ukraine's president granting amnesty to those detained during riots in the country position frontman seek more support from the west we get live expert opinion on developments shortly here on our. progress is mentioned for the first time in talks between the warring sides of the syrian conflict washington because the military action is still an option. twenty four. we will support a unified afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. and a future. government of. afghanistan faces a looming threat to the taliban's resurgence in washington wrangle over a post put out security deal and that.

is our international live from our studios and to hear more sky we're just past eleven pm and nine pm in ukraine where the country's president has signed a law that gives amnesty to all demonstrators detained during the riots in the country on condition the protesters stop their blockade of streets and government buildings meanwhile the country's opposition leaders are at a security conference in munich where they've got a few important meetings lined up including a one on one with the u.s. secretary of state john kerry well live now to daniel mcadams he's executive director at the ron paul institute so why would the likes of john kerry and indeed top diplomats from the interest in talking to the opposition there in munich what's in it for them why is ukraine of such importance. well

what's interesting is after the meeting between opposition leader vitelli klitschko and john kerry the ukrainian opposition leader said that kerry told them that we are with the opposition we give them our full support kerry also said that the president has not done enough in his reforms and has us even called for a change in the constitution of ukraine but then at the same time he says he warned against meddling by outside powers in ukraine's internal affairs so there's an absolute disconnect in in us foreign policy and i think anyone who's paying attention notices it is a disconnect among the opposition and ukraine too isn't there because john kerry is talking about talking with an opposition does he know who they are and by what rights to see have any authority to to to undermine a legitimately elected government and tell the president of this country what he

should or should not do you know what's really funny because the u.s. is the u.s. state department released something yesterday a statement yesterday saying that ukraine needs to move more toward a parliamentary system instead of the strong presidential system and this is the same week that president obama in a state of the union address said well if congress doesn't go along with with my with these laws that i plan to pass i'm going to start ruling by executive order so it's it's quite ironic is there a united opposition as john kerry said he's going to support it if you're a covert she does perhaps go in the long term is there a credible opposition to replace him. well certainly you see you know there's a debate as to whether the people on the streets are being controlled by the opposition or if they're out of control of the opposition. there was some information i'm sure you've reported on already that some of the computer seized from some of the opposition parties indicate that this had been planned for quite some time including the violent component of the protests so the question is

do do the people in the streets follow the opposition we know that people like klitschko who meets kerry and says one thing and then talk to supporters on the street and speaks in a whole different language a very violent language and of course as are all of your viewers know there are many people in the opposition who are extraordinarily unsavory in their views and these are people who who john mccain for example sat down and had dinner with when he was there in december these are neo nazis interestingly enough john mccain has made a surprise visit to budapest today one can only wonder what he's discussing with the hungary and government as we know there is a large john kerry minority in parts of ukraine and why are they discussing ukraine it seems to be high on the agenda this is a security meeting in munich when overseas there are other global issues which could perhaps be far more important the likes of syria. well i think what many people don't understand is that the e.u. association agreement with ukraine did contain

a security component that required ukraine to cooperate with nato forces there is reason enough to be concerned about nato troops facing russian troops just across the border so it's an issue of enormous importance it's a geo strategic issue for the united states and it's becoming a very serious issue it's it'll be interesting to see what comes of kerry's meeting with the foreign minister lavrov which is supposed to take place i believe in the next few hours daniel thanks for talking to us great to hear your thoughts on this down in mcadam's executive director of the ron paul institute there in washington thank you well with riots now spreading wide across ukraine's west it seems unlikely for the talks will bring any solutions paullus live reports from one of the hot beds of the unrest. this is the regional administration building event at sun card skin western ukraine where at the till a week ago the regional governor had his office but as you can see just liking kiev's there is now a giant barricade surrounding the building with snow tires and planks of wood

radical and and he russian this is the heartland of nationalism wear and tear on the common sentiment runs deep and that's the way natalia and her comrades want to keep it the twenty nine year old entrepreneur has been here since the building was overthrown she says work can wait this is more important than a little boy who is supposed to have no president than to have you know called which but with the opposition as fragmented as it is that tally is the first to admit no yanna coverage could well mean an alkie whitley bishop along with the problem is that we don't have any person to replace him and we will need to take someone from the position which won't be easy the sentiments blown across central and western ukraine where regional offices are being picketed and seized by protesters i believe that a group of right wing radicals some wearing masks stormed the municipal building chanting we have the power they used fire extinguishers and wooden sticks against

police. in china gov demonstrators set up barricades made a vehicle pass and sacks of snow they demanded police leave the building. similar scenes played out and she can see where protesters trying to save like to furniture they smashed windows and threw stones at security forces. the anger has moved even further westwards. and she laughed ski protests to send ukrainian hymns while ignoring the governor's attempts to disperse them. in a van or from coffs those now laying siege to the municipality building have forbidden any symbols or sentiments of the ruling party. they claim it goes against the will of the ukrainian people no one knows where the head of the administration is there are parts of this building that are still functioning for example the day to day running of the city but on a political level everything is come to a standstill all this process might. lead to door division

of the country of course as a result in some arab spring hopes are in a long term perspective. despite their criticism of the army coverage these protesters have nothing better to offer. r.t. even a front costs western ukraine. well one ukrainian protester who had gone missing for more than a week has turned up alive dimitri blocked off claims he had been abducted and tortured by the police are ready investigating his case at war to dot com for the latest news from ukraine. the geneva two peace talks between syria's government and the opposition have yielded no breakthrough so far but have seen the two sides meeting face to face for

the very first time the conference which aims to find a political solution to the bloody civil war is set to resume now on the tenth of february while in a statement to the media the un syria envoy lakhdar brahimi knowledge the slim but tangible progress to date sides have become used to sitting in the same rule there have been isn't that positions and listen to one another. this is very slow indeed but the sides have engaged in an acceptable manner this is a very modest beginning but it is a beginning on which we can real. but even as the very first signs of progress begin to appear in geneva washington is now accusing damascus invalidating previous u.n. agreements it's questioning the regime's commitment to chemical disarmament claim just five percent of stockpiles have been destroyed moscow has reacted by saying

there's no need to pressure the syrian government which is moving towards achieving the goals of this deal however the us secretary of state john kerry reminded the mess because international military action will be back on the table if it fails to comply with the agreements we now know that. assad regime is not moving as rapidly as it promised to move the chemical weapons out of syria so we have serious issues to talk about in terms of compliance with the agreement that the united nations security council has ratified that is now a global legal international obligation. and i would remind. that . the agreement that we reached in new york with the security council makes it clear that if there are issues of noncompliance they will be

referred to the security council for chapter seven will syria began to get rid of its chemical arsenal following a russia u.s. brokered un agreement in september last year before that u.s. president barack obama called damascus alleged chemical attacks a red line for military action against the war torn country and said get more analysis on this developing story from amish to britain go and he's former commander of the british military's chemical defense regiment him a shiny five percent of the stockpiles destroyed so far doesn't sound a lot does it but how would you assess the progress of this disarmament program. well i think it's pretty disappointing actually by percent that it could be only about fifty tons so far has been moved. and from an attack out on to the commercial ships which are they going to live or at the cape great to be destroyed i mean i understand that there always been great difficulties doing this is a hugely ambitious plan and with the lead of the russian federation and us we just

wouldn't be here however i do understand that the majority of these chemicals and precursors are pretty much stuck north of damascus we know the sort of fighting that's going on in the contested areas has to go through and there's a big go i still battle going on just twenty five dollars from an attack here war so i understand the regime of saying that you know they don't necessarily have the wherewithal to move this stuff which i find strange is the russian federation of a loan them twenty five on the trucks to do exactly that so i think it does appear to be stalled it doesn't seem to be much hope of movement and of course the whole lot all thirteen hundred tons as far as the u.n. security council is concerned should be out of syria by wednesday next week and that's not going to happen but you have said this is an incredibly ambitious plan the conditions a very very tough here's a country in civil war is the

a sad government purely to blame for this. no i'm sure it's not i mean there are many sides to this and the opposition do not appear to be helping. realize that u.n. resolution which has the chemicals moved out of syria i think also to bear in mind the situation is very much changed since the resolution was drawn up in october november last year for instance we now know that there are only thirty tons of chemical weapons that's ones that can be used and it's thirty tons of mustard gas all the other precursor chemicals and just highly toxic chemicals and i i think there should be a review of what we're doing here i would personally advocate that we should just destroy the thirty tons of mustard gas in syria and i think a lot of people have forgotten that actually there's a amount of ice appropriate hole which is a precursor chemical which the syrians are destroying themselves in syria because it's deemed too dangerous to do by sort of rope and all is very combustible and

cash is far very easy so i would advocate. reprogramming about the precursor chemicals because we know that. you have destroyed the means to turn those precursors into chemical weapons and just destroy the master that and myself in a small to a few years ago did something very similar in afghanistan under fire so those people who say can't be done are i would contest that so i just i think a change of plan and that's very briefly a reaction to the execution of the regime perhaps developing biological weapons that's just come out from the u.s. intelligence chief the other day your quick reaction on that well we know that they had a biological research but the u.s. to now say that they think that's weaponized and usable is another turned this and pretty frightening globally i think if part of her weapons are they going to get out of syria but i suspect it's also leverage from the u.s.

the regime say come on get on with it otherwise this is a different issue that we might take action again and that's exactly the final point or want to ask about this leverage from the u.s. this sort of pressure that we're seeing on damascus at a very crucial time during these peace talks in geneva so the impact could have on those talks which are looking vaguely positive at the moment. well i'm i'm still believe that it is positive. being involved in syria the last two and a half years i was talking to doctors and only this morning about this chemical and biological issue is taking everybody's focus off what is really required which is peace in syria which geneva to use all of our so i think any pressure to get those chemical weapons out of syria destroy them in syria. is going to be crucial for any chance of loss completely so i would say yes all the pressure we can to get rid of them out of syria or destroy them in syria has to break gordon former commander the british military chemical defense regiment thank you very much indeed for your thoughts on this great to talk to you and well more news just ahead for you here

a lot international including our latest report from the olympic city of sochi stay with. stalled talks accusations traded and endless demands made this sums up the process being played out in geneva with a virtual stalemate on the battlefield outside prophecies are left to make the hard decisions and compromises to alleviate and then to finally end the civil war but do these outside powers have the political will.

wealthy british. market. scum. find out what's really happening to the economy. takes away before nato troops pull out of afghanistan the u.s. is growing increasingly frustrated with the country's government kabul is still refusing to sign a security pact which would permit american soldiers to remain in the fragile state but as i explained the absence of an agreement could leave afghanistan vulnerable to a major taliban resurgence. after thirteen years in afghanistan washington is counting down together with our allies we will complete our mission bear by the end of this

year and america's longest war will finally be over. but ending a war isn't the same as winning one when it comes to afghanistan peace is far from certain and a past ten years there were not able to build afghan security for forces to be able to face the challenges and this country and to be able in the future to confront the challenges and the taliban forces and the taliban fighters and al qaeda forces and the taliban have been active in the past two weeks alone the group has staged numerous attacks in kabul kandahar nimrods helmont and nanga har in fact ministry of interior incident reports reveal clashes with the taliban in most of the eleven provinces bordering pakistan the group also controls several districts in parwan just a short drive from the country's capital some provinces are believed to be controlled by shadow governments that answer directly to the taliban on that any work night

the taliban run their area the district government is just there but there is no real security. and it could get worse a classified american intelligence assessment warns that the initial objective in afghanistan removing the taliban and disabling al qaeda as operations in the country could fail and that the taliban could return in full swing by twenty seventeen the u.s. wants some troops to remain in the country by the pentagon's logic the pursuit of terrorists is best based in the region same goes for u.s. drones and without american help the afghan army could collapse but the u.s. first needs the afghan president to sign off on a key security pact something he has been refusing to do so far. now our position continues to be that if we cannot conclude a bilateral security agreement promptly then we will be forced to initiate planning for a post twenty fourteen future in which there would be no u.s. or nato troop presence in afghanistan there's also the issue of talking with the

enemy the consensus seems to be that the afghan war could only end in a negotiated settlement with the taliban not a military victory but that's proven elusive the taliban are internally divided and the rift between kabul and washington has reportedly empowered hardline commanders who want to keep on fighting at the expense of those who support peace talks the u.s. war has succeeded in toppling the taliban regime and many afghans have seen their lives improve but those gains could easily be lost depending on who wins control over afghanistan a country that's once again could be up for grabs reporting in washington for our team i'm lucy catherine. washington spent billions waging the afghan war since two thousand and one it has cost the u.s. taxpayer just under eight hundred billion dollars and there are some more bills still to come every american soldier serving in afghanistan this year will cost an

average two point one million dollars more than seven billion dollars worth of equipment isn't going to be shipped back so will have to be destroyed a new thirty four million dollar military h.q. is unlikely to be used now and therefore will need to be demolished according to former british s.a.'s officer richard williams the u.s. drawdown means the afghan government will have no choice but to reach a deal with the taliban. president karzai and those who have seen with him as they approach these next elections. and his supporters and those who he is supporting in the elections need to do a deal with the taliban going forward in twenty fifteen the taliban in certain provinces the conflict provinces in the south certainly will be the dominant political element and as the president goes forward there's going to need to be an accommodation with them so this is a political gesture and so yes he is taking risks with the lives of his own

soldiers the afghan army and afghan police are all fighting hard at the moment in these conflict probably says yes he's taking risk there but it's for a higher purpose and the higher purpose is clearly some form of political solution with the taliban and his taliban insurgents are running rampant the question is if american troops stay will they be able to secure afghanistan alone one former security firm blackwater used to help in iraq until the guns were accused of manslaughter for shooting unarmed civilians back in two thousand and seven but the company's founder told aunt sophie and co program that private firms will be indispensable after the drawdown. between iraq and afghanistan the company did more than one hundred thousand missions protective missions and no one under our care was ever killed or injured we used to build the afghan border police we built the bases we ran the base we trained tens of thousands of of afghan policemen border police these guys couldn't read couldn't write they've never seen a flush toilet before they would be an embassy there will be some kind of

a training or support function i'm sure left behind for the afghans because the you know they're they need support combat service support aviation support for the afghan army to try to continue to defend the country so there certainly be a role for private sector companies. but has been to the major u.k. nuclear reprocessing side would have many of its staff to stay home on friday although if you don't call it exactly what went wrong they're giving some work as an extra day off but it certainly startled many locals. also a line does less no more than we think so and this is suing the agency that money disclosures on a mysterious new object to limbaugh's face which the space agency simply calling of

broke. right to see. the first lady. and i think that you're. on a reporter's twitter. instagram. to be in the. when do these sort. of top speed just. jumping into the ballplayers and into the lucian skeletons and then hurtling down the track it's present around one hundred thirty kilometers. by let's say when to examine the. the olympic hopefuls in bumps later lucia and skeleton will be chasing the dream

here at the sun being sent to them. the movie cool runnings they use retelling of the true story of jamaica's bobsled team could perhaps resonate here in sunny salt sheep but i've always wondered how do they get the shape of the track to be the way it is and also how do they get it so smooth while i've already answered today and it takes manpower to actually solve all of the shape of the track and once that's done this big baby here comes into action what it does is it works flooded like a vacuum machine so it's got up all over the off of the track and then moves that over the causes of for us in russia to have three upward slopes which help to slow speed and keep athletes safe but competitors can still pluck up to one hundred

and thirty five kilometers an hour here and getting to try the level of takes a few call the tools and educated convents i wasn't making my way all the way to an olympic track without testing my carving skills say i dig in. and this is how we get the tracks native. well. it really isn't as easy as it looks so you really need men like being a hero who know what they're doing have been trained to do what they're doing right now to actually carve out the ice now twenty seven of them including jamia how will we add during the olympics basically taking care of this entire tribe making sure that the bobsled and the sledge and competitions go exactly the way it is because a truck is too big to get through the narrow lanes it's done the old fashioned way

with this new shovel and a broom for russians speeding down snow we use is a form part of growing up and that's why this venue has been called funky the russian word for sled the bomb would say at the sankey sliding center why aren't. we got some more reports from to give you the best impression of the venues in and around the city even in peak dreams just before the flame finally reaches sochi don't miss them in the next couple of days and of course online at r.t. dot com. ok. how do you operate dylan piggy i'm going to impose pictures played sports and such expert status. as proof shows i'm not an olympic hockey player bomb much a shock to find. my fire. one is free and just a half an hour from now i mean more discussion on one of our top stories the twists and turns of the talks on the syrian crisis in geneva one of the close watch of

peace in the file and his guests in cross talk next here on our team. to mark the building behind me the become the center of start up communities from around the world to come together to talk about the best way to birthing new ideas . one of the most loathsome old business the one that will be finished posts will take place to mosco. take me out to the ballgame take me through the metal detector wait that's not how

the song goes well as the country changes sadly so must the national pastime they said the mariners released a statement that they like all other teams for twenty fifteen are setting up metal detectors to screen all fans entering their stadium for get visions of hot dogs in home runs now everyone will be able to tell their grandkids about how their bags got searched because they had metal buttons at company name stadium baseball memories the team's management is also continuing their ban on bags larger than forty by forty by twenty centimeters because if you're going to stick an explosive device it had better be compact their body maybe i'm jumping the gun metal detectors can't touch your genitals or do a naked body scan they're probably the least intrusive coming form of security scan then again think about it they want to prevent some terrorist from blowing up a densely packed crowd of people in the stadium so the m l b wants teams to create densely packed lines of people outside the stadium before the game starts when these security measures really stop a psychotic terrorist murder nope but that's just my opinion.

please see. below and welcome to crossfire we're all things considered i'm peter lavelle stalled talks accusations traded and endless demands made this sums up the process being played out in geneva with a virtual stalemate on the battlefield outside proxies are left to make the hard decisions and compromises to alleviate and then to finally end this civil war which of these outside powers have the political will. to cross not developments in syria i'm joined by my.