the issue is that so much of him and there's a huge decision on the mark with a little over a year ago the urban awakening started in quickly inspired millions in north africa and the middle east what is the current state of this. welcome back you're with r.t. here is a look at the top stories you an observer's and syria urged both sides to lay down their arms a bit reports a fresh blast despite the united nations peace plan while one ethnic group the kurds have called on president assad to go long before the unrest are choosing peace over war. i fear pro dialogue voices struggle to be heard above the war course in the u.s. congress with a strike on iran still firmly on the agenda as critics accuse arms merchants and contractors of driving the debate. and terrorists planning to attack

london during the olympics could be fired on from residential rooftops hosting state of the art missiles officials say the rockets will be less resort but people are alarmed that they could become targets for terrorists. up next we sit down with chris had just author and u.s. war correspondent to ask where he sings washington is heading when it comes to its domestic and global policies. chris hedges is an american author journalist former war correspondent and respected expert on middle east politics the pulitzer prize winner is also a man who is suing the us president and secretary of defense will be talking about that and a range of other issues as mr hedges joins me now for a one on one interview thank you very much for sitting down with r.t. sure we have seen a lot of violence and instability over the past couple of years the arab spring

foreign intervention in libya uncontrollable debt problems and riots in the u.s. and throughout europe threats of global recession how do you think these political and economic crises feed off of one another and keep that momentum going well it's all the same crisis which is the collapse of globalization it doesn't work anymore and it manifests itself through the rise of commodity prices forty seven million americans live in poverty they're not spending half of their income on food but they're now spending about thirty five percent. when you see a rise in gasoline prices. which are going up words in the united states and in oil projections will continue to rise up words above four dollars a gallon maybe five dollars a gallon so. we have created a kind of global oligarchy elite which is super national it owes no loyalty to any particular country it has reduced the working class within the united states within

the developing world. to a level of almost subsistence existence it tells workers that they have to be competitive on a global marketplace which means they have to be competitive with sweatshop workers in bangladesh or prison labor in china so we are it's a reconfiguration by corporations of a global economy where the working and and beleaguered middle class are increasingly caught in a vise. in which there is no escape the system of globalization of unfettered unregulated corporate capitalism doesn't work for the ordinary citizen and that if we are seen ignite. popular protest and i think that's the main reason why occupy wall street began in new york and policed so out not just the nation but the world what does the occupy movement lack to become

a real politic factor in the us and throughout the world i mean the other thing about the occupy movement is that it had the right target which is wall street at this point washington is an appendage of wall street well street is where power lies both economic and political and so it it it was a powerful movement because it articulated these two truths. you know the idea of the one percent the economic inequality coupled with a targeting of where actual power lies the occupy movement has now. felt before the wrath of the state they've been their encampments have been physically eradicated. without question they have been heavily infiltrated the power of the occupy movement was that it spoke for the mainstream and the state's goal is to sever the occupy movement from the mainstream so the occupy movement has got to build walls it's got to develop

a kind of self-discipline it's got to set standards which do not allow internal movements within the occupy. organization to sever itself from the mainstream to the threat of the occupy movement in zuccotti park and you were there was that on weekends you had mothers from new jersey with their kids with strollers this terrified stuff so the occupy movement they have to form agreements by which they can operate and the second thing is that they have to begin to organize around very specific issues i think if the occupy movement organizes around raising the minimum wage from seven dollars twenty five cents an hour which is the federal minimum wage to ten dollars an hour. it can galvanize around an issue seventy percent of americans by the way support a rise of the minimum wage in order to keep labor with it it has to latch on to issues such as the raising the minimum wage that will bring labor out into the street and keep the main stream keep it as the kind of vanguard movement of the

mainstream whether it can do that or not i don't know we'll have to see what role do you see for u.s. banks and u.s. corporations how else if not through them can the economy get. overcovered well the the not only are we not in a recovery i mean the the the banks are playing some very dirty game the fact that we've not regulated the banks the fact that we bailed out firms like goldman sachs and are in essence lending them free money what's the big zero one percent interest or something means they're all back to the speculative games and that's what they are games they don't produce anything they bed against one of the reasons the price of petrol is rising is because they're buying up futures and hoarding which is what they do with commodity prices you know basic staples of food rice and everything else and we are headed for another implosion and some of our most respected financial reporters gretchen morgenson and others at the new york times

are smoking around saying this we've done nothing to curb them we have permitted the largest transference of wealth upwards in american history the looting of the u.s. treasury or the tragedy is that the government when the banks were on its knees didn't step in instead of for instance creating taking ten billion dollars. or one hundred billion dollars in creating regional banks capitalizing those banks leveraging them ten to one loaning you know refinancing mortgages i mean there were all sorts of ways we could to use this kind of money constructively we handed it off to a criminal class and speaking of government where in the u.s. currently in an election year a republican candidates are now battling one another for the opportunity to oppose for iraq obama come november however skeptics view both parties as more similar than different because we've seen military invasions corporate

bailouts and breaks for the wealthiest under both democrats and republicans how can a new political force start to grow in america if it's sort of that the same type of cycle every four years well that's the problem and it's gotten worse because after citizens united in two thousand and ten with the creation of these super pacs and obama broke a campaign promise by. reaching out to a super pac of his own i mean in a way he has no choice because this money rules and it has a pernicious effect not only on elections but on the process of legislation because if you are an elected official and you do anything. that angers corporate lobbyists and corporate power then you know that the weight of that super pac will sweep you out of office and not only that but that when you are under attack you won't have a super pac to appeal to so it is essentially destroyed i mean it's all

political theater i mean look at what the republican base is what's it about colonies supporting the newt gingrich and when thirteen thousand people live on the moon they can apply to be a state you know. the fact is the personal narratives and personal pinions of political candidates do not matter there is no way to vote in this country against the interests of goldman sachs obama is a more appealing political candidate because he's sane but our i mean look the obama administration has carried out the policies of the george w. bush administration whether in terms of wall street imperial projects a failure to address the suffering of the working class. address the long term unemployment crisis we have cities now filing for bankruptcy states that are talking about filing for bankruptcy and the federal government is doing nothing except squandering four trillion dollars on wars that we're going to lose we're

losing and handing money over to a class on wall street that is complicitous in a centrally hollowing the country out from the inside you are plaintiffs in the case are suing us president barack obama and secretary of defense leon panetta over the national defense authorization act from what i read daniel. you know other activists have now joined you in that lawsuit you're scheduled to appear in court at the end of this month what do you what do you realistically aiming for well the law is clearly unconstitutional i mean i don't think you need to be a legal scholar figure out what you don't but it was still signed into law yes it was and. at the. lower level there are certainly judges unfortunately not of been handed one but there are judges that i think would would find the courage to rule that the problem is that if it got to the supreme court given the composition of the court it seems very likely that we would not win. however i think it does

raise public consciousness it creates an awareness of this law. it gives us a focal point by which we can carry out public demonstrations to oppose the law so it's an effort but i don't think we're naive about about the corruption within the judiciary the u.s. claims to promote democracy within america and throughout the world when it comes to syria the u.s. is calling essentially for regime change sovereign state the u.s. says that syrians deserve democratic transition but when you mention countries like iraq afghanistan and libya shouldn't the u.s. and in some ways learn some lessons before trying to teach more countries about well let's imagine how this so those in the middle east where we were mubarak's great supporter. you know i don't think anyone in the muslim world thinks that

we care much about human rights or democracy we have since the first gulf war planted military base some the size of small cities i think there is at this point absolutely no credibility i'm talking about within the middle east when the united states claims that it would like to bring liberty or democracy to syria. that said the assad regime and i was there under saddam is a pretty repugnant and horrible regime my feeling on syria and i'm not on the ground and as a reporter you know i i think that finally for one to make those kinds of judgments have to be on the ground but my feeling. is that everything should be pushed through to create some kind of a cease fire because in cities like cities like homes at this point aside from the murderous showing and everything else you really have a situation where it will can't eat and there's no water and and so rather then

pass a resolution that calls for assad's removal or resolution. that you know calls for intervention or anything else i would rather see them work more incrementally if that doesn't happen do you think there's any chance of european military intervention i don't think so i think the u.s. is so overextended and i think that the situation in syria is so messy there is you know there's no real formal opposition. you know it's a sort of a mess and they just went through this in libya months and months of hard time believing they do it again in syria we'll have to leave it right there mr hedges thank you for your time and for speaking with r.t. thanks.

join me on a journey to the heart of the kremlin to a place is hidden from the tourists you're going to meet some real crime insiders although they may not be the usual newsmakers you see on t.v. . good leverage surely was easy to believe which most sophisticated robot which on

fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tunes mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans. this is why you should want only. un observers in syria urged both sides to weigh down their arms amid reports of fresh blast despite the united nations peace plan while want to group the kurds called on president also to go long before the end rest choosing peace or war. to progress i love voices struggle to be heard above the war chorus in the u.s. congress with a strike on iran still firmly on the agenda as critics who accuse arms merchants and contractors of driving the debate. terrorist planning to attack london during the olympics could be fired on from residential rooftops hosting state of the art missiles officials say the rockets would be a last resort but people are alarmed to think of the khan targets for terrorists.

right time now for the scores of they've been here with us in the studio hello again so the biggest football match in england this year is just a had who's going to be the blues or the reds the british or the reds i'm going to go for purple marino i think it's going to be a draw you know it's going to be either score draw or no low draw but i tell you what nobody's getting out of there with all three points munches united. all out ahead in just a second. good to have you with us at this hour this is sports day plenty head over the next ten minutes including the. next game maria sharapova beats world number one pick torrealba rank on the stock guard clay came her first title of the you're. off the mark top seed some antonio are choosing the utah jazz in their opening feel

clash of the n.b.a. season. boxing clever russian middleweight champion to be cheaper to argue brains are just as important as a brawl in the ring purse to place crying on the line again. let's get the ball rolling with tennis where maria sharapova has lifted her first title of the year instead guard beating world number one victoria azarenka the claim the timely cry on the russian looking much sharper than in the previous two final she lost to rank it this year these truly open and indian wells most precise growing strokes and consistent serve helping the twenty five rules take the opening set six one azarenka who had only lost once this season heading into the clash also unable to contain her opponent in the second trouble but breaking development in the second before holding serve for a six one six four victory so i agree it time for sure to be heading top form with the second slam of the year the french open fast approaching. now the

barcelona open men's title will be staying in spain for the ninth street here rafael nadal the man claiming a record seven prime after being compared to david for in the final the world number two forced to work hard right from the off but managed to take the opening set seven games to six things didn't get any easier for rough in the second but his resilience did pay to. and swimming at seven six seven five for on the other hand has not finished runner up in catalonia for the. the biggest game of the english football season as marino was saying earlier gets going later today it's the battle of manchester on the top two teams in the table with city hosting united in a game which could decide where the premier league crown resides the next twelve months fascinating encounter awaits alex ferguson's men currently lie three points ahead of the sky blues but show roberto mancini's charges when they're more

impressive goal difference could prove crucial in the title run in city will welcome back defender mika richard to mr last win over wolves with a knee injury while apart from long term absentees united have a fully fit squad to choose from expect fireworks at eastlands. if we can. do that. more chance than i was because. enough to play against newcastle it would be a. good game and after. united. two on c.s. and for them it would be too easy going. always piling the pressure on the man in spain a real madrid have taken another big step towards clinching their first league championship in four years after raising two or three in the win at home to a first half strike from rinaldo on a second period brace from car and benzema doing the damage meant should lose later

in the evening to rio rio will be crunch bins but champagne still on ice up there forcing him gibson seven in vi you can go ahead drew on leo messi both doubles for the visitors victory over athletic build bol on whedon's there were will reale title. that's which two ice hockey where russia have relinquished their euro hockey tour title the red machine going down to new champions the czech republic and burnell russia needed a win on sunday to retain their. kicks off it took the leads of the czechs with an strike twice within two minutes to win a two one and finish top of the overall standings before the sweden got the wooden spoon following a four one defeat by reigning world champions finland the czech games with a last major tournament ahead of next month's world championship. on the n.b.a. hard would mean all the spurs to finally come good early in the playoffs someone tony winning their first postseason game one in four years the set the tone in

their opening round encounter with the utah let's pick it up in the second with tony parker in the midst of putting together his best performance of two thousand and nine he would leave with twenty eight points ten duncan also turning back the clock with a vintage performance seventeen points eleven rebounds for the thirty six ruled the younger votes less experience just kept the game close both simply could not find an answer for the top seeded squad in the western conference one zero six to ninety one the final score on a level straight win for the spurs as well game two all takes place in texas on wednesday night. elsewhere around the n.b.a. postseason record with ten blocked shots. deny the nuggets ball boss and rejoin rhonda was ejected from bumping a referee is the celtics course their playoff opener to atlanta los angeles clippers cemented their status as comeback kings storming back from twenty seven points down the last to beat the memphis. on to motor sport careening moto g.p.

world champion casey stoner has secured his first ever victory at the spanish grand prix the win thus piling the pressure on standings leader jorge lorenzo and was lorenzo winner of the season opening race and guitar who started from pole interest however the spaniard was swiftly overtaken by compactor demi pedrosa before stoner also stepped all the gear to pull in front of after just two laps the stream was troubled by lorenzo throughout but managed to hang on to the lead on the bench really the contest by less than a second it was a sweet victory for stoner who is still not enough to catch the renzo at the top of the standings four points no separate. on the greens jason dufner to finally find out what it's like to hold aloft the p.g.a. tour title trophy the thirty five year old getting the better of ernie els in a playoff to secure this direct classic crime in new orleans charles hold the third meanwhile will be content with stealing the highlight of the day the thirty two rule hitting

a hole in one to wrap up the front nine but would finish eleven strokes by the spiked starting effort on the ninth hole. meanwhile was left about the large with dufner in a playoff tough look for the big easy go with els misfiring a what should have been a birdie on the second next hole duffer making the most start of opening by tapping in for an effort himself the thirty five left to celebrate his first title one hundred sixty four p.g.a. tour stop. and finally he's the best boxer in the country at the moment but can walk on the street without it being recognized middleweight world champion has gone up by his judi's quietly but successfully resulting in the russian preparing and choose that to defend his w b o. belt for the third time robert for dunning caught up with the man who really does see the sport as a sweet science. boxing's middleweight division the sweet sport of the sport well why there is move like light weights and points like heavy weights rush is

number one in this class is needed to iraq the winning w bill chandler is styled combining fearsome punching power with old school intelligence just one of the numerous reasons that you need to lead it has been thrilling audiences for years now. sometimes i do things to disturb my opponent in the ring to confuse him with him but i don't have a plan it happens spontaneously the crowd loves such things and at the same time my opponent loses confidence because he can't get me sometimes i try small boxing tricks like raising one hand and punching with the other professional boxing is not only a sport now it's a spectacle a performance which needs to be a great show too not just a boxing match. mentality getting one's head right is also an essential part of the game particularly adept in this regard both in and out of the ring.

i prefer isolation out of a fight i need to be on my own with my coaches without phone calls or any type of communication i focus on building up my energy even when i'm not training i'm thinking of boxing rehearsing in my mind but i believe there should be anger inside of you some positive anger you're able to control or not driven by it and i never get driven by a crowd going for a knockout when i feel the opponent is still dangerous the thirty one year old added to boxing is no less than his skills there are constantly seeking the chance to face the cream of his class that desire government not by love fame or my. but by the sport itself. there's nothing wrong with winning titles it's great reflects your achievements and skills it builds confidence but when you get a title you realise it's not the most important thing they come and go with it

although some hold on to that title is just to earn more money i never worried about earning money through boxing i just enjoy it and because of that it will grow as a sportsman and as a person. he can reach an ounce of this level i really see him is becoming twice as good as he is now and terms of dedication and intensive training it's all up to him his potential including great physical characteristics they're still plenty of room to develop in the ring in doing so because every chance to bowl in the footsteps of course to do the only russian to be crowned undisputed boxing champ band of the world it would take a brave person to bet against him the best part of r.t. . where we leave the sport for our world weather is coming up in just a tick and i'll see you in just under two hours time.

well to british science it's a time to practice. markets

why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the kinds of reports.