i. thank you for teams enjoyed a spectacular welcome across the globe with crowds of revelers ringing in the new year time zone by time zone. president putin visits the city of volgograd mourning the victims of successive suicide bombings after a pledge to fight terror in til the end in his new year address. real welcomes twenty fourteen and the new currency but many doubt the adoption of the crisis back to euro will turn out well. it's just over a month before those winter games started saatchi we report in this hour from the city preparing to host the olympics and to wow its guests.

for good morning she just joined us just a tad after one of the morning now here in moscow this is r.t. international monitors kevin owen well first on the world's rung in the new year here's how twenty four teams welcomed across the globe the strains were the first to see in twenty fourteen with the traditional downswing display of fireworks over a million people packed around the iconic bridge in sydney harbor in fact which was hit up with if you counting more than seven tons of pyrotechnics festive crowds gathered here too in new york's times square to watch that famous crystal ball count down to midnight not to be. its traditional party to win the iconic copacabana beach but a million revelers gathered this some dressed in traditional white for good luck others yellow to attract healthy. big champagne drinking crowd filling the streets so paris the french capital that was the scene there. and in london hundreds of

thousands watched the city being looted one of the breathtaking displacement to get a better year on year every year about to be the. best. will be to come soviet and russian the celebrations were mobbed by the tragic events in volgograd the fifty four people were killed but two suicide bombings in just two days president putin changed his traditional new year address in the wake of the attacks promising a massive crackdown on terrorists he also visited the morning city to pay tribute to the dead and visit to the injured still in hospital margaret how reports president putin has arrived in volgograd and he has had a very busy morning he laid flowers at the site of the latest blast on monday an explosion that ripped through a trolley bus during rush hour who has also taken a tour of one of the hospitals here where many of the wounded are being treated he was briefed on their condition and met them personally wishing each of them a fast recovery and a happy new year the president also held a meeting with the heads of the federal security service and emergency committee on

their current terror activities but the tragic events in volgograd where were on putin's mind however even before the new year as he rewrote that annual address to the nation pledging to fight terrorism still the very end and he was speaking for the first time not from outside the kremlin but from the far east city of culture osc where it was hit by a massive flood last year. russia has always stood united in face of trial but argue that we are friends and school in a way mourn the victims of the brutal terrorist attacks. we're here and we will continue to fight the terrorists with determination to resolve and commitment to the one told they are all gone where by year we will provide support for the victims and their families we will accomplish everything we have planned most annoying we will restore a build everything we have decided to restore our bill. well despite the new year's

festivities the city is an morning until the third of january commemorating the thirty four victims of the two terror attacks on the town the youngest victim of revolver terror attacks three month old vic conover's now regained consciousness a little bit of good news there she's been transported to moscow for treatment after being at the center of that explosion which left her in a coma with a head injury so sadly her mother and grandmother were killed while the girl's blanket was the only thing that saved her life if you want to keep up to speed on what's happening involved rather to see how the locals are coping and try to come to terms with the tragedy twenty dot com. along with a new year latvia's welcome to a new currency becoming the eighteenth member of the euro zone but with the euro still emerging from a severe crisis many in latvia have got their doubts about adopting a single currency as artie's paul scott found. you know you have to understand if

a country wants to be independent it has to have its own independent currency a currency it prints itself and control itself. under is and his organization are calling for a referendum he says the latvian people have had the euro forced upon them and haven't been allowed their say contained the vast majority of the population are opposed to the move. there's always some who will benefit the top end but the majority will lose out latvia will import goods from other countries at a cheaper rate which will mean we produce less and ruin the economy. recent statistics from a leading latvian pollster showed that fifty three percent of latvians are opposed to the move while only twenty two percent think it is a good idea. legitimate concerns over the state of the eurozone the bank of latvia has launched a p.r. campaign in an attempt to convince people now is the right time for the country to switch currency whenever we have a chance we explain to people that swap here is

a small open economy with both loans and deposits very much in euro's already and various again that the country it's entrepreneurs and its people will have by seeing higher ratings and lower interest rates on the on their on their lives although there's little public support and economic instability across the continent one leading opposition figure says the government simply has no choice but the news business it's inevitable we took responsibility to join the eurozone when we entered the e.u. time will tell it doesn't matter what money is in our pockets it matters how much of it we have. now to make life easier for small businesses and customers alike all prices on display are going to show two amounts the price and lots and the pricing uro's twenty police.

for two exposed except both latin eras but whatever currency you choose to pay we're supposed to give you change in your us. so it's not going to work i don't know how i don't know how it's going to display here for me but i hope somehow it. it will work well but of course it will be confusing especially first two weeks as people like kareena learn to adapt to the new currency the long term effect on the uniform of the remain to be seen in this case the proof of the pudding really eating scott r.t. riga latvia. let's focus from it on your is a member greece's economy has been struggling more than most it's taking over indeed the rotating e.u. presidency for the year now politicians say the rolls a good chance to prove the greece is a fully functioning country despite all its economic woes is just take a quick look though at how some e.u. measures have been affecting athens and some other european countries too on the news all in the four years of you a story to measure is the nation's shown here of all seeing the debt increase

reaching the highest levels in greece and italy in fact those countries no longer meet the eurozone requirement to limit their national debt to sixty percent of g.d.p. now at the same time the average personal income is for all in all the states except for germany greece has been worst affected along with the relations too but one journalist we spoke to doesn't fit within a big changes here doesn't believe greece will look to change much at all. i believe that greece can give some lessons of how. in a time of crisis and when a country has a huge public that this is the. only disaster in that sense we can beat some lessons to other european countries and especially countries in the european very free but there is nothing else for europeans to do expect from greece at the moment these european président see cannot really make any changes in the europe in the european union that is controlled primarily by very lean and by some big

financial institutions in the core of the european union coming up on r.t. international scotland marks the start of a year of major decision mascot second half to say yes or no to becoming independent from britain surrounded by fireworks and festive spirit we travelled to edinburgh to gauge public feeling on a potential breakaway. to the president just a few weeks' time russia's most anticipated event a twenty four team gets underway at the world with athletes waiting for their chance to shine at those olympic games in sochi this is usually constructed venues are promising a warm welcome on a first class service they say are to say the looks at what's on offer. it's always been a subtopic all vacation spot for russians now it's on the world's map for winter sports so what she wore hose that sports men and women dignitary a place for winter vacations. russian is of course the main language used by days

in the service industry of brushing up on the english while key information signs are also being translated your first reaction to sochi is that it's big with high rising buildings and an urban attitude this may surprise many the wrongly faces to the subtropical city its basic beautiful collection of dns divina shops and natural mineral spring keeping fit with the daily show is a new trend. the international olympic committee has their own or. of announcing that the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen are wardak to the city of sochi i. and six in the heart yes in the pool of the plexi has become a world class resort the olympics are renowned for reviving and regenerating host city here the mix of new buildings rail lines and world class facilities will leave

the games with a strong legacy in the caucasus for generations to come. it's obvious on the easy to said that what's going to happen here is that they will have a beautiful ski resorts nice hotels nice facilities nice transport and definitely they have the potential to attract tourists here no doubt spread across two distinct areas the games coastal cluster is what i see then in the city and the mounting cost for sports like skiing and bobsled the two clusters only thirty minutes apart making these games one of the most compact have a helped. but have all the infrastructure changes made a difference for those who call sochi home including people with disabilities first of all there are many ramps and many places are accessible now lifts first of all the winter theater here on the square i used to visit it and quite often actually

my expectations were superseded by the reality i didn't expect that it would be so good i went to olympics with many firsts innovative technology and environmentally friendly the sochi olympics is all set to showcase russia to the world to bang with say such our team. and you can spread more reports from the sea is city of an impact dreams from tiger i won't say for the way here on this channel. of the twenty fourteen olympics what's this place like and why is is so special as the russian resort prepares to local the world power the games shaping the city's present and future life so it will bring it this is the moment they're reporting from a very cold snowy windy mountainous stuff yet beyond the olympics what they say today on our team.

week in the new year in this edition of crossfire we ask what is in store as we start two thousand and fourteen so what will make this year different even better from the year that has passed who should we keep our eye on and what stories should we be following. right on the scene. first street. and i predict future. on our reporters twitter. and instagram. to be in the know. on mom. this is the media leave us so we leave that maybe. by the same motion since you're in the play

your part of the musical. pushes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politics only on our t.v. . again when we say goodbye the twenty thirty tears gone but let's take a look at some of the events it'll be remembered for shall we it was a turbulent year for america which was rocked by the boston marathon bombings and also the government shutdown left of balancing on the verge of default and it almost of course launched a war on syria and of course twenty thirteen revealed to how the n.s.a. hacked the country and the rest of the world artie's eyes in washington got a teacher can send his then this report. it was a year of cliffhangers we heard the white house threat military action we saw the us congress threaten default to blackmail the president it's been

a roller coaster but very few enjoyed it and here's a quick look back at some of the christian turns. team obama prepared to hit syria the un bolt while others worried that u.s. strikes could benefit extremists never. hurt the american people wouldn't buy it either so president obama finally took up the russian proposal to cut a deal and we will work together in consultation with russia and china to put forward a resolution at the u.n. security council requiring assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control desist for war in syria live many americans wondering why their representatives weren't as robust in helping them so pawling to me that in this circumstance in these times we spend two or three or more weeks deciding whether we should conduct what is laughingly referred to as a humanitarian war in congress the republicans used the debt limit to blackmail

president obama and starve funds for a medical insurance scheme for millions of americans which is struggling to get off the ground anyway the government close for over two weeks and us that default fears put the world back on economic alert with suspiciously dramatic time in congress eventually you'll do it but its reputation was sealed it will leave millions dangling on the brink of a catastrophe so a few can score political points and you had many politicians calling for reforms in the wake of for snowden's revelations and at the same time calling him a traitor the obama administration of course had to do some damage control after all the revelations show. people about this program but it seems it's going to be damage control more in words than an actual change of policy we hear words transparency and oversight more often but the reality is this president obama himself said he's quite happy with the way with how the program works the boston

bombings in april which killed three people and injured two hundred sixty four in fact and it actually said something about how this surveillance program works the two perpetrators somehow flew under the radar although the f.b.i. and the cia had received warnings from russia about one of them a year before it happened but the u.s. law enforcement didn't act on those warnings possibly looking at the guy who was from chechen descent and thinking it's russia trying to solve its problems and that it has nothing to do with the you well it turns out it's not just washes problem but it seems that washington is starting to see it more clearly. with the protesters in ukraine of central kiev the new year's celebrations independent school has been the heart of those anti-government protests for over a month with the opposition calling for closer ties with the e.u. . following those demonstrations from the very start. this is a political protest this is the anger at the country's government and the president

president something which has been going on for more than six weeks now it's rather turbulent six weeks for ukraine as i mentioned my report. first they wanted to be in europe was then they wanted a revolution. that was the. ukraine's leaders feared that a free trade zone with the e.u. would cause industry to collapse the crowds never bought that but when the police used force against peaceful bro e.u. protesters. they stopped caring altogether. the government building stormed barricades built and top western politicians dropping by the german and dutch foreign ministers and a deputy u.s. secretary of state before u.s. senator john mccain weighed in taking a swipe at russia stalks while stirring up the key of crowds himself bremer others with you america is where you find me but none of them dug ukraine out of its mess

mosco later agreed to help with a discount on gas prices and a fifteen billion dollar loan for the now entrenched protesters the lifeline was a sellout. any treaty with russia is not worth the paper it was signed on. key of still has the krauts what's more twenty fifteen will see ukraine choose its next president a leader who needs to make a difference in whether its embittered sides continue to fight or unite. the one thing which ever to my eyes is the happenings that the my done right now the better is christmas tree over there usually it is a christmas tree which the authorities set up in the central square for people to come here to celebrate right now is something of a protest symbol is covered with ukrainian flag as it's covered with protest banners and even. the banner of the former prime minister yulia tymoshenko who is now in jail indeed the euro my done has become something of a state within

a state it lives by its own laws people are sleeping here they set up tent camps they're cooking food and it's really unlikely they're willing to disperse that anytime soon the opposition already said about his plan to hold the protesters at least until the end of january then in fact holding a huge national wide strike on a generally the twenty fourth that's how it is right now but definitely twenty fourteen will be a very turbulent year for ukrainian politics because in a little more than twelve months from now at the end of january twenty fifteen the people will take to the polls to elect a new president and that will be some very serious political battle especially considering everything which has happened in the last two months in this country. well meantime thousands of right wing activists are marching in the ukrainian capital top members of the country's radicals fourball the party leader will leave the demonstrators traditionally use the occasion to carry torches and chant nationalist slogans. online tonight the n.s.a. chief's attempts to justify america's spying activities have gone down to well the

n.s.a. it's a tremendous foreign intelligence capability that has the ability to see things are going on in the united states and help people really understand what their me ok world this you chew video made so many people angry despite what's being said there it's got over sixteen thousand dislikes from people who watched if you want to check they're going to want to go competent doctor would rise in the masses at the new year present for the russian navy doesn't have the gift wrapping this january if it does have cruise missiles and self guided torpedoes if you're into tech like that you'll love this small details of russia's new nuclear submarine just a click away. this is scotland welcomed in a new year with fireworks and it promises to be a momentous year for scottish people to hopefully no fireworks on september the eighteenth are set to decide whether they want the country to go it alone after

three centuries as part of britain in a new year address to the nation prime minister david cameron urged the scots to say no would stay in the u.k. are sisera further best of its which way the vote could go them. it's going to be a major year for scotland at the end of twenty four saying they're going to have that independence referendum and there is everything still to play for indeed the united kingdom this time next year could look vastly different services campaigns set to kick into first gear to try and convince faces either way ahead of that vote we went up to scotland to speak to some of the scottish people to find out how they're feeling about the new ones the tastes have been made and the glass is empty scotland will wake up to what's to be a very big year come september eighteenth and scottish faces will be asked the yes no question should scotland become an independent country in the arguments for and against what sort of swayze to say yes what's crazy is saying no i think just

financially we are going to be job security but not everyone's course a new year resolution to revolution i think the bank is going to get engaged trying to mark and forward to the birth of my second child dealt with the most growing whatever happens scotland's future now lies in its people's hands i think it means office going to timecode on the road to get to know the cast themselves not sure which way it's going to go to go and sort of everything like everything to be yeah so r.c. edinburgh. we small as a gender the second year of moscow couple of world news stories three and five to bring it up to speed with third explosions rocked a five star hotel in the somali capital mogadishu near the international airport it came just an hour after twin car bombs went off in the same area killing at least eleven people injuring seventeen when is this a gun fire followed the blasts the hotels popular among politicians and high

ranking officials. the manager for the world brother michael schumacher says his client's condition is stable but still critical the forty four year old sporting legend suffered severe head injuries when he hit a rock while skiing with his teenage son fans are gathered outside the hospital where he's undergone two operations in his brain he remains in a medically induced coma. palestinian ambassador died after an explosion at his home in the czech capital prague it's reported he was in his residence at the time with his family was opening a safe there when the blast happened never checked police say it appears to be some kind of accident but they're not entirely sure what caused the explosion. it's exactly twenty five minutes past one of the morning thanks be with us coming up after the break crosstalk looks into the crystal ball for twenty fourteen people of elements guests guess what maybe to expect in the next twelve months i'm kevin zero in thank you for watching r.t. international.

recently the federal reserve system celebrated its one hundredth birthday the other big card game that just a few years ago no one seemed to know about has been in place for one hundred years so let's celebrate the federal reserve by remembering all their accomplishments since nine hundred thirteen firstly they've managed to take the printing of money out of the hands of the u.s. government and thus out of the hands of u.s. voters i would it be. as to money who needs to mock received representation anyways they also managed to whittle away the dollars tagging to gold until nixon finally said forget gold let's print our way out of vietnam and because there is no link between the dollar and gold the purchasing power of the dollar has reduced by at least twenty three times since the fed came into being lovely but what about the

next hundred years well if the recent rounds of quantitative easing are any sign of things to come then we are going to be seeing a lot more inflation and big private bankers getting richer while we all get poorer bad people generally don't survive one hundred years but bad systems sadly can go on and on and on forever but that's just my opinion. hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle ringing in the new year in this edition of crossfire we ask what is in store as we start two thousand and fourteen and what could make this year different and even better from the year that has passed who should we keep our eye on and what stories

should we be following. to cross out what to expect in the new year i'm joined by my guests in washington kelly vlahos she's a journalist and antiwar dot com we also have medea benjamin she's a code founder of code pink an author of drone warfare and we also have kayla williams she is author of the book love my rifle more than you young and female in the u.s. army and she's also a truman national security project well all right crosstalk rules in effect and happy new year to you all right kelly i'm going to give you an opportunity you probably never never get again global tell. vision it's two thousand and fourteen we've just gotten started we did a program on two thousand and thirteen all three of you are pretty pessimistic ok there are a couple of bright spots but now we're in the new year so kelly give me your wish as crazy as it may sound for two thousand and fourteen go ahead. well i don't know how crazy it is but what i wish right you know right off the bat is i want to know

what's going on in afghanistan you know we left two thousand and thirteen with a very uncertain picture about whether or not president hamid karzai was going to allow troops to stay in that country are u.s. troops and nato troops to stay in that country there's a number of sticking points in terms of getting a deal meanwhile we have tens of thousands of troops still there bases equipment obligations we have an entire army that the afghan army that the united states has helped train we don't know what the fate of that military is going to be without the assistance of the united states we don't know what the fate of the afghan people are going to be you know my gut is that if we if no deal is struck and we leave perceptiveness lee the entire country could fall right back into some terrible violence and chaos and political uncertainty so as an american i'd like to

know what's going to go on in afghanistan from here on i am tired of this cloudy picture of where my money is going you know where our efforts have gone for the last twelve years what our veterans have fought for died for have been injured for i want to know and i think that the obama administration has sort of dropped the ball in two thousand and thirteen and it's about time for them to step up and make this another make our foreign policy in this area a priority ok but do you can i guess what yours might be your wish international convention ending the use of drones is it close to your wish. that sounds great peter and i would add on to that since the last year ended with a strike in yemen and a wedding party that we also have obama apologizing to the innocent people that we've killed and saying that he will not allow drone strikes to be used again ok that's

a good one. how about you what is your wish for two thousand and fourteen and i guess i mean be imaginative ok let's you know this is you know we're just a few days into the year so no one can say we're wrong go ahead my wish is for significant change on our investments in fighting climate change i would love to see a manhattan project level effort or a race to the moon level efforts to increase carbon capture technology to decrease carbon emissions to improve batteries so that wind and solar.