we're clearly not the safest. battle for the olympic podium in sochi in full swing norway leading the race so far closely watching the sports extravaganza from our studio in the heart of the game it may be a celebration of sellable celebration of sports but. the dread of something happening in such a media is sounding the alarm bells ringing over the olympics raising eyebrows as well as questions as whether the panic in criticism are justified plus the week's news. and you know. that reportedly coming from the mouth of the u.s. assistant secretary of state the serials washington's plans for crisis rock ukraine in the lead phone call. this swiss deciding on whether to keep foreigners out of the country as the country votes on a controversial bill introducing immigrant quota.

ten am in moscow i met president good to have you with us the competition heating up at the winter games with eight sets of medals up for grabs today let's go live to our tease a nice and now way keeping on top of all the latest from our olympic studios in sochi and isa eventually. it's the second day of the games and there's a very vibrant spirit here in the winter olympic capital this certainly an atmosphere of rivalry but first and foremost a very festive mood with everyone enjoying the spectacle i'm excited i'm having to figure skating this evening it all kicked off of course with a breathtaking opening ceremony on friday which saw a dazzling fireworks oh and a parade. national teams and the highlights of russian culture as for the

competition so far norway tops the medal table blues athlete skiers and figure skaters are among those hoping to bag gold in the next twenty four hours but now cross lifeguards he is andrew farmer he's in the olympic class certain andrew a busy schedule there for athletes some great shows of sportsmanship there i understand. that's right at least the navy lympics spirit is alive and well after you hear this story sensually the russian team has given a very big helping hand to the germans their main rivals for today's will inspire flow of what happened recently germany's equipment they used to prepare their own skis just damaged in their trip over here so they asked other teams look can you help can you lend us your equipment all of them said no apart from the russians you said go ahead help yourself it was a very magnanimous gesture and one greatly appreciated by the germans olympic

change. and that we are all in our team have never experienced such special situation and such. fair play the russian friends who have. trust in us they gave us handed over the key and so it was possible that our team prepared. your team the russian team said good night here are the keys and beds let's amoral as unbelievable our team managers discuss these two or three other teams and they said nor because you are the chairman's they will be stronger with good skis and the russian team of support. to go. to success. so heartwarming story there to start the day with that event incidentally in the biathlon is the

women seven and a half kilometer sprint and that gets underway this evening now russia does have a couple of hopes elsewhere for medal but then chunka government sits second at the halfway stage in the league that concludes today as does the team figure skating event and russia currently leads not so fingers crossed that will be some medals on the board by the end of tonight also today we will get off first glimpse of russia's ice hockey women's team they played it humans incidentally and expect to game this is toughest the men's we've been catching up to very hard to skate before russia you katharina sentiments of. well not all the girls and models some of the tough you know what women alike and i think any team sport is interesting in hockey you also have ice and hockey sticks so you can do some pushing in striking with your stick very interesting you choose a sport spending on your disposition you have to be a feisty girl to play hockey a few girls in women's hockey

a 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. of course it's every athlete's dream isn't it to be at these olympics but not everyone can make it not everybody makes the national team martin andries caught up with the american who has had the misfortune of just missing out but he still enjoying sochi is his reform. break will be going 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 glacier see him. wherever there is 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 eighteen months ago my dream was 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 and i knew maybe thirty forty athletes in there and yet it's kind of like bittersweet you're 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. well as a king sports fan i'm sure he'd be watching the men's downhill too which starts up here in the mind season about just over an hour's time so we'll keep you posted on that chick back to you in the. right artist and a farmer reporting live from the mountain cluster a winter games held in a war zone under the threat of terror with hotels and stray dogs roaming around and that's how sochi twenty fourteen is being portrayed by many western media outlets but will the criticism die down now that the torch is lit and the games have opened r.t.s. and a sister took and takes

a look. hundreds of world class competitions involving thousands of top notch athletes sports fans all over the world rejoice it's time for a limb big game fun and get some pretty distressed but why feed the excitement word of a possible new terror threat character a terror threat terrorist threat and your world champion and multiple gold medalist for buzz kill the western mainstream media the olympics is a wonderful time for a contraries to get together in order to despise each other and or treat each other like crap it's only happens once every two or four years you know there's a lot of time you've 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 the fifty toilet but not one that could be flushed to toilet side by side with two

toilets right next to each other just spells party doesn't spell bad conditions three million. one very tiny left a fifth paint they're trashing things the problems that that come up in every olympic games these are 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 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 with the miners definitely who are spinning tiny flaws into viral sensations fact 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 the war zone as opposed to what's really a black sea resort. even though plenty of work went into security hysteria reigns 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 tooth paste is going to explode it was even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this test i felt russian mighty stop 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 you're really not really truly can we piece about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york. well no one's killing our buzz here on the black sea coast in the sochi olympics of course we'll see many athletes become stars but some are already are like globally we're now on violinists from the us i'm a who's taking part in the giant slalom she's competing for her home country of thailand we have to what made her to take to the slopes this time and not the stage i've been so inspired with with the skiing have you know 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'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 music i was groomed to be a violin is from

a young age and it was something that i was serious single minded about 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 some way if i could be entertaining on skis that would be a good thing for me as an entertainer we'll see how it's going to play out for vanessa mae performing on sochi slopes here in the sochi studio at the center of the winter games will continue to bring you all the updates and highlights of the olympics for now back to you in moscow indeed we are thank you very much artes and these are now a lot of for us from our sochi studios our team is closely following all the sporting spectacle that we've got here we're following it on air and online you can keep up to date anytime by logging on to our official instagram page we have videos and footage from the olympic capital join us on instagram dot com slash r t we're keeping a close eye on the sochi of slopes tracks stadiums and parks counting the medals

following reaction and bringing you all the latest updates. the g. twenty four promise is the ultimate in the exhilarating winter and. join me and use the knowledge i make have an island and the rest of our lives take news team for some twenty four take. on. turning now to some of the week's other top stories this week a leaked phone call between top diplomats in the us revealed new details of washington's involvement with ukraine's ongoing political crisis recording apparently featured assistant secretary of state victoria nuland discussing who could form a new government in kiev and bluntly dismissing the e.u. artie's marine important i reports in ukraine we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely in peaceful and. 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 u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland and the u.s. ambassador in the kieve are heard orchestrating ukraine's political future playing a game of verbal chess with ukraine's opposition leaders i think yats is 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 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 is the plans to midwife a new government in ukraine you know the way she's she's apologizing for you but she's not apologizing for trying to overthrow a government in kiev and calling it popular democracy diplomatic scandal hit as nuland arrived in ukraine for her second visit in less than two months back in december she was seen walking around kiev's 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 nuland 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 but washington is dictating who shall be in the government and they

have taken the power away from the people. burning up or not i am r t. germany's chancellor merkel dismissed the comments as unacceptable low day if i know stuff former deputy speaker of belgians parlett belgians belgium's parliament rather says the conversation is a clear demonstration of how the us casually orchestrates regime change open to do real good diplomacy behind closed doors this confirms a long stance of the united states and the e.u. by the way towards a new continent does dana the issue flow for democracy to some other countries this one small undermines the whole of transparency and democracy building end but to do building of political institutions these are all ideological efforts into one's politics in other countries and also by the way shows how casual these people can

talk about the do politics of another country stay with us anymore still to come. what's really happening to the global economy. to.

build a. mission to teach. only. eighteen minutes past the hour switzerland is heading to the polls to decide on a disputed right wing proposal to introduce quotas on the country's immigrants if accepted the bill would jeopardize the swiss treaty on free movement critics say the country's economic prosperity could be at stake. 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 market the nationwide referendum could count the number of e.u. citizens to 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 this initiative 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 thousand residents come here each year and one fifth of the population is born born of that simply to launch 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 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. 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 in all not you have to be very serious problems in terms of labor recruitment and it looks even more threatening there will be the erosion of the relationship with the european union since this initiative is not compatible with the treaties which are signed between switzerland in the european union so this will lead to

salute to the erosion of the existing treaty the will be. there finish and then switzerland is in it is very very 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 will simply have to wait and see for this evening's results to find out when putting in zurich switzerland i'm lucy kaplan oh . and a click away act of protester threat of war the pentagon sound the alarm over iranian warships approaching us maritime borders but r.t.e. dot com for the whole story there plus notorious and immigration go home or face arrest campaign backfires on its mastermind the details of what forced the u.k. immigration chief to resign just a click away. established life interrupted by

a subpoena a british couple are fighting extradition to the u.s. on charges of fraud and embezzlement artie's tests are silly and went to see the family who says their lives have been turned upside down by the investigation. one morning fourteen months ago a life changing knock on the door with two policeman from scotland yard and i said i was sorry miss dunham would 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 that they have more than one million dollars in illegitimate expense claims something the couple say are without merit showing as evidence that they've gathered the dumb say they're not afraid of trial but their worst fear and be sent to the states is the possibility of being denied bail and spending for years behind bars apart from one another simply waiting for their day in court if we were away from this country if

it's. for a very good chance he would have. we're confident we would win. because we are innocent but we would then be shipped but there's no compensation and. wrongful acts for the nation. 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 plead your case and unfortunate for british citizens there is no such

opportunity to have your evidence tested in the u.k. court before you are expected 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 at 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 a plane. the first opportunity we can and. does are cilia r.t. london. some other stories making global headlines this hour. turkey riot police clash with hundreds of demonstrators in one of his temples main squares officers used water cannons and tear gas to break up angry mobs protesting government moves to impose curbs on the internet the draft bill allows blocking websites to privacy violations without a court order it's been criticized as an attempt to gag the opposition leader in facebook were widely used by anti government demonstrators during protests last year. in madrid three thousand protesters way flayers and lit fires during a rally against what they call state repression in spain demonstrators say there

are unhappy with the government's recent passage of legislation allowing protesters to be fined for filming police or participating in an authorised rallies several activist groups teamed up to organize the protest against the law. stay with us here on r.t. international oksana boyko and worlds apart coming your way after a short break. knows everyone in my life that i cared about their government and. i came to skin well.

i was national champion in track and field and also i was able to go and qualify for the olympic games. you know nine hundred eighty eight i started to experiment with that the drugs i had lost all the financial means that i. was really on the street. black large brown can't. get a great. drink. there's a saying when you're in the arctic you have feel entire world at your feet. she looks like a fairly simple shit but really she's not simba little billy i am full of people

have access to the nuclear icebreakers the real king here is that the polar bear and ice breakers come second not a single complex expedition to the arctic can be conducted with the russian nuclear powered fleet of ice breakers we undertake in the hay unique operation of. the northern sea route russia's take icebreakers. hello and welcome to worlds apart the collapse of the soviet union seemed to agree

or for him capitalism as the only viable economic system only to see it down to a major crisis a few decades later and as the whole world still struggles to recover from the downturn brought about by the greed and excesses of a selected few can't capitalism really trusted to reform itself well to discuss that i'm now joined by russia sylvia one of the founders of the conscious capitalism movement mr society thank you very much for your time and you know in the later years of the soviet union when structural deficiencies for already obvious some of the fischel talked a lot about the need to create socialism with a human face and a deal was that it would be based on the same with comic principles but with human experience at the core of its value system and i think many thought it was redundant because social is by its very definition it was supposed to be humane and

had these human streak about it isn't capital is by its very definition supposed to be conscious and rational well let me go back to your premise which is about socialism being inherently rude to me the way in which it was expressed. to human nature because human beings want to be free and we are unique species that actually not only creates value would. changes value with each other this is something we are almost programmed to do and if you look historically across civilizations and of human societies any time we have been given the freedom to focus on what we choose to focus on and then to be able to exchange with others we have prospered for the wasn't deny then are the ideology of socialism their idea was that your god was the highest form of freedom when you could contribute to the side and by doing so also improve your own wellbeing that was at least the ideology that was arguably

never put into practice i think the underlying premise of socialism is the notion of a fixed by and therefore the onus is on the fair distribution of those limited goods or those outcomes fundamentally what capitalism shows us and what business is all about isn't expanding by that there's almost no limit to the amount of value that can be created when people come together and they cooperate and they elevates the amount of value that there's exchange constantly and if you look at an i phone you buy it for a few hundred dollars this several billion dollars of technology that's inside of that but through the system we're able to get access to that militant really much lower amounts and there is you know the opportunity to create an expanding pool of you whereby then the equal distribution of that becomes less of an issue because within that system there will be inequality doesn't matter how much you force it into equality of opportunity is one thing.