those who have imperial history or history of those great successes in the history they don't fully understand the world is changing very fast. and we have to be able to change the model of. operation or our concept in a way that it is in line with the with the context and if you look at the course you can develop and for example now the context we are living in with the next five to ten years it's traumatically going to be changed and if you're not wake up you don't understand what's going on and you are doing the wrong conclusions. you kind of so by you know there are other politicians who actually believe that ecology progress doesn't change the core human nature and that's why that should be for a different place i'm sorry to bring the chorus again from sigmund gavriel but it was hilarious he actually said that european voice isn't hurt and mongst russia and

china and united states and that's because europe european union is a vegetarian amongst meat eaters and it was very there that quote do you think do you think do you think e.u. should become more predatory how would that look like i think europe has values which foundation for for the future of europe us especially. i don't want to say that technological development means that you have to you have to. make. a human aspects or cultural aspects but the fact is that technologies are moving forward much faster than cultures cultural changes are very difficult to be done and these legacies are big problem for for political decision makers and europe has its own legacies and it has to be able to solve these legacies and these legacies are linked to the fact that the european story has been creates story but. those

factors which are behind story of europe. twenty thirty forty years ago. we're going to take a break right now when we're back we'll continue. talking about. facing stay with us. with the islamic state in its many confederates defeated or facing defeat in syria what is next for this war torn country what justification exists for the u.s. to maintain military forces there does washington want syria partition. why.

the new global economic war is unfolding in the realm of education the right to education is being supplanted by the right to access to education low it's high education is becoming just another product that can be born and sold so there's not just about education anymore it's also about running a business where you could you know most of the regime look good it's also true in the fairly couldn't you. want is the place of students in this business model before college i was born now and i'm extremely more higher education for the new global economic war. here's what people have been saying about rejecting the night with the sixtieth full on awesome well the only show i go out of my way to launch you know what it is that really packs a punch how to please yap is the john oliver of our three americas do the same we are apparently better than two thousand and six and see paper you never heard of

love redacted tonight not the president of the world bank though patzers until right many seriously send us an email. if. something did these very important for us. not to be only a common market. as we say to be a community of that don't adopt this view was of proselyting as if you twitter is saw here to power that for moscow prides to dominate it why did it their way to be unsettling to communities it is so.

we're back with dan let's former prime minister asco our home mr our home so let's talk about favorite media subject don't trump the president of united states i mean he's got to make it harder for the e.u. to pursue foreign policy isn't he. i think. it's difficult to. into print what the u.s. is now trying to do and i think that it's quite clear the influence of the united states on the world stage is in decline that is my conclusion is partially if this kind of trend is going to be continued but do you feel like that my result i mean the way donald trump is that might result in america losing its influence over the european union absolutely and and that means that if there is going to be areas where europe is going to play

a bigger role. be also because of the fact that the u.s. is not that much interested in certain global issues anymore let's look at environment maybe it's not that bad of a thing after all europe can become actually independent and make its own decisions yeah that is that this one aspect but then there is another aspect if you look at the global environmental protection for example if the united states is not active and playing its role i think it's very difficult to save the world so so in spite of the fact that sometimes it's easier to make decisions without the united states i think that this is without the united states influence are not as influential as they should be on one hand if you talk about global issues but on the other hand if you talk about foreign or geopolitical issues maybe you want to be forced to be involved in wars that you don't know where you're fighting them for right and we look at how many worse europe was dragging to by united states that actually like

and the end of the day resulted in a disaster for everybody i personally believe that that the world should be rule based and it's in the interest of everyone that there are as many common rules as possible in trade in economy collaboration in security area. who finland was hosting the c. a c. european. the security in collaboration or cooperation conference nineteen seventy five we spoke about confidence building measures and i think that is what the world needs confidence and confidence is based on on common rules i strongly believe in that and the u.s. and europe have you played a big role in that the united states has been. a partner in creating that rule based system i'm afraid that. through air force and especially language president trump has been using. i'm not that confident that the

contribution of the united states to that rule based system is as relevant as it has been. let's talk about european trent's worrying transpiration as i know that according to related state of. that. european union may be facing at demographical crisis in the near future i mean your neighbors what the baltic states and their numbers have probably i mean really dropped drastically and a lot of people are actually thinking twice between actually if we're actually getting pregnant so i'm thinking is admitting refugees going to actually help revitalize d aging workforce i think the fact is that the fundamental issues that people are living longer and that means that that unless you're certain it is an issue people are living longer that means that that the whole economy system that

has been based on the idea that that we can survive with our social systems when people are living let's say. ten fifteen years less than today i think it is going to be a major major challenge second to the second issue is that the supply of labor the fact is that digitalization can help us a lot in both the chile station can help us to take care of these millions and millions of senior citizens who need care and more care and secondly it can help us to survive with the with with this demographic with the demographic challenge of labor force but for sure for the third we need immigration but refuse he. policies and immigration policy should be in my opinion separated you cannot solve . the labor force challenges by by using richey policies canneries may be the best example canada has taken

a lot of immigrants for a long period of time and they have tried to balance between immigration policy and the refugee policy and that balance has worked quite quite well and integration of people has succeeded we have to learn from that experience yes so. your country finland will accept seven hundred fifty refugees next year that's the correct number i think it's a bit higher but but anyway i mean we have called the small number yes do you feel like countries should be forced into accepting refugees if they don't want to i think we have to take share of our responsibility that is that is needed in the present world countries cannot ignore we have sent refugees to other countries as well from from finland something bad to tide and and and i think it's very important to understand that the two people need protection and we have to share

our our responsibility so i want to talk to you a little bit about how russia is perceived in a european union i mean we seem to have this love and hate relationship lately and indeed friend european elections last year were heard about a lot about supposed russian involvement i just really wonder you tell me it does you are probably see russia this like all mighty country that can actually decide their country's election are where the internet i mean they really thing where that powerful i'm not expert i cannot comment on that but but there are a lot of that kind of discussion going on but i think the fundamental problem is that we have to we have to start understanding this independence between western europe and russia and i think good example of what's going on is you trait. between russia and the european union last year do you know what happened. trade increased actually the e.u.

exports to russia increased more of china's exports to russia and the trade figures increase much more than twenty percent last year in spite of the sanctions in spite of counter sanctions so there is an independent interdependence and we have to be able to to find ways and means to cope with the each other's eyes spoke about this question as i spoke about this confidence building measures i think it's very important to go back to ninety seventy five let's look at very carefully what we decided to do in helsinki ninety seventy five i believe that many of these ideas would be and could be extremely relevant in today's world and we committed to to stay behind of these principles so stances were different world was different but those principles are in my opinion they are quite relevant today i'm sure they are and i'm not debating that but in today's russia the way russia sees

it there are two fundamental problems first is the sanctions and sanctions and leaders in larchmont let's talk about the interaction sanctions i know that your president has actually said that. this sanctions are hurting russia and here up do you think there could be damaging enough for them to reverse them actually told to trade has increased in spite of the sanctions so imagine how much it whatever it is that elections are is that is the point so we can do much more if if there are no that kind of political problems but but i said you need confidence building measures and it's not one sided effort it's two sided effort that i think we have you have to go back to why sanctions are cured and you have to be able to solve those problems behind that but. that is something that is almost unsolvable because there are good they're all bad for the only one thing that's

a point to do you think the sanctions that work in the in the in the present world you cannot say there are problems that are insolvable that have to be solutions we had solutions even during the cold war period why not to have solutions in today's world so you are nato have been. have established a joint center in finland to fight fight huybrechts threats aiming to destabilize europe and. made us assistant secretary general actually said that russia will be the one object being watched very closely finland is partially financing that do you believe that russia represents a threat to finland but i think we have to be prepared for new threats and world is not what do you believe russia does if you want to i think it's not relevant to look at where these threats are coming from i think it's relevant that that even small countries have to be able to prepare for that type of new type of security

risks i understand that every country in the world almost every country in the world use it well what would those security risks be i mean if it's not russia that what there are many kind of risks criminality criminal affords us as a success well traditional security risks are there for sure when then tension is there the risk risks are higher and small country has to prepare for that and finland is doing that because of our national interests and we are doing that at the end of the day we are doing that even on our own i think finland has been able to actually carve out a perfect balance between good relations with russia and the west somehow you just managed to juggle your error than other countries do you feel like a finland could be mediator between russia and other european countries should others take example of how you guys do it it's difficult to say to others that please follow our model but. i think i'm i'm quite satisfied how finland has been able to succeed even in these quite difficult circumstances and the dialogue

between finland and russia works on the highest level as well and that's a good thing i don't mean that there are not problems between finland and russia tied to time as well but we have been able to solve those problems because of the fact that the style goes on and when we accept the fact that these are a bit different than they have been and hopefully we can we can also solve these problems with their with their let's say external environment but russia and finland off in london russia cannot do that or shall i thank you very much when essentially all the vasant have a nice message thank you so much. the

winner take all mentality it's a lottery mentality in america you know where are your dead and the pharmaceutical companies a part a lobbyist going to washington to change the laws of a possible to help all cost in america and nobody frickin cares because it ever learned the lessons of wal-mart today they said let's do it again.

young children have worked in bolivia for generations almost three quarters of a million doing so today. this culture led to the development of bolivia's new liberal and highly controversial children's code in two thousand and fourteen which gave children as young as ten the right to work under certain circumstances one doesn't assume this. is all new for. the. leak but the game with us in the end all. from the things years. but there are hundreds of thousands of children in bolivia operation completely outside the local.

mining work is strictly forbidden by the children but it's never in force and that means the school boy minus here continue risking their lives for the money they need to survive. want to throw welcome aboard what. do. you want me to meet. with.

the u.s. defense secretary outlines a new strategy where countering russia and china takes priority over the finds against terrorism. a scandal worse than watergate so claim republican lawmakers about a top secret memo allegedly exposing senior level war in foursomes political bias against donald trump. french police fired tear gas at striking prison guards at europe's largest jail as they protest against severe working conditions. and its teenager injures six people including the teacher in an accent tack on a school in eastern siberia the third such incident in russia in less than a week. before more on all these headlines stories go to r.t.

dot com coming up here on r.t. international it's a brand new episode of the big picture. we began the week remembering dr king he told us voting is the foundation stone for political action and he warned that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter i'm holland cook in washington this is the big picture on our t. america. the voting rights act of one thousand nine hundred sixty five put words on paper pro

hitting racial discrimination and voting since then state laws that keep exo offenders from voting have cost millions what should be there in l.a. noble right meet desmond meade executive director of the florida rights restoration coalition his web site is florida our r.c. dot com desmond thank you for being here alan thank you for having me on today you are a remarkable story please tell it. you know a few years ago back in two thousand and five i found myself standing in front of rev row tracks at the time i was homeless i was addicted to drugs i was recently released from prison and i had no hope in my life in and i stood in front of those tracks waiting on the train to come so i can jump in front of it but by the grace of god the training come that day and i in the cross in those tracks and checking myself in the drug treatment and after that moving into a homeless shelter and it was while i was living at

a homeless suffer that decided to go back to school and give back to my community and one thing led to another and eventually i was able to be accepted into law school in may of twenty fourteen i graduated with a law degree well congratulations your organization's mission is restoring voting rights to returning citizens which when i first heard the expression i took to mean people who have served prison time but it's not who else other than those who did time is trying to reintegrate yes so in addition to individuals who have served time in prison returning citizens also refer the individuals that have received felony convictions but was not sentenced to prison you know when you look at the data what you find is that those who are incarcerated only represent a very small percentage of american citizens that have been caught up in the criminal justice system and so returning citizens and compass is. all individuals

that have had that negative real interaction we hear felony and we think major crime but what are some of the crimes in florida we might not think of as felony. most definitely you know we have a saying that when you can come to florida on vacation in the believing on probation because it's so easy to get felonies in florida for such things such as trespassing on public property catching a law suit tailored to short burning attire a public drive with a suspended license and my favorite is releasing helium filled balloons in the air rather there is more to restoration than just voting rights what are some of the collateral consequences that returning citizens face holland that is a great question because when we talk about returning say this and helping individuals reintegrate back into their community that to serve in

a time we have to be cognizant of the other collateral consequences and so other than voting you know the collateral consequences could be things that ousting education jobs you know these are hurting hurdles obstacles that individuals face once they've been convicted of a felony offense and at that point you're pretty much tattooed so you go apply for a job it'll pop up you may get that job but then you go apply for a mortgage and all pop up you get the mortgage then you've got to get insurance on a pop up again there too right yes i mean and it's a scarlet letter of shame and is attached to a narrative that dehumanizes individuals who've made mistakes that's a narrative that we're trying to change now desmond story is about restoring voting rights now let's talk about how this system can work against people who have voting

rights marty pocket as vice president of the charlotte mecklenburg north carolina and double a c.p. welcome. thank you all i'm glad you had me on i really appreciate the opportunity last week a federal judge ordered north carolina's republican dominated legislature to redraw your state's congressional map he called it motivated by invidious partisan intent violating the fourteenth amendment and this is the first time a federal judge had intervened in this way and then just yesterday the united states supreme court a lot that ruling until it rules on a similar case in wisconsin so two part question for you if this lower court ruling stands what happens next and how comfortable i that things will end up better off and if the supreme do permanently strike it down what happens next well if the supreme court takes this issue up which i think they're going to have to do

they're really going to have to deal with the issue of gerrymandering and voter suppression in america not just in north carolina but this is happening all over the country and so therefore you have the case in wisconsin and places like that where these attempts to suppress the vote or dilute voting power of minority groups is becoming more prevalent it is more demonstrative now and if they don't deal with it it's only going to get worse well a lot of folks are watching us in north carolina what can north carolinians do about this gerrymandering. well first of all we especially in the charlotte area what we've had is our group to get together and to talk about and to pressure legislature legislators about having partisan free redistricting because then this last redistricting effort the person that drew the line and

knowledge that it was politically motivated it was basically for just partisanship doing tricks one group over another and that is cuts at the heart of democracy in this country it tempts to marginalize people that do not either look think or believe the same way that that puts a person that particular party believes yeah and it's not just in north carolina look at the congressional maps around the country some of these districts are so pretzel shape that doesn't match geography or or any logical reason desmond what are you doing because change and is the approach that we just heard in north carolina political in florida should people be pestering their state senator and state rep. i can tell you how and you know the protests that we're taking now is that the people have. spoken and say that listen we've given politicians more than ample time to rectify the situation and so they've taken

matters into their own hands and that's approach that we have i mean i think that when you when you look at what we're doing in florida it's one of the most fewest forms of democracy when people come together and decide that a change must appen so how do how does your organization operate what is your ammo. well imo is basically that first of all we believe a more inclusive democracy is a more vibrant democracy and whenever you talk about an inclusive democracy that must include everyone and so we cannot afford to try to even marginalize folks that may not be as directly impacted as others right when you look at the issue of fela disenfranchisement we understand the roots in jim crow and we understand the intentions were specifically towards the newly freed slaves but just like a tumor this has grown to impact all of them all americans and so we knew that in

our advocacy and efforts that we had to be as inclusive as possible because that is more in line with our narrative about creating a more inclusive democracy tonight we're talking about two particular states florida and north carolina which are conspicuous in the voting rights situation but all across america and indeed all around the world for days now we've been wincing we've been discussing a certain sound bite that the president spoke in a meeting here in washington marty and desmond in that order dia thank donald trump is a racist. i would not presume to put myself in the place of got to read a person's heart i can say that the words that he used certainly had racial overtones and there should be very.