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 bad happening in the western media dishes out an avalanche of criticism raising questions about whether the concerns and panic are justified plus in the week's other headlines. the 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 the e.u. with the german chancellor calling them unacceptable. and switzerland votes it 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 this is r t with our weekly program glad to have you with us. now the second day of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics has brought the first gold to the host nation in team figure skating russian athletes delivered impressive performances and other events as well winning silver and bronze medals as a result russia has 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. his first gold came in the biggest 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 gagne pushing

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. a star has been born fifteen year old beauty a late night sky impressed in the ladies free on short programs with peerless performances and in the process she 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 as date olga beluga in the women's biathlon seven and a half k. sprint the more they all know for the first medal for russia in these sorts of twenty fourteen winter olympics winter olga graf 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 he said now he was lucky enough to catch the competition in the iceberg skating palace earlier she joined kevin owen in our sochi studio to tell us what it was like to watch the performances in person. it was huge i think we can say that playing on the home field as they say really benefited russia tonight there were hundreds 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 soviet days what is the atmosphere in the huge stadium when it when

it kicks off its buzzing it's buzzing of course the russians when they came onto 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 me many more goals to come as well. 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 and injuries and then young you did you just phenomenal i hadn't seen 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 the 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 for a little well back in vancouver and so this olympics of course at home is about taking it back. a russian ice hockey legend of lotus love

is also in sochi now he lifted the olympic cauldron along with iconic figure skater you know. the opening ceremony he shared with us his impressions so far about the games. flame go down in history for many years to come because it's only given to the most part. 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 games of 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 bus is a 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 there you heard of lot of tread referring to the one nine hundred eighty winter olympics in lake placid usa indeed a number of athletes were accommodated in the barracks of a future 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 an associate 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 live big 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 or 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 advisor diagnose you 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 they're trashing things that 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 and 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 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 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 loss and 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 they 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 careful what you do and really wear the uniform when you have to you know when you don't need to just be a bit careful but 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. well we have our team in sochi following the competition at all times and if you want to get an even closer look at the winter olympics you can check out our instagram page there you can find an assortment of photos from the very onset of the games that is at instagram dot com slash r t. the g twenty four team promise is the ultimate in exhilarating winter sports in our . history and it's in our way to make seven zero and the rest of our lives take years to the sochi twenty four take. on. this week

a major gaffe by one of america's top officials has left washington red faced the scandal erupted after a recording was leaked apparently involving the u.s. assistant secretary of state comments caught on tape revealed the depths of america's meddling in ukraine's anti-government unrest artie's report and i 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 the 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 you know 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 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 was indeed made but will she hasn't apologized for is the plans to midwife a new government in ukraine you know the way she's she's apologizing for cussing out 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 kiev's independence square handing out snacks to protesters this time around the assistant secretary of state promised to feed the country with financial support if necessary political reforms are implemented at a press conference nuland refused to comment on what she called a private diplomatic conversation this is a devastating revelation and a very important revelation because it shows. that washington is not only manipulating the washington is dictating who shall be in the government and they have taken the power away from the people. victoria nuland use of strong language was sharply criticized by germany's chancellor angela merkel who called the comment unacceptable load of news to former deputy speaker of the belgian parliament says the conversation is a clear demonstration of how america really regards other states.

firms the long stance of the united states and the e.u. by the way towards a new conscious dillies danger to show for democracy the old order countries this one small undermines the whole cream of transparency and democracy building and but to building of political institutions these are all ideological afterwards 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. so it's real and has devoted a narrow yes to cap the influx of immigrants with e.u. citizens among those denied access but critics warn the move it would hurt the economy and relations with the bloc plus. put us on a plane. for china to make and. push to to the edge of

desperation a british couple tell our t. how about how the u.s. extradition request shattered their lives as they begin a legal fight at the high court in london the source of much more after a break you're watching our two international. new york london. the whole world is on the. other one down the end there a father to hang up the core of that building at the end of the street another one a more transparent society gets the money or the proper tears become we see military and state and police forces mobilized against people who blend into the city who inhabit the city the more people trust electronic devices the more

defenseless they are the fear that. as a thousand on eyes are our key. language. we can we know if they're going to. choose to use the consensus to. choose the opinions that you. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to your officers. and welcome back you're watching the weekly here on our t.v. international now switzerland by a narrow margin has voted in favor of putting a ceiling on foreign immigrants including citizens the result of a nationwide referendum could adversely affect the nation's ties with the block now

has to renegotiate treaties on the free movement of workers adopted over a decade ago the decision is also likely to hurt the country's economy. reports. 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 had argued that immigration caps would in fact cripple economic growth and experts do say that the swiss in column e. is. not despite foreign labor especially when it comes to folks who have skills to work in fields like health care and there's

a big need for skilled workers but despite the very real economic concerns despite the fact that unemployment 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 what you learned 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 course once and sells more than half of everything that it produces and 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 on relations with the countries in european. reporting and bar for our team alpha now is shooting has

occurred on the russian island of lean a gunman burst into a cathedral and opened fire killing two people there and wounding six as well the suspect was apprehended on site you can head to argue dot com for the full story. plus the u.s. is ready to accept refugees who may have terrorist links or could have given limited support to terror groups on our website we've got all of the details on washington relaxing its rules for potential asylum seekers. the turkish government is pushing through new internet laws that would allow authorities to block websites without a court decision 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 hurled firecrackers and rocks at security forces police responded firing water cannons and tear gas at hundreds of protesters stumbles main square one car based journalist yousif calmly says that in

reality the authorities are losing the battle. that he didn't even thirty's know looted as it did thousands in the size of a live event and. you had to pull moves to get close to because as you. noted to go a little bit is getting. on movement to gloat over who did it the duduk dreamily oh good do this stick people throughout history good that. they may both sides who sides with they've made it cools. other mentors would be doing it the guy would. realize that it's getting more and more isolated the religious last week showed that up it will be a bull's eye anyhow but i believe that by the government there is all lies in the media devil. of a that is. to all go over the spot till the government is closing after this so far

. now take a look at some other news making headlines around the world for you this hour eight people have been killed and over a dozen wounded in an attack in pakistan's port city of karachi gunmen threw grenades at a religious gathering and then opened fire on praying sunni muslims it is not yet known who carried out the assault although the taliban and a rival muslim groups are suspected last month militants killed six people at the shrine in the same city. respected as have been injured in a shooting outside a world cup stadium in brazil supporters of the local club america day natal were leaving the venue and were shot at by two gunmen on motorcycles fan violence has been on the rise as the country prepares to host the world cup in june. hundreds have gathered again in bosnia this time calling for the release of about forty people detained during the fighting in saturday's riots officials denied protestors

claims of police brutality and added that all but ten of those arrested have been released and by government rallies in bosnia have been fueled by high unemployment corruption and poor living conditions across the country. a british couple fighting extradition to america has accused the u.k. government of kowtow ing to washington the dunham's face life behind bars in the u.s. on charges of fraud to which they vehemently reject the pair claim british officials are now refusing to stand up for their rights as artie's tests are silly reports. one morning fourteen months ago a life changing knock on the door with two policemen from scotland yard and i said where i was sorting was done i'm with 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 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. we're confident we would win. because we are innocent but we would then be shipped but the u.k. there's no compensation in case of 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 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 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 are 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 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 to divulge the poll 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 and. does are cilia r t london. and coming up on r t international we look at whether security cameras and sensors are actually making life any safer in big cities 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 abusers health and local hospitals despite the amount of alcohol consumed per person in russia steadily declining over the last few years i'll call isn't 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.

i marinate join me. in part and. carry contribute and much. only on them best.

bush's the perpetrators are older learners driven by their hatred of the government . others are religious fanatics. can a society protect itself against the encounter level how should it react to attacks with retaliation. or like the citizens of norway and spain who opted for freedom openness and. london two thousand and five. on july the seventh four bombs explode three in underground trains one in a double decker bus the result fifty six deaths and seven hundred injuries the attack is not from the outside nor from the end. the four young assassins of muslims three of them born in the u.k.

. a traumatic experience for the metropolis in the blink of an eye the entire city fell out of step it's about her ability visible tool. these things live on in the collective memory they become sources of mourning and memorial and they have formal memorials and so on but this is nothing actually new you know london has a two thousand year history of disasters of plague of wall of strife so there is a pragmatic culture to this city as with many other cities that you know you grief you move on you go through trauma and shock and then life goes on and what is the alternative to have one just stay at home. and bunker themselves off from the future of their world and their life in the city it's not an option. the police

quickly identify the perpetrators and their accomplices naturally with the help of surveillance cameras. in a second series of attacks fourteen days later an innocent man was shot george sheldon s.s. he had dark skin and was reportedly wearing a thick jacket with wires hanging from it as he fled. but the video shows he did not flee. the cameras could prevent neither the bomb attacks nor the death of an innocent man. the bombs of two thousand and five and more than twenty years of ira threats have led to an all pervasive architecture of secure.