the in the. battle for the olympic podium in sochi in full swing with norway at leading the race so far we're watching the sports extra extravaganza from our studios in the heart of the winter games. the threat of something happening in such western media sounding some alarm bells ringing over the olympics raising eyebrows as well as questions of whether the panic and criticism are justified bus. and you know. that reportedly coming from the u.s. assistant secretary of state as she reveals washington's plans for crisis wracked ukraine in the lead phone call. this swiss deciding whether or not to keep foreigners out of the country as they vote on a controversial bill introducing quotas for immigrants.

it's noon in moscow i met president good to have you with us our top story competition heating up at the winter games with eight medals up for grabs on sunday let's go live now to our so she's studios with our own a nice and now is standing by to give us all the latest. 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 but all kicked off of course with a breathtaking opening ceremony on friday right behind our sochi studio here with a dazzling fireworks show the parade of national teams and highlights of russian

history and culture as for the competition so far norway tops the medal table but it's a russian athlete who stole the show last night didn't figure skater you would need to go you know in her dazzling performance in the ladies short program the fifteen year old showed she has the goods to win the gold and whether she takes the podium or not she's already and the darling now sunday is a busy day for the sportsman in sochi lucia our lead skiers and snowboarders are among those hoping to bad gold in the next twenty four hours and despite the rivalry there's been some great examples of sportsmanship as well and two former reports. in a.b. lympics spirit is alive and well and to hear these stories 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 was that the germans equipment that they used to prepare their own skis was damaged in their trip over here so they are still the teams look can

you help out can you lend us your equipment 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 all in our team have never experienced such special situation and so i. play the russian friends who have. trust in the us they gave us. ended 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 there is two or three other pins and they said nor because you are a man's 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's seven and a half kilometer sprint and that gets underway this evening now russia does have a couple of hopes elsewhere for medals i'll bet them change their current sit second at the halfway stage in the luge that concludes today as does the team figure skating event and russia currently leads now so fingers crossed to 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 to very hearty skipper 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 so it's very interesting each is

a sport that pending on your disposition you have to be a feisty girl to play hockey a few girls in women's hockey or 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 actually each dream isn't it to be at these olympics but not everyone can make it not everybody makes the national team martin andres caught up with the american who has had the misfortune of just missing out but he still enjoying sochi. israel pulled break will become his full time journey to follow his childhood olympic wish in twenty five 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 eighteen 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 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 plan the sportsman. the winter games held in the warzone under the threat of terror with shoddy hotels and stray dogs roaming around well that's also g. twenty fourteen is big for trade by many western media outlets but will the criticism die down now that the torch is lit and the games have opened parties and as the theatre 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 limping game fun again. pretty distant but why feed the excitement word of a possible new terror threat character a terrorist 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 a contrast 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 that a lot of time you got a call. together and each other and not a second has gone to waste from picking any little thing that might be off the face to toilets but not one that could be flushed to toilets i buy 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

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's finders definitely who are spinning tiny flaws into viral sensations facts for 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 a 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 wants even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this test i felt rushed and mighty i've stopped flossing i think that might help solve the problem no matter how much the op doesn't do. sayer's 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 not you're really not really truly completely a piece about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york. it's true we're not going to let anybody kill our buds

here on the black sea coast so the sochi olympics will see many outlets become stars but some really are like globally renowned violinist an estimate she's taking part in the giant slalom and competing for her home country of thailand we asked her what made her tears 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 have 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 if i could be entertaining on skis that would be a good thing for me as an entertainer. but we'll see how it's going to play out for of an estimate performing on sochi slopes here in our such a studio at the center of the winter games looking to new to bring you all the updates and highlights of the olympics for now back to you in moscow thank you very much and he's an isa now i live from our olympic studios in sochi where our team is closely following the sporting spectacle you can keep up to date any time by logging on to our official instagram page there we have video footage from the olympic capital joining us on instagram dot com slash r t and we're keeping a close eye on the games the slopes tracks stadiums and parks counting the medals following the action bringing you all the latest. the g twenty fourteen promised the ultimate in the exhilarating winter in our. social media and use the knowledge to make heaven and on the rest of our lives take

news team for some twenty four take. on. earning us some of the week's other top stories a leaked phone call between top u.s. diplomats has revealed this week new details of washington's involvement in ukraine's ongoing political crisis recording apparently features assistant secretary of state victoria nuland discussing who could form a new government in kiev and bluntly dismissing the e.u. artie's marina porton 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 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 plans to midwife in trouble free you know which she's a she's apologizing for cussing out you but she's not apologizing for trying to overthrow a government in kiev 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 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 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. hurrying up or tonight our team. germany's chancellor agoa maracle dismissed the comments as an acceptable low dave i noticed a former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament says the conversations a demonstration of how casually u.s.

allies orchestrate regime change welcome to the real world of diplomacy behind closed doors this confirms a long stance of the united states and the e.u. by the way towards other countries did these dana days show floor for democracy to some of other countries this one small undermines the whole cleam of transparency and democracy building and but to do building of political institutions these are all ideological efforts to include one's politics in other countries and also by the way shows how casual these people can talk about the the politics of another country. or news still to come after a short break stay with us. well

. it's technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered. join me. for that impartial and financial reporting terry contribute and much much. only on us and only.

seventeen minutes past the hour here on r t we're following some news just into us a nun and churchgoer were killed in russia and in the far east of the country after a shooting inside a cathedral the gunman opened fire wounding six people also the suspect detained after the incident and thought to work for a private security for a criminal case has been launched against the twenty four year old shooter an investigation is now underway at the scene. look at. some other world headlines in turkey riot police clash with hundreds of demonstrators in one of his generals main squares officers use water cannons and tear gas to break up mobs protesting against government moves to impose curbs on the internet the draft bill allows blocking websites for privacy violations without

a court order and criticized as an attempt to gag the opposition leader in facebook widely used by anti-government protesters during demonstrations last year. in madrid around three thousand protesters wave players and fires during a rally against what they call state repression in spain demonstrators unhappy with the government's reason passage of laws allowing protesters to be fined for filming police or participating in an authorized rally several activist groups teamed up to organize the program. switzerland 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 e.u. treaty on free movement and critics say the country's economic prosperity could be at stake artie's lucy caffein of reports from zurich. 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 twenty stand 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 peoples 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 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 economy is actually. 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. threatening there will be erosion of the relationship 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.

erosion of the existing treaties they 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 opponents 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 for this evening's results to find out we're putting in zurich switzerland i'm lucy kaplan oh life interrupted by a subpoena a british couple fighting extradition to the u.s. on charges of fraud and embezzlement artie's tessera chill spoke with them the family 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 where 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 us that they have bezel 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 fear and be sent to the states is the possibility of being denied bail and spending here is 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 there's no compensation and. wrongful acts for the ocean. 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 to sixty

three years. 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 egremont is biased against the u.k. if the 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 citizens there is no such opportunity to have your evidence tested in the u.k. court before you are extradited and that's a basic unfairness to an independent review and twenty eleven found that 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's 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 don imus 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 are sylvia r t london as israeli army recruiters say the number is choosing to serve in combat units is following the government started to look for new ways to pump things up a t.v. commercial the latest weapon in the military's arsenal is artie's policy reports from tel aviv. these really army has

a new fight on its hand the numbers in combat units are down attention recruits are shying away from science 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 place 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 i the idea of a strong smell it all 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 uvalde a lot is 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 your cannot be a danger the i.d.f. spokesman peter lerner insists the drop in number doesn't change things. the idea

it can still keep the country safe is part of the situation where the types of threats also change it's also the result of an atmosphere where there are other units which also are substantial in the type of defense that they supply for instance technological units the army stand on the combat units. computer but you need the people that stand in front of their own enemy and the save the border so all they do all the it will make it may not be thanking the confession of the just and keeping going. still to. all of the new reporter healing shocking levels of corruption across the board some experts finding it strange wrongdoings within the e.u. financial institutions are being suppressed more on this in about fifteen minutes.

but first a review of the week's business highlights with. maybe you don't know if you don't panic or. responds to. everyone in my life that i care about. and then. i came askin well. i was a national champion in track and field and also was able to go in 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 black kids. hate to break. free. new york london. the whole world is on the. return of the original one a further one down the end of the to hang up the cords out the link at the end of the street another one the more transparent society gets the money or the puppet tears become we see military and state unfairly falses mobilized against

people who blend into the city who inhabit the city the more people trust electronic devices the more defenseless they are. fear that has a thousand on days are r t. o g twenty fourteen promises week alternate and exhilarating winter was enough to join me and you so now i make seven zero and the rest of our lives take news team for sochi twenty four take. on oxy. put it on your. face.