the jokes will handle the stuff that i've got to. the battle for the olympic podium in sochi in full swing with norway leading the medal count so far we're closely following the sports extravaganza priorities studio when the heart of the winter games may be a celebration of sport but. the threat of something bad happening in such western media is sending alarm bells ringing over the games raising eyebrows as well as questions of where of a panic and criticism are justified bus week's headlines. you know. that reportedly coming from the mouth of the u.s. assistant secretary of state as she reveals washington's plans for a crisis rock ukraine and only to phone call. and swiss voters deciding on whether or not to keep out foreigners as the country goes

to the ballot on a controversial bill introducing immigrant quotas. eight am in moscow i'm not present very good to have you with us our top story the competition heating up at the sochi winter games with eight sets of medals up for grabs on sunday blues athletes skiers and figure skaters among those hoping to bag gold in the next twenty four hours are his and you farmers covering it all during a ride from our olympic mountain center hello andrew give us the latest on the medal count the winners and everything we've got on the plate so far. it's rather are still hoping for a bit of success at the russian scene with cool stuff the disappointments of the russian men in the biathlon yesterday senate women today they're also putting a great deal of faith in the veteran old designs of the she's thirty five years old

she's persuaded to put off her retirement a new just completing these hastily makes an impact. she will lead the russian quartet the big question is will this gamble pay off in today's seven and a half kilometer sprint while the good old coach moves going pichler he thinks he will even though the russians are. problems or with a little. but if you have a strong team your. dislike in a school if you're good prepared for it and you know it's easier for your to make it and we have to prepare the team really good and if they have for michael come to every race and if so good at let's look and say every race since four cars can be no matter if. we have a chance to make. one a definite medal candidate today he said delusional but then chunky he's competing

in the seventh lympics he hasn't won gold yet but he's currently in second position at the halfway stage and he has two more runs to go the last of which will be this evening and then we've got the russian women's ice hockey team get their campaign underway today against germany we can expect a game is toughest the men's we caught up with the russian hardy skipper you katharina. well not all the girls and models some of the top you know what women are like i think any team sport is interesting in hockey you also have ice and hockey sticks so you can do some pushing and striking with your stick so it's very interesting each is a sport that pending on your disposition you have to be a feisty go to play hockey a few girls in women's hockey soft and tender of course when we're not wearing our uniforms no one can tell we're hockey players but when we're out there on the ring

and we have to be tough. yeah we would argue with that and so. so with mention today it's the figure skating team competition which comes to an end in russia is in pole position at the moment for that one and there are a couple of rounds now nobody's every athlete strained to get to the zillion things but unfortunately for one american he failed to make the team but he's still in sochi he's an entrepreneur he's still making waves and andrew martin. got his full time journey to follow his childhood olympic wish in twenty thirteen determined to participating carry a flag at any opening a lympics ceremony he decided on the sporting activity of cross-country skiing and competed several months of training in australia new zealand austria and finland i've been skiing on glaciers the aware of the snow i was jumping on a plane because i need to get as much exposure to skis as possible i've never been

on skis and about eight nine months ago my dream is to be a walk into the ceremonies as a participant not to watch as a fan so i'm there watching it and yeah i mean like i had maybe five or six friends carrying their flags in i knew maybe thirty forty athletes in there and yet it's kind of like bittersweet you get there but not quite there sadly he didn't meet the qualifying times needed for this year's competition so he's here in sochi to support his fellow sportsman quest for alone big gold usually means any thoughts about rivals are usually just about how to beat them but a team of german skiers and biathletes are saying their thanks to russian competitors who gave them a helping hand after their equipment failed the head of germany's olympic team said the move was unexpected. i and we all in our team have never experienced such special situation and such and kind of fair play the russian friends were full of trust in us they gave us handed over the key and so it was

possible that our team prepared the skis your team the russian team said good night here are the keys and that let's say more or less unbelievable our team manager has cast these two or three other teams and they said no because you the chairman will be stronger with good skis and the russian team of support for the so chance to to go let's say to success. winter games held in a warzone under threat of terror with shoddy hotels and stray dogs roaming around that's how sochi twenty fourteen was portrayed in many western media outlets but the criticism died down at the torch is lit in the games it opened are these anastacia jerkin takes a look. hundreds of world class competitions involving thousands of top notch athletes but sports fans all over the world

rejoice it's time for a limping game fun again and some of them pretty dismissed but why feed the excitements word of a possible new terror threat character a terrorist threat terrorist threat and her world champion and multiple gold medalist for buzz kill the western mainstream media we're lympics is a wonderful time for a contrast to get together in order to despise each other and in order to treat each other like crap it's only happens once every two or four years you know the done a lot of time you got to come together and hate each other and not a second has gone to waste from picking any little thing that might be off to fifty toilets but not one that could be flushed to toilets i advise that i have two toilets right next to each other just spells party that doesn't spell bad conditions three million years to be exact trapped one very tiny room left if that paint there trashing things the problems that that come up in every olympic games

as these were unique to sochi olympic stadium has always been accused of being an overpriced boondoggle that was constructed shoddily not ready until the very last second every single one that i can remember a media war against the saatchi olympics taken to a ridiculous extreme but my impression of fox news is that they're just sitting around the office and they go hey it looks like no one's russian to get to sochi and i write i'm going to go eat lunch. there that is fine there's definitely who are spinning tiny flaws into viral sensations facts or actual sports reporting be damned. it's really kind of unpleasant to watch more to the point it's pretty counterfactual as well going so far as to say that the games are being held in. no war zone as opposed to what's really a black sea resort. even though plenty of work went into security hysteria remains the airwaves the threat of something bad happening in sochi well it's increasing by

the day taking the fear of yes toothpaste to an extreme toothpaste containing explosive material it is terrifying all right did you hear all the toothpaste is going to explode it was even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this test i've stopped brushing my teeth i've stopped flossing i think that might help solve the problem no matter how much the media act as the doomsayers of the games toothpaste will be toothpaste and nonsense will be nonsense in the end the olympics will celebrate joy excitement and victory there will be winners and there will be losers hopefully able to move on with at least some snippets of dignity you're not concerned at all now you're really not really truly we piece about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york sochi olympics will see many police become stars some already are there

like the globally renowned violinist vanessa mae who's taking part in giant slalom she's competing for her home country of thailand where as to what made her take to the slopes instead of the stage. i've been so inspired 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 it's case but there's been days when i've literally hopped on a plane after a race and had to show the next day and i have to say that it brings a new dimension to my knees i was groomed to be a violence from a young age and it was something that i was serious single minded at that i am serious when i strap on a pair of skis but i don't put myself under the same pressure representing my country is a responsibility but nobody thinks making a podium for me so some way i can be entertaining on skis that will be a good thing for me as an entertainer. we're keeping a close eye on everything that's going on in the big city and also we're keeping a close on it on our coverage online as well you can look on our official instagram

page there you have photos and footage from the game so you can also find out on instagram dot r.t. dot com we're keeping an eye on the slopes stadiums and parks counting the medals following reaction bringing you all the latest updates on air and on our website two thousand and fourteen dot com. the g twenty four team promises the ultimate in the exhilarating winter. storm and use in our way to make seven zero in on the rest of our lives thank you steve for sochi twenty four take. it on. now to during some of the other week's news a leaked phone call between top u.s. diplomats revealed details of washington's involvement in ukraine's affairs according to apparently the call apparently featured assistant secretary of state of victoria nuland deciding who should be part of a new government in kiev and dismissing the e.u.

artie's marine important as more in ukraine we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely in peaceful way. and they have a say in their country's future as it turns out washington isn't just cheering from the sidelines. in this video posted anonymously on you tube my understanding from that call u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland and the u.s. ambassador to keep are heard orchestrating ukraine's political future playing a game of verbal chess with ukraine's opposition leaders i think he has the guy who's got the economic experience the governing experience he's the he's the guy you know what he needs is clear on a book on the outside he needs to be talking to them four times a week the embarrassingly conversation goes from bad to worse when washington senior diplomat drops the f. bomb while dismissing the european union's role in ukraine so that would be great i think to help glue this thing and have the u.n. help glue it and you know the e.u.

the state department has shifted into damage control refusing to confirm the authenticity of the audio while admitting that victoria nuland has apologized to her european allies for the profanity she's apologized for a comment to she's not admitting she made which is itself a confirmation that the comment wasn't indeed made but will she hasn't apologized for the plants to be why things are pretty you know they were she's a she's apologizing for cussing out you but she's not apologizing for trying to overthrow a government in kiev and calling it popular democracy the diplomatic scandal here as nuland arrived in ukraine for her second visit in less than two months back in december she was walking around independence square handing out snacks to protesters this time around the assistant secretary of state promised to feed the country with financial support if necessary political reforms are implemented at a press conference and refused to comment on what she called

a private diplomatic conversation this is a devastating revelation and a very important revelation because it shows. that washington is not only manipulating the washington is dictating who shall be in the government and they have taken the power away from the people. r t. germany's chancellor angela merkel dismissed the comma's unacceptable load of a notice to former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament says the conversations a demonstration of how the us casually or how casually the u.s. and allies orchestrate regime change to do real good diplomacy behind clues those this confirms the. stones will do united states and the e.u. budget way to do this dana to shoot from the floor to democracy. going to countries this one small undermines the whole of transparency and democracy building and to

do building of political institutions these are all ideological afterwards into ones politics in other countries and also by the way shows how casual these people can talk about the do politics of another country. u.s. officials appalled at a new report dealing levels of corruption across the bloc but some experts find it strange that wrongdoings within the news financial institutions are suppressed more on the story still to come. but for a switzerland heading to the polls to decide in a disputed or right wing proposal to introduce quotas on the country's immigrants if accepted the bill would jeopardize the swiss e.u. treaty on free movement critics say the country's economic prosperity could be at stake or he's losing half an hour reports. well today is the day that swiss voters decide whether to put up new immigration barriers to their european neighbors a vote that could trigger the country's exit from the single european markets the

nationwide referendum could count the number of e.u. citizens who get residency permits here which would undo a longstanding deal that let's listen to you nationals move really essentially an open borders agreement now to understand what's really behind us the mission of you do have to look at the numbers switzerland has a population of just eight million people but it's seen a massive rise in immigration over the past decade in fact an estimated eighty eight. comes here each year one fifth of the population is foreign born or that's simply too much according to the right wing swiss peoples party which has pushed this referendum forward we think we have to responsibility to tell the people we have to change our constitution we have to write each that switzerland controls to immigration again and that's what we're going to do now critics of the initiative say that it sends the message that foreigners aren't welcome they also warn that it could cripple businesses this is economy is actually booming just three percent

unemployment here and experts believe that's because of not just going to foreign labor especially folks who have skills to work in fields like health care or internet technology and if you look at the arrivals from the e.u. between for example twenty ten and twenty twelve a large majority sixty nine percent in fact were highly skilled now there is also the issue of brussels switzerland isn't a member of the european union but it has signed on to a lot of the blocks policy in order to gain access to that single market i mentioned earlier where switzerland sells half of everything that it produces that access of course could all be at risk. very serious. terms of labor recruitment. joining there will be it at an erosion of the relations to the european union since this initiative is not compatible with the treaties which are signed between switzerland and the european union so this will lead to. the

erosion of the existing treaties they will be. there finish them and then switzerland is in is very very real and. because it depends highly on the european market well for now ponens of immigration are still a minority but opinion polls have shown the initiative gaining traction there could of course always be a surprise at the ballot box and we'll simply have to wait and see what is evening's results to find out we're putting in zurich switzerland i'm lucy captain of. the i had a british couple driven to desperation and anxiety by the possibility of leaving their families. and it might put us on the plane. bus type of person to need to make and. he got the story of their battle to avoid extradition to the us over charges of embezzlement this and more in a few moments. the

european union likes to think of itself as one of the brighter and fairer parts of the world the european commission report on corruption the first of its kind betrays a very different picture in every single member country there is corruption in some cases on a massive scale so what can the e.u. teach the world a corruption. of the playing. field and big spirit travels with the flame from its place in greece. julian james brown in the mental and a picture of the room russia and beyond. where

i think. it's. twenty minutes past the hour turning now to some other stories making global headlines this hour. in turkey riot police clash with hundreds of demonstrators along in istanbul's main square officers used water cannons and tear gas to break up angry mobs protesting against government moves to impose curbs on the internet a draft bill allows walking websites for privacy violations without a court order that's been criticized as an attempt to gag opposition twitter and facebook widely used by antigovernment protesters during demonstrations last you.

are in the dritte around three thousand protesters waved players and lit fires during a rally against what they call state repression in spain and this traders say they're unhappy with the government's recent passage of legislation allowing protesters to be fine filming police and participating in authorized rallies several activist groups teamed up to organize the protest against the wall. and in north carolina in the u.s. tens of thousands marched against what they see as aggressive right wing legislation in the state protesters say voting rights medical care and education being targeted making life tough for the poor and minorities a drop of fourteen point gender demanding a raise in the minimum wage. a repeal of the death penalty and a council ation of changes to electoral law last year nine hundred people were arrested in what's become an annual march. wong established life shattered by an unexpected subpoena a british couple fighting extradition to the u.s.

on fraud charges artie's test visited them the family says their lives have been turned upside down by the law one morning fourteen months ago a life changing knock on the door with two policeman from scotland yard and i said were. done i'm with come to arrest you and your husband since then they've been out on bail and are fighting extradition to the united states to await trial after claims from the dunham's former company in the us they embezzled more than one billion dollars in illegitimate expense claims something the couple say are without merit showing as evidence that they've gathered that some say they're not afraid of trial but their worst fears being sent to the states the possibility of being denied bail and spending years behind bars apart from one another simply waiting for their day in court if we were away from this country needs is. for a very good chance he would have why we're confident we would win. because we are

innocent but we would then be shipped but the u.k. there's no compensation and. wrongful acts for tyshan. can you imagine coming back to this country you know three or four years later no harm no money no job and you're now in you know sixty two sixty three years by and trying to rebuild your life controversy has long surrounded the u.s. u.k. extradition act of two thousand and three signed in the wake of nine eleven critics claim the agreement is biased against the u.k. if you're a u.s. citizen wanted by the u.k. government you have a higher standard of evidence that you need to provide in the u.s. and also as a u.s. citizen you have the opportunity to go to a u.s. court to think your case and unfortunate for british that since there is no such opportunity to have your evidence tested in the u.k. court before you were extradited and that's a basic unfairness to an independent review and twenty eleven found at the treaty

quote does not operate in an unbalanced manner but this contradicts findings of the parliament's joint committee in human rights which called for a renegotiation to ensure british citizens get the same protections as americans conservative m.p. who sits on the committee looked at nationalities of those extradited and found it thirty five britons have been sent to the us it's two thousand and four versus just five u.s. nationals who made the opposite journey that seven times more but for every argument on this side of the atlantic a counter is thrown back the united states has never denied a request under the treaty whereas the united kingdom has denied multiple requests from the united states if the relationship is in balance i would say it's imbalanced against the united states but that is little comfort to the dunham's and others like them who teeter on the edge of desperation knowing it's very lives at stake from the moment they put us on the plane. first opportunity we can't.

tesser silvia r t london as israeli army recruiters say numbers choosing to serve in combat units are down the government has started to look for new ways to pump things up a t.v. commercial the latest weapon in the military's arsenal is archy's polis leader reports. these really army has a new fight on its hand the numbers in combat units are down potential recruits are shying away from signing not fighting it seems has lost its glamour the i.d.f. is concerned it's circulating videos like this online that celebrate the strain he's made a fighter in this one a week if to put claims his strong soldiers are as is the idea of the soul to be managed drinking strong coffee and this teenage girl is pounding strongly on drums both sets in but 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 for 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 my own creation i think i would do things differently if i had 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 way he's off thinking twice about whether they want to put their life on the line to serve their country you value a lot also fighting the statistics the is 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 the intelligence where you cannot be. in danger the i.d.f. spokesman peter lerner insists the drop in number doesn't change things. the idea if i 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 comm with you on this side both and computer both think but you need the people that stand in front of their own enemy and the save the boredom so all they do all it will come back you next may not be fine she did because fashion of the exist and keeping themselves going. to nothing. more news in about fifteen minutes but

first venture capital stay with us. the european union likes to think of itself as one of the brighter and fairer parts of the world the european commission report on corruption the first of its kind betrays a very different picture in every single member country there is corruption in some cases on a massive scale so what can the e.u. teach the world a corruption. right to see. first for you and i think you're. on our reformers twitter. and instagram.

to be in the cold. on. this is venture capital i'm paid to build a warm welcome to you coming up with the site. does quite often get blindfold over the. the products of crashes whether it be the great depression and to the recent crash of two thousand and eight described as greedy ruthless of having integrity and costing taxpayers billions of dollars a. year who all but i believe that these so-called top already to change their attitude with the help of god yes are being perfect serious details to come but heard me on that one plus international sports stars are here in russia finally

these she gave they have forgot who and where to be joining our reporter who's in such a talking about money that she got loads on the white jam packed show i do not move a muscle now so people in general well they don't trust bank because often accusing them of having no called gins or credibility but don't. get to change this i'm not turning to god for help in doing so yeah that's right dodge buying this all ninety thousand will now swear an oath to do that most to preserve halts confidence in the financial services industry now this is part of the dutch government's to change to take the overinflated industry with assets of more than four times the size of the country's economy and if you're thinking.