this is why you should care only. the price privacy of swiss banks may soon fall victim to the e.u. tax fraud as finance ministers attempt to impose the union's data sharing rules on non member states. the diplomatic marathon over syria continues all amid concern it may be hampered by some countries unstinting backing for the rebels despite statistics suggesting that support directly leads to more deaths. from going infrastructure and reliable services in the tangled web of the longer sea and corruption despite their country's vast oil riches millions of iraqis still suffer every day from poor living conditions and a lack of basic necessities. a

very warm welcome to you from all of us here at the mosque of. the world headlines live from the russian capital switzerland's a cherished banking secrecy is now under threat and the ongoing battle against tax evasion e.u. finance ministers have agreed to put pressure on the nonmember state to share its banking data with the union and swiss banks on the only ones who may have to sacrifice the previous c.e.o. of some of the world's wealthiest people. offer some insight. so what do you know about switzerland then while the mountainous country sells tasty chocolate is home to some of the finest watches and it's a great place to ski but when it comes its banking sector well that's when it also is getting a little bit secretive avenue the one hundred years this secrecy attracted some of

the world's mega rich to the country now to qualify for the flat rate tax deal on offer the rich are not actually allowed to work in the country but must have a net wealth of at least two million dollars now this ystem has attracted more than five thousand affluent x. patches to this nation of only eight million people including. twain now well they are foreigners collectively gave seven hundred million dollars in federal and local taxes made it is that could be going into their home treasuries this cozy arrangement may soon be a thing of the passes the e.u. can't stand no such juicy tax incentives the e.u. is also piling pressure on members luxembourg and austria as well as san marino and dora and monaco which are actually not members of the union now luxembourg recently changed its chain just last month that actually agreeing to lift bank secrecy rules

for european union citizens who have savings that. so what all these tax haven countries actually expected to do that well quite simply exposed the e.u. won't be able to check out by details of any individual whenever they want without requesting permission fust and considering in sign because the banks were worth seven times as much as the country's g.d.p. other luxemburg for example that was twenty two times more the situation could be catastrophic that if you put it in that way so in a walled banking secrets on no longer cat these havens may have to find another why to seduce the great. he's got a program talking right now the latest figures suggest the eurozone is sliding deep into recession but while the hunt for tax evaders has done little to save the economy so far it has on earth several scandals involving top politicians and business money and it could be many more to come indeed the veil of financial

secrecy is lifted this report swansea's tester australia. because of this increase efforts from e.u. leaders and the pressure being piled on them there have been a couple of scandals that are derisive over here one of them in france which involves general he's a former budget minister who had had to step down from his position because he had lied about having an offshore account and is also under investigation for possible tax fraud now over in germany another prominent figure who was the boss of one of the world's biggest football clubs by in munich also admitted to being involved in tax fraud and is under investigation so as efforts to increase among leaders we can possibly expect some more big names to come out as such now also recently we know that there has been a massive leak of data to the international consortium for investigative journalists now this data includes the name of some of the world's wealthiest people the politicians all the guards very public figures which reveal

a lot of their wealth parked in the various offshore accounts in the world no journalist have been sifting through this information but so have governments including the british and the american governments leading to some sort of a a global effort which is precisely what the e.u. wants to lead to they really want to make this a global exchange of relevant banking data as they say so as we have seen them really impose strongly on cyprus so we can expect some political pressure to be piled on the likes of switzerland and liechtenstein as they start these talks and as leaders try to find ways to bring back some of that money to deal with the crisis that they're in. in the meantime investor jim rogers spoke to my friend bill gawd he said that instead perhaps of trying to crack tax havens should address the real problems by their own spending cuts. it's a shame that the politicians don't say gosh we made mistakes why don't we solve the

problems ourselves what they're doing is they're trying to grab more money from their own citizens some of them may not be innocent citizens i certainly agree and they should be paying their taxes but there is a heightened awareness now because all of these countries have huge deficits but instead of cutting their spending and cutting the deficit is what they're now doing is spending all this money trying to order other people around to help them collect more money but i'll ask you about tax evasion those that really the cause of europe's financial problems no it's not the problem with with europe europe's got a gigantic spending problem and you think all these countries are going down the tubes because of tax evasion no is going down the tubes because politicians keep spending money they don't have keep making promises to spend money to people that need money or that it has for money deficit spending that's where they should be addressing things that's the brill problem in europe and that's what they should be trying to do something about. well some politicians might be sneaking their money

away but they still want to know about everybody else's stability here or not so you will look at how the prospering and independent online currency bit coin as a worried us government building a war of bureaucracy that is coming up shortly here we're not see. for now though are the recent flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the violence in syria it sees the un chief meet the russian president on friday a lot of effort and has already held talks with the u.s. secretary of state and the british and israeli leaders. to pursue an office been following all the discussions and he reports now from the russian black sea resort of sochi u.n. secretary general is already in sochi and like you said he is ready to meet with both russia's foreign minister and the president continuing this diplomatic marathon with been witnessing since earlier russia was visited by u.s. secretary of state and british and israeli prime ministers another officials with

syria dominating the talks and perhaps we're now witnessing a shift in the approach by many nations to the situation since they're now talking about putting together this joint conference which would include both of the syrian rebels and the authorities however several stumbling blocks still remain and avoiding to russia's foreign ministers to go over all of the syrian opposition is still very divided and it's unclear right now who can represent it as a whole at this conference and also secondly the rebels are still voicing preconditions because it's. in contrast to the syrian government which has responded quite positively to the russian american initiative the opposition zones that was quite vague they said that they welcome any initiatives that will help stop the violence but before that assad must go reiterating their stance which has been the cause of the deadlock for many months. well there is also another problem would be united states when the u.s. secretary of state john kerry was in russia it seemed that they were to go but as

soon as he left he again called for president assad to step down and promised to increase the support of the rebels something which was recently backed by president obama so there are definitely things to talk about for the u.n. secretary general here in sort of course we'll be keeping you updated throughout the day. when you go to personify well plans for a peace conference on syria backed by moscow and washington are in stark contrast to the latest u.n. resolution sponsored by arab states and the document clearly favors the opposition despite recent evidence of atrocities committed by rebel groups it also ignores statistics suggesting that when anti regime supporters get international help the death toll spikes happen look at these stats right now with. and you follow. this week russia criticised the un general assembly resolution on syria saying it was a one sided text which condemned president assad's regime without leveling blame on opposition forces being accused of atrocities verifying evidence is difficult but

there's been a surge in videos posted online that appear to show brutality by both sides this is among the latest members of the syrian opposition executing eleven government troops it took place in the city of they all saw in the north east of the country and a few days earlier these shocking images were released a syrian rebel fighter seemingly cuts out the heart and lung of a dead uniformed soldier and that that was even condemned by the syrian opposition but fail to draw strong criticism from the u.n. general assembly some analysts say it demonstrates the u.n. selective stance on the conflict the u.n. resolution also expressed outrage at the rapidly increasing death toll it is estimated eighty thousand people have been killed so far in syria but let's look at the statistics in more detail provided by activists creech they argue the death toll peaked when gulf states and the u.s. sent more weapons to the region then fell when arms were limited before increasing

once again when more weapons were supplied it may be a simple correlation but nonetheless suggests arming the syrian opposition may be causing more bloodshed as a disturbing numbers there with arteries and reform more analysis and opinion on syria as always standing by for you on our web site r.t. dot com. for now iraq is in the grip of violence the latest suicide bombing claimed at least twenty five lives in the northern city of kirkuk the suffering though made worse by crippled infrastructure and shortages of electricity and drinking water. looks at why one of the world's most oil rich nations still lacks basic services ten years after saddam hussein. it is the land between twin rivers ancient day in mesopotamia modern day iraq and in baghdad there's no shortage of ways in which water is used to wash cars to clean shop

fronts to store freshly caught fish before their gutted for sale everything it seems except drinking it personally nobody drinks the city would say because i know it's not clean since my wife had to lie on the books all along what comes out of it happens contaminated and makes us sick how can we drink. water is just one of the many services that still lagging and post-war iraq despite years of promises and billions of dollars spent on reconstruction many neighborhoods lack sewage systems there's no trash collection in some settlements there are barely any streets iraq's central power is sometimes on for as little as two hours a day this mess of wires is a common scene all across iraq it connects homes to private generators people have to buy electricity to cope with the hours of daily blackouts ten years after the war it's a symbol for much of what's wrong with iraq a crumbling infrastructure a libel services and a tangled web of iraq or c. and corruption. the energy crisis has meant more

work for album area and electrician who says he now earns about four times as much as he did before the war the grid is in shambles and breakdowns are frequent but he says the government is simply not serious about fixing it. it's the citizens who suffer in the end not the government the services are so bad the power system has really deteriorated there were billions spent on fixing the grid but there's little to show for it. the government has promised improvements in public services but officials say it's a monumental task the infrastructure has been put to the neglected end of the previous regimes and the damage is enormous there is a need to rebuild everything that's required is tens of billions of dollars but the dollars are flowing along with and largely because of oil that's what accounts for most of the revenue in iraq's one hundred nineteen billion dollar budget here at the college we're fine reproduction more than doubled in the here and lower than

that to go even higher growth while industry has been touted as one of the few bright spot country that has been playing by the violent end of rampant corruption transparency international ranks iraq as the eighth most corrupt country in the world which in part helps to explain why services are still lagging most of the reconstruction money was squandered through fraud and abuse just one example the government awarded one point seven billion dollars worth of fake electricity contracts it's a paradox that frustrates many iraqis theirs is one of the wealthiest pieces of land on earth but its people are some of the forest. nowhere is that contrast more stark then here the landfill on the edge of baghdad many of the families living here have been displaced by the war but now they're waging a daily battle just to survive services are simply nonexistent conditions a horrible there are no schools for the kids who have no electricity no real houses

to get a drink of also we have to travel for columbus's it's very difficult to live here for now they must remain among the refuse uncertain like the rest of iraq as to what will come on the winds of change. r.t.e. baghdad iraq. and many more stories to come shortly here in including news on a breakthrough with stem cell research that could ultimately change the face of human rights. and. people from all over the world are eager to help. what does it take to become a volunteer. i'm one of the cats do. behind the scenes of the.

technology innovation all the developments around russia we. covered. if you. are going to take three. three. three. three stooges three. three blown live video for your media project a free media r t v dot com. thanks for joining us here on our teachers a few minutes on the world update for now u.s. authorities have frozen the account of the world's largest bitcoin exchange which

helps to move customers cash online but the booming digital currency has had bureaucratic blocks ever since it's a rapid growth came to the attention of the u.s. government. the u.s. government has made no secret of the fact that it is keeping a close eye on that point but now it appears that the close eye includes a crackdown on the decentralized digital currency the department of homeland security sees the company known as to wall which allows customers to transfer their u.s. dollars into the warnings on tuesday washington shut down while his ability to process point payments now the u.s. warrant alleges that my all based company was operating as an on the license money transmitting business because to wallow wasn't registered with the with the department of treasury is financial crimes enforcement network now some economists believe the timing of this case is no coincidence see the popularity and press

surrounding that point is skyrocketing and the use of electronic currency is growing more appealing to investors and customers around the world this of course threatens the long held grip that governments and banks have had on currency regulation and interest rate manipulation that this. new york city bars last restaurant behind me known as ever again at seventy point last month so far in the town business has reportedly processed more than twenty thousand dollars worth of transactions in the morning now while wall street remains less than eight kilometers away from here in the financial industry so it's disappointment it's far removed from the way in which the business point is operating according to new york very important r.t. . ok let's take a moment here to have a look now at bitcoins background as to why the u.s. government is so worried about this independent currency ultimately the currency

the whole idea was floated in two thousand and eight now the whole concept was for users to avoid buying when transferring cash by connecting directly with each other a customers worldwide can spend bitcoins to buy things while many things but they can do it without having to pay the normal high fees it's no surprise it's become so popular of the currencies values you can see right here reached a record high in april but notice its subsequent decline thereafter that's basically been put down to pressure of red tape by the u.s. government of christopher hartwell who's a financial analyst he thinks that the u.s. will crush any alternative currency which threatens stability you have on this. well it's probably. slow in excel or aiding our spiral i would say once the government started getting involved in the hitting and these crucial node that are necessary for bitcoin to continue to actually operate.

i don't see how it can really continue on a credit for now this doesn't mean that just because it's the physics engine the coal colline is being basically hounded out of existence doesn't mean that there aren't going to be imitators or other types of alternative currency that are going to exist but i think once they're specially when the united states government really gets its mind to go after something especially something kind of alternative like that it really has little hope of surviving even though it had done a very good job of being very decentralized still has the crucial act the one thing the government is holding on them. many more stories for you and videos as well online that are called me including one very crucial one that of a medical breakthrough new technology allows scientists to harvest completely set of new horizons or treating red diseases of course though it's not without its

controversy let's tell you all about it dot com. i want you to check out a background checks on internet dates to tattoo tips u.k. consulates around the world reveal the weirdest inquiries from citizens of you know what else is on the request list if you like on our website. more news today. these are the images. from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule today. all right let's get into it here on the tee time for the world update now starting with. one of the boston marathon bombing suspects he reportedly left

a note claiming responsibility for the attack he wrote it while on the run from police saying the blasts were of range for the us wars in iraq and afghanistan three people were killed more than two hundred fifty injured in two explosions near the finish line of the boston race. and to bolivia where miners teachers on health service workers have again clashed with police during a general strike and now union members from the police force itself threaten to join the protesters as part of their action strikers have detonated dynamite in the capital. roads and the biggest union of the country wants pensions value to one hundred percent of a worker's salary. a broken gopher buggy may have caused the explosion of the rocket in texas which left fifteen people dead last month investigators are looking into whether faulty batteries on the buggy may have sparked the fire which caused the blast and the double explosion happened the moment flames touch tanks filled with chemicals it destroyed a well many nearby homes and

a couple of schools as well. a traffic accident ended on a spectacular cliffhanger in the australian city of melbourne right there it is a truck turned over and was left dangling over the side of a motorway bridge throwing the driver on to another motorway twenty minutes meters below he did survive but he suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized in a critical condition at the accident caused major traffic delays due to the rush hour cranes had to be called in as well to safely take the truck bridge. prisoners at guantanamo bay say the vast majority of them are on hunger strike and have been protesting for over one hundred days in their bid to get either a fair trial or secure release we spoke to a more somber bag a former detainee explain exactly what drives inmates to such drastic measures. ok i've gone through these people gone through a whole series of different types of prisons from being in a in

a prison massacre and killer junkie for being in kandahar by ground where people tortured to death to guantanamo as camp x. ray where they were in chicken wire friend tenses to camp delta to now comes five six and seven so it has changed it's been a progression the and the steady and rapid. eating away the erosion of the personal psyche has taken its toll so if at the end of this process now they put them into a decent prison with some decent living standards it doesn't take away from the fact of the past eleven years the tortured you use and everything else because peripheral of that and it's a strange situation where torture is peripheral where force feeding is peripheral where the fact that you've not had meaningful communication with your family is peripheral the fact that you're sexually. and when you're searched every time your lawyer comes and nothing can be more exaggerated than hearing that your child who you've never seen in your life is now going to be eleven years old that's not exaggerated that's the truth that nobody wants to face up to. thirty of the hunger

striking detainees at guantanamo are being subjected to force feeding or the prison spokesman has repeatedly argued the controversial procedure is legal unnecessary despite human rights activists calling it inhumane dr steven is an archivist they were tied brigadier general and army medical officer he says ultimately even force feeding won't prevent the deaths of some inmates i think we're going to sadly tragically we're going to see some deaths the main these men have you know been in detention now eleven years or so a number of got medical conditions they've aged dave have you know they're not they're not all that healthy and when you've got over a hundred and at least of the hundred sixty six. got some medical problems i think it's going to be sad but i think we're going to see that some of them are going to die is a medical officer in the united states military is one obligated to follow orders in terms of things that they may find that they might find morally questionable no

i mean they're not and i think it's a tough choice and it may mean that the military physician risks his career or risks you know any advancement but they're not they are clearly in fact expected not to in any way defy or violate what they feel are their professional principles and ethics or in fact to abandon order that they consider illegal and here we are continue to have a very close watch on the hunger strike on air and online a full account of the situation available on a website called i think lewd comments from prison officials detainees attorneys and activists of course the latest updates for you on air and online. up next here on out see the hermitage palace in some pages but before when some polish of the russians comes into focus with some furry feline stuff a special report in just a moment.

a fairly dickinson university study has revealed a twenty nine percent of americans think that a revolution will just happen in america but needs to be done in order to protect individual liberty if respondents consider themselves conservative than that number is bumped up to forty four percent that's nearly half also fox news found out that since nine eleven the percent of americans willing to sacrifice their personal freedom to reduce the threat of terrorism is an all low this number might sound trivial but it only takes a tiny percent of the population actually start a revolution i mean how many communists were in russia at the start of nine hundred seventeen and how many were there at the end revolution may sound like a nice thing to a growing number of people but the media wrongly portrays revolution as some fun video game battle where freedom fighters toppled

a statue of the dictator and then democracy just instantly comes about and life is good and happy i ask you to ignore movies like v. for vendetta and look at history revolutions cause horrible destruction that could take decades to repair i guess what when your economy collapses because a revolt infrastructure breaks down and the shelves go bare also professional revolutionaries get their supplies from somebody and a foreign powers were to say fundamental can revolutionaries they would want something in return aloha and goodbye alaska if you look at history then you'll see that revolution is brutal and ugly and it's truly the last resort but still is a resort but that's just my opinion. this is the best time to come here before opening hours to hear all this silence

you can feel that the holes and everything in them if they are waiting for this day . i was about three years old or maybe less when i first came to the hermitage i remember the impression but everything here is alive but i'm in a sort of fairy tale and when i touch the feet of the atlantis i felt that they were alive and all the statues of ancient gods base seemed alive to me too maybe they were just frozen in the moment but they were still living and probably still working some of their miracles.