports. trees been known to have warm february's in the past but not this year.