russian and u.s. foreign policy to fans has me to washington i meet a deepening political round which sees both sides pointing the finger of blame. kurdish activists sent out a plea to world powers urging them to prevent ethnic cleansing in syria we talked an eyewitness of the brutal attacks by al qaida wing groups. and the fountain of hope that's run dry later we look at the roots of the arab spring that flourished on the promise of democracy but which is failing to bring the stability and prosperity in many died for.

seven pm in moscow you are watching r t a marina josh welcome to the program now following at the fallout over moscow granting asylum to edward snowden russian and american the fans chiefs and diplomats are sitting down for talks the media also comes amid tensions sparked by barack obama calling off a summit with a live report and as washington sided a lack of progress in relations moscow in turn has accused the americans of being unwilling to negotiate on an equal food ng well let's get more on this latest spat from r.t. is going to count that i can you talk us through the main issues that the russian american officials are addressing in washington today. that's right brianna of course we saw a very diplomatic opening by the two u.s. secretary send it to russian ministers before john kerry asked cameras to leave the most interesting stuff is of course going on behind those closed doors john kerry

said opening statement probably gave the best this to the atmosphere of the discussions he has with the use the words collisions disagreements but also made this reference to the surgery lavrov and i are old hockey players and we both know that diplomacy like hockey can sometimes result in the occasional collusion so we're candid very candid about the areas in which we agree but also the areas in which we disagree. well there have been all too many collisions lately in the relations between the two countries as john kerry said quote not just over the snowden case both minister lavrov and secretary kerry talked about syria both moscow and washington are trying to mediate a summit in geneva where they would bring all sides of the syrian conflict together to map out a political solution lots of challenges there the opposition says they will not sit

down with those who have blood on their hands the idea of the summit is about bringing all hands to the negotiating table to try to finally stop the bloodshed and save syria from becoming an al qaeda haven so similar concerns on both sides but very strong disagreements on what to do and how to do it of course the officials are going to specify their disagreements behind closed doors they touched upon missile defense the lack of progress on which president obama has cited as one of the reasons he has canceled his bilateral meeting with president putin both said they're going to work together to make progress and well on that russia has said before you know that the reason there is no progress is because the u.s. refuses to see russia as an equal partner in the european missile defense project russia said many times that he wants to participate in the european missile defense but as an equal stakeholder washington is very far from accepting that kind of a joint venture that kind of cooperation would be of course

a groundbreaking and would probably make the world a much safer place but that's just a fantasy at this point it was enough to watch the debate in congress when they were ratifying the start treaty to understand how far we are from that kind of cooperation but as. i said the two countries have an obligation to at least work together take a listen. to you when i first met john kerry in his current rule we certainly gender relations and he said that our country's been a very special responsibility and the great things depend on us so we have to work together in a mature when that is exactly what we've been trying to do and we'll count on these efforts to be mutual. well nobody expected any groundbreaking the session. to come out of this meeting but the hope is that the u.s. and russian officials one thing is not let disagreements and scandals completely overshadow whatever progress the two countries can actually make on the economy on

afghanistan and on counterterrorism efforts. or i got to thanks very much indeed for bringing us the very latest from the meeting between russian and u.s. officials that's taking place in washington d.c. as we speak. well the u.s. is unwilling to back down to make any concessions to moscow on key international issues and that's according to geo political analyst william and. washington is determined to encircle russia with its missile defense which is an often strategy not a defensive one by the way it's a nuclear first strike preparation strategy and that's something that russia understandably is not exactly overjoyed about the issue of syria is non-negotiable in terms of what the u.s. is trying to put into power in syria similar to what they tried in egypt and failed that is a muslim brotherhood controlled regime that would allow qatar to control the pipeline flows in to europe and not to iran so among other things so this is there is

not a basis of agreement on these fundamental questions noton is as i say is not the issue the issue is this fundamental disagreement in washington is not prepared to change its agenda and openly and honestly negotiate to resolve these differences therefore obama is using this childish maneuver of capturing the media because of snowden supposedly. current to try to report attacks by radical islamist in syria are in danger of being abducted or killed and that's what an eyewitness to an assault has told r.t. the kurdish minority in the north eastern syria has reportedly been enduring horrific attacks by al qaida linked groups for around three weeks now i'll correspondent in the region it brings you what's come to light so far. 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 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 doing this keep their 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 united nations investigators are on the ground right now trying to piece together whether earlier reports that 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 the situation 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 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. now reading aleutian also reports that those kurdish civilians who are unable to flee remain holed up in their homes in fear of extremists so follow her twitter feed for all the latest developments in the ongoing crisis. for all the world must quote defend the kurds from massacre and

ethnic cleansing that's the plea from kurdish campaigners who are seeking urgent protection from the international community the peace and kurdistan activists are asking the united nations as well as the u.s. and e.u. to act now to stop what they call brutal massacres there also demanding that western powers stop sending weapons to groups in syria that use them to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also calls for a probe into turkey's role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish areas of syria kurdish politician has some mohamad ali thinks the support the syrian rebels are receiving from abroad is the main cause of these 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 those 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 back. and while washington still wavering over whether to provide lethal aid to the rebel forces in syria director of the institute for policy studies phyllis bennis says it's clear where these weapons would eventually end up. 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 qaeda someplace like syria and the danger of al qaeda or 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 and still to come this hour here in r t olympic hijack can you write to the forefront of search two thousand and fourteen as western media and politicians jump on the boy called bandwagon ignoring the game's ideals warn that in other news right after the break. and.

really like colleagues and it will never shake mr secretary i consider him a war criminal in the. world. sigrid laboratory kirby was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which on fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything turns mission to teach creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only on the dog.

was been two and a half years since the arab spring erupted by the optimism that's what the region back then has been brutally crushed street drives are raging in egypt militias are slaying civilians in libya and most recently a country that had fair the best nisha seems to be descending back into anti-government turmoil but what were people hoping for artie's and he says now investigate. 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 who is easy 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 as 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 morsi violated human rights does not justify overthrowing him and especially if

together with the overthrow we get more violations of human rights rather than less you're an investigator on torture why mendez there he told me 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 detention centers. detention centers that are run by militias that are not accountable to anybody so many experts including mendez expects our world is not clear at what cost and how long it could take now egypt's military backed government is facing an uphill struggle to contain protesters and restore stability but there is another problem looming with the post ramadan feast now over food is in short supply all across the most populous arab nation whose economy is at its weakest in eighty years has a story. 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 think we. will 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 imports much needed wheat for the bread 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 not getting the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the subs. and he

goes to the richest strata of the society and i guess it is 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 tomatoes vegetables are too expensive for me with few functioning state institutions and a 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 our cairo. and i'll say look at some of the stories from around the world in pakistan's restive city of quits at least nine people have died in a shootout gunmen opened fire on a crowd of worshipers that were leaving a mosque the attack marks a bloody start to the ied festival which culminates the holy fasting month of ramadan on thursday thirty eight people were killed in the same city in

a suicide bomb blast at a funeral regions plagued by secretary and violence mostly targeting pakistan's shia minority. an indefinite curfew has been imposed in a town in india administered kashmir the restriction comes after muslims and hindus clash they are joining me tell abrasions police have to respond with tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowds and another incident police confronted thousands of into india protesters in the city of srinagar dozens of people have been injured on both sides kashmir is divided between india and pakistan with both states vying for control. of the u.k.'s sending three warships to the british overseas territory of gibraltar amid a worsening diplomatic row with spain london says it's a routine visit but it comes after gibraltar's chief minister asked for the points to stop spanish incursions into the rocks territorial waters woodridge has reacted by saying it will take all necessary measures to protect its interest in gibraltar

the centuries old conflict reignited in late july when british boats created a makeshift reef of concrete blocks in the sea spain responded with long delays at the border. japan is marking the sixty eighth anniversary of an atomic bomb dropped on this soggy together with hiroshima the attacks by america killed over two hundred thousand people and prompted japan to surrender in the second world war during the ceremony nagasaki as mayor criticize the country's authorities for what he called a lack of effort in nuclear disarmament opposition to atomic. power also heightened after a difficult human disaster in two thousand and eleven. now calls to boycott sochi twenty fourteen are growing louder and causing quite a stir in the global media they were prompted by russian lawmakers decision to ban the promotion of homosexuality to children british act there are seven frei has

gone as far as branding the law fascist and in drawing and analogy to nazi germany here's probably boyko to separate the facts from the fiction 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 commentators 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 sport and

politics separate which is exactly the message that the international olympic committee gave to r t. 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 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 fide 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. azzi london and in the meantime we have received the very latest statement from the international olympic committee upon our team's request on the matter while the olympic authorities have reiterated their stance that sports should be available to all regardless of race sex or sexual orientation the i.o.c. confirms the russian government at its highest level has assured the committee that the law banning the promotion of homosexuality to minors will not in any way affect those attending or taking part in the sochi two thousand and fourteen winter games british world affairs journalist and clarke thinks the gay rights issues being deliberately overhyped in the media. in nazi germany homosexuals really were discriminated against they were put into 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 we 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 it's a country where the world cup is going to be held in twenty twenty two you can go to prison for five years if you're homosexuals it's political i think that's because i said there's eighty countries who have worse records on gay rights than russia so i think it shows double standards when it shows this kind of russia phobia i think among the west elite thing looked out at russia they patronize them the idea that russia people who are homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true pulling the plug on privacy an encrypted mail service favored by fugitive n.s.a. leaker edward snowden has been forced out of business we were poor to lie in how the company's owner has had to blog his service or face the wrath of the u.s.

government. and it may be a very long way from us orbiting jupiter in fact but one freezing moon cooed in the distant future offer mankind's bass chance at survival r.t. dot com site tells you why. plus in sweden the i.t.n. energy minister is finding herself on the wrong side of her own laws the politicians been known for her stiff anti-piracy stance but will now have to explain why she herself crossed the line on copyright. and x. we delve into the story of the war between georgia and self-esteem in a two thousand and eight and reveal what really happened during those horrific times.

everyone respects a promise written in stone promises written on the internet well they're a bit more flexible and a lot easier to erase 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 who expose waste 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 what is 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 destroy information on the

internet then you are only going to get burnt yourself but that's just my opinion. five years on the world has almost forgotten about that for just five days of its relatively few casualties and yet the war had all the hallmarks of the bloodiest conflicts in human history political posturing backstage scuffles dramatic of all leading to profound finale it was an act of war with real people drawn into

a crowd scenes. that if you get the. world. international politics always involves a fair share of scripting and staging smiling while scheming and keeping up appearances while tensions simmer beneath by summer of two thousand and eight relations between russia and georgia had already been strained yet with a new leader in the kremlin there weren't resat was trendy in diplomatic circles.

i can still remember the moment when i stood up to meet him in my office he entered the room with a shining kind smile. i told him i'd like to find a way to ease relations between our countries to improve them especially if you take into consideration the distinct feelings the georgian and russian people had towards each other. mr saakashvili said that he had the same feelings and he thought that was our primary goal and that it could be achieved. that was the end of our discussion. i was on a visit to the white house as head of the presidential administration. the first words that george w. bush my future colleague said to me in fact about him. he said.