game on in sochi they kicked off to a dazzling new show and now a record ninety eight sets of medals up for grabs in fifteen different disciplines are t. keeping on top of the winter olympics with special extensive coverage on air and online. herzegovina golf in street violence with crowds clashing with police and torching government buildings across the country angry soaring unemployment and corruption they say. the help of terror thousands of foreigners reportedly recruited by hard line islamists in syria training for attacks as the war there rages on.

nine am in moscow i matras are very good to have you with us the winter games in sochi officially underway in the olympic schedule for the next sixteen days a very busy one r.t. international following the games closely joining me now in our sochi studios is our own nice in our way. so very memorable opening night tell us more. that's putting it lightly i think matt it's fair to say the twenty second winter olympics here in sochi of course have officially begun you can probably with the the olympic torch burning bright behind me after it was lit at a phenomenal opening ceremony here in this resort town on the russian black sea coast for the two and a half hours show took spectators on a magical breast taking journey through russian culture and history more than forty

thousand spectators from around the globe packed into the fish to lympics stadium right behind us here to witness the extravaganza the ceremony featured the olympic rate of nations with a difference this time athletes didn't enter the stadium from the sides as usual but marched right through the middle emerging from a changing map of the world and of course there was a grand fireworks display to match the dazzling so we watched it up here with my colleague kevin no one we had a spectacular view here from our sochi city and we will continue our special coverage throughout the next three weeks to do stay with us for that things i understand are looking pretty good up in the mountain cluster as well arty's enter farmer reports from their. very first medals will be one here of these games today but also even before that is happening the results to present a pretty on an old photos of the tool has been receiving some rave reviews not my

surprise you keep people simply because this place didn't exist a few years ago we were going to bring in a trade in given the company here and now because he's a man you're writing culture sydney about momentum and one of your articles you said. the french you know you're not exaggerating i don't think. quite a few of the good crowd ski resorts of the world and these are the best looking. to everywhere the infrastructure seems right really really impressed i mean this is the. spies has had so much negative press in the last week i think some of it's coming from americans or just get off the plane get off the pass and just expect russia to be bad you know nice and small things haven't worked. there's a problem with my shower in my apartment but this is these are small things to to me it doesn't mean rusher is broken i'm sure is beautiful he will thank you very much for joining us in the mountains you should look out for the name and he's competing in the men's biathlon sprint and has a fair chance they're pushing for

a medal also i want to say how lucky is the number seven because the loser albert them showing he will be hoping the fortunes will shine on him he'll be turning out who's a seventh in picks today he's won a gold medal story a silver medal at previous lympics but never won a gold and he's hoping for a very good start in what will be his last game. it was never my ultimate goal to set the record for the most appearances in a winter olympics but number seven is lucky in russia and hopefully i can use it to claim victory the olympics as such she will be my last i can go on and on due to the impact of the many injuries i've suffered in my sport and the effect they've had on me physically. so good luck to him but also good luck to an indian leisure there's a guy called. shiva keshav and he doesn't have the facilities that are used to them change careers had in order to practice he's actually had to put his lose your wheels back in india and practice coming down

a mountain road simply because the facilities are there so perhaps it's fair to say that he's not much of a favorite in terms of medals but i'm sure he will become a big founds favorite the first set of medals is worth mentioning will be one in a few hours' time that will take place in the men's snowboarding slight style we do hope to see perhaps one russian get through to the final getting more details on that as and when it happens because he will have to take place will take part in more qualifications. this morning now the first sets of a total of ninety eight sets of medals will be won today by the medals themselves a pretty fascinating and here's a closer look. it's what all athletes in sochi a dreaming of a podium finish and an olympic medal around the neck and if they're good enough to get one they'll be taking home something unique these goings reflects or cheese

landscape where the jacket peaks of present apple yana meet a sandy beaches of the black sea is a design that will be useful lympics empower lympics although curiously paralympians will get new medal for the efforts. that got the. electric gold medal weighs an average of five hundred twenty five hundred forty grams a paralympic gold medal is about six hundred seventy just six hundred eighty grams but the reason for the weight difference between olympic gold medals is because the titles of different sport disciplines vary in length they have to be engraved which means that the longer the title of the disappointed the lighter them. no matter what their weight each one takes a staggering eighteen hours to make it starts on the late the medals are cut to the right size a special machine creates that icy looking center and the game's trademark patchwork quilt pattern is engraved reflecting russia's cultural diversity all part

of twenty five different manufacturing steps a record thirteen hundred medals have been minted in this way for the sochi games where twelve new events will make their intake debut has been a big undertaking for russian jewelry manufacturer atomists they've needed two tons of silver which is the main ingredient and it does mean that when his medals are not worth their weight in gold which is only used as a final cut. in fact their rules is just a few hundred dollars although any athlete would tell you they are in fact priceless and. with a unique combination of snowy mountains and a warm sea sochi was practically built from scratch to host the winter olympics their own levon brand new aesthetic venue is divided between the coastal and mountain clusters and connected via a thirty minute rail journey and that's the reason why so much has been dubbed as

the most compact winter games in history. birthing the small you know to a different age and everything gets closer we can go by walter and there is not a big security so we feel free and we feel confident seems like we're going to put on a good show here in russia. like the scale of the course is insane never seem very friendly so excited to be here in general i think the russians are very enthusiastic about sport and about the olympics so i expect them to play great host to the world and so far what i've seen has been very impressive and we spoke to hollywood star and martial arts expert steven seagal who has a close friendship with president vladimir putin he believes there is no reason to doubt the efficiency of security measures in place. i would agree with some of the folks who are saying that sochi is probably one of the safest places around right now and i think the world you know in all of the different countries that are

participating in the olympics are all very concerned about trying to make this a wonderful experience of everybody's cooperating and working hard in their own perspective areas so i think that as a world we all support each other to try to make any human picks anywhere in the world a secure wonderful event where politics are kept out of that. steven seagal talking to us here in our to just one of many celebrities opinions faces you're going to see over the next three weeks our special coverage continues we've got about ninety people between our producers. cameramen and south around the city we've got it covered with r.t. for now back to you in the studio yes and we also have in sochi you and our colleague kevin owen there are new so now a live with the latest from sochi. the

g. twenty fourteen promises we call to make an exhilarating winter and keep him here in germany and it's now a make seven zero in on the bus tomorrow let me take you staying for sochi twenty four take. on. thousands of protesters in cities across bosnia storm local government buildings and clashed with police as anger over unemployment and economic stagnation turned violent when the two hundred people wounded in demonstrations most of them police in the capital sarajevo rioters set the presidential building on fire along with police cars and tires authorities fired rubber bullets water cannons and tear gas to disperse the angry crowds in other parts of the country protesters are older rocks at security forces and torched local government buildings on arrest initially erupting over the closure of several state owned companies that were privatized later filed for bankruptcy analyst mark mason thinks the violence is growing into a full blown uprising. percent of the population of bosnia

they are simply employed without any work whatsoever and so these conditions are like annoyed at all surprising that we have a popular uprising some of the police may come over and that's one of the back doors that has been actually studied by social scientists when about five percent of the population say they've had it with the government and they get some significant fraction of the police forces to say i'm through with this too i'm joining the protesters pretty much the end of it for the government so we want to watch that very closely. switzerland getting ready for a controversial vote to curb immigration or right wing politicians blame foreigners for the country's woes but some say measures will only damage the economy a closer look a little later in the program. but first the leader writing of

a phone call shiny new light on washington's role in ukraine's anti government on arrest assistant u.s. secretary of state victoria nuland tape discussing how to solve the crisis in. so that would be great i think to help blew this thing and have the u.n. help glue it and you know. european union has made no comment on the recording audio also capture nuland going over what role each opposition member should play in a new ukrainian government state department do not hasn't denied the authenticity of the recording but has said no one has apologized for comments a german chancellor merkel called on acceptable international affairs commentator rick rose off the conversation is an example of the us plotting regime change. this story would not have gained traction it would not have achieved the exposure it had if that word had not come out i'm afraid that maybe obscured the actual content of the discussion which is all but you know presenting a blueprint for regime change at least significant words to get. during the course

of the conversation with the u.s. ambassador is the one that it's game to the notoriety for better or worse that as what you're really seeing is just so casually and callous that u.s. state department slots political transformation in other countries outside the legitimate which is say the electoral arena how is it in effect engineers regime change. even going down into the most mind a minute particulars as to who should and should not be a future prime minister coming up on public relations as an army's number one strategy. time to launch a commercial after the break or report on why he's a realist taking to the airwaves to boost its combat unit.

dramas that the north. stories of the risk refused to notice. the food since changing the world's lights now. to pictures of today's leaves. from around the globe. group to. an article at business insider brags for americans who feel insecure about their country in light of china's impressive achievements it may be reassuring to know that while the chinese would rather move to the united states of the stay at home yes rich chinese are getting green cards in record numbers do they love you for your freedom well not exactly for according to the headline china's wealthiest citizens are fleeing

to the u.s. amid corruption crackdown yes you americans should feel so insecure because apparently america is the best place to flee to if you're corrupt. things were starting with those quarter past the hour now syria's government has confirmed its participation in the next round of geneva talks that are set to take place on monday meanwhile a radical faction is thought to be gaining momentum in the war islam is thought to ever created tens of thousands of foreigners could potentially causing an intelligence headache in their homeland are reports of british you heart is known as. tony is believed to be the first brit to have carried out a suicide attack in syria after a vehicle packed with explosives was taken to a prison allowing some three hundred prisoners to escape now british citizens along

with other europeans travelling to syria as young as sixteen and fighting alongside jihad as groups of long been a concern for authorities believe now that there are about three hundred fifty britons over there making up the marshes contingent of some one thousand westerners and this is a new development reinforces that the urgency expressed by a government's here in having to deal with this specific group of jihad is scary they are countries passports. the information is finally come out that we seeing this actually happen in syria however given the trends that we've seen in syria over the past few years it's not surprising that we're seeing british individuals or foreign individuals more generally becoming involved in suicide operations on the ground i think if we compare this particular conflict in syria with the jihad back to fears that we've seen around the world there are people with. numbers of foreigners be drawn to the battlefield is from my perspective on precedent to. me that would be they were hearing created about. their british intelligence and it

presents a very different picture for them to manage in sounding the alarm over this phenomenon authorities are regreasing be worried about what happens with these individuals return home group of britain sub already threatened to carry out terrorist. attacks in the u.k. and this is believed to be the first direct threats to come out of syria reporting from london i'm tests are still you. know should your software suddenly crash there could be a reason to worry that you're being watched fresh leaks from edward snowden suggest british intelligence use special tactics to discredit those they've been spying on with banned cyber attacks among them again r.t. dot com for more details. making a touch feel almost real implanted nerve electrodes making it possible to give feedback in prosthetic limbs more on this medical breakthrough a click away at r.t. dot com. right.

first right. and i think that you're. on a reporter's. instagram. the . swiss voters decide this week and not on whether or not to put a cap on the country's influx of migrants a controversial bill proposed by switzerland's nationalist party plans to introduce quotas against foreigners but some say shutting the borders would only cause problems for the economy. reports. welcome to switzerland breathtaking views plentiful jobs and low taxes it's no surprise that the streets here are growing more crowded some eighty thousand new residents arrive each year as significant number for a country of just eight million our industry our economy needs immigration to

a certain point but everybody under and miss underestimated the situation the number of people coming is much much higher than anywhere else in the world on sunday switzerland will ask its citizens whether to reintroduce quotas for immigration from abroad including e.u. members although itself not a part of the blog switzerland has signed on to the e.u. rules on freedom of movement if passed the initiative would pit the swiss against an angry brussels but supporters aren't worried the swiss parties said this will save the political elite they were very enthusiastic about joining the european union ten years ago. but people changed they saw the disadvantages they saw the immigration is tremendous much bigger than we thought and so there's also a change of thinking and anti immigration slogans are gaining more traction here in switzerland at first about a third of voters supported the initiative now that figure is over forty percent so

what's behind this push to keep outsiders out of switzerland will some experts say motion a lot to do with that there is competition in the housing market competition. in treasury. and there is competition in the labor market so. it's populist politics. in this field but as elsewhere in europe anti immigration messages seem to be resonating and pollsters say even voters without political affiliation may vent their frustration calm sunday voters like this swiss biz. this man who owns it's medics factory the name as a manufacturer i profit from this the more people i sell my products to the better but i'm also a swiss citizen i don't want to live like a sardine in my country switzerland is tiny and we simply can't accommodate all the immigrants the country can't take anymore. but the proposed curbs also take aim at

highly skilled workers there is no way to run the hells or education system. because there's no way to do modern business in particular financial services frankly. and there's no way to run this out wages and cooks from other countries switzerland is highly dependent on this work force four in ten companies in switzerland including nestle are founded by foreigners last year they created around thirty thousand new jobs policy to be tweeted that no they are against the foibles because they need them i mean we are not stealing the jobs we're just taking the job they don't want to do so that's why i figured so this so this potentially lose i don't understand how this sunday's vote is likely to strain ties with brussels but the fear is that it could have more economic consequences than the country bargained for reporting for r.t.e.

in switzerland and lucy catherine of. taking a quick look now at some other stories making global headlines evacuation is started of does a source of millions trapped in the besieged syrian city of homes for a year and a half buses loaded with women and children ferried at least eighty three people from the area after an uneasy cease fire between rival sides came into effect a pause in the fighting was the first visible result of the geneva two peace talks to try ending the country's civil war thousands of civilians are still thought to remain in the besieged city without food or medicine. in brazil a world cup stadium worker has been killed in a construction accident the portuguese national was hit on the head well dismay. there crane becoming the third person to die at the building site and the sixth overall the taliban is causing concerns about working conditions in the build up to the event many brazilians are unhappy about the huge cost of the world cup while they say social services are being severely underfunded. and at least seventeen people have died in argentina after a bus crashed into

a lorry in the western city of mendoza the truck being driven at high speed on the wrong side of the road local reports say it had a brazilian license plate and was stolen the bus was carrying thirty people on its way from cordoba and burst into flames right after the collision finally a news bulletin as israeli army ranks really army recruiters say their numbers are down so the government has started to look for new ways to pump things up a t.v. commercial is the latest weapon in the military's arsenal was artie's paulus leader reports. these really army has a new fight on its hand and numbers in combat units are down potential recruits are shying away from signing up fighting it seems has lost its glamour the i.d.f. is concerned it's circulating videos like this online that celebrate the strength of israeli fighter in this one a week if to put claims his strong soldiers are as is the i.d.f. this old to be managed drinking strong coffee and this teenage girl is pounding

strongly on drums both fits in with the catch phrase sound the idea is strong surely cause smiles when he watches the videos the twenty five year old served in one of israel's most prestigious fighting brigades he spent two and a half years in and out of gaza a close friend of his was killed there in the line of duty like others he's asking of serving in combat was the right decision as it is sure what i did is important and needs to be done but i don't think it helped me in the long run not for finding a job and not for my education i think i would do things differently if i have the chance again. and the stats seem to support him over the last three years motivation among youngsters wanting to serve an idea of combat units has dropped by nine percent more noise where he's off thinking twice about whether they want to put their life on the line to serve their country you value a law is also fighting the statistics the it for special unit veteran runs boot

camps encouraging high schoolers to follow his footsteps into the i.d.f. each squads will be you can see that in certain places over in israel the parents. prefer that their kids will see in much more safer places like being there with your cannot be. in danger the i.d.f. spokesman peter lerner insists the drop in number doesn't change things. the idea if can still keep the country safe is part of the situation where the types of threats also change it's also the result of an atmosphere where there are other units which also are substantial in the type of defense that they supply for instance technological units the army stand on the comm the cyber.

computer. you need the people that stand in front of the enemy and the save the board so all they do all the it will come back here next may not be fighting the biggest fashion of the existence keeping themselves going. tel aviv. more news coming up in half an hour but before that a walk through alleys skid row neighborhood or if you knew you care you can go underground with option stay with. world. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. choose your language.

make you know if anything else in the. choose the it concerns you. choose the opinions that immigrate to. choose the stories that in your life. choose be access to your. skid row is a neighborhood of fifty plaques which does not appear on any map of los angeles.

do you. still room basically. and there's still. this is good in big question things here that you've been experiencing shit that there is just no way i mean

there's no movie to know book this dishes a real life experience to see people get beat up every night people get robbed by city because. i seen people get hit by a car you don't pay b.o.'s you don't know if you don't pay the car knows you're no responsibilities we're not here because where homeless just less of a home baby my reality was that i was there you know skid row is the last house on the block at g.o.p. but just in my neighborhood you know i. basically almost slept on every street down here at one time or another i think i would never ever live in a way else you know skid row is my home. as many as eleven thousand men and women make their home on l.a. skid row. about two thirds struggle with mental illness drug addiction or both but it wasn't always this way. i came to skid row it was more like skid

row's we identified. drunks old drunks on the street. it used to look terrible he's old christian garbage of drunks. and believe was really safe because they were not very aggressive now we have young strong crack addicts who are many times are willing to take a chance at rolling stone to get their money to get some work crack it's a disparate addiction. there's always been efforts to get rid of skid row it was a war and for people who are unable to live in the world and they didn't even try to do it again and again but it just moved into a different area when big money developers began to revitalize downtown the flop houses got new neighbors and penned houses and high end lofts. there are not many places where the gap between rich and poor is a striking as it is here. where.