this week's top stories here on r.t. international ukraine's opposition wins the backing of top western politicians in their bid to seize power despite russia warning about extremists in the anti-government movement. young children are about to die from a lack of water and they threatened us with machine guns there would be three at a time and killing us r t is the first foreign channel to gain access to the besieged syrian city of where the survivors of the alleged islamist massacre recounts the horrors that they witnessed. the traditional family values take center stage in france as thousands rally to protest against the policies of.

broadcasting live from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories with our weekly program. now all eyes have been on ukraine this week the cabinet was dissolved the government buildings across the country besieged while the opposition enjoyed huge backing from the west. top diplomats from america and europe pledged their support for ukraine's anti-government movement and a security conference in munich u.s. secretary of state john kerry called the rallies a fight for democracy if you sharply contradicted by russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov. reports. 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 to you have to decide

whether it's what one country or what 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's foreign minister sergei lavrov you have to do what it is when you get that 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 and even still occupying government buildings were those who burned police officers show racist anti-semitic and nazi slogans why do many leading european politicians and courage such actions while any violations of the old home aren't built with harshly. some strong words there from russia's chief diplomat also added to joking that next time we meet was with mr kerry he's going to ask him what grades he had in school asking how many

countries this you think are in that group that he calls the rest of the world. ukraine's prime minister along with the whole cabinet resigned earlier this week in a bid to ease tensions and the ongoing crisis peacefully the move comes after weeks of violence left dozens injured including many police were both beaten and burned in confrontations with rioters a response to a former agent of the cia and f.b.i. who now advises law enforcement on crowd control to ask him how authorities should respond. if you are in the situation where i've seen videos of police officers on fire and that's a deadly situation and they certainly in the united states would have the legal right to use deadly force in response to that so if a police officer perceives that there's a threat to themselves or somebody else they can respond with pepper spray but tang's personal weapon strikes electronic control devices to the threat rises to

the level where they think either they or somebody else are being threatened with death or serious bodily harm then they can respond with deadly force i think throughout the history of variety you see if there's not a strong police presence and then the the tag and i was the agitators they become emboldened and they become more violent and more aggressive so there needs to be a strong police presence in those circumstances to control the violence. and the riots have not remained solely in kiev in western ukraine many local government buildings were stormed by protesters who clashed with police while the latest opinion poll shows two thirds of the country are against of the current wave of violence policy or reports from one of the regions where administration offices were besieged. this is the regional administration building event notes on cards

skin western ukraine where at the till a week ago the regional governor had his office but as you can see just like in key if there is now a giant barricade surrounding the building with snow tires and planks of wood radical and he russian this is the heartland of nationalism wear and tear on a copy of 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 will which is supposed to have no president then to have you know called which but what the opposition has fragmented as it is that tully 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 their 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 the

result a group of writing radicals some wearing masks stormed the municipal building chanting we have the power they used fire extinguishers and wooden sticks against police. in china government demonstrators set up barricades made a vehicle pass and sacks of snow they demanded police in the building when the. similar scenes played out and she can see where protesters tried to set night to furniture they smashed windows and threw stones at security forces. in a van or from coffs those now laying siege to the municipality buildings have forbidden any symbols or sentiments of the ruling party they claim it goes against the will of the ukrainian people. policia r.t. ivana from cosco waste in ukraine. meanwhile thousands are gathered in the capital kiev on sunday for

a mass anti-government rally we've got more on the unrest in ukraine at r.t. dot com. now it has been more than a month since the islamist rebels seized the industrial syrian town of drama just outside the capital damascus after that offensive dozens of civilians were allegedly massacred and of thousands displaced the extremists still occupy key parts of the city party's maria financial and her crew were the first foreign journalists to make it inside and speak to the survivors address is just a twenty minute drive from damascus but the highway runs through an area firmly under rebel control so instead we take a newly created pass driving through high mounds of sand and piles of old tires the army uses to shield its convoys from attacks it's maybe longer but it's a safer route. where the first for him to be crude to get this close to address

after the siege began a month ago it's still not clear exactly what happened in this industrial city last december back then reports emerged of limerick's killings and violence after alger was attacked by militants belonging to al-qaeda linked groups and the free syrian army. they stormed into the city and they kept the civilians in their buildings using them as human shields which made our mission very difficult this is why it takes so long we want to avoid civilian losses. now to reported allegations the dozens of civilians had been executed that people were beheaded and burned in over ins and one claimed the doctors and patients were killed in a clinic which travelled to address hoping to verify these reports but there is still no way of getting into the besieged areas of the town to confirm if any of that actually happened we got as close as the army can they're actually to the

old town admiral blood and they work his house in complex nearby a drum aliya both an al besieged like a dog whistle of another maybe some bankers here to separate other are below and that room aliya and to prevent the militants uniting. these corridors go all around the besieged cities with the army watch in their area day and night this is one of the checkpoints of the syrian army behind this wall is territory held by militants and the soldiers strategy and mission right now is just to watch this area and to shoot if they see the enemy approaching. and this is actually all they can do any military operation could threaten the lives of those who remain hostage and with no access inside it's impossible to tell just how many the are but luckily most of the residents managed to escape address will meet some of them two

kilometers away a shelter around what used to be a large sum and factory life in this hotel's me he doesn't go to school anymore but this place because terrorist attack the student who had to ski they occupied and we can't go there their rooms are blocked. he says his father is a government employee this is why it is dangerous for his family to stay we are six yard where they live now. the years mother appear from the darkness of a room barely ten square meters and a silence everything what is happening is wrong there was no need for any of this see where we are now what degree we have reached now it's a question that many here are asking because these children haven't seen their mother for a month already seriously ill she couldn't get her medicine due to the siege with her condition deteriorating she was sent to hospital far from her family. and. we

were living in peace and now where are we i wish peace would come back to all of syria a month later it's still not clear exactly what happened and not drug most of those we talked to here in this camp fled before the militants arrived but occasionally we meet some who didn't escape so quickly and alone and up they were looking for anybody serving in the syrian army and also the virus so the syrian soldiers beheaded at the sewage system. we were in a group of about twenty people they were beating us three at a time and killing us i saw with my own eyes people stoned i still see them in my nightmares. unlike the shot of a cut drinking water and they prevented the bakery from working for us and young children were about die from a lack of water and they threatened us with machine guns. once an important industrial and peaceful city has become yet another syrian battleground for weary forces whose three alone confrontation has left well in excess of one hundred

thousand dead and millions displaced and yet it's another place where no side looks able to win and it's the ordinary syrian people left to pay the price. the from address in syria. damascus has rejected a face to face talks with the opposition when the geneva peace conference restarts unless the us secretary of state apologizes for saying president assad has no future in syria political activist amar walk off told my colleague kevin owen earlier that such verbal attacks could jeopardize the next round of talks which are scheduled to start in a week's time the u.s. congress is routed during the negotiations to arm the rebels to me there is a long. answer for ows people who don't even represent. the came under which is the syrian national coalition the syrian government is desperately trying to negotiate with someone who could have some powers to you know hold to their word

into their agreement and what about that threat from washington that would use force of syria failed to get rid of its chemical stockpiles by the summer there are some pretty cool reasons why this is happening you know i knew from from friends and family that whoever travels along that route between damascus and other newer southward there are certain segments of the road where they have to drive closer to like a hundred miles an hour or under sixty can orders an hour because of you know sniper power last night were shots from moderate opposition so if you want to move military grade equipment and vehicles into that through the they have to be moved you know much lower than that and they would be vulnerable especially if they're carrying you know chemical. warfare material that was that was used also questions the commitment and you know the american position whether they went into this agreement in good faith or not because they might seem to be using this agreement to punish is use rather than using this agreement to get rid of the chemical

warfare. calmer waters for file sharing website pirate bay. a dutch court overturned an earlier ruling allowing the side to restart operations in the netherlands. in just a few minutes. tens of thousands of people have marched through paris and in the city of leone in support of traditional families and marriage the protesters are demanding the government abandon its policy that would allow same sex couples to marry and bring up children our correspondent peter oliver reports from the french capital. well on sunday paris saw the latest wave of discontent to sweep across france as we saw thousands upon thousands of people come out onto the streets vent their anger at what they see as the erosion of traditional family values in the country is being particularly i'm get toward suggestions that france could legalize homosexual marriage also that it could do those could be brought in that would see they could see gay and lesbian couples either adopt all conceived

children to i.d.f. treatment they say that that's isn't what the traditional family is about and that's why they've been coming out here and telling me that they want to get the french government in particular fronts war on the president to hear their anger their government is very firm. in this matter i mean they don't want to go but there are many many people who just want to hold things a right of two germans and just don't care and that's is this is even more so use for a long time his personal popularity well that is it an all time low and he's currently seems the most unpopular french president in recent memory and what that seeing is more were more people coming out onto the streets to vent their anger against all odds and against the rules that he's trying to impose on them that they say infringes upon traditional family values here. are two years from peter oliver for so there and paris now is one that french journalist told us earlier francois

alonso focus on sexual orientation issues is a smokescreen to direct attention away from his low ratings. to seize an issue that he used to divert the race to distract attention from these i. want to get see oppression of the ministers the interior is actually looking into these issues the deeply it's true there is i suppose about one says the population who do feel very strongly about this we talked about this a year ago at that time i said there is the celibacy population who will not not let go on the subject of the old the government issues it all they will go back to the background there is the new code which is expiring the try order if you like this is not t.v. she's in favor of a family was a pair of children this is a fight for a for just family. and still ahead this hour testing the ice for future world records. our correspondent joins the staff at such ease and speed skating arena to

make sure the surfaces for the upcoming races for gold are as smooth as can be. well. science technology innovation all the least of melamine from around russia we've got the huge you're covered. british. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy. global financial headlines to. speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic.

reporting from the world talks about six of the c.o.r.p. interviews intriguing story. visit. and welcome back you're watching r.t. international now just days the brand new adler venue and such she will play host to the real stars on ice when dozens of top sportsmen and women will compete for olympic gold a real drama on ice with breathtaking sprints false starts and photo finishes that's what fans can count on our teams to say has been checking out the. we've just arrived here at the adler skating center this is where the speed skating

competitions during the the twenty fourteen winter olympic games is going to be taking place now we've been invited inside to actually take a look at the four hundred meters in length a skating rink it's very important that this ring can be maintained properly particularly for the skaters and they going to show us how they do that so let's go and see it. as you can see it's spectacular on the outside but the real beauty is how it works on the inside no expense was spared in the creation of the venue at the olympic park and you can certainly see where the money went a krystle face is reflected by angular walls and triangular stained glass windows the gray and white color of the building in hans's this impression even the facade is transparent so the spectators inside the arena can see out the focus of the arena doesn't disappoint with leading sports men and women coming forward to trace

the circuit it features two competition tracks and one training track all designed to provide the best possible performance for athletes the quality of ice can make a huge difference in winning that goal and edler quality is the main priority with optimal micro climatic conditions to show a world class ice surface so it's just a limp during the games every forty five minutes we'll have to bring. on machines and bring them on the circuit called for a minute a round of the four hundred meter of the circuit it's very important that they do this because they'll be a lovely lovely ice rink as well as making. all week a limb pins will be skating. close on the machine is free to. well the hopital every twenty five minutes of the games so that's the it's one thing that can have

a much. lost. it's going to be all about speed speed and more speed and the endless and. bomb with. what. you get more of our tour of the olympic park are to dot com and make sure your here when the games get going we'll have special coverage on air throughout sochi two thousand and fourteen. u.s. and e.u. sanctions will continue to burden the economy of iran that's the message from u.s.

secretary of state john kerry at a meeting with his iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the munich security conference washington and brussels lifted some of the restrictions under an interim deal reached in november in exchange for tehran scaling down nuclear enrichment however now kerry has reaffirmed that the remaining sanctions are there to stay political scientist. who used to be an advisor to iran's negotiating team on nuclear issues says the comments do more harm than good. and lipstick carries pressure tactics which is part of these two prong. of diplomacy the idea prying being rising many thirty threats and is of a dangerous. threat that we saw in prison obama's state of the union address is really content put duct here and there poisons the environment for the coming talks they brought the iran to the table by pressure and they need to escalate that pressure needed to gain maximum concessions and secretary of state kerry has been

referring to dismantling aspects of the opinion nuclear program which is contrary to the content of the geneva agreement and flat the rejected bay detainee and for a minute it. holidaymakers on the beaches of spain it may have to get used to an ominous silhouette on the horizon. that america sent a ballistic missile defense destroyer to the area this of course has not been welcomed by moscow but has warned of a counter move more and more online. plus iran sues a u.k. arms manufacturers seeking compensation of over half a billion dollars followed the dispute which goes all the way back to the one nine hundred seventy s. on r. t. dot com. a dutch court has given internet freedom activists a reason to celebrate this week after it ruled to restore users access to an online

file sharing service the pirate bay the hague appeals court has reversed a two thousand and eleven decision to block access to the website stating that the ban didn't help to reduce copyright infringement political columnist ted rall believes it's almost impossible to defend property rights in this high tech era. anyone who tries to regulate the internet at this point seems to be failing it's a very interesting case though because it seems to rely on the concept the legal concept of arbitrary and capricious ness in other words the law which applied specifically to this site would be which should apply to all sites obviously and if they were only going after this one and effectively at that then what's the point and it's unfair but you know there's obviously broader implications of such as intellectual property rights the motivation of for example movie studios creative people cartoonists and writers those kinds of people have to be able to earn

a living so it's you know it's an interesting balance between internet freedom and the fact the digitization has made it very difficult for copyright holders to enforce those rights. just ahead on our to international the abuse suffered by some adopted children is discussed in a world apart stay with us. what is the who is writing it and where is it leaving to be seeking to bearings we seem to turn to the news to take heat for the medium is the message and this most by will meet him on the planet is now the method for defining collective reality each night if it's not on the news it didn't happen right.

if you need to review economic ups and downs in the final months days belong to the old sang i and the rest of life until you meet casey it will be a break we all face.

hello and welcome to world the part of the conventional wisdom is that a child is always better off in the family down in an institution given in being without family means losing all existing social ties but it is international adoption really always in the best interest of a child well to discount that amount joined by elizabeth bartholet buckle to director of the child advocacy program at harvard law school ms bartholet i really appreciate you being on the show i think it's a very sensitive issue and we are all for a very very interesting discussion thanks for having me now i know that you are one of the most vocal advocates in your country for international adoption but after growing steadily for almost six decades the number of children being adopted into

the united states has been. falling sharply recently if i'm not mistaken number drawn by a hospital in two thousand and four in two thousand and ten and russia just recently became yet another country in these growing list of countries banning or restricting adoption into your country how do you explain that well i don't think it has anything to do with any diminishing need for homes for children i think it's because the forces. or hostile to international adoption notice the numbers going out and set out to turn that around so i think a very deliberate political action both by governments and by n.g.o.s and why would be those hostile forces those host governments interested in. doing what seems to

be against the interests of children well that's a great question i think the primary forces here are organizations that purport to be child friendly so. save the children and other child. human rights organizations are driving those numbers down even more than governments and i'm not entirely sure why that is i think press people have to ask those organizations what their motivation is now i heard you say in one of your previous interviews that there is a lot of quote phony remand to says when it comes to justifying why children are better off in their home countries and the issue of heritage for example often comes up here but i wonder if there is there is not just as much phony remand to system when it comes to adoption especially international adoption because the default assumption here is that a child is always the better off in the loving family down in an institution but

the question is really how many of those adoptive children and up with loving families who can properly take care of their needs well i think the social science is very clear on that there have been lots of studies of adoption both domestic and international and the studies show overwhelmingly the almost all the children placed in adoption do extremely well bond with their parents and almost all the problems that those children may have have to do with being placed late in life and other words the problems they. may have in adoption some of them almost always have to do with the fact they didn't get adopted early and they got damaged by the life they lived when institutions but ms bartholet isn't it also also the case that the studies that heretofore into they studied adoption in general as a phenomenon rather than a big in a specific study on.