it's technology innovations all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. and broadcast live direct from our studios in central moscow this is our team recapping the week's top stories let's get to your headlines now the syrian regime and rebels engage in a fierce fight for control of the second city of aleppo while peace efforts are left rudderless by kofi anan resignation as on. facing seven years for storming russia's main cathedral the trial of a punk band pussy riot divides the country. and dozens are injured in fresh crackdowns on anti-government protests in bahrain this as the

world stay silent. the u.s. is considered by many to be a place of high living standards but critics claim the notion of general wealth and well being is an illusion a leading un health economist and renowned american statistician now explain the social and financial ills of his country. in the promised land of stars and stripes us presidents have always reminded citizens how lucky they are and where people of every background can work hard and realize their drinks the old fashioned american dream. yes we did just this i don't think america is an exceptional nation of freedom and opportunity and the story of america reads much differently when facts are taken into account the measure of a nation is

a new book comparing america against thirteen other wealthy nations to see where in fact the u.s. stance author dr howard stephen friedman sat down with r.t. i mean it was initiated by a conversation with my cousin when they were discussing the patient care and affordable care act patient patient protection and affordable care act and he had been defending the current system in america saying that it's the best in the world and i asked her how do you know that and his response was well i have no idea interestingly just a couple days afterwards i was doing some of my work at the united nations and i was looking at the human development report and it dawned on me that the data to compare the united states to other wealthy countries is readily available you can look at it you can see how we're doing and from there you can identify if we're doing better or worse and in the areas we're not doing as well one of the lessons we can learn from other countries so when you do the comparison what you find is overall the united states doesn't do that well on health safety democracy and

equality we get some of the lowest rankings for education roughly in the middle but one of the disappointing factors is we used to be one of the best in most of those categories in the case of social mobility you found that america is not the land of opportunity it promises to be as a matter of fact you say countries such as canada and germany. rank better than america what exactly did you find out this is what i found to be one of the most surprising results in the book i grew up believing in the american dream work as hard as you can and you can go anywhere and it's true some people really do move up from work classes to the wealthiest but the chances of moving are much lower than in other wealthy countries someone who was born in the poorest part of the united states not just geographically but the segment of the population chances of them moving just even out of that group are almost fifty percent that is almost fifty

percent of those people are going to stay there and the rags to riches story going from the poorest to the richest group is lower in the united states than the other wealthy countries for which there is data that shocked me so what happens to the so called american exceptionalism the country prides itself on where you know american exceptionalism is really a tough concept because at some level there's almost there's almost a faith it's a denial of facts and just looking at this ideals from a religious point of view and i find american exceptionalism as an argument to look at what i call competitive intelligence for america as a problem because people they would say well the united states is exceptional you can't compare us and i view that as just a self-defense mechanism or just a way of someone trying to maintain blissful ignorance on the other hand a frightening reality according to your facts is how america's level of inequality compares to europe and other wealthy nations so when you talk about income

inequality there's really two measures there's what's called the pre adjustment and the post adjustment period just meant is just that roi income you earned post adjustment is after you paid taxes and after the government has provided supports welfare social security as it turns out the us has the highest level of income inequality both pre and post adjustment y. that. it's true is an interesting question this level of inequality has gone much larger over time as we've seen changes in the pay structure the weakening of the unions degradation of the minimum wage in the united states as compared to other countries so a lot of factors are affecting that pre tax income inequality but for the post tax income inequality it's all about many of the changes that happened in our tax laws there was a time where we really had a very progressive tax system now with capital gains taxes being taxed much lower than regular income with hedge fund managers earning millions and sometimes

billions and paying fifteen percent look for example at mitt romney a man has earned many many millions last year you paid a tax rate that was probably half of what you kate in case our viewers are interested you found japan spain korea and italy to be among those nations to have the best levels of wealth inequality switching gears how does america's democracy compare to other wealthy nations that's another one that's problematic there was a time where i think it was fair to say the u.s. was a leader we came up with that constitution the declaration of independence the whole idea of a modern representative government but now we've slowed down if you look at our turnout for voters it's one of the lowest of any wealthy country at the same time our two party system with a winner take all single seat election is unusual most countries don't do that and the reason why is that type of election ends up alienating

a lot of voters most countries use proportional representation where the representatives in congress actually reflect the voting they also use other systems such as preferential voting where you rank order your votes so that if i have a candidate i like but maybe they're not from the largest party i could still vote for that candidate and not have to worry about my vote being discarded the. any other wealthy nation allow private money to find and fuel presidential elections the way the united states does i didn't specifically look at that but i can't underestimate the impact of money on the american political system and in fact there's some interesting analysis done by political scientists that showed that people from the top third of the economic class have a very strong voice and government people in the middle third have a weak voice in government and it showed that people in the bottom third of the economic group the united states have no measurable influence and that's hype of

information is powerful and if you look at the politics of many other countries around the world it's shocking to think that there would ever be true the voice of people who are in the poorest third of their nation still have a powerful voice and i think that's a real challenge in american democracy is to make sure that we really are in a world of one person one vote instead of dollar equals vote are you hopeful that the candidates currently running for president could make any reforms or changes that would elevate america to better global position right now i'm not terribly optimistic in the reason why is there hindered by a few things and the factors that i think are preventing the united states to from really moving forward or one most americans just aren't aware of how we're doing they're just not aware of our situation they think we're doing much better than we are the second is complacency. we're relatively comfortable in our world situation so people aren't dying in the streets so there's not a as much of

a passion to see change the third one which is very important our democratic process really resists change if you look at our structure of government it's basically designed to not move much and it unfortunately suppress the voice of a lot of the americans who really could benefit from change so we have those factors that are all playing in the last factor is there are groups in america who've benefited greatly from some of the issues that we have that are preventing us from being great in health or from excelling in education or safety or democracy or equality in those groups that have benefited well they're going to do their best to protect their profits that's the free market. it's not just corporations though for instance the two party system in america right that's not a system that enables lots of americans to have their voice heard but at the same time those two parties will defend a two party system so corporations are certainly one aspect but even the groups

that are benefiting from our political system will defend the current political system and i give you a great example. for the presidential debates there's a committee that was brought in that said you have to have at least fifteen percent polling before certain dates to participate the only reason why that rule was put in place at that high level was to prevent third parties from being on that stage with the candidates of romney and obama the american government has always position to itself as a global leader of human rights and justice however you say that the u.s. is the least peaceful wealthy nation what exactly do you mean by that what we looked at was crime rates we looked at incarceration rates those are internal measures of safety at the same time i also took a look at external that is our military spending our tendency to have external wars so internally looking at measures of violence and crime and extremely the type of

safety the war interactions and as you look at it what you see is our incarceration rate is multiples higher than any other wealthy country at the same time our murder rate is much higher one of the things that most americans don't realize is our gun policy is completely different from any other wealthy country at least the ones i included but when we talk about external military interaction we need to reflect on the fact that the united states plays a very different role than other countries the other countries that i compare in my book many from western europe canada for their pain and south korea they receive somewhat of the protection of the united states so that's the one example in the book where the actions the united states takes really do impact the actions of other countries by the united states spending far more on military and being at least viewing itself as more of armed to protect many of these countries it ends up

letting those other countries spend less and that's exactly what you see in the dynamics. in what areas does the us find itself in a leading position among other wealthy nations there are a few areas where we excel we have some of the best colleges in the world so that tertiary education our graduate schools are outstanding some of the strongest in the world our hospitals our technology overall is world class and overall those types of advantages are would draws the best talent in the world here students come here endure to learn and hopefully we can keep the opportunities for them not only to arrive here but for them to stay our technology that allows us to innovate and create some great companies that still exist and are entrepreneurship the government rules that allow us to create new companies and to patent things really as outstanding u.s. universities and hospitals may be excellent but if the student debt bubble is above

one trillion dollars and roughly fifty million citizens are living without health care how are americans benefiting from their nation's excellence they're all emblematic of one of the things that's true about the united states which is we have the extremes of excellence and a public system that seems to drift behind if you take education our undergraduate school or some of the best in the world and they're expensive that's a challenge so it's only accessible to a certain percentage of the population but for those who can access it they're excellent our graduate schools same thing our medical system for those who can afford it we really do have a great health system our public health system is way behind that's all the time we have dr friedman thank you very much for sitting down to speak with our team my pleasure thank you very much.

today's news and the week's top stories in the syrian regime and rebels engage in a fierce fight for control of the second city of aleppo while peace efforts are left rudderless by kofi annan resignation as envoy. facing seven years for storming of russia's a main cathedral the trial of an anti putin punk band pussy riot divides in the country. and dozens of protesters injured in bahrain as the regime escalates crackdowns while the world stays silent. up next it's all the latest with sports with paul.

hello welcome along to the sports headlines is what we call for you limping revenge andy murray wins gold for great britain has he beat roger federer in straight sets to avenge last month's defeats in the wimbledon final. comeback kings career so much often leave it late to secure all three points against cuba in class no draw with a come from behind three one win in the russian premier league. and the russian roulette . while the irish audiences with a thrilling routine at a later stage of the cliff diving world series. but first british tennis player andy murray has won a limpid gold he roger federer in straight sets six two six one six four to win the men's singles title at wimbledon it was a rematch of the wimbledon final just four weeks ago that day

a federal one in four sets to lift his seventeenth the grand slam trophy however on sunday it was a different story as marie inspired by the home crowd dominated from start to finish six two six one six four the dominant school line against the world number one who despite his extensive list of titles has yet to win an olympic singles gold . meanwhile in the bronze medal match allergan time when martin del potro beat know about djokovic in straight sets seven five six four del potro showing no ill effects of his record breaking marathon semifinal defeat to federer. meanwhile serina williams won her second gold in as many days the day after becoming singles champion williams along with her sister venus won the women's doubles the american so often check you out of. andrea clover and lucy carter in straight sets six four six four. lb the russian pad not be apart for over maria kirilenko however playing

the brahms of american jew of least amandine leaves all future in three sets the americans took the first set six four but the russians browns plan to secure a place on the podium winning four six six pool six one. meanwhile elsewhere even a world record performance from tatyana catch i mean i wasn't enough for her to climb gold in the women seventy five killer weightlifting category the russians beat the world record twice in the snatch discipline lifting an unprecedented one hundred fifty one kilograms however she came up short in the clean and allowing china's loser out to claim gold. meanwhile there was a surprise bronze medal for russia in the women's marathon tatyana throws up. around the right of her life to come in third in a time of two hours twenty three minutes and twenty nine seconds as a personal best the gold went to to keep the line of ethiopia who also set a new one in pick record all silver went to kenya is critical to. the

mall it was a good day for russia and the gymnastics tennis players in has won bronze in the men's floor event retaining the score got enough from the judges to finish on the podium it was china's kajal he won gold with japan's kohei uchimura claiming silver . not to be outdone maria also finished on the podium in kind of bronze medal in the women's vote event. last sunday was also a good day for all russians women in team sports league volleyball team produce the best result of the day the reigning world champions came on strong late talking to men from two sets to one down to celebrate a five set victory over italy russia now heading to the quarterfinals are beaten in the group stages. meanwhile russia's female. ask able to have secured third place in group b. on a place in the quarter finals this despite a sixty five before the big difference in their last group stage fixture russia

starting well claim in the first quarter fifteen ten but the french then took control to see all the way. while russia's female humble team picked up a slightly better result by twenty five all with montenegro it was also the final group picture for russia who will progress to the knockout stages by the second off from group a. however there was disappointing news for russia in team sports on sunday the female water polo team failed to get past hungry in the quarter final they were trailing throughout most of the match but moved to within just one goal with a minutes ago however their final target failed to produce an equaliser eleven ten to hungary which sends them into the semifinals. now the so-called face of the twenty twelve games jessica ennis has been speaking after being crowned head tough along champion the british athlete claimed gold on saturday to the delight of the home crowd but admits there have been times in the build up where the pressure has

begun to tell. you know wondering if it was all going to go the way i wanted it to or whether it would fall apart. again just such a unique position i was in to make the most of. it just make sure that. i did well elsewhere the most decorated olympian of all time has been speaking on his first day of retirement american swimmer michael phelps bowed out of the sport winning gold for the usa in the four by one hundred meter medley relay on saturday it was a fitting end for the twenty seven year old who has won more limpid medals than any other person in history it was remarkably his eighteenth gold medal his twenty second overall and phelps now says he's looking forward to coming. to measure.

i think the biggest thing is i really want to travel and see a bunch of the world and you know do some things that i've always wanted to do you know whether it's cage diving or you know learning the proper way not just go out there and taking a couple have. a lot of things that i want to do and. now one positive fourteen russia so far has been success on the judo mat three gold one silver and one bronze medal put them on top of the sports medal table in the returning stars arrive back in the russian capital hoping their success can act as a springboard for other russian athletes. very specific it's a historical achievement for russian judo there's no doubt about it very proud to be the first afterwards to win this medals at the olympics and hopefully it may help our country mates do better in other sports. for me personally the success of our duty means

a lot especially in terms of bringing this sport to the masses i really really hope that after these olympic games many kids in russia will start practicing judo. now moving away from the olympics into the russian premier league tough came from behind to be two one on sunday it was actually the away side who struck. the deadlock after just twenty two minutes the delightful volley said the visitors on their way however they weren't ahead for long it was an equally as spectacular strike which pulled the home side level of thirty minutes. firing home for one one before. scored the winner four minutes from time. well later in the day i'm going temporarily move second with a win seven points from three matches that's after beating i'm car one nil in dagestan for the team from haskell i stayed there for a couple of hours as part of the leapfrog victory over iraq and we were made

without a point from three matches. now to cycling where spaniard alberto contador returns to the sport on monday following a six month drugs ban the twenty nine year old returns for the opening stage of the an eco top through the netherlands and belgium his claims that the test result was caused by contaminated meat was thrown out by the court of arbitration for sport. it's been a difficult six months that i'll remember forever i never thought about stopping i wanted to keep training i've been to lots of different places to train some days it was hard to find the motivation but others i was easily motivated and because of the amount of training i think i'm at the same level as i've been before my biggest motivation was to support i got from my family friends and fans they kept me thinking of this moment. and finally jumping off a perilous rock faces for a living is something that might not appeal to many but for athletes competing in

the cliff diving world series it is all part of the day job this is more a small island off the west coast of ireland the stunning area played host to stage five of the red bull world series on saturday. in competition champion orlando bouquet showed just why he has dominated the sport for so long but even that was not enough to earn the colombian top spot instead he had to play second fiddle to. the russian claiming back to back wins for the all in the competition for the first time with an electrifying new dive a black arm stand with a blind entry on him tens of crossed the border means he sits third in the standings all too close to us now to near zero as for the penultimate stay. well that is all from the world of sport for now but there's plenty more later here on r.t. the world weather is next. if

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