american and european politicians pledge their support for the ukrainian opposition at a major munich security conference raising some eyebrows. where there's a new. feeling street riots that are becoming more and more violent to promote democracy russia's foreign minister hits out at the west with accusations of double standards when it comes to the key of protests. syria demands an apology from america's top diplomat threatening to pull out of direct talks with the opposition if they do not get one that says the situation for those fleeing the conflict worsens. the food nothing to eat or drink as a militant some insight i spent on the soul of the prophet we want this to stop our t.v. is it's a starving rebel held

a palestinian refugee camp in syria that hasn't received its first food aid in months after dozens of people have died from hunger. and as the olympic flame goes to the top of your europe's highest peak just a stone's throw from its final destination the brand new course where across the country skiers and biathletes will be racing for gold in just a matter of days. broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is our team thomas glad to have you with us now the ukrainian opposition has secured the political support of the west at a security conference currently underway in munich the top u.s. and e.u. diplomats said they back what they have called the country's fight for democracy but russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov accused them of double standards good

piece enough explains. clearly the west has already taken the side of the protests or so u.s. secretary of state john kerry said that the time has come for you have to decide whether it's one country or with the rest of the world and he added that washington supports the people of ukraine but some have been calling this a one sided approach and criticizing it including russia the minister sergey lavrov . there are some fundamental questions that need to be answered in particular about the situation in ukraine how does fuelling street riots that are becoming more and more violent promote democracy why is there no condemnation of the siege you can still occupying government buildings were those who burned police officers who shot races and use the media and nazi slogans why do many leading european politicians and current such actions while any violations of the home until we've harshly some strong words there from russia's chief diplomat also added to the joking that next

time we meet was mr kerry is going to ask him what grades he had in school asking how many countries do you think are in that group that he calls the rest of the world now the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has reiterated that washington stands with of the people of ukraine but the latest polls show two thirds of them are against the havoc that's been plaguing kiev and the country's western regions and many fear civil war political analyst alexander public believes that the support shown by the us for the riots is all about geopolitics. well we have the nato general secretary. making more and more comments in this regard again favoring the protesters of course the ukraine is is geo political prize par excellence if you're moving east toward russia and obviously nato has been moving east since the end of

the cold war more than twenty years ago the thing is it seems like. justifies the means this is again not anything new for the west they're playing real politics and it has nothing to do very little to do with democracy it has much to do with pragmatic geo political interests and people are just being used as pawns unfortunately. on our website r t dot com there is a more expert analysis on america's role in ukraine's latest turmoil. the syrian government has rejected it direct talks with the opposition at the next round of the geneva two peace talks that is unless the us secretary of state says sorry for declaring that president assad has no future in syria kerry later continued his verbal attack on damascus accusing the regime of delaying of the removal of its toxic arsenal the chemical disarmament in the country started after the u.n. russia and the u.s.

helped broker a deal in september last year and with no workable diplomatic solution to the conflict currently on the table there is no respite for refugees fleeing the war or tease me if notion of visited one camp south of damascus where thousands of civilians remain the siege by rebels. and now the bessel ground of the syrian war and the very heart of the country and at the edge of the regime stronghold this is yet removed from the scene in camp here in damascus that last being held by the militants for more than a year now we are not allowed to go any further because the. military people work control and situation he on the ground told us that the us now i person and the raw armed man you are and this building but it's not only from bullets that people here are dying when we visit dozens already said to have died from starvation a year after the siege began food and water supplies

a role but gone. there is no food nothing to eat or drink the militants are inside as well and the soul of the prophet we want this to stop whatever guilty we just want to go out they want to go out but they can't they're trapped those hold in the camp only allow women and elderly men to go out briefly to bring in food a distributed by the syrian and palestinian officials together with the un their families remain inside so they have to return to the besieged camp and rest that much so that while we're talking to one of my cressida an old man behind us collapses to the ground level no one could tell us exactly why was there of the. bodyguard were dying from hunger we can take this anymore. oh humanitarian aid is the only achievement so far i ask those responsible how they

know the food they deliver will not fall into the militants hands they say no one can give any guarantee. siege has become a popular tactic among rebel forces here in syria just recently we went to the industrial city of outside damascus according to army generals at least five thousand tremaine trapped their. sieges serve well to weaken an army has capabilities keeping a large forces tied up for long periods of time but they have another go to go to do your own. they claim the syrian government is besieging the palestinians in the camp they want to invert the truth by saying the syrian government is part of the killing force as they don't do anything to protect the people they want the people to hit the regime. accusations over the next one of the syrian authorities allowed indeed government officials blame the militants for infiltrating into the cities in

the first place and complain they can do little to fight back now is to villains could be heard and thousands of ordinary people all over syria remain hostage inside their own homes waiting for help. already three years into this conflict that could prove very long wait indeed refreshing r.t. from syria. coming up a shoplifting a spree of sorts. some people and. kids with the u.k. experiences a nine year peak in thefts as essential items can sometimes be simply too expensive for many people's budgets. also in israel people can now improve democracy with just one click as legislators now sometimes even submit bills based on angry facebook posts policy or reports on the online way of lawmaking after the short

break. we got a lot of housing the homeless people but the government. funding it and in a lot of the shelter today be having people down the street because people begin. to get involved right now ironically ironically i'm worth more to the city of new york he told me. personally. when you paid regular people like someone like a lawyer or doctor or some other madison avenue it's boring and sometimes the homeless people who didn't like that might. say those countries that still

resist drugs were as you need to be in this city. region city in the world what people. need to do is give you. clues. to make you feel good you know. and welcome back you're watching our team international two thousand and fourteen olympic torch has seen tremendous ups and downs during its record breaking a relay literally it has traveled from outer space to the bottom of the world's deepest lake and then on to the north pole and one of the stops on the way to sochi was the highest mountain in europe parties ball scott reports. on its journey across the world's largest country the olympic torch was always going to experience some high some lows and it has now completed one of those hoist the olympic flame

has been lit at the top of mt elbrus which is the highest peak in europe a team of five experienced mountaineers took it to the summit which is more than five and a half thousand meters above sea level but it is now in the final stages of its relay it will arrive here in sochi in a few days time ahead of the opening ceremony which is now less than a week away and attention is slowly beginning to turn to the sport and one sport that russia has traditionally had success in is by athlone a my colleague to bon mots i had a look around the new purpose built state of the art cross-country skiing and biathlon center. the. legend is that laurel was an urban legend herald where now she decided to choose death over getting married to an older prince of course

that's not just about this mind serve as a reminder that to win gold you might have to dive for it figurative who was this could be a metaphor for the athletes that determination and passion and perseverance to whatever you want but you can only that gold you can get it for sochi twenty fourteen the cross-country skiing and by feel and twenty minutes will take place from laura organizes a hooping the lower end venue stage of the on to the scylla tees will put sochi firmly on the world's biafra long map i took control of the grounds on a snowy jeep to see the massive complex without getting my feet when it includes two stadiums a shooting area and a woman observed so it's true what they say that. sports brings everybody together and we're limping and not just for us but for everybody even this little guy here.

because it is a very demanding it has few places where athletes can glide and say the energy and at a height of one thousand five hundred meters above sea level the lack of oxygen also makes it much harder for the competitors to breed come a few days a visit the venue where the by alpha lawns olympic and paralympic games will be held will be filled with spectators as well as sports men and sports women who idea is where the starting point aiming for that gold will be give mother nature has dissolved the snow is ready the altitude is perfect now all that's missing is the start of the whistle well such is up and ready for the start of the winter games and in the coming days we will be bringing you more reports from the olympic city don't miss coverage on air and online at are two dot com. ok. how do you operate but i'm going to win was pretty good sports and such expert

status. as most souls i'm not an olympic hockey. league. my. canadian metal band hits the guantanamo bay play list but the musicians are not happy about that within the band sending the u.s. government an invoice for allegedly using its music as a means of psychological torture you can head online for more details. plus a proposed bill could allow u.k. police to get their hands on journalists notebooks photos and computer files without consent learn more about the law but critics say could bury press freedom in britain at r.t. dot com. cutler right from the seat a little first right. and i think the jury.

on our reporters twitter. and instagram cut. q.b. in the mold on. the interview. a little. clip. community boards alone more than

somewhere around two hundred children for all for them they also found that child abusers convicted child abusers got access to those kids these whole recalling phenomenon and what i'm saying is overall it's an amazingly rosy picture in that adopted kids international as well as domestic are treated better than regular kids growing up in untroubled biological families in the united states. this is our international welcome back in the u.k. shoplifting is no longer the domain of bored kids and petty criminals the country has seen a nine year high in the amount of goods stolen from stores and many are now wrote zordon to practice for their basic needs boyko has been finding out.

some people do it for a dad others might have a physical compulsion when i could be part of a larger crime network but up until now few people in britain were doing it out of necessity i'm talking about shoplifting. people they don't even a small going big thing even expensive or cheap or what they do they just grab the bar and they walk out according to the british retail consortium theft from shops is not a nine year high and the biggest increase has been food theft the police say there's a link between welfare cuts unemployment and shoplifting we're seeing people choosing to shoplift to maintain their previous life still on diminishing budgets and police forces approve actively targeting shoplifters we have a sixteen. if you can see on the ceiling to here. or over

there one over there. if you keep looking further down the. government critics say that it's cuts to welfare payments that are pushing previously more abiding citizens into so-called poverty crime over the past several months police forces have been criticized for being too lenient on women especially in mothers who of course shoplifting items that they simply can't afford to buy essential items like nappies and baby food life is so hard to. work with. but the boredom it speaks to retailers here in the u.k. says the fact is far from a victimless crime last year alone the losses to industry were over five hundred million pounds as a result they say that shops like this one go bust and communities. god save the

lungs and so take a look at some other stories making headlines around the globe today first we start in spain where thousands of people have rallied against government plans to curb abortion in the capital madrid the bill proposed by the ruling party would permit a woman to terminate a pregnancy only if she were raped or if her health was in danger the protesters are accusing the legislation's backers of violating human rights of women are calling on the country's justice minister to resign. in lebanon a car bomb has exploded near a school in the country's northeast close to the border with syria at least four people were killed and eighteen others injured in the town of her mel which is a stronghold of the militant group hezbollah the country's interior ministry says it may have been a suicide attack sunni militants have often targeted shia areas of lebanon in retaliation for hezbollah sending its fighters into syria.

anti-government protests are heating up in the thai capital at with at least two blasts and dozens of the gunshots fired at least six people have been wounded as supporters of the country's it prime minister clashed with opponents incident happened after demonstrators blockaded a building where the ballot papers were being stored the violence is spiraling ahead of sunday's general election which the opposition has it down to boycott and to disrupt. at least fourteen people have been killed and three others injured on indonesia's western island of sumatra after a volcano erupted again mount. on least clouds of thick gray ash and a searing gas it engulfed nearby homes just one day after authorities allowed thousands of villagers to return to their lands saying it was safe officials now fear the death toll will rise the volcano has been active with smaller options since september after being dormant for three years. israeli

democracy is well and truly embracing cyberspace last year the government admitted it paid some students to defend its policies on social networks now it is using facebook rather than direct face to face meetings to ask the public what it wants party's policy or explains. there's a new kind of politics blowing through cyberspace the parliaments on facebook and its users are the legislators it's very simple citizens write the page what they want to change. sometimes even better if they write how and we take the commons and choose and pick a member of parliament that this deal is suitable to that. issue we are doing a lot before the citizens with its ears to the ground this user generated democracy

is turning citizens into politicians for a long time not everyone have was fed up with the high cost of renting in tel aviv she posted about it her suggestions metamorphosed into a bull to regulate real estate agents fees it's now a vote away from becoming law i think it's definitely a more direct way to the government and they're actually listening and they're doing things with it which is amazing rather than feeling threatened by this new brand of cyber activists more and more politicians are seeing the potential of partnering with their constituents online within the public should be a partner in creating policy in legislation social media is a very very powerful too in politics this will be a mini revolution in everything to do the connections between us and the public which right now is not enough is not good enough the next bills already in the making granting single mothers cheaper life insurance the social media i think will be the next platform of politics all over the world it might have been the ancient

greeks who introduced the world to democracy but today's generation is one click away from perfecting us policy our r.t.e. tell of of. just ahead on our t.v. what it is like to be homeless in the concrete jungle of manhattan stay with us. take me out to the ballgame and take me through the metal detector so wait that's not how the song goes well as the country changes sadly so must the national pastime they settle mariners released a statement that they like all of the teams for twenty fifteen are setting up metal detectors to screen all fans entering their stadium for getting visions of hot dogs and 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. there is a reason so believe the. problems we see in

those. cities. to raise. by. these memories. so you see the bonds really it's reward responsibility. this is many reasons why the person. so started beginning for example we can. talk about the case of close aide who was in that spat. so he got referred here by his friend whose name was also missing and. they both worked in times square. their kind of costume.

the other jose was that man and this jose was wrong too so they got to know each other and the other host got to a financial situation that was going to enough that he was ready to. patch up his family he was wrong and rental apartment was so you do with his wife and children and they moved out on into apartments together. so yes the city. is soon is that this is what's i'm sure you heard. how. i'm from cuba. because here i been in the states of the united states and. this is the best this is the top. everything you know what i mean don't make it. he will make it in no way. you know what i mean he said i report to here in new york.

mayor you know i don't mean i just get out enough money thrown away again. in everything what clothes. so thank you very much to me to pick a difficult for that. make you. feel. when you when you're young you have a lot of energy and headed because our and i went around painting beggars in the street and i went to the bowery i painted bums sorry. i'm not a political i'm not that. you know to me it's more about. statics you know if i paint black people it's not because i love them or don't love them i find it beautiful i find it easy to paint. it's political i mean

it's the city is so close to. the mayor. it's like the rich get rich in a poor people it's not too much. how do you full so far down so most. from me unemployment. and half the deck to me plus my friends. and tell police where your and drink is usually. enough on the street you know something i must down to change station sometime other than to change station when to get cold you know but on city got a lot of college and wellness people but the government is not really funding it. no and then a lot of the shelter today be having people dollars down the street because people begin to grate didn't sheltered

a good god you got to sleep with one eye open and one out close i was in a shelter in one town and a gal like right next to me being john a rabid dog jumped in a no stop. and shelters is no good that's why you see a lot of homeless people on the street they feel safe. and it's easy you know to make a few dollars and pay somebody to let you stay and night it seems that way you know you say i see by about myself you know because i'm in an area and i thought it's not that much that i you know you only got one life i'm going to happen it's going to happen anyway and i just hate it a lot i don't. i just keep my head up every day long i've got another shot. at least i have a file you put in your entire yeah and you think that. when i grew up here in new york in the fifty's in the sixty's for instance there were three soup kitchens in new york down the bowery and one in brooklyn today there are twelve hundred and

over a hundred camp trees and other emergency food programs that's how the need has grown when they first started this soup kitchen in nineteen eighty one or two or three depending on who you ask and it was an epidemic go almost just in the eighty's you couldn't walk down the street without four people each block asking you for something homelessness was very visible today thirty some odd years later there are more homeless people in new york then there were down by almost double and yet you don't see them as much because what the result of the laws and the result of the regulation is just too high almost as not to fix it not to cure it but i think that's what the result of say cities broken windows file policies all that stuff.