it's. the best of the best the first sets of medals are awarded in soft years day one of the twenty fourteen winter olympics comes to a close. a team of german skiers and buy athletes reaches out for assistance after its equipment fails on to helping out in the russian opponents from side to provide to reside. street violence and bosnia herzegovina protesters clashed with police and said government buildings ablaze amid soaring unemployment economic stagnation and corruption. and a suicide bombing reportedly carried out by a break today in syria the first such attack by a u.k. citizen in the country sparks fresh fears that westerners could pose a threat when they return home from the war.

or watching r t international live from moscow i'm lindsey france thanks for joining me on sunday eight sets of medals will be up for grabs and as the winter olympics are set to continue into their second day right now let's take a look at the results from day one which was a huge success for the norwegian team our correspondent paul scott who is in saudi right now has been following the action closely. well there's no medals for russia on day one of the sochi twenty fourteen winter olympics but they are in a good position to pick up their first medal of these games in the figure skating team event after five of eight rounds they currently lead the overall standings meanwhile biathlete ole einar darling has created history he's become the joint

record holder for the most amount of winter olympic medals he now has twelve to his name and seven of them a gold he's also become the oldest individual gold medal winner in winter olympics history this is after he claimed gold in the men's ten k. sprinter vent there was also a super display from the netherlands in the speed skating in the men's five thousand meters they claimed a one to three gold silver and bronze spend kramer successfully defending his title well let's take a look at the medals table then you can see that it's norway that lead the way at the moment but that fantastic display by the netherlands has put them right up amongst the leaders and we've seen the first awarding of the medals to the athletes it's going to happen daily at eight fourteen pm in the coastal cluster in the medals plaza there of course it happens eight fourteen pm because that's twenty fourteen representing the german athletes were going to be pretty much under prepared for there are events now for the skiers and for the by athletes there's a special machine that prepares their skis it gets them ready for competitions and

the german machine it actually broke now the german federation was scratching around looking for support and seeking assistance from other teams here with the winter olympics they approach austria their rivals he refused to help but russia did decide to help they put the rivalry to one side and desisted their opposition so the olympic spirit is shining through and we're all in our team have never experienced a special situation and thought. fair play the russian friends were. for us in us big. gave us handed over the key and so it was possible that our team last night. prepared is mentioned a few hours ago the medals table let's find out a bit more about those medals is my colleague andrew pharma.

it's what all ashley says sort of she's a dream the podium finish and an intake medal around. and if a good enough to get one they'll be taking flying something. these goals reflects on she's a landscape by the jacket he says translated for yana he just sandy beaches of the black sea is a design that would be useful even for some of our lympics with a curiously foreign influence will get a new measure for the efforts. to get up that. an olympic gold medal weighs an average of five hundred twenty five hundred forty grams paralympic gold medal is about six hundred seventy just six hundred eighty grams but the reason for the weight difference between olympic gold medals it 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 than. similar to 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 and. yes they've needed two tons of soules which is the main ingredient and it does mean that when these metals are not stairway to which is only used as a final casing the fact there are rules only is just a few hundred dollars in the end usually tell you they are facts priceless and.

speaking of gold the u.s. won its first gold medal of the such a games in slopestyle snowboarding but the event was missing a marquee athlete american snowboarding legend shaun white he pulled out before the competition began he said he was worried about the safety of the course so we asked billy morgan a snowboarder from the team from team great britain if he has any concerns about the venue since. it's been amazing considering you know there wasn't much here before before they started building results he is not saying ridiculous as you know everything you need is it doesn't seem like it is miss in the villages the villages goodell works the transports fine they would be so easy to have lots of problems like you know having something so new there's always problems but they go around did a few problems they have heard it as well really well i've enjoyed it a lot so if they had problems with with them getting the machinery on the slope which is a common thing if it's too warm you can't get the machines on the slopes but the next day it was cold enough and they got the machines on and it was it was super smooth the problem was they couldn't smooth out properly but it was all gone the

next day so we were turned up you know it was a bit scary but it was all fixed it is been brilliant ever since well turning a hobby into a sporting career that's a dream shared by millions around the globe what if you've already had a florist flourishing career in a completely different field globally renowned violinist vanessa mae is and sought you to participate in the women's slalom competing for thailand here's what she had to say about her switch from the concert hall to the ski slopes i've been so inspired with with the skiing at the end of the day there are days when it's rush rush rush so much to do and the violin doesn't get taken out of its case but there's been days where i have. literally hopped on a plane after a race and had a show the next day and i have to say that it brings a new dimension to my music i was groomed to be a violin is from a young age and it was something that i was serious single minded about skiing i am serious when i strap on a pair of skis but i don't put myself under the same pressure sure representing my country is a responsibility but nobody thinks making

a podium for me so some way i could be entertaining on skis would be a good thing for me as an entertainer. the twenty second winter games kicked off with a spectacular opening extravaganza it took audiences through russia's unique history as with any other opening ceremony accommodated in the lighting of the olympic flame wrapping up the longest torch relay in history the honor was awarded to two of russia's most celebrated athletes soviet hockey legend ladislav tretiak and legendary figure skater iran are ready for it she shared with us the emotion she felt years ago is good news to see the logic of it it seems is my destiny to do everything as a parent but it's a fantastic experience it's so great that the reeve been entrusted with such an honor i have these games will be extremely exciting it's always exciting at the olympics everything is brand new year the weather is beautiful and it's creating a festive mood for everyone especially the athletes and it's very important because the olympics has long been about so much more than just sports but it's you. can

find out everything else that's happening from our twitter team they've been working very hard on it you can have read over to our twitter feed where they've got all of their sports lined up and listed separated for you we've also got tweets from all of the major athletes of course as well as some of their biggest fans so go ahead and log on to find out all of the latest news coming out of saatchi. twenty four g. almost is the ultimate in the exhilarating winter. storm and you see no way i'm a criminal i'm the worst of all of you so you are so cheap twenty four take. all. protesters have gathered again in the bosnian capital of sarajevo following the resignation of the local government leader just days before thousands of protesters

clashed with police authorities vowed to prevent further violence after the worst uprising the country has seen since the one nine hundred ninety s. . hundreds of people have been injured in the three days of protest in a state where forty percent of the population is jobless and sarajevo authorities fired rubber bullets water cannon and tear gas to break up the crowds in other parts of the nation protesters for old rocks and security forces and set local government buildings on fire beyond rest initially broke out after several state owned companies were privatized and then filed for bankruptcy political analyst dr mark mason says the violence is growing into a full blown uprising. forty percent of the population of bosnia they are simply employed without any work whatsoever so these conditions are like annoyed at all surprising that we have a mass popular uprising some of the police may come over and that's one of the factors that has been actually studied by social scientists is that when about five

percent of the population say they have 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 that's pretty much the end of it for the government so we want to watch that very closely. and join team of u.n. and syrian red crescent workers has delivered aid to the p.c. city of homs despite heavy shelling earlier a cease fire was broken when an aid convoy came under fire with several people have been injured mortar shells were fired with the government and the rebels accusing each other of violating gag mistress. dozens of residents were evacuated on friday as part of the agreements reached at the geneva two conference syrian government says it's ready to continue talks with the opposition at the u.n. summit of the rebel delegates don't enjoy popular support inside syria more radical islamists are now dominating the fight against assad's military ranks have been bolstered by hundreds of european sparking fears that could bring terror back home

with that as artist has our reports a british you heart is known. 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 traveling to syria as young as sixteen and fighting alongside jihad is a great long been a concern for authorities it's believed now that there are about three hundred fifty britons over there making a contingent of some one thousand westerners and this is a new development reinforces the urgency expressed by a governments here and having to deal with this specific group of jihad is scary they are countries passport. information is finally come out that was 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 individual foreign

individuals more generally becoming involved. on the ground i think if we compare this particular conflict in syria with the jihad battlefields if you've seen around the world there were people. from my perspective on precedent to. me that would be they were hearing questions about . 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 whole group of britain's 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 tester cilia. switzerland is considering whether to close its borders the country is holding a nationwide referendum to decide whether to restrict the number of immigrants allowed to enter a critics warn the move would hurt the economy. that's coming up plus.

when recruitment numbers are down a good commercial might just do the job after the break we report on why israel is taking to the airwaves to boost its combat units. old. technology innovation. developments around russia we've got the future are covered. by marinating join me. for in-depth impartial and financial commentary

contribute and much much. only on bombast and only on our. welcome back you're watching our to international live from moscow washington has been left red faced after a leaked recording of a phone conversation apparently involving the u.s. assistant secretary of state revealed the depths of america's meddling in ukraine's anti-government unrest so that would be great i think blue to the u.n. help glue it and you know the e.u.

. the conversation was recorded while nuland was talking to the u.s. ambassador in kiev the remark caused outrage from german chancellor angela merkel and small group of choice words completely unacceptable international affairs commentator rick rosen says the conversation shows america's neglect of the sovereignty of other states. and the 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 really obscure the actual content of the discussion which is all but you know presenting a blueprint for regime change at least significant words to get issued groups during the course of the conversation with the u.s. ambassador is the one that is game to the notoriety for better or worse that it has what you're really seeing is just casually and callous as the u.s. state department plots political transformation in other countries outside the legitimate which is the electoral arena oh it is in effect engineers regime which

even going down into the most going to my new particulars as to who should and should not be a future prime minister. saudi arabia's gender segregation has cost the life of a female student a twenty four year old woman died of a heart attack after waiting for over two hours since the male medics on site were not allowed to examine her at r.t. dot com for the full story. plus the u.k.'s immigration minister who launched a notorious go home or face arrest campaign has resigned after reports surfaced he had employed an illegal immigrant and i website we've got all the details. swiss citizens are said to decide whether to restrict immigration in the country a yes vote in a nationwide referendum would mean that only a limited number of slots would be allocated to certain national or occupational groups polls show increasing support for the plan to limit the number of foreigners moving to switzerland but some worn it could backfire on the economy as artie's lisick half an office and finding out. 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 a significant number for a country of just eight million our industry our economy meets immigration to a certain point but everybody under mr 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 the swiss said 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 favors over forty percent so what's behind this push to keep outsiders out of switzerland or some experts say and motions and 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 this is just anger in there in this field but as elsewhere in europe anti immigration messages seem to be resonating and pollster say even voters without political affiliation may vent their frustration calm sunday voters

like this. swiss businessman who owns a cosmetics 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 franking south florida's in there's no way to run to rescind this out waiters 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 politics or between at that no they are against the foibles because they need them i mean we are not stealing the

jobs we are just taking the job they don't want to do so that's why i figured so this so this potentially lou 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 in switzerland and lucy catherine of. some more news making headlines around the world in turkey right police a fired water cannon and tear gas at hundreds of demonstrators in the stumbles main square the protesters threw stones and firecrackers as they rallied against new legislation they say will tighten government control of the internet others were calling on government leaders to step down put on facebook were widely used by enter government protesters during the demonstrations last year. two women one from russia other another from france were killed and about twenty people were injured in a train derailment in the french alps the accident occurred while traveling from

the coastal city of nice officials say falling rocks crashed onto one of the cars and snow conditions that hampered rescue effort. tokyo has issued its first heavy snowfall warning in thirteen years after three people died and more than five hundred were injured in snow related accidents across japan hundreds of flights have been canceled public transport suspended and more than forty thousand households have experienced power cuts according to the nation's meteorological agency it's the heaviest snowfall the capital seen since one thousand nine hundred sixty nine. well according to the israeli army the number of people willing to serve in combat units is falling it has forced the government to look for new ways to try and strengthen the ranks polis later reports on the sudden role of the media. 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 for 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 the israeli fighter in this one awake if to put claims his strong. as is the i.d.f. this elderly man is drinking strong coffee and this teenage girl is pounding strongly on drums both clips and with the catchphrase sound the idea is strong surely cause smiles when he watches the videos the twenty five year old served in goal army 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 raids off thinking twice about whether they want to put their life on the line to serve their country you violate a law is also fighting the statistics the air force 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. where you cannot be. in danger the i.d.f. spokesman peter lerner insists the drop in number doesn't change things the i.d.f. . can still keep the country safe is part of the situation where the types of threats have also changed 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 combat units. is a very important computer but you need the people that stand in front of their own enemy and save the board for all the glory it will come back you next may not be fighting the biggest battle of the existence keeping themselves going. policy r t tel aviv coming up next hour to texas closer look at drug abuse in the streets of los angeles and if you're watching us in the u.k. it's our new global economic show boom bust.

the first recreational marijuana shops are now open in colorado finally the question of what effect legal marijuana will have on the american public can be answered with real world experience you know there are a lot of people out there with strong arguments as to why we should legalize this controversial play it firstly there are plenty of things just as bad for us as marijuana or worse like beer cigarettes anti-depressants and mystery fast food meats which are totally legal secondly young men are often thrown in jail for the absolutely victimless crime of smoking marijuana i could see punishing someone for drugs like crystal meth which can and do turn people into maniacs but have any of you out there ever heard of someone breaking into people's houses on a we've rampage no no you haven't the downside to all of this is that across america the world people are looking for change and they want to massive storm rise but when the masses are stoned out of their minds it makes things in life that we shouldn't tolerate become very tolerable we now call allow us to make it through another day of our miserable lives so that we can live without going through all

that effort of trying to make things better or challenge the system legalizing weed will just pacify the masses even more but that's just my opinion. skid row is a neighborhood of fifty plaques which does not appear on any map of los angeles. you.

do. with. this new rule basically. and that still. is is good and bad clashing things here that you've been experiencing shit that there is just no way i mean there's no movie to know book this disses a real life experience to see people get beat up every night people get robbed of a bus ticket because. i seen people get hit by

a car you don't pay b.o.'s you don't notice you don't pay the car noticed your new responsibilities are 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 in l.a. scattered around. 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 identify old drunks and old drunks on the street. it used to look terrible these old presumed garnishes 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 of rolling stone to get their money to get some more crack it's a different addition. 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 move here again and again but 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. literally there is just a block or troops operating those two things and i presume where there's muscles operating those two thirds of those jobs for to really overtake them skilled road.