that's the blood. flow. to me. the olympic flame arrives in sochi after a historic relay that covered more than sixty thousand kilometers of delivery of the prize metals herald the imminent start of the two thousand and fourteen winter games. u.s. warns international firms against doing business with iran saying the partial lifting of sanctions doesn't mean the country's market is up for grabs. that get its better deals it's been trying to hammer out a deal with the taliban as the u.s. role in the country past twenty fourteen becomes less clear. nine pm in moscow i met you with us our top story the olympic flame has arrived in

the host city of sochi heralding the final stage before the start of the games what a journey it's been thousands of kilometers across the vastness of russia and into space at the international space station also arriving in sochi today the medals under armed guard a creative gold silver and bronze were delivered to the olympic city where they were then shown to the public welcoming the flame to the city our own martin enders and paul scott who told my colleague. how the day's events unfolded. what a journey it's made sixty five thousand kilometers around the largest country in the wild that is fourteen thousand until it's bare is over one hundred twenty three cities in russia. going up to the international space station the first time in history made a space walk up to the north pole it's been in the summary to visit the largest freshwater lake in the world by cali in siberia and finally after months of anticipation. the lives not by land but i want to show you all it's

very close to the olympic park where the. will take place on friday but i should make out space left at the pool as you could say i've had it's way up to the beautiful mountain cluster translate. of course everybody's talking about it with a look at people to carry the torch over the next few days we have russian comedians pools men and women and of course the main thing that everybody is that will like the school the opening ceremony on friday lots of speculation there but in the meantime the lympics plane is here in sochi and everybody is certainly very excited because finally here at the black sea resort well absolutely as you just said the excitement is building up and we can feel that definitely for now though let's cross to paul scott who is also in sochi for us and what we see behind paul is the sporting arenas and all of the buildings that were the venues i should say were the sporting events will be taking place and also we know that the olympic committee is there as well what have we heard from them so far. well as the final

preparations takes day and to the final stages into the home straight i can tell you the international olympic committee and president vladimir putin are there remain in the region president putin has visited the athletes' village which you can probably just make out behind me it's a short walk away from the coastal cluster he's visited the athletes village where they're going to eat sleep train live and of course socialize over the next few weeks and he met a number of russian athletes who of course have a lot of pressure on them over the next week or so they're performing in their home olympics in their home games and they are expected as a team to put in a better showing than they did in vancouver four years ago when russia won just three gold medals and also witnessed the olympic flag being raised above the olympic village which really does signify that these games are now within touching distance of course gets under way as martin said on friday evening with the opening ceremony but a number of world leaders are political figures have decided they will not attend

those games however president of the international olympic committee thomas parks says that the olympic movement in the olympic games should not be used for political point scoring. we are grateful to those who respect the fact that sports can only contribute to development and peace if it's not used as a stage for political dissent or for trying to score points in internal or external political contests to other political leaders we say however the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful direct political dialogue and not on the picks up the athletes well that's president of the i.o.c. thomas back speaking in sochi just two days now before the start of the games all right paul thanks very much for this and as the finishing touches are being added security of course is one of the big topics there and martin i'm having heard of

any last minute concerns there and what's being done in terms of security in the city. that's right marina security is obviously the word the everybody is talking about this much media hype surrounding this situation of the the ring of steel which we're standing at the moment personally but i can say is that i've had no trouble at all you can walk the streets i spoke to various foreigners he said actually being here in sochi is really just like any other olympics if not more secure we have six thousand athletes arriving this week if they haven't arrived already twenty five thousand volunteers and up to one hundred thousand police members forces army sniffer dogs horses you know i mean it really just feel like such a is one of the safest places to be on the pilots at the moment of course security concerns are vital and are the number one priority here in sochi but then again i suppose you could say that they are all sporting events to conferences around the world this is what president putin had to say about the subject of security take a look you know looking at a few security is always of concern you know the at large who is in his hands but

also a political one is that we can't forget the terrorist attacks here scooting venue's the boston bombings for example which happened recently there have been similar attacks at libby games and the bombings assuring the g. eight summit in london but i'd like to thank our partners from almost every nation who actively working to ensure the game security together with our own security specialists judy twenty four hours a day i think it's very important to mention that even though the security is tight here in sochi it doesn't feel like a blockade or concentration camp everybody is at ease of course when you enter typical buildings you have to go through the screening into the airport security but there is a very relaxed happy and excited atmosphere well i've been here in such over the last four or five days and really from my own experience it feels a lot safer than the media hype surrounding it yesterday i met various cossacks and horses who will now that we helping the security measures over the next month.

defense missiles drones sophists. kate said it was capable of detecting some of the rains and high speed patrol boats a vast array of high tech gear is being deployed to make such a lot of the safest places on earth with any global event security is the number one priority and no expense is being spared to achieve that end at the twenty fourteen winter olympics a ring of steel is in place around the city and no one from residents to work is to enter without an official pass but it's a case of high visibility and minimal fuss was that you didn't know many early astronauts have been saying that back home they saw very negative media coverage about the olympic village some are even afraid to come here but monday arrived this started wondering what all the bad press was about and were very impressed by what's going on here they say there is much less hassle and discomfort is specially

when it comes to security checks compared to previous gate is. but it's not just about tighter controls and manpower police officers are into growing extra training for mounted patrols that have distinct advantages at such events over on the ball with the will to work all year ahead of the games mounted police are more effective during massive burns after there's a tower over the people and have a better view of the crowds the beefed up security including assistance from the u.s. government is primed to keep a protective oil locals and this is more than ever before almost five hundred cossacks warriors of russian law will also be on duty at various olympic locations with their traditional black hats and coats with apple lets they will be on standby to assist the police cossacks have been guarding russian borders for centuries traditionally based in southern russia and we know the region and its people very well. because sex job is to offer assistance spread safety culture and peace to

various religions and people from different countries like normally patrols without any weapons they can only stop a crime in progress and they can only call the police and wait for the authorities to arrive so as the population of this black sea resort swells by the thousand whether it's sniffer dogs or horses patrol boats or cossacks salty's businesses locals are certainly in good hands and with an estimated one hundred thousand police security services and armed troops here the aim is to ensure that these will be the safest lympics in history martin andrews r.t. . our producer is caught up with one of the members of russia's bobsled team who told us how surprised he was by the changes he'd seen in a city. it's a good it was a. good time stunned ten years ago i couldn't imagine such use would host an event of such magnitude and it's very important for russia there have only been positive

changes for sochi this is not a world class resort it's a cutting edge training facility for winter athletes one that russia never really had before in the future so if you will host world championships global school to events it's an amazing p.r. boost for such a city that no one had heard of it just ten years ago. we have continuing live updates for you from sochi where the olympic flame as arrive go to our website to revisit the most exciting moments of the journey from ancient greece to the russian black sea resort. investment dollars once again flowing into iran but that has set off some alarm bells in washington where some officials insist the oil rich nation is still not

open for business tehran's prospects have been looking brighter since sanctions were partially lifted under a nuclear deal my colleague marina kosar discussed this with r t k d p. we've had a huge french delegation making their way to iran in anticipation of this post sanction iran or mages are all looking forward to not is oil majors but car manufacturers including with telecoms are into the i was hoping the biggest delegation in two years and that one was business of course and this comes after. one there from turkey so everyone is trying to get our hands on it's how i live and it's it's almost like everyone wants to get in the line now in reaction to this the u.s. is saying whoa hold on a minute ok hold your horses we've got wendy sherman she was quite still in her was as to what she had to say we're going to have a quick listen iran is not open for business because our sanctions relief is quite temporary quite limited and quite targeted doesn't matter whether the countries are

friend or foe if they evade our sanctions we will sanction them surely they should have expected that international companies what she meant as soon as they announced exactly where it is margin so wouldn't you because we know the reserves in iran are huge incredibly vast one if not one of the biggest oil and gas reserves in the world are talking about the top in terms of both oil and gas world exactly right so people want to drum into that and also you go to remember europe is still dealing with stagnate it's no wonder that they want to drum up business and product to these sanctions a lot of these countries including tell what active in the region and they want to get in those oil fields and get them likely again i think that stands to reason so you know it's no surprise but the u.s. too they also want to healthy business relationship with iran because it's going to be a full three record with when it's back up and running if these six months go well in the way it's kind of twenty two for the u.s.p.s. doesn't want to agree to run too much at the moment because then they stand to lose

. anywhere but iran's leader just trying to drum up some publicity and also some investment so you know i was in davos just just the other week he was there he was talking to oil majors. including like some i bought as well from the u.s. and he basically said iran is i've been in the business to go completely different story ahead the reason why he sang this is because his economy has been crippled by the sanctions we're talking forty percent inflation five percent recession asked if he's undepressed to himself to get relations kickstarted with the oil industry and . pharmaceuticals all materials a professor at the university of tehran mohammad marandi says u.s. officials have no authority to dictate business guidelines to other countries there are no international sanctions being violated the sanctions that have been imposed are american sanctions they've sanctioned the iranian central bank and they've threatened other countries and warn other countries from doing business with iran

so the united states is basically dictating to. third party third countries how to behave and who to trade with and how to trade the world will benefit a great deal because the world needs iranian oil and gas iran is either the first or second richest country. with regards to energy combined oil and gas when you combine the two ironically despite american pressure against iran iran is the rock in this region it is the only stable. energy rich country in this part of the world and therefore strengthening ties with iran is something that would be in the strategic interests of any country. the days of u.s. surveillance flights dotting the british countryside could be numbered coming up find out how senior politicians in the u.k. are trying to put the u.s. spy genie back in the bottle.

is there a new cold war brewing pitting the west against russia what is being called a reset in relations at the start of the obama presidency today is in tatters western media and politicians are determined to between russia and the worst possible light even to the point of undermining the sochi games one of these new cold war years which she. says the media leave us so we leave the baby. by the sea motions to your. shoes that no one is asking with again that you deserve answers from. politic only to. speak your language. programs and documentaries in spanish

what matters to you. a little tonnage of angles story. spanish. visit. seventeen minutes past the hour afghanistan's government submitted building secret talks with the taliban behind the u.s. back as president karzai stepped up the steps up efforts to make peace with the militant group although the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far the u.s. says it supports the push for reconciliation artie's marine important i reports from new york. one of america's longest and most expensive foreign investments is turning into one of its greatest obstacles the u.s. intervention you know afghanistan has essentially created

a new taliban movement far more powerful you know no comparison really with the taliban that existed before nine eleven or before the u.s. intervention in afghanistan matter of fact as the taliban and afghan president reportedly remain in secret talks about reaching a peace deal washington's future in the country after twenty fourteen remains in limbo president hamid karzai still refuses to sign a long term bilateral agreement with washington last week that the afghan leader cited poet percy shelley when describing the painfully strained relations with america i believe the best way to summarize this is to put it in the words of shelley the great british put i met murder on the way the whole twelve years was one of constant pleading with america please treat our civilians respectfully and treat their lives as the lives of people. the u.s. has reportedly spent more than ninety billion dollars on reconstruction and relief

in afghanistan i jested for inflation that's more than any european country received after the second world war however journalist gareth porter says in this case no amount of money can buy love what the united states has accomplished in its escalation of war in afghanistan is an exacerbation a tremendous increase in anti-american sentiment and a large part of that of course was the use of night raids of on people's homes knocking down doors in the middle of the night and antagonizing hundreds of thousands who was channel a friends neighbors were affected by this tactic and it's tremendously antagonized the afghan population and that is going to be a problem that will affect u.s. national security for many decades to come in the year to come history for the u.s. may turn out to mean leaving afghanistan in the same circumstance it was when it

was invaded marina porton i am r.t. new york frank ledwidge a former british army officer who served in afghanistan thinks this is the sign that the us decade long war a cheap little all this is testament to the total strategic illiteracy of the whole campaign from the start we've had a military campaign really quite some big brutality over the last twelve years completely on the good stuff and i'm connected to any political process. now the taliban very very conversant with the need to lead and to match the memory hole it takes with military action and they play this game an extremely well know what time it is but right to him to become paid the balance of power is already tipping the button of the taliban particularly in the south where of course most of the combat has taken place we say the time of the ready. by the british and american forces an

extortion is being applied political pressure making deals with the local drug cartels dumbfounds is already too big not rush opening its arms to syrian refugees granting asylum to more than a thousand displaced people fleeing the country that's been torn apart i merely three years of civil conflict all those details on our website. and fire raging from the wagons of a train that derailed near the euro mountains in russia forcing four hundred people to be evacuated from a nearby town. the u.s. military has installations dot across the british isles senior u.k. politicians calling for an overhaul of the rules governing the network it's not some of the sites may have relayed secret data to control drone strikes in yemen and carry out a dragnet spying polly boyko reports. well they arrived during world war two and they stayed throughout the cold war and now there are some ten thousand u.s.

military servicemen working here in britain in dozens of facilities but what are they still doing here well it's alleged that one of the u.s. military bases here in the u.k. was relaying data back from a network of spy posts alleged to have been monitoring the phone calls of german chancellor angela merkel so now three senior peers from all three major political parties here in the u.k. say they want to see greater transparency in relation to u.s. military bases and they want to know exactly what the u.s. military servicemen are getting up to on british soil well to talk about this i'm joined by one of the authors of the proposed amendments to defense legislation. baron s. miller barnett miller thank you very much for joining us the u.s. and the u.k. have a special relationship they're both part of nato what does it matter what they're getting up to on these bases. what you're quite right we do have

a special relationship but the global surveillance program that the american national security agency has been up to has gone well beyond what we think is acceptable in terms of security are you saying that these bases have basically become a lauren to themselves within the u.k. well we're really talking particularly about menwith hill anyone living in new york should be familiar with it huge goals pulls dozens of people working at the scale of it should have told us that something was going on beyond simply missile defense perelman terence like myself have been asking questions over the last couple of decades but we've received a brushoff a not very good answer now either our ministers didn't know what was going on which that would be pretty appalling or they did know what was going on and were quite comfortable with it but either way i think we need. no to see these bases become far more accountable to the british parliament it really does need to be something

that we do knowingly and not just wandering into what we've got now which is a big state run from the states proposed amendments to defense legislation are currently being revised but certainly here in the british government there are those that say while they are on british soil u.s. space says it should be added herring to british. azzi london japan were love is definitely not in the air more people there seem to be shunning personal contact in favor of a solitary online life or a country with one of the world's lowest birth rates a democratic disaster could be looming or his looks airshows he explains. thanks but no sex says this japanese woman in her mid thirty's she's now on her second marriage but intimacy with her husband is off the marital menu. after i had a child with my first husband i lost interest in sex we divorced i remarried but my

second husband lost interest in having sex with me so i have actually got used to having no sense at all this is becoming a trend which now has its own name in japan sexless according to recent polls more than sixty percent of unmarried man and near half of women aged eighteen to thirty four are not in relationships more over forty five percent of women and a quarter of man aged sixteen to twenty four were not interested in having sex at all for the country with one of the world's lowest birth rates this spells huge demographic trouble we used to have a very large population but now we're rapidly shrinking and if things carry on as they are japan's population will be half of what it is now by the year twenty fifty that would be seventy point eight million we have indeed struggled to find many couples openly showing their affection in the multi-million capital of tokyo and what makes the situation even more bizarre is that japan has always been a world heavyweight when it comes to the matters of sex but your show our area in

tokyo is one of the old this thread light districts in the world for centuries it has been thriving now its streets are practically empty for almost four hundred years it has been restricted to the locals now with japanese people having less sex the businesses here had to open their doors to foreigners. the whole market now here she used to be called queen love and worked in one of those brothels now runs a special course called sex counseling she helps people resuscitate their basic instinct sometimes through hypnosis she even urges men to dress as women to make them understand what the opposite sex feels like she says the government is partly to blame for the situation taking on. the government puts. regulations on sexually don't constant even sixty commercials disappears from t.v. these first young people to go there show in their sex lives that now they have more interest in social media and dating becomes annoying to them.

not only social networking but also high unemployment among the youth generates this widespread celibacy and sexual reclusion say researchers many simply have no money to date and get married young the amount of just to help up to one hundred people every month but with growing numbers of those are interested in intimacy in population of one hundred and sixty million this is just a drop in the ocean lets us have c.r.t. reporting from tokyo in japan and after a short break boom bust with the air in a day.

new york london. the whole world is on the. picture again of the original one a further one than the end there are further to hang up the cliff that building at the end of the street another one a more transparent society gets the money or look but the tears become we see military and. police forces mobilized against people who blend into the city hobbit the city the more people trust electronic devices the more defenseless the. fear that it is a thousand ways. the united states has

significant technological edge over the rest awhile that it is now using that spy on the rest of the wall then there was the deal between the u.s. and england where u.s. spy agencies couldn't spy on people in the u.s. but british a spy agencies could spy on people in the u.s. so the two governments said alright each of us will spy on the other citizens and then we'll trade and that we will be surveilling our own people so this is what i think of as the scandal. there i marinated this is boom bust and these are the stories that we're tracking for you today. coming up

a white collar crime expert sam antara joins me live on today's show to discuss financial fraud in all of its forms then debt ceiling drama is back the treasury secretary says we must do something about it but we're asking the question why are we in this position in the first place find out just ahead and finally in today's big deal ed harris and i discussed free trade friend or foe it's all coming up and it all starts right now. our story today the debt ceiling or lack thereof secretary treasury secretary jacob lew says after february seventh we'll have to start using emergency measures to

avoid a first ever default on national debt and lew says he expects to exhaust those measures very very quickly now congress is spending the debt limit last october as part of a deal to reopen the government after a partial shutdown however the suspension ends on friday and after that it's only a matter of time until we breach the dreaded debt limit now lew has urged congress to quote act without delay and increase the debt ceiling no delays here he says any delay could jeopardize the credibility of the world's largest economy and hurt the global financial markets but here's the question now instead of suffering through the self-inflicted wounds congress caused last october why not just fast forward through all the drama and just raise the debt ceiling why do we feel this need is americans in congress america to sell fluctuate now we're going to ultimately end up raising it it's going to happen anyway if congress has any sense at all and.