a telling symbol of zimbabwe status. imagine asking a multi-national company to invest in zimbabwe.ountry at 163 in the world in its latest corruption rankings. the world bank ranks it 172nd for ease of doing business. zimbabwe has gone from being africa's bread basket to its basket case. the country's basic problem is not economic but political. zimbabwe has known only one real leader in all its existence. robert mogabi. he will be 89 this front and he's made clear he wants to contest elections, once again this year. the man who could challenge him morgan changara is currently the prime minister. but his power and influence is severely limited. magabi and his party control many of the most important ministries, as well as the police and military. as with the last election, many observers expect violence, threats and bribery to influence how people vote. meanwhile, the ruling party continues to steal this poor country blind. in november, a canadian watchdog allege that more than $2 billion worth of diamonds have gone missing in zimbabwe since 2008. it's not just diamonds. the same g

zimbabwe has made these kind of headlines before.nt in 2008, annual inflation hit an estimated 90 sextillion percent. that is the number 9 followed by 22 zeros. the central bank was forced to print a 100 trillion note which now sells on ebay for a few u.s. dollars. but once zimbabweans adopted u.s., the economy stabilized. according to the international monetary fund, gdp grew by more than 6% in 2009 and nearly 10% for each of the next two years. it is now projected to grow around 5% per year through 2014. so, despite the seemingly robust growth, why does this nation have only $217. in its state coffers? what in the world is going on? i should add that zimbabwe's finance minister later clarified that $30 million had been added to the government's account since he last spoke. but even that amount is pittance for a modern state. it is however, a telling symbol of zimbabwe status. imagine asking a multi-national company to invest in zimbabwe. transparency international puts this country at 163 in the world in its latest corruption ranki

the ruling party of zimbabwe's says it wants all sanctions against the country removed. but demand was made after a decision by the european union to lift a limited number those restrictions. banking havel and been lifted against 21 politicians loyal to president mugabe. the european union says it's partly because of the government's new draft constitution. now more. harare. >> zimbabwe officials are not happy that the sanctions are only easing on a few of the individuals. these are the headlines in the capital. there are hoping for more. it comes down to economics. it wanted a particular mining development company to be delisted. company sells gold and diamonds to companies around the world, but it has not been able to operate in your opinion member states. the government says they have been forced to sell the diamonds and other minerals at below market value. they hoped to be able to operate freely in the your opinion in antrim able to sell diamonds at the proper market prices. european union members say the reason they have not taken it off the list is if they want ce

zimbabwe was allegedly responsible for overseeing assassination orders of mexican government authorities and rivals of the cartel but he was later extradited to the u.s. on drug trafficking charges and it is defense see claimed federal court filings that the u.s. government had offered the crime syndicate immunity to import tons of drugs across the border and exchange for information on rival cartels the issue was exacerbated however when it was discovered that the vast majority of the weapons at the heart of the fast and furious scandal ended up in the hands of the very same drug gang and while this trial continues to be pushed back zimbabwe has a status hearing set for the twenty fifth of this month where his defense attorneys are expected to provide damning evidence against the federal drug enforcement agency but as explosive as the scandal is that somehow flown well below the radar of the corporate news so to help break down the latest in the case the larger implications of the trial and why we're not hearing about it joining me now from mexico city is investigative journalist andrew

zimbabwe is approaching wealthy countries and the united nations for money.unding for the process can be generated from within. >> we have always held elections, since 2008, when the economy had a new economy of states. so, now we have over six companies. with eight other companies mining all over the country. we can finance the election with our own resources. >> former congressman jesse jackson jr. has pled guilty to misusing campaign funds. $750,000 were spent on personal use. flying ahead of the ceremony, [indiscernible] was held at the los angeles airport. it is his sixth business to america and he is the co- director of by a broken camera, surrounded by israeli settlements. the education system in indonesia has been plagued by bad teaching and high dropout rates. an innovative program is trying to fill the shortfall with smart, a young graduates in need. >> he is a long way from his home in the capital. a volunteer for the program with university graduate spending a year teaching at remote schools. the 23-year-old engineer lives on a volcanic island in

italy's problem is a lack of growth on par with haiti and zimbabwe. that is the problem with its growing. it just evaporate any chance at it being able to repay the huge debt which stands at about 120% of gdp. that is why the eurozone is looking at italy quite closely. the answer so far seems to be austerity. that is what mario monti's government has been pushing. like and other country, greece and spain have huge question marks on whether austerity is the best or worst thing for the economy? it means the economy does not grow. that is one of the issues of anyone at the voting booth today or tomorrow. >> thank you. staying in rome, pope benedict the 16th has been reassuring ball worse that he is not abandoning the roman catholic church. he was giving his final sunday blessing to a packed crowd. paul brennan has the story. >> it lasted barely 10 minutes. his last ever blessing in rome was laden with significant. to an audience of tens of thousands and a global television audience of millions, the pope offered reassurance. if the lord calls me to go up

zimbabwe and iran. the particular case of iran's involvement in some of these renditions?>> there are a number of individuals that were captured in iran who were then handed over to afghan authorities as part of a prisoner exchange, but the iranians must have known at the time that the afghans would hand them over to the u.s. because of the ongoing hostilities in afghanistan. >> summarize the findings in your report. it is extremely extensive. was surprise to most as you did this research? what surprised you most as you did this research? >> the horrific abuse that was meted out by the u.s. and its partners to the human beings who were subjected to the operations. that stands out. but also, just the scale and sweep of these operations, the number of people who were put through this. and the number of governments that were coopted. of course the u.s. was the ringleader. this was the cia's invention, the moral responsibility does not rest with the nine states alone. it also rests with those 54 governments that were complicit in various ways. i should also add the u.s. leavin

some fairly heavy rain across parts of zambia and zimbabwe. heavy rain in madagascar. >> top stories on al jazeera -- thousands of tunisians had gathered in the capital for the funeral of a prominent opposition leader. shokri belaid's death sparked protests across the country. flights in and out of tunis have been canceled. air are reports of a shooting in bamako -- there are reports of a shooting in bamako. forces have attacked a military checkpoint near the city of gao. european leaders are getting closer to a deal to decide that you's -- decide the eu budget for the next seven years. incoming cia chief john brennan has defended his country's controversial drone program. he was one of the architects of the scheme, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups in the us and across the globe. >> the hearing to confirm john brennan as head of the cia got off to a rocky start. activists protested against the us drone program, which brennan helped to create. lawmakers have been frustrated for years by the white house's secrecy, but it's poli

mugabe, was then president of zimbabwe, and still president of zimbabwe that he used all his time up.and he wasn't very happy with that. and because of that i was able to do that. our secretary of commerce, ron brown, asked me if i would chair the 50 anniversary of the united nations the africa lunch that the u.s. was giving at that time, which i did. he said look, if you can do that, then you can take anything else. so i mean, there've been a lot of people. you mentioned secretaries of treasury here in the united states. certainly the various heads of the fed and central bank who i think worldwide. and i think one of the things we need to see more of getting to the point that are now you want me to talk about is leadership. we haven't seen the tough leadership in europe that we need to seek to get out of christ. we were very lucky in the case of the lack american debt crisis, that we have paul volcker at the fed, and we had rosier at the international monetary fund. two of the most outstanding people public sector people i have ever known. because the world people forget so long ago,

would have been very fair is quite right larry kramer was a real leader in this conversation and in zimbabwe and in uganda in congo there were singers who are leaders in the conversations and in other places or political leaders who didn't maybe could be almost anybody can write maybe somebody has to stand up and take this on it doesn't matter who it is it's just long as i person cares and as her system. kelly and i think what's going to eventually happen as far as in our community is that we need to start letting young people and even young people just people in general understand the power of their voice because eventually was going to happen is that. the new media is going to be the cell phone ok because as they see things put the video you know because now cell phones you could upload photos directly to youtube all these different things is that now they have the power to tell the story. as more people living with hiv step forward to tell their stories we will no longer be able to ignore them and pretend we are safe the conversation must be taken to the schools inside the homes and throu

and the purveyor of fear is quite right larry kramer was a real leader in this conversation and in zimbabwe and in uganda in congo there were singers who were leaders in this conversations and in other places or political leaders who didn't maybe could be almost anybody can write maybe somebody has to stand up and take this on it doesn't matter who it is it's just long as i don't personally care is in his her system. kelly and i think what's going to eventually happen as far as in our community is that we need to start letting young people and even young people just people in general understand the power of their voice because eventually was going to happen is that. the new media is going to be the cell phone ok because as they see things put the video you know because now cell phones you could upload photos directly to you tube all these different things is that now they have the power to tell the story. as more people living with hiv step forward to tell their stories we will no longer be able to ignore them and pretend we are safe the conversation must be taken to the schools inside the

was there was a paraphrase playwright larry kramer was a real leader in this conversation and in zimbabwe and in uganda in congo there were singers who were leaders in this conversations and other places or political leaders who didn't maybe could be almost anybody can write maybe somebody has to stand up and take this on it doesn't matter who it is it's just long as i person cares and is persistent and compelling and i think what's going to eventually happen as far as in our community is that we need to start living young people not even young people just people in general understand the power of the voice because eventually was going to happen is that. the new media is going to be this for today because as they see it they. put the video. now cellphones you go upload photos directly to youtube all these different things is that now they have the power to tell the story. as more people living with hiv step forward to tell their stories we will no longer be able to ignore them and pretend we are safe the conversation must be taken to the schools inside the homes and throughout the communi

there in the can verify is quite right larry kramer was a real leader in this conversation and in zimbabwe and in uganda in congo there were singers who are leaders in this conversations and other places or political leaders who didn't maybe could be almost anybody can write maybe somebody has to stand up and take this on it doesn't matter who it is it's just long as i don't personally care as an as her system. kelly and i think what's going to eventually happen as far as in our community is that we need to start letting young people and even young people just people in general understand the power of their voice because eventually was going to happen is that. the new media is going to be this cell phone ok because as they see it they have this put the video because now cell phones you could upload photos directly to youtube all these different things is that now they have the power to tell the story. as more people living with hiv step forward to tell their stories we will no longer be able to ignore them and pretend we are safe the conversation must be taken to the schools inside the hom

and if they don't do that they will lose this thing with the support so they have to do this in zimbabwe don't know how to who and they cannot because they are not united and they don't have the same view was so it's a big mess moscow is denying claims by tokyo that two russian fighter jets entered japanese airspace just off the northern island of hokkaido tokyo an official protest in connection with the alleged treason last of less than a minute and sent its only combat jets to meet what was said to be su twenty seven jets the russian military spokesman confirmed the pacific navy fleet were performing shadow of flights in the area but no violation of airspace to place simran still intact and just a year ago then japan scrambled its fighter jets when several russian planes from close to its territory later admitted they did not breach its space some other international news headlines for you in brief now iran's supreme leader ayatollah khomeini subject to the u.s. offer of direct talks over its nuclear program saying the two countries cannot negotiate and tehran has a gun pointed out it

and the purveyor of fear is quite right larry kramer was a real leader in this conversation and in zimbabwe and in uganda in congo there were singers who are leaders in this conversations and in other places or political leaders who didn't maybe could be almost anybody can write maybe somebody has to stand up and take this on it doesn't matter who it is it's just long as i person cares in his her system. kelly and i think what's going to eventually happen as far as in our community is that we need to start letting young people and even young people just people in general understand the power of their voice because eventually was going to happen is that. the new media is going to be the cell phone ok because as they see things put the video you know because now cell phones you could upload photos directly to you tube all these different things is that now they have the power to tell the story. as more people living with hiv step forward to tell their stories we will no longer be able to ignore them and pretend we are safe the conversation must be taken to the schools inside the homes and thr

and has a bad influence on social cohesion and some ministers have suggested limiting remain in zimbabwe ariens access to health services and housing when they arrive as you can imagine not all the romanians living in the u.k. are cleaning the toilets some of them are highly qualified even the understudies there so they find this very aggressive and on this is very campaign really whether or not the anti britain campaign will ever make it to a billboard neighborhood arrest is now beside the point the british government has already made the newest members feel that little bit less welcome here. r.t. london well i do remember you can always i stay updated with the latest news by just adding to our website r.t. dot com that's a look right now and see was just a click away for you at the moment for example people in australia being warned to stay clear of kind of containing highly toxic chemicals that have now washed up on pristine beaches all up and down the east coast also british intelligence reportedly concerned that the queen of crime i go to christie accidentally spilled one of the cou

ended up in the hands of the very same drug gang and while this trial continues to be pushed back zimbabwe has a status hearing set for the twenty fifth of this month where his defense attorneys are expected to provide damning evidence against the federal drug enforcement agency but as. explosive as the scandal is it somehow flown well below the radar of the corporate news so to help break down the latest in the case the larger implications of the trial and why we're not hearing about it joining me now from mexico city is investigative journalist andrew can as andrew thanks so much for coming on thanks for having me i mean so you've been writing about this case for some time what exactly is the bought a claim in and are his claims being taken seriously. yet his claims are being taken that seriously by a lot of different orders but nonetheless there are explosives in it and the extent of the accusations and it is a frightening amount of evidence to substantiate at least some of them first of all there were so many credible testimony that happened during the height of the fast furious scanda

and has a bad influence on social cohesion and some ministers have suggested limiting remain in zimbabwe garion access to health services and housing when they arrive as you can imagine not all the romanians living in the u.k. are cleaning the toilets some of them are highly qualified even to understudies there so they find this a very aggressive and under society campaign really whether or not the anti britain campaign will ever make it to a billboard near bucharest is now beside the point the british government has already made the ease newest members feel that little bit less welcome here. r.t. london. and online for you right now at r.t. dot com that barack obama. in chief american president cannot launch cyber war in whichever country he wants with just the push of a button even if there's no concrete evidence of a threat a lot of details on that on our website. also there for you right now the city in pakistan where osama bin laden was killed is to get a far make over to try and improve its image if you go online to our website you can find out what the former home of the world's m

and has a bad influence on social cohesion and some ministers have suggested limiting remaining in zimbabwe ariens access to health services and housing when they arrive as you can imagine not all the romanians living in the u.k. are cleaning the toilets some of them are highly qualified even to under studies there so they find this very aggressive and under society campaigning really whether or not the anti britain campaign will ever make it to a billboard near bucharest is now beside the point the british government has already made the newest members feel that little bit less welcome here polyploid r.t. london. or do remember you can always stay updated with all the latest news just by heading to our website r t v dot com just a couple of the stories right now that are just a click away for you for example are people in australia being told to avoid the kind of students containing highly toxic chemicals these barrels of washed up on the pristine beaches up and down the east coast. also british intelligence reportedly concerned that the queen of crime christie accidentally spilled one of

they don't do that they will lose this financing and be able to support so they have to do this in zimbabwe both know how to who and they come out because they are not united and they don't have the same abuse so it's a big mess and the west would like to see this big mess for in the country. let's take a look at. other world headlines in brief right now a massive explosion has ripped through the roof of a gas plant in texas one person died while another was hospitalized with burns to over thirty five percent of his body a spokesman for the plant's operators says that the cause of the blast is unknown but an investigation is under way to stress that no hazardous substance was released into the air and there is no threat to the general public. bus traveling in a mountainous area five hundred kilometers south of the chilean capital son diego has plummeted down a ravine it killing sixteen people most of the victims were teenagers one baby among the did state media says the bus had no c. bills and was only meant for use in cities not for long trips. in india scuffles have broken out between act

ended up in the hands of the very same drug gang and while this trial continues to be pushed back zimbabwe has a status hearing set for the twenty fifth of this month where his defense attorneys are expected to provide damning evidence against the federal drug enforcement agency but as explosive as the scandal is it somehow flown well below the radar of the corporate news so to help you break down the latest in the case the larger implications of the trial and why we're not hearing about it joining me now from mexico city is investigative journalist andrew qantas andrew thanks so much for coming on thanks for having me so you've been writing about this case for some time what exactly is i'm bata claiming and are his claims being taken seriously. yet his claims are being taken that seriously by a lot of their shareholders nonetheless that are explosive in the extent of the accusations and there's a fighting amount of evidence to substantiate at least some of them first of all there were so many credible testimony that happened during the height of fast furious scandal and that happened most

granulated sugar used on hospital patients to heal wounds and reduce pain the method was created in zimbabweorking so well in england that the doctor was given a large grant to test sugar on surgical cuts when deputies said that the remedy relieve his pain so well it's changed his life, doctors hope that sugar dressing will reduce the need for narcotic medication. >> it's about to get really cold this weekend. nexium, the purple pill, helps provide many with day and night relief of heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disea.. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache abdominal pain, and diarrhea. call your dooror right away if you have persistent diarrhea. other serious stomhh conditions may exist. don't take nexium if you take clopidogrel. ask your doctor if nexium is right for you.find out how you may be able to get nexium for just $18 a month at purplepill.com introducing new febreze stick & refresh with command strips from 3m. designed to stick and eliminate odors anywhere. like this overflowing trashcan. to test it, we brought in the

ended up in the hands of the very same drug gang and while this trial continues to be pushed back zimbabwe has a status hearing set for the twenty fifth of this month where his defense attorneys are expected to provide damning evidence against the federal drug enforcement agency but as explosive as the scandal is that somehow flown well below the radar of the corporate news so to help break down the latest in the case the larger implications of the trial and why we're not hearing about it joining me now from mexico city is investigative journalist andrew qantas andrew thanks so much for coming on. things you're. so you've been writing about this case. for some time what exactly is a model claiming and are his claims being taken seriously. yet his claims are being taken that seriously by a lot of different orders but nonetheless there are explosives in the extent of the accusations and it is a frightening amount of evidence to substantiate at least some of them first of all there were so many credible testimony that happened during the height of the fast furious scandal and it happened most

mcgrath the who was then president of zimbabwe and still president of zimbabwe who had used dollars timeout. he was not very happy with that. because of that, i was able to do that. our secretary of commerce asked me if i would share the 50th anniversary of the united nations, the effort a loss of the u.s. was given at that time, which i did because he said, look, if you can do that then you can take anything else. so, i mean, there have been a lot of people. you mention secretaries of treasury here in the united states, certainly the various heads of the fed and central bankers. i think worldwide, i think one of the things that we need to see more of getting to the point that i know you want to talk about is we need leadership, and we have now seen the top leadership in europe that we need to see to get out of the crisis. we were lucky in the case of a lot american debt crisis that we had paul volcker at the fed and the international monetary fund. two of the most outstanding public sector people i have ever known. because people for did know. the early 80's was about to go under. in fact,

and eighty's was caused by running out of oil price of oil dramatically going up the inflation in zimbabwe was the result of people being given farmers who didn't know how to farm and they're so there was a there was literally a food shortage inflation is it's not too many dollars chasing too few good sites too few goods being chased by the same government spending matters because right now if you just look at the unfunded liabilities as they stand and i know you don't like talking on a fund and the truth is we can't even pay out to our social security recipients we don't have the monies that we certainly can't we certainly don't we're going to time i got to tell you i figured that fundamentally change how we think about deficit spending in this country republicans the deficit spending is a bad thing but i see it as an investment in the future when you put a trillion dollars into the economy or a billion dollars in the economy reform to save the union address in transportation expenditures you create thirty four thousand jobs in the first billion dollars of spending and that's not only on

i was born and bred in rhodesia, which is now zimbabwe.ria, m-b-i-r-i-a, which is played with thumbs. to make music. to make the sounds, yes. the buttons are melted to amplify the sound of the thumbs. and these--all these sections here are made out of flattened nails, aren't they? that's right, and the length of them is actually to give specific sounds. do you want me to--to sound it? yeah, yeah. why not? because this is how it was played. ( playing music ) fantastic. thank you so much. you've informed-- given me information, because this wasbrought back 12. but so, what exactly was the story? what's your connection with africa? my father-in-law, because he prospected for gold there at the same time as cecil rhodes. and did their paths cross in any way? yes, yes, they-- they walked together. they camped. and my father-in-law always carried a bible, eh, because nobody would ever read the bible, and they--he cut a hole in the bible and so his precious things were kept in there inside. so he wasn't necessarily a religious man. no, no, no, no,

north korea, iran, zimbabwe, all of them. >> a great group, i'd love to go to dinner with all of themo gordon chang and ann lee. i appreciate it. remember how much the unions came out in support of obama care? remember that? now a lot of those same unions are reading the fine print and they don't like what they see. they're having buyers remorse and now they want even more money to pay for obama care. that's up next on "kudlow." this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each mo24 hours.. and don't get heartburn in the first place! ...tax time can ofbe...well...taxing. so right now we'll give you... ...$10 off any turbo tax deluxe level software or higher! find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see