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us war correspondent. when it comes to international. 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 by all 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 we are seen ignite popular protests and i think that's the main reason why occupy

wall street began in new york emplaced 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 right 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 the full 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 in 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 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 bet 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 walking 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 republican candidates are now battling one another for the opportunity to oppose barack 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 debate 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 then your lies in 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 laws clearly unconstitutional i mean i don't think you need to be a legal scholar figured out you don't but it was still signed into law yes it was and. at the. lower level there are certainly judges unfortunately we may not have 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 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

what let's imagine how this sells 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 bases 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 there's no water and and so rather than 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 and syria will have to leave it right there mr had just thank you for your time and for speaking with r.t. thanks.

there hasn't been anything good on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact. before source material is what helps keep journalism honest we. we want to present. something else.

headlines on the cease fire under assault fresh terror attacks in syria claimed more lives at the u.n. warns its policy to oversee a peace plan unless it's implemented by all sides the government and the opposition for the meantime all blaming each other for orchestrating the latest book. says the e.u. of harking back to the cold war as brussels moves to a boy called the euro twenty twelve championship in ukraine it's the latest development in the role over the handling of former prime minister yulia timoshenko serving time for abusing power. the founder of wiki leaks prepares to take center stage once again the host of his very own interview show right here on our t.v.

the tuesday julian assange interviews of the new president of. the arab spring the first to pick. up to date on the headlines but now the time for the sporting headlines with paul. thank you very much laurie welcome to the sports headlines here's what we've got coming up on his way the russian football union confirming to our teams that pick up the card is to step down as manager at the end of this summer's european football championship. never again maria sharapova big world number one victoria azarenka on the stuttgart clay to claim her first title of the year. in the waiting game this drama at the way in his russian middleweight champion dmitri pilger prepares to put his w b o crown on the line on tuesday night.

the first thing russian football union have confirmed to r.t. that manager dick advocaat is to stand down from the role of this summer's european football championships correspondent richard is here with more on this story richard you've been following dick advocaat russia for the last couple of years how surprised are you by today's news a bit surprised not surprised to be honest i mean he's always on a super us to contract a four year contract but he had the option of leaving his post after the european championships and to be honest i don't think the russian football union they wanted months before the euro two thousand and twelve championships got underway because i didn't want to be in a similar situation to france where they didn't keep on a long contract and. basically to speak to any t.v. wishes to you even france get to the finals so i really don't want to try and get a decision from up accounts before the tournament started to say did you want to stay with russia old did you want to leave has he given any hint as to why he's made the decision that he has you know not yet i mean the new cells around russia

he's actually said he hasn't he's not going to reveal the reasons for leaving his post at the moment he's going to do at least a probably after a year or two thousand and twelve finals but he's done actually very well with the russian team i mean he took over. when a very low ebb that failed to qualify for the world cup in two thousand and ten and he really took them to the euro two thousand and twelve finals but a minimum of fuss. except for a twenty minute spell in dublin when republican alan freed to russia really dominated a game they played. last year they were in very good form while he's got them there do you think this news today will affect their our preparations for the tournament in any way knowing so i mean football players are professionals spain over got to do a job for all the players it's going to be the last chance saloon and they're all in the late twenty's early thirty's so really it's going to be very difficult for them to perhaps to play in rio in brazil in two thousand and fourteen so really

they want to put in a very good performance here and trying to the best for their country so i don't think it's going to have any effect whatsoever on our count leaving because i mean it's about it's international football just come and go a lot more save an incomparable and finally i mean you know it's very early days do you see an appointment or an announcement about a successor before or after the tournament i would say are i would say after because i mean for instance say of russia get to the semifinals all do very well at the championships of the time or perhaps for the stay and he is he's grown in popularity amongst the russian footballing public or very skeptical when he took over from hugo sitting but it certainly has grown in profile and also i think perhaps if they do get a new train over something we're going to probably turn to a russian trainer and the sort of prince it's been rooted in the process perhaps or potential. future coach especially with the world cup in russia in two thousand and eighteen in mind getting a young russian coach to try and build them up towards those interesting times that's for sure a lucrative thanks very much richard and paul it. meanwhile england also looks set

to have a new manager before too long i believe west brom boss roy hodgson is having talks with the english football association about becoming the permanent successor to fabio capello the f.a. deciding the sixty four year old is the man to lead them into euro two thousand and twelve they were granted permit. just speaks the former liverpool and into milan boss by his current employees west brom on sunday hodgson has previous international experience as manager of finland in switzerland and is having talks with bosses on monday with an announcement expected within forty eight hours it was widely expected that the job would be offered to tottenham boss harry redknapp but hodgson is so far the only man approached by the f.a. . meanwhile at manchester city are manchester united go head to head later on monday in the biggest game of the season in england but darby much will go a long way to deciding who will be crowned the premier league champions a fascinating encounter awaits sir alex ferguson's men currently like three points ahead of their rivals should roberto mancini's men women they're more impressive goal difference could prove crucial in the title run in the city welcome back to

find a make or richards to mist of their last win over walls with knee injury but apart from the long term absentees united have a fully fit squad to choose from. everything is going to happen but it's not being as they're saying. that. more than because the. we should be left there we should play against newcastle it would be a good game and after. united play against chauncey s. and in that form then we would be too easy again. now tennis where maria sharapova has netted her first title of the year beating world number one victoria azarenka to claim they still got a grand prix the russian looking much sharper than in the previous two finals that she lost to as a record this year you're straining indian wells trucker's precise groundstrokes

and consistent on the german clay helping the twenty five year old technique six one as a lanka who had only lost once this season heading into the clash was also unable to contain her opponent in the second shot breaking the belorussian before holding so for a six one six four victory great time for showing up for the second slam of the year the french open beginning at the end of next month. finally to boxing where russian to meet the pair of is putting his w b r middleweight title on the line here in moscow on tuesday night and there's a bit of pre-fight drama during the weigh in on monday but don't make the cut but only just one in just under the middleweight limit of one hundred sixty pounds however his opponents japan's not be hero ishida initially failed his way in posting one hundred sixty one pounds and putting the fight in jeopardy but it's a to manage to sweat off three pounds in the given two hour time limit and set a combination of time confusion and news of his own scales beforehand what to play . it was

a miscommunication i got the way in time confused i also used my own scales before but she's not a big problem. i sincerely hope the fight will be dynamic and spectacular simply because i've heard ishida is here to win and do everything to achieve this he's not going to duck all run so i'm looking forward to an exciting fight but which way it will go will see in the ring. well ahead of the big fight artie's robert downey and managed to catch up with dimitri pirogue in order to find out exactly what makes him tick. boxing's middleweight vision the sweet sport of this board why there is a move like light weights and points like heavier 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 indulgence just one of the numerous reasons that jimmy took native has been thrilling audiences for years now. sometimes i do

things to disturb my opponent in the ring to confuse him but i don't have a plan it happens spontaneously the crowd loves such things and of 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 ahead 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 i'm not driven by it and i never get driven by a crowd or going for a knockout when i feel the opponent is still dangerous. the thirty one year old's attitude to boxing is no less special than his skills there are constantly seeking the chance to face the cream of his class that desire governed not by love fame or money but by the sport itself. there's nothing wrong with winning titles it's great and 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 although some hold on to their titles just to earn more money i never worried about earning money through boxing i just enjoy it and because of that grow as a sportsman and as a person. he can reach an ounce of this world level i really soon is

becoming twice as good as he is now and simms of dedication and intensive training is all up to him his potential including great physical characteristics there's 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. r.t. . well that is our all the sport for now i'll have more for you in a little under two hours time here were not a journey that. culture is that so much a given to each musician a person finds the market a little over a year ago the arab awakening started in quickly inspired millions in north africa and the middle east what is the current state of this.

world for the future science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. sigrid laboratory to mccurdy was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which all unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world this is why you should care watch only on the dot com.

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