russia's figure skating team claims the host nation's first gold as the second day of the winter games wraps up in sochi but aside from the celebration of winter olympic sports. the threat of something happening in sochi the western media dishes out an avalanche of criticism raising questions about whether the concerns and panic are justified plus in the weeks other headlines. u.s. assistant secretary of state has apparently been caught on tape trying to direct ukraine's political future. and you know. at the same time what's believed to be victoria nuland comments have also caused outrage in you with the german chancellor calling them unacceptable. and to switzerland votes narrowly in favor of a controversial plan to put a limit on immigration in

a nationwide referendum. and broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories this is our to international with the weekly. now the second day of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics has brought to the first gold to the host nation in team figure skating russian athletes are delivered impressive performances in other events as well winning silver and bronze medals as a result russia is now tied for fourth place in the medal table with canada our correspondent paul scott who is in sochi now breaks down the day's results for us. the celebrations beginning with the fireworks behind me russia's first gold came in the figure skating team event they sort of challenges from canada and the united

states to take the top spot and they were helped along the way by a foolish display from one of russia's most famous sporting sons if gainey pushed blowing the competition away in the men's free program a magnificent display when you consider in recent years he's been plagued by injury and has undergone surgery twelve times meanwhile a new star has been born fifteen year old beauty a late night sky impressed in the ladies' free on short programs with peerless performances i mean the procession has become the youngest ever winner of the winter olympics gold medal she is six days younger than the previous record holder american tara lipinski elsewhere on day two there were three other medal successes for russia forty two year old veteran lucia. competing in a record breaking seven i'm following a winter olympics he missed out on a first ever gold medal but he did claim silva. olga in the women's biathlon seven in the case sprint the more they all know for the first medal for

russia in these sorts of twenty fourteen winter olympics when to hold a grudge early on sunday she claimed bronze in the women's three thousand meter speed skating event in the arena so let's take a look at the all important medals table then and you can see that it is norway who still lead the way but the united states in the netherlands and not far behind and russia starting to make their way up the leaderboard. well let's go back to the russian team's success in figure skating that left competitors trailing far behind artie's and now he was lucky enough to catch the competitions at the iceberg skating palace earlier she joined kevin owen in our sochi studio to tell us what it was like to watch the performances firsthand. i think we can say that playing on the home field as they say really benefited russia tonight there were tons of russians in the audience we were quite high up and our whole section was it was full of russians and everyone had a good skate but i think this is where we're going to say that russia is. actually

better than the soviets. in the huge stadium when it when it kicks off its buzzing it's buzzing of course the russians when they came on to the ice and i'm sure anyone who is watching it at home felt the advantage of having the home support in the crowd was going wild and i think that helped them mad a lot of confidence shows with minimal goals. getting to sink of course he's a veteran only thirty one one of the old. great show just phenomenal and of course he's been having horrible back trouble in injuries and then young you did you just phenomenal i hadn't seen in fifteen years old i hadn't seen her skate and this is her of course olympic debut i think personally she is a great chance at gold and then the pairs as well they didn't score as high as some of the russian sitting next to me thought they scored because i thought they were quite phenomenal but as a team the russian skating team is just really really strong even in through tomorrow well back in vancouver and so this olympics of course at home is about taking it back on. the international olympic committee has denied

all the rumors that the u.s. and russia have conspired to rig the figure skating competition it also said that it is not planning to investigate the claims first launched by a french magazine we've caught up with the two thousand and two olympic champion for ice dancing frenchman. to get his thoughts on the issue. in figure skating there always be a lot of talking you know people are talking and they believe they can. master and manage where he's happening on the ice but the only thing that matters is how the figure skaters are performing on the ice you can make somebody who falls to win you can change the course everybody has to skate their best to do something those talking those trying to change the course of the competition is just very bad for a sport and i'm sorry that he'd say it's happening again and people are talking

about that again because things have been made to change that sort of things so that the sport would be more fair and that this skaters would just perform and. and that their for the best is the one we should win. russian ice hockey a legend of lot of slow of thirty rock as well and is also in sochi now he lit the olympic cauldron along with iconic figure skater irina rodnina in the opening ceremony he shared with us his impressions so far about the games. those who ignite the olympic flame go down in history for many years to come because it's a task that is only given to the most popular in 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 out of all the players they chose me it's unbelievably beautiful here to see palm trees and snow i think these are going

to be one of the best limpy games they have ever been held in my opinion a very good infrastructure was put together for the athletes here in sochi and everything is very compact the facilities are located conveniently close to each other no public transport is needed it's very aggravating when passes a late whereas here everything's very well put together and the athletes are satisfied we were commentated imprisons in the united states staying in not the most favorable conditions but i just love her three are referring to the one nine hundred eighty winter olympics in lake placid the usa in deede a number of athletes were accommodated in the barracks of what would become a prison today some of the western media are actually calling the sochi olympics a war zone overflowing with minor problems and have been neglecting the competition itself artie's honester see if you're going to look at why so many news outlets across the atlantic seem to cast a cloud over the event. 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 and some of them are pretty distressed but why feed the excitement word of a possible new terror threat character a terrorist threat terrorist threat and her world champion and multiple gold medalist for buzz kill the western mainstream media and the olympics 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 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 face to toilets but not one that could be flushed to toilets i by that i miss you 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 as these were unique to sochi olympic stadium has always been accused of being an overpriced boondoggle that was constructed shoddily not ready until the very last second every single one that i can remember a media war against the saatchi olympics taken to a ridiculous extreme but my impression of fox news is that they're just sitting around the office and they go hey it looks like no one's russian to get to sochi and i write i'm going to go eat lunch. there is fine there's definitely who are spinning tiny flaws into viral sensations facts or actual sports reporting be damned. it's really kind of unpleasant to watch more to the point it's pretty counterfactual as well going so far as to say that the games are being held in a war zone. as opposed to what's really

a black sea resort. even though plenty of work went into security hysteria remains the airwaves but threat of something bad happening in sochi well it's increasing by the day taking the fear of yes toothpaste to an extreme toothpaste containing explosive material it is terrifying all right did you hear all the toothpaste is going to explode it was even staging tests on hiding explosives and tubes were c.n.n. commissioned this test i've stopped rushing mighty i've stopped flossing i think that might help solve the problem no matter how much the media does the doomsayers of the games toothpaste will be toothpaste and nonsense will be nonsense in the end the olympics will celebrate joy excitement and victory there will be winners and there will be losers hopefully able to move on with at least some snippets of dignity you're not concerned at all now you're really not really truly.

about why and especially if you're going to r.t. new york we have some of the athletes in sochi what the very think about the alleged security issues as well as the overall atmosphere of the games so far everything has been amazing it's running like clockwork and everything's just going really really well there hasn't been any problems as of as of today my parents have been a little bit worried they just like to just be kept away due and to really wear the uniform when you have to you know when you don't need it just be a bit half of the security is really good so it's better than we thought it would be i had a really great time here and i have nothing bad to say so far well organized and people are really friendly here and having a good time. extensively negative coverage has been scaring off some of the american tourists who planned on visiting sochi that's according to the man whose job it is to make sure that u.s. spectators come to the games here's what he told our scope. 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 so cheap in half 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 in an american classroom that i would be in sochi itself just because of the security here when some of those great time some of those tourists decided to proc out did you try to convince them how did you sell stocks into them which 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 of the sochi have lurked at us like a lot 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 the sochi region in sochi set to become a tourist hot spot after the games you think is going to be a legacy of tourism hey wall there are in better position certainly because they build new highways they've got

a great train transportation now. in there they're more up to date with her electricity grid and stuff like that so i think they're prepared but 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 it's not watching us right of course is the name because it is about this but what about the venues how they look up how are they holding up to the beautiful of these ski jump we we saw a men's short short jump last night and i was incredible when you're going up the gondola and overworking the ski jump there is just it's quite magnificent it was awesome it's going to be a great time well of course we have our team in saudi following the competition at all times and of course if you want to learn more and see more about the winter olympic games you can always had to our instagram page there you can find an assortment of the videos from the very onset of the game that is at instagram dot com slash r.t. . the g.

twenty four promises. the exhilarating winter in our. journey and you make seven zero and the best of all i'm taking you staying for sochi twenty four take. on. now this week a major gaffe by one of america's top officials has left washington red faced a scandal erupted after e recording was leaked apparently involving the u.s. assistant secretary of state now comments caught on tape revealed the depths of america's meddling in ukraine's anti-government unrest. reports 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 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 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 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 the tory 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 midwifery new government in ukraine you know the way she's a 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 the washington is dictating who shall be in the government and they have taken the power away from the people. her important i.r.t. . victoria nuland use of strong language was sharply criticized by germany's

chancellor angela merkel who called the comment on acceptable load of former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament says the conversation is a clear demonstration of how america really regards other states oakum to do real good diplomacy behind closed doors this confirms the long stance of the united states and the e.u. by the way towards a live concert dillies dana to show floor for democracy to some other countries this once more undermines the whole claim of transparency and democracy building and but to do building of political institutions these are all ideological efforts the influence of politics in other countries and also by the way shows how casual these people can talk about the the politics of another country. so it has voted to narrow yes to the influx of immigrants with citizens among those denied access but

critics warn the move could hurt the economy and relations with the bloc. applying. pushed to the edge of desperation a british couple tell r.t. about how a u.s. extradition request shattered their lives as they begin the legal fight in london these stories and much more after the break. the. economic downturn in the final month. and the rest. will be.

joining me. for that impartial and financial reporting commentary can from news and much much. only on bombast and.

and welcome back you're watching internationally. switzerland by a narrow margin has voted in favor of putting a ceiling on foreign migrants including e.u. citizens the result of a nationwide referendum could adversely affect the nation's ties with the bloc burn it now has to renegotiate treaties on the free movement of workers adopted over a decade ago decision is also likely to hurt the country's economy and. explains what's real and voted to shut the door to european union workers setting up a showdown with brussels as well as a potential exit from the single european market now the so-called stop mass immigration initiative was the brainchild of the right wing swiss people's party which wants strict quotas on foreigners for switzerland to essentially abandon its free movement of people treaty with the e.u. and supporters the we've talked to say that they're worried immigration is driving up rents that it's undercutting local workers and that is burdening public services now opponents have argued that immigration caps will in fact cripple economic

growth and experts do say that this was in column e. is. not despite foreign labor especially when it comes to folks skills to work in fields like health care and where there's a big need for skilled workers but despite the very real economic concerns despite the fact that on the one with here is just three percent many voters were ultimately swayed by the argument that switzerland simply cannot take in any more people now in order to understand why you really do have to look at the numbers about a quarter of the country's eight million residents aren't swiss there's been a huge uptick in immigration in fact about eighty thousand new immigrants came just wetzel and last year alone the vote will likely mean severe repercussions with brussels you have to remember that switzerland isn't a member of the e.u. but it has signed on to a lot of the blocks policies in order to gain access to the european markets or switzerland sells more than half of everything that oprah do. says i with five hundred million customers there's a lot of money at stake here

a historic vote that is likely to have a significant impact on the swiss economy as well as our relations with the countries european will parse reporting and bar for our to toughen up. the turkish government is pushing through new internet laws that would allow authorities to block websites without a court decision and internet providers would also be asked to store data on what people are looking at online the measures sparked clashes between protesters and riot police on saturday crowds of demonstrators pearled firecrackers and rocks at security forces police responded firing water cannons and tear gas said hundreds of protesters in the stumbles the main square in cairo based journalist who uses calmly says that in reality the authorities are losing about. he did it in turkey's olinda district two thousand is a sizable lead to bad and. you had to struggle for moves

to get close to because as you. noted to go a little bit is getting. on a limb and glove don't need to be done to call truly good do this to people throughout history ted that. they may both sides who sides with they've made it cools them other middle is going to be different the government do it is realizing that it's getting more and more isolated the releases last week showed that public will be a bull's eye anyhow but i believe that by the government there is all lies in the media. the edge of a that is evil to be there to all go over this bottle that the government is losing effort to so far. a british couple fighting extradition to america has accused the u.k. government of kowtow ing to washington the dunham's faces life behind bars in the u.s. on charges of fraud which they vehemently reject the pair claim that british officials

are refusing to stand up for their rights as are silly reports one morning fourteen months ago a life changing knock on the door with two policeman from scotland yard and i said i was sorting this done and we 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 fears be sent to the states as 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 very good he would have why we're confident we would win. because we are innocent

but we would then be shipped but the u.k. there's no compensation and. wrongful acts for tyshan. can you imagine coming back to this country you know three or four years later no harm no money no job and you're now in you know sixty two sixty three years by and trying to rebuild your life controversy has long surrounded the u.s. u.k. extradition act of two thousand and three signed in the wake of nine eleven critics claim the agreement is biased against the u.k. if you're a u.s. citizen wanted by the u.k. government you have a higher standard of evidence that you need to provide in the u.s. and also as a u.s. citizen you have the opportunity to go to a u.s. court to plead your case and unfortunate for purchases 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 to divulge to pull 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. cilia our t.

london. coming up later in the hour no sex please we are. the land of the rising sun is seeing a decline in relationships which could cause the population. is next with a breakdown of the latest business headlines in venture capital stay with us are watching our two international. the head of the sober russia program wants to bring back russia's sobering stations which are like a hybrid hospital and police station and american we call these a good old fashioned drunk tank and in russia their history dates back to the early years of the twentieth century to twenty eleven when they were all closed putting the burden of alcohol abuse of health on local hospitals despite the amount of

alcohol consumed per person in russia steadily declining over the last few years alcoholism remains a big problem but will privatized drug tanks work no no they won't let's think about it what is business motivated by money big government contracts in countries around the world are often abused and if you get paid per alcoholic served then pretty soon companies are going to incentivize the police to round up as many people with a hint of booze in their blood as they can or look at it this way what is more profitable helping cure an alcoholic or treating him with fat government contract money every week for the rest of his life there are some things the private sector is not suited for and this is one of them but that's just my opinion.

your language. killing weaker with knowing if you're going to. come. true it's good. news that you figure great. choose the stories get in the. true spirit send off to. blow this is when you cover do on page you'll be a warm welcome to you coming up in the second kid told by does quite often get

a bad crowd blamed for all of the recent financial crunch is whether the great depression and to the recent crash of two thousand knights described as great a ruthless of having integrity and coasting at the top billions of dollars and. have all but i believe it. is so cool that the top all the ready to change that out to cheat with the help falls call it yes i'm being puppet be serious details to come back towards me on that one plus international school solves all his. finally these so she get yes i have the god who runs while waiting to be joining our food so he's in such a talking about money that he got loads on the why do you not move a muscle now so people in general well they don't trust bank because often accusing them of having no called credibility but don't. get to change this i'm out.