live from the arctic new century nine russian and u.s. foreign policy defense heads meet in washington amid a deepening political route which sees both sides pointing the finger of blame. kurdish activists send up plead 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 and he died for.

it even to get a company destroyed as the south just after nine pm no moscow one is kevin i mean and this is our tape following the fallout over moscow granting asylum to edward snowden russian and american defense chiefs and diplomats are sitting down for talks the meeting also comes amid tensions sparked by barack obama calling off a summit with putin as washington cited the lack of progress in relations moscow in terms accused the americans of being unwilling to negotiate on an equal footing and he's got a future cameras following the meeting that is happening right now though. 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 that's of course going on behind those closed doors john kerry's opening statement probably gave the best hint as to the atmosphere of the

discussions he has with me use 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 this 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's been no progress is because the u.s. refuses to see russia as an equal partner in the european missile defense project of 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 rectifying 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 if you knew when i first met john kerry in his . and rule we set an agenda for relations and he said that all countries and very special responsibility and the great things depend on us so we have to work 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 as well nobody expecting a groundbreaking to session. to come out of this meeting but the hope is that the u.s. and russian officials will at least not let disagreements and scandals completely overshadow whatever progress the two countries can actually make on the economy on afghanistan and on counterterrorism efforts on his you kind of washington correspondent that the u.s. is unwilling to back down to make any concessions to moscow on key international

issues that's according to a political analyst and. washington is determined to encircle russia with its missile defense which isn't often substance but 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 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 capsule in the meeting because of snowden

supposedly. next tonight 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 north eastern says reportedly been enduring horrific attacks lately by al qaeda groups in fact for the last three weeks or so a correspondent in the region really brings you what's come to light so far. they came into the village and opened fire this was during the holy month of ramadan the people were preparing food the militants started shooting everyone who came out onto the streets become should young men and started cussing them with knives shouting that they were blasphemers we tried to tell them we were also muslims but they didn't listen the rebel shouted to our granted them all the money homes and our women then they started losing houses when the people fled they

followed with guns my nephew was killed and me and my brother were wounded we were lucky to escape to a refugee camp. witnesses 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 skate their 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 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 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 even 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 sort of the international community is definitely becoming more and more alarmed about. ridiculous reporting there for us the world must quote defend the kurds from massacre and ethnic cleansing and quote that's the plea from kurdish campaign is now seeking urgent protection from the international community the peace and 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 they're also demanding western powers stop sending weapons to groups in syria that use them then to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also goes on to call for a probe into turkey's role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish areas of syria kurdish politician how sad mohammed ali thinks the support the syrian rebels are receiving from abroad is the main cause of his people's plight. all of this is happening because the rebels have been on from the group by countries that do not want democracy and peace and through turkey in the gulf monarchies are arming

these terrorists meanwhile western countries are turning a blind eye to all the rigged nor in 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 backers. and while washington is still wavering over than whether or not to provide lethal aid to the syrian rebel forces the director of the institute for policy studies phyllis bennis told me it's clear where these weapons would eventually end up if it happens . 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. heading into a short break now and not come off without them including a limb pick hijacks gay rights come to the forefront of such. as west and major politicians to jump on the boy called bob wagon ignored the games i feel. the interview.

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it's been to an obvious since the arab spring erupted but the optimism swept the region but there has been brutally crushed street riots raging in egypt's militias a slaying civilians in libya and most recently the come to that ad fed best to his ear seems to be descending back into anti-government turmoil but what were people hoping for in the first place good question and his nissen ali investigates. 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 as similar to two thousand and eleven and mass protest mubarak he's out twenty thirteen 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 unless you are an investigator on torture want to mend as they are 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 our world it's not clear at what cost and how long it could take us military backed government is facing an uphill struggle to contain protesters and restore stability but there's another looming problem with the post

ramadan face now of foods in short supply all across the most populous arab nation whose economy is at its weakest in eighty years is off his bill true. 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 to the maximum i can do is buy beans two for a few cents 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 and 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 care about to 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 our totally destroyed every time we visit it gets worse even provide livestock so that they can feed themselves for a while with a 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 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 subsidizing 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 the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the stuff. 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 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 bell tree for r.t. cairo online part of the plug on privacy encrypted mail service favored by fugitive n.s.a. leaker edward snowden has been forced out of business we got the latest on that reporting how the company's owners are to block his service or face the wrath of the u.s. government also so that may be

a very long way from us orbiting jupiter in fact for one freezing moon could they say in the distant future of mankind the best chance of survival we'll read up more on that dot com is the place to read. 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 actor stephen fry is gone as far as a brother in law fascist and draw an analogy to nazi germany is probably boy get 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 saatchi idea is gathering at lightning pace with commentators 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 or 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 i see london where the mean time we receive the very latest statement from the international olympic committee upon our request it to the matter this is what it says the olympic authorities have reiterated this stance that sports should be available to all regardless of race sex or sexual orientation the i.o.c. confirms that the russian government at its highest levels 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 went on to say but it was the first generous new club thinks the gay rights issue is being deliberately overhyped in the media. in 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 we go to russia all together it's not happening what's happened in russia is we got a new law which bans 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 held in twenty twenty two you can go to prison for five years if you're homosexuals it's political i think there's guys i said there's eighty countries eighty country in the war who have worse records on gay rights than russia so i think it shows double standards when it shows this kind of russian phobia i think among the western elite that they look

down at russia they patronize them yet this idea that russia people who are homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true and brief now in pakistan threats of rest of city of critics least nine people have died in a shoot the government opened fire on a crowd of worship was that we live in 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 the region's playboys sectarian violence mostly targeting pakistan's shia minority. japan is marking the sixty eighth anniversary of an atomic bomb dropped on nagasaki 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 criticised the country's authorities for what it called a lack of effort in nuclear disarmament opposition to atomic power also heightened after the fukushima disaster in twenty eleven. oscars cracking down on illegal job

seekers coming from abroad will be tougher punishment for those who exceed a pervert of a one month stay in the country as well as for businesses called hiring them two of the five million migrant workers now in russia an estimated three million are illegal a situation which authorities are struggling to give the control is r.t.c. group risk and off. oh yeah i mean absolutely they came here thinking it's the road to opportunity but instead a many found themselves on their way back home we were working and then all of a sudden police rushed in and detained us. over one thousand illegal workers were arrested this week alone so many in fact that a temporary camp had to be set up to house those awaiting deportation several human rights organizations have criticized the conditions the migrants are kept in only the basic necessities are provided meals the toilets and showers. do which comes of course this isn't a summer camp or your vacation getaway but we do have to remember all these people have violated the law but some n.g.o.s claim these conditions are still better than

the ones most of the workers experienced during their so-called employment just like the realities these people lived as slaves almost none of them got paid they work for food independent public movements have also been trying to help authorities get the situation under control for instance this is one of the basements they raided home to over a dozen workers many without documents and their employer. and i know how can we find out who's in charge here our boss yes not here right now can we call them i don't have the number. workers are usually hired by contractors which service buildings and apartment blocks clean streets and look after other infrastructure and on the say your because of high rent prices in the city it's cheaper for contractors to house them in basements even though it's illegal we've gone through around fifty in the last six months around five hundred migrants have

been passed over to the police most were fined and some were deported to the wall of according to migration officials there are around three million illegal migrant workers in russia but independent studies show much higher figures but clearly for companies hiring migrants is a much less of a hassle than firing russian citizens or entitled to social benefits while illegal workers have no support at all it's not only about cleaning streets servicing buildings or working at markets construction alone is a major source of jobs with some projects creating hundreds or perhaps even thousands of new places most of which also usually end up being taken by migrant workers the lack of transparency is found in all spheres of business and experts say it's now undermining the whole system just some entrepreneurs hire strictly legal migrants and invest significantly mounds of money and while those who hire illegal ones don't how can they compete from august's the fines for breaking russian migration and labor laws will be substantially increased companies will

have to be up to thirty thousand dollars for each illegal worker they hired for them saving cash this way has never been so expensive you've got this going on r t moscow up next breaking a set with abby martin. 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.

to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous. i mean. i believe that i'm. really not so. very closely the. worst cheaper to. buy the house of a good radio guy and four minutes from it. what. to do is use never seen anything like this i'm cold. hey guys i'm having mines in the strait in the side so guys i know what i've been saying that there seems to be no legitimate basis for the terror alert issued worldwide but i was wrong say it's been revealed.