gold and silver russian fans erupted in joy as the home team takes the podium in pairs figure skating with a record number of viewers tuning in for the games. european commission vice president says brits are too ignorant to vote in a referendum on e.u. membership or cast ballots in the upcoming euro parliament vote. a lot of the earlier city looking for a bit of a bitterly of the. crime. are to travel to south africa as the nation reels and corruption crime and poverty after the passing of iconic leader nelson mandela.

eleven pm in moscow i'm at present very good to have you with us day five of the sochi winter games and we're handing it over now to our studio in the heart of the city of sochi kevin owen standing by to tell us some exciting news about the russian team kevin. yes war evening everyone what an hour is just a welcome back to make everyone here in our special coverage of the twenty second winter olympic games and this is a moment of triumph for the russians millions of fans just been cheering in to watch the pairs figure skating has just wrapped up an event very close of course to the hearts of many people here on the home team didn't disappoint they took both the gold and the silver in front of a jam packed arena our very own paul scott watched that competition as well all their poor great moment wasn't the skaters the performance from them the rules of the crowd. and he was russian have secured their second gold medal at these

homes twenty fourteen winter olympics and they've continued their dominance in the figure skating they secured a one two in the pairs event with the world and european champions tatyana villas are maxime trunk of securing gold with a no the full list display and they were clearly overcome by the emotion of it all at the end of their performance which really did raise the roof inside the iceberg skating palace meanwhile their teammates could send you still given federal cream of came in second to get the silver germany got bronze on these medals for russia added to the gold that they've already won in the figure skating team event so it seems that when it comes to figure skating russia very much for the team to catch. good news there is no information tonight but with you again shortly meantime art has been keeping up with the athletes many of whom have found themselves on the podium themselves we've been asking them how it feels to be a champion here and whether they found the facilities to their liking and of the

day. is funny. down here because it's really challenging like one of the best on his in the season the conditions on the hill. just just awesome when it's so challenging. any surprise when i say. the best should really look. this is what it's about yeah i really like it already people are really nice. to have a lot of fun the celebrating. the spirit of chorus. some good words for surgery just never thought possible cause like honestly all i wanted was a good result to do everything i could everything have been working for you i don't want to let down my team and my coaches i came to skate well and i was nervous the first time so it turned into a matter for me every time we talked it was really good to hear tom tom again the

athletes are happy so too it seems on the t.v. viewers around the world the international olympic committee has announced that the sochi 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 show and the figures that twenty five million more people that are watching the games daily across the world wow in the united states olympic program in fact is said with the clips all over television programs including leading soap operas and favorite talk shows because it comes with a price bigger expectations on those athletes more pressures on them we spoke about that with one of the greatest russian skating stars in us with sky is now deputy head of the olympic village here. things people have. these are my fulfilling the games here and the first in which i am not the display thing as an applet but now that time one down the side i can see that the media does have an impact on the affluence 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. but you know able to get here in person i can tell you here in such a the atmosphere is entirely something else from jubilant fans and athletes to visiting dignitaries the city seems to be caught up in a constant state of celebration as to why that would pull scott not to give us a little more of the flavor of the mood he's been experiencing himself he was here way before the olympics started but paul you've been really caught up in the atmosphere tell our viewers what you think about it. yes i have no doubt that after the success for russia the same thing with those gold and silver medals that the atmosphere and the excitement levels are only going to increase and it's nice that we're actually talking about sporting success at the moment because of course the build up to these games plagued by controversies but here we are now well into the first week of the games and everything is running smoothly however there are some

concerns away from the coastal cluster and up in the mountain cluster there's a fear that the mild temperatures a causing the ice and the snow to melt however the international olympic committee say that at the moment they have absolutely no concerns about the conditions in pollyanna now if you want to go i mentioned how smoothly that these games were running of course they helped in part by the volunteers my colleague martin andrews now has more. they are the unsung. 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 cut 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 i'm rehearsing at the black sea resort in what's the most is the first visit to russia brazil will come from glasgow scotland to come to sochi here alone. experience and the people are really great. i like everything here and it feels great knowing that i am 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 the sorts of spectators can't miss them like the competing athletes their roles require commitment patience and in jordan's the love of taking part rather than cash reward scuse me hello i'm here to see the men's hockey game where do i go so these competitions are held in bunch of guys and you can get there by crossing this week then turn to the left

and you will see the big building in front of the world to drop it's very big and very beautiful very nice and you speak english russian and voyage yes german very good to have a show so good thank you very much part of our. city sickly just under half the help is our 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 age a friendly face and knowledge of foreign language is in. knowing how to get from a to b. are just some of the skills these guys will be throughout the games of the paralympics long days. but it's a red chance to take part in one of the world's largest sporting events and at that name it's the making such a twenty four team something to remember. that andrew's. sochi

goes they all deserve medals i was given taking the involuntary but talking of medals the big news is just a rico has joined us what a moment it's been for russia gold and silver in the post skating the last out to do for reactions from the people there who want to see what i'm talking about sixty minutes time as we continue our special coverage of the twenty second of the games throughout the. thank you kevin very much artie's kevin owen there from sochi and we're putting up the latest results rumors and goings on in the host city in a special section on our website that's twenty fourteen dot r.t. dot com right now we're reporting on there how the russian president is entertaining for and guess at the big city and of course bringing you all the live updates on all of you that.

andrea days until the next year a p. and parliamentary election but people in one country are too ignorant to vote on the e.u. matters according to a senior bloc commissioner and it's not the only choice i'm not qualified to make she says war on the rhetoric from artie's laura smith in london. these are comments made by vivian redding who is the new justice commissioner a top official in the european 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 a referendum on whether to stay whether 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 you know p. and political parties like the u.k. independence party those who would like person to leave the e.u. when a top e.u. 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 earlier i discussed readings comments and i read to them in british

society with stephen ward from the u.k. independence party and peter wilding founder director of the british influence a pro group take a listen. today vivian redding should hang her head in shame and be completely embarrassed and barest 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 well that comes from a guy whose party leader nigel farage started the year off by saying thirty million remaining in a bulgarian immigrants are 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 reddy is saying anything with a whiff of elite isn't the truth of the matter is the british people don't know enough about british influence and how the brits operate in the 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 well i think the british people are going to see vivian reading and also pizza for the statements he's just made is the part of the elitist group who really want to control their country because 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 whilst you keep right in saying 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 out we are accused the people who believe in british membership of having sold out but what we want to achieve is british and leadership in europe to complete the single market so as to create jobs and to make sure that we with germany and france

create a european continent which is strong in a world which you 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. more still to come after a short break stay with us here on our. transit. you all best way to the heart of mosco.

the new u.s. state department official victoria nuland and the american ambassador to ukraine said on tape with many have claimed all along washington's plans to overthrow the elected government in kiev on this edition of crossfire we ask how this embarrassing leak changes the political battlefield in ukraine. sixteen minutes past the hour now the south african opposition's reportedly been struggling to make their voices heard in their protest against corruption rising

crime and widespread poverty unrest seething in the post mandela country is the nation seems to be edging toward a security crisis paul asli reports. 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 there were no what to expect when you go out in the street some days 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 corrode burma 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 are entering but. there's a large majority of. poverty. a lot of the purely artistic

to for a better life for a better way of the. crime where i am right and the few places in south africa today where crime is more rampant or poverty more in demick than alexandra township twelve kilometers northeast of johannesburg it was once the headquarters of the 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 is quite frightening situation for us but if. we make the best effort this borning 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. except hear hear. can truthfully. yeah you can say real sufficiently trained. up to us. to obtain that training the police inside the building 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 will make any difference to the right situation. we can only hope. for to those days but. the residents of alexander though are too busy battling the 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 r.t. and xander township south africa. from an opposition party in south africa thinks his country is dealing with the same problems that it had two decades ago. these protests and sort of. basic i do think that the protests that happened after the to death of nelson mandela south africa has been there will kept little protests but a decent last few months we've seen a heightened. militancy over those a protest because it's a response to a government which basically its policies deep in poverty and it does unable to respond to tool to needs of the people they need to skid i think teasingly government is using the old up out of date to racist methods in dealing with you to meet the demands of people twenty years late handling has not been able to

dismantle up out of date in other words they have a system that keeps people apart what left people are poor and white people are taken care of the kids aren't all right according to belgian protesters the country set to remove restrictions on euthanasia allowing for the for the controversial practice for children find out on our website. and a cyborg future has drawn a little closer as scientists managed to put microscopic motors inside human cells find out what more at r.t. dot com. the u.s. and e.u. mulling what could become the world's biggest free trade agreement looking for more economic power ups the sides are discussing a deal on the transatlantic trade investment partnership treaty as artie's marina porton i have found out the document could lead to governments falling into corporations pockets. the 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 fair 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 and the deal with the united states trade representative and 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 of 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. and true regardless of what the european people walk under the treaty cars and pharmaceutical drugs could

reportedly eyed 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 treaty 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 regularly should 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. new york you know edwards

a writer on economics politics and social justice things governments are already giving in to big business can see in many countries at the moment that there is governments that are already serving corporate interests and what little protection citizens have or in the place of the domestic governments and their ability to be able to protest the ability to be able to place petitions the free speech and essential what could happen is that corporate interests are going to be alighting and. the profits can be maximized and of course this will mean that essentially governments will be neutered what protections that they have that they're offering citizens at the at the moment these things are being eroded slowly and this contest sensually take away and any protections that citizens have against corporations and we'll have

a david and goliath situation where using beautiful women as honey traps to extract information could just be one of the tricks the g c h q has up its sleeve new leaks from edward snowden suggest the british surveillance agency is going beyond its remit and fudging the lines of legality or he's probably boyko reports from london . list of g.c.a. latest antics reads a bit like a cartoon villains manual edward snowden has revealed that a covert unit within the agency is messing with targets social media accounts so that changing their profile pictures on facebook they're posting i'm deleting status says and they're sending cryptic messages to their friends and family containing dissent from ation about them now g c h q is joint intelligence threat research group even uses on waiting journalists to funnel information about potential targets and they're also into honey traps they pose as attractive women

online in order to get potential targets to meet with them in person i think what's unique in this area is the first public proof that we've seen that serious issues of illegality have been brought forward the interference of other people's communications the violation of the privacy of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people if the government knows everything about you information is power and then there have enormous power over you where we always say something interesting here with all these revelations what is the blackmail start do you see h.q. isn't a spy agency like m i five or m i six it's a government agency tosca with collecting and analyzing data and yet these most recent revelations show that there are also no includes sending viruses and norm ching denial of service attacks against websites the attempt to do denial of service attacks organizations they don't like are deliberate attempts to obstruct

to deceive i think was the phrase they use they say they call it deny disrupt degrade and deceive i mean it's like a james bond movie but this is this is the stuff they're doing and have been doing for years but this is the first proof that anybody's had that they've actually done it and yet how kids who don't work for g c h q. you face prison if they do the same and there's campaigning for civil liberties here in britain say they want to know why. not see. opinions clash coming up in the next edition of cross talk stay with us after this short break.

transit route to vnukovo report your best way to the heart of moscow. you know the united states has 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. barry dillard's best location to know is still remember. how to do

it well as of the rawhide tents and said you would stop this storm we might think you know my people will die cold.

hello and welcome to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter all of a leaf conversation of two american officials the f. bomb and an agenda revealed a senior u.s. state department official victoria nuland and the american ambassador to ukraine said on tape what many have claimed all along washington's plans to overthrow the elected government in kiev on this edition of. this embarrassing leak changes the political battlefield in ukraine. to cross talk developments in ukraine i'm joined by my guests no voice mom which in washington he is director of the rice institute for serbian studies in new york we have he is a research associate at the.