straight to live pictures for you here now it's the international opposition leaders have been protesters against. the city split. killed in the. positions clash of the geneva two conference on syria even before the warring sides of the conflict sit down for direct. and n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden reportedly being russian authorities for more protection amid mounting death threats.

your top headlines for this hour international with me rule re sushi live in moscow where it's now a fairly mild minus seventeen degrees celsius the leaders of the ukrainian opposition have called on protesters in kiev to refrain from violence over the city's embattled has remained a blaze overnight live pictures for you here right now the boning barricades right as you can see there dividing the police and rioters with thick black smoke also mothering the city report here on our international with correspondent peter all of a. there is a standoff again between rioters and riot police there's a line of fire a wall of fire separating the two that's been set alight by the by the riots is burning tires and sick black acrid smoke separating the two sides there's a steady stream of people moving from independence square over to where the flash point is currently is currently and what we're seeing is those people are coming

they're carrying a lot of of rudimentary weapons some have held it some with homemade body armor we've seen them carrying the likes of of clubs i am balls bits of paving stone that they've been breaking up there's been a real operation going on among the rioters to to break up paving stones to provide them with rocks to hurl at the at the police and then getting them over to what is really now the front line and they say this clash between rights is and riot police earlier on in the day the right police to clear everybody out of the area that's just behind me over there now while they were doing i was in the sky on the street at the time and we we were able to to fit catch on film exactly what was going on what we've seen is a series of explosions going off a plea police are trying to clear out the square as you can see a lot of people we're going to be moving this way a son it comes the cover of a can move to the left here yes huge crowds of people who they're going to try to get away from those barricades that we were up there

you can i own police moving in with actually police the moving in they're very very . they're pushing back very forcefully here. hopefully we're going to be going to be fine where we are police have moved everybody off the barricade moved everybody away from where they were almost our case you know we're going to have to get inside now we're going to. we hope that we're going to get inside to get all the way of what's going on this is. the police homicide is that they are they getting rid of and they're clearing out everything that was at those barricades this has been the position of such a standoff between writers and the police a. obviously the police deciding there that it was time to to put an end to that into into clear people out we saw a huge wave of people huge huge wave of people fleeing from those barricades and as police tried to to disperse or that. oh that is that is.

to say a policeman no hitting a somebody who's on the floor right there repeatedly beating that person so yes the police have now cleared out all the way some explosions you can hear that we've had to come inside to the hotel which is nearby where those barricades were. in order to get away from from what was going on. there are some wounded demonstrators some people who'd been beaten as the police have now completely cleared all of that area away this all happened very very quickly it all happened in a space of just a few minutes we heard a few loud explosions i believe they were. they were noisy crates they were flash bang grenades and then a charge by the police which is completely cleared out that whole area of where demonstrators police have been in a standoff for the last the last few days but all of this does seem that it's set to continue for

a while yet will be trying to get back out there as soon as it's safe for us to do so to see what's going on. ok where they were located. but yes it is now seeing demonstrators trying to move back into territory that they were just expelled from by the by the right places. well let's take a look at exactly where the ongoing toll mill has been taking place to bring up a map here on r.t. international into kiev we go and upwards just over here is a european square that is ultimately the forefront of the on the rest it's where the tires have been satellite where peter all of a was reporting from just a moment ago some of the fiercest clashes that have been taking place around the nearby government buildings or maybe up to the top part of the screen here that's. street which runs all the way along the perimeter of the external part of kiev where security operation on wednesday pushed out of some of the more radical protesters who have been conflicting reports as well on the total number of

casualties the deaths that we have confirmation of two protesters dead reportedly with bullet wounds their wealth or he's insisting however that the police are not equipped with live ammunition over two hundred police officers have been injured during the riots more than eighty have been hospitalized and we asked a former british police officer with experience of crowd control to take us through the tactics that the ukrainian police have been using certainly during the past four days of unrest. but when it it starts becoming violent and one of the protests and then they have no option than to react sometimes in the way they did because once that situation does get out of control like that well there's two primary and the first they could restore peace quickly and whatever way you can get the demonstrators moved to go broke what's the r.b.i. and then primary there the second part of lienz is to do so as safely as across it will for the public so decided then to the offices second so i think you know in

some ways when you get back to the news again as police officers in many ways it's not surprising that they haven't reacted as diggers leaders they have i mean it's not very nice if you look very good and indeed a lot of the colleagues and get a very unfortunate been injured as well about human beings at the end of the day you know they all strive however well equipped they are well trained they are you know this is i mean it's a horrible analogy but it's sort of combat in the field face to face with some dangerous people many of whom are actually intent on causing them harm. meanwhile the slogans of some radical groups of force exposed to question what's really driving the unrest nationalists are threatened of more violence claiming their right to use force and there have already been reports now of several anti semitic attacks as well with the mobs in kiev becoming increasingly aggressive the voices of support from the west have also become increasingly louder. catherine office

details. the obama administration had upped its rhetoric against ukraine on wednesday warning of possible sanctions that the government continues its crackdown on protesters there the state department spokesperson here in washington said all policy options are on the table but did not offer any more specifics now the u.s. meanwhile has revoked the visas of several ukrainian officials who are allegedly implicated in violence against peaceful protesters no members of the opposition however had their visas revoked by the united states this is something that did come under some scrutiny at the state department press conference when a journalist or raise the issue of a double standard the united states has already revoked visas of several people responsible for violence. several officials ukrainian officials several. sure there is no position protesters nothing like this ukrainian official.

now we also heard from the state department referencing two protesters that had been shot saying that they had been shot by members of the police despite the fact that the investigation on the ground in kiev had not yet concluded president obama himself stayed silent on the recent developments to put the department spokeswoman did call on the ukrainian government to abide by the protesters calls for the country to sign a trade deal with the european union instead of turning towards russia the state department's top your of europe official of torah nuland has these are the countries several times recently to argue the case vice president biden had also called the ukrainian president to express his deep concerns now the united states isn't alone in pointing the finger of blame on the ukrainian government when it comes to the recent violence in kenya of we did also hear from the e.u. budget commissioner who said that sanctions were not being discussed at the moment but that the body will go beyond simply condemning the white violence one possible option going after the bank accounts of certain all of arks on the ruling party in

ukraine. and a mass rally also erupted at the american embassy in kiev several thousand activists reportedly demanded a stop to the financing the violence and meddling in the country and a political analyst and international affairs come ahead of rick ross off he believes that the west is actually being too harsh in condemning ukraine's government at this point this is by no stretch of the imagination be characterized as peaceful demonstrations of that flight nor can these actions which are so persistent so well organized and so not criticized by the west be seen as simply you know provocateurs operating on the. you know on the extremes of you know otherwise healthy protest when he approaches from the west there but rather violently and in chicago and of course i was here for the demonstrations against the nato summit in may of two thousand and twelve and i can assure you that when

demonstrators got out of line here they were bludgeoned you know pretty severely by this year ago police were themselves were not attacked so i believe that you know the fact that. prominent u.s. and european political officials are egging on if you will they're doing everything possible to exacerbate the conflict in kiev senator john mccain. was in kiev and december as well as victoria nuland was assistant secretary of state for european and your asian affairs as well as catherine ashton from the european union and for you know at least a month and a half two months when doing everything possible to not only provide some you know false legitimacy to violent protest in kiev but also you know quite unilaterally and entirely showing their hand as being you know against the incumbent government of president victory on a goal that. and ago she ations between opposition leaders and president of coburg have not yielded any results they are set to resume later on thursday but the

opposition has slapped the president with a twenty four hour deadline to call a snap election and launch what they say is their own shadow parliament however the prime minister has said the government will not accept any ultimatums and is still ready to meet the protesters. if you can do stay with us for an r.t. international we will continue bringing you the very latest from key have all about the ongoing unrest. it's art international live from moscow the syrian government and its main political rivals failed to find any common ground at the opening of the geneva two summit on wednesday the international mediators are now rushing to make sure the first direct talks between the warring sides take place on friday as planned. it appears going off has more from switzerland the prime minister i'm sorry to.

can you just read for yourself if you live in new york i live in syria i have. to give the syrian variation here in this forum the first day of the conference was expected to be spent listening to formal statements instead it was the scene of bitter exchanges as the syrian opposition pressed on with its calls for president assad to step down and i think that i said is the problem and i said i don't think the problem will be any solution without us are going to pick up a change of power in damascus is something washington is pushing for as well but. will not be part of that transition government but according to the u.n. secretary general this is neither up to washington nor any other outside players to decide. the seriousness of themselves had the primary responsibility to end the conflict determine their party to

a system and future and start repeating their country while democracy is willing to discuss anything from commenting territory partial ceasefire anything that is except assad's resignation it seems the parties have a different understanding of the course of the talks indeed the only agree on the one thing that a political solution is the only way no one should. know one's trying to gloss this over that this is the beginning of a tough and complicated process more than forty countries and organizations and all suggest together how this must end that it has to have an inclusive syria its goes through the statements were indeed emotional and there were mutual accusations but what's most important is that all the parties involved want direct talks to start as soon as possible. the first round of negotiations mediated by

the u.n. an arab league special envoy on syria is expected to last one week after nearly three years of extreme violence it isn't a surprise the two sides of the syrian conflict aren't getting along very well frankly just getting them in the same building may already be considered a diplomatic breakthrough not to mention the talks which are scheduled to continue on friday going off r t montreaux switzerland and some analysts say it's up to foreign powers to urge the warring sides of the syrian conflict to make the concessions needed for some sort of diplomatic breakthrough. they must understand that neither one of them is able to really sort of the game military victory over the other in the battlefield so they need to reach some sort of accommodation for what about the opposition cannot dictate and say that i said cannot be a part of any. future syria and the syrian government cannot sort of lump everybody into sort of the basket of terrorist or speak so each one of them must reach out

and i believe that they will ultimately they can this is going to take a great deal of time a great deal of attention and a great deal of goodwill on part of those who are advocating both sides just a few minutes here on r.t. international will head to the other side of switzerland to the luxury of ski resort of davos where some of the planet's wealthiest the most influential people of puzzling over matters like poverty and inequality shortly will be asking if their efforts are bearing any for. the media leave us so we leave the people. of the same bush and see to. your party visit the. issues that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from. politics. are.

international thank you for joining us edward snowden reportedly set to request

additional protection from russian authorities after receiving a growing number of death threats for the former n.s.a. contractor has been living at an undisclosed location in russia when he received washington's prosecution details with. despite his temporary residency in russia it's fair to assume that n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden follows what's reported about him throughout the world however it's the recent death threats robert descriptive ones published in the us media that is causing the thirty year old to request extra security and protection from russian law enforcement the website but speed quoted an anonymous u.s. intelligence officer describing how he would have assassinated snowden if he had the chance another unnamed pentagon official has been quoted saying he would have simply love to put a bullet in her head or he not restricted from killing an american snowden's

lawyer says the former contractor is constantly accompanied by private guards but that may no longer be enough to ensure his security. we clearly understand that there is a serious danger for the life and health of edward snowden and n.s.a. intelligence officer says that it's easy to imagine a situation where he walks around moscow for example after doing his groceries and he accidentally bumps into someone then he suddenly feels drunk goes home and dies in the shower in his situation he has to think about his security snowden's attorney stresses that according to russian law a death threat carries criminal liability he also says the former contractor's refugee status makes him only entitled to ask the police for help in the meantime a new poll by pew research shows that while americans are still divided over the

benefits of snowden's n.s.a. leaks when it comes to just young americans ages eighteen to twenty nine years old the majority believe that snowden's leaks served the public's interest reporting from new york. r.t. . and while it would snow to normal. deeply unpopular with u.s. officials members of the public consider him a hero seeking ways to express their gratitude for exposing american surveillance the whistleblower to be nominated for an honorary position of rector at the glasgow university caught up with one of the students who spearheaded the bid the reason which shows edward snowden is because we know that he is a hero here's a brave man who raced a lot of things to let us the people know the extent of us media surveillance and intrusion into our private lives and we just want to show him that we appreciate what he's done and it is

a clear message sent out to those who are monitoring us that we will not stand for this and that we do not this we do not accept this kind of criminality it would be more symbolic than anything because he will be able to actually physically come to class go it will choose a representative. for him in situations where he cannot personally attend but his duties will be to hold the title of the rector of the university of glasgow we've had an overwhelmingly positive response of course we will do everything we can to make sure that this actually happens. always a load of stories going up. for example forces in many countries are quick with water cannons the protesters around the world fairly used to getting a soaking but not in england and wales but as you might tell on the website police changing. the best known for breaking through the computer for all of several members of george w. bush's family and cracking the email account of his secretary of state is

reportedly being called in romania. the world economic forum in davos is picking up pace as it enters its second day. of issues for the. brains of a for example inequality tax evasion the host of venture capital. to explain what matters most. so far here in davos it's all been about the essential theme which is the reshaping of the well the consequences for society politics and business now we know that after day one that they intend to go out the window and people talk about what they want to talk about and this year it's been all about income inequality and the consequences of that and really here everyone appreciates that it's the biggest risk to the global economy but no one quite knows how to deal with that and it coincides with youth unemployment as well as the social rest that can come out of that and bury my zero dollars eighty billion shares that have come to

talk about that so the irony is that they're to say we've also got plenty of other topics been spoken about including climate change surveillance is that it's haitian going on every morning to we know tax avoidance is still sensitive here because business leaders saying where's the rules and regulations where are the laws that we are so cool breaking and they're saying that everything is being pointed at fairly say as i say tensions on the one as they usually so we've also got plenty of other things going on for the rest of the davos we've got the european parliament g elections what's going to come out of those the brics club as well brazil russia india china is instead a club doesn't really exist anymore but you know what everyone is waiting for mr sun rouhani as well as israel mr netanyahu people want to know if they're going to be communicating with each other and if mr rouhani is going to be able to woo some investors so as you can see it is a packed agenda here in davos plenty to concern ourselves with stagnant growth

being top of the agenda ready in terms of the thing it's all about five years on from the financial crisis what kind of an economy are we dealing with now that is the question so it's all about challenges going forward. the planet's richest eighty five business men control as much wealth as a hof of the world's entire population that's according to a new report from oxfam presented at davos next lorson the head of out of the charity organization is rather skeptical about any progress being made at the four . people having more money than they could spend in ten thousand lifetimes when you have a billion people living on less than a dollar a day there's a lot that could be done on the international level to tackle the issue of growing inequality particularly around the issue of tax tax havens and tax avoidance so you see hundreds of billions of dollars being hidden away in tax havens this is money by the richest corporations the richest people and it should be taxed if it was

taxed fairly and that money could be spent on health or education on decent jobs for ordinary people so if we sort of crack down on tax evasion that would make a major difference we think would be a lot of talk. very little action we don't expect them to do much at all. or a quick global snapshot for you now with a russian trawler that has now left the west african country of senegal it's after the owners paid around a million dollars the old leg off was seized nearly three weeks ago on suspicion of illegal fishing the incident stoking diplomatic tension between moscow and dhaka the ship's captain maintains the vessel was not fishing fishing illegally at the time of capture and in fact wasn't even in senegalese waters. thousands of pentagon workers have come out on strike in the u.s. state of virginia though not the generals the cleaning staff rather were protesting against low wages demanding the government raised their pay which now starts at

nine dollars an hour. and pakistan crowds protesting a bus bomb explosion that killed twenty four shiites on tuesday a protester is calling on the military to step in and stop the bloodshed from the country apart. is certainly spreading there is a big rise in the past year. all right up next i mean martin breaking the set on r.t. international. recently facebook was ablaze with likes and shares about the twenty fourteen no pants subway ride this is a yearly event that has grown in popularity and spread way beyond its native new york to cities across the globe according to fox news and such

a thousands of people ride the subway in their underwear as if it were a normal day what you're going to say is a prank collective the cause of scenes of chaos and joy in public places yeah i guess this is kind of funny i mean hey i like wackiness but think about the effort and propaganda takes to get thousands of people the world over to simultaneously do something and then with all that effort and all those thousands of participants all you do is walk around at your pants on this idea must have been created by some people with a pretty decadent lifestyle because how can you even think of about organizing people for the goal of spreading joy when a lot of us can't even afford to put dinner on the table in the future could you guys please try some pantless food donating or pencils recycling or maybe best of all and artist of all pencils job creating wackiness is fine but when you have the power of thousands of trousers volunteers please use it responsibly and productively but that's just my opinion.

pretty of yet everyone i'm abby martin and this is breaking the set so if you haven't noticed every country in the world seems to be wrapped up in revolt right now and ukraine over a million protesters about in the streets for weeks first in response to their president's acquiescence to russia over an e.u. trade deal now the protests have grown in the ukraine government has stepped up its crackdown on dissent just today at least two people have already been killed by police during clashes and the government has gone as far as an act in a new law which bans protests altogether restricts public assembly and just in case

that doesn't send a clear enough message they're also doing little things to remind demonstrators that big brother is always watching see according to vice in a bizarre well ian twist many ukrainians simply in the vicinity of a protest yesterday were sent to stop a text reading dear subscriber you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance well that's not disconcerting at all seems like something right out of the pages of one thousand nine hundred four but with cell phone companies and regimes working hand in hand tyranny by way of technology seems to be government's weapon of choice now let's break the side. of the. games they are very hard to take a. look at he ever had sex with that her make her look.

like. earlier this month victims of the two thousand and ten gulf oil spill want to major battle against b.p. concerning the access to compensation funds see for over a year b.p. claim that the settlement process was unfair because individuals that suffered no harm were allegedly scamming the company and a billions of dollars unfortunately for b.p. the fifth circuit court didn't fall for that argument and rejected the corporation's appeal now of b.p. trying to block payouts isn't enough to convince you of its greed and moral bankruptcy statements from the company's own employer.