olympic torch relay. on our our. our top stories today ukraine does a u. turn on a free trade deal with the huge as the country looks east to say with ailing economy . the political rift over the decision calls projects inside parliament and on the streets with massive rallies planned over the weekend. and economic goals of vs political differences the turkish prime minister isn't russia to discuss business but stark disagreements on syria could dominate. international news live from moscow this is archie with me hello and welcome to the

program ukraine has suspended work towards a free trade deal with the e.u. the government says tough regulations on lack of financial guarantees from brussels are forcing key have to look east to keep its economy about water but. not everyone is happy with the outcome. protests began in kiev during the night at some point there were more than three thousand people at the independence square in central ukrainian capital the place the epicenter of the two thousand and five orange revolution now several dozen still remain there despite heavy rain and we understand that in the evening more people will be gathering their protests will continue on friday on saturday and even on sunday when the country marks the anniversary of the so-called orange revolution of two thousand and five and that's when we're expecting a very loud and big protest maybe more than seventy thousand people are expected to take part they have been unhappy with riches decision but i've heard notion from

many prominent both political analysts already that in fact ukraine made a very pragmatic decision by not taking this leap of faith that the moment what exactly happened on thursday and why it was why did it happen i summed up the fact in mind in my report let's have a look at that two months ago it was talented as a done deal on thursday ukraine's government all but completely ruled out an association agreeing with you would be signed next week but instead will go to trade ties with russia and see i ask was made the priority of. some stage of ascending to the top and the winner 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 do 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 going back in time to nine hundred twelve and

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 preview for 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 laws. which we have suffered in the last four months will be compensated by entry new markets and european markets she will need to hold the work of a dozen of our enterprises but our country can't afford firing tens of thousands of workers alexy russia's ski r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. the country's parliament voted against a draft that would have led jailed former prime minister yulia timoshenko get medical treatment abroad the decision set a precondition for integration with europe has split the ukrainian parliament. with. the opposition jared the government's refusal and

further statements on postponing the idea of european integration were met with calls for the president's impeachment many m.p.'s supported the initial rallies in the capital and said they would join weekend demonstrations. while the opposition is seeking a vote of no confidence for the government the government is sticking by its believe that integration with europe could do more harm than good and any of my colleagues who are so shy to discuss the pros and cons with venture capital host ok scipio being. according to the energy minister of the ukrainian energy minister he seems to think that it's all about economics and that it makes sense for ukraine to stay away from the e.u. 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 that recessions it's two thousand and eight and it's got a widening deficit to contend with dwindling foreign reserves not perceived.

foreigners service so well what about the downgrade because i was exactly right she reacts 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 worse than that because even conversations about nafta gatt which is their symbolic gas companies see a quiver in of russia's gas pramod the u.s. is exxon mobil being sold on to a foreign buyers if ukraine doesn't go for the e.u. free trade deal then no 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 dollars discount i

thought i would say we know that ukraine relies upon those if they were to go the european way they would have to forfeit. so we're seeing a bit of a bit of a dodging on both sides here absolutely use not happy with clear decision not to allow to go to get medical treatment i mean economically there are huge advantages to going towards the e.u. but they are long term in the short could ukraine default in its ambitions potentially because they would lose an immediate two billion a year. racism doesn't get you find politics except in parts of israel apparently reports on the wall reelection on promises to build a truly church city with a few hours and christmas trees as possible. and to how when oland hans's a took a count of genetically modified food companies look at how the movement is spreading internationally. russia and

turkey's attempts to talk about how to do more business could be affected by the strong differences on middle east politics the turkish prime minister's meeting about a reputed in st petersburg right now with c. were expected to be one of the most contentious topics come from those following the high level meeting in st petersburg for. this is the most important economic annual meeting between the two countries but as you well know with these kinds of gatherings often it's the unofficial agenda that dominates in this case it's going to be syria what to do about that conflict and of course iran as international countries meet to discuss the fate of iran's nuclear program now on syria turkey and russia haven't exactly seen eye to eye for the large part the last time the prime minister erdogan was here in st petersburg a very heated atmosphere turkey had been pushing for international intervention in that conflict they had largely come out on the side of the rebels the syrian

national coalition forces headquartered in turkey at the moment but since then we've seen a little bit of a closer movement together between russia and turkey both both countries do publicly support for instance the gathering of the syrian government and the rebels in the diplomatic talks known as the geneva two conference where i'm sure of course about the time for that but both countries are pushing for it still a sticking point however what to do about to president bashar al assad has publicly said that he wants to see him go on a run a lot more of basically seeing eye to eye turkey of course is not part of the negotiations over iran's nuclear program but officials there have publicly stated support for a peaceful nuclear program in iran but of course the meat and potatoes here is going to be the economy and business ties the two countries have a long standing economic relationship russia is one of the biggest trading partners for turkey so no shortage of topics but certainly the conflict over syria is likely to be the thing that most folks will be focusing on when the two presidents speak

to the press in just a few hours the russian leaders likely to discuss iran's atomic ambitions in st petersburg at the same time as nuclear talks between tehran and six world powers and a third day in geneva later today across. the chances of a deal being struck. unless the p five plus one in particular the united states and france are willing to stick to understanding the radium thought they had reached. on some of these issues i you know i don't think the rhenium sir 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 that if iran doesn't soften its position on those three points. are not likely to deal.

a judge's decision on the small matter of sixty thousand dollars in bail that's all that stands between two people arrested agreed peace process on an oil rig in the oxic and the outside world they are the last of thirty people to go before a russian court let's get the latest from aussies and not say how that's how do you so please tell us about those final activities are they likely to be lights out. well good day to you well it looks like the only q. will remain in a detention center in st petersburg until their fate is decided later on today twenty seven of those activists have now been granted bail out of those twenty seven fifteen have now been able to pay out of the sixty one thousand dollars that's needed to one more activist and australian actor of his is said to be going

to stay in the detention until next year february now this environmental protest has caused so quite a stir we know that the thirty activists on board that arctic sunrise vessel back in september will arrested because they were trying to board an oil rig in the arctic that is owned russia by russia. has said that they jeopardize everybody's security as well as their own in terms of trying to board that netherlands and russia have been add all of that adherents to each other even the netherlands going as far as taking russia to the international married to him tribunals saying that russia needs to release those activists now as well as them by leaving the country that's not yet established they've just been accepted as the just been given bail and that's all we know for now back to you julia. thank you very much indeed else he is. a live thanks again we appreciate it. and more international stories coming

your way in just a couple of minutes said to stay with us here as a report on why it's so cold fracking is leaving many in europe worried about the environment. well the language of. react to situations i have read the reports for unlike the pollution no i will leave them to the state department to comment on your latter point. to carry out a call is on the job you know going to. do no more weasel words. when you made a direct question be prepared for a change when you run should be ready for a. pretty tough speech and a little down the freedom to watch. dramas

that can't be ignored to the. story others you know. for instance change the world right. to picture a day. from a good long. look to. hello again this is the line from moscow welcome behind the e.u. is considering much tied to regulation of the controversial new method of drilling for energy companies could be forced to prove they're not damaging the environment let's now take a closer look at the practice and its risks their methods involve breaking up rock at least one kilometer below ground to create fracking fluid water is mixed with

chemicals like you're a name and mercury and pressured into the ground during this process toxins are released from the system contaminating nearby groundwater up to seventy percent of the poisonous fluid is left in the ground and does not biodegradable the rest of it evaporates releasing gases into the atmosphere but advocates of the technique say it will help solve the energy crisis and create more jobs and she's boy boy girl has been following the resistance of europeans to 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 in 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 traveled there to cover this story and i spoke to a lot of the locals there. a great culture is our lives come to drill in our soil for sure all will die because we've seen what they have done in other places when they move them up and i'm so afraid of these kind of guess exploitation people see they will be big problems for our animals because the wood will be affected and this will and the food for animals and for us as well they see it as government 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 the 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

something that anti fracking campaign is an protesters in the u.s. 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. now additional money for real life tuition the university of the nicosia cyprus becomes the first since that. to accept bitcoins as payment to study for a master's in science. on i don't call. giving endangered species a trans a grizzly bat is said to become a star get most of the polar bear cubs eggs to russian scientists on our website we've got all the details for you.

welcome back. later in a zero is a multi ethnic community of jews christians but the may is very open about his desire to change that and his openly racist views were no barrier to his reelection policy it takes on a. what my goal is to have as few arabs as possible blunt direct and a virtually racist shit 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 say i 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 counts prime minister benjamin netanyahu and now he's just been reelected for another term in office you notice that israel is first a jewish state and then a democracy the same goes for nazareth 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 residences arab it borders the biblical and much larger nazareth often called the arab capital of israel. 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 distinct if they go extreme right. if he becomes more racist then he will have more people to vote for him to claim make sure that finkelstein angry she supports cap so and says their desire to live in a jewish city is what the country's founding fathers in visage to visit masha go wild in the thick of it 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 saw gap so reelected with fifty two percent of votes. posters promise to jewish city forever get says election campaign was soaked with racist undertones which many fear are now dangerously close to intrigue israeli political mainstream the most disturbing aspect he takes pride in us in a way a microcosm of israel 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. nazareth the lead northern israel. and some more headlines were across the globe this hour in last year's capital reader the number of killed by the collapse of a supermarket roof is rising thirty two people are confirmed dead including three rescuers trying to pull victims from the wreckage some people remain trapped under the rubble the tragedy happened at peak time as people did their shopping after work the roof may have fallen in because of the weight of soil being used to build a winter garden on it. a string of attacks across iraq have killed at least forty eight people the deadliest assaults took place in a suit in north of baghdad where a couple ripped through a crowded food market claiming thirty one lives iraq is its worst of violence and years with more than five thousand people killed in the last eight months we've got

a timeline marking all the victims who have died since the two us led invasion of two thousand and three and the details on our website r.t. dot com. at japan's fukushima nuclear power plant workers have successfully removed the first nuclear fuel rods from a cooling pool twenty two of the assemblies were transferred to a safer place but there are more than one and a half thousand but actually damaged assemblies still to deal with at the same time in tokyo thousands of people protested against a secrets act proposed by the government they believe the new law would seek to hide information about the crisis of. on the other side of the pacific the u.s. government also has a nuclear problem to how to store its waste twenty six billion dollars has been paid by it but what it actually spent on is breaking the set looks for the.

all familiar with the ongoing nuclear power cake at the fukushima daiichi nuclear 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 dio years quite to these from nuclear power plant operators in 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 bathtub 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. how in ireland has passed a law banning companies which produce genetically modified food from operating on its to have a tree modified crops will also be restricted to indoor structures and experimenting

with new types of plants has been prohibited but elizabeth could save it from the center for food safety believes the mood is beginning to reverberate across the globe. this is actually a movement which is spreading across the country 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 passed in the choir which severely restricts and makes the chemical companies to regulate and report the chemicals that they're using on the land there are a couple of states in the country that have actually passed labeling laws except they have a close in them that says other states have to join them before the laws are actually acted so this is a big movement that's happening it not only in the united states but particularly all across the rest of the world people one thing to have a healthy people source of food. is coming out after the break the most and looks at the likely consequences of the growing drone arms race breaking this out on

elsie. in my research i randomly came across a sad statistic according to the montpelier a center for the constitution only twenty eight percent of americans have actually read the constitution although the overwhelming majority claimed that they understood some of it and now we see why the constitution especially the bill of rights are getting whittled away the average person doesn't really know what their sacred covenant with the government actually says which means the government can get away with reinterpreting the agreement to suit their needs and not yours because no one is the wiser but if you think i'm going to say we have rich american how dare you then you are wrong the problem is that any kind of philosophy or ideology or just even asking why seems to be getting out of favor in educational

systems all over the western world and beyond i mean shouldn't the average american be taught in school about you know america and like the constitution and capitalism how can the society advocate praise or defend values they don't have any idea about please let's get the stuff back into the educational system but fascist my opinion . when it became clear that syria was engaged in a food blown counterterrorist war. we did offer to send our military advisors there could have done. this was based on no international commitments and those advisors would only consult syrian authorities on the back to the masses in fighting terrorists on them that's all we have ever done.

what is up i'm out of martin this is breaking that well we're all familiar with the ongoing nuclear powder keg of superhuman daiichi nuclear 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 in 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 battle leaving us with no long term storage site so what did the twenty seven

billion dollars in clean up fund end up being used for that turns out absolutely nothing that's right for decades this money is just been sitting there collecting interest while doing zero zero to dispose of nuclear waste for the nation's one hundred different commercial reactors and this tuesday a federal appeals court ordered the government to stop collecting this new waste feat considering how it's not being used for anything in response to the ruling general counsel for the nuclear energy institute said quote today's decision confirms that the federal government cannot continue to defy congress explicit direction to implement a viable program to manage reactor fuel from america's power plants that it's not often that i agree with the nuclear energy institute but their right to this problem isn't just going to go away in fact it's going to last generations not only is this nuclear waste problem something we need to deal with now but the hazards associated with this technology is just not worth the risk of advancing nuclear energy anywhere in the world if you join me let's break the sack.

the three look at the table they are looking very hard to take a. look. at he ever had sex with the terror threat there really. believe. it. after more than twelve years of military occupation the u.s.

and afghanistan have finally come to terms for a tentative bilateral security agreement that will stop the role of troops in the country until two thousand and twenty four secretary of state john kerry and afghan president hamid karzai reached the accord on the heels of the loya jirga or afghanistan's grand assembly however just today cars i said that he would delay signing the agreement until after the presidential elections on april twenty fourth team and with these negotiations one point of contention has been the number of criminal incidents which afghan civilians have been executed via night raids or drone strikes that kerry said an apology on behalf of the us for these instances is off the table if the security agreement is approved it will cement the notion that the war in afghanistan is far from over and it will extend well beyond the twenty fourteen deadline or bridge loans that by obama and of course the u.s. has also promised to continue funding the afghan security forces so it's been a lot of dead for years and no clear goal of why the u.s. is so keen on staying in afghanistan i'll break it all down i'm joined by ray

mcgovern former cia analyst thank you so much for coming on ray welcome thank you so. what do you think the outcome of the security agreement is going to be and why do you think hammad karzai is kind of stretching it beyond the. presidential election well karva karzai was called by our ambassador in a kabul i can vary it's not an adequate strategic partner and didn't show that today kerry was mousetrap and thinking how to deal karzai goes and tells the jirga look you know we have to vote on this and i'm not sure i trust the u.s. they don't trust me and so we're at all oral in this is what i can bury worried about that is what you have reliable partner to work with you're up to this trick without a paddle and also you know that i can barry said this way back in november november nine of number six of two thousand and nine he said you know i think.