it's only a matter of hours now before the official start of the twenty fourth season of winter games anticipation is growing with the entry exit around of the opening ceremony adding to the excitement. and the competition is just on the ice and snow with sports teams from across the globe now gathered in salt would begin handing out the facts and gongs at the winter olympics to the wonderful the only primates and the downright bizarre. possum barassi us the from outside to laugh often apparently hacked that solicits phone chats or how they could tailor the next ukrainian government's.

welcome you've got to an artsy international with miller in the costs. that's less than twenty four hours now before the flame of the winter games is lets out the olympic stadium and saw some of the competitions have already kicked off at the world this whole thing that's right for the official opening ceremony and organizers promise that it will be mind blowing paul scott's is in the olympic capital for us and he joins us now paul it's been for a long years and the wait seems finally over you're there what are the hours like right before we get to the grand opening. well it's actually been a little under ten years since the vision was full and it's been seven years since sochi was awarded the winter olympics in a few hours time we're going to see the culmination the climax of all about. an old

out planning the opening ceremony gets underway at eight fourteen pm local time in the fish stadium that you can probably make out behind me and i was fortunate enough to get a ticket for the final dress rehearsal on choose david and i can tell you that the forty thousand plus spectators who are going to be inside that stadium are going to be treated to a high tech pyrotechnic display a condensed journey through russian history and although the opening ceremony hasn't begun in the olympic cauldron hasn't been lit we still don't know the identity of the person tossed with despite those things the sport has started the events began on thursday in the continuing to run throughout friday and also has spoken to a couple of athletes who have tested their venues ahead of their events and they say that such he is ready to welcome the sporting world. personal pressure telling good he denied it every day and i'm happy to have. like states we don't have this much success but it so easily.

got us to live. right in the sun is that every day. so yeah. i think the russians are very enthusiastic about sport and about the olympics so i expect them to play great hosts of the world and so far what i've seen has been very impressive and i can't wait to get down to the venues and see the competition again. well tonight opening ceremony will also see the climax of the journey for the olympic torch it's on its record breaking sixty five thousand kilometer journey around the world's largest country it's in the final stages of that journey of course it's been to the bottom of the world's deepest lake lake by college going to the top of the highest peak in europe mt elbrus and it's even been into outer space on the north pole and in the last twenty four hours it's been carried by a number of high profile figures as well including russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov who's taken time out of his busy schedule to pick up the baton as has u.n.

secretary general ban ki moon who was here for tonight's opening ceremony and organizers say that for the olympic torch relay it is almost a case of mission accomplished. it's of course the loneliest and biggest culturally in time and history so it's been a huge logistical effort to make this happen in russia in winter time but it's been a fantastic journey and i mean every dream we are going to school we had before we started and it's really come through so it's it's been an amazing journey really showing the first the first of everybody. well this is it then over the next few hours the olympic torch is going to snake its way through such a before arriving here in the fish stadium for the opening ceremony there's a cautious optimism in the atmosphere is building because the sochi twenty fourteen winter olympics are now just hours away. and we will of course we'll check back in

with every single hour paula to see what has happened in there that set for an hour it seems paul sculthorpe or saying from the olympic host city now we've got it seem of course on this work and all the venues across the olympic city now of course we were just spoke to paul who is in the coastal club for us and that will also be talking to andrew farmer who's in the mountain cluster not even though i'm points in the floor up there it's actually a half an hour ride away and let's see what the very latest is from andrew farmer who is as i said in the mountain cluster for us. when russia won the right to host these olympics there wasn't even a paved road leading to the ocean never mind a telly cabin but now look at it it is a fully fledged european style ski village there are hotel chains here is what is restaurants and cafes there is even a nightclub around the corner but this place is in it for the long haul because long after the olympics have packed up and gone home is hope there are many kinds

of to school come here to decades to come to something like sixty kilometers worth of ski runs and three ski areas around this place and that is to be expanded so this little top even though it's been sure to show it is much more to these olympics than just sporting venues it's all about the overhaul and the entire regeneration of a region and before the medal counts begins let's take a look at some basic numbers determine in these games so these are the twenty second the ones who are legs and they're definitely record breaking almost forty thousand athletes from the largest ever number of countries eighty eight they will compete in a record number off sports in. ninety eight then that's twelve competitions more than bank over four years ago and another record salty has broken as the cost these are firstly the most expensive ones for games in history now these olympics are not just about sportsmanship and talents and medals there's

a one more competition and despite no words going to catch the viewers eyes it's all about uniforms with top designers worldwide but in all their efforts to make that seems the gold standard of olympic fashion who succeeded well arts is more to the andrews joins me now with the answer for that hi there martin so how much athletes are they dressed to impress what have you seen in their. absolutely well after one hundred twenty three days as we're saying the torch is finally here and such you know so we know as well the games did begin yesterday as post comments before the reason why that is because there are twelve new events added to the game since the monkey lympics in twenty ten so you know those facts but of course we're not here to talk about the sports i'm not here to talk about the security or gay rights or issues regarding the events let's talk about the fashion and of course all the eyes will be on the procession tonight at the opening

ceremony and indeed what people are wearing other uniforms are they costumes all day indeed political statements so let's give you a wrap of what you can expect tonight let's go straight to the german team they'll set the stand out from the crowd we have them designed by. that total coats in what could be described as a rainbow childish garish effect with that bright colors of pink yellow blue green a few people have said that it's a nod towards the anti gay attitudes and subjects running the controversy of the games but personally i think it's just a throwback to the cab as a my little pony so that's the german team for you expect them to be there tonight said the selling out in the procession let's move on to my opinion and what i think are the most stylish and chic uniforms that will be showing tonight they are of course america some say new york is the fashion capital of the world and the costumes uniforms are designed by ralph lauren they were unveiled last year and of

course they are here in the pico says that coat with slim sweatpants with a floppy hats with a star design in the colors red white and blue so personal thumbs up to the american team now let's go from something quite acceptable to the weird and wonderful let's take a look at the scandinavian country of norway and the curling team in the zigzag efforts of what you can see now in the colors also is red. white and blue they wanted to feel at ease on the ice with what they're wearing and they certainly will be wearing those outfits many years ago in vancouver they won silver wearing a suit a similar garish outfit so fingers crossed that costume will work for them because personally i would not want to wear that outfit living also a great guy he's been in the papers and covered by lots of the media it's the mexican ski championship herbert's von holzen who and he's actually just one eighth mexican he's actually descendant of german royalty people say he's

a prince of the people he'll be wearing at the lair oh outfits as you can see as you can see we'll see him slalom down in the mounting cost of present pollyanna you certainly won't miss him in his truffled ruffled succeeded with his red tie and come a band the prince hubertus von. moving on to the russian bombshell that is arena sidr over recently she posed for a glossy magazine wearing just lingerie with her curling stone and she's got lots of tongues wagging lots of people are looking forward to seeing her tonight of course she isn't just a pretty face but she is a celebrity here in russia of course and i would also be seeing other teams from around the world including great britain and the rest of the russian team so while three billion people might be watching the opening ceremony for the famous torch bearing other people will see it as a fashion and somewhat political statement regarding what people are wearing lots to look forward to an excitement here is just incredible brianna back to you.

martin andras with the deference here at colorful on what's happening and sorting it right now will do stay with us as we begin our special coverage of the games from our studio and saw. twenty fourteen promised to be calculated in exhilarating winter and i'm. sure you see no way i'm a criminal and i'm the worst of all the hate you seem to sochi twenty four take. on . leaked phone call of washington's behind the scenes casting for ukraine's next leader has calls red faces at the state department's so that would be great i think to blue this thing and have the u.n. help glue it and you know the e.u. and then the parent conversation with the ambassador in kiev the u.s. is top diplomat for europe that zorra nuland outlined a failsafe scheme so forge

a new governments with a very special role. here is on your correspondent. with more on the leak but what you hear during this four minute conversation is basically two top u.s. officials strategizing about how to form ukraine's new government it sounds like they're playing a game of chess with the opposition leaders as the pieces on that chess board they're trying to determine which opposition leader has the best economic and governing experience to work inside ukraine's new government and which opposition leaders should remain on the outside it's a bit shocking to actually hear i had to listen to it a few times to really grasp the fact that there are strategizing on how to put together the government of another country instead of paraphrasing everything let let's let our viewers actually take a listen for themselves. the pieces are beautifully big complicated electronics

you're. going to miss deputy prime minister and you've seen some of our notes on the troubles in the marriage right now so we're trying to get a read really fast and work here on this stuff and i'm glad you sort of put it on the spot on where he fits in the scenario so i don't think leetch should go into the government i don't think it's necessary i don't think it's a good idea in terms of going to the government just let him sort of stay out in doofus judical homework and stuff i think he is the guy who's got the economic experience the governing experience he's the he's the guy you know what he needs his cleats in tiny book on the outside he needs to be talking to them four times a week well clearly this is a highly embarrassing situation for the united states particularly because we've been here u.s. officials insist for so long that they're not involving themselves in into ukraine's internal circumstance but for more of the spokesperson for the u.s. state department she had a pretty difficult day on thursday jen psaki was put in the hot seat journalist one

after another reporters kept asking her why u.s. officials are interfering in ukraine's internal problems out one point corresponded said point blank that the leaked conversation shows how the us is attempting to construct a new government in a sovereign country and actually bring officials in from the u.n. to seal the deal one thing u.s. officials had not spin their way out of it is the profanity and dismissive tone victoria nuland used when referring to the european union and its involvement in ukraine for that an apology was issued she's been in close contact with a representative ashton also let me convey that she has been in contact with the e.u. counterparts and and of course has apologized but. for these reported comments of course you're not confirming that because it's your shoes i'm just not going to speak to a private diplomatic conversation but i'm obviously speaking to the content of the

reports. misaki also tried to make somewhat of a joke when she was in damage control mode when she was referring to the use of profanity when it came to victoria nuland the assistant secretary of state let's take a listen you may know the story of how she lived on the russian boat for about eight months when she was twenty three in she learned how to perfect perhaps certain words and a couple of languages so perhaps it speaks to that more than a pervasive viewpoint you know suggesting that she is a predisposition against russian no i was suggesting that she learned russian curse words and curse words on the that is an issue in english. i was making and learning the first words on a fishing boat there you see a u.s. spokes person trying to make a joke out of a situation that is quite scandalous quite embarrassing not sure of any high official i officially in ukraine are laughing at this moment after their hearing

this leaked conversation on you tube about you know the united states strategizing on how to build a new government in a sovereign country foreign policy expert in the boat points out the u.s. may be trying to divert public attention away from its book of political. we have a situation where a high ranking official of the u.s. government who's even been to kiev an issue of what was distributing cookies to the demonstrators back when they were still relatively peaceful is referring to these guys as you know glib see in tiny book i would i would seriously be upset i would i would consider this an insult she's apologized for a comment and she's not admitting she me which is itself a confirmation that the comment was made but will she hasn't apologized for is the plans to midwife a new government in ukraine in other words she's she's apologizing for you but she's not apologizing for trying to overthrow

a government in kiev and calling that popular democracy obviously there's more to it than that i don't think anybody in the us establishment to sorry for what they're trying to do i think they're very proud of it and i think they're going to pursue it. and that's it once more our web site has got all the links to the leak itself as well as the reaction of the u.s. state department it's all there for you at artsy dot com also on live for an ugly moments for c.n.n. after it's released its list of the world's ugliest monuments that's after the broadcaster found space call an important world war two memorial unsightly triggering a period. i don't lie for the full story. what's there you can find in saudi arabia which hans is about to begin by. religious police have formed a special task force to find and track twitter users suspected of but says that it sounds artsy.

world with. its technology innovation is development around russia we. have heard. wealthy british. market. find out what's really happening to the global economy. for a no holds barred the global financial headlines kaiser report. good

leverage or. was able to build a new. mission to teach me. this is why you should. only. apply.

to. everyone in my life that i cared about their goal much and then it became a skin. i was a national champion in track and field and also was able to go in qualifying for the olympic games. you know nine hundred eighty eight i started to experiment with that the drugs i had lost on the financial means that i. was really on the street. black market was. great. to.

come back later the senior scotland holds a referendum on and the pendants what the politicians in london are going to do whatever they can suppress vote from happening prime minister david cameron will give a speech today urgent scots to remain within the union he will argue a breakaway will undermine the position of britain thoughts as artie's laura smith reports the ranks of the independent supporters are slowly but steadily growing. keeping up the pressure is the name of the game in the race to the scottish referendum on independence david cameron's speech on fridays the latest perry in the fight and it comes as polls show a jump in support for separation since the scottish national party produced its white paper in november with details of how an independent scotland would work

there's been a small number of people who want scotland to break away january poll of more than a thousand respondents twenty nine percent in favor from twenty six percent in november the campaign also appears to be convincing those south of the border support for scottish independence in england and wales has risen to twenty four percent from twenty one in november but it's certainly not all plain sailing for the pro independents campaign dudley chief of b.p. is the most prominent businessman yet to criticize the thinking behind it dependence but others have followed the head of a leading north sea investment bank has said separation would be a threat to professor it's a both those opinions are prissy important because the economic case for independence rests largely on how much money scotland would be able to get from

north sea oil and gas and westminster is sure to use that to its advantage in the next stage of what's being dubbed project. and then some other global news more than one hundred people mostly police officers were injured when a rally against high unemployment and corruption violence and northern balls security forces gas to disperse the crowds of stone foreign protesters after local government building the protests erupted after companies were privatized but later filed for bankruptcy. pakistan. long long awaited negotiations with a time to buy a new gadget newstand dialogue to strike a peace deal with the islamist movements this follows recent taliban that's hacks on military convoys checkpoints and civilians which have claimed thousands of lives taliban factions in pakistan have been battling the country's government for years

in a bit sewer stablished an islamic state in the region. clashes have erupted in the brazilian city of rio de janeiro that's fallen a rally against recent price hikes and transportation feeds reports say at least twenty people have been they were arrested one train station in the city center was closed after police basle last rioters there security forces also used tear gas against protesters as violence continued in the air by streets. there is light relief for inhabitants of a syrian city of homes after the government reached an agreement with the. thousands of civilians from the besieged city they will be joined in the stream of refugees driven out of their homes by the civil war that number has already been estimated that when a half million people are sees policy or has the story of family. too high but mark leave is a refugee in her own country forced from

a home by civil war she drew doughty from hiding from two hundred kilometers from the village in a three room apartment they share with another family very crime supporting president bashar assad. the terrorists want to kill me they broke into my house to find me they looted everything they kidnapped six members of my family all because they're looking for me. a lot has been said about the desperate situation facing refugees who fled across the border to neighboring countries but most of those forced from their homes by the spiraling violence are displaced within syria itself these internally displaced people remain extremely vulnerable and their numbers continue to swell. i've been told many times to stop supporting assad and everything will be fine but i won't change my principles and they'll win we will fight has first got hold of through high birth she was eight months pregnant they keep her so badly she lost the baby but she refused to change her politics. i

ran away with my children my mother is very dear to me it is now the second aid faster all that has passed without me being with her my mother has god by her side he will not abandon her. they are kidnapping young people sixteen year olds and they are cutting them into pieces when asked if she'll give herself up for family sake so high but in fact pieces know. if i die i want my daughters to continue in the same way everybody is going to die my mother may die but she wanted their last victim i may die to. syria's death toll stands at more than one hundred thousand with no sign of fighting a basic for many internal refugees home remains a distant dream for those like through high but it's only their ideals that gives him the strength to carry on. the r.t.

damascus syria. more news in about half an hour from now up next selfish a lot of talks to the mayor of the host of the city of sochi and the dalai lama is they with us all artsy as rational.

the building behind me the become the center of the start of their dreams from around the world come together to talk about the best way of birth and new ideas. lots of the world. will take place. no the flame. the olympic spirit travels with the flame from its birthplace in greece. showing james

brown for an elemental and epic journey around russia and beyond. where i become. hot.

hello welcome to sophie and co i'm sophie shevardnadze so they went to a limping games have finally come to sochi the city is flooded with guests and athletes and the enormous amount of work that went into holding this extraordinary event will now be put to test and as everyone gets ready for the medal race well wait caught up with possibly the busiest man in town and that's the mayor of sochi the home of. years of preparation for this day. the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics in sochi. there were voices saying the city isn't ready the stadiums and roads finished and there's simply not enough snow in the subdural the resort so one.