today's headlines and a roundup of the week's top stories hundreds of policemen are allowed to leave to be staged convention center in kiev meanwhile the president's offer to opposition leaders to head the government is left hanging in the air amid intensifying riots across the country's west. syria's government and the opposition hold their first talks since the start of the civil war it's been her altered by diplomats is a major step forward. to seeing that. we have to leave and we have to fight for peace and life we can't give up as bullets fly overhead we visit a maternity unit in syria where mothers and doctors have chosen life in the face of the destruction that surrounds them. and deadly clashes across

egypt and terror attacks in the capital mar the third anniversary of the revolution that toppled long longstanding dictator hosni mubarak. you're watching the weekly here on our to international live from moscow where we give you a rundown of the week's top stories from the past seven days. around two hundred policeman be sieged in a convention center in care of have been allowed to leave the building there are conflicting reports on whether it was opposition from men vitaly klitschko or the interior ministry that brokered an end to the standoff the siege began shortly after leaders of the ukrainian opposition partially turned down the president's proposals aimed at calming the on rest in the country parties peter all over has more from kiev. this all started after. we had speeches from literally just behind me here in independence square from the main stage here from

opposition leaders in which they said that they they weren't willing to accept the . the offers that would be made to them by ukrainian president viktor yana coverts now to run through what some of those offers were in the constitution would change in that ukraine would go back to a parliamentary presidential republic what that actually means is that the parliament here the the end pains would have far more power it would actually remove some of the power away from the president stands at the moment and would basically revert ukraine back to the constitution it had in two thousand and four and some of those offers were was the offer of the position of prime minister for one of the senior position leaders are saying the same. now he's the leader of the the group here called fatherland he's also been offered the position of prime minister he has said that he hasn't decided yet and there will be dead

discussions over whether he will accept that all not it's also understood that vitaly klitschko could well be coming his deputy should he accept that position now other offers that were put on the table was an amnesty for everybody that has been to anybody that has been detained so far during the two week long violence that we've seen here in ukraine however there was a stipulation placed upon and that was that rice is would leave government buildings that they've occupied all across ukraine so we heard these speeches then we've seen these said these violent scenes it has all kind of calmed down right now but there has been a series of incidents involving the police here recently what we have seen is on friday evening three police officers were attacked not very far away from where i am right now there was talk of a agreement between opposition leaders and the police the rioters and demonstrators

would leave the streets of the ukrainian capital kiev well that certainly isn't happening right now from what we've seen. but the standoff between police and the rioters intensifying a retired commander from the los angeles sheriff's department says police in the u.s. would have used different tactics while i was on the video so although sure a lot more restraint than i could expect in most places night states the use of the ball all cocked you know it's the throwing rocks and bottles and striking him with coal which would all be considered lethal force in the united states piers you know . that's a lethal situation in the united states you could very quickly be shot with lethal force with your first of all the great and the police officer in the quote we can while you can now will you usually result in some type of we are forced. these pictures are just a glimpse of what kind of weaponry the rioters have been using police are saying

they were seized from one of the radical gangs detained in kiev the group was allegedly involved in kidnappings several policemen claimed they had been taken hostage and then released by protesters what they tilt towards the roof of my head and bound my legs with tape and taped up my eyes as well he did not the view of most of the yes ones were attacked by a group of masked youngsters they surrounded us green of the cops nearest hamzawy to really take everything from us our wallets ourselves along with everything when them to through a nuke we had done nothing to them because we were just coming out of a cafe after lunch with the mobs around the movie with meanwhile in over a dozen regions across ukraine and raged mobs have been beseeching the local governments in eight of them so far rioters have occupied government buildings and declared that they will not obey the rule of president can you quote vetch what started as peaceful pro e.u.

rallies last november has now effectively set half the country ablaze alexy looks now at how the protest has transformed. those young people in the streets of ukraine by seizing temperatures are writing the new down at the for europe. ever since the first rocks and molotov cocktails were hurled at the police in kiev march sunday if issues in europe and the united states have started up fresh wave of accusations aimed at the actions of the authorities against what they called peaceful protests this we have all been for and there will be initially here will we expect from the ukrainian government then the sure democratic freedom in particular there but unity for peaceful demonstrations they protect life and that he uses violence does not take place. but people beating police on the ground somebody aligned with explosive project tiles and even taking them hostage can hardly be classified as peaceful even pictures of rioters carrying far arms are

surfacing i'm quite skeptical that these riots will be. dealt with effectively in the near future and they will continue for some time but a nationalist. neo nazi. representative of the so-called right sector group we combine school began zend neo nazi and the right is from all sides east and west and all sides of political spectrum therefore i don't think that everyone will fall all of the opposition leaders to all of what a peaceful resolution of these of these conflicts some of these deals held down from the violence and they will continue for some time over the past two months their you know my down has changed in form and meaning what started as a peaceful protest broadcast has turned into a display of violence on both sides it has now grown in size to with almost half of the country's regional administration stake in over spawning serious concerns the

country could fall apart any sort of splits in the area which could happen with a. in next week's must be described as quite possible because government wouldn't have enough forces so ukraine will be split it probably in two parts. we've got two different problems the opposition is still working horns with those in power trying to get a better deal with the president and the protesters storming a police base and doing the people who are happy and their leaders suggest they no longer want to listen to anyone and care little about eighty agreed truth. reporting from key if. and as riots keep spreading west from the capital geo political analyst eric draitser says opposition leaders have long since lost control over what goes on in kiev or elsewhere i think at this point it's quite clear that they don't have direct control over the rioters what control they do have is purely from the public relations perspective it's obviously

a chaotic situation and it's gotten out of control and i doubt that anyone has a real handle on control of the situation their intention was never to political concessions it was never to come to a political settlement there their true intentions have been quite apparent all along and that is regime change to bring forward regime change in the ukraine in order to overthrow that government and you see something quite similar in two thousand and four with the so-called orange revolution it's been done all over the world over the course of the last twenty years or so and this is no different. but it's the country's east that's remained resilient to the burning barricades around the clock violence in kiev pledging support for the legitimate government and the constitution instead artie's policy players there. the industrial heart of the ukraine is a place where the majority has been silent until now the violent pictures from kiev are spring people here into action but not in support of the anti-government rioters no but i watch the bus not beat up but i cannot it is when there are such

things happening in ukraine the protests in kiev a horrible we are brothers we are all ukrainians in the east and south of the country support for president general cough which is high tolerance for why it is low these demonstrators blame opposition parties for using hot headed students to destabilize the country years young people are like zombie us they get information from the internet and this information is only one side the usa in the west are paying for this information to be put out. gregory green is a correspondent with the local newspaper he wants order and for as long as the government provides it he says he'll supporters who are buying up much or the message of the protesters regularly changes their main idea in the beginning was to join the european union the next week and it was political change and they wanted the president to go now i think even the protesters cannot say why they're

demonstrating unlike the demonstrators in kiev most of the more than four million people who live in the country's most populous region don't believe ukraine's future lies in europe losing off. russian market is a war three order in this region so that is the main reason why. people. don't. want to join. european association. it's for distance. it's very bad for the brain but. i suppose it's all come to one street. because it will almost nobody wants it's especially. big business and big business and all the country has very great influence protesters complain the queue of riot has on wasting time on the streets while it's the country's east

that keeps the economy alive and if you crane was to join europe now its factories would be turned into scrap people here in a vision a different future to be antigovernment protests what they want is a quick into the demonstration and a deal to join the russian customs union this they say will give them the stability and security that the killer of protests are threatening to unravel policia r.t. donetsk ukraine. you can find a full timeline of the on rest in ukraine plus the latest updates and more expert analysis r.t. dot com. syria's government and the opposition were finally able to sit at the same table for talks in geneva on saturday their main concern at the long awaited meeting was getting humanitarian aid to besieged areas on sunday they are due to tackle prisoner

releases artists in corpus can offer reports. they faced one another let's talk to one another a format simply impossible to imagine even at the beginning of the week just twenty four hours before the start of the conference the opposition couldn't decide whether to go to switzerland or not and when they finally did arrive i think that is the problem and i said i don't think the problem of any solution without said during our stepping down it became clear both sides had a completely different understanding of the talks goals the rebels pressed for our son to step down officials seem to be ready to talk about almost anything except the president's future but at least outside players agreed this is strictly up to the syrians to decide the seriousness of themselves had the primary responsibility to end the conflict determine their particular system and future and start rebuilding their country but one world powers left and direct talks were supposed

to begin the opposition refused to sit down at the same table with the other side we came here to talk and they are not ready finally when it seemed the negotiations were completely special envoy to syria lakhdar brahimi announced he did manage to get both sides to meet and so they finally did negotiating through him with still in the same room and face to face prisoners and kidnappings humanitarian aid and localized ceasefires were the first issues on the table with more pressing topics awaiting discussion despite all the emotions accusations and preconditions were heard this week these talks are the first real chance for a diplomatic solution in syria and after nearly three years of bloodshed and ongoing violence it will be a bumpy road and there is a long way to go but the first steps in the right direction have definitely been made you got this going off r.t. geneva switzerland have a f.s.e. out being a former professor at tehran university thinks the main goal should be to prevent

syria from sliding deeper into chaos. i do not want to see another live reproduced in syria where you have you know the breakup of the country and basically warlordism in various parts of the country and incitement of the serious sic tarion them and so forth you have these. groups banning music images and of course they are zero respect for women's rights and so on so what is the priority of the syrian opposition is a stance is rash and wise and counterproductive even defy that they have serious impulses on syria and national integrity and sovereignty in light of the intrusion and very destructive role of thousands of foreign forces zero commitment to the values of free democratic syria as well as the rights of women and so on.

are the two sides met in switzerland air raids and armed clashes have continued across syria but even in less chaos there is still hope. visited one maternity unit where the gruesome side of war has to take a back seat. even in this dangerously divided country one place the differences don't matter is this children's hospital in damascus. a tiny relative of a government minister chose a room here whose babies belong to fighters of the free syrian army. who have patients from all over syria including areas how to buy the rebels because this is the only hospital of its kind in the country where babies born think can be treated and we treat them all the same they are all syrian children after all we all belong to one country and have to learn how to live together again. in three years of conflict neither men or women or children were spared the according to the un

more than one hundred thousand people have died all in fact the number is so high they've officially stopped counting was the anger and pain in both sides can't be measured. but still it's peace that people want more than giving an idea who is married to a syrian government soldier has just fallen pregnant and the tough lives this is a beacon of hope this kidman salata mean my husband it's a connection between us while we are away from a child there which is often for me this baby means life itself i live through this baby. comes one and a half year old daughter was born during the fear is to attack damascus has ever seen. she says her fight has nothing to do with her. about one to thing that war means there and we have to leave and we have to fight for peace and life we can't give up now. it's a side of war that not many think about in the midst of violence and devastation

babies are still being born in their thousands of new parents who run away from atrocities in their hometowns often end up in camps which like the basics of sanitation and security. between death all around their choosing. not t. from damascus coming up shortly snowden tells all the former n.s.a. contractor held his first q. and a in which he ruled out the possibility of going home and took a swing at the american legal system for failing to protect whistleblowers. across egypt both supporters and opponents of the transitional military backed government have been out on the streets this week many of the demonstrations ended in deadly clashes with security forces some twenty nine people have been killed in street violence since thursday also this week terror struck at the heart of the nation cairo the capital was battered by

a series of bomb blasts that left six people dead and ignited more hatred of the country's islamist opposition the attacks happened as egypt was preparing to mark the third anniversary of the revolution cairo based journalist the hamas and sabri say he says the muslim brotherhood has to carry much of the blame. the of conspiracy theories they keep blaming the government for those bombings in it's the fourth which is absolutely nonsense one of the same time the opposite sides which is the regime and the regime we wish them to. work through to us these are not peaceful themselves and or as hostile as that is what should be stopped now what the government should be working tirelessly to stop is inciting violence you know why didn't go is the absolute truth sectors of the community and moving the country forward towards a freeze of civil strife the world's rich and powerful gathered at a luxury

a resort in the swiss alps this week to talk money those of artes business show venture capital was there to. so this week's venture capital we are in davos with a wall of economic forum where the topics of income inequality tax evasion and the dangers of complacency were spoken about by world leaders now why do the richest people on the planet come all the way to these are all the isolated mountains of the do you drink paid don't own kind of pays and enjoy a bit of ego stroking well i try to look beyond all of that work out what it's all about so i spoke to a no vote prize winning economist finance ministers as well as a russian oligarch business leaders to join me all day here in r.t. and i say leaker edward snowden held his first q. and a session this week sharing his views on the agency mass surveillance and american freedoms snowden excluded the possibility of

a fair trial in the us he stressed that if he'd turn to congress with his information in the first place he would have been charged and jailed right away there whistleblower stressed that the bulk of the book collection of personal data must and that it doesn't help fighting terrorism and it violates the us constitution he also said that the flaws in the american legal system leave whistleblowers unprotected discouraging them from exposing any wrongdoing while a wide range of u.s. officials consider edward snowden a traitor many people around the world are calling him a hero and seek ways to thank him for exposing global data collection a group of students at the university of glasgow in the u.k. nominated the whistleblower for the position of rector we spoke to one of the activists. reason which shows edward snowden is because we know that he is a hero is a brave man who rist a lot of things to us that people know the extent of fewest 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 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 kind of subtropical resorts in the black sea coast provide enough snow for winter olympics a question we have often heard in the run up to the games well no you won't see any snow in the city itself however up in the nearby mountains there's plenty of the white stuff to provide spectacular scenery and perfect slopes artes to bed let's say when to try it out.

if like me you enjoy a little bit of extreme sport then hang onto your helmets for the best skiing track in the black sea resort snowboarding and freestyle in competitions at this twenty fourteen olympic winter games will be held to the was on the rosa what's up popped also known as the hot extreme hot was. that. was. just seven years ago this regime but also fluttered was untouched today it's quite a different scene designed and build by french experts it's now a picture of a place called scene of all kinds style hotels and chalets at over five thousand

feet it's one of the highest lifts of mountains in the world the mountain towers though provides axes. and professionals in the alpine and freestyle skiing as well as snowboarding as for those going for winter gold a difficult terrain is available. i wasn't going to be left behind so i hired some speed headed up the. drive so way not at all the hot tub and i'm definitely going to be tough in all the snow. the rain has been faced by professionals he has he's been testing the slopes over the last year and for those still worried about the whether there's enough of it all the knives have promised. so having

a monster ice machine on standby. ok so we've made it down the slope and i'm still intact no bones broken and i can tell you this it is absolutely magical out here in the mountains are why i kept it in the snow it's just absolutely beautiful and i think the mother of all must also a new sports might take up seeing next time so indeed for everyone who's coming out here to the new ski resort and all points you result of the black sea is going to be one you'll always remember for now i'm going to sign up some hot chocolate there on the day on the ski slopes of rather hotter forty c. with us for more reports from where the athletes will be going for the gold we've got plenty more to share with you before they win but flame is lit at the main arena so

here on r.t. in the coming days. ok. how do you operate doing brigade going to mostly do sports and such like speed skating is it as easy as proof. of an olympic hockey player is on the. way. my son. hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of rio de janeiro in brazil to protest the twenty fourteen football world cup the tournament is due to take place in the country this summer people have expressed anger with the amount of money being spent on the competition rather than on health and education similar protests took place in the country on saturday including the capital brasilia. police in the u.s. state of maryland say they have disabled a crude explosive device found in the bag of a gunman at a shopping mall earlier he killed two store workers and wounded five more people

before killing himself police say they don't know the motive yet for the attack. assailants have killed six people six police officers and wounded another in two separate attacks in pakistan in the southern city of karachi three policemen died when a hand grenade was thrown at their patrol car government later opened fire on another vehicle crushing has been the scene of similar shootings in the past most of them blamed on militants. i'll be back with more news in about half an hour up next though it's over to katie pilbeam and a review of the top news in the world of business venture capital just ahead. according to a new office phone records the rich are getting richer at an alarming pace middle classes all over the world are under pressure and the poor well org only getting

poorer with growing. income inequality how can we expect democratic institutions to survive not to speak of maintaining social tranquility is it time to start broadly sharing prosperity. right to see. her struggle. and i would think that your. own army orders would. be. well conceived and kept it would be tasty pilbeam as you can probably tell from behind me the gorgeous mountains we are indeed made which still and this week to

the devils the world economic forum now for the last four days the world's most privileged money movers they seem promising and pledging that as it is with the case the devils may see is no policies set in place with how the british prime minister david cameron talking about reshowing jobs back to britain iran's leader has some rouhani worry investors for a post sanction era out of it tinseltown too with goldie hawn teaching us all about the importance of meditation in amongst these days we had surveillance global warming the most is all of the universe in between the smoke kind of haze and goes the champagne they want to focus on the global financial recovery seem to take a bit of a backseat they set off a good mate but we're not exactly in a booming economy just now so this is a sense of complacency coming into this when i spoke to the head of the o.e.c.d. and i asked him what concerns him the most complacency the fact that people feel

comfortable that they have lost a few or that they have lost the sense of urgency and that they think we're out of the woods yet we're not out of the woods growth is very slow on a problem it is historically high. inequalities are growing there's a great loss of trust in everything that we have built in one hundred years in all our institutions so we're not out of the woodchip the crisis is not over so let's continue to work hard don't feel complacent now one thing that ran through the forum was income inequality and the dangers that can come from it the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. doubles as the highest part of europe and it's a place where the global elite come here to discuss how to enrich themselves and of course improve the lives of the ninety nine percent that live down in adama's.