in western europe these days is higher than it is in the united states or in other societies for that matter ok pepe what about the welfare state cannot survive all this yes in scandinavia exactly it's it does survive in scandinavia it's not going to survive in the club med countries and if you compare their social services to the countries in the north the lags behind them france which is more or less the middle term between the club med in the scandinavians it will survive but how they're going to pay it they don't know sarkozy did know in obviously the a pathetic francois hollande also doesn't know how to pay these bills so the problem is and when you when you see the bric countries where social services and help for the poor it's legs away behind even the club med countries you know if that's even more complicated like in brazil for instance if you are poor if you don't have private social security you have to go to a state hospital and you spend like six months or eight months in a bloody kidu waiting to get a ticket so you can have an operation and this and we're talking about t

wall street movement inside western europe as well and this is going to happen within the next few years our economy because the model itself is unsustainable right i'm going to jump in here we're going to go to a short break and after that short break book continue our discussion on the west stay with our. well to this. month high tech means could help with the latest laser cutters on lifesaving heart rushing innovators are working hard to keep you healthy for some companies it's been a winding road from car simulators to cutting edge streaming systems for others it's been a lifetime of work along the mysteries of the cell. phone technology. the future . choose your language of choice because we know if somebody else going to help them out. of the fumes of the consensus be accountable. to the opinions that invigorated your mind fuck you for the story's good in high life choose be access to your office. if. he'd. eat fish fish. eat. such. welcome back to crossfire good to mind you were talking about the possible to find the way. alexander like to go back to you in brussels you know outsi

we did not coordinate enough with western europe, and western europe by itself especially now with the economic crisis is not really focused enough on insuring that east/west plans will go through. i think they lost to the russians on fobuko, the big pipeline that was supposed to come from the caspian through turkey into western europe. but a good, smaller alternative was a spur, a side pipeline most probably what is called west nabuko which is a pipeline to austria. we could have done more. especially when the regime, the leader changed in turkmenistan, i had conversations with senior state department officials saying let's invite the new leader, the few president to -- the new president to washington. and there was a huge pushback because they wanted for the foreign minister to visit, then they wanted the prime minister to visit, then they were concerned -- justifiably so -- about the human rights in turkmenistan. in the meantime, mr. putin was there in two weeks signing deals. the chinese now are the principal buyer for turkmen gas. so i do not want to present it as only a zero sum

turned a con man but there are some who say this really the biggest loser this year has been western europe it's going nowhere it has no political direction and what's worse the only people who are trying to give a political direction are people who want to actually give it a worse economic and but just rather than an opportunity for survival the year two thousand and thirteen will show whether tighter economic and fiscal or nation than the eurozone brings any results but it will get worse before it gets better experts say the recession will deepen and unemployment will hit new highs rising to unprecedented levels of about twenty five percent in spain and greece and with upcoming elections in italy and then germany the european union is facing plenty of political as well as economic uncertainties like they say you're never a loser until you quit trying. to clear business r.t. . all right now it's time to take a look at what's happening in the markets we start of course with the united states which are still trading president obama on friday is expected to make a new scaled back offer in a b

rates of elderly poverty much higher rates of infant mortality than do most of the nations in western europe and nordic countries is that we have a much more did else equal is much. america is a country that is very pluralistic and there are many people who want to give their money to organizations that will not be restricted in the way the government's restricted in the way it does help people who are less fortunate for instance in we know that faith based charities have have a far more successful right in rehabilitating people who for instance in prison systems and we would have separated our lives and i don't know that free and i believe and i believe i know there actually is there actually is a great deal of compelling evidence i believe in separation of church and state i believe that the government shouldn't be. putting faith into what it does in helping but face does help in fact in the texas prison system the colson based ministry when it was doing faith based rehabilitation in the prisons they had no one come back to prison that's a one hundred percent success rate and they had two

are we going to go the way of western europe or the exceptional capabilities which attract entrepreneurs for over 200 years and this is why the huge growth of government is not about numbers of gdp. it creates dependence rather than independence. it does your sense of ability to solve problems. surgery of the free markets are sensible rules of the load and creativity, get a chance to get ahead and get these ever widening circles of cooperation, breaking down barriers and enabling people to realize their dreams or do we have the same for your bread into custody and wait for the government to rise in the street like you see in europe. worse at dynamism going to come from? yes its trust to verify, but you get the rise of the internet. they get richer and deeper. and enable people to do more. that doesn't come from government. that comes from what the opportunity, with the problem, how do we solve it? this way steve jobs touched such a chord when he died late last year is precisely people sense. this is living by james had hoped 10 but anyone which the lives of hundreds of millions of people

rates of elderly poverty much higher rates of infant mortality than do most of the nations in western europe and nordic countries is that we have a much more constrained and constricted public sector that all else equal is much more efficient and effective at providing basic human needs of food of shelter access of education etc and i think that in some ways sort of we we miss the ways in which we out lie among the rest of the nations in the world and the costs that we bear in relegating so much that private philanthropic sector ok richard i want you to jump in there you've been very patient well if you it's going to be well first of all america is a country that is very pluralistic and there are many people who want to give their money to organizations that will not be restricted in the way the governments restrict it in the way it does help people who are less fortunate for instance. we know that faith based charities have have a far more successful right in rehabilitating people who for instance in prison systems and we have separate authorities as i don't there's a country and i believe

are located halfway between north america and western europe in archipelago is part of norway but a special status that allows other countries to set up industrial bases here in the middle of the cold war it served as the use of czars westernmost outpost now it's one of the soviet union slask out. preserved relics. is essentially a picture of what would have happened to the soviet union if it was cut off from any financial support for two decades it's a curious site for western tourists and i think it could be even more appealing for russian travelers to keep its presence on spitsbergen russia still maintaining a coal mine here but in terms of profit is far behind local shops so between my bill it is a big hit the defunct are incurred and still helps keep the money flowing. it's all rushing through your words you can put in. your. local administration is increasingly under pressure to bring the infrastructure up to more than standards these modernization efforts are not very popular with tourists if you come into a very authentic place like. it should stay the way it is that would be my wis

but, the incentives of the demand that has grown so dramatically especially in western europe has kept the price high, and has undermined the efforts that we are doing here. >>i think the challenge for colombia now that it has made some progress in improving the security situation, but little progress in reducing the flow of cocaine, is social and economic development, of people who live in the poor and remote areas. what they have to let go of, is the idea that if they keep pouring more money into military, and more money into police, then they will solve the drug problem. >> the flow of drugs to europe or to the us, or to all of latin american countries, will keep untouched and will keep flowing, and i think we need to deal with the policy that is not so harmful to society. >>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st.

medium term is a real issue as it is for western europe and a lot of asia.he entitlement issue looms so large is the cohort coming in to work to support the older people and getting smaller. >> older americans to keep working which we can do through social security reform. >> incentives for women to have kids. >> all of these are good discussions. >> the french do it. the russians will give you a -- >> in france it's working and sweden it's working. >> okay, final word. >> to tie the two parts of this conversation together, this country spends ever more on old people, if it doesn't reform entitlements and it needs to shift that spending to younger people and all the other good things we talked about will come together and then the future looks pretty rosy for the u.s. >> parents should get a half vote for each child under 18. >> i think that and the consumption tax are not going to happen. glenn hubbard, peter orzrzag, thank you for joining us. >>> in north america but not in the united states. details right after this. i always wait until the last minute. c

explain this contradiction could it be that this is just a continuation of the conflict between western europe and america on the one hand and iran on the other which is now being transferred to the area of climate change as well in other words is appealing a political matter i don't think it is a political matter i think it is a matter of disagreement and the lack of understanding between g seventy seven countries and china on the one hand and western or developed countries on the other there are three countries that have distanced themselves away from the kyoto protocol russia japan and south korea but the remaining hundred twenty countries all agree mung themselves but this issue has nothing to do whatsoever with the disagreement that exists between iran and the west we think that developed countries have thirty year old to honor their commitments they produce more greenhouse gas emissions they have agreed to reduce those emissions but they fail to do so. and you saw you but they blame here for example germander searches published same stats few days ago and they say iran is the world's thi

looks like he is now leaving western europe just dropping off some presents in britain and also ireland, working his way across the atlantic ocean. we are at 4.1 billion and counting. tracking santa tonight. this is an early christmas present for snowfall total if you are a fan of snow. over the weekend, 57 inches of snowfall. heavenly, 54 inches. there is more coming up tonight and tomorrow. 140% of normal is the show pact right now. last year, 27%. we have five times as much snow this year compared to last year on christmas eve. tonight we will be in the 40s. 24 concord down to 40. a little chilly for the kids early tomorrow morning. low pressure moving in. there is not as much moisture to go with this. also, the storm tracker will be a little bit far to the north. we're not expecting any flooding. what i do expect, high pressure to build back in. we will be sunny and dry to wrap up christmas week, but we will be wet tomorrow. rain moves in from north to south. we're not expecting a repeat of all the severe weather we had over the weekend. mountain viewh view, 54. 51 for naapa and low

the united states ended in western europe have no interest in occupying and colonizing afghanistan into the 51st state, or whatever. the afghans are there tuesday. the others come and go. -- are there to stay. the others come and go. >> puc much fighting? gregg's my time was split between the capital -- >> my time was split between the south. endand the >> you know afghanistan well. thank you for coming in. it has been over a month now since a americans gave president obama four more years in the white house. there are now more minority voters than ever before. and in large part, the republican candidate lost because he failed to reach out to them. if your than one in three latino's failed to vote -- fewer than one in three latino's failed to vote for mitt romney. what will the republican party need to do to get the hispanic vote? >> at a christmas party outside of boston, republicans are not feeling particularly festive -- outside of austin, republicans are not filling a particularly festive. they know they have a challenge in front of them. within two years, hispanics will outnumber w

the united states ended in western europe have no interest in occupying and colonizing afghanistan into the 51st state, or whatever. the afghans are there tuesday. the others come and go. -- are there to stay. the others come and go. >> puc much fighting? gregg's my time was split between the capital -- >> my time was split between the south. endand the >> you know afghanistan well. thank you for coming in. it has been over a month now since a americans gave president obama four more years in the white house. there are now more minority voters than ever before. and in large part, the republican candidate lost because he failed to reach out to them. if your than one in three latino's failed to vote -- fewer than one in three latino's failed to vote for mitt romney. what will the republican party need to do to get the hispanic vote? >> at a christmas party outside of boston, republicans are not feeling particularly festive -- outside of austin, republicans are not filling a particularly festive. they know they have a challenge in front of them. within two years, hispanics will outnumber w

a feud that has often cut off gas supplies to western europe. >> south stream could soon make ukraine much more willing to compromise. kiev could even agree to some form of russian involvement in its pipeline system and its modernization. >> the launch of south stream gives it a head start. and this is supposed to reduce the you's dependence on russia and the dying gasp from central asia. in contrast, south stream is due to start delivering gas in 2015. >> voting is drawing to a close in presidential elections in ghana. the poles expected to test the country's reputation as a beacon of stability and democracy in africa. >> the election will reveal how popular the incumbent is after he took over from the late president who died in july. opinion polls predict a tight race. the winner will oversee the current oil boom, one of africa's fastest-growing economies. soccer fans are no doubt eagerly awaiting the next european football championship in 2016. hundreds of thousands of fans will flock to get a firsthand look at the action. >> in the year 2020, that will not be so easy. that is beca

and let's look over towards europe in the british isles, cloud cover towards western europe. that is a very strong and deep low pressure system and the threat with this one as it pushes in, won't just bring heavy rain showers but strong high pressure down towards the south keeping things dry in the iberian peninsula and interacting creating lines close together, a tight pressure gradient, up to 120 kilometers per hour especially along the west coast of the u.k. and towards ireland, that's continuing to push to the northeast. it's going to be raising up temperatures. we'll see rain in the scandanavian peninsula and the threat there is snow melt and avalanche. farther towards the south, things will be remaining on the dry side. you'll see temperatures near the freezing mark towards vienna. 2 degrees for the high. london and paris, as warm air pulls in, you're seeing above average temperatures. london and paris 11 and 13 on your saturday. madrid, up to 11 degrees. let's look over towards eastern asia into japan. starting to bring heavy rain showers, you've been seeing 50 to 80 m

then as we look into europe, several storm systems pushing across central and western europe bringing heavy rain showers at times. but temperatures on the mild side. london and paris at 9 and 11. really cools off in moscow. minus 1 for your high on your wednesday. here is a look at the extended forecast. >>> we'll be back in 30 minutes with more news. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. have a great day wherever you are.

and let's look over towards europe in the british isles, cloud cover towards western europe. that is a very strong and deep low pressure system and the threat with this one as it pushes in, won't just bring heavy rain showers but strong high pressure down towards the south keeping things dry in the iberian peninsula and interacting creating lines close together, a tight pressure gradient, up to 120 kilometers per hour especially along the west coast of the u.k. and towards ireland, that's continuing to push to the northeast. it's going to be raising up temperatures. we'll see rain in the scandanavian peninsula and the threat there is snow melt and avalanche. farther towards the south, things will be remaining on the dry side. you'll see temperatures near the freezing mark towards vienna. 2 degrees for the high. london and paris, as warm air pulls in, you're seeing above average temperatures. london and paris 11 and 13 on your saturday. madrid, up to 11 degrees. let's look over towards eastern saz asia into japan. starting to bring heavy rain showers, you've been seeing 50 to

but, in the western europe, and in the far east. and, in china. >> reporter: strong demand for gold exchange traded funds has also helped support prices. the spider gold trust-- ticker gld-- has $75 billion in assets. and it's is backed by physical gold. it also helps that some hedge funds with bylaws prohibiting them from buying futures, can buy gold e.t.f.'s. >> so there are some people that were restricted before. they're not now, and that's supportive of the gold. >> reporter: a gold rally is not a sure thing. if there's a recession, some fear commodities like gold will drop in value. on the other hand, if the economy picks up sharply, riskier assets could become more attractive. erika miller, "n.b.r.," new york. >> susie: more signs today that housing demand is picking up: the number of contracts signed to buy homes rose in november, to its best level in more than two years. the national association of realtors index of pending sales rose almost 10% last month. so will the housing market continue to recover in the new year? tha

we say politely a fake fake facsimile of the western europe. that's the least of it. i mean, that would be the minimal strategic objective of our president and his administration. limited government, yes, and we have to think about which what we can and can't do. like, i mean, -- but i think we have to bear in mind that we lost this last battle on november 6th, the war is by no means over on the contrary. and i think that if unless we keep it in focus, unless we keep reminding ourselves that the stakes in many particular war about as great as they can be, we're going lose. and it's got nothing to do with whether there's another regulation of the banks or, you know, whether taxes go up on the rich or don't go up on the rich. i don't don't say they are unimportant. they are tactical or intermediated

but, in the western europe, and in the far east. and, in china. >> reporter: strong demand for gold exchange traded funds has also helped support prices. the spider gold trust-- ticker gld-- has $75 billion in assets. and it's is backed by physical gold. it also helps that some hedge funds with bylaws prohibiting them from buying futures, can buy gold e.t.f.'s. >> so there are some people that were restricted before. they're not now and that's supportive of the gold. >> reporter: a gold rally is not a sure thing. if there's a recession, some fear commodities like gold will drop in value. on the other hand, if the economy picks up sharply riskier assets could become more attractive. erika miller, "n.b.r.," new york. >> susie: more signs today that housing demand is picking up: the number of contracts signed to buy homes rose in november to its best level in more than two years. the national association of realtors index of pending sales rose almost 10% last month. so will the housing market continue to recover in the new year? that's

course to the former soviet republics countries like ukraine belarus and kazakhstan but also to western europe it does have a number of devoted fans even in countries like germany but the one good thing about this deal with every known nissan is that at least the government will no longer have to spend billions of dollars on supporting the ailing auto maker over the years this state supports came in many shapes and forms in stock to auto vos receipt. eved eight fifty seven billion ruble that's about one point seven billion dollar credit line from the state that it pays no way tristan and doesn't have to be back until the year twenty thirty two how do i get a loan like dobbs and of course the famous cash for clunkers program launched by the state in twenty ten primarily benefited of to vaas in fact about fifty percent of its monthly sales in the twenty ten and twenty eleven came from the people who participated in that program but of course regardless of all the incentives if you ask me i would really want to own a lot of. and days so that's a business kevin back in just under two hours or i th

i have said this for years now the economic future of eurasia including of russia as well as western europe by the way lies in closer economic cooperation throughout your asia down into the middle east northern africa and china and india in the central part of that so the fact that putin is going to india today i think is is very much part of his reorientation from from west forward eurasia to be mentioned several times i think the reasons for cooperation are much stronger at this point than the reasons for conflict india is in kind of a but you your position it's. a normal potential for economic growth and norma's problems of backwardness the caste system and so forth that the interest that the potentials are there and i think the synergies are there for the cooperation between china russia and india the three three of the four bric nations and you know results at the moment with geographical reasons. and as the russian president gets down to business the british queen gets ready for a new look should be embracing innovation one should give annual festive message this year and a we'll see

countries like ukraine were in the past disagreements resulted and deliveries to customers in western europe being disrupted this pipeline will transit the russian natural gas through the black the sea to bulgaria and on to greece is the end austria delivering gas directly to the european markets so stream is a competitor to be in the book a project that's the use of time to reduce its soprano's all of the russian gas however the fate of that project is currently on certain due to falling demand for natural gas and you rope and the high cost of construction gas from owns a fifty percent of the south stream pipeline the rest is split between france and germany and yet many in the view of question whether it's even needed it's the overall cost of more than twenty billion dollars makes it one of the most expensive allergy supply systems on earth and critics say that's too much especially in times of the global economic recession but that skepticism one stop a project which promises choice and security long into the future. asia is sitting in a bottle for resources as well with the true regional