battle for the olympic podium in sochi in full swing with norway leading the race so far we're closely watching the extravaganza from our t.v. studios in the heart of the winter games may be a celebration of sports but. the threat of something happening in such a media setting alarm bells ringing over the game is raising eyebrows as well as questions of whether the paddock in criticism are justified plus the week's headlines. you know. that reportedly coming from the u.s. assistant secretary of state as she reveals washington's plans for crisis right ukraine in a leaked phone call. swiss deciding whether to keep foreigners out of the country voting on a controversial bill introducing immigrant quote it's. eleven

am in moscow i am at present good to have you with us our top story competition heating up at the winter games with eight sets of medals up for grabs on the sunday let's go live now to our sochi studios where our niece and now is standing by to give us all the latest. thanks man i'm heading to figure skating tonight super excited for that we are expecting some medals for the russian team it's looking quite good and i'm not alone it's the second day of the games and there's a very vibrant spirit here in the winter olympic capital there's certainly an atmosphere of rivalry but first and foremost a very festive mood with everyone enjoying the spectacle as for the competition so far norway tops the medals table. but it's

a russian athlete who stole the soul last night team figure skater you did in her dazzling performance in the ladies sort program the fifteen year old sold she has the goods to win the gold and whether she takes the podium or not she's already and olympic darling that sunday is a busy day for the sportsman in sochi loose athlete skiers and snowboarders are among those hoping to bat gold in the next twenty four hours and despite the rivalry they've been there's been some great examples of sportsmanship as well r.c.s. enter farmer reports in a deal in peak spirit is alive and well are to hear the story sensually the russian team has given a very big helping hand to the germans their main rivals are today's will inspire flown what happened recently germany's equipment that 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 chief and we're all in our team have never experienced such a special situation and such. fair play the russian friends were. for us in the us big a vase handed over the key and so it was possible that our team prepared. your team the russian team said here are the keys and beds let's say moral as unbelievable our team managers discuss these two or three other teams and they said nor because you. will be stronger with good skis and the russian team of support for the chance to go. to success so heartwarming story there to start the day with that event incidentally in the biathlon. it 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 chunk of government sits second at the halfway stage in the league that concludes today as does the team figure skating event i'm rushing currently leads now so fingers crossed the 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 play that humans incidentally and expect to game this is toughest the men's we've been catching up very hard schedule for russia catarina sentiments of. well not all the girls and models somewhat 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 and striking with your stick very interesting each is a sport that pending on you in this position you have to be a feisty girl to play a few girls in women's hockey assault and tend of course when we're not wearing our

uniforms no one can tell we are hockey players but when we are out there on the ring we have to be tough of course every athlete dream isn't it to be at these olympics but not everyone can make it not everybody makes the national team modern andries caught up with the american who has had the misfortune of just missing out but he still enjoying sochi is with paul 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 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 carry. for flags in i know maybe thirty forty athletes in there and yet it's kind

of like bittersweet to 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 games held in a war zone can't you tell under the threat of terror with shiny hotels and stray dogs roaming around that's how such a twenty four team 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 our season is to turn 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 limp big game fun again and some of them are pretty disgusting 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 we're lympics is

a wonderful time for contraries to get together in order to despise each other and or treat each other like crap it's only happens once every two four years you know there's not 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 to fifty toilets but not one that could be flushed to toilets side by side two toilets right next to each other just spells party that doesn't spell bad conditions three million years to be exact one very tiny room left a fifth paint they're trashing things the problems that that come up in every olympic games 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 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 my right i'm going to go eat lunch. the fine is definitely queer 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 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 stopped rushing 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 now you're not 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 the sochi olympics will see many outlets become stars but some ready are like globally renowned violinist for nasa may she's taking part in the giant slalom she's competing for her home country of thailand we asked

her 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 so some way i can be entertaining on skis that will be a good thing for me as an entertainer. we'll see how it's going to play out for vanessa mae performing on searches slopes here in our social studio at the center of the winter games we'll continue to bring you all the updates and highlights of the olympics for now back to you in moscow absolutely thank you very much for that

update artes and you so now live out our sochi studios our team is closely following the sporting spectacle and you can keep up to date anytime by logging on to our official instagram page we have videos footage from the olympic capital there joining us on instagram dot instagram dot com slash r t also keeping a close eye on sochi it slopes track stadiums parks counting the medals following reaction bringing you all the latest updates. twenty four teen promise is the ultimate in exhilarating winter and. you still need and use the knowledge to make heaven and on the rest of our lives take news team for some twenty four take. on. turning to some of the week's other top stories this week a leaked phone call between top u.s. diplomats has revealed new details of washington's involvement in ukraine's ongoing

political crisis recording apparently features assistant secretary of state victoria nuland discussing who could be part of a new government in kiev and bluntly dismissing the e.u. artie's marina portnoy has more on that 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 he is the guy who's got the economic experience the governing experience he's the he's the guy you know what he needs 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 words she's she's apologizing for cussing are 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 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. r.t. . germany's chancellor ogling markel dismissed comments as unacceptable load even ost a former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament says the conversation is a demonstration of a casualty of the us and allies can orchestrate regime change ok to do real good look deep diplomacy behind closed doors this confirms a long stance of the united states and the e.u. budget way towards

a new continent diddy's dana the issue feel for democracy to some deal 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 efforts 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. you officials appalled at a new report revealing levels of corruption across the walk but some experts might have strange that wrongdoings within the e.u. used by natural institutions are suppressed more on this. is a media lead us so we lead the media. by the same motions too in the. party years

ago. which is that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politicking only on our t.v. . choose your language. make it we know if you're going to say still some. choose the consensus. choose the opinions that you think are great. choose the stories that even. choose accents to.

seventeen minutes past the hour now this just in to us at r t a nine and a church goer have been killed in a russia's sakhalin island in the far east of the country after a shooting inside a cathedral a gunman opened fire injuring six people the suspect detained after the incident and believed to work for a private security for a criminal case has been launched against the twenty four year old shooter and investigation is now working out the scene take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe. in turkey riot police have clashed with hundreds of demonstrators in one of istanbul's main squares officers use water cannons and tear gas to break up angry mobs protesting government moves to impose curbs on the internet a draft bill allows blocking websites for privacy violations without

a court order it's been criticized as an attempt to gag the opposition twitter and facebook were widely used by anti-government protesters during demonstrations last year. i. mean madrid around three thousand protesters wave flares and lit fires during a rally against what they call state repression in spain demonstrators unhappy with the government's recent passage of legislation allowing protesters to be fined for filming police or participating in an authorized rallies several activist groups teamed up to organize the protest. switzerland heading to the polls to decide in disputed a 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 is at risk as r.t.s. lucy cavanagh 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 market the nationwide referendum could count the number of e.u. citizens who get residency permits here which would undo a longstanding deal that swiss an e.u. 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. comes here each year one fifth of the population is born born or that's simply too much according to the right wing swiss people's party which has pushed this referendum forward we think we have to respond to tell the people we have to change our constitution we have to write 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 economy is actually 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 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. there are serious problems in terms of labor recruitment and. there will be erosion of the relations to european union. since this initiative is not compatible with the treaties which i signed between switzerland in the european union so this will lead to. the

erosion of the existing treaties the will be. there finish them and then switzerland is in 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 what is evening's results to find out when putting in zurich switzerland i'm lucy captain of. the lie an act of protest or threat of war the pentagon sounding the alarm over iranian warships approaching us maritime borders look at r.t. dot com for the full story. for us notorious anti immigration go home or face arrest campaign backfires on its mastermind details i want to force the u.k. immigration minister resigned just a click away. stablish

life interrupted by a subpoena a british couple fighting extradition to the u.s. on charges of fraud and embezzlement archy's tessera so you want to see the family who says their lives were turned upside down by the prosecution. one morning fourteen months ago a life changing knock on the door with two policemen from scotland yard and i said i was sorry mr 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 u.s. 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 that some 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 hears behind bars apart from one another simply waiting for their day in court if we were away

from this country needs. for a very good chance he would have. we're confident we would win. because we are innocent that we would then be shipped but the u.k. there's no compensation and. wrongful acts for patients. 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 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 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 doms 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. tests or cilia r t london or corruption pandemic sweeping the e.u. member states in brussels claims losses to shady deals amount to hundreds of billions of euros. their estimation that corruption costs in the european union is no less than one hundred twenty billion euros each year and that is the equivalent of an annual budget so it's a lot of money we're talking about figures are revealed by the e.u.'s home affairs commission in its first annual report the agency's chief called the problem breathtaking and warned it's getting worse philip plays an m.e.p. for the flemish nationalist party says while highlighting bribery on a national level it ignores brussels overall complicity. problems in some member states are huge and widespread and the problem within the european union is that

all the member states are in danger of being contaminated the by this problem because when you are in the euro zone for instance and when one of these member states in the eurozone has a big corruption problem well this problem will be felt by the other member states within the eurozone that's a problem with greece for instance so the problems in one country are becoming more and more the problems of the other member states would i find surprising them with i fun interesting at the same time is that the european commission has made this report on corruption in the european union but it didn't make a survey of corruption within its own institutions and didn't have any specific information about corruption with e.u. funded projects after the break

a look at the highlights of the spectacular olympic torch relay there with us at r.t. international. recently an online poll by the liberal doe's t.v. channel that's rain in english has caused quite a storm of rage across the country how could a stupid online poll cause russia wide anger while they pose the question was defending living grad from the nazis worth it because retreat in their opinion could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives what is offensive from culture to culture difference a lot but from a russian perspective fighting to the bitter end to stop the german genocide machine was worth it this is basically like if a somewhat popular news outlet had a poll on martin luther king's birthday asking was slavery really that bad it was

a poem for the economy but why would someone create this poll is because the people who wrote it are sick with the disease are types total self infatuation egoism and greed in other words we're a generation mean me me these people could never imagine sacrificing the great and wonderful me for any cause sacrificed me to the. me i'd rather kiss their boots and learn german but it wasn't for millions of russians put their self-interest as a distant second then all those great and wonderful me would have been worked to death and shot a nazi death camp it pays to make a few sacrifices for society fascists my opinion.

it was supposed to be just another news or of course although admittedly for a special occasion it was one hundred twenty three days before the start of the winter olympic games in sochi and i was in greece for the lighting of the olympic flame the ruins of olympia one of the most famous monuments of ancient greece the site of the very first olympic games stones like this. would have been part of the temple. the temple. temple lowe's. home. from.

home. plate. well that was a rather surreal. definitely the way to stream i've had for a while. it was a memorable ceremony. because one pretty sure white.