we spoke to christine lagarde in washington. this is the report. >> christine lagarde is the first synchronized swimmer to become head of the i.m.f. she's also the first woman. but in other respects, she's not a novelty at all. after all, she is a european like every other managing director before her. >> i don't see myself, nor do i feel specifically french or european. i feel very much a member of the entire community. and having to serve the entire community. >> there are 187 members of the i.m.f. there have been 11 managing directors. five of them have been french. how can you justify -- is it something in the wine that makes french people particularly good at running the i.m.f.? >> it gives us a better longevity. that's for sure. and talking of longevity, my time is to be here for the next five years. >> lagarde spent part of her school days at this girl's private school just outside washington. she also made her name as a lawyer working for a u.s. legal firm. and it all goes down very well with the americans. but they're n

sitting at the head of the imf will shape of her views and we will see a different christine lagarde. >> governments often need to the imf to be the outsider. christine lagarde has to prove that she can take that approach in europe even though just a few days ago she was negotiating on the other side. >> in other news, and powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the islands northeast of new zealand. this triggered tsunami warnings. the south korean city of pyeongchang has been chosen to host the winter olympics in 2018 this will be the first city in asia outside of japan to host the winter olympics. in london, the phone hacking scandal which has embroiled the "news of the world," and has brought a political firestorm. "the daily telegraph," reports that soldiers killed in the afghan war might have been had their phone -- might have had their phones tapped. >> it gets worse. the families of soldiers killed have been warned that their phones might have been hacked. >> my mind went back to 2005. there was emotional turmoil in the state that we were in. somebody was listening to them. th

sitting at the head of the imf will shape of her views and we will see a different christine lagarde. >> governments often need to the imf to be the outsider. christine lagarde has to prove that she can take that approach in europe even though just a few days ago she was negotiating on the other side. >> in other news, and powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the islands northeast of new zealand. this triggered tsunami warnings. the south korean city of pyeongchang has been chosen to host the winter olympics in 2018 this will be the first city in asia outside of japan to host london, the phone hacking scandal which has embroiled the "news of the world," and has brought a political firestorm. "the daily telegraph," reports that soldiers killed in the afghan war might have been had their phone -- might have had their phones tapped. >> it gets worse. the families of soldiers killed have been warned that their phones might have been hacked. >> my mind went back to 2005. there was emotional turmoil in the state that we were in. somebody was listening to them. this is a violation. >> al

chief christine lagarde first challenges to deal with a cash strapped e.u. as well as the world's continuing economic crisis but archie's christine for example reports there's still more interest in muckraking than money matters. from violence on the streets of the middle east. to protest in north africa to europe. for portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. into greece. for unemployment hunters at about sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger nearly all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the u.s. as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like housing prices and slow financial growth. this is the world christine lagarde inherits as she begins her new post as managing director of the international monetary fund and her first formal meeting with the press at the i.m.f. headquarters in washington she seemed optimistic in her hopes the international monetary fund is here to serve and to provide services to its hundred and eighty seven numbers it's not actually a good news story i fill in on t

chief christine lagarde isn't shying away from putting that having burden of the earth problems on her shoulders to count as more on the implications of the appointments for the global economy. christine lagarde appointment keeps the european at the head of the world's top lender keeping the long held tradition intact and in a debt crisis having one of its own chairing the international monetary fund could be more important than ever for europe seeing the. intimate knowledge of those mechanisms. of the european community and the eurozone of its many leaders can help the guard's main competitor was augustine carstens from mexico who argued her appointment would only add to the perception of i.m.f. bias there could be some conflict of interest i mean up in those they know their main borel's institution will be it will europe so we'll have a situation where they will roll or stormin eighteen to create their institutional emerging economies the engine of global growth in recent years are vastly under represented in the organization with the u.s. and europe holding half of the votes and vet

the new managing director of the international monetary fund, christine lagarde, says that's all the debt problem in both industrialized and developing nations will be one of her top priorities. she said that a fast-growing emerging markets needed to have a greater say in how the imf is run. >> christine lagarde had only one chance to make a good first impression in her first press conference as managing director. the next installment of bailout funding for greece was one of the top subjects. >> that there is an imf meeting which is scheduled for friday at which we shall consider the -- >> she supported the bailout for greece in her former role as french finance minister. now, as head of the imf, she must maintain a sense of neutrality. she pleaded for evenhandedness and stressed that there would be no favoritism at the imf. >> you can rely on me but the imf in its judgment will remain independent and will conduct its analysis in such independence. >> christine lagarde said she would press ahead with reforming the international monetary fund, following in the footsteps of her predece

no man's land french finance minister christine lagarde steps into the global economies temple as the first woman ever to have the international monetary fund. and we find out whether it could get again become a boiling pot in the middle east as thousands take to the streets of the interim government of a lack of change. the captain of a gaza aid ship a. been arrested by greek authorities after trying to leave port without permission several ships with activists and humanitarian aid for the blockade of palestinian territory were stopped and the court of parameter athens on friday campaigners claim greece is working under the orders of israel and the us the flotilla is drawing parallels to the gaza bound convoy that was stormed by israeli marines last year and resulted in the deaths of nine people and r.t. correspondent is on board one of the ships that's been seized she says people are still determined to carry on with their mission to survive greece's actions. he knew not what you had to do not the flotilla will not give up there are twelve members of the european and other national

christine lagarde the best fit for the job so did several emerging markets including russia and china but she faces the difficult task of appearing independent despite her past life and will struggle not to cement even further the perception that the i.m.f. exists only for the benefit of its creditors i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. . and if you've missed something we're covering on the air can always catch an online here's a taste of what's there for you right now. a man in israel you get slimed behind bars after murdering his two year old daughter to get back at his ex partner but before stabbing the child to death you now it's his attention on facebook. and get a roundup of the action from this year's moscow international film festival worst spanish movie snatch the top prize for all the glitz and glamour log on to our t.v. dot com. japan says it will lift the record for some districts around the stricken because she medically a plan that requires people to evacuate in an emergency if necessary measures are to be considered when an initial step to bring the pl

we'll have a full interview with christine lagarde lateener the show. nina. >>> we've seen how it's affecting the stock markets. let's see how it's affecting the government bonds. some of these yields have come down, but that means investors are saying at least for the moment some of these bonds are a little bit less risky. this is actually a market that's worth no less than $80 trillion and as such it's twice the size of the world's security market and this is why we're going to take look at it. we're going to take a look at the ten-year bonds. two of the three that have been bailed out, greece has received another bailout as we heard from jim boulden. 15.4% for grease and 11.2% for portugal. if you take a look at italy and spain -- italy is another country that people are worried about. these yields, as you can see, are very, very different. this is where the cut-off point comes. it's the sort of magic number, if you like, that analysts and economists say is the cut-off point beyond which these countries will find it difficult to access the markets, t

. >>> then the new head of the imf, france's former finance minister christine lagarde on the fate of america, greece, the euro and more. >>> also the knight's tell particular. why in the world is an 800-year-old religious organization being cited by murderers on at least two continents? finally, what is this green blob attacking china? >>> first here is my take. i know you heard so much about the debt ceiling that you're probably exhausted. i think it's important to point out a few facts because this matter has been so clouded by rhetoric. did you know there is only one other country in the world that even has a debt ceiling? that's denmark. it's a strange anomaly because its debt ceiling is deliberately kept very high so it will never need to be raised. why does no one else have a debt ceiling? because when a legislature votes to authorize spending at a certain level, but authorizes tax revenues at a lower level, it is assumed the government will have to borrow the difference. the vote to have higher expenditures than tax revenues is in effect a vote to borrow money to cover the dif

christine lagarde the best fit for the job so did several emerging markets including russia and china but she faces the difficult task of appearing independent despite her past eyes and will struggle not to cement even further the perception that the i.m.f. exists only for the benefit of its creditors i'm going to check our reporting for washington r.t. . let's check some other international news in brief almost two hundred policemen clanchy was protestors near the italian city of tearing the crowd of around six thousand or demonstrating against the construction of a high speed while a railway tunnel for the alps stones and petrol bombs were thrown at officers responded with tear gas opponents of the project will live between tyranny and the french quarter a rail link would ruin the landscape and claim the tunnel construction could damage the region's environment. bangladesh police have arrested more than a hundred people in the capital dhaka demanding the government to scrap a gas exploration deal with the us and left leaning citizens' groups as the arrangement would roll bangladesh

french finance minister christine lagarde was elected as the new chief of the international monetary fund this week but there's concern that a european in charge of the i.m.f. will spell it one more western bias and unfair privilege as she's going to check out reports. christine lagarde of point woman keeps a european at the head of the world's top lender keeping the long held tradition intact and in a debt crisis having one of its own carrying the international monetary fund could be more important than ever for europe saying it's more. intimate knowledge of those mechanisms. of the european community and the eurozone of its many leaders can help the guards main competitor was augustine carstens from mexico who argued her point mind would only edge to the perception of i.m.f. bias there could be some call for me to feign interest and i'm going out into the they know they mean borel's things to pollution with me they were all europe and all so will have his conclusion were they war or stormin eighteenth to create their institutional emerging economies the engine of global growth in r

billion dollar deal the us think europe found christine lagarde the best for the job so did several emerging markets russia and china but she faces the difficult task of appearing independent despite her past and will struggle not to cement even further the perception that the i.m.f. exists only for the benefit of its creditors i'm going to check our reporting from washington our. age of fragile interim leadership is facing the strain with a renewed violence on the streets this week officials have ordered a probe into clashes in cairo which left more than a thousand people injured after recent protests riot police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who pelted officers with stones and fire bombs the unrest began over the slow pace of prosecution for senior officials and police officers accused of brutality during the mass uprising in february activists are also calling for the speedy implementation of reforms demanded you were in the revolt that toppled president mubarak journalist afshin rattansi says the current leadership is ignoring people's demands. the government such as it is has

there garner quite a bit of media attention most likely it had less to do with christine lagarde herself and more to do with the reason why she's here. and what lessons do you think should be drawn from the way the u.s. legal system handled this transfer case we could be any reforms in the human rights and human resources policies here do you plan any changes and in light of the controversy over mr strauss kahn the controversy of course with dominique strauss kahn accused of raping a hotel maid in new york and that case now starting to crumble after it turned out the maid had credibility problems but banks of the i.m.f. were look art will take over let me ask you about a couple of issues what worries you the most lagarde did her best to stay on message we cannot be only driven by the hope to reduce fiscal deficits and organize fiscal consolidation in a big way whether you look at advanced economies or whether you look at emerging markets or low income countries the issue of employment. is a critical one the one hundred eighty seven nation organization has already led one hundred sixty bi

this week former french finance minister christine lagarde picked up the i.m.f. baton and got straight to work approving another charge of money to help greece that is costing for starbucks and what god has inherited. from violence on the streets of the middle east. to protest in north africa to europe. for portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. in greece. where unemployment hovers at about sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger uli all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the u.s. as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like housing prices and slow financial growth. this is the world christine legarde inherits as she begins at her new post as managing director of the international monetary fund in her first formal meeting with the press at the i.m.f. headquarters in washington she seemed optimistic in her hopes the international monetary fund is here to serve and to provide services to its hundred and eighty seven members if not those that feel as if news stories i'd fill in on the world pr

and saving greece the country's prowlers the country's at the top of christine lagarde to do list she sets out her stall as the new chief of the international monetary fund. into r.t. and this is our weekly news review welcome to the program. and its latest cloak and dagger case georgia has accused three photojournalists of working for the russian secret services the group that includes president suck us for it is a personal photographer was netted on thursday and charged with spying for foreign state or two days later to receive a finger. but on bottom reports many see it as a witch hunt. georgia is on a spy role and not for the first time this time the spotlights being shined on those usually behind the camera for photographers were arrested on thursday on suspicion of spying who was their suppose at muster but first georgian authorities didn't say who they thought the lead spies were working for but a day later they did russia in moscow has accused george of paranoia the georgians are so quick to stick a spy label on to anyone i guess is just a level of democracy and that has been

i was happy to see christine lagarde there. she was named the top finance minister in all of europe from among all of the male ministers, and it's very, very highly thought of. and i don't think it is because she is a woman. i think it's because she was the top candidate. >> well and certainly have seen that men get to have gotten themselves in this trouble but we haven't seen a lot of sexual women. to say it, easier to trust in the top of these positions of power? >> i think it's that. i think it's there's so few women to get to these positions. if you know you are a minority, you know it's less likely that i can slip up, the minute that we get more parity, you will see more women mess up. >> make women are the smarter about the way they handle it. >> but like she said, i this i women work so hard to get where they are and they don't want to screw it up, and you know, they're just different about that, too. there's so many articles right now, about this, and psychology that goes along with it. at the end of the day, women don'

this is christine lagarde second day on the job and she takes over the i.m.f. in a very delicate time greece and portugal as budget woes are causing problems for markets worldwide as artie's christine for us our reports most of the mainstream media only want to ask questions about the sex scandal of her predecessor dominique strauss kahn i from violent on the streets of the middle east. to protests in north africa. war in libya. to europe. or portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. engine grease. for unemployment hovers at about sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger. in ireland a blanket of despair as people there too have come out to speak out in hopes of igniting change entire cities as well as their policies have been lit up in flames . all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the us as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like housing prices and slow financial growth. this is the world christine lagarde inherits as she begins at her new post as managing director of the international mon

christine lagarde has become the first woman of the helm of one of the world's most powerful financial organizations but the new i.m.f. chief isn't shying away from putting the heavy burden of the earth's problems on her shoulders but he's got a ticket has more on the implications of the appointment for the global economy. christine lagarde appointment keeps a european at the head of the world's top lender keeping a long held tradition in can act and in a debt crisis having one of its own chairing the international monetary fund could be more important than ever for europe i think that's more. intimate knowledge of those mechanisms. of the european community and the eurozone of its many leaders can help the guards main competitor was i was saying carstens from mexico who argued her point mind would only add to the perception of i.m.f. bias there could be some call for people think through it i mean not in those they know they mean borel's things and pollution will be they will rule europe more so we'll have a situation where the war or stormin eighteen the institutional emerging econom

no man's land french finance minister christine lagarde steps into the global economy stempel as the first woman ever to head the international monetary fund. and signs of discontent as to pan's government promises to relax restrictions on locals living near the stricken nuclear plant more and more people believe claims by the authorities are hollow. the captain of a gaza aid ship has been arrested by greek authorities after trying to leave port without permission several ships with activist and humanitarian aid for the blockade of palestinian territory were stopped in the port of iran in the year athens on friday campaigners claim greece is working under the orders of israel and the us taylor is drawing parallels to the gaza bound convoy that was stormed by israeli marines last year and resulted in the deaths of nine people at r.t. correspondent is on board one of the ships that's been seized and she says people are still determined to carry on with their mission despite greece's actions. at the open the captain of the american ship knew what he was doing and he was determined in hi

christine lagarde her first press conference on her second day of work now this comes at a very important time this is just as moody's cup tortuous bonds to junk and is warning the country may need a second bailout this follows an even lower rated greece which a second bailout for that country is being talked about as well what the artes christine present find a lot of people want to ask the guard about the sex scandal circumstances surrounding her predecessor dominic strauss kahn take a look. from violence on the streets of the middle east. east coast. to protests in north africa. war in libya. to europe. for portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. and in greece. for unemployment hovers at about sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger. in ireland a blanket of despair as people there too have come out to speak out in hopes of igniting change entire cities as well as their policies have been lit up in flames but for good nearly all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the us as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like

christine lagarde was one of the most inflexible and stalwart defenders of this policy. i think there will come a time when that task to change. she will have to find a way to repudiate her previous dispute. these things can be papered over. politicians are expert at finding ways to say that what they are saying is consistent with the opposite and i said before. >> let's look at america. it is not just europe that is facing problems. while it is fashionable to say that the two economic systems are very different, actually, the crisis and the problems they are facing are remarkably similar. but it certainly looks that way if you look at the images on the television -- >> it certainly looks that way if you look at the images on the television. america is not a bust. if they have the will to do so, there would be no problem finding the debt -- funding the debt. we have seen some interesting signs. the senate canceled its july 4 recess to work on this problem. obama has said, i wanted a deal by july 22. that is three weeks from now. you are seeing flexibility on the part of

at her first news conference, christine lagarde said the fund will focus on balancing policies to create employment around the world with efforts to ensure economic stability. lagarde got the fund's top job after dominique strauss-kahn was arrested for sexual assault in new york. as darren gersh reports, lagarde will have to convince critics she's not playing favorites. >> reporter: when she looks out at the global economy, christine lagarde, the new managing director of the international monetary fund, might wish she had a third hand to help her out. >> on the one hand, the issues of sovereign debt, and that concerns all advanced economies ranging from japan to the united states, but clearly with a focus on the eurozone and in particular on the country of greece. on the other hand, when we look at the emerging markets, we have, in some corners, the risk of overheating and we have the risk of inflation as well. >> reporter: with the global economy fragile and the recovery uneven, lagarde will have little time to learn on the job. the i.m.f. managing director acts as both a kind of global

. >>> then the new imf head christine lagarde on the grave risk posed by a u.s. default and dominique strauss-kahn's spectacular fall from grace. >>> plus the shocking scandal shaking britain and threatening rupert murdock's media empire. >> announcer: live f fm the newseum in washington, "this week" with christiane amanpour starts right now.. >>> welcome to the program, lots to get to today. but first some major news in the high-stakes negotiations over raising the debt ceiling. late last night house speaker john boehner abruptly reversed course and abandoned the debt efefrt to strike a sweeping $4 trillion debt reduction deal with president obama. boehner is pushing for a scaled package, a move that received stiff oh position from the democrats, all of this hours before the speaker and president meet face-to-face a new round of talks. abc's jonathan karl joins us with more. where do things stand heading into tonight's meeting. >> reporter: a compromise that would have dealt with the debt crisis is dead but there's major negotiation to be done. le federal govern

. >> he will be back with christine lagarde, we're going to talk about europe and what the next possible crisis in the euro zone will be. >>> we are back with christine lagarde, the new head of the international monetary fund. let's talk about the underlie issue behind the greek crisis because it has implications for the united states. the strategy that was adopted for the last few years has been that countries have that the huge debt and deficit problems need to consolidate their balance sheets and to effect raise taxes and cut spending so they close the budget deficits. but the result of this in almost every country has been that the economy has suffered and taken a hit because you are taking money out of the economy or the government isn't spending, you know, it means there is less economic activity and the government fires government workers, they don't go out and buy things. is it possible that the imf received economic wisdom on this issue simply has it wrong? that at a moment where you have deflation circumstances or liquidity, whatever jargon you want to use, in unusual depressed