the week's top stories here on r.t. moscow urges calm as president obama freezes u.s. russia relations decrying what he sees as a cold war mentality this following the granting of temporary asylum to whistleblower edward snowden. a serious battlefront moving to the lands of the kurds villagers are being raised to the ground by radical jihadists who are set up an al qaeda emirate in that location. also the guantanamo bay hunger strike now hitting its six month milestone as the pentagon continues to splash out millions on the prison all amid claims the white house still has not given up its plans to shut it down. western gay communities to modern russia be stripped of the right to hold the next winter olympics in protest against the new law against homosexuality

propaganda to minors some even going as far to compare putin to that of out of it well. we're highlighting the week's top headlines here on our welcome to the weekly with me research talk of cold war punishment and a fractured relationship of made this week perhaps the worst for us russia ties in years but both washington and moscow have very different takes on the situation where obama is talking about reassessing relations the russian side believes it's all getting blown out of proportion the nature camp has the story. this week when president obama canceled the bilateral meeting with the russian president in september u.s. russia relations have paid 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 rude words you said when we were saying goodbye you said will i believe that we can make a difference in the russian american relations let's. as adults. and that's. when president putin who was prime minister when 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. it's time for the u.s. to make a pause and he said. that 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 let disagreements and scandals completely overshadow whatever progress the country can actually make and one area where the two countries tend make a difference is the crisis in syria both state the same objective that they want to political solution and 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 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. 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 galatians are defined by scandals now going back to president obama's news conference it was not all about president obama's proposals for me and i say. 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 civil liberty and privacy advocates and others to assess the program since. it just 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 relations and obviously opinions differ on whether the setback in relations was provoked by russia granting the u.s. was a blower edward snowden asylum was a perhaps that was just a pretext whichever ends up being true moscow's efforts to limit the damage from the snowden affair were being underestimated that's according to married to jeff ski who's the chief editorial writer for the u.k. paced independent newspaper. i 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 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 there's been 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 supplies both sides kind of falling ratings and overwhelming public pressure forcing the u.s. president to bend on another front of domestic surveillance a bomber has promised reforms to add transparency to government snooping but refused to give specifics having listened to obama's speech caleb maupin of the international action center says that while he expects very little too actually. if you listen to the speech not much is really proposed that's actually concrete there's talk of some you know what privacy advocate being appointed to a board and you really see that not much is really going to change if you actually

actually listen closely and you know as much as when obama was campaigning for president he made a lot of promises about protecting whistleblowers and all of that you see not much of this is changing and the fact that obama came out and gave this address that is proposing these reforms which aren't that sweeping but sound sound really great the reason he did that is the response to the public opinion people all over the united states are outraged you know that their rights are not being protected and all of this this patriotic stuff we hear about freedom and the u.s. is the greatest country in the world because the freedom how it's really it's really not true it's a lot of propaganda that's used to push us to war and to push us to blindly support government policies. are to syria now where the war's opened another bloody chapter with fierce battles now unfolding in the country's north kurdish fighters who are being forced to stand their ground against islamist militants who are pushing them out of the territories thirteen kidnapped on sunday while four hundred fifty civilians allegedly slaughtered in one incident alone earlier this week would have

it making specific information very tough to verify though we turn to kurdish journalist to. help us put together a timeline of the conflict for you here on our city now according to him radicals launch their attacks on july nineteenth by planting a bomb in a kodesh school and then kidnapping civilians the next day there was a chain of explosions targeting houses across the enclaves which leveled a least one village to the ground while many more locals were kidnapped and islamist cleric meantime declaring from a local mosque that are those killing members of the minority will be rewarded in heaven and he encouraged militants to loot and destroy kurdish homes and violence spread into early august seventy kurds murdered three hundred fifty abducted by al-qaeda linked fighters let's get the latest on this now and hear more from our correspondent in the region this story to our teaser. 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 they're still in very fighting 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 rebel shouted granted them all their money home and our women and 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 there 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 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 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 there friday 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 there especially into a lot it's a loss a free army as they are united against this video 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 long that means it's or allowed for you once you fight for ford. 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 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 . 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 this stance 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 gird 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 including extremists an approach that looks ominous to familiar through the overthrow gadhafi in libya to syria we've been supporting al qaeda the very people who attacked united states of america we knew prior is a card that spreads from north africa all the way to the gulf 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 in the going to school r t istanbul. the could say what's happening in syria is nothing short of genocide and they're asking foreign powers to try to throw a lifeline at the peace in kurdistan activists want the united nations as as well. u.s. and the e.u. to act now to halt the ethnic cleansing and the demanding that western powers stop

sending weapons to a group in syria which then used them to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also calls for a probe into turkey's role in fueling the conflict in those kurdish areas and of the democratic union party has sent a letter to the european union with an appeal to step in and do something about the growing islamist danger investigative journalist manual option writer alleges that both turkey and the us have clear links to the radical groups that are currently engaged in the fighting in syria. 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 its 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. king or working

close with the cia and we have other information from the kurdish popular defense units who claim that most of 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 is a whole fare in a war of the rebel free syrian army deeply infiltrated by al-qaeda linked militias believes that no matter what the assad government should fall and this is that the view of the kurds of finding hard to agree. well we consider any fight is allied with the free syrian army to be part of our troops concerning the if you take an unacceptable position or make serious mistakes those people will be punished with it they are extremists liberals who fight is of the free syrian army yes mistakes have been made we have contacted our kurdish brothers seeking

reassurance that these things will not happen again no one responded the kurds have troops who are willing to cooperate with the regime to gain what twenty in the north but overall we do support the kurdish people every day are they are. it's clear that the f.s.a. spokesman is seeking to avoid condemning the violence against hundreds of kurds and the ongoing expulsion of our people from their own lands these crimes have been registered officially and the materials have been passed on to the e.u. those who say the al nusra front are fighting a just war against the syrian regime are keeping silent when militants banished kurds from their lands and carry out ethnic cleansing the free syrian army don't talk about these attacks we don't know which groups are a part of the f.s.a. and which aren't they're taking a very dangerous approach how can anyone justify their atrocities that happened in the kurdish settlements. and i still to come here on r.t.

and see iranian sentiment snowballing in the us a dozens of lawmakers signed a letter calling on obama to suffocate terror on with the sanctions off of the lower house slammed the country with new penalties despite newly sworn in president saying he's eager to talk that story right after the break. well. it's technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear sees some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harvey welcome to the big picture.

do we speak your language or not of the. news programs and documentaries in spanish what matters to you breaking news a little turn it into angles stories. so you hear. it in spanish find out more visit. live from moscow it's r t with me rover sushi from a foster back to a hunger strike of the muslim holy month of ramadan has now come to an end and the inmates at the notorious guantanamo prison have continued to refuse food and this means their protest against indefinite detention and inhumane treatment now enters

the seventh month a u.s. military attorney barwon god he represents the some of the detainees there he says it's outrageous when people are held behind bars for simply political reasons. that sense of desperation that's going on in guantanamo bay has an abated in any way shape or form eighty six men who have been completely cleared by review task force are still being held in maximum security prisons unfortunately there's many people in washington here who are willing to say we don't care if you've committed a crime we don't care if you've done anything right or wrong we're going to hold you in guantanamo bay for the rest of your natural life because it's good for me politically i can go home and tell my constituents that i'm tough on the emotion of terror in the war continues and i'm going to keep those men in guantanamo bay no matter whether they did anything or not that's outrageous. now the white house has reiterated that it standing by president obama's pledge to close gitmo but it seems

that the flow of money to the prison is not drying up in any way shape or form the total cost of keeping the facility running will reportedly exceed five billion bucks by twenty fourteen and this year alone the pentagon plans to spend almost five hundred million just for maintenance this means every day the u.s. government splashes out about a million dollars of taxpayers' money on the cam here of some of the numbers are breaking down for you here on the major chunk being spent on security legal and court issues coming in second only fourteen million allocated to fund the prisoner review board breaking down their finances the funneling into one time of a cuba. now seventy six u.s. senators signed a letter to barack obama this week calling on him to tighten the noose around iran's neck and urging the president to renew the option to use military force and tough and draconian sanctions on the country it's after the house of

representatives already slammed terror and with a brand new set of penalties in its oil sector a days before the newly elected president rouhani officially took office the iranian leader was clear about his terms and conditions for future talks mutual risp. no hidden agenda but jamal abdi from the national iranian american council thinks such negotiations are highly unlikely as washington is off to a completely different agenda. 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 are twenty one minutes past the hour moscow time hundreds of gay rights activists across europe and the u.s. if we calling for a boycott of the winter olympics sort of move them from soft well in protest against what they see as russia's new anti-gay law that's despite assurances from moscow the bill only bans the promotion of homosexuality to minors and doesn't harm human rights now the u.k.'s prime minister rejected the demands to stay away from the games but that certainly didn't stop the protests are now doctor and gay activist stephen fry he joined a rally in london cuse the olympic committee of not trying to fight what he dubbed as russia's barbaric laws he went as far as to compare president putin's attitude towards minorities and said that of at all of hitler's olympic committee responded

saying the sports should be available to wall and the new law will not affect those attending the games and then hires quiney from a leading london think tank he calls into question the u.k.'s protesters and the focus on russia. first of all we could remember that actually the united kingdom had something called section twenty eight in place until two thousand and three which was almost exactly the same as the recent law passed in russia which said that homosexuality should not be promoted in schools or to minors. so to compare this to nazi germany i think is is slightly hysterical great britain of course took part in the two thousand and eight olympics in beijing i think some people in britain might say that there's a question of all human rights record in china and we also plan to take part in the upcoming world cup in qatar you know the qataris have a very different view i think of of what is appropriate in society than we do it's

perfectly appropriate to go to those countries to have a respectful difference i think on those issues despite all the protests preparations continue for the games with a race against time to get everything in sochi complete the countdown has now passed the six month mark a record funds have been put into the winter olympics yet some critics will doubt all the venues will be ready on time r.t. is a modern andrews went to have a look there to see if i well if there's any truth to the concert it's. ok i'm not see bad but i think it's best to leave it to the professionals when they arrive next year in tsotsi for the winter olympics twenty fourteen the countdown is getting lower the olympic park with its brand new arenas is almost ready and in february next year many of the world's top athletes will compete against each other right here at the skating palace. it's the first time since nine hundred eighty that russia has hosted such an event and with an estimated three billion viewers

russia will be in the spotlight once again when all the construction is finished such will boast some of the best and technologically advanced sporting facilities in the world although with many cynics tells of corruption local opposition and concerns with overspending is such ready well the proof as they say is putting. the finishing touches are being added now and the amount of work that has been done in the city is huge the whole area is being improved and made more comfortable and beautiful with new pedestrian and underground passages being constructed the city has got a completely new look now it's newly built and very beautiful and there cannot be any doubt that everything will be on time to. slowly and surely each piece of the jigsaw is coming together another example is this next stadium. the ball sure i stone since twelve thousand people and as you can see well it's an

impressive stadium it's a new soul ready various competition has been staged here over the past few months and during the olympics will be used for ice hockey and after that it can be transformed to more accommodate a plethora of other sporting activities ranging from basketball to boxing. the mountain cluster of course that pollyanna and the rosa khutor resorts will host the buy a fun and ski center and there will be a freestyle ski and snowboarding park. the two parks are to be connected by a forty eight kilometer highway as well as a high speed train that will run every five minutes and transport tens of thousands of passengers a day once they reach the mountains base by train passengers will take one of several new cable cars up to the ski resorts and olympic competition venues. the winter olympics is only the beginning for the whole area after the main event early next year such she will set about hosting twenty two international sports events ranging from the grand prix of figure skating to the formula one next

november. the olympic sign here i've been using built at poets represents what the entire occasion is for it links us together i'm brings out the best in people and sporting events and politics aside as the whole world focuses its attention on tsotsi and the surrounding area the final preparations we put into place and what promises to be one of the greatest sporting events held and off to my trip here i can confidently say that the winter olympics twenty fourteen will be one to remember martin and various. saucy one i thanks very much for joining us here on t.v. now in just a moment we travel to one of your set here a region five years after a devastating war with georgia. while

revolutions in the middle east should get a great deal of coverage what you don't mix a lot of sense revolutions or exciting t.v. peaceful protests or nice but footage of moloch tough cocktails flying and crazed crowds of local middle easterners really grab attention so there's a logical natural reason why some protest movements get a lot of coverage in the mainstream media well others kind of cult please forgive me for being conspiratorial but there is one revolution going down which does have all the exciting visuals of the arab spring but just doesn't get any of the mainstream coverage in fact unarmed people in this country recently stormed the parliament trapping ministers and lawmakers with that they held them down for eight hours demanding the government resign until police with shields smash their way through creating a narrow corridor through which the officials could escape now that sounds like exciting and visual news but why did you hear about it all over the mainstream press that's because it didn't happen in libya or egypt or any other exotic country

but in good old vogue area right in the e.u. where u.s. and e.u. interest. best served by the status quo being maintained there was no need to hype up an intervention or kinetic action in bulgaria the only time you ever hear about the need for a crackdown in bulgaria is when a government there actually started working in bulgaria own interests and not the us use desires but that's just my opinion.

knew my name is natalia to tell. ya that i'm russian my husband and his love the same it is a said. we came here to south as thirty s. from russia with it's been four years since we moved here but i don't regret it. pushed me away the city of sin ball was devastated by the two thousand eight hundred. there was debris everywhere you looked there were burnt trees. it was a horrible sight. i'm already thinking of setting.