stories that shaped the week here on r.t. u.s. russia ruckus barack obama cancels an upcoming meeting with vladimir putin answered yes relations need a timeout after moscow granted temporary asylum to whistleblower edward snowden. claims the genocide could say they're being targeted for ethnic cleansing amid mounting reports of al-qaeda linked fighters attacking their villages in syria. 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 to the program you're watching r.t. with me andrew farmer the 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 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 a bilateral meeting with the russian president in september u.s. russia relations have 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 with her true different messages coming from president obama and foreign minister lavrov they 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 away from the cold war with president obama seemingly doing the opposite take a listen remember the rewards you saw when we were saying goodbye you said will i believe that we can make a difference in the russian american dilutions let's. get as adults. and that's what we're trying to do because if. you incidents. become an impediment to every single. i think it would be very room crew room when president putin who was prime minister were. 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 take a pause and recalibrate but 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 can make a difference is the crisis in syria both stayed the same objectives 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 the syrian opposition says they're not going to sit down at the at one table with those who have blood on their hands moscow says 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 but making progress on those very important issues concerning global security becomes that much harder when relations are defined by scandals not going back to president obama's news conference it was not all about president obama's proposal to be for him and. president obama said he intends to work our way through one provision of the patriot act known as. the government broader authority to obtain business phone data records he announced the creation of a panel of outsiders former intelligence officials so. liberty 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 promise this 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. well 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 moskos efforts to limit the damage from snowden's affair are being underestimated says married to jeff ski who's the chief editorial writer for the u.k. based independent newspaper. i know that some people say our 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 and but i think that to an extent is exaggerated what i found more interesting is what i think are the great efforts that 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 they've been two maybe three one on one telephone conversations between president putin and president obama since ed 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 there can be a solution which such plays both sides john laughlin from the institute of democracy and cooperation in paris says there's much more than snowden's asylum behind president obama's decisions a bomb in a sense felt that 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 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. but however strong the political differences between moscow and washington business relations will carry on regardless that is the view of the head of the american chamber of commerce andrew summers his full interview is coming up in oksana boyko worlds apart later today.

the kurdish minority in syria has reportedly been the target of heavy attacks by radical east 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 that is engulfing the region kurdish journalist barzani has helped us though put together a timeline of what has been happening according to him islamised launched their soldiers 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 blown up one village completely destroyed around five hundred kurds were kidnapped while a radical cleric declared from a local mosque that those 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 kids and abducted three hundred and fifty artie's correspondent in the region every nigga lucia is following the conflict. horrifying images of slaughter in 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 still in very fight because insurgents keep the media from getting close this is just syrian kurds find themselves in a green gruesome situation. that the militants started shooting everyone who came out onto the streets become should young men and started cussing them with knives the revolution granted them all their money home and under women then they started losing houses 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. 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 hoping those facing again. 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 on top of that jihad is themselves have made statements alluding to their hopes of creating an al qaida state right here on what they hope to be vestiges of syria but they're fighting a deadline came and went the situation is getting worse and the number of people who have been kidnapped and killed and beheaded is rising every day are they know what's going on especially into a lot it's a loss a free army as they are united against this very just as they are killing people on

i didn't take they call their people you can kill them kidnap them capture their woman and it's all how 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 we believe that in this action 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 and it's not the first such 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 and this stance is totally unacceptable terrorism should be treated without double standards kurt seem to be facing a double threats on this side of the syrian state border they're up against extremists on the other. 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 sympathizers and allows for arms shipments into syria which the kurds say ends 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 including exchanges it's an approach that looks ominously familiar through the overthrow gadhafi in libya to syria we've been supporting al qaeda the very people who attacked united states of america. cyclone that spreads from north africa all the way to good golf 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 in the public school r t is done bull. the kurdish community say they are being

targeted for genocide and 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 peace in kurdistan campaigners urged the world to defend the kurds from massacre and ethnic cleansing they are asking the un the us and the 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 turkey's role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish enclaves in syria needs to be examined as well its authors that claims that it's not involved all that it doesn't support al qaeda affiliated fighters investigative journalist in the right who is being closely following the issue alleges both turkey and the u.s. have links to the radical 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 need to remember 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 thirty on this site and it's not turkey place this important really conflict i don't think that there will be any serious international reaction a former member stated that the leader of the north. 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 in

response to our request the un said it has launched an investigation into reports it could be shifted ins being targeted in syria the office of the high commissioner for human rights said if farah fied they would have to war crimes can loot files an international correspondent focusing on syria says militants are pushing for control in the kurdish enclaves to get their natural 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 two 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 resources of the various groups because the kurds are not going to deliver to their request we're going to take a quick break now but there's plenty more when we come back including a former guantanamo bay prison guard tells r.t. he was instructed not to regard detainees as human. wealthy british style it's time to rise.

markets why not scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in the kinds of reports on our t.v. choose your language. clearly make it with. us today still some of. the the consensus here to. choose the opinions that invigorating to. choose the stories that in life choose the access to your office. hello again you with r.t. now 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 the bill which only bans the promotion of homosexuality to minors doesn't restrict freedom of expression the u.k.'s prime minister rejected the course to block the games but the gay community is keeping up the pressure around actor and gay activist stephen fry was joined who joined a london rally 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 the olympic 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 disk i 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 they are not saying i support what i

oppose or 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 homosexual it's political i think those guys are so busy eighty countries. have worse record on gay rights for russia stephen fry's talking about them so i think it shows double standards when it shows this kind of 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 wore homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true. well in the wake of international protests against russia r.t. sent a nice analogy 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 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 law 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 soften thirty years ago there was criminal punishment for being here if you take examples from some states in the u.s. the relationship is much improved and stricter than these 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 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. on the weekends and it's full of foreigners it's owners asked us not to film on the inside to protect the privacy of its clients but reassure us because it's a group there's

a happy driving excitable you know wonderful gay community which is great martin mandrels 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 at some friend 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 fused with this couple this with excising the west lifestyle i was in such a last week filming there's a gay community there was a great day seem in such but the west has a big in its bonnet regarding russia but it's a great. state repression not to go and he's now a r.t. moscow. all supporters of the gay propaganda law say it opposed the view of the majority of russians and that seems to be backed up by an independent survey

carried out by the vendor center and these are the results from that just under half the people they are the home of homosexuality was actually immoral they also said some of them believe that it could be the result of a mental trauma or an illness and only twelve percent of people here believe it is a normal sexual orientation while some people remain undecided interesting me the figure is the same survey conducted in one nine hundred ninety eight identical suggesting there's been little change in attitudes in fifteen years. now over to our web site liquid danger online we've got the story of contaminate the water on the crippled fukushima nuclear power plant which is now leaking into the pacific ocean you can get all the information. on the timeline at r.t. dot com also there. to make a wish hundreds of shooting stars will dart across the sky over the next couple of nights you can head to bondi don't come to read all of bags and also about the huge

meteor shower. i. think. the hunger strike in guantanamo bay prison has entered a seventh month with the inmates still struggling to change the situation the detainees protesting indefinite detention and mistreatment also complain of invasive body cheese 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 told not to interact with them not to look at them as humans not to talk with them not to speak with them have nothing to do with them

unless it was absolutely necessary important to work we were told to be very aggressive in 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 were 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. 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 abuse and having the wonderful legal system that it does can extend the courtesy of sending people home after ten years living years twelve years captivity. maybe we need to have a good look in the mirror take

a look at ourselves one ton of officials claim the number of hunger strike has dropped by more than hof during the holy month of ramadan however the detainees know is said the fact that their clients were eating to celebrate their religious holiday didn't mean the pride testes. 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 that we score how one ton of obey is doing by the number of prisoners willing to starve themselves to death let us first look at the fact that only twenty men of the hundred sixty six that remain will ever be charged with a crime according to the united states government the sense of desperation is overwhelming as far as ramadan goes the men were given a choice in that choice was you can spend your religious holiday by yourself without any of your personal effects or hygiene items such as soap in water or in towels and things of that nature or you can break the hunger strike and spend it in

a communal setting with the rest of your brothers the way ramadan is supposed to be spent so i think after ramadan you may see a resumption of the hunger strike. i'll be back with more news for you in about half an hour's time coming up next though global markets and world finances in the briny artesia new. world. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the huge earth covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought

you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. do we speak your language anything about the will or not a day in. the music programs in documentaries and spanish more matters to you breaking news a little too much of angles stories. for you here. in troy altie spanish find out more visit eye to eye on t.v. dot com. l.a. that welcomes event to capital with me k c pilbeam this week we're going to be talking about the bankers the salaries all they still to live

a good exclusive interview coming up on that one also the world's highest paid female athlete finding out today all thanks for saving kate politics artie's schools presents a coming in to talk to me about. for business as well as that we've got corporate news and checking in at the markets desk with our in-house trader here i'll see that it's all to cumberland to get started with us. because the official figure of sixteen trillion dollars seemed warningly high but according to a study by the university of california america's debt is actually four times higher at seventy trillion dollars so how much does that sum a quite serious compared to the world's most valuable company apple say we gave them now as you can see this official figure equates to forty apple empires bar professor how much and studies found that the u.s. has over seventy trillion dollars of unaccounted for debts which would make up a total of one hundred sixty five apples but it turns out that even so.