arabic for visit arabic told. stories that shaped the way here on r.t. u.s. russia barack obama cancels an upcoming meeting with vladimir putin and suggests relations need a time out so after moscow granted temporary asylum to whistleblower edward snowden . claims of genocide could say they're being targeted for ethnic cleansing in made mounting reports of al-qaeda linked fighters attacking their villages in syria. moscow comes under pressure from the global gay community who want the winter olympics taken away from russia over the introduction of what they call a fascist style law against homosexuals.

and i welcome you watching r.t. coming to you live from moscow with me andrey. now relations between russia and the u.s. suffered a major setback this week at least according to the american side first president obama canceled a one on one summit with blood amid putin and then even called for a pause in the relationship russia while expressing disappointment over these developments insists however there are no signs of a return to the cold war. as the details. this week when president obama canceled the bilateral meeting with the russian president in september u.s. russia relations have hit a new low on friday the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and the russian defense minister arrived in washington as planned to meet their u.s. counterparts and we heard two different messages coming from president obama and foreign minister lavrov both held a news conference on the same day at the same time in different venues of course

with foreign minister lavrov trying very hard to ease the tension to move it away from the cold war talk with president obama seemingly doing the opposite take a listen remember very well what you said when we were saying goodbye you said will i believe that we can make a difference. let's. as adults. and that's what we're trying to do because if. small. incidents. become an impediment to every single. good would be the very room. when president putin who was prime minister and. president came back into power i think we saw more rhetoric on the russian side that was anti-american that. played into some of the old stereotypes about

the cold war contest between the united states and russia president obama also said in light of all the disagreements with russia it's time for the u.s. to make a pause and. the tone of the talks at the state department seemed a bit different there were some very serious issues on the agenda like syria like missile defense in europe where russia and the u.s. obviously don't see eye to eye but it seemed there was an agreement on both sides that they should not disagreements and scandals completely overshadowed whatever progress the two countries can actually make and one area where the two countries tend make a difference in syria both state the same that they want to political solution that they want to bring all sides of the syrian conflict together in geneva to try and map out such a political solution and the syrian opposition says they're not going to sit down at the table with those who have blood on their hands in order to stop the

bloodshed all hands need to come to the negotiating table and foreign minister lavrov said john kerry assured him that the syrian opposition is going to be there . making progress on those very important issues concerning global security becomes much harder when delays are defined by scandals not going back to president obama's news conference she was not all about president obama. and. president obama said. one provision of the patriot act. gives the government broader authority to obtain business phone data records he announced the creation of a panel of outsiders. and privacy advocates and others to assess the programs and suggest changes by the end of the year but everybody understand it's all happening because of edward snowden's revelations probably that's why the majority of americans say edward snowden is a whistleblower and not a traitor now it's not clear whether the government will actually go through with

those were forms promising is one thing delivering on those promises is something else but at the end of the day the american people may actually benefit from what snowden did which can't be said about u.s. marshal ations. what opinions do differ on whether a setback in relations was provoked by russia granting fugitive u.s. whistleblower edward snowden asylum or whether that was just a pretext whichever is true moscow's efforts to limit the damage from snowden's affair are being underestimated says mary did you have ski here's the chief editorial writer for the u.k. based independent newspaper. know that some people say oh relations between the u.s. and russia generally are very strained and that the the reset never really happened that it didn't have the desired effects but i think that to an extent is exaggerated what i find more interesting is what i think the great efforts. president putin has gone to to try to make sure that the snowden affair damages

relations with the u.s. as little as possible i think there's a lot of evidence for that which really hasn't been appreciated i think that being two maybe three one on one telephone conversations between president putin and president obama since snowden landed unexpectedly in moscow so i think there are actually great efforts are being applied to find some source sort of some sort of solution but it's very difficult to see how that can be a solution which such plays both sides. and john were flown from the institute of democracy and cooperation in paris says there's much more than snowden's asylum behind president obama's decision since obama in a sense felt i had to cancel this bilateral meeting because of the internal political pressures and that's really what it's ultimately about but of course the there is a lot of background to this it's not just about snowden obama of course the president

of the famous reset four of five years ago in other words of the restart of relations with russia has turned out to have been not much better really in terms of friendship with moscow than his predecessors there is a drifting apart i think things are going badly in a way i think the americans are being very infant tile and silly about this russia and america don't have an extradition treaty so whether or not. snowden was granted asylum in russia is of absolutely no significance at all. and of course we're always eager to hear your view on the stories we cover so log on to r.t. dot com to let us know what you think is in store for long term russia u.s. relations following snowden's asylum decision in this is how the poll is looking so far we can bring it up this is how the opinion is divided an overwhelming majority almost three quarters believe very little will change his relations are already too poor to be affected much in about twenty percent if you think economic ties are too

important and will weather this crisis of just a few are convinced that the snowden affair is just a temporary other than an otherwise good relations and finally less than five percent think as long as snowden is in russia there's no way ties can be mended you can have your say. the. right to see. first for you and i think that you're. on our reporters. on. the kurdish minority in syria has reportedly been the target of heavy attacks by radical islam for over three

weeks now with stories of killings and kidnappings increasing almost daily four hundred fifty civilians were allegedly slaughtered in one incident alone although that information is hard to verify due to the chaos and violence engulfing the region kurdish journalist and so has helped us put together a timeline though of what's been happening according to him islamists launched their assault on the nineteenth of july trying to plant a bomb in a kurdish school and kidnapping local civilians the next day many houses across the kurdish enclaves were blowing up one village was destroyed completely and around five hundred kurds were kidnapped while a radical cleric declared from a local mosque that killing kurdish civilians will go to heaven also encouraging people to loot and destroy kurdish homes the violence continued in early august al-qaeda linked fighters murdered seventy kurds and abducted three hundred fifty

artie's correspondent in the region. is following the conflict. horrifying images of slaughter and mayhem from a region already in throes of conflict this week some reports emerged that hundreds of kurds had been slaughtered by extremist groups in northeastern syria those still in very fight because insurgents keep the media from getting close they said just syrian kurds find themselves in a gruesome situation. 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 blasphemous we tried to tell them we were also muslims but we did not listen to rebel shouted at our granted them all our money our homes and our women then they started looting

houses when the people said they followed with guns my nephew was killed and me and my brother were wounded we were lucky to escape to a refugee camp the kurds who are one of the largest nations in the world without a state have tried to stay neutral for as long as possible in the syrian conflict and it's for that they believe islamic fighters from al-qaeda affiliated groups turned up their killing pressure on the kurds or the kurds do not want to be part of the war and they have achieved that by not siding with the the saudis they're showing their ability to administrate themselves and that all the some international players such as it has been helping those facing against the kurds for example there are several al qaeda affiliated organizations in turkey going in fighting against the kurds in syria kurds however want to have a democratic syria not just for the kurds but for everyone and those who helped to fight against the kurds are destined to failure on top of that jihad is themselves

have made statements alluding to their hopes of creating an al-qaeda state right here on what they hope to be vestiges of syria but there friday deadline came and went the could. democratic union party turned for help to international organizations like the united nations in the european union calling attacks against the kurds and sunni genocide pleading for help and fast the situation is getting worse and the number of people who have been kidnapped and killed and beheaded is rising every day either you know what's going on especially into a lot it's a loss a free army as. you know. just as they are killing people and i didn't take they call their people you can kill them kidnap capture there will not it's all on how long that means it's or allowed for you once you fight for for god's russian foreign minister sergei lavrov was among the first to sound the alarm over reports from syria urging the security council to step in. but that. we were

shocked by the reports of around four hundred fifty kurds massacred in the north of syria including children just because the men were fighting against. the first report of the un security council will condemn all these terrorist attacks we've seen some of its members refusing to condemn terrorist attacks in syria justifying it with the fact that the people behind them are fighting against the outdated regime. is totally unacceptable terrorism should be treated without double standards heard seem to be facing a double threats on this side of the syrian state border they're up against extremists on the other lies terry it's been a bit or a long running battle with the kurdish workers party and only recently seem to be making amends at the same time on karrar backs the syrian opposition which is known to include al qaeda sympathizers and allows for arms shipments into syria which the kurds say end up in the hands of extremists but when it comes to helping kurds

western powers who wasted no time in trying to force out president assad seem to do little encouraging extremists an approach that looks ominous with the new year through the overthrow. garfield in libya to syria we've been supporting al qaeda the very people who are united states of america tires through europe is a caucus state that spreads from north africa are all we could blow that could bring us to a new world war if we don't stop obama and the british policy but for now syrian kurds plea for international help to seems to have been met with indifference it is obvious from r.t. is done bull. the kurdish community say they are being targeted for genocide that's force the iraqi kurd leader to threaten to intervene in syria if the reports are confirmed the kurdish democratic union party appealed to the e.u. earlier this week calling for help and protection and the pace in kurdistan campaign has urged the world to defend the kurds from massacre and ethnic cleansing

they're asking the un and the us and e.u. to act now to stop what they call brutal massacres demanding they stop sending weapons to groups in syria which could be used to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also says to his role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish enclaves in syria needs to be examined as well its authors down turkish claims that it's not involved although or that it doesn't support al-qaeda affiliated fighters investigative journalist manuel oceans writer who's being closely following the she will edges both turkey and the us have links to the radical it's groups fighting in syria. i don't expect any international reaction except. protests to right now i don't think so because they are international interests especially the international the geopolitical interests of turkey was

a very important nato member we shouldn't forget that nato troops also german troops are now at the turkish syrian border with patriot rocket systems heading against syria so we have turkey on this site and it's long turkey place this important role in this conflict i don't think that there will be any serious international reaction a former member stated that the leader of the north is the verb king or working close with the cia and we have other information from the kurdish popular defense units who claim that the front is also organized and supported by the turkish intelligence and i think this is not a coincidence when we know how the kurds are treated in turkey itself well in response to requests the u.n. said it is what has launched an investigation into reports of kurdish civilians being targeted in syria the office of the high commissioner for human rights said

if arraf i'd ax would amount to war crimes carluke felt an international correspondent focusing on syria says militants are pushing for control in the kurdish enclaves to get then that resources. actually what is behind all this fighting is it's a struggle about control struggle about control of certain areas we know that in the area of fighting in the north and in the east of the country we have. fields and tool at least two of the very big oil fields under the control of the kurdish defense movement and they have been threatened openly by you know western diplomats if they don't give the control of these oil fields towards the free syrian army. they will have a problem so i think it's a fight about control of both about the resources of the various groups because the

kurds are not going to deliver to their request while the fall of assad's regime is the biggest danger facing the u.s. that's the warning from the cia's outgoing seconding command he's concerned that the syrian government's massive chemical arsenal could end up in the hands of al qaeda linked extremists for more details on that as well as other aspects of the syrian war and its international impact you can head to our web site at r.t. dot com. more news today violence is once again flared up. in these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day.

hundreds of gay rights activists have staged protests in london and glasgow calling for russia to be stripped of the winter olympics in sochi because of what they say is an anti gay policy backed by law however authorities in moscow say bill. which only bans the promotion of homosexuality to minors doesn't restrict freedom of expression the u.k.'s prime minister rejected the calls to block the games but the gay community is keeping up the pressure we're now and actor in gay activist stephen fry who joined a rally in london accuse the olympic committee of not trying to fight what he called russia's barbaric laws he also compared president putin's attitude towards minorities to hitler committee responded saying that sports should be available to all and the new law will not affect those attending the games and british journalist neil clark believes gay rights are a disguise for other political aims 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 advance promotion of homosexuality to under eighteen's now i'm not saying i support the law i oppose all anti-gay laws were passed in the world but why 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 homosexuals it's political i think there's as i said there's eighty countries but eighty countries in the world have worse records on gay rights than russia stephen fry's talking about that so i think it shows double standards here and it shows this could have russia phobia i think among the western elite that they look down at russia they patronize them and they get this idea that in russia people who are homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true well in the wake of international protests against russia r.t. center needs to nowi to find out exactly what life is like for gays in moscow and

she found a thriving community. but there is. no stoli no sochi. dumping russian vodka and calls to boycott the olympic games the l g b t community in the west is furious with the passing of a new russian law banning gay propaganda to minors a detail almost never mentioned lot of here putin signed a law and some very strict anti-gay measures these laws are absolutely obscure they're not clear in what they mean of course it will not have a wide ranging gretzky's of being applied everywhere and to everyone and members of the gay community have been attacked and arrested you cannot say that there is massive suppression or messi of attacks against gay people in the streets and that wherever you say that you're gay you will be killed or beaten russian gay activists are taking their case to the european court of human rights and say the war is

meant to target specific individuals but see the picture of gay life in russia from abroad is warped these pictures being shown and being portrayed just because this little became a symbol of protest against their suppression of l.g.b. community in russia supporters of the law argue it represents the russian majority . if there is a large number of people who believe the lawyers to solve thirty years ago there was criminal punishment for being what they were to take examples from some states in the us or the relationship is much improved and stricter propaganda law was this one. it's important to remember this law is about gay propaganda to minors and it will be enforced with fines not criminal punishment russia is still a very traditional conservative country and it wants to hold on to that. this is

one of moscow's many day and night clubs yes it's in a discreet location but it holds three thousand people is. packed on the weekends and is full of foreigners its owners asked us not to film on the inside to protect the privacy of its clients but we're sure our business is booming there's a happy arriving excitable you know wonderful gay community which is great martin andrews is british openly gay and living in russia for eight years he opposes the law but won't be dumping his russia is dominated by the church in general far more than the u.k. i think if you compare america for example you can't look for los angeles and new york and then look at the middle part of texas and that's what russia is especially moscow you've got the old meets the new and you've got soviet mindset these with this capitalist boom with excising the west lifestyle homosexuality is illegal in

over seventy countries across the globe so martin asked why russia why do the western media why do people and the west never mention cuts off the world cup is coming up going crazy about saatchi and the olympics i was in such a last week filming there's a gay community there is a great day. but the west has a big in its bonnet regarding russia but it's a great. state repression got together and he's now a r.t. moscow. well as you heard in a nice report supporters of the gay propaganda law say it a host of views of the majority of russians a survey by independent research group the levada center found this almost half of those asked think homosexuality is a form of immorality or perversion or a sorry or an illness then forty three percent believe it was or it is a perversion or a bad habit and that's followed by twelve percent who believe it is a sexual orientation as good as any other and then ten percent remain undecided you

can cast your vote all you have to do is go to. the same survey conducted in one thousand nine hundred ninety eight the result most identical to that suggesting. in fifteen years. u.s. lawmakers aversion barack obama to toughen sanctions on iran shortly after hassan rouhani was officially sworn in as the new president these are mc republic at the same time iran's political prisoners address the american leader with the opposite request asking him to end crippling penalties and seize the chance offered by the election of a moderate cleric in his inauguration speech or harney call for more engagement with the west but stressed that the language of sanctions would not work in the criticize inconsistency between u.s.

words and actions are a new sanction bill was put forward saying it was ordinary iranians who are being hurt. from the reigning american council says there are many emotions in the cincinatti the resolution of the standoff. the fact that they would vote for a new sanctions before the new iranian president who has been saying positive things and who is going to himself face so many obstacles for the house of representatives to go forward with this vote demonstrates that this is a chamber dominated by politics instead of pragmatism and is dominated by ideology instead of. an actual desire to resolve the problems that. lay before the united states now the reason that they went forward with this vote was because of immense political pressure from pro sanctions groups and neo

conservative and hawkish organizations that are more interested in seeing a war with iran than seeing a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff. now over at our web site liquid danger online we've got the story of the ground under the crippled fukushima nuclear power plant which is now leaking in into the pacific ocean get the full information and timeline at. the time to make a wish hundreds of shooting stars will dart across the sky over the next two nights you can see dot com to read more about the huge meteor shower.

the hunger strike at guantanamo bay prison has ended a seventh month with the inmates still struggling to change their situation the detainees protesting over indefinite detention and mistreatment also complain of invasive bodies which sometimes include sexual assault terry holbrooke's a former guantanamo guard told us how his former day job led him to quit and convert to islam. we were taught not to interact with them not to look at them as humans not to talk with them not to speak with them had nothing to do with them unless it was absolutely necessary important to work we were told to be very aggressive i'm searching growing. i don't think any of us is cards felt comfortable doing that as a result of such we didn't do that there were certain rules that we were given that many of us just didn't all of we didn't see on those as being the political logical or ethical in some circumstances and those will such we didn't implement them and

over a hundred sixty six remaining we've had to live in europe to find any shred of evidence to charge try and convict them and we've not been able to do that nor we've been able to falsify the evidence i would think of america being the great nation that it is having the wonderful legal system that it does can extend the courtesy of sending people home after ten years eleven years twelve years of captivity. maybe we need to have a good look in the mirror and take a look at ourselves one time on the face she was climbing the number of hunger strikers dropped by more than hoff during the holy muslim month of ramadan however the detainees lawyers said the fact that their clients were to celebrate their religious holiday didn't mean the protest in. that sense of desperation that's going on in guantanamo bay has an abated in any way shape or form i find it kind of odd.