the prized privacy of swiss banks may soon fall victim to the e.u. tax fraud hunt as finance ministers attempt to impose the union's data sharing rules on nonmembers states. the diplomatic marathon over syria continues amid concern it may be harmed by some countries unstinting backing for the rebels and despised it to stick suggesting that support directly leads to more dense. crumbling infrastructure unreliable services and a tangled web of bureaucracy and corruption despite the country's vast oil riches millions of iraqis still suffer every day from poor living conditions and a lack of basic necessities.

by from moscow this is r t with the worldwide headlines i'm rory sushi welcome to the program switzerland cherished banking secrecy is under threat in the ongoing battle against tax evasion e.u. finance ministers have agreed to put pressure on the one member nation to share its banking data with the union and swiss banks on the only ones who may have to sacrifice the prophecy of some of the world's wealthiest people. pilbeam explains so what do we know about switzerland that 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 set so well that when it also is getting a little bit secretive after nearly a hundred years this secrecy attracted some of the world's mega rich to the country . now to qualify for the flat rate tax deal or not for the rich i'm not sure i want

to work in the country but must have a net world of at least two million dollars this ystem has attracted more than five thousand affluent x. patches to this nation of only eight million people including. twain now well they foreigners collectively give seven hundred million dollars in federal a local taxes maybe it is that could be going into their homeland treasuries this cozy arrangement may soon be a thing of the passes the e.u. caps down as 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 leavings that so what all these tax haven countries actually expected to do that well quite simply expose the e.u. want to be able to check out bank details of any individual whenever they want without requesting permission first and considering in cyprus the banks were worth seven times as much as the country's g.d.p. and a lot about for example they're worth twenty two times more the situation could be catastrophic than if you put it in that way so in a wall where banking secrets are no longer cat these havens may have to find another way to seduce the great. hoping that the latest figures suggest the eurozone is sliding deeper into recession while the hunt for tax evaders has done little to save the economy so far it has unearthed several scandals involving top politicians and businessmen and that could well be many more to come if indeed that of the veil of financial secrecy is in this that. this report because of this

increased efforts from e.u. leaders and the pressure being piled on them there have been a couple of scandals that had arisen 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 various offshore accounts in the world no

journalists have been sifting through this information but so have governments including the british and the american governments leading to some sort of 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 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. from brussels. now investor jim rogers told my colleague bill daughter of trying to crack tax havens perhaps it is should address the real problems like their own unchecked spending habits. it's a shame that the politicians don't say gosh we made mistakes why don't we sell is

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 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 though is it 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 making promises to spend money to people that need money or that as for money no it's massive 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 some politicians might be sneaking their money away but they still want to know all about everybody else is

a bit later in the program here when i look at how the prospering and independent online currency bit coin has a worried u.s. government building a wall of bureaucracy and that's coming up shortly here on the program. for now though the recent flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the violence in syria it seems the u.n. secretary general meet the russian president on friday and during initial talks with the foreign minister sergei lavrov thank you moon expressed full support for a proposed russian u.s. backed peace conference on syria piskun off has been following the discussions for us at the black sea resort of sochi you go to good to see you any results coming out of the talks between the un chief and russia's foreign minister that you can bring us up to speed on. well u.n. secretary general and russia's foreign minister announced that they completely agree that the conflict in syria has to be resolved without any foreign military

intervention and it will be full respect of syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity at the same time mr bond be more in support of the idea of this joint conference which would involve both of the syrian opposition and to be authorities however diplomats also listed some of the key stumbling blocks at the moment first of all the opposition is still very divided and it's unclear who can represent it as a whole at this conference or secondly according to a foreign minister. it will be nice to see all the regional players there are taking port including iran and saudi arabia which make problems with washington and also according to sort of go off if the authorities theory and afterwards are ready to take part in the conference then the rebels are still making preconditions. in contrast to the syrian government which has responded quite positively to the

russian american initiative the opposition's on 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. and so you are also discussed speculation about the use of chemical weapons in syria and both demanded a proper investigation looking into these rumors go to visit is the latest in the whole ongoing diplomatic marathon over that of syria what was achieved during previous high level meetings i understand that the russian president vladimir putin has met with other world leaders on this issue there. oh definitely a visit to sochi continues this diplomatic marathon that's been happening recently russia was earlier visited by u.s. secretary of state to the prime ministers of great britain israel and other

officials with syria of course dominating the talks and perhaps we're witnessing right now a shift in the approach by many western nations to resolving the conflict in syria since basically threw out the car for that since its start to most western states clearly took the side of the rebels and now they're talking about this joint conference however some problems that still remain for instance with the united states one john kerry visited russia it seemed that they were completely on the scene page with moscow but as soon as you lapse you started again calling for president assad to resign and promised to increase the support of the rebels which was just recently backed by president obama so definitely a lot to talk about for u.n. secretary general as he is still set to meets with the russian president later on friday of course we'll be bringing you all the details as it happens live from seoul georgis you've got this kind of thank you. plans for

a peace conference on syria backed by moscow and washington are in contrast to the latest u.n. resolution sponsored by arab states 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 have a look at these disturbing to statistics it comes. and you file. 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 who are also 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 de al saud huntress 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 an act that was even condemned by the syrian opposition but fail to draw strong criticism from the un 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 activist groups 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 and more analysis and opinion on syria as always awaiting you on our website 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 are suffering though made worse by crippled infrastructure and shortages of electricity and drinking water artie's lucic are full of 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 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 will try because we know it's not clean since my wife had to lie on the books on what comes out of its happens contaminated and makes us sick how can we dream can't . 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 the wrong approach infrastructure and reliable services and the tangled web of the walker sea and corruption. the energy crisis has meant more work for all who mariya 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 and that's requires tens of billions of dollars but the dollars are flowing along with and largely because of the oil that's what accounts for most of the revenue in iraq's one hundred and one thousand billion dollar budget here at the college were fine reproduction more than doubled in the year lower than that to go even higher growth while industry has been touted as one of the few bright country that we might finally and a 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 poorest. 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 are the conditions a horrible there are no schools for the kids who have no electricity no real houses to get a drink of water 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 lucy caffein of baghdad iraq. at a mobile headlines for you to come shortly other be including the news on a breakthrough with stem cell research that could ultimately change the face of

humanity. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lang you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm trying hard welcome to the big picture. choose your language. we can with zero in. some other.

treatments that is the consensus here to. choose the opinions that invigorating to . choose the stories that entire life choose me access to. with me rule research showed not far off from breaking the set but for now the u.s. authorities have frozen the account of the world's largest bitcoin exchange ultimately helps people to move customers cash online and the digital currency has hit bureaucratic blocks ever since its rapid growth came to the attention of the government of the explanation notes was used marina portnoy the us 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 mornings on tuesday washington shut down while his ability to process point payments now the u.s. warned alleges that the i want these companies was operating as an on the license money transmitting business because to wallow wasn't registered with the with the department of treasury's financial crimes enforcement network now some economists believe the timing of this case is no poisonings 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 this new york city bars last restaurant

behind to be known as ever again accepting the point last month so far the midtown 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 the financial industry. so it's disappointment it's far removed from the way in which the business point is operating but we're in from new york very important parts. so let's take a look at a bit coin's background to see why the u.s. government is so worried about this independent currency the idea was first floated in two thousand and eight of the concept basically being the idea that users can avoid banks when transferring cash by connecting directly with each other customers worldwide can spend a bit coins to buy things without having to pay the normal or higher fees no wonder it's becoming so popular the currency value reached

a record high in april you see the spike right there but check out the decline that is partially being blamed on the fact of the u.s. government and red tape christopher hartwell who's a market analyst he thinks the us at the end of the day will crush any currency which tries to threaten to put it. well bitcoin itself is probably. slow. spiral i would say once the government starts getting involved in the hearing. that are necessary for becoming continue to actually operate. i don't see how it can really go on forever or now this is. just because this. whole thing is being basically hounded out of existence doesn't mean that there are going to be imitated or other types of alternative currency that are going to exist but i think. once there

specially when the united states government really gets its mind so you go out or something especially something alternative. really has a little hole surviving even though you had some very good job of being very decentralized. these kind of crucial access points and the government is holding out. straight to bolivia now to open up the r.t. world update it's where miners teachers and health service workers have again clashed with police during a general strike and now union members from the police force itself are threatened to join the protesters as part of their action strikers and detonated dynamite in the capital of paths and worked to block the roads and the biggest union in the country wants pensions valued at one hundred ten but workers salary. turns out that a broken or gold bug may have caused the explosion of a plant in texas which left fifteen people dead last month investigators are

looking at whether faulty batteries on the buggy may have sparked the fire which caused the blast or the double explosion happen the moment flames touch tanks filled with chemicals and destroyed nearby homes and schools. the prisoners at guantanamo bay now say the vast majority of them are on hunger strike if you're protesting for over one hundred days in their bid to get either a fair trial or secure release here at r.t. we spoke to beg a former detainee he explained exactly what drives inmates to such drastic measures . you have to remember that these people have 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 of 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 and everything else because peripheral after i did 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 are sexually abused and when your 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. and now thirty of the hunger striking detainees at guantanamo being subjected to force feeding the prison spokesman has repeatedly argued the controversial procedure is legal and necessary despite human rights activists calling it inhumane dr stevens and a retired brigadier general and a medical officer he says ultimately even force feeding one prevent the deaths of

so it's 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 they have you know they're not they're not all that healthy and when you've got over a hundred 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 may 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 to fire violate what they feel are their professional

principles and ethics or in fact to obey an order that they consider illegal and here it ought to be we continue to keep a close watch on the hunger strike on air and online the full account of the situation available on our website so you don't call me clued in comments from prison officials detainees attorneys and activists of course all the latest updates for you available on air and online. why next oh no the agenda here were naughty well it's going to be obvious often i'm breaking the set that's just around the corner from moscow this is a life. a fairly dickinson university study has been revealed to twenty nine percent of americans think that a revolution will just happen in america but it 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 at 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 is some fun video game battle where freedom fighters topple the 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 would have say funded barrack and 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 it still is a resort but that's just my opinion. to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i got so. i mean it's a challenge i know that i'm still the same really messed up. in the old story so personally apologize if. the worst you were going through the white house or the. radio guy for a minute from a clue. what clothes were about to give you never seen anything like this i'm thrilled.

to meet him on octo everyone i'm abby martin and this is breaking the set as an unfortunate update to last month's factory collapse in bangladesh the death toll is now well over eleven hundred people in the aftermath of the tragedy in labor organizations and garment workers all over the world have been pressuring the retailers whose clothes are made in these factories to sign on to an international safety pact is an agreement that would require all four retailers in the country to pay for safety inspections and upgrades to factories that would prevent the same type of the future catastrophes now while a dozen european companies have joined in to pledge safer working conditions shockingly nearly every american clothing chain with the same investment these factories have declined is corporations including wal-mart target gap.