wifely are to new sandra day russian and u.s. foreign policy defense heads meeting in washington with a deepening political route that sees both sides pointing the finger of blame at each other. also headlining this south kurdish activist said that a plea to world powers urging them to prevent ethnic cleansing in syria we talk to an eyewitness of the brutal attacks by al-qaeda linked 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 many died for.

very good evening it said eight to one night here in moscow when he was kevin oh and this is r.t. international a top story then after the fall out of a moscow granting asylum to edward snowden russian and american defense chief diplomats are sitting down for talks afternoon the meeting also comes amid tensions sparked by barack obama calling off that summit with vladimir putin as washington cited the lack of progress in overall relations moscow in turn has accused the americans of being unwilling to negotiate on an equal footing that is going to shake hands following today's meeting. 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 interest to the atmosphere of the discussions he has repeatedly used the words collisions disagreements but also made

this reference 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 there is that which we disagree on 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 qaida 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

a lover of say the two countries have an obligation to at least work together you knew when i first met john kerry in his. and rules we set an agenda for relation with us and he said that our country's very special responsibility and the great things depend on us so we have two words together in a mature way that is exactly what we've been trying to do and we are counting on these efforts to be mutual well nobody expected any groundbreaking to 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 going to she kind of washington correspondent the u.s. is unwilling to back down to make any concessions to moscow on tkinter national issues that's according to political analyst and. washington is determined to

encircle russia with its missile defense which is an often substrata g. 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 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 and 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. at the news today kurds who tried to report attacks by radical

islamists in syria are in danger of being abducted or killed that's what an eyewitness to an assault has told us the kurdish minority in northeastern syria is reportedly been enduring horrific attacks by al qaeda linked groups lately for almost three weeks now a correspondent in the region really brings you what's come to light so far what we know. 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 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 when 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 the scape there shot militias raided their houses blew up some of them and robbed others till now they have more than two hundred

civilian 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 of some one 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 the 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. reporting the world must quote defend the massacre of ethnic cleansing that's the plea for. kurdish campaigners who are seeking urgent protection from the international community the peace in kurdistan activists are asking the united nations as well as the u.s. and the 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 sent mohammed thinks the support for the syrian rebels and that they're receiving from abroad is the main cause of his people's plight right

now. all of this is happening because the rebels have been on from abroad by countries that do not want democracy and peace and syria turkey in 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 we're calling on the west to stop supporting the rebels and to assist us otherwise these extremist forces could eventually turn against their backers. well it's trying gets more information he has sans a freelance journalist specializing in middle eastern affairs shows us now live from brussels where they have nice to see you as we've been reporting on this channel for the last couple of days really disturbing news filtering through but it's really hard still to verify or talk about why that might be in a minute but what is the plight as you know it of the kurds in this area or from the north of syria itself. yes i am. so what is the actually is

a situation. is a situation in north sea which is a majority all of them kurds and some other main or a few like a syrian army and different a different religion and cultures so this this area basically is very peaceful so far because there is like public position of defending this area but recently this . or we can calls and selfies. who they are who are who are coming from abroad like. afghanistan to niecy a libya from all of us a was they are just coming to syria to fight this particular area boy and. this i think i believe actually is the rule is turkey and gulf countries because they don't want kurds have their rights or their basic rights in syria as turkey is afraid from kurdish north syria because once they have their rights in or syria so

that will affect on the court situation in turkey as well so for the this reason turkey and other gulf countries try as much as they can to prevent. chords from reaching their rights their basic rights and one of the kurds being singled out here you sir they've been living peacefully previously with all the of the a troublesome force what's the problem here. the problem is for like surfaced as i said said if is if they want to fight the rejean they can go to the mosque to any other cities or others and this peaceful areas but i know as i know turkey turkey supporting this group through to come through turkey because all the logistic and all as an assistant is coming from turkey so as i see so far that these rebels groups are you know it's. in the benefit of governments so

they can support them as much as they can to prevent to prevent course from their own group from reaching to their and these groups are part of the so-called syrian opposition are they are they something split aside from the. actually there are i can see there are both of them the free army as well. as well and we can we all knowledge about the north korea is related to al qaeda so that me is no not all of them from syria so they are coming from all over the world to to syria say they found like a way or a new place to fight to fight in and they couldn't find any other places rather than this peaceful area and that's because turkey supporting them and gulf countries as well like qatar saudi and any other gulf countries and we calling this you know european union we are calling western countries to to stop or to to put pressure on turkey government turkish government to prevent supporting this rebels

or this. as we call them over to nosferatu to enter syria from from turkish border so they facilitates them yeah just what tom selleck and says i want to really focus in on what may have been happening there we're hearing some some people even mentions are genocide ethnic cleansing here we hear that maybe up to four hundred fifty people have been killed do you think that there is any marginal figure at all it keeps coming and yet there seems to be a kind of a media blockade we're trying to make headway not going in there what what's your thought. actually the situation is getting worse and the number of people who have been kidnapped and killed and beheaded is rising every day i think this is how writing our varies. of course it is happening because i witness is you know they call them we call them every day so we are in contact with them every day i can say like every couple of hours i contact them personally they know what's going

on there specially intel are an absolute asset because this area particular area is surrounded by other big villages so there is no way like to defend this to villages from like from out of big villages so i can see a free army as they are united two guys that are against these two villages and they are killing people on identification and so far as i know of all three or four have been burnt down and beheaded because of because they are just kurdish and they're calling on the public you know from the mosques and they call their people you can kill them kidnap them and capture their woman and it's all how laws that need it's or allowed for you once you fight for for god so it's like you know is fighting about a sow's and five hundred years ago is saying that we cause and salafist so it's not really islam you know really islamic people they don't do like that this people

have we're going to leave it there we're out of time really appreciate your input there and your thoughts in front thanks to make the picture be clearer for us that he has some the freelance journalist of the middle east from north of syria thank you. so the come this hour in the program a limpid hijacked gay rights come to the forefront of such as western media and politicians just probably cold bandwagon ignoring the game's ideals that are on the news as well right after the break. i'll pull over my language as well but i will only react to situations i haven't read the reports so i'm likely to put the no i will leave them to the state department to comment on your latter point of the month to say to secure a car is on the docket no god. thank you no more weasel words.

when you need a direct question be prepared for a chase when you throw a punch be ready for a. pretty speech and a little down the freedom to cross. elegance into an obviousness as the arab spring erupted but the optimism of swept

the region about then has been brutally crushed street riots are raging in egypt militias the slaying civilians in libya and most recently the country that had feared the best still noachian is here seems to be descending back into anti-government turmoil but what were the people hoping for the first place and he's innocent 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 know 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 morsi violated human rights does not justify overthrowing him and especially if together with the overthrow we get more violations of human rights road unless you

are an investigator on towards your 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 detention centers. detention centers that are run by militias that are not accountable to anybody still many experts including mendez expects positive change in the arab world is not clear at what cost and how long it could take this and how it egypt's most about governments facing an uphill struggle meantime to contain protesters and restore stability but there's another problem looming too now with the post ramadan feasts now over foods in short supply all across the most populous arab nation whose economy is its weakest in eighty years covering that side of the story elsie's bill true. at a cairo hospital food bank volunteers offload banks of provisions to prepare

a traditional ramadan dinner to 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 are 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 money and thought by now 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 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 bret 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 sepsis items at a very cheap prices bailing it to the mainstream populations with a very high calorie intake very slow nutrition and very close to ninety percent of the poorest people are not getting any of the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the subs. and he goes to the richest strata of the society and i guess

if there's a number of subsidies 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 who knew that there were 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 lacked starting bell tree for r.t. cairo pulling the plug on previously an encrypted mail service favored by fugitive n.s.a. leaker edward snowden has been forced out of business we're talking about online we found out how the company's owners had to block his service or face the wrath of the u.s. government will read out more about you come from us r.t. dot com a very very long way from us orbiting jupiter in fact but one freezing moon could partly in the distant future offer mankind's best chance of survival

a long way off yet but our team dot com again more. that is sweeping the ita minister is finding herself on the wrong side of our overlords the politicians big known for his stiff anti piracy stance but now after explaining why she herself crossed the line all of the. calls to boycott such a 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 actor stephen fry's gone as far as branding the law fascist and drawing an analogy to nazis germany nazi germany here's a poly boy kid a separate fact from the fiction amid this ongoing 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 not a boycott sort she idea is gathering at lightning pace with clemente says on both sides of the story weighing in some of the service of 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. boycotting sochi twenty four team 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 lead to worries that gay athletes could be arrested when they arrive in sochi for the games to which russian or foresees of lyra 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 boycotts shows no sign of abating. probably break a i'd see london well let me tell you received very latest statement from the international olympic committee upon artie's that request into the matter the olympic authorities of reiterated this sport should be available to all regardless

of race sex or sexual orientation the i.o.c. confirms that the russian government at its highest level is 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 twenty fourteen winter games it goes on to say british world affairs journalist neil clark thinks the gay rights issue is being deliberately overhyped in the media in nazi germany homosexuals really were discriminated against they were put into the 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 bans the promotion of homosexuality to under eighteen's now i'm not saying i support that law i oppose all anti-gay laws wherever they're passed in the world but why stephen fry focusing on russia there are about eighty countries in the world moving away 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 homosexuals it's political i think that's because i said there's eighty country about eighty countries now war you have worse records on gay rights than russia so i think it shows double standards here it shows this kind of russia phobia i think among the western elite that they look down at russia they patronize them the this idea that russia people who are homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true. well more coverage of that particular story of course over the coming days and weeks and months no doubt as well up next here on t. larry king grills a democrat running for the post a chief fiscal voting all to take officer of new york as our next program after the break.

everyone respects a promise written in stone the promise is 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 works both 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 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 destroy information on the internet then you are only going to get burnt yourself but that's just my opinion.

he is the disgraced former governor of new york he resigned after being caught in a prostitution scandal he's the man once referred to as a client nine in federal courts and the sheriff of wall street for his aggressive actions is new york's attorney general he's now running for comptroller of the city former governor eliot spitzer joins us next on politicking with larry king.