>> welcome to russia. the first torchbearers have started their marathon relay through russia and to sochi 201 4. battles across cairo see dozens die after gatherings for the anniversary of the war with israel. u.s. special forces were reportedly pushed back during a raid in somalia. a separate operation in libya sees a terror leader sees --

seized. and targeted by a suicide bomber in iraq has killed 12 children. hello and welcome. thanks for joining us. it is a big day for russia. the olympic flame was in moscow for the final countdown to the 2014 winter olympics. ♪ a massive convoy of bikers brought it safely to the square and a cheering crowd before president putin sent the torch on its way.

>> it is truly an historic event for the entire nation and possibly even for the history of the olympic games themselves. the olympic flame was first on its special flight and was escorted by the night wolves biker gang, one of the most famous ones in the country. many of these guys are athletes themselves. they are also known for their various charity projects. they said it was an honor to take part in this event. several thousand people were waiting for the flame to arrive into the heart of the capital, red square, where it was greeted by president putin and celebrities congratulating pretty much the whole nation with the flame finally arriving to moscow. basically laying the foundation of ahead of the official start of the longest olympic torch relay in the history of the games.

you are talking about 2900 cities and villages across the country. the flame will be taken atop the biggest mountains and at the bottom of the biggest lakes. it is also planned that the olympic flame will be taken on board the international space station and even outside into outer space. so far, they have been hiding the secret how that will technically be possible. 14,000 people will be taking part in this relay. it is estimated that around 130 million russian citizens will be at a reachable distance to the flame at one point or another. to be able to see it with their own eyes or even participate in the relay itself. when it comes to the transportation, this flame will be transported via all of the possible means of transportation, not only airplanes and trains, but dogs, reindeer, camels even.

hot air balloons and spaceships. this is truly an historic event. it is the start of the final stretch before the actual start of the winter olympics, which so many people have been waiting for. >> andrew farmer follow the olympic flame all the way from greece on board the very jet that brought it here. >> i was just going to take you back a week. this flame started its life in olympia this time last week. the reason it has been in greece is to remind us of the history of these olympics. the birthplace of the olympic games, 2500 years ago. in olympia, there are still the remains of the greek temple that were there then. you can see the original running track that they used in 700 bc. they used the rays of the sun to light the flame.

that flame is used to light the first torchbearer, who was in olympia. this torch went around greece and it was handed over to the olympic committee. it is a beautiful stadium in athens, where the first modern olympics were held at the end of the 19th century. the public went and watched. it was well received there. then the question was, what happens to the flame now? how will we get it to russia? well, i found out. the question was, how do you take the flame from athens to moscow? you put it in a small lantern and then put it on a plane. at is not just any old plane. it is a vip plane and i have a ticket. we are now cruising at 30,000 feet. tucked into the seat is the olympic flame. it has been used to light a couple of other lanterns and that is because one of them might allow. they have the -- one of them

might go out. they have the others just in case. on board is the president of the sochi olympics committee. you spent the last eight years of your life trying to bring this flame to russia. you must be pretty excited. >> we are very proud and very much excited because it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the generations to showcase the new modern russia to the world. several billions of viewers for the opening ceremony, which will be held in 124 days. >> you have a busy time ahead. i will let you get some more rest. we are due to touch down in moscow in about two hours time. and we have just landed in moscow. it is an historic moment. you will see the olympic flame for sochi is about to receive a very warm welcome.

>> he also spoke to a veteran organizer of olympic torch relays who was a consultant for sochi. he talked about choosing torchbearers and the logistics to making it a success. >> for 4 years, 18 has been planning this. 30-40 people in the organizing committee. there are hundreds who have been working on this over the last year. when we go on the road, there will be thousands every day. it is a fantastic story behind the 14,000 torchbearers. you can see how proud they are. it is building excitement for the games. the celebration starts now. it is just four months until the games and we are carrying this message of the games now. the selection process is different.

a number had to be selected through campaigns. they have gone out in public campaigns and people can apply or be nominated based on their merits and their good job as volunteers of communities. they apply or some are nominated. >> the olympic torch is on its epic journey to sochi. 123 days through 2900 towns and cities of russia, relayed by 14,000 people, 65000 kilometers. a record-setting trip through land, air, sea, and outer space. the olympic torch relay. on rt and rt.com. >> turning to developments in egypt now. fierce clashes have broken out

between muslim brotherhood supporters and anti-morsi road testers, leaving at least 44 people dead. battles have broken out in several areas of cairo after people gathered for the 40th anniversary of the yom kippur war, egypt last conflict with israel. >> very fierce street battles erupted this afternoon between security forces and the supporters of the ousted mohamed morsi on the 40th anniversary of the 1973 arab-israeli war. rival protests with supporters of the military gathering at tire your square. -- at tahrir square. a few kilometers away from where i am standing, and in other locations across the capital, there were very bloody scenes. common morsi supporters attempted to march on this very

square. it wanted to hold anti-military protests. they say they were not against the institution of the army, but they were against the generals. they want to see change as they say they are leading the country to destruction and calling for mohamed morsi to be reinstated. the battles are spilling over into the side streets. residential and middle-class neighborhoods. civilians were throwing tear gas and firing at these protesters with bird shot bullets. reports of other ammunition, though i cannot confirm that. the interior ministry said at least 200 muslim brotherhood sympathizers have been arrested in mass roundups around the country as the death toll continues to rise. there are a number of people here and at the presidential palace who are celebrating what is continued -- what is considered one of the greatest military victories in egyptian history.

they said they are very angry with the muslim brotherhood and their supporters for staging a protest. the brotherhood are saying they are being treated in a heavy- handed manner. these could go on through the night and possibly throughout the week as egypt remains divided. >> a journalist says there is a way out of this cycle of violence. >> the government could reconcile with the muslim brotherhood. it is possible that egypt could turn around in a short space of time. probably not this current government, because this is just the army running the country alone. in a few months, when elections are taking place, it will be a new government. one would expect that they will be motivated to reconcile. obviously, they will be under national pressure inside egypt and also international pressure to reconcile with the brotherhood.

of course, the brotherhood is a force to be reckoned with in egypt. it will be difficult for them to run the country without having the reconciliation with the brotherhood. >> the weapons inspectors in syria say the government's chemical stockpiles have started to be destroyed. but will they continue? rt has a report on the risks to fears that president assad might hide some of his arsenal. and the netherlands goes to an international tribunal to try to free the greenpeace activists who russia is taken to court on piracy charges. details just ahead. >>) the scene.

first-rate news and eye-gripping pictures. on our reporters' twitter and instagram. to be in the know always online. >> you are watching the weekly view, the latest news and the week's top stories. let's move on. the discussion -- the destruction of syria's chemical arsenal has begun. warheads, chemical-mixing installations, and rockets are undergoing dismantling and eradication. the process is expected to take months. there may yet be provocations ahead. >> the opposition is very disturbed because they were banking, and this applies to all

sections of the opposition, even though sections like the more religious extremist groups who loath the united states were hoping for an invasion which they could then use to take the country and fight each other like is happening in libya. that has not happened. whether sections of the opposition will disrupt inspectors from disarming or doing whatever they are doing with chemical weapons, i do not know. it would not surprise me if some section from within them try to create a provocation and blame it on the government. they were very upset when no war happened. >> are middle east correspondent has just arrived in damascus to report on the destruction of syria's chemical weapons. >> we have just driven through

the lebanon-syria border. aside from a couple of bureaucratic delays, the whole process was relatively smooth. it took only about 20 minutes for our passports to be stamped on the lebanese side. there were around 250 people, everybody staying in a cube. the lebanese army managing and controlling everything. the situation is really stable here at the border post. it took us around 1.5 hours to drive from beirut to the border. at this time in the morning, it is around 10:00, the traffic, there are a number of mostly civilian cars, a number of taxis, and also some buses. inside those buses are mostly women and some children. i spoke to some of the taxi drivers and they say that business is still good. they still have a number of

lebanese banks that are working inside syria. at the same time, you have a number of businessmen based in beirut who have to come through to damascus on a fairly regular basis. i tried to speak to some of the passengers but no one would speak on camera. they fear any kind of retribution. the situation is still very serious here. rt on the lebanese-syrian border. >> radical imams, controversial politicians, and hardened warlords have submitted applications to iran's presidential election next year. there are already fears of rigging and violence and corruption. all that pales to the possible return of the taliban. explaining why the taliban was recognized.

>> they consider democracy a western religion. for them, islam, which is submission to god, the rule of god, which is what they want, and democracy, meaning the rule of man, they are diametrically opposed to this. for them to see a western religion come to power by having a democratically-elected president step down is not something they will want at all. right now, you have nato, depending on the afghan national army and the police force, 352,000. the taliban number approximately 20,000-30,000 at the most and you have the taliban on the upswing. they killed four american soldiers today. you have a desertion rate of up to 30% in the afghan national army. can they stand up to the taliban? many people question whether they can.

the united states and its allies may pull out in total by 2014. can they afford that? that will mean 12 years, perhaps, have gone to waste. >> u.s. special forces in somalia had reportedly pulled back after resistance from militants during a navy seal attempt to capture their leader. another terror read in libya was more productive. the military captured a suspect from the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. washington is very selective when it comes to fighting terror. >> the war on terrorism has replaced the cold war to justify massive military spending. when they are supporting a dictator who won an election because he was the only name on the ballot or al qaeda or any mercenaries in syria or afghanistan or any of these terrorist groups or drug cartels , if they are supporting u.s.

policy in the region, it is not terrorism and it is not spoken of. it is not about how they act or who they kill. the u.s. has no problem supporting terrorists all over the rest of the world. for them to be fighting terrorists in somalia sounds a little disingenuous when they are supporting others in syria and many other terrorist groups all over the world. >> a suicide attack at a primary school in iraq has left 12 children dead as another string of blasts hit the war-torn country. a separate incident claimed the same number of lives from a group of pilgrims headed to a shrine. iraq the authorities are failing to curb the sectarian violence that is threatening to occur -- to push the country into civil war. >> there is a question that is fair to ask, whether or not iraq is -- iraqis already -- are

ready. the government does not have reasonable -- reasonable policy to respond to them. there is an enormous amount of sectarian tension above and beyond what we saw during the u.s. occupation. supposedly coalition government has ended up being a disaster. it is really the disastrous way that democracy has failed in iraq. that is why we are seeing all of this fighting. it is definitely a problem for the whole region. we are seeing a lot of spillover violence back and forth with syria. sooner or later, it will be something that will have to be dealt with nationwide. >> the netherlands started legal action against russia this week.

they filed a claim to win the release of nerdy greenpeace activists arrested after trying to scale a russian arctic oil rig. they were traveling on the dutch-registered arctic sunrise. they face up to 30 years in prison on charges of piracy. russia says it is within its rights to defend its asked -- its assets under international law. former greenpeace leader patrick believes the activists should have found a better way to get their message across. >> you cannot expect to have people allow you to continue to storm their oil rigs, a very serious operation with big safety issues. you start scaling the rig and people have to try to come and get you off it. it puts them in danger. i can certainly understand why they were apprehended and towed away from the site.

i do agree with president putin that they are not pirates. that is pretty obvious. their intentions were not to loot the rig or anything like that. they are still putting people in danger and it is a serious situation. it is my understanding that this is the first oil platform that is designed specifically to withstand ice. the intention is to make it a safer way to extract oil. >> with america's government and shut down for a sixth day, various interests are doing their best to bypass the partisan deadlock. lawyers have found a way to get hundreds of thousands of employees back to work. politicians have voted to pay laid-off workers for the days they are missing. a columnist says the dispute is sending shockwaves worldwide. >> there is nothing the u.s. government cannot and will not do for unclear reasons, sending

whatever shockwaves they feel like sending into the u.s. and the global economies. i cannot imagine a recipe that would undermine confidence in the dollar and the u.s. or particularly the u.s. government faster or more effectively than what we see on every news channel around the world every day for a week and counting. the u.s. congress enjoys a 10% approval waiting. 90% of the people they ask do not approve of the u.s. congress. that makes the u.s. congress a little bit less popular than a sexually transmitted disease. >> the hate of the government branches is unrelated to defense, including nasa. thousands of its employees have been sent home. george, who manages the international space station, tells us how repercussions are likely to follow. >> there are missions that are coming up in four or five or six months, really critical

missions. robotic lights that are going to the planets. they have launch windows that have to be maintained. if the workers are for load -- a re furloughed, there will be an effect down the line. i was in the johnson space center and we knew the space shuttle and flew missions at that time and we had to maintain a schedule. i managed to keep the workforce working. we kept the work going on at the johnson space center and kennedy space center in florida. it did not really have an impact. this time, about 97% of the workforce at the johnson space center laid off, there will be an effect down the line. >> that is the news this hour. let's take a few minutes to look back at a day of excitement in moscow. the sochi olympics flame has began its tour of russia. ♪

>> the olympic torch relay has been touring the capital after a welcoming ceremony a few hours ago. that's take another look at the highlights of the flames arrival. ♪

>> [speaking russian] ♪

>> coming up, we will look at the toxic environment surrounding the workers who provide european workers with fertilizer. stay with us. >> i recently read high lines that china has bought five percent of the ukraine. now they are writing that china will lease five percent of the ukraine. china officials claim that they will not be getting either and this is a deal about an era geisha and system. this deal did not explode out of

the internet due to fantasies of bloggers. one company does have a farming plant designed to utilize nine percent of their territory. last year, the ban on foreigners buying land in the ukraine has been lifted. a distrustful pro-sovereignty type, getting a country to develop your nation's might not be a bad deal. they say the ukraine used to be the breadbasket of europe. in this respect, it would really help the cuntry. but selling off or leaving nine percent of the country is not feasible. selling or leasing off your country is treason. that is just my opinion.

hello and welcome to "newsline," it's monday, october 7th, i'm katherine kobayashi in tokyo. people on both sides of a political divide in egypt have taken to the streets in one of the most violent days in months. at least 44 people were killed in fighting between supporters and opponents of ousted president