free media. the week's top stories on our team moscow urges washington. president obama denounces russia for what he calls a cold war mentality the granting of temporary asylum to edward snowden. syria's battlefront is moving north radical jihad of kurdish villages and. out of massive. emirate there. also the guantanamo bay hunger strike. as the pentagon continues to spend taxpayers' money on the prison. planes.

and gay rights activists in the west call for a boycott of next year's winter olympics in sochi the new russian. propaganda to minors some even going as far as. broadcasting live from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories in our weekly program this is our t.v. guide to have you with us u.s. russia have suffered a major freeze 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 the relations russia on its part is demanding america like adults and believes there are no signs of awe still of. his commentary. 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 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. 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 take a pause and recalibrate 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 tend make a difference is the crisis in syria both 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 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. that the syrian opposition is going to be there. making progress on those very important issues concerning global security becomes much harder when relations are defined by scandals not going back to president obama's news conference it was not all about russia president obama has announced proposals and then. president obama said he intends to work on ways to try 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 former intelligence officials civil liberty and privacy advocates and others to assess the program sir. 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 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 us russian relations. russia was apparently one of the countries designated as a high priority for n.s.a. surveillance this is according to a recently published document which was leaked by fugitive whistleblower edward snowden geo political analyst william and doll author of myths lies and oil wars says america's snooping goes far beyond security reasons and its confrontation with russia far beyond the snowden issue washington is determined to encircle russia with its missile defense which is an often substrata jeannot a defensive one by the way it's a nuclear first strike preparation strategy and that's something that russia

understandably is not exactly overjoyed about the issue of syria is non-negotiable in terms of what the us is trying to put into power in syria similar to what they tried in egypt and failed that is a muslim brotherhood controlled regime that would allow qatar to control the pipeline flows in to europe and not to iran so among other things so this is there is not a basis of agreement on these fundamental questions noton is as i say is not the issue the issue is this fundamental disagreement and washington is not prepared to change its agenda and openly and honestly negotiate to resolve these differences therefore obama is using this childish maneuver of capturing the media because of snowden supposedly. radical islamists have turned syria's north into a battleground as they attempt to push out kurds from their territories al-qaeda linked groups are carrying out ethnic cleansing of the local population in order to

declare an islamist state their four hundred fifty civilians many of whom were women and children were allegedly slaughtered in one attack alone with havoc in the region making it difficult to verify specific information we turned to kurdish journalist barzani so to help us put together a timeline of the conflict this is what he had to say according to him the attacks began on july nineteenth when extremists planted a bomb in a kurdish school and abducted civilians the next day a number of houses across the kurdish enclave were blown up with one village obliterated and many more locals were kidnapped an islamist cleric has declared from a local mosque that those killing members of the ethnic minority would be rewarded in heaven and he 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 get more details now from our correspondent in the region or to go. 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 grave 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 are 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 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 who ever 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 qaeda 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 especially into a lot it's a loss a free army as they are united against this through religious as they are killing people and i didn't take they call their people you can kill them kidnap them capture their woman 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 it is 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 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 syria is a cause 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 claim what's happening in syria is nothing short of a genocide and they're asking foreign powers to throw them a lifeline the peace in kurdistan activists want the united nations as well as the

u.s. . sandie e.u. to act immediately to halt what they say is ethnic cleansing they're demanding what western powers stop providing groups in syria with weapons since they fall into the wrong hands and used 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 says that in a letter they say the european union appealing to step in and do something about the growing is limited danger investigative journalist manual oxen writer believes both turkey and the u.s. have links to the radical groups fighting in syria we don't like i mean to step in but at least they mean to cut their support to this kind of i'm in the center of his. i'm in the organisation of this because i mean it isn't

the use of the. two people in our move ahead look cut i mean it promised to people there were a. few g. members p.g. members and there was lots of i mean just. just like many were disposed of them thousands so for the people that are homeless they left their home and hundreds of them there are. some of them roast nobody knows where they are now. newsweek has also seen an unusual assessment of america's strategy towards the syrian war from one of the top defense figures in the u.s. the cia's second in command has warned that the spread of extremism in the country is posing an even greater threat to u.s. national security deputy director michael morrell says if the assad government collapses with its massive chemical arsenal the country could become a haven for al qaeda terrorists he's also claimed that given the constant inflow of

weapons syria could turn into the next libya with the potential for conflict to spill over into jordan lebanon and iraq however the u.s. is an outspoken supporter of the rebels in syria and is currently mulling the option of sending arms supplies to opposition ranks middle east expert phyllis bennis says this clearly shows divisions within the obama administration. well i think that his statement is very much tied to the debate that's underway within the administration on whether or not to send weapons to some factions within the rebel armies in syria there are many people people like myself and others who have no access to any of the classified information that michael morrell presumably has access to but where it's been clear that sending more weapons on both sides or on either side is going to make the situation worse and not better so i think there's been rumors that morale actually is that to the emerging position of the

administration which seems to be leaning more towards sending some kind of weapons and this probably was and was designed to liberally to undercut that position within the administration and shore up those who are saying no sending weapons is a really bad idea. still to come in the program the third time's a charm or as the saying goes and that may be just the case for greece as another bailout loomed germany warns that athens will need yet another financial rescue while impoverished greeks take to guerrilla tactics in an attempt to literally lighten up these desperate times. plus egyptian security officers threaten to break up a pro morsy sit ins as the country continues to struggle through an economic crisis induced by the turmoil gripping the nation that's still ahead right here on our team. 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

protesters have been calling for a boycott of the winter olympics or for russia to be stripped of hosting them over what they say is a crackdown on gays ukase prime minister rejected the games a boycott of course that did not calm down the protests the most furious rhetoric came from renowned actor and a gag to vist stephen fry who condemned the olympic committee for not trying to fight what he dubbed as russia's. barbaric laws he went as far as drawing parallels between moscow's actions and those of nazi germany against the jews the olympic committee reiterated sports should be available to all and that the new law will not affect those attending the games british journalist neil clark believes that the west is attempting to use the law to demonize russia in nazi germany homosexuals really were discriminated against they were putting to concentration camps and killed in large numbers and of course this is not happening in russia today if it was i'd be the first person saying we go to russia all together now i'm

not saying i support what i oppose or anti-gay goals whatever that 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 it's 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 that's because i said there's eighty countries. 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. as western activists rise up against the new russian law or to use a noose and now you went to find out what it's like for the gay community in moscow and she discovered it's far from being suppressed. there's. 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 a 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 a protest against the 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 law is too soft thirty years ago there was criminal punishment for being poor if you take examples from some states in the u.s. the relationship is much cooler and stricter than this 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 it's. on the weekends and is full of foreigners its owner has asked us not to film on the inside to protect the privacy of its clients but reassure us business is booming there's

a happy arriving excitable you know wonderful gay community which is happy 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 at some friends of these 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 she's with this couple this with excising west lifestyle i was in such a last week filming there's a gay community there is a great day scene then saatchi but the west has a b. in its bonnet regarding russia and it's a great. state right that got together and he's now a r t moscow. well from a fast back to a hunger strike the muslim holy month of ramadan has come to an end and the inmates

advena tory or someone to prison have continued to refuse food their protest against indefinite detention and inhumane treatment has now entered its seventh month terry holbrooke's a former security guard at the camp claims that the instructions he was given there were harsh. we were taught not to interact with them not to look at them as humans not to talk with them not to speak but had nothing to do with them unless it was absolutely necessary important to work we were told to be very aggressive and searching growing. i don't think any of us as guards felt comfortable doing the best result as 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 them as as being a political logical or ethical in some circumstances and as a result such we didn't implement them and over a hundred sixty six remaining we've had a living year 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. well the white house has reiterated that it is standing by president obama's pledge to close the detention camp but it seems that the flow of money to the prison isn't drying up any time soon the total cost of keeping the facility 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 site this means that every day the us government is splashing out one million or more of taxpayers' dollars on the controversial camp and right here you can see how this breaks down really the major chunk is spent on security while legal and court issues come second only fourteen million dollars are allocated to fund a prisoner review boards. the numbers are in for greece and they're bad the country is going to need

a third bailout within months according to germany central bank even then the risk of default is considered to be unusually high and the performance of the greek government has hardly been satisfactory matters aren't even better for the home front with impoverished greeks themselves now giving up on unfulfilled promises recovery here's artie's you want a piece get off. for millions of europeans it's impossible to imagine a life without things like refrigerators ac's television computers and electricity in general but no matter how difficult it may be the reality is every month more of those living in the cradle of the european civilisation are being forced into the dark. forward two years now christina hasn't been able to pay her electricity bills she can't find work and no work in her brother two daughters or their husbands. as the bills began piling up i had to make my priorities and this is where the food comes first i want to pay the bills and i want to be

a case of the state but the state hasn't been ok with us with one in four greek strongly unemployed christine is far from the only person who's electricity has been caught off and that's where these guys come in young radical and very determined activists from the i don't see movement illegally reconnect power to as many as two hundred homes per month for free. the vast majority of the society is to be. sunk into poverty only a few of them few families across the world to have the ninety nine percent of their. wealth that's not something that. we want to bear. the reconnect to homes or disconnect power from losing so it's making them feel for motorists or sometimes we talk of the underground today the i don't pay movement has over ten thousand members across reese and it's gaining supporters despite being targeted by more than one hundred

unborn morsi. no respect to do it you know we say that thousands of people with no belief hated it will no electricity to feel water so this winter we will warn them because it's a very big people that greece is government continues to pry. economic miracles despite the country's status having been recently downgraded to emerging market. but the greeks are tired of empty promises and now more and more digging matters into their own hands even if that means breaking the law you want to spin off athens greece. so more international news in brief for you this hour a train carrying consumer goods has derailed in the u.s. state of oklahoma around thirty cars turned upside down spilling beer and soda cans on the rails near the city of wine elka an emergency crew has arrived on the scene but no injuries have been reported so far the direct the train is owned by b.

n.s.f. a railway company. israel has been given the green light for another twelve hundred settlements to be built on palestinian land the palestinians keep to go see it or lashed out at the move saying it will hamper a three state solution from being reached during peace talks set to resume in jerusalem on wednesday by settlements being considered illegal under international law israel refuses to halt construction the decision comes after the german foreign minister during her visit to the jewish state claimed that the international community should not create new obstacles for the negotiations it's no secret. you're looking at live pictures here. from the egyptian security from egypt where security forces are preparing to break up. the protest camps in cairo reportedly the decision to take action came after a meeting between the interior minister and his aides morsy camps have been the

main flashpoint in the confrontation between the army which ousted the democratically elected president and his supporters are demanding his reinstatement and amid the civil unrest the country is facing its worst economic crisis since one hundred thirty artie's belcher asthma. to cairo hospital food bank volunteers off late banks of provisions to prepare a traditional ramadan dinner for many like my stuff the hospital worker tonight's donated meal is the largest one you'll get this week and about fifty dollars a month and we are six people so the maximum i can do is buy beans two for a few sounds so i can eat we want justice i work a whole day and make practically nothing when i'm leaving but if i don't and this tiny salary my family will meet the poorest suffering in egypt as policymakers and the media are distracted by the deepening political crisis food banks like this one who tried to cover the whole country are stretched to their limits explains coordinates at money and it affects. the poverty line is so high food is the most

important think we're terrible and will provide hundreds of food baskets full of fries and. stuff so that they can feed families for a month in some places will go to utterly destroyed every time we visit it gets worse even provide livestock so that they can feed themselves were a while with a country in turmoil food distribution centers like these a plug in the gaps amid an escalating crisis food insecurity has risen significantly in the last few years according to the world food program resulting in a rise in stunting anemia amongst children due to malnutrition over a quarter of the population is under the poverty line and they're the ones being hardest hit with the continued civil unrest and dwindling foreign exchange reserves and they say the situation will only get worse as egypt is unable to imports much needed wheat for the brat millions depend on government subsidized bread that sells for about one cents a loaf however critics say egypt's food subsidies are wasteful and don't filter down to those who truly need it it's basically subsidizing items at

a very cheap prices and i bring it to the mainstream populations with a very high calorie intake very slow nutritional values close to ninety percent of the poorest people are not getting any use of the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the subsidy goes to the richest strata of the society and again it is a non productive subsidy egypt is facing its worst economic crisis since the one nine hundred thirty s. and food prices have doubled since two thousand and twelve making nutritious food inaccessible to many that there are high prices everywhere to meet his vegetables are too expensive for me with few functioning state institutions and the new interim government focused on developing political events these issues will continue to go unresolved and for the moment the most fun will be left starving tree for our cairo coming up after the break crosstalk with hospital bell and his.