the week's top stories on our team moscow urges washington to act like adults while president obama denounces russia for what he calls a cold war mentality following the granting of temporary asylum to edward snowden. syria's that battlefront is moving north radical jihadists kurdish villages into ashes and carry out a massive onslaught set up an al qaeda emirate there. also the guantanamo bay hunger strike enters its seventh month as the pentagon continues to spend taxpayers' money on the prison amid claims the u.s. still plans to shut it down. and gay rights activists in the west call for a boycott of next year's winter olympics in sochi slamming the new russian law against homosexuality propaganda to minors even going as far as comparing. hitler.

and learn from our studios in moscow this is our thomas glad to have you with. now us russia times have suffered a major freeze it this week at least that's what washington is claiming barack obama has accused moscow of a cold war mentality and even called for a pause in their relations russia on its part is demanding america like adults and believes there is no sign of hostility or tease. as commentary. this week when president obama canceled the 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 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 real words 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 were trying to do when president putin who was prime minister when i'm 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 he said. 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 two countries can actually make and one area where the two countries ted make a difference is the crisis in syria both state the same objective 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 at one 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 that much harder when glaciers are defined by scandals not going back to president obama's news conference it was not all about president obama proposals for me and i say some payloads president obama said he intends to work our way through one provision of the patriot act known as section two fifteen and gives the government broader authority to obtain business phone data records he announced the creation of a panel of outsiders former intelligence official civil liberty and privacy advocates and others to assess the program sir. 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. married to share scheme the chief editorial writer for the u.k. based newspaper the independent thinks that moscow's efforts to find common ground with washington on the snowden affair have been underestimated know that some people say oh relations between the u.s. and russia generally are very strained and the the reset never really happened that it didn't have to decide to facts but i think that to an extent is exaggerated what i find more interesting is want 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 plies both sides. cuesta to appease public anger triggered by domestic snooping bronc obama has vowed to reform the n.s.a. surveillance program the u.s. president has pledged more transparency and of supervision but didn't specify data collection will be scaled back having listened to obama's speech of the international action center doesn't believe obama will keep these promises. if you listen to the speech not much is really proposed that's actually concrete there's talk of some you know a 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 in the fact that obama came out and gave this address and it's proposing these reforms which aren't that sweeping but sound sound really great the reason he did that is a 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. radical islamists have turned to syria's north into a battleground as they attempt to push kurds out of their territories al qaeda linked groups are carrying out ethnic cleansing of the local population in order to declare an islamist state there four hundred fifty civilians and many of whom were women and children who were allegedly slaughtered in one tack alone with havoc in the region making it difficult to verify specific information for this we turn to two kurdish journalist barzani isso to help us put together

a timeline of the conflict according to him the attacks began back on the nineteenth of july when extremists planted a bomb in a kurdish school an abducted civilians the next day a number of houses across the kurdish enclave were blown up with one village completely decimated while many more locals were kidnapped an islamist a cleric has declared from a local mosque that those killing members of the ethnic minority would be rewarded in heaven and encouraged militants to loot and destroy kurdish homes the violence has spilled over into early august with seventy kurds murdered and three hundred fifty kidnapped by al-qaeda linked fighters let's now get more details from our correspondent in the region. horrifying images of slow turn 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 the money homeless and old women and then they started looting 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 their fight 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 there especially into a lot it's a loss a free army as they are united together i gave this through video just as they are killing people on i didn't they call their people you can kill them kidnap them capture their women and it's all how laws that mean 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 to 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 fighting against the outdated regime 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 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 including extremists 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 we knew prior is a caucus 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 it in the other school r t istanbul. the kurds are claim what's happening in syria is nothing short of genocide and they are asking foreign powers to throw them a lifeline for peace in kurdistan activists want the united name. as well as the u.s. and e.u. to act immediately to halt what they call ethnic cleansing they are demanding what western powers that western powers excuse me stop providing groups in syria with weapons since they fall into the wrong hands and are used to attack civilians the

statement also calls for a probe into turkey's role in fueling the conflict in kurdish areas syria's democratic union party has sent a letter to the european union within. appellate step in and to do something about the growing islam as to danger investigative journalist menu option writer believes both turkey and the us have links to the radical groups fighting in syria. are international interests especially the international 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 rule 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. does anything go in war the rebel free syrian army deeply infiltrated by al-qaeda linked militias believes that the assad government must fall by any means but kurds have an adverse opinion on this respect. we consider any fight is allied with the free syrian army to be part of our troops concerning that if you take an unacceptable position or make serious mistakes those people will be punished with their extremist liberals or 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 but no one responded the kurds have troops who are willing to cooperate with the regime to gain we're told me in the north but overall we do support the kurdish people every day are they. 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 trustees that happened in the kurdish settlements. and to iranian sentiment is rising in the u.s.

senate dozens of lawmakers aside a letter calling on obama to suffocate of tehran with further sanctions after the lower house slammed the country with new penalties that despite newly sworn in president saying he is eager to hold talks this hour and more after a short break. this is a leave us so we leave the baby. by the sea potions to cure. the party physical . issues that no one is asking with the guests that deserve answers from. politics. right. first street. and i think your.

reporters twitter. and welcome back you're watching our team the muslim holy month of ramadan has come to an end and of the inmates at the notorious one ton of obey prison have continued to refuse few food their protest against indefinite detention and inhumane

treatment has now entered its seven month u.s. military attorney barry when guard who represents two of the detainees says it's outrageous when people are being held behind bars unjustly for political reasons. that sense of desperation that's going on in guantanamo bay has an updated 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. the white house has reiterated that it is standing by president obama's pledge to close the detention

camp but it seems the flow of money to the prison isn't drying up the total cost of keeping the facility or running will reportedly exceed five billion dollars by the end of two thousand and fourteen and this year alone the pentagon plans to spend almost five hundred million to maintain the prison this means that every day the u.s. government splashes out one million dollars of taxpayers' money on the controversial camp and right here you can see how this tab breaks down the major chunk is spent on security while illegal and court issues come second only fourteen million dollars are allocated to fund prisoner review boards. seventy six u.s. senators signed a letter to barack obama this week calling on him to tighten the noose around iran's neck in the document they urged the president to renew the option to use military force and to toughen draconian sanctions on the country that's after the house of representatives already slammed tehran with

a new set of penalties on its oil sector days before president rouhani was sworn in the iranian leader was clear about his terms and conditions for future talks mutual respect and no hidden agendas but jamal of d. from the national iranian american council think such negotiations are highly unlikely as washington has a completely different goals. the fact that they would vote for 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. hundreds have taken to the streets across europe and the u.s. to vent their anger at russia's new law banning homosexual propaganda among minors the protesters have been calling for a boycott of the winter olympics or russia to be stripped of hosting them over what they say is a crackdown on gays the u.k.'s prime minister rejected the games boycott but that didn't calm down the protests the most furious rhetoric came from renowned actor and gay activist stephen fry who condemned the olympic committee for not trying to fight what he dubbed as russia's barbaric laws he won as far as drawing parallels between moscow's actions and those of nazi germany against the jews the olympic committee reiterated saying sport should be available to all and of the new law will not effect of those attending the games been harris quiney from a leading london think tank calls into question the u.k.

protesters 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 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 questionable human rights record in china 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. what is appropriate in society than we do it's perfectly appropriate to go to those countries to have respectful difference i think on those issues. traversed the preparations for one of the world's biggest sporting events are in full swing the sochi winter olympics are now less than six

months away record funds have been pumped into the games but some critics still doubt all the venues will be ready in artie's martin and who's traveled there to find out if there is really cause for concern. ok i'm not see bad but i think it's best i 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 she 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 she ready well the proof as they

say is in the 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 zones 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 host the olympics. 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 in use already various competitions i mean stayed 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

mounting cluster of course there are and the rosa khutor resorts will host the biathlon and ski center and there will be a free star 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 via 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 events 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 nearly built ports represents what the entire occasion is for us together i'm brings out the best in people and sporting events and politics aside as the whole world focuses its attention on salty and the

surrounding area the final preparations we put into place and what promises to be or 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 . sochi. coming up it's worlds apart with oksana boyko stay with us. the u.s. government project marty has been in place for twenty years this project was designed to break the media monopoly of cuban television by putting u.s. government propaganda on t.v. screens this injection of american t.v. works with a blimp and

a c one thirty military plane working in tandem you know this would actually be a major achievement in the history of technology if it actually worked this program which over the years has built up a billion taxpayer dollars simply does not work but continues to exist despite the cuban government completely blocking the transmission the official logic of continuing the program is that it would send a bad message to the cuban government if they stopped brilliance and action but the big question is who gives the u.s. government the right to propagandize cubans just because they have a different lifestyle doesn't mean it is wrong and the u.s. government does has the right to destroy it and even if cubans on mass actually do hate their system then it is their job to change cuba not the military industrial complex and it's cronies in washington but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to worlds apart it's hard to find a bilateral relationship that is so cavalier burdened by old grudges and negative stereotypes as the one between russia and the united states and yet when it comes to doing business why did few examples of common sense prevailing of our child become the nation's why can't russians and americans just stick to the mantra of nothing personal just business well to discuss that i'm now joined by andrew summers president of the american chambre of commerce thank you very much for a time mr summers we often hear that since the united states is the largest consumer of energy and russia is the largest producer of energy the synergies between the two are obvious but i do you really so obvious may not be obvious but there is great center geo already not just an energy but in many other sectors of

the global economy where americans are investing in russia making a lot of money and expanding their operations this is a completely different world in the geo political world that we read about and business is focusing on making money but whether we look at the trade between the two countries and last year it was just under forty billion dollars it's not so impressive and if you compare that to the trade with china for example which was more than ten times larger. you know it could be argued that one of the reasons for so much geo political bickering that we've seen over the past year or so is simply because the two countries don't have that much to lose. well i think you hit on a very profound point the better the trade relations and the more commerce the risk between each country the more they have to lose if they get into geo political spats and that's why i believe the u.s. administration is its strategy is to focus on trade and investment.