top stories today here on our ukraine does a u. turn on a free trade deal with the e.u. with kiev refusing to meet one of the vital step the monti by europe before the integration. economic goals political differences the turkish prime minister is here in russia to discuss business but stock disagreements on syria could end up dominating the meet. veterans who fought alongside british soldiers say they're prepared to die in a hunger strike to get an equal pension rights or an artsy report on how those extreme measures are actually bearing for.

a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at the moscow. with your life the world had. ukraine has suspended work towards a free trade deal with the e.u. the country's parliament voted against a draw that would have let the jailed former prime minister yulia timoshenko get medical treatment abroad and europe had demanded her release as a prerequisite for further integration. looks at kiev's decision. two months ago it was talented as a done deal on thursday ukraine's government all but completely ruled out that an association agreement with the e.u. would be signed next week instead regarding trade ties with russia and c.i.s. was made the priority. some stage of ascending to the top in this order is unfavorable. the one hundred eighty degree turnaround comes after months of openly voiced concerns that ukraine's economy would simply collapse if it forms a free trade zone with the e.u.

which in turn promised no compensations on potential losses you think it is a lucky escape really because i think that this deal was bad news for the ukraine it would be like somebody today go back in time to nine hundred twelve buying a ticket for the titanic it would have been a national suicide for the ukrainian government to sign this just a few days before the move moody's downgraded ukraine's economic index to a breeder fault level that led the government to openly admitting that the already ailing economy was not ready for a leap of faith. we haven't gotten the clear signal from our european neighbors that the losses which we had suffered in the last four months will be compensated by entry new markets and european markets will need to hold the work of a dozen or more enterprises but our country can't afford firing tens of thousands of workers in the world and cure but the real bone of contention is the fate of jailed former prime minister yulia timoshenko the e.u. has been insisting she must be either set free or at the very least be allowed to travel to germany for medical treatment or there would be no deal continuous

failings of the parliament to pass any such laws suggested that letting in a quote which biggest rival out only eighteen months before the country's election was clearly not on the president's wish list finding himself now between a rock and a hard place on sunday and of course which will watch tens of thousands hit the streets for the anniversary of the two thousand and five orange revolution and just like nine years ago it has every chance to be a very loud protest alexi russia ski r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. and the decision to postpone further integration has split the u. ukrainian parliament ah ha you can see it right there and hear it as well the opposition bowing the parliament's refusal to allow the team a shank a to get medical treatment abroad for their statements on postponing the idea of years i mean this regime when met with calls for the president in pietschmann around a thousand activists launched a protest against the decision and called for a mass rally on sunday and the date coinciding with the beginning of the orange

revolution geo political analyst a f william engdahl he believes the e.u. has nothing to offer ukraine in the first place. i suspect that the ukrainian. political leadership but as it has a delusional view of what the e.u. would bring for your cranium economy of course a they long to be accepted as a western european nation and so forth since the breakup of the soviet union but right now the e.u. is in a kind of a death spiral the e.u. has little right now to offer a crane and if you create a ukrainian business political. leaders were. look at the thing more realistically they would concentrate on building stronger bridges to the east because the future of europe western europe not simply ukraine but the

future western europe in my view lies with eurasia in the sense of russia china. now let's get some more details on ukraine's current economic situation with our teens katie pilbeam the host of venture capital are joining us live here on the program good to see you this morning let's talk about this deal with ukraine and you start to politicking how much has the economics got to do with it well according to the energy minister the ukrainian energy minister he seems to think that it's all about economics that it makes sense for ukraine to stay away from the free trade zone at the moment a lot of that to do the fact that we rein in on the economy is now in during the recession since two thousand and they've got our wising deficit to contend with dwindling foreign reserves not perceived. foreigners over so well what about the downgrade because this is. absolutely from the big three s. and p. moody's and fitch or reduce them to near and around the junk status that the likes

of cyprus and greece and that really is a dangerous zone to be sitting on and it gets was not because even conversations about nafta gatt which is their symbolic gas companies the equivalent of russia's gas problem of the u.s. is exxon mobil being sold on to a foreign buyers that is an option at the moment that's how serious the situation is but if you crane doesn't go for the e.u. free trade deal then what are the other options here well they'd have to come back to the drawing table renegotiate russia's union which is where bellary some kazakstan and potentially armenia sitting at the moment now this would mean we've got exports of twenty five percent going to russia at the moment that would have to be fortified as well as that we've also got gas discount going to do. we know that ukraine relies upon those if they were to go the european way they would have to forfeit. absolutely or so we're seeing a bit of a bit of

a dodging on both sides here the absolutely huge not happy with kiev decision not to allow you to get medical treatment. i mean that economically they're all huge advances to going towards the e.u. but they are. in the short could ukraine default in potentially because they would lose an immediate two billion a year if they were severe away from the cause and many people say many people are saying that if they were to via back towards russia then it's much more lucrative for ukraine not just in the short term a dollar that was one don't forget they've spent a certain amount of money we're talking billions to actually get up to the e.u. standards in their operations to do that infrastructure environment and the human rights which you mentioned is that that's the sticking point is so ukraine massively cashing out trying to get even brussels at the moment is a rather perturbs or i could see the host of venture capital thank you. now or racism doesn't get you far in politics except in parts of israel apparently the

reports on one mayor who want a real action on promises to build a truly jewish city with as few as possible. but also guys a wine island bands are genetically modified food companies i hear about see we look at how the unseen g.m.o. movement is certainly spreading internationally. now here on the program a rusher in turkey will attempt to cement their economic ties later with its strong differences on middle east politics which may provide a quite a sticking point for the turkish prime minister meets the russian leader in some petersburg today with syria expected to be one of the most contentious topics during the talks. and of his in some petersburg and has this report. with these kinds of meetings it's often just as much the international context what's not

officially on the agenda that matters as the topic that the two sides will formally discuss which is the economy now that does bring us to syria russia and turkey have been at odds over over the civil war the conflict in that country the last time the turkish prime minister was right here in st petersburg very different climate heated disagreements turkey is of course one of the strongest supporters for the syrian rebels in fact of the largest faction of the opposition the syrian national council is headquartered based in turkey there's been some concern about for instance the illegal flow of arms over the border from turkey into syria something that turkey does but still an issue and there have been high level diplomatic spats the worst incident for instance was back in october twenty twelve one a russian syrian passenger plane was stopped by turkey accusing russia of shipping essentially to the government now back in august when the chemical attack outside

of damascus took place turkey had been one of the strongest voices calling for intervention international intervention in syria since then we've seen a little bit of a tempered position basically the two sides now do agree that the geneva two talks as the diplomatic effort the attempt for the diplomatic resolution to syria has been called both sides do agree that this is really what needs to take place now also not officially on the agenda but still an important issue in this time is of course that of iran this is one issue that the two countries do really see eye to eye on there is of course that new round of talks currently underway in geneva turkey is not of course taking part in those negotiations but through various officials they have voiced their support for iran's nuclear program support for their program of course as long as it remains peaceful a business relationship between the two. country certainly has not been overshadowed by the disagree been such as syria the two countries have had

a long standing business cooperation we're going to see discussions for example of natural gas turkey's energy needs fifty six percent are met by russian natural gas there's also talks of new oil pipeline in the south stream of turkey oil pipeline that's due to come online in about twenty fourteen certainly the two countries have a longstanding relationship that's not likely to be overshadowed by any means by these political disagreements over syria now the russian and turkish leaders are likely to discuss iran's atomic ambitions while in some petersburg the same time as nuclear talks between iran and six world powers and day three in geneva today in cross talk. about the chances of any sort of deal being struck. in last the p five plus one in particular the united states and france are willing to stick to understanding is that the radiance thought they had reached least verbal ie on some

of these issues i you know i don't think the iranians are going to feel they're not going to feel comfortable with going ahead with an agreement it's a matter of trust i mean do we have that here and if it's not here yet what does it take to create that level of trust then the rest of it is a lot of details i think if iran doesn't soften its position on those three points then they go through nations are not likely. to cross a bit later here on to you but for now good soldiers from the poles were prepared to sacrifice their lives while fighting for the british army and dozens of conflicts over two centuries now some though are ready to die for their own cause going on hunger strike to demand they get the same pensions as any other soldier laura smith spoke to protesters who say the u.k. government has simply been. how long is it now since you last had anything to eat

and now starting sixteen days. in freezing temperatures and biting wind. starved himself for more than two weeks right on the prime minister's doorstep we sacrificed for a great dane who hundred years. our ancestors. my uncle my. grandpa's they won many many wars. they sent them bad putrid. fish of warriors from nepal because of being recruited into british army regiments but two hundred years during which time they fought and died for britain all over the world most recently in iraq and afghanistan but there's never been parity with their british cohorts in pay or conditions despite their sacrifice it was only in two thousand and nine that has

won the right to live in the u.k. and there's still no equality retired get paid just a third of the pension of u.k. based soldiers something they say is an affront to their dignity our demand is not mort's. that is only one kind of human being in the world and they must there must be treated equally they must be respected equally if they do not internalize this thing and then demands in for a peaceful and prosperous war it is impossible parliament's now announced an inquiry into the situation prompting writes to start eating again but inquiries take time and there's no guarantee that at the end the demands will be met they have high hopes after all it's taken twenty years and a hunger strike to get to this point laura smith r.t. . and a lot more news coming your way after a very short break here on our including our report on

a controversial issue of fracking that's igniting debate not just in europe but all around the world. well going into the future. show will in about a technology keeping the moscow metro rolling new modeling said they said makes me weighs in the oil industry and a dream team of robots go places too dangerous for humans. to ninefold the latest news and innovation is here on set knowledge. we've got the future covered.

and. good luck. to build the world's most sophisticated. doesn't. mission to teach creation why it should care about humans.

this is why you should care only. if you're just joining us welcome to the program here on r.t. and the e.u. is considering much tighter regulation of fracking the controversial new method for drilling for energy companies could be forced to prove they're not damaging the. let's take a closer look at the practice i suppose and ultimately its risks as well the method involves breaking up in iraq at least one kilometer grown the opponents of it say there could be grave environmental consequences warning the use of explosives and chemicals contaminate the water supplies it pollutes well the water the ground the air as well but advocates of the technique say it will help to solve the energy crisis and perhaps create more jobs e.u. members are deeply divided on the issue of energy giants are pushing for widespread

exploration. has been following the resistance of europeans to this issue of fracking. a number of european countries have had large scale anti fracking protests take place recently as sort of the prospect of more drilling has been rolled out across europe but one of the largest anti fracking stories to take place over recent months happened for mania where locals actually formed a human chain around an area where u.s. oil giant chevron was given the green light by the remaining in government to begin exploratory drilling i travelled there to cover the story and i spoke to a lot of the locals there and they are all most of them farmers they live off the fat of the land and for them they were genuinely frightened by the prospect of their groundwater being contaminated their food not being safe to eat they were

talking to me about having to safeguard the health for their children and they see it as governments siding with large corporations and not protecting the interests of their citizens who are talking about genuine risks that they see from this technology fracking has been associated with air pollution water contamination water depletion earthquakes and of course climate change oil and gas companies have spent billions of dollars really selling a story about how fracking is safe and the reality is quite different i think that's something that anti fracking campaign is an protesters in the us and in europe are no doubt reassured by is that large scale protests and citizens opposition to this technology really does work for example france has just up held a ban against fracking because of the environmental risks involved digital money

for a real life situation the university of the. first institution to accept bitcoins as payment to study for a master's in science. on the website. stepping

aside for larry king and politicking. in israel is a multi ethnic community of. christians but the mayo is very open about his desire to change that and his openly racist views with his election. look. what my goal is to have as few arabs as possible blunt direct and a virtually racist szymon from a shop or ninety five percent of mayors think the same but only five percent will say it to the media i'm sorry i'm the only one who does so by have to stay true to what i believe should one capsule has never shied away from controversy the mayor of nazareth elite is known for building neighborhoods for jewish citizens only

banning christmas trees from schools and boasting that he stopped the arab population in the city from growing among his friends he comes prime minister benjamin netanyahu and now he's just been reelected for another term in office if you notice israel is first a jewish state and then a democracy the same goes for nazareth illit anyone can live here if they think there will ever be a church or mosque they can keep on dreaming but nazareth elite is in fact an ethnically mixed city one in five of its residents is arab it borders the biblical and much larger nazareth often called the arab capital of israel. arabs from as a ref and other villages come here to get away from their crowded areas and improve their living standards. stay we was born here he's been trying to get an arab school built in the city but it's not going to happen on this mayor's watch in this country when they get to the power to think if they go extreme right.

if he becomes more racist then he will have more people to vote for him to claim make sure finkelstein angry she supports cap so and says they desire to live in a jewish city is what the country's founding fathers in visit to visit michigan one of them he is what is keeping me here because i know that if it wasn't for him we would lose our home this is without a doubt a war of existence recent municipal elections reelected with fifty two percent of votes his post as promised a jewish city forever gets those election campaign was soaked with racist undertones which many here are now dangerously close to entering israeli political mainstream the most disturbing aspect he takes mindedness in a way a microcosm of his role in the city's battle to preserve its jewish identity is infused with history religion and discrimination depending which side you're on

policy r.t. now as with the elite northern israel. time to riga where a supermarket roof collapses killed sixteen people including three rescuers who were trying to pull victims from the debris it's thought up to thirty people are still trapped under the rubble the tragedy happened at the time as people did their shopping after work the roof may have fallen and because of weight of soil being used to build a winter garden on its roof. to iraq where at least forty eight people have been killed or the deadliest assault taking place in a city north of baghdad where a car bomb ripped through a market claiming thirty one lives iraq seeing its worst violence in years more than five thousand people killed in the last eight months. and japan's fukushima nuclear plant workers have successfully removed the first nuclear fuel rods from a cooling pool twenty two of the news or some believes were transferred to a safer place but there are still more than one and

a half thousand potentially damaged assemblies to deal with. now on the other side of the pacific the u.s. government also has a nuclear problem how to store its waste twenty seven billion dollars has been put by but what was it actually spent on. looks for the. we're all familiar with the ongoing nuclear powder keg of superhuman day you their power plant but here in the u.s. there's another nuclear problem that this government just can't solve the storage of nuclear waste is the department of energy is supposed to have a program in place to manage and store radioactive waste which is why the d.o.d.'s collected these from nuclear power plant operators to the tune of twenty seven billion dollars over the past few years but in two thousand and ten obama decided to abandon plans to develop the yucca mountain nuclear waste depository in the data leaving us with no long term storage site so what did the twenty seven billion

dollars in cleanup fund end up being used for that turns out absolutely nothing. away hawaiian island has pasta law abiding companies which produce genetically modified food from operating on its territory a modified crops will also be restricted to indoor structures and experimenting with new types of plants has been prohibited but elizabeth considered trauma center for food safety she believes the and see g.m.o. mood is beginning to reverberate all across the world this is actually a movement which is spreading across the country they move actually is the second week in hawaii there's the band obviously on the big island but also another piece of legislation that was. why which severely restricts and makes chemical companies to regulate and report the chemical. there are

a couple of states in the country that have actually labeling laws except they have a close in them that says other states have to join them before those are actually enacted so this is a big movement that is happening it not only in the united states but particularly all across the rest of the world people of one team to have a healthy. food. but imo research i live in moscow here on out say stepping aside politicking it with larry king that is next on the agenda. wealthy british style it's time to pay the price for. the. markets why not scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports on

r t. e speak to language you. will use programs and documentaries in arabic in school here on. reporting from the will talks about six of the ip interviews intriguing stories for you to. see in troy arabic to find out more visit arabic don't know it's called. one of the most celebrated investigative journalist of our time bob woodward of the washington post he's a reporter on every president since nixon and he's the author or co-author of a dozen number one best selling nonfiction book. considering what he's covered over the years it's appropriate that he joins me at the historic a adams hotel overlooking the white house all next on politics.

it's always great to go back to washington especially on a lovely day like today and especially to be with an old friend like bob would. a pulitzer prize winning journalist worked for the washington post since one thousand nine hundred seventy one currently as associate editor author a co-author of twelve number one national best selling nonfiction books most recently the price of politics that is out in paperback with the many of them that his star of chaos otello kate across from the white house the executive office buildings over bad as the white house president obama and his family say they have the two weeks prior to his first inauguration the president is approaching the end of his fifth year in office community says one obama at five well george will the columnist said obama's had the worst first year of the second term since nixon i

think that's. overstatement but obama is having trouble now and certainly with obamacare and it's not just the technical website issue it's is it going to work what does it mean to people and whenever there's a change like this a change i think is wise i think people should have health insurance and what the going to make it function for millions of people like they promised we were going to see any second terms when he said in terms get off well and good question i mean the generally is a bump in the road. but if you look at the world right now i think the world is such a dangerous place all of the if you go from north korea down to libya in egypt and ask questions of china and russia one of the cia.