patricia sabga is with us. greece is on a diplomatic tight rope. >> it is on a diplomatic tithe rope. the statement we are good for the money that was the word from greece's finance minister, greece has to pay nearly half of imfimf bailout loan. two sides haggle bitterly over the terms of a new bailout program. if you recall, greek prime minister alexis tsipras and his syriza party were swept into office, that makes the timing of prime minister tsipras trip to moscow all the more suspect. state visit could get backs up in europe if russia agreed to lift restrictions of imports of greek agricultural products. now, if greek products are allowed to start flowing back into russia it will be embarrassing to the rest of europe. >> thank you, patricia sabga. >>> in other news this afternoon, in afghanistan shopkeepers have closed their doors to protest tax hikes. jennifer glasse reports from kabul. >> reporter: shops are closed across the capital. kabul's central market is like a ghost town. the reason why is clear. t

patricia sabga has the report. >> i felt exuberant. i was exalted. i felt happy. >> an associate degree from everest college in california. part of the for-profit education giant core cohinthian. ot the career everest promised her. >> they promised us that we would have a job in the field we studied in no more than six months. they said we would be getting paid above minimum wage. >> but horn said her everest degree commanded so little respect she couldn't get her foot in the door or transfer her credits to other college. >> i tried to go to fullerton and they said we don't accept credits from everest. >> she had nothing but $28,000 in student loan debt. >> do you think you should pay back those student loan debt? >> no, i don't feel i should have to. >> so she and other students are on debt strike. refusing to pay back their federal student loans and demand that the leader the department of education cancel them. >> we didn't we were charged too much. >> charges filed by california massachusetts, wisconsin and the consumer finance protection bureau

but patricia sabga has a report. >> 1944, the imf and world bank are created. founded by 44 nation the u.s. had outside influence then and still does. thanks to congressional foot-dragging on reforms that would give more say to influential developing economies like china. the u.s. holds about 15% of voting power at the imf compared to about 4% for china. an imbalance echoed at the world bank. >> you have this perception and in some degree a reality that the u.s. is a key driver in the bank. i think to some degree that's because there's been an absence of alternatives. >> reporter: until now. china is using its massive foreign exchange reserves to build alternatives to the imf and world bank. pouring billions of dollars into the interamerican and african development bank and joining with the brix countries to form the new development bank. last month its growing influence hit home when more than 50 countries rushed to become founding members of the new china led asian infrastructure investment bank. including u.s. allies washington had tried to dissuade from joi

patricia sabga. al jazeera. >> mr. takaucuchi how can a president who campaigned on creating jobs after one of the worst economic periods in you know, history sell a trade deal that will cost jobs? >> i don't think tpp will cause job loss in the united states. loss of the united states job comes mainly from the rising chinese economy. and it's true that the chinese economy, the rise of chinese economy has called the loss of american jobs. but china is not part of the tpp, so ufs jobs are lost because of the rise of the developing countries especially in china and then the more trade with developing countries like china. but it's not directly related to tpp, i don't think tpp causes loss of job in the united states. >> i go back to the nafta trade agreement not causing any loss of jobs and the giant sucking sound hearing the jobs headed south. are you in agreement that the tpp won't cost americans jobs? >> it's hard to come up with a firm statement as to what the economic result will be. it's mixed some american jobs ar

patricia sabga, al jazeera. >> for more we're joined by nina kucheva. does vladimir putin whom you know have some kind of grand strategy to split up alliances and complicate matters within the european union? >> i think he has a will. i don't know about the grand strategy but as i've discussed many times with you he is a great tactician. whenever he sees an opening in europe he just goes for it. now he's meeting with tsipras. whether tsipras is getting money or not is beside the point. i think the conversation and positive conversation with putin can bring tsipras leverage, his own leverage in european union because he can play some sort of moderator in many discussions. the same thing was done before in hungary and putin is looking for these alliances and they may pay off. >> talking about what putin wants to do, is this all about protecting russia's sphere of influence and what is that sphere of influence? is it just the former sophie yet republics? >> not only. >> -- soviet republics? >> putin sees himself in line with ivan the terrible, 1400s when i

patricia sabga, al jazeera. >>> president obama has a busy day in jamaica today.is visit to the island is historic. he is the first sitting u.s. president to visit jamaica in more than 40 years. >>> president obama is expected to interact with cuban president raul castro. the state department is expected to recommending that cuba be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. the move may help the nations restore diplomatic ties. >> reporter: the removal from the list is a precondition for reestablishing diplomatic relations, so i think if we see that i'm optimistic that the presidents of cuba and the united states may announce the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, that means opening embassies and ambassadors. i think we need to update this list to reflect modern realities. in the 1980s, cuba did support the farc in columbia movements in angola and western africa and perhaps the designation of state sponsor of terrorism was appropriate at that point in time but these day cuba's involvement is pretty much limited to hosting the peace talks between the

patricia sabga has been following the story and joins us with more. >> david, that deal with the department of education to sell or wind down corinthian schools was not without its critics, including former students who say they shouldn't have to pay back federal loans for degrees they say are worthless, they are not just talking about it they are taking action by declaring the first ever student debt strike. >> i felt exuberant. i was excited. i was exhausted. i was happy. >> reporter: natasha gratuated three years ago with a paralegal associates degree from an everest college in california. part of the for-profit education giant corinthian. today the 26-year-old is back in native missouri working part-time at a grocery store for minimum wage. honest work not the career that everest promised her. >> they told us we'll have a job in the field that we studied within no more than six months and that we would be paid above minimum wage. >> reporter: horn says her degree commanded so little respect she couldn't get a foot in the door or transfer her credits to another college. >> i tried to tak

patricia sabga is here with betails. what is with the numbers?several factors weighing on the economy. very few thought this would be a good number but this was even more disappointing. the economy basically stalled in the first three months of this year consumer spending which is the engine of u.s. economic growth was less than half of what it was at the end of last year and you can credit that in part to bad weather, but it also reflects an up tick in gas prices and consumers feeling less confident due to a slowing job market. a big drag was exports which fell a whopping 7.2%. disruptions at u.s. ports and a strong dollar making u.s. goods more expensive to buy abrought are mostly to blame. we asked a chief economist if the strong dollar will continue to be a problem. >> the higher dollar is going to impede export growth the higher dollar is already bringing down import prices in the u.s. and putting pressure on u.s. firms that have to compete with these importing goods here. we're going to start to see that more intently in the second quarter.

. >> now it is interesting patricia sabga, that he specifically cited a couple of statistics saying that since 2008 in the u.s. unemployment has gone done gdp has gone up. the u.s. with quantitative easing. not what a lot of conservatives wanted. and europe which attempted a reverse strategy of austerity. unemployment has gone up and gdp has gone down and he praised the president's strategy for growth. >> that's right. and for years many europeans were pushing for ah stairty and more reforms. but as deflation took hold in europe, they sit on their money, they don't spend it it grinds economic activity to a halt in order to alleviate those pressures any european central bank has engaged in this quantitative easingeing program, and we're starting to see some signs that it is helping. as the euro going down it means european exports are cheaper to buy overseas. >> so what does this mean in terms of america's economic plan going forward and in particular the trade talks. >> in terms of quantitative easing that would be part of the trade talk. but we want strong economies to trade with. but t

patricia sabga joins us now with more. >> reporter: out of that pile of millions of questions, the kremlinlucked some softballs. one woman asked if putin could persuade her husband to let her get a puppy. but the imf now expects russia's economy to contract by 3.8% this year, thanks to the double whammy of sanctions and low oil prices. the kremlin needs oil to fetch north of $100 a barrel to meet its budget this year. the gap impacts every part of the russian budget and nearly every aspect of every day life for many russians. russians are also grappling with an eye watering inflation rate that hit 16.9% last month, that's the highest in more than a decade while food inflation was 23%. the rubble lost nearly half of its value last year while sanctions have sent food prices through the roof. putin pointed out the ruble has been climbing out of that very deep hole. still the ruble is roughly 30% weaker than it was a year ago, but if you think putin's popularity is going to suffer do not hold your breath. a recent poll found 72% of russians have a favorable view of their president. 83% trust h

. >> mike thank you, we have in our studio with us patricia sabga.alking about trade that mike just mentioned how does that impact on italy. >> well right now, obama is trying to get fast track approval to move these deals through congress which would not allow congress to cherry pick certain elements that they don't like or don't think are in u.s. interest. italy is mired in recession right now and wants to boost its trade. we have seen stimulus of quantitative easing from the european central bank. that's geared at trying to keep the euro low and that will boost exports out of europe. >> and what about those in america who are opposing the fast tracking why is there an objection to it? >> it's not just the trans-atlantic trade and investment partnership, there is also the trans-pacific partnership. >> stand by we think president obama is entering with the italian prime minister. let's take a listen. >> it is a great pleasure to welcome my partner and friend prime minister renzi to the white house. i actually should say, welcome back. not many peopl

patricia sabga explains why the area is a valuable prize. >> antonio and barbara u.s. allies japan and the philippines, if an armed conflict breaks out over disputed territories in these waters the u.s. could get sucked in. the u.s. also has a strong economic interests in making sure tensions don't flare. the south china sea is one of the area's busiest shepg lanes. of the $5.3 trlt of trade that passes through 1.2 trillion involves the u.s. as for hot spots the east china sea, five uninhabitated islands and three rocks yes i say rocks, have been the area ever conflicts. the south china sea acknowledge claimed by both being philippines and vietnam why all the fuss over these tiny specs of land? well the u.s. government estimates south china sea contains roughly 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. china's estimates owner ten times higher. asia's insatiable demand for energy is pushing exploration further offshore including to the spratleys, where china has been building artificial islands to anchor its demand. >> what if they held an el