good. luck to. your crimes lawmakers rollback most anti protest laws while the country's prime minister hands in his resignation but the opposition protesters stay put in their camps in kiev vowing to carry on until the president goes. european union is working very childish on this whole question will be sure some of . the split over ukraine sees brussels scaling back in the e.u. russia summit to a meeting of just a few hours some political analysts say europe should grow up. in just ten days the games begin at saatchi's a limpid park but as the host city for paris to get down to business there are still allegations in the media to deal with. for sure didn't say you create the graves in the international media for want to use the most no. one senior member of

the international olympic committee says his remarks on corruption in saatchi were taken out of context and used by the media to create headlines. we're watching r t international live from our moscow studios islands in france thanks for joining me. ukraine's parliament has voted to cancel most of the answer protests last that triggered two weeks of writing writing in kiev that's as the country's prime minister submitted his resignation to the president saying it's a sacrifice to peacefully resolve the political crisis are to select. for us all down to me this is the biggest political day in the history of modern ukraine with the parliament voting on very crucial steps and i was just seen scenes of

jubilation here at the independence square when the news broke that the parliament voted to revoke most of the laws described as draconian here by those protesting the anti-riot laws which were passed on january sixteenth we also expecting the parliament to. vote for releasing all prisoners all those who were detained during the mass of violent uprisings in ukraine and this comes after the ukrainian prime minister announced that the very start of the session that he is willing to step down from his position as the country's prime minister one of the leaders of the opposition who was offered prime minister's job a little earlier by the president refused to take this position this is definitely big news because we heard from this so-called right wing sect on monday the nationalist hardcore basically and june of this riots and protests that they would withdraw from the governmental court or they would dismantle their barricades if a compromise is reached between the opposition and the government particularly

about those detained in particular about those laws we're seeing that these laws are now being mostly abolished and this would mean that we could see the protest move to its original stage the independence square the three january nineteenth position although we do understand of course that the people of the opposition would not stop the protests at all they would continue protesting until until they get what they want which is essentially the resignation of the president and early elections to be held in the country we also do know that the e.u. foreign affairs chief catherine ashton is flawed. do you have to be here tonight to hold talks with the country's opposition and the country's government we do know that she was supposed to come at the end of the week but we still unclear as to why she's coming here earlier but of course we'll be monitoring that as well. for analysis now on the situation in ukraine let's talk live to robert harnessed journalist and political writer mr harness thank you so much for joining us now so most of the answer protest laws have been repelled the prime minister is ready to

go but to what extent do you think this will actually appease the protesters. well they say that they get to reduce the level of the protests we shall see clearly reste very recently they've they've increased a bus spread across the west of the country but it depends what you believe is behind the whole movement if you believe it's just peaceful demonstrators who are rage to be badly treated and he's just a reaction to that that maybe that's true but if you believe as plenty of people do to distract surely a west a data ploy to achieve regime change it do you create that i don't think they are going to stop the demonstrations until they get early elections because i think they think the elections will be favorable to them to the elections held properly the years time. taking into consideration what the opposition leadership says that it wants in this case do you think it was wise for the leadership to deny the offer

of the of the prime ministers post that was given by the president but i could see why they would want to go into government with people who would wish them no good if would be a very difficult position to be prime minister with the with the pejorative if you create a parliament to hostile to the dark knocks. at any waste all they want they want that they want a complete regime change my view. clear as top diplomats has sped up her visit to kiev zhan away which was scheduled for the weekend why in your opinion why is she making such a rush to get there at this point well i think. i i'm not in a secret conclaves but if you if you look at the way she has behaved over the last few weeks. and she has done everything she possibly can to make the situation for the ukrainian government worse so what i assume says she has a jet to use as i say to do is regime change is probably happy with

a two weeks that's before the is faced with brussels. now passed catherine ashton says she wants to me. mediate between the opposition and the government but given the fact that the those recent laws the recent anti protest laws which they so disliked have been rolled back as foreign mediation really necessary right now what was she going to mediate about is she going to is the latest line of the european union that elections be dusty and when you don't like the president you just get rid of it i don't understand what she's saying and it logically it makes no sense to all these cuts to russia for the european union for the government to be nice to the peaceful demonstrators it doesn't tie it at all with the way that western governments behave when death straightest of a straight west opticals will even if the political decisions manage to appease the protesters in kiev protests have stretched across the almost the entire country at this point are political changes in the capital likely to contain protests that are

moving across the country well i think two things first of all from what i've seen and obviously i could be corrected on this belief that the protests or the west of the country it tapped out of the country which feels strong ties with western europe there are no protests as far as i can understand it the east of the country it certainly thought it drive here which until nine hundred fifty four was part of russia but only became part as of the ukraine by accident so i don't. think that did you could fairly say that the demonstrations are across the country . all right thank you very much robert harness journalist and political writer. party international has all the latest from ukraine on air and online visit our website r.t. dot com for updates on this and all of our developing stories. where

the ukrainian crisis has cast a dark cloud over a russia e.u. summit forcing the event to be scaled back from a two day program to a meeting of just a few hours the sides fired accusations at one another of twisting the arm of kiev in pursuit of political game parties test or silica explains. the twice nearly russia e.u. summit is taking place today which has been consistently billed as a summit that furthers the strategic partnership of russia and the e u however there is one big issue that's hanging over this meeting and that is the issue of ukraine the relations have been strained ever since the ukrainian president viktor you had a cold which had taken the decision in the denver to not go ahead with signing traded political deals with the e.u. would favor of closer ties with russia or the russian ambassador to the e.u. would says that this is not a summit on ukraine however did acknowledge that in light of the recent dramatic developments it is a source of serious concern for both parties at the e.u.

council she from above report also said that there are quote a number of differences that have to be clarified and discussed at the summit though the other topics that will be discussed include of course energy trade talks with russia being the third largest partner of the e.u. after the u.s. and china as well as the syrian conflict added negotiations with iran on its nuclear program reporting from brussels on tests or so yeah. geo political analyst william and all things by curtailing the event the e.u. is automatically slashing the chances of finding ways to resolve political differences i think the european union is acting very childish on this whole question of the u. russia summit downgraded to the lunch discussion instead of a formal series of talks on going to gender and i think the reason for that is the european union is playing with a double face right now in terms of the ukraine question. certain countries are essentially following

a new york conservative agenda being drafted over washington by victoria nuland at the state department and others to punish russia not to punish ukraine to punish russia for making an economic agreement that they invited ukraine to join obviously some people in the european union are not at all interested in a peaceful resolution that's why i call this the behavior of the e.u. it. gritty you russia some of the very childish behavior on the part of you that's something we don't need in this world today was so much danger and so much potential for things creeping out of control in syria in the middle east. and ukraine we don't need to struggle between every we need of don't responsible diplomatic negotiation. it's data protection day in europe and edward snowden celebrated by leaking yet more damning information about the british and u.s. spy service says it looks like they're scrapping information from you by tracking

your phone apps that's coming up. and the american president to set to lay out his vision for the coming year and a key political address he may just be hoping he'll get a little approval rating pick up in the process. or london. the whole world is. going to be true hero of the original one a further one down the end there are five the two hang up the coins that they're linked at the end of the street another one the more transparent society gets the money or the but the tears become we see military and state and police forces mobilized against people who blend into the city who in hobbit the city the more people trust electronic devices the more defenseless they are the fear that has

a thousand i. choose your language. because we care with the internet or some other. treatments that you can sense to. choose you have to use that to. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to. well it seems huge amounts of data of personal information are being scooped up by u.s. and british spy agencies from popular mobile phone apps like angry birds and red stones latest leak has got the public in a flap even as the e.u. and attempts to educate its citizens about the importance of online security arches

political reports happy data protection day you might not know it but january twenty eighth marks the day when governments try to raise awareness about how to protect yourself online the european commission has even made this video warning that what we reveal on the net could strip us of our privacy. and yet over the past eight months revelations by edward snowden have exposed must global surveillance conducted by the u.s.a.'s national security agency and often in conjunction with its european partners makes them look a bit stupid if they don't actually tackle a larger problem if they're saying data protection is important or by the way many of them stop people spying on you i mean it's just absurd according to the snowden leak the n.s.a. is prism program collects the data directly from the servers of u.s. companies like google microsoft yahoo and a pole and i'm trying to think of an individual household or a business that's not

a customer wants more spy agencies and britain germany france and spain and taking all the data that they hoover up domestically and posting it on to the n.s.a. for processing as the story on ravelled it's been revealed that emails text messages phone calls and internet activity of citizens across the globe have been hoovered up the year ago most people have agree that the european union's data protection rules are the best in the world the most rigorous the spy agency the n.s.a. and in the u.k. of basically just mean ignoring all. rules and just taking everything they want after it was revealed that the n.s.a. had intercepted angela merkel's phone calls it became clear that even the german chancellor is immune obviously our data is not very protected otherwise those scandals would not have occurred whether it was germany whether it was in brussels . in france according to edward snowden's latest leak the national security agency

isn't just gathering intelligence for national security purposes but indulging in industrial espionage as well he cited germany's engineering firm siemens as one target and still no admission from the top i can give assurances to the. publics in europe and around the world that we're not going around snooping at people's emails or listening to their phone calls so on the eve of data protection day we asked some europeans if they felt like celebrating do you know anyone who is happy about it that his private sphere. controlled by governments or amnesty does anyone like that i think it's dangerous and they should protect us this development goes on and on and on and to stop nobody knows it should be celebrating one day it should be something normal to have our already from

a show secure. london. an activist from the crypto party movement yusuf says data protection day is worthwhile but not as effective as the e.u. might like. the snowden leaks have done a lot more to educate people and the government to action today of the tough texan is about privacy but it's also. other way to do with your show that you give willingly to. to organization company institutions and so on and what are your rights about that we always say that technology low and politics are going all together that we need to acknowledge me to make civilians more costly we need political our warnings for people to care about it and to use the solutions technology brings a new bill and we're fighting for the free. and more story for you online a low blow in the thirst for fuel controversial fracking techniques might soon be

used right into the homes of british people without their permission being required that's the u.k. government considers amending key laws. plus mind the milk had to r.t. dot com to find out the threat to humans posed by the feed approved for farm animals . as the opening ceremony of the winter olympics is coming closer the russian city of tsotsi is already giving a warm welcome to athletes and spectators from all over the world the organizing committee shared with paul scott the final touches before the grand opening. the final stages of preparations the busiest stages yes we will learn and learn and then we will train and train in now it's a final check of everything and i can conclude that ever send in the perfect olympic malt every sin is ready our purpose built state of the venice will be open for the athletes to perform the best you have to aussie i'm afraid about these

these allegations of corruption that it won't go away there's some in the russian media and international press as well it's well documented that the budget his ex exceeded initial expectations was the money gone i will repeat that this is not correct their parish no budget to host the games which i am personally as a manager in charge of roughly two billion dollars same late for the previous winter games the guys there's an investment into the olympic. competition venues and also this around in infrastructure to support these various like power station and some rules which is dedicated fall in pick needs is provided by private investor from private funds but i have to also mention you're chomping at the bit to get the sport started how are you feeling personally excited are you nervous you confident we're not over confident we're just confident because we're working hard

days and night for the seven previous years and we're fully ready construction to thank you very much for joining us so there you have it it's almost time for the talking to stop and in ten days time it'll be time for the sport to take center stage. the games in sochi have often faced accusations of corruption about two weeks ago the media came alive with headlines quoting a senior international committee member a suggesting the corruption taken a third of the month of the money spent on the games however john frankel cast bare told r.t. his words had been distorted by the media to create a bigger story well i for sure didn't say that this way and not at all or say there are rumors or people are saying that i would pay for any figures anyhow but it will create the debate very fancy in india and the national media for what reason i do not know and don't forget the interview boasting. in the article about the thing came from an american journalist so i don't think that he understood the wonder of

space to have it never came from my it was just asked by a journalist that there is so deep percent of corruption and they said well i have heard rumors through we had no reason whatsoever to bring to the in the you think we have had. several effects we would have done this but just tell you honestly b.b. didn't have any effect and this was never an item for discussion back to saatchi now as the olympic venues are ready to open their doors among the highlights of any winter games of course are always the events on the ice and saatchi b figure and short track skating events will take place in the beautiful iceberg palace so we said to ben let's say to take a look. for those who love a little drama a little bit of show off in winter sports all those wonderfully jeweled costumes then you have to make your way to the eye catching twelve thousand seed venue the

iceberg the iceberg skating palace which will be home full sega skating and short track speed skating joining the twenty four team a limping winter games figure skating has long been one of the most captivating and exciting sports at the winter olympics and the twenty four team games will see more action on the ice and never. will be back flips. was butterfly effects and the returns to. the u.s. also guess about the other event that will take place in the same arena the speed skating way olympic skaters will be competing to get gold in the battle of the glades full glory and.

i. i hear in the games it will take just two hours to adjust the ice at the ice big skating palace when switching from figure skating to shut track so we're looking forward to all those costumes and all the staging routines and the choreography that will be hosted in that there's plenty come plenty fourteen winter olympics. don't forget our series of reports from saw to it to back not say it's available whatever you want at r.t. dot com. here you ok. how do you operate a deliberate game i'm going to rehearse could do sports and so tricks. and olympic hockey player is on the. beat. my son.

the state of the union address due later today is a chance for the u.s. president to take stock and set the agenda but it comes at a time when americans are increasingly negative about how they view their own country when asked in one word to describe the u.s. many citizens chose divided or troubled some think the situation is getting worse while some just think a small number of those people think that things are actually changing for the better. off reports previous promises made is broke obama's keep political address if not always and promises kept. looking to put the toughest year of his presidency behind hamburger rock obama will deliver his sixth state of the union address to congress and the american people here in washington on tuesday yet again joe mystic issues are expected to take center stage as the president tries to pivot away from the controversies that march twenty thirty and now as the past few years have shown

promises made are not always promises kept nearly every proposal the problem the president made last year from gun control to a minimum wage hike to immigration reform they all fell short warded by an uncooperative congress in last year's speech the president called for legislation to address gun violence a year later those proposals remain firmly stalled this as locked down schools and public violence grow ever more familiar another broken promise no climate change bill and his twentieth time address obama called on congress to act on climate change that never happened legislation debated in the senate in the spring faltered after infighting over taxes and that never came up for an actual vote now comprehensive immigration reform well that hasn't happened either despite pushing for an immigration overhaul in two thousand and eleven and again in two thousand and twelve that effort has largely languished in congress up until now a tax overhaul that obama called for in two thousand and eleven and two thousand and twelve also never came to be same goes for infrastructure spending that was

supposed to help put more americans to work now with the opposition in congress making major legislation difficult if not impossible obama is expected to outline what he hopes to do using his executive powers his executive power in office expanding economic opportunity for middle class workers is expected to be the centerpiece of tuesday's speech but what obama is unlikely to say that income inequality has increased faster under his watch than it did under any of the three previous presidents and foreign policy the main message that twenty fourteen will mark the end of the war in afghanistan but this pronouncement will come with a. better irony even after i had a dozen years more than a trillion dollars spent on the loss of thousands of lives the basic danger that had prompted president george bush to invade not only remains but experts say is a more alarming number of president obama's state of the union addresses do tell quite a story there's obamacare wall street reform gun violence the wars in iraq and afghanistan

economic inequality immigration reform the list goes on it's all there and gory details are permanent reminder of where the president secured victory and where he fell short reporting in washington for our team i'm lucy catherine. to some other news making headlines now around the globe egypt's topos president has gone on trial over his escape from jail in two thousand and eleven security was high in the country's capital as mohamed morsi arrived at the court morsi was toppled by the military in july last year and is currently facing four separate criminal trials on various charges. thailand's government has announced the general election will take place as scheduled despite calls for its postponement protesters had earlier attempted to make their way to the compound in bangkok where the talks were under way but were pushed back by armed security forces two people were reportedly injured during a shooting in the latest violence during the ongoing anti-government protests.

former bosnian serb army commander ratko has called the un's yugoslav war crimes tribunal they say tannic court he refused to testify as a defense witness on the former bosnian serb leader radovan. fearing his testimony would harm his own case the two men deny the charges against them which include genocide and crimes against humanity. coming up personal stories of suffering and survival during the siege of leningrad during world war two. i've always had mixed feelings about speed traps it seems like it's a waste of the police officers time but on the other hand they sure do make people paranoid and drive more slowly one man from texas is completely sure of his opinion about speed traps and he set out to save his felt texans from being fined for

speeding and much more importantly from potential traffic accidents caused by the hidden police and now he's the one who is in deep trouble according to fox news runner martin faces a misdemeanor charge for violating frisco texas sign ordinance that says that you may only stand around holding a sign on private property martin claims that he was doing the exact same thing as a speed limit sign reminding people to slow down and i think ultimately he is right you should be able to tell other people where the police are setting up speed traps because that will cause them to drive more slowly which is the real goal of speed traps in the first place the only reason local authorities would be against this is because they love the income that comes from a nice big pile of speeding tickets i hope that mr martin finds a way to go right back to holding his sign but this time on private property the fascist my opinion. how do you operate bill i'm. going to the as good sports such.

as ruth. and i live in a copy. of my. my dear dear. i am so happy. this is been the best summer of my life. i am a student now and i am going to the village with mom we will have strawberries on the terrace and taking my favorite guitar. what a beautiful summer what a wonderful life is waiting for me. the chinese friends made me a guitar on the stimulus so i started playing the seven string guitar i played quite well he played it well too. i started when i was about ten years old.

he saw me in the park it was a sunny day she was too shy to approach me i saw him in the corner of my eye there was some sentimental song playing in my mind i'm trying to remember it now but i can't something sad for some reason maybe it's because i'm leaving the city for the whole summer and won't see him until a lot of people. drawing the picture. nobody expects to do it that way through a good note.