during this interview and the chance to ask the president and some questions and they were obviously. which kicks off on the fourteenth. that's a difficult one there are many title contenders there are latin american teams like argentina and brazil but we also know that the german team showed great game at previous tournaments and the high quality of football was also demonstrated by the spanish team i am sure there are going to be other title contenders but the strongest will win. the most. in the years to have a couple of footballers whom i consider extraordinary and who can obviously lay claim to the title among russian and soviet players it is live among foreign footballers it's pale a well i also like mara dawna keep it in there making his world cup predictions among other things i think simon builds over which country

will lift the world cup in the final in moscow next month he has been picking the brains of perhaps the most famous manager out there. on how the tournament will play out. says mr moreno let's go through the group step by step whenever you're ready. i'm not ready because it's very difficult i don't want to be emotional look i have to be available to contradictions because i want my players to him but i also want my place to go on holiday so this is going to be tough but i would say bedser to why his way into the wind and go. they have experienced their players they have the right mentality and i think russia has to finish second and. then the

crucial match will be russia against egypt and it's fine to be in the heart of testing for russia to finish second in the group well. the two we in the group b. . and i will show later that i am totally portuguese because i want to finish second in the world maybe down the home team russia is going to play against their domestic spain see us in front will draw a line to finish first. the fight to finish second. and go for the surprise come on australia let's finish cycles and then in group the last thing the little fellow will finish first. because one is going to be hard title for an african team . so will be brazil in the name of change to go on holiday so switzerland to finish second i'm sort in the month of need to hold. and in the

group germany has to win. i think mexico finished second of. the euro. well gee. each. group. finished second. this is. well if you feel up to testing your knowledge against the might of marine you head to facebook or twitter and follow the hash tag match there will be three rounds of predictions from the group's stage on woods in the meantime teams are beginning to arrive in russia or ahead of the world cup opening game iran squalled the first touchdown in moscow. before the tournament will face one of the favorites

spain as well as portugal and morocco. when there was a on tuesday that russia played its last friendly fixture before the world cup gets underway they drew one one with turkey in the russian capital it is the seventh game in a row that russia has failed to win and we asked people outside the web arena in moscow about their impressions of the match and what team russia should do to buck the trend. no no no no no no. oh. i mean a festive mood the world cup will be a major celebration and these home stadiums in my never happen again but. i. can feel the desire from the country the spectators fantastic great atmosphere great people to still be our team could provide them with what they deserve at least for russia of course both. england first russia second. and

more. likely. another member of r.t. as world cup team legendary danish goalkeeper peter schmeichel has been out checking how russia's host city is for us his penultimate stop some petersburg where he indulged in the city's culture. it's. i mean isn't peter's book stadium and i have to say looking up it looks fabulous everyone watching football you would have a great view. but then i look down and there's no page but don't worry that's because this is a smart stadium they rolled the pitch out and when they need it they're both back in and here is the pitch. just laying there. being through and the way they

roll it back in is. purchased normal wheels it looks absolutely. spectacular. it takes about ninety minutes each way at the moment the pitchers in the sunshine getting ready to be passed six of the seven games of the be played and i think the pick of the punch there must be that costa rica gets another shot at brazil and that will come up and told that st petersburg is a fantastic state and peter schmeichel and i'm so weak it's find out if that's true . but i started to travel around to the eleven posted and everyone said to me once you get think peters you will see something truly amazing my first stop the peterhof policy where the sauce used to come every summer it's summer residence and it's beautiful.

and i got the privilege to turn the fountain on. i think it looks pretty pretty good with the water coming out of it and also i think i did a poor. good job. cause they lived a charmed life i can tell you the. fountains statues. it's so extravagant all the cool all the glitz. that lives precisely like the hotel in sochi well brazil is when they come to think peter's puts a place kusturica if they see this it must feel right at home. i'm enjoying my time as the tourists the grounds they are and for us if i have to say it's well worth a visit. my

favorite musical pieces is not enough second piano concerto to challenge the foundation is a big football fan happens to be one of the feeds for us just from cop on top of being one of the best in the world would you believe it he's here in st petersburg so i've decided to go and see. just to see if maybe i'm too and no i don't think yeah i think it's like this. broke for the football so when i was younger playing football too was crazy about that and i broke my hands three times and how does that work you think much faster . it play something place and i think i go yeah.

second piano concerto soloist make. but that's all played out for me this is my savior not the zero play in the way we play in the. ok.

i want to. see you all of it we need to discuss all it takes how many years to play this. twenty totally i play to be honest i don't mind the more than three hundred times none of the pinnace would take that on because i see deceitful somebody counted more than fifty five souls and that's the way you play the very very aggressive and this is what i really like i mean i listen to japanese pianists very soft and it doesn't come up the same way but this is not i aggressive this is pressure but i don't mind if number three is doesn't work without personal football is your passion as well absolutely i play football for my show called a lot of the same things for example conductor orchestra she of course players orchestra players something but most important loyal is to play for the audience this is the most important things and i just put you in context so who are you you would be someone like messi over and out. mehmet might have done for you. you

also play chess is my son is my second pluff i'd like to hear you play it. now this is the international. world is under pressure amid calls to expel the u.s. ambassador to germany it comes off to richard grinnell who's been in the post for

barely a month said he's working to strengthen the right wing movements across europe the german foreign ministry has asked him to clarify his remarks as peter all of us now investigates. at the beginning of the last century then american president theodore roosevelt said the u.s. diplomat should speak softly and carry a big stick while the current us ambassador to germany he's opted more for shouting loudly and using that stick to smash diplomatic norms have a look at what he had to say to the right wing news site breitbart the right a lot of conservatives throughout europe who have contacted me to say they're feeling there is a resurgence going on i absolutely want to empower other conservative throughout europe other leaders while i'm but for the good now is announced himself as the all right cheerleader in chief in europe some people in berlin on top be that such a senior diplomatic figure is involving himself in the day to day running of european politics hiring king officials from me from me united states and

maybe needs to be a little bit more careful i cannot imagine that i never never ever when i'm fifty years now and never ever had heard something similar over the last decade just do this casting this person should be so not of our country we don't do this in the u.s. and they did do we shouldn't do that. this is horrible and the u.s. government this is a shame sorry for that but that's my opinion. he should have been more diplomatic and i believe that the right wing isn't on the right way to be pushing. that's i wouldn't call this incident madelyne in german affairs but as a diplomat who should be more neutral politicians on the left say the ambassador who's only been in the job for a month should but he's bags and go home and bus it is a representative of the state and not have political movements u.s.

ambassador now however does not behave like a diplomat but more like a far right colonial officer we won't tolerate such behavior it's nice to have a hand here it is not only a. each of etiquette it is also a violation of the vienna convention on diplomatic relations there is an article forty one in which it is very clearly stated that embassadors shall not interfere in internal affairs he has to go because he has broken too much porcelain in germany he has become a real hate figure and that is not a good platform for a us ambassador but this isn't the first scandal that mr goodell's been involved in just a few days into his tenure the opes german businesses with these comments after washington pulled out of the iran nuclear deal as donald trump said u.s. sanctions will target critical sectors of iran's economy german companies doing business in iran should wind down the peroration some mediately ambassador

grinnell's brush shoot from the hip style certainly seems to be from the same playbook as president donald trump but he may well find out the hard way that envoys are expected to act and behave in a certain way whether they're at home in d.c. or here in the german capital peter all over. well the a fifty six mission to the international space station is set to launch in about two and a half hours jaclyn of lucca reports. this is the vehicle by which the latest crew members will be making their way to the international space station the true includes dr serrano and chancellor from nasa so the approach for moscow's most and alexander guest from east to now for the

american and the russian this will be their first trip into space but for gareth this is already his second time around and he'll be taking over as station commander on the i asked us that's really have been training intensely for months together now and according to garrett twitter some of the exercises are less than pleasant. for the astronauts social media is a way to connect with the earth even from so far away. and. shared. with everybody was. right there on the on the trains. the most and were. the conversations. apparently actual antigravity is easier to handle than the training required in order to prepare for it during their six month stay on the station that's really will be carrying out over three hundred experiments ranging from topics on the

effects of space on human bones to robotics to quantum physics and the hope is that the results of those tests will one day be able to benefit those of us way down here on earth but it's not all work and no play the world cup may be taking place on earth but the results will be followed in space as well or better riding on the outcome. but if you. the food some puts food in the soup the. citizens who need to. use the sea do the police do they. need. to see the floods in these new tools three hundred sixty this is the one. that just about all wraps up this hour's program here on r.t. international but plenty more to offer you in about half an hour hope to see you

that. time after time we're going underground in the week of this year's world environment day coming up on the show we'll climate change mean the complete destruction of this country within eighty years we talked with former leader mahmoud one about why the will leave is emblematic of all the serious issues facing the planet ahead of elections attracting the attention of india china nato and the e.u. and fashion i go and vivienne westwood goes to downing street as u.k.

minority government he did tourism a browse on with her plans to frack the british countryside unsustainable energy all this and more coming up in today's going underground first straight to our top story in a nation that arguably encapsulates the fragility of the world from trade wars to call been emissions the moral deaves it's twelve hundred islands famous for dream holidays but today it's in the eye of a storm on monday deposed leader of the she'd criticize chinese influence in. the region this after britain's foreign secretary johnson voiced concerns to some it appears that nato nations what machine in president abdoulaye i mean out elections this autumn well joining me now is the maldives former president mohamed why he doesn't he's just been recognized by the center for international competitiveness and research as a member of its twenty eight hundred power brands hall of fame former president we're going to going other god right now what is the strategic importance of your nation because we're hearing all manner of things from press releases from

different foreign offices whether it be in the e.u. nato nations with the reef in china and whether it be from india see more devices strategically located in the middle of the indian ocean and so anyone who wants to have influence in the indian ocean region would want the maldives on their side so this is way more diverse is important but survived for thousands of years without being involved in any global strategic conflict so i believe that maldives is going to continue to twelve years old what is it twelve hundred islands i want to get to those specifics a bit later but let's take us back to arguably the beginning of the most current concerns take us back to the night of february seventh was of the day of every seven twenty twelve and the coup you became president what would happen then if i was vice president at the time and there was mounting opposition against the

president for various reasons economy and political president came in in a coalition together with me and other political parties but this coalition fell apart and so many of the coalition partners turned against him and so the mountain of clashes machine that's not it who's currently trying to get back. there is trying to come back but you know he made a mistake fundamental. mistake in arresting serving judge and chief justice of the criminal court without any you know the proper legal process says so that is wanting him today because he is now under a sentence for having abducted a serving judge. the constitution doesn't allow this kind of acts anymore now living in sri lanka and now living in sri lanka and also he was seen as a hero of the environment but of course what you're alluding to there is that these

twelve hundred islands we have got over the whole history of islam militia cause a group called role that over over centuries the the critical coverage between judiciary and the executive yes we've got a new constitution in two thousand and eight here which for the first time in more deals guaranteed fundamental rights of the people and also for the first time separated the three powers of government my sense of it is that we came out with a constitution that is mostly theoretical you know without a basis in the practice of politics in the motives the country that has gone through years and years of authoritarian rule with patronage playing a very important role and now suddenly you have a constitution that looks like you know you were in the u.k. or u.s. in fact it was a hybrid constitution or with elements of an executive presidency and the parliament system westminster palm tree system so there was you know inconsistent and so you know you have

a country where the president was all powerful and so on suddenly his powers have been taken away as anyone from the global elite lucky enough to visit the movies would say you arrive on one of these twelve hundred islands it's a five star hotel the manager is basically the dictator and the head of personnel is the sheriff there is it doesn't seem to be any lower there at all no motives you know the results in more divs operate very independently and they have you know all the. room to function effectively as a five star seven star what else there's really very little low noise interference from the government. which is the maldives is an old order society you know people have lived there for almost two thousand years in american history goes back hundreds of years so. there are cultures there already there are that takes a little bit of time to evolve and adapt to new new systems so i mean i become president

but i don't have the powers of killing so if people want things from me i can't just you know hand out money there are systems now in place but that's one of the issues because it could become a very very rich country it's interesting because when when the coup happened indian media were condemning you as well as i understood it or some elements of it the u.s. assistant secretary state of the robert blake said it was ok for you to become president i don't know i don't have a beijing said at the time you listen to all these different i was actually quite busy you know listen i couldn't even i wasn't at all prepared for it and therefore it was the united states didn't want you to be president but i think the united states knew exactly what was going on in mauritius you know they were following the situation so it wasn't really a coup in the you know traditional sense in the u.s. but the u.s. has a military base south of maldives in the us here in the. is technically leased from the british. that's what i do know what the defense would

say about that. so when it comes to foreign interference then as you became president. very soon afterwards there were voices i think you yourself were saying there's a degree of interference coming from the commonwealth and there was a threat to leave the commonwealth who was gone well you see at that time there were. countries calling for immediate elections but you know the president in models and the new constitution don't have the powers to call for an election it's like the american system the president or any reason leaves the office the vice president completes the term and the situation motives was quite difficult at the time and also two local leaders really just going to go to london or to washington and say i'll do whatever you tell me and maybe they could be learned from the if you didn't know i didn't do that i didn't do that you know we tried to manage the situation and i didn't arrest people you know it was not there

never arrested he was free to continue to do his political work and. so it was a difficult situation i tried to manage as best as i can and then we had elections the difficult elections but never this. it was free and fair it actually was very difficult for you there was some controversy because you hired baron a scotsman gordon brown's attorney general we had our advice on how to deal with particularly some of our international partners because there was a misunderstanding there you know they thought that you know how come this very popular guy who is you know first democratically elected president you know suddenly resigns and then the next day he comes out and says it's a coup and that i held the gun it is a head i mean it was too much for people to you know deal with and so it's very very indigenous this isn't some cia back you know. we structure all that changes with this there were people who are unhappy with the way things were going

and the opposition because you know a lot of the coalition partners had now become going on to the opposition they were coming out in the on the streets and the religious element for the inflated. and in december i think it was with thousand and eleven there was a huge demonstration against the government you know that was really a turning point for people were you conscious then of outside forces are going you hired some pretty controversial p.r. firms of tourism so important in the mall leaves as a. foreign exchange we are very conscious as president i was very conscious that we have to really maintain we have to maintain stability because tourism is the lifeline of the country but if it stops then people will stop overnight so this is why i thought it was really important to try to calm down the situation and be as tolerant as possible and form a government of national unity i invited all the people all the political parties to come of all the people from is why pick on isabel root router for him somebody

came up with the suggestion of you know this company. and we hired we didn't know who actually to hire you know using google. because they did israel's el al which caused. element of. discord would say against population and then of all the things to do you choose china for a contract you know what over and you know what. the first lawmaker meant with chinese bank was done by. himself i mean the infrastructure project actually rather than the year long was for infrastructure projects it was for the airport upgrade it was for housing projects the first billion dollars for is taken from the chinese exam back by nasheed for housing projects and then later we took more and more money from this government actually took money for them because i'm not criticizing

you for doing with i just saying i go imagine what we're doing in whitehall here in washington but it is the little brussels i don't say that is what was wrong in taking that money we needed the money because we want we didn't have the money to be able to meet the rise you expect ations of people in a democratic society newly newly democratic country people want housing they want. to say that somehow it's become the people's republic of. this is this is misleading this list leading and i think you know motives economy strong more this will pay its debts and i i don't think we will fall into a situation where you know china will be able to twist arms because of. how does the developing world nation leader today especially in the indian ocean let alone in with could be of course in the red sea or web so the caribbean managed to pivot between these huge trading blocks which are in effect actually at the moment in the in the global trade war we are caught in between the big powers in the region.

india on one side and thailand the other side you know i mean we wish you both india and china were able to you know resolve their differences and not have small countries like motives get caught in between you know it's very difficult for small countries not just the maldives but also for other developing small countries in east asia and africa but you know we need the development funds from somewhere and unfortunately in our u.k. or u.s. not providing that kind. development financing and so many countries not just maldives are being forced to go to china because those sponsor every level from china and you know when you have a democratic country where people's aspirations are high your expectations have suddenly gone up you know the constitution that you have you are entitled to you have a right to housing you have a right to safe drinking water then the government is forced to do something about it for the.