transit routes. you all best way to the heart of mosco. hungry for gold the russian fans pin their hopes on the country's record breaking figure skating duo made worries that the weather may be getting too good for the winter olympic games. european commission's vice president says brits are too ignorant to vote in a referendum on e.u. membership or cast ballots in the upcoming euro parliament election. a lot of the early on they see a little bit to their way of the. crime. party travel to south africa as the nation reels in corruption crime and poverty after the passing of iconic leader nelson mandela.

ten pm in moscow i matter as i can tell you with us day five of the sochi winter olympics and we continue our expert our special exclusive coverage from the heart and heights of the resort live now to our sochi studio where kevin owen is standing by to take it over. hi there hi all nice to see again yet welcome back to sort she was me kevin owen in this is our own going special coverage of the twenty second winter olympic games here in sochi and what a moment it is right now millions of fans and as we speak to watch the figure skating we're talking about just then out of bed so close to the hearts of so many russians what's more the news is the home team of favorites for gold too well for our very own pool scott let's cross to him all the latest details on this as we watch the competition unfold other pull ahead to this the chance of more than just

one medal today for russia right. yes well all eyes are on the iceberg skating palace right now where there's real tension in the air it's the final of the figure skating pairs event and there are three russian teams that are going for a medal now the main focus of attention however is going to be on the world and european champions tatyana valas is a. trunk of they led at the halfway stage of the event going into tonight's free program after a world record score in the short program on tuesday evening now another russian couple were in the bronze medal position going into tonight's auction so there's tension and excitement in the air and there's only a handful of competitors left russia could be about a second gold medal to that tally of course the first gold medal also came in the figure skating when they won the team event over the course of the weekend.

he's been keeping up with the athletes many of those who found themselves on the podium we've been asking them how it feels to be a champion and whether they found such a to their liking on the facilities today whether they like that as well as this. is funny. because it's really challenging like one of the best downhill in the season and the conditions on the hill. just just awesome when it's so challenging you don't have any surprise when i think. the best should win. this is what it's about yeah i really like that people really. have a lot of fun this celebrating. the sport of course. some good words for searching just. honestly all i wanted was a good result to do everything i could everything i've been working for i do want to let down my team and my coaches i aim to. well and i was nervous the first time

so it turned into a matter for me. so the athletes how he looks like the t.v. viewers are happy to him for the international olympic committee has announced the games are being watched by nearly ten percent more people than the olympics in vancouver four years ago to give you some perspective on that that's about twenty five million more people that are watching the games daily across the world in the united states than in pink programming and dave said with the clips all other television programs including leading soap operas and favorite talk shows but it's come at a cost bigger expectations and more pressure on those athletes you spoke about that with one of the greatest russian skating stars of rena's slips kate she's now and certainly head of the olympic village. these are my full of the limpid games and the first in which i am not statistically eating as an applet but now that i'm on the other side i can see that the media does have an impact on the athletes and it's not always positive the media tends to exaggerate things and take people for

granted they must understand that we the athletes are not robots we to make mistakes which can trip up while simply walking on the pavement the media must show greater restraint and understanding towards sports. what if you're not managed to make it here in person like in so the atmosphere than else entirely from fans and athletes to visiting dignitaries the city seems to be caught up and close to the status celebration is caused by so we're poor scott sure we know that such to bring us more about the mood i have been gauging the atmosphere there even amongst the crowds for a long time now but certainly since this started what's your feeling about it. yes the atmosphere is pretty spectacular isn't it in around the many live sites in and around the sochi region and of course the babies and father was alive site as it's called just a few hundred meters behind me where spectators gather to watch the events on the big screen of course they'll be watching the figure skating very very closely at the moment the build up to these games is of course now. plagued by controversies

but here we are more than a week on the games are running smoothly however there are some concerns in the mountains where the mild temperatures a causing some of the ice and snow to melt however the international olympic committee said they have absolutely no concerns about the conditions at the moment and of course the smooth running of the olympic games of any pics or any of the games is helped in part by the volunteers my colleague martin andrews has more. they are the unsung and unpaid heroes of the olympics and staging such a gigantic event without volunteers like these would be unthinkable more than one hundred eighty thousand people wanted to join up twenty five thousand of them made the cuts a small army of on hand helpers among them thousands of foreigners to bridge the

dozens of languages heard here right now hailing from the united states canada and the u.k. many have already been here for several weeks prepping and rehearsing a black sea resort in what's for most is the first visit to russia. come from glasgow scotland come here alone. experience and the people are really great. i like everything here and it feels great knowing that i'm contributing to such a large scale event. from helping out with crowd control to keeping things moving at the security screening areas they are vital to the day to day running of this event running like clockwork and in their bright uniforms such as spectators can't miss them like the competing athletes their roles require commitment patience and in jordan the love of taking part rather than cash reward. me hello i'm here

to see the men's hockey game. where do i go so these competitions are how did you vote. and you can get down by close in this tweet then turn to the left and you will see the big building in front of the look to drop it's very big and i'm getting a very nice and you speak english russian. german very good looking how to show thank you very much by. city sickly just under half the helpless are women and the average age is twenty five in reality though this giant team has volunteers of all ages. they call the older people silva volunteers it's a reference to how advanced teach a friendly face and knowledge of foreign languages and knowing how to get from a to b. are just some of the skills these guys will be throughout the games in the paralympics long days demanding work but a red chance to take part in one of the world's largest sporting events and at the name of the rest making such

a twenty four team something to remember lots of andrew's. sochi. you know they're doing such a cracking job the reserve about those volunteers well. is just but it will be watching the pairs skating as it nears its conclusion that dating your only event and reactions from people the next hour and again then as we continue our special coverage of the twenty second the big games throughout the. we're putting up all the latest results rumors and goings on in sochi in a special section on our website twenty fourteen r.t. dot com right now we're reporting there on how the russian president is entertaining for and gas in the host city and of course bring you live updates on all the sporting events.

one hundred days to go till the next european parliamentary election but people in one country are too ignorant to vote on matters according to a senior bloc commissioner and that's not the only choice they're not qualified to make she says with more on the rhetoric argues laura smith these are comments made by vivian redding who is the new justice commissioner a top official in the pin union and it's british people that she's talking about who she says don't know enough about the european union to be able to vote in the referendum on whether to stay where the britain should stay in or come out of it she's urging britain essentially to spend more time on debate about the e.u. before a possible referendum is announced and basically accusing people of not knowing what they'd be voting about and of sleep walking into making a deeply uninformed decision it is

a little bit hypocritical of her because she doesn't appear to be particularly well informed about the european union herself she maintains that seventy percent of u.k. laws are actually made in the european parliament the house of commons study has shown that that number is vastly exaggerated and of course all of this is playing into the hands of the anti e.u. no p. and political parties like the u.k. independence party those who would like person to leave the when a top official suggests that people in any country aren't sufficiently qualified to vote in those elections it sort of has a whiff of elitism and a sort of with the lack of democracy which of course is what the e.u. skeptics are constantly saying about the european union and it also may serve to discourage people from the scene in the election in any european election at all oh well they think if i if i don't really know enough of someone telling me i don't know enough then maybe i won't bother to vote but we'll have to see how that pans

out come may. for an in-depth discussion of interacting statements i'm joined by two guests from london one steven wall from the u.k. independence party spokesman for the city of london the other peter wilding founder and director of british influence that's a campaign to keep the u.k. in the e.u. thank you very much gentlemen for joining me here so first question to stephen do you agree that the brits don't know enough to vote in a referendum on e.u. membership no i don't agree and i think today vivian redding should hang her head in shame and be completely embarrassed embarrassed on two fronts first calling the people of britain too ignorant to be able to understand the issues to vote and also she said that brits are too lazy compared to e.u. migrants i believe that she should apologize to the people of this country for the statement she's made today peter your take. well that comes from a guy whose party leader nigel farage started the year off by saying thirty million

remaining in a bulgarian immigrants knocking on the door of the u.k. first of all thirty million was a completely false figure secondly they haven't come so the point really at the heart of this story is not whether vivian reading is saying anything with a whiff of allegiance or the true feeling that the british people don't know enough about british influence and how the brits operate in an european union and they can't do so because they are fed a diet through various newspapers which is essentially pap it's not true and if you don't take my word for it lord leveson in this inquiry made it very very clear that the british press media on balance when it comes to the reporting of britain's relations with the european union and the fact is it is important that they understand that we all should understand the truth from both sides of the argument and the problem within the u.k. is that the public are only getting one side of the argument on a regular basis these days well speaking of those comments stephen calling an

entire population ignorant not the best way to improve it to improve their attitude what do you think about that what do you think their reaction but well i think the british people are going to see vivian reading gandel so pizza for the statements he's just made is the part of the elitist group who really want to control their country be one of the most important statements that if you're reading also said today was that you must understand she said that there is only one parliament in europe and that is the european parliament and that sovereignty is gone and that britain should understand that once they signed those treaties sovereignty had left them and remains in the hands of the european union and you have people like peter saying the british public don't understand of course they do they understand that the energy costs are driven by e.u. directives on climate change the people in britain at the moment are suffering from floods and they understand that they you do. well behind the recommendations that the environment agency took on peter the people in this country do you understand

the problem is that you don't like it because they don't agree with you before i jump over to a question for peter stephen i just want to follow what do you think that the debate in the u.k. is imbalanced do you think that there is only one side of the issue coming from that's being told to the voters at large well suddenly that's quite preposterous you have a conservative party leader a liberal democrat party and the labor party who have their people already putting out the arguments that we should remain in the european union there are newspapers like the independent the guardian the mirror the evening standard that all promote the european union compared to the very soon newspapers that actually have come out bravely like the like the daily express that are trying to show the proper argument of why the european union is undemocratic and also too expensive and will decline this brits this country because it affects our g.d.p. and trade and i know peter reading says that the u.k. is quote not using the tradition of debate that it has over europe what do you

think she means by that. well first of all it's wonderful to hear that the e.u. is responsible for the increase in energy prices and the responsible for the floods i think that's typical of the kind of scam mongering and fear in generating about the european union that most sensible people recognise is not really a fair balance and also the truth of the matter is whatever vivian reading says and i'm not here to defend what i am here to defend is the right of the british people to get a fair amount of information eighty percent of the public who the public who question the you gov poll that we did said they didn't have enough information and what they really mean is they don't have enough leadership about this subject so whilst you keep right in the same knew that the british public are concerned about issues such as democracy and sovereignty let's battle that out and the problem is we don't battle that we are accused the people who believe in british membership of having

sold out but what we want to achieve these british leadership in europe to complete the single market so as to create jobs and to make sure that we with germany and friends creating european continent which is strong in a world which the u.k. don't understand want to turn the clock clock back and really the forward thinking future approach is for britain to lead in europe and that's what the public really want to know all right i've got one more question that i have time for i think i want to throw to you stephen a reading also claimed that seventy percent of the u.k. laws were already being made in the european parliament do you agree with that. yes and it's not actually nice to actually agree with the european commission and this isn't the first time that she said it last year in sweden she was asked the same question by a swedish audience and agreed that it was seventy five percent of the problem that you someone will try and bring up about the house of commons the house of lords and she would this was dealt with between the years of nine hundred seventy nine and

two thousand and five this was before the lead. when treaty on a vast array of new regulations directives and orders come in says germany has accepted that more than seventy five percent of the moles i'll be in and post posed in that country and so of us recognizing that it's a terrible state of affairs it shouldn't happen and it shows that democracy has moved to europe not from this country i wish i could give peter a chance to comment on that but unfortunately we have run out of time thank you both very much gentlemen for joining me peter wilding from british influence founder and director and stephen wolfe of the u.k. independence party thank you more still to come after a short break stay with us here on our team.

transit. your best way to the heart of moscow. dramas that can't be ignored. stories others refuse to notice. faces change the world right now. to picture of just days. from around the globe. to me.

twenty minutes past the hour now south africa's opposition are reportedly struggling to make their voices heard in their protest against corruption and crime in widespread poverty on arrest see that in the post mandela country as the nation seems to be edging toward a security crisis archy's policy reports from johannesburg where we're about to enter one of the most dangerous townships in one of the most dangerous cities in the world this is the south africa that mandela left behind never know what to expect. when you go out in those three some days of be quiet some days you just up and down there are a lot of downs in south africa now days away from the cameras all is not well in the land of mandela twenty six year old constable cum obama later knows it all too well for five years he's been patrolling the streets of johannesburg to try and

instill some sense of order. and now we turn to him but there's a. there's a large majority of. poverty. so a lot of the early hours the will of the two for a better life for a better way of the. crime. crime crime and the few paces in south africa today we crime is more rampant or poverty more in demick than alexandra township twelve kilometers northeast of johannesburg. african national congress and the same to of anti-apartheid activism but it's as if time has stood still here many residents feel forgotten by mandela south africa it is quite frightening situation for us to. really make the best effort the spawning township is home to nearly a quarter of a million mostly black south africans sixty percent of them are grindingly poor and

unemployed as we drive along the stench of mounds of garbage overwhelms us the stats are sobering each day on average more than fifty people are murdered in south africa another fifty attempted murders take place more rape happens here in a country of fifty two million people than in india a country of one billion the police are struggling to cope with exams you. can answer that truthfully. yeah you can say real sufficiently trained. but it's up to us. to obtain that training the police in south africa have reacted. and understaffed and according to a new poll a staggering eighty three percent of south africans believe they're also corrupt which means the good guys like a robber and his partner often put their lives on the line without sufficient backup do you think that state or make any difference to the right situation.

can only hold. over to those days but. the residents of alexander though are too busy packing their daily reality to worry about what life without mandela will bring twenty years after he came to power they still waiting on promises of jobs and economic prosperity policy r.t. and xander township south africa. and the u.s. small in what could become the world's biggest free trade agreement looking for more economic power ups the sides are discussing the deal of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership treaty arteries were important reports. but night i'm announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive transatlantic trade and investment partnership with the european union because trade that is bare and free across the atlantic supports millions of good paying american jobs. grand promises minus any explanation it's been one

year since the us president announced the establishment of a trans atlantica free trade agreement known as taft they have been negotiated in total secrecy away from the congress and the people. the bit about six hundred corporate executives corporate lobbyists. negotiating the deal with the united states trade representative with the other countries sweeping u.s. surveillance has cast a cloud over negotiations as germany threatened to pull out outraged over washington snooping on its european partners but if the free trade treaty actually goes through it promises both sides of the atlantic massive gains of up to one hundred fifty nine billion dollars as more exports are expected to create more jobs but the profits could come at a cost to citizens critics say the treaty would get rid of policies put in place to protect the people danger here is that this will amount to deregulation that

basically will be a race to the bottom and health and safety standards will be diminished in an attempt to create some kind of huge market with the same standards for example genetically modified foods are not labeled in the u.s. while in europe it's mandatory but in the name of free transatlantic trade any regulations against g.m. rose is an impediment to train and therefore. simply no longer coal they're simply removed by these trade agreements so then europe is ordinarily good to g.m. . foods regardless of what the european b. was under the treaty cars and pharmaceutical drugs could reportedly end up being tested only one spy the exporting country instead of the current standard of dual testing be it fracking banking or flying taft critics argue will leave governments

with no choice but to change policies that better suit the business needs of private corporate power what their hope is is to have to find the lowest common denominator between the u.s. and and and standards that then make it more easy for there to be quote unquote trade big call our regulations and our standards that hurts. health and safety trade irritants they're called as opposed to barriers and and we believe that those many of those standards are there for very good reason public support for safety standards and regulation may be the very reason american and european citizens have been kept in the dark about what may turn out to be the world's largest free trade agreement burn up or ny r.t. new york up next women with their fingers on the triggers stay with us after this short break. the.

transit route to vnukovo report you'll best way to the heart of moscow. likely to see any sort of counter revolution aimed at preserving traditional maybe even a charcoal gender roles the islamic religion this is one very powerful

counterforce towards maintaining traditional marriages and values just as they become more powerful western liberalism becomes powerful and we have to the sort of major civilizations currently on a collision course. you know the united states as as many think tanks as the next ten countries combined yes one thousand eight hundred and twenty eight takes to tell three hundred million people and i think.

with the economic ups and downs in the final months they belong to the old saying i and the rest of the case it will be every week on a leash. it's . there are approximately over two hundred eighty million licensed firearms in the united states of america female owner seem to be more and more common today one in five americans own at least one firearm a phenomenon which didn't exist thirty years ago. and i'm not a girl that's for all begun to joey i have a few pieces but i don't wear a lot of it and that what we do together as a family is collected and target share. the right to carry

a gun is supported by the second amendment of the constitution established in seventeen ninety one by james madison after the war of independence. free circulation of guns was one of the first laws put in place by the revolutionaries. even if the time of war has ended for many americans carrying a firearm remains an inalienable right as important as freedom of religion or expression. and hear all and all the time. and much the same problem or at a time. probably. paradoxically while crime levels have lowered since two thousand and five the sale of guns keeps on rising. the subject divides american society with the pro arms on one side and the anti arms on the other. consequently each state has their own legislation for regulating the sale and carrying of guns the twenty seven states in red on the map have lenient.