the host nation wins its first medals at twenty fourteen and russia's figure skating team is poised to take gold as well but aside from the celebration of winter olympic sports. the threat of something happening in the western media dishes out and lunch of criticism raising questions about whether the hype and justified in the weeks of a top headlines. coming from the u.s. assistant secretary of state. reveals the depths of washington's involvement in ukraine's political turmoil. and switzerland votes narrowly in favor of a controversial plan to put a limit on immigration and a nationwide referendum. for

the top stories of today and the week it is the weekly international with me rule research. russian fans have plenty to celebrate on day two of the twenty fourteen winter olympic games in sochi the nation's first medal bronze was quickly followed by a silver in the women's bothell on and russia's figure skating team has won the nuff points to secure gold as well more on that. russia now have a silver medal to add to the bronze that they won a few hours ago i can tell you that. has just finished second in the women's biathlon seven the kilometer sprint the owner of russia's first medal at these games went to graf she secured a bronze in the women's three thousand meter speedskating in the adler arena

however undoubtedly one of the biggest of these games so far came when one of russia's most famous sporting sons pushing took to the ice in the figure skating team of a taste flawless display in the men's free program which helped russia extend their lead at the top of the overall standings so it does seem as if russia closing in on that first gold medal meanwhile forty two year old illusia. has announced his retirement from the sport at the end of these olympics they are his seventh going to games and he wants to go out on a high he's currently in second place going in to the final of the men's loos event which concludes later on sunday so let's take a look at the medals table as it stands the moment then you can see it is still norway who have a narrow lead out the top of the table but it's the united states of america and the netherlands who are not far behind so we all well to day two now of the sochi twenty fourteen winter olympics and at long last it is the athletes who are

starting to make the headlines however these games are still being plagued by negativity in some parts of the american media as my colleague honest to see it now reports. 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 finding yet some of them are pretty distant but why feed the excitement word of a possible new terror threat character a terrorist threat terrorist threat and our world champion and multiple gold medalist for buzz kill the western mainstream media. the olympics is a wonderful time for contraries to get together in order to despise each other and in order to treat her 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 say to each other and not a second has gone to waste from picking

a mean 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 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 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 am i right i'm going to go eat lunch. 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 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 toothpaste is going to explode. why even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this test i stopped rushing my teeth i've stopped the last thing 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 of 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 no you're not really now are you really truly can we piece about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york. and a little earlier scott spoke to a man responsible for persuading american tourists to come to salt he says our job has been made a bit more difficult by the negative coverage in the media. we've had some people back out because of what they've heard on the news do you think the i mean why do you think there is such negativity in some parts of american media around sochi you've been here for a year and a half is unjustified i think because of what they call the ring of steel i think this is a very secure place i think i would be more on secure an american classroom but i would be in sochi itself just because of the security here when when some of those

great and some of those tourists decided to back out did you try to convince them how did you sell such and to them what you will say well we told them that the place where we we would be staying would be in a very secure location. and one of the major parts here is the sochi. and so i think those are about as secure as you're going to get let's talk about the infrastructure that has sprung up around this sochi region is sochi set to become a tourist hot spot after the games you think is going to be a legacy of tourism here while they're in better position certainly because they build new highways they've got a great train transportation now. you know there are. they're more up to date with the electricity grid and stuff like that so i think they're prepared as with any city that's going to give birth to a modern resort you're going to have labor pains and you were up in the mountains i believe last night watching this right of course is the olympics it is about the sport what about the venues how are they looking how are they holding up to the beautiful of the ski jumper. short short jump last night and i was incredible when

you're going up to gandalf and overworking the ski jumper it was quite magnificent it was asking a very great time and we spoke to a lot of where the russian hockey legend and torch bearer of the twenty fourteen such olympics. those who ignite the limping flame go down in history for many years to come because it's a task that is only given to the most popular and the most worthy sportsman it means the world to me because i'm representing the team of my youth the hockey team that is an eight time limpy champion i feel honored now out of all the players they chose me dumb believably beautiful here to see palm trees and snow i think these are going to be one of the best games they've ever been held in my opinion a very good infrastructure was put together for the athletes here in sochi and everything is very compact if the cities are located conveniently close to each other no public transport is needed it's very aggravating when buses are late

whereas here everything's very well put together and the athletes are satisfied we were commentated in prisons in the united states staying in not the most favorable conditions. you know we actually heard there are referring to the nine hundred eighty winter olympics in lake placid new york where athletes including him and many other global sports stars were a little surprised to find themselves housed in the barracks of a future federal prison. so the r.t. team is now closely followed closely following the sporting spectacle and you can keep up to date any time by simply logging on to our official r.t.e. international instead. right here we've got videos and footage from the capital you can join us on instagram dot com slash. of course we are keeping a very close eye on slopes stadiums and counting the medals following reaction and bringing you all the latest updates both on air and online starts he took.

the g. twenty four team promise is the ultimate in exhilarating winter. storm and it's now a make over now and the rest of our lives take justina to sochi twenty four take. on. so at international live from moscow this week massive gaffe by a top u.s. diplomat revealed washington's true ambitions for the antigovernment protests that have split ukraine as well as i know to you towards other european partners. important to file the report 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 called u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland and the u.s.

ambassador in the heave are heard orchestrating ukraine's political future playing a game of verbal chess with ukraine's opposition leaders i think you know the guy who's got the economic experience the governing experience and he's the guy you know what he needs his cleats into 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 the senior diplomat drops the f. bomb while dismissing the european union's withdrawal 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 a new government in ukraine you know the words 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 here 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 show. 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.

well victoria nuland the use of strong language has caused outrage from germany's chancellor angela merkel who has dismissed the comments as unacceptable load of a news to former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament he says the conversation is a clear demonstration of how america really regards other states. but you do real good to see behind closed doors this confirms the. stones will do nitish didn't you going to wait. dana to shill for will still be democracy have you all going to this one small undermines the whole karim of transparency and democracy building and building of political institutions these are all ideological afterwards into one's politics. and also by the way shows how casual these people can talk about the politics of another country. it's already international and russian fans have plenty to celebrate on day two of the

twenty fourteen winter olympic games in sochi even though the figure skating competition is still not over it is certain that the gold is going to russia a quick update now live to r.t. is paul scott in sochi the man on the scene paul things are popping up again so quickly here can you explain the situation or perhaps more importantly the point as well. yes well a few moments ago i told you though russia were closing in on their first gold medal of the twenty fourteen winter olympics they have now secured it it comes in the figure skating team event now the eighth and final round is still to take place later on sunday evening but basically russia as a team have secured enough points no other team can now catch them they were helped on their way by i. want to russia's most famous sporting stars he was absolutely flawless in his display earlier on the saving in the men's free program and a new star has been born as well. she's only fifteen years old and she was equally

as flawless in saturday's lady short program the points are secured as is the gold . are looking good here are these thanks so much popping up so quickly we will check in with. about twenty forty when. well thank you for joining us here on aussie international much more world news coming your way if you give us time for a very short break. science technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered.

join me. in part and. contribute and much much. only on. our top headlines of the week end of the day here on r.t. international switzerland has voted no really in favor of limiting the number of immigrants allowed to come and work in the country the plan put switzerland at all does with the e.u. on issues or free movement of critics warning the measure as well i suppose the

country's economy. two hundred 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 eight thousand new residents come here each year one fifth of the population is foreign born or that's simply too large according to the right wing swiss peoples party which has pushed this referendum forward we think we have to response ability to tell the people we have to change our constitution we have to right that's what sort of controls to immigration again and that's what we're going to do now critics of the initiative say that it sends a message that foreigners aren't welcome they also warn that it could cripple businesses this is a colony is actually booming just three percent unemployment here and experts believe that's because of not despite 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 it all be very serious problems in terms of labor recruitment and even more threatening there will be erosion of the relationship the european union. 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 treaty they will be.

finished and switzerland is in is very very real and. because it's highly on the european market. french far right activists rallied in paris against the all female protest group accusing it of provoking the country's christian community one hundred gathered in the center of paris calling on from end to shut down its headquarters in the french capital and return to ukraine for report for you right now on our website. also there is revealed just exactly how edward snowden managed to get his hands on such a vast amount of classified n.s.a. data and intriguing story right now at r.t. dot com for you. right to see. first rate. and i think you're. going to.

be and. i will get to beyond that in just a moment for now though a new report this week pointed to a wave of corruption sweeping through the blog brussels believes that losses thanks to shady deals amount to well billions of euros there are estimations 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 the figures were revealed by the use home affairs commission in its first ever your report on the subject the agency's chief called the problem breathtaking and warned it's eroding trust in democracy though philip clay is an m.e.p. for the flemish nationalist party he says while highlighting bribery on a national level the report ignores that 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 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 world 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 that what i find interesting at the same time is that the european commission has made this report on corruption in the european union but didn't make a survey of corruption within its institutions and didn't have any specific information about corruption with e.u.

funded projects or a very quick pause here in the weekly to get you to the r.t. world cup it will start with yemen or above it under its costs and has killed a senior intelligence colonel and wounded two people nearby the blast happened outside the oil ministry building in the capital sanaa the latest such attack on top officials islamist militants with ties to al qaeda thought to be behind this attack. around three thousand protesters waved flares and lit fires during a rally against what they call state repression in the spanish capital madrid the demonstrators are unhappy with the government's recent legislation allowing them to be fined for filming police and joining an authorised rallies spain suffers regular protests because of austerity measures and twenty six percent unemployment one of the highest in all of europe. two owners of a bangladesh clothing factory had been denied bail out of a surrendered to authorities on sunday the husband and wife are facing

a homicide charges for a massive fire that killed one hundred twelve workers two years ago the couple could be sent to prison for life if found guilty of the town's dream fire is considered the deadliest in a nation that uses cheap labor and relies on garment exports to be united states and europe. a british couple fighting extradition to america have accused the government of telling to washington the dunham's faced life behind bars in the states on charges of fraud which they vehemently deny and a pair claim that british officials are refusing to stand up for their rights to us or australia reports 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 miss stanwood 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've 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 fears be sent to the states as 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 is. for a very good chance he would have why we're confident we would win. because we are innocent that 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 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 at thirty five britons have been sent to the us and steve thousand and four versus just five u.s. nationals who may be 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 imbalanced 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. desiree cilia r t london it is a pleasure having you with us here on c.n.n. national today thanks for sharing your sunday up next if you'll stick with us we were kept the epic journey of the olympic flame above beyond all across russia as it made its way to so much.

recently an online poll by the liberal dozhd t.v. channel that's rein 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 well 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 mean mean these people could never imagine sacrificing the great

and wonderful me for any cause sacrificed me to the dog seems a plus for 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 s. would have been worked to death and shot a nazi death camp it pays to make a few sacrifices for society to thrash us 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 the limpia one of the most famous monuments of ancient greece

the site of the very first olympic games where stones like this would have been part of the temple. the temple. temple all those. damn.

close. well that was all rather surreal. definitely the way to stream i've had for a while. it was a memorable ceremony. although i'm pretty sure the high priestess never spoke to me . what was it she said. follow the flame or something. you have a lot more of course at base. the top story this morning than the thirty twenty people .