up oh no. the flame for the twenty fourteen sochi winter olympics is live before setting off a marathon journey from the birthplace of the games in greece to the host city and southern russia. the week's top stories here on our t.v. the diplomatic standoff over syria's chemical weapons and as the u.n. security council finally agrees that the storm approaches adopting an historic resolution. also the u.n. an apparent thaw in iran u.s. relations and a landmark phone conversation between the nation's leaders offered hope for progress progress and stalled talks over to iran's nuclear program.

is to pam in the russian capital you're watching r t with me marina joshing a very warm welcome to the program now the twenty four thousand sochi winter olympics flame has been lit in greece as a limpia the birthplace of the games from here is out the torch will travel thousands of kilometers to the host city of next year's games in russia well arty's andrew farmer has been watching the ceremony in greece and a bomb would say in such a let's now talk to them live well first we'll go to andrew former and we've just seen some mesmerizing moments there are of you know the flaming of the olympic torch there so tell us more about this event and you know what's the atmosphere where you are now. well as you say the limpet flame for saatchi twenty fourteen has been lit will probably be able to see it just behind my left shoulder there and

it also we will see here at olympia the birthplace of the games the longest torch relay in the olympic history just a few moments ago the lighting of the flame ceremony took place it was basically a step back in time winding back the clock perhaps two and a half thousand years is saw an actress stressed as a high priest test light the flame using the powers of the sun and a parabolic mirror which is basically what happened in seven hundred b.c. that flame is them brought here to the ancient stadium which is where i am standing and it is now being used or just was used to light the torch the very first torch bearer he runs off to my right by tradition he's always a great man on this occasion he was an eighteen year old ski called yanis antonio who hopes to compete for his country in sochi next year and he will hand this torch the first russian torch bearer alexander ovechkin the ice hockey star he himself

has only been released by his club. i was to carry out the sauna he flies back to the states this evening but he says this event today was one of the highlights of his career while the choice will go on a tour of greece for the next seven days and that will end in athens next weekend before it flies to moscow for the russian leg that's a whopping fifty six thousand kilometers long the longest in history but it has started here as we've been on the air in the limpia the birthplace of the olympics well certainly a moment to remember there for you and around all of us watching this as indeed this event is very very ceremonial and we're looking at live pictures in fact we're showing you live pictures coming out of olympia and her thank you so much for now now let's cross that a bomb would say who is in sochi the host city for the two thousand and fourteen olympics so to bonk bring us the atmosphere from where you are now and how the stores will get to. well it's

definitely going to be an olympic torch relay that's going to break a many records and here's why it's going to take around one hundred days full of that torture to go through russia it's going to take sixty five thousand kilometers and fourteen thousand torch bearers to bring it right here to the host city at the fish venue right behind me here on my left hand side now it's going to date through nine times earnings eighty three regions up to nine hundred and cities and settlements of possible russia and also visit the north pole to where the biggest fresh water reserve will be there at the lake. also in the top of the euro highest mountain in the rushes the north caucuses it will then make a trip outside of eartha to the i.r.s. says away cosmonauts they will take it on a space walk now this is never happened before in the history of the olympics. now

in terms of traveling of the torch around russia it's going to have a conventional ways such as you know the train a plane as well as on foot to through personalities but it's also going to go through unconventional ways us through rain d.s. ladies and hot air balloons the russian put in a committee also she has said that at least every russian will be one step proximity of that sports meeting that everyone will get a chance to get a glimpse of that fly a bit torch when it comes to the relay itself and the course of the relay of course a russia wanted to highlight some of its culture its the history and of course this emerging new young russia that we're seeing being developed here at the host city. or tell you thanks very much indeed for bringing us this object and of course we are following the breathtaking journey on the olympic flame and the torch here in

russia and there are there's a lot ahead for it and for all of us watching it right now want to say just going back to what andrew said you know different athletes are carrying the torch and running with it and right now it's russian ovechkin who has the honor and privilege all right both of you andrew and to banks thank you so much for bringing us the atmosphere and from a limpia were we just watch this mesmerizing ceremony of lighting of the olympic flame and bringing us the update from the host city. well of course we'll be covering as i just said the spectacular stops along the way for the olympic torch relay over the next few months here on our team on air and online on our website r.t. dot com stay with us for that. the olympic torch is on its epic journey to such. one hundred and twenty three days. through two thousand nine hundred towns and cities of russia. relayed by fourteen thousand people or sixty five thousand

killing. in a record setting trip by land air sea and others face. let's take a large really special coverage on our key. to other stories now here on r.t. this week's u.n. general sam a gathering was marked by some major diplomatic breakthrough as key foreign players reached their first agreement on syria since the start of the conflict there and that historic phone call open the prospects for real progress over international concern about iran's nuclear ambitions parties and he's now reports and changes in tone and policies all hope for diplomacy progress on two fronts at the united nations a new tone in policy towards iraq and a security council resolution on chemical weapons in syria the european union we've been hearing increasingly off to the argument that the threat or use of force which

is directly precipitated by the u.n. charter might be the most efficient way to solve international problems with the united states of america is prepared to use all elements or power including military force to secure. our core interests of the rich but rare consensus at the u.n. emerged after years of deadlock over how to deal with the syrian crisis the un security council unanimously passed a resolution to secure and eliminate syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons according to the geneva agreement put forward by russia and the u.s. the mandate outlines a legally binding compliance but no threat of automatic sanctions or military action i think it shows they were turning towards a diplomatic solution least on the issue of chemical weapons but the other issue that is still remained outstanding is what will happen outside of the issue of chemical weapons will the promise to be pursued by the united states or will they continue to find as they have the opposition are in the opposition of bacillus day that happening and trying to deepen the conflict over there was out in another way

it's a u.s. policy that iran's new president says has no place in the region his debut at the u.n. this week star hassan rouhani reach out but also defend tehran from political attacks iran is an anchor of stability in unstable region the iranian threat is imaginary and is used as an excuse for the misdeeds of others iran poses absolutely no threat to the world or the region ronnie made it clear that iran does not want nuclear weapons and that it wants peace but also to be treated as an equal rainy and u.s. officials praised high level meetings that took place on the sidelines of the general assembly and the country's president spoke over the phone for the first time in over three decades what would it take for a would be photo op to become a new u.s. approach towards iran a lot of us have are very tied his hands are tied that there are people and lobby groups in the united states that do not want to see the united states and iran

after thirty four years of demonizing the country to have relations the u.s. is in a tough spot it has to keep from north. relations in the middle east and now the alienation of the arab muslims in general against the earth is mostly due to the commitment and the double standard the us shows in its relations with israel obama said to meet with israeli prime minister netanyahu on monday in washington now is the real test will the u.s. be able to move forward with diplomacy in the middle east both with iran and syria the first week at the u.n. general assembly has opened the door to rethink a failed policy the question is will the obama administration shut it the first chance they get reporting from new york and he sonali r t v in resolution on syria stresses that all parties in the conflict need to comply with the disarmament and

nonproliferation requirements author and historian gerald coren says ensuring the rebels cooperate will be the most challenging task that's the weakness of this peace process recall that just a few days ago the so-called rebels split officially with the more extremist faction basically saying that the less extremist factions to somehow be purged and expelled the extremist faction of course is spearheaded by the al nusra front close to al qaida keep in mind as well that some of the so-called chemical facilities in syria or under the jurisdiction of rebel forces if the rebel forces are not part of this process it's unclear to me how it can be resolved that is to say how can chemical weapons be destroyed not least how can these chemical weapons be found if the rebels are not part of the process. now hearings have started for a green peace campaigners just days after

a court ordered that twenty two other activists should be held in custody for two months all are accused by the authorities of being part of an attempt to scale it on a platform and endangering the environment and the lives of workers are going off looks at why they were protesting at what the future holds for the polar region. the pictures that stormed international media greenpeace activists trying to climb onto a floating platform in russia's north arrested by coast guards was. shocked shocked all thirty activists from eighteen countries were detained and are now awaiting whether they will be officially charged greenpeace claims their actions were peaceful but the authorities say they could have endangered not only the lives of the rig's workers but the environment itself social nigeria and it's obvious they are not pirates but they tried to storm the platform and these people violated international law by coming dangerously close to the president's common scheme an

international arctic conference organized by russia or here in city huts the only city in the world located exactly on the arctic circle line where the presidents of russia finland iceland other officials along with around four hundred experts have gathered and the arctic environment is what this forum is all about as average temperatures warm up and the arctic is opening up new opportunities for trade routes and energy projects moscow says only companies with experience working in the tough region and enough funds to do it properly and without harming nature must be allowed access and cleaning up the heritage of the cold war era is another issue amanda and military bases equipment and piles of barrels with fuel i know a map of the arctic binary assessment program has been involved in that but russia has really been working on its own to try to claim we have a ways to go and they're not alone there are places around the planet or similar things that happen when people didn't recognize it as something they did had long

term negative consequences for the environment the arctic nations seem to be on the same beach looking after the north wall is a responsibility they must carry together so that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated especially when their every move is under such intense scrutiny you've got this going off in the arctic circle. we're about to have a short break but to do stay with r.t. for a look at a remote island in the south atlantic whose inhabitants say the british government is squeezing the life out of their community and forcing them from their homes. they would argue that a somewhat softer approach towards the taliban if you want to have this political solution must prove the conditions for reaching such political solution and if we use. conditions to enable those on the side of the taliban to to please to be

a part of political solution. to. welcome back you're watching r t let's go back to greece now worth ortiz have made

a move against the far right goal dawn party its leader along with a number of senior officials and other members have been arrested in connection with the murder of a prominent anti-fascist rapper two weeks ago allegedly by golden dawn activists the killing saw thousands join protests across the country well since failing to win any seats in the two thousand and nine election golden dawn has made a breakthrough in the two thousand and twelve parliamentary vote it won eighteen seats out of three hundred after gaining support among the country's youth in particular are losing often it has more. fury on the streets of athens clashes erupted following a protest against the murder of pablo's physis the anti-fascist rapper was stabbed to death last week by an alleged supporter of the far right golden dawn party allegations the group firmly denies. kill a p as

a young man was known may not have been the first to die at the hands of greek neo nazi groups but he was the first non migrant golden dawn has also been said to be targeting anarchists and communists renewing political tensions between the extreme left right and the greek government they have acquired a fear. i don't phrases they have collaborated with the nazis maybe. they have have blood on their hands this is why we say go with this government with the golden dome the group is trying to keep a low profile in the wake of the killing and wouldn't speak to us on camera this man however was keen to talk george says he's one of the group's oldest members and he blames journalists for giving golden dawn a bad rep is the only party that has spent poor people and desperate greeks who are suffering in the crisis we're not extremists and we aren't against anyone yet georgia's also wanted to make sure i noticed people in the neighborhood he claimed this man was an egyptian immigrant who lived on handouts at the expense of greeks

like himself as for the nazis symbolism the fascist salutes that the group has been known for all a misunderstanding he says. what's wrong with this there's nothing wrong with a salute just a way of saying hello i did myself it's a greeting that still terrifies this greek resident he believes that golden dawn was to blame for his recent assault but he also points to another factor behind the growing divisions and the violence. this i didn't used to be afraid but agrees has changed everyone is suffering financially and some are looking to blame others immigrants and. the target despite the public shows of anger against it golden dawn is greece's third largest party and at least until now its fastest growing political force it gained ground against a backdrop of unrest linked to the economic crisis and a country burdened by debt soaring unemployment and deep cuts to social spending.

it's the little bit of a make it's when your life changes totally like ours has in the past few years and when you lose your job and can't provide for your family you grab whatever helping hand you can get and gold has helped is still fight to the end. spiros a shop owner who's had to shut down one of his stores because of the recession blames the influx of immigrants for straining scarce resources and he says golden dawn keeps order in his neighborhood when the government fails. we don't want to use violence but when golden dawn kicks out immigrants who are squirts in illegally . and forces peace and order of course to support them as a government does nothing the financial crisis has done more than simply cripple greece's economy it's changing society too when asked to describe how local say that the writing is on the wall in this neighborhood it literally is in the red it says out with foreigners signed golden dawn in the black out of fashion where the artist logo it's evidence of a growing ideological divide and with the greek economy still in trouble that

divide is unlikely to heal anytime soon lucie county of r.t.e. athens. greece is not the only country where a far right parties are gaining support polls suggest that all across european union right wing support is growing a rapidly peter all over reports from austria were right wing parties are expected to do well in today's parliamentary elections. the political right is on the rights in europe and it's drawing some surprising support a lot of people from the working class blue collar workers lower educated people voting for the extreme right of the radical right because of the policies staying put forward like immigration and european integration corruption i guess the politicized and the such so these are the topics that are now days important for those people voting for the radical right across europe there's a time that's turning right ukip is being talked about as the legitimate third

party in britain while alternative for germany just missed out on a place in the bundestag norway's conservative government came to power with tough immigration promises and in sweden and finland there's also been gains here in australia euro skeptic right wing parties are gaining support from people who feel that the main issues important to them ons being addressed they might care less and it's often we need to slow down immigration i have nothing against foreign us but enough is enough. yeah e.u. is saying where the money should go to like and all kind poor countries on it should stay in their own country and the e.u. is too wouldn't be like john dictate everything. to us it used to be that old parties would also truce interest spruced and the e.u. second us now it's only one field it's doing a lot and having the freedom party of austria have made significant gains in the

polls heading into sunday's election. its critics call it xenophobia its leader thanks to differ being i love australia i don't hate foreigners. even so the party adopted a different campaign tactic that it had done in previous elections their issue hidden message about religious values and a sense of talking about. love your neighbors which is a very catholic way of talking about the issues but the course the hidden message behind was that this is against islam or against muslims also flying the new roof is straight canadian billionaire frank straw who come dems the single currency is the road to rack and ruin. we need to stop creating every housewife knows that if she spends are normally when she. arrives most of europe's recent elections at the

nail biters for politicians desperate to keep their jobs at midnight being economies austria is different it's doing relatively fine what's happening here is brussels assistance with bailouts and encroachments on sovereignty is given the full right to come didn't seem to be done with peace or all of it on t.v. . i was one of the last outpost of the british empire essential island in the south atlantic is still said to be suffering the effects of colonialism the u.k. stands accused of victim families that have lived there for over a century always take a look now essential island is a tiny spot on the world map it's home to barely a thousand people many of whom may now have to leave reportedly to make way for an american military base the islanders who are mainly british citizens will not be allowed to stay after retirement or if they're unemployed at eighteen the case bears similarities to the expulsion of inhabitants from diago garcia part of

britain's indian ocean territory the island was forcefully to populate it in the nineteen seventies also to make way for a military base well those living on ascension island now say that similar to di oversea a london is squeezing the life out of their home or smith has more. it's a tiny island in the middle atlantic made of volcanic rock couldn't covered in pitch and water no but to eight hundred people. but now the story of ascension island has all the hallmarks of being another diego garcia the british owned indian ocean islands whose inhabitants were forced to leave to make way for a u.s. base despite having lived through generations. good memories. it's not for them. you know when you see them you got this anger because they are

enjoying the. islanders accuse the british government of seeing a. greeting families who've been there for more than a century ten years ago it all look so different person was promising democratic institutions for the island a legal right to live and to own property it wanted a viable community that but today the population's already decreased by a quarter with communities replaced by contract workers retired or unemployed people eighteen had to leave and the similarities with diego garcia don't and the dominant feature on the island is you guessed it an american base heavily used during president obama's recent trip to africa there are also satellites and submarine tracking stations and one of those now infamous listening posts run by g c h q the british government now conveniently insists ascension has no indigenous

population and many residents believe they intend to evacuate the island completely and abandon it to the americans far from the dreams of a permanent home they had a decade ago island where they'll be reduced to horn in the special relationship. and the presence of u.s. forces is causing anger in italy worse thousands have rallied in sicily city of palermo over the installation of a us military satellite station in the region locals are concerned about the health and environmental risks caused by an increase of radiation levels sicily has witnessed a number of demonstrations against the us radio station that's been under construction since twenty one and. pakistan city of. has been the target of yet another devastating blast following a bomb attack on a bus on friday at least thirty three people including children are reported killed in the latest explosion near

a police station more than seventy other risk were taken to hospital security forces say remote control car bomb was the likely cause and this all happened next to the site i want to tag going to church last week that killed over eight hundred people. just coming up worlds apart with a kind of boyko or. the macmillan family in canada has decided to defy time itself and keep their family trapped in one thousand nine hundred six sort of like new age only for one year and not their whole lives so they live in one nine hundred six the family forbids the use of any technology developed after the mid eighty's they want their children to experience the world they grew up in when you had to read books and if

you're outside no one could call you and there were no tablet computers to stupefy children at a moment's notice as a parent i have some sympathy with this idea because i like all of you have seen that technology is dumbing us down a lot i mean how often do you have to memorize a phone number nowadays and we've all seen bad parents just sit their kids in front of the technology and ignore them to chat on facebook about what they saw on netflix but on the other hand for the first time in human history you have the power of knowledge at your fingertips there is an instructional video to do anything you want on you tube and getting basic information on any scientific or historical topic is one click away if you find the idea of the self-made man romantic the now is your time because anyone who has the will to learn can learn you know i don't come from money without the internet i would definitely not have this job and i'd probably be worshipping at the feet of rush limbaugh deluded by the mainstream media modern technology can make your mind with information or break it with cat videos and dumb trendiness but that's up to you and this is just my

opinion. and all the welcome to worlds of part of getting into to hold presidential elections next year a move that has already been described as the make or break moment for the country and while the international community is eager to assist of gonna stand on its democratic condition isn't it simply too risky to have a battle for power at a time when more afghani people are killed. in many of the previous fears to discuss that i'm knowledge joined by. special envoy to afghanistan mr cooper's thank you very much.