shock and fear an eyewitness to brutal attacks on kurdish civilians in syria tells r t what's happening in the ethnic enclaves now plagued by radical is. meanwhile foreign and defense ministers from russia and the u.s. are set to search for a solution to the syrian violence in the first meeting since the diplomatic friction over in a signature added snowden cold relations. and the roots and fruits of the arab spring will look at the ongoing democratic crises and struggle for stability in the arab world more than two years after the uprisings.

this is already coming to you live from the russian capital a marina joshua welcome to the program kurds who tried to report attacks by radical islamist in syria are in danger of being abducted that's what an eyewitness to an assault has told r.t. the kurdish minority in syria has endured being the target of heavy attacks allegedly for around three weeks now with the alarming reports of killings and kidnappings growing our correspondent in the region who has a story. our ticket is getting new details horrifying details from the eyewitnesses who happened to be in the area those details are extremely hard to come by because of the essential blockade information and physical blockade which has been put up against the rest of the world by the extremists who are permeating the kurdish areas and towns in the northeastern syrian provinces now we do get to manage to speak to some of the eyewitnesses for what is happening in this region we hear truly horrendous reports. of this kate they are shot militias raided their

houses blew up some of them and robbed others till now they have more than two hundred hostages we are in contact with some of those who managed to escape they are in a shock and fear for their lives the conditions are very bad people are in fear and terrorized. out of control there raiding the streets there's no media coverage and anyone who tries to reach out is being kidnapped by the militants the united nations investigators are on the ground right now trying to piece together whether earlier reports of some four hundred people being killed in cold blood are indeed true the u.n. has said that if indeed those reports have any basis in reality that this amounts to a war crime nevertheless this issue doesn't seem to get any better even though it does get more coverage at this point the problem is like i said it's a lack of communication it's the lack of opportunity for people who are inside the kurdish towns and villages to reach out to the world because they are essentially fearful to come out on the street where extremist groups are roaming the cities and

towns and of course the reporters or any other journalists type people who are trying to get into the areas again they cannot get through because of the extremely dangerous situation so of course the situation doesn't seem to get any better and it is something that said the international community is definitely becoming more and more alarmed about. and the reading of the reports that kurdish civilians are trying to scape their towns and those who are unable to leave their homes due to the constant threat of militant attacks so follow her twitter feed for all the latest developments. now statements from the peace in kurdistan campaign calls on others to defang the kurds from massacre and ethnic cleansing it's after the kurdish democratic party appealed to the e.u. on thursday also calling to the world for help and protection for what they see as genocide against their people well peace activist and kurdistan are asking the

un the us and the e.u. to act now to stop what they call brutal massacre is demanding that they stop sending weapons to groups in syria using them to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also says turkey's role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish enclaves and syria needs to be examined as well its authors down turkish claims that it's not involved and that it doesn't support al qaeda linked fighters kurdish politician hassan mohammed ali things the support the syrian rebels are receiving from abroad is to blame for his people's plight. all of this is happening because the rebels have been on from abroad by countries that do not want democracy and peace in syria turkey and the gulf monarchies are arming these terrorists meanwhile western countries are turning a blind eye to all this they're ignoring the atrocities being committed against the kurds were calling on the west to stop supporting the rebels and to assist us otherwise these extremist forces could eventually turn against their betters. the

cia's outgoing second in command has warned dad syria's turbulent situation raises the chance of al qaeda affiliated extremists getting their hands on dangerous weapons and that makes syria the top threat for the u.s. right now former deputy director of michael morrell says the potential collapse of the government with its massive chemical arsenal will render the country a haven for al qaida terrorists he also claims that given the constant flow of arms syria could become the next leader and the conflict could spill over into jordan lebanon and iraq there's a rector of the institute for policy studies told us that the u.s. and its western allies should reconsider their military support to the syrian opposition since there's no guarantee who will eventually get the weapons. despite all of the assurances of the various representatives of the free syrian army or the national syrian council who say well we'll make sure they don't get in their hands

because we'll keep receipts i'm sorry but receipts aren't going to make it when one force has the capacity militarily to overcome the other force they can't make that kind of a guarantee that they won't fall into those hands it's been true for quite a while that the most powerful militarily of the opposition forces have been the islamist forces allied consciously of their own choice with al qaeda certainly there will be challenges for the west if there is another permanent stronghold of al qaida someplace like syria and the danger of. other unaccountable forces who have no commitment to international law getting control of weapons of mass destruction that may exist inside inside syria such as chemical weapons that would be disastrous. now finding a solution to syria will take center stage when russia's foreign and defense ministers meet their u.s. counterparts later on friday relations between the two countries took a big hit after barack obama can so his one on one with president putin largely

because russia granted asylum to n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden has gone and she can now reports both sides are trying to stand on rapidly shrinking common ground on key issues. u.s. russia relations have hit and you low over snowden president obama has just scrapped the bilateral meeting with president putin it's in this frosty setting that secretary of state john kerry and secretary of defense chuck hagel are meeting their russian counterparts to get lover often sergey to try and find common ground on a whole range of issues snowden of course will be part of the discussion it is a part but it is a not a large part of what the agenda will be on friday the obama administration keeps saying scrapped the meeting with the russian president not just because of snowden but because of a lack of progress on other issues naming missile defense and human rights in russia but the u.s. had helped talk some disagreement over missile defense for me to yours with regard to human rights imagine for the meeting with the u.s. president one possible so it's pretty much clear to everyone that at this point it

is about snowden and the question many ask ahead of the friday meeting is whether this scandal based tension will affect cooperation between the u.s. and russia in other spheres on syria for instance where cooperation is already under a lot of strain to say the least both moscow and washington agreeing to mediate a summit in geneva where they will bring all sides of the syrian conflict together to map out a political solution but are they any closer the opposition has been clear they will not sit down with people who have blood on their hands these are all part of the discussion and all issues we continue to work through the idea of the summit was about bringing all hands to the negotiating table in order to finally stop the bloodshed and save syria from becoming an all but one thing that both the u.s. and russia agree on is that the terrorist threat is growing in syria russia is sure to raise the issue of u.s. plans to arm the rebels when it's clear that the weapons can easily migrating

through the terrorists' hands that happened in libya so similar concerns on both sides but very strong disagreements on what to do and how to do it nobody expects that before. official john kerry. chuck hagel and sergei shy go walk out of that meeting on friday with a big smile on their face but the hope is that they will at least not let disappointment and scandals completely overshadow whatever progress the two countries can actually make. while why obama announced his decision to cancel them one on one meeting with putin he also accused russia of slipping into a cold war mentality political analyst william randolph says it's the us who is actually guilty of cold war tactics if i were president putin i would break open a nice bottle of champagne and celebrate the fact that he doesn't have to go through this ordeal of another photo op with obama who's got nothing to offer russia in any serious way so obama's statement on the tonight show us believe it

was. the russians somehow occasionally reverting to the cold war mentality is all they were. cured alcoholics who go on a drinking binge from time to time is really. not only insulting it it reflects a mentality in washington this is not serious statesmanship but the point is washington has an agenda of extending made toll across the globe and using that as a global police force for the sole superpower. as continue the cold war. now in reportedly favor to one particular encrypted mail service but now its owner has been forced to shut it down or face legal consequences so find out more at r.t. dot com. and while you're there read about an n.s.a. official coming clean about exactly how data from american citizens ands up in the snooping agency's hands. sochi is

winter olympics are hit by a storm of calls to boycott the games but it's got nothing to do with sports so we'll take a look at that in just a few minutes. until . things like us really like colleagues and i will never shake mr secretary as i consider him a war criminal in the. world. you

know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom are welcome to the big picture. welcome back this is r.t. now prominent british actor stephen fry has caused quite a stir when he's called to boycott the sorts of winter games it's after russian legislators agreed a ban on promoting homosexuality to children are tastefully boyko separates the myths from their reality and the media frenzy. stephen fry's open letter said that

russia is making scapegoats out of gay people just as hitler did the jews which is why he's called for a boycott of the upcoming winter olympics set to take place in the russian town of sochi next february now the boycott idea is gathering at lightning pace with clemente says on both sides of the story weighing in some observers have pointed out that the legislation passed in russia isn't unprecedented in fact the u.k. itself had a similar law were in place until very recently the united kingdom had something called section twenty eight in place until two thousand and three which was almost exactly the same is the recent law passed in russia which said that homosexuality should not be promoted in schools or to minors so much for keeping sports and politics separate which is exactly the message that the international olympic committee gave to r.t. boycotting sochi twenty fourteen would only serve to deprive the country's athletes

from fulfilling their dreams of competing at an olympic games something they've dedicated a great portion of their lives to accomplish history has shown that boycotts do not solve anything but simply punish olympic athletes those campaigning for gay rights also doubting whether stephen fry's proposed boycott is the right path to go down the only people who will suffer because of this because it is the sportsman who are participating in these in these competitions that's why i'm against the best solution in this in this case is to go and protest during the olympic games concerns surrounding the new gay propaganda on the war in russia has even led to worries that gay athletes could be arrested when they arrive in sochi for the games to which russian authorities to fire a five that the new law doesn't outlaw homosexuality and that those attending and participating in the games will be safe despite the assurances in this former olympic host city the talk of boycott shows no sign of abating. ok odd see

london and as our correspondent just has it looks like this boycott storm is still brewing so let's discuss this with the world affairs journalist neil clark now you'll think of so much for joining us here on r.t. well as we know this all started with stephen fry bringing on hitler as a comparison so how valid are his views or think what's your take. i think it's absolutely ludicrous comparison isn't it because the nazi germany homosexuals really were discriminated against they were putting to concentration camps and killed in large numbers and of course this is not happening in russia today if it was i'd be the first person said to go to russia all together it's not happening what's happened in russia is we've got a new law which the promotion of homosexuality to under eighteen's now i'm not saying i support the law i oppose all anti-gay laws wherever they're passed in the world but why is stephen fry focusing on russia there are about eighty countries in the world where homosexuality is actually illegal one of them is a country called qatar where the world cup is going to be helping twenty twenty two

go to prison for five years if you're homosexual yeah exactly so i know why why is it that you know the countries that are supported by the united states that one that you mentioned right now qatar which we hosting high profile events as well why is it that you know their anger is not of the directed against them and for example we don't hear of calls for boycotting the oil in saudi arabia as well as another country. that absolutely be. looked at in this particular. among western elite russian russia. is the name of the game i think that if russia was an american ally this would be happening it's political i think this guy said there's eighty countries. on gay rights than russia stephen fry isn't talking about that he's praising david cameron for knowing right from wrong they become i went to saudi arabia last year was greeting with the saudi arabian king as in see what i speak of saudi arabia you can be executed if you go on the sexual so i think it shows double standards when it shows this kind of russia. i think among the western

elite that they looked at russia they patronize that this idea that russia people are more homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true and i think that this law that russia's past is the same or we have a britain under this is such a government there will be some sort of evolving well could there be some sort of misunderstanding around those protesting against i mean are those who are protesting right now fully aware of the fact and in fact what exactly that law means. i'm not sure they are stephen fry scott these leaders comparing what's happening in russia today with nazi germany he's being contradicted on that by people who actually know what about russia that he does for example pop singer mark colvin who's lived in russia i believe he's a gating and he's opposed even fry he's calling for gay people to go to russian attendee's olympics so he doesn't really know what's going on it's very that group that he's been putting out he did this deliberately or not was he just ill informed i don't know you have to ask stephen fry but i think this whole of course this sort of nazi comparison it's absolutely of not just really ok let's get there let's get

the reaction from across the pond it means president obama slammed the law this week just before cancelling his or one on one meeting with president putin what's the situation like with the algebra he rides in the state i mean it's not that simple as it might seem a bit. of a go look at the bigger human rights picture stephen fry saying that the olympic should be moved to canada to defend coup but what do you know about canada the the leader of kind of the stephen harper actually oppose same sex marriages in canada he's an evangelical christian he's a neo conservative who supported the iraq war he supported he took part in the war against libya which thousands of people were killed united states of course led the brutal invasion of iraq in which one million people were killed days included of course in that so which countries actually killed more gays the united states or britain the last ten years or afraid that's the situation russia hasn't killed gay people the united states is more aggressive because bradley manning who's agave and we all know he's been pushed. the u.s. so i don't the u.s.

is in any position to sort of claim to be the leader in terms of gay rights at all . well you know could this reaction to this law be in some sort of. you know tactics or an attempt to distract attention from. you know his image now because of the fallout what do you think absolutely i would. quite rightly was it was applauded by human rights activists around the world for giving edward snowden the courageous whistleblower asylum i don't think he's trying to use this issue of gay rights in russia as sort of fight back at russia it's a desperate situation where you know that desperate ploy really if it wasn't. the right it be something else it's just about russia bashing trying to find anything to argue against russia to get back at russia for giving edward snowden asylum i'm afraid we're neil clark thanks so much for your views and that was new clark talking to us from the u.k. . innocent americans have been paying police billions of dollars for not committing

crimes a system designed to seize assets from drug lords and mafia bosses has been caught filling police coffers head to our website for more on that. and the day may last eighty five hours and you might have to wait three years for each summer but a freezing moon revolving around jupiter may be mankind's best chance at survival r.t. dot com tells you more. to me is that union federation has issued an ultimatum which expires today the one and a new technocrat government or else the country has been divided between the islamist led government and the secular opposition roughly two and a half years after a revolutionary wave shook the arab world now the countries which experienced those arab spring uprisings are enjoying stability today which is any reports. the arab spring captivated the world just over two swords years ago changed democracy and

new elected governments were promised in the three countries that began this wave of revolution but what prevailed is nothing short of chaos almost full circles in tunisia and egypt and in neighboring libya a situation some described as much worse than before regime change we don't hear anything about libya in the western press or western television channels what we now have is different groups vying for supremacy people are desperate to try and put a cover all of what has been created by the libyan disaster in the fall of gadhafi trends have formed take tunisia we all remember mohamed bouazizi the fruit vendor who set himself on fire in december twenty ten his death sparked mass protests followed by the president fleeing in mid january twentieth eleven now again the death of an opposition leader sparked protests in july twenty third teen they

haven't let down still this week tens of thousands are on the street demanding the resignation of the government in egypt similar to two thousand and eleven and mass protest mubarak he's out twenty third seen mass protests morsy is also out and violence reigns with the help of the military the fact that morsy violated human rights does not justify overthrowing him and especially if together with the overthrow we get more violations of human rights rather unless you're an investigator on torture one mendez there he told r g the most worried he is it's about countries like libya where the organization is denied access but are aware of atrocities far worse than under gadhafi very troublesome because we hear about clandestine did. centers of. detention centers that are run by militias that

are not accountable to anybody so many experts including mendez expects positive change in the arab world it's not clear at what cost and how long it could take agents military backed government is struggling to restore political stability but the egyptian people face a much bigger problem now the post ramadan feast is over food will be increasingly hard to come by as the most populous arab nation is experiencing a major supply crisis and is also in its worst economic condition in nearly eighty years are true examines the problem. at a cairo hospital food bank volunteers offload banks of provisions to prepare a traditional ramadan dinner for many like most of our words a hospital worker tonight's donated meal is the largest one he'll get this week i earn about fifty dollars a month and we are six people so the maximum i can do is buy beans two for a few sounds so i can eat we want justice i work a whole day and make practically nothing when i'm leaving but if i don't this tiny

salary my family will meet the poorest suffering in egypt as policymakers and the media are distracted by the deepening political crisis food banks like this one who tried to cover the whole country are stretched to their limits explains coordinator at. the poverty line is so high food is the most important thing would care about who provide hundreds of food baskets full of fries and basic food stuff so that they can feed families for a month in some places will go to utterly destroyed every time we visit it gets worse even provide livestock so that they can feed themselves for a while with the country in turmoil food distribution centers like these a plug in the gaps amid an escalating crisis food insecurity has risen significantly in the last few years according to the world food program resulting in a rise in stunting anemia amongst children due to malnutrition over a quarter of the population is under the poverty line and they're the ones being hardest hit with the continued civil unrest and dwindling foreign exchange reserves

and they say the situation will only get worse as egypt is unable to import much needed wheat for the brat millions depend on government subsidized bread that sells for about one cents a loaf however critics say egypt's food subsidies are wasteful and don't filter down to those who truly need it it's basically subsidizing items at a very cheap prices and i bring it to the mainstream populations with a very high. very slow nutritional value close to nineteen percent of the poorest people are not getting the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the subs. and the ghost of that is just strata of the society and again if there's a number that the sest subsidy egypt is facing its worst economic crisis since the one nine hundred thirty s. and food prices have doubled since two thousand and twelve making nutritious food inaccessible to many in the world that there are high prices everywhere to meet his vegetables are too expensive for me with few functioning state institutions and the

new interim government focused on developing political events these issues will continue to go unresolved and for the moment the most fundamental will be left starving tree for r t. next prime interest has more on the mind that matters and after the break. everyone respects a promise written in stone promises written on the internet well they're a bit more flexible and a lot easier to embrace obama made a lot of promises as a candidate on his site change dot gov including some about protecting whistleblowers and obama said that we need to empower federal employees as watchdogs and that he would strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers works both ways to fraud and abuse of authority and government but

strangely and possibly coincidentally two days after the first revelation of government spying by stoughton these promises of the change dot gov site were taken down if this is not just some odd coincidence and they consciously chose to hide obama's campaign promises that this is political cowardice at its worst and words even worse is that they didn't think that this would get exposed almost immediately if you try to conduct some sort of medieval book burning to distort information on the internet then you are only going to get burnt yourself but that's just my opinion. right on the scene. sir st louis and i think the church. on our reporters with their. instrument.

in the. mission. critical three months for three. months three. three stooges free. download free blog videos for your media project free media don carty dot com. that afternoon and welcome to prime and time period morning and i'm bob english and let's get to today's headlines. your home is my home for the city of richmond california is saying to homeowners an effort to help those with underwater

mortgages the city is using eminent domain to seize homes with homeowner consent then sell the homes back to them at a lower price but as usual all such well intended efforts have unintended consequences and those consequences are being expressed and escaping lawsuits by those who ended up owning the securitized mortgages that would include the pension funds which are now facing losses if this suit fails and several other cities are considering a similar eminent domain scheme so the ultimate risk is banks will be less willing to grant loans that the government simply imposes losses m.v.s. . investors will be less likely to buy any and freddie and mortgage rates will needlessly write. and apples on a roll after winning a presidential intervention against samsung recently a federal appeals court just ruled in their favor and a dispute with motorola ironically while the samsung suit would have prevented apple from importing its own products the motorola suit might.