coming up on our t.v. breaking news coming out of ukraine protesters once again filled the streets of the nation's capital demonstrators and local police continue to clash with civilian fatalities reported a look at the unrest in ukraine just ahead and today was a day of many champions at the sochi olympics numerous medals were awarded dramatically shifting the current rankings we'll have the latest coming up plus a new development for a russian man imprisoned in the u.s. american authorities have finally agreed to allow a medical examination of the end mate this after a russian diplomat showed a concern over his health more on that later in the show.

it's tuesday february eighteenth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm not going lopez and you're watching r t america well we begin tonight with breaking news coming out of ukraine where at least nineteen people are reported dead and dozens of others were injured today according to government officials. clashes in the country continue to become more and more violent between police and demonstrators both protesters and police have been killed in this violence protests against president victory on a cold which have been underway for twelve weeks now the ukrainian parliament is now considering a constitutional change that would make it much more powerful than the president president on a cold vicious set to meet with opposition parties tomorrow to discuss peaceful resolutions for the latest from kiev here's artie's alexei or a chef. all right now we are at the independence square i just want to overlooking

this where this is the best we can get at the moment because every other position from where we can do a live shot is blocked off either by the police or by the protesters in fact the whole city center is now gripped by by the protesters and the police we couldn't get through here for more than an hour which is completely and typical the independence square itself is a complete mayhem at the moment i think it's burning we can hear flash bangs exploding from time to time the protesters are hurting rocks and molotov cocktails at the police these were pretty much the scenes which we saw on january the nineteenth several weeks after that in kiev but now london's has returned to the sea something creates capital to was seems to be rather hard for compromise hard to achieve compromise between the opposition and the opportunities it's already sunny's over was detained in the protests in the two months of protests in exchange for the opposition by going to the city buildings which they did but now on tuesday

the opposition decided to hold a peaceful march to the barn might wish resulting in violence it's hard to say it's still unclear who incited who provoked this violence but this is the deadliest and the most violent scene we have experienced and capable the boss several months we keep seeing ambulance cars pulling up to the scene and away from the scene the cars are changing each other at the rapid pace we see the injured are carried to the ambulance cars all the time the policeman and the girl justice so it's all hell breaking loose right now at the moment though there is a certain feeling of defiance among the protesters it seems that they are willing to stay here and sacrifice their lives if they need to to defend what they call the last the last point of freedom and this country so the committees it's very heated at the moment it's an unstable situation it's like a monkey with a grenade this time what we used from the situation in cuba this was the same story

he had said. we were trying to get inside the square we was told by cornell policemen who were not letting anyone inside the room it's all the independence square and they said guys you need to take care and he don't need to go there because the protesters are firing live rounds i also saw one of the. one shield of the whole of the policeman lying on the ground with a bullet hole in it there are clear indications that the opposition on the ride just how far in possession this is not a surprise because just a week ago little more than a week ago in fact the leader of the so-called right wing sacked the radical movement which he has which is pretty much the core of the right here they say that should the police use live rounds against them they have something to respond with is it again as i said unclear whether the police actually use then you live around seguin's the protesters because what we've been hearing from the authorities the official line is that there has been no order to the policemen to use firearms to his live rounds against the protesters but there are clear indications that he's

going to command to pull out the rights of the protesters have been defused firearms against the police but i do moment and i still believe by this i didn't see any guns blazing guns blazing at the cons of the protesters there just using rocks and molotov cocktails during the police which is pretty violent because it is already there have been numerous reports of police actually attempting to storm the independence well what we do know for certain is that the police managed to dismantle several of the barricade lines which the protesters and set up on two months ago here at the independence square they have also used water cannons against the protesters at some parts of the independence square the european side which is adjoining this particular spot but when i walked through the independence square i didn't see any particular bias or a crackdown coming from this i don't do police have a pretty much secured the perimeter they circle the independence square not making any further steps forward the flash bangs. our exploding from time to time but it's

clear who is exactly small windows. and the police of the opposition and it's going to be allowed at the moment it doesn't seem that the police are just worried that the police are trying to assault the independence square trying to push the protesters from this side of the protest that was our tears alexei euro cesky reporting let's go to sochi now where it was a big day for the medals board seven events wrapped up today in the olympics here's a look at where the medal count stands right now the netherlands and the u.s. are tied right now with twenty medals each russia is next with nineteen medals followed closely by norway canada and germany for more from sochi here as our team is that richard van cortlandt who's there bringing us the latest and was filling us in on today's big when you're. just concentrating on team usa things got off very well very very early in the morning inside cheers became a braun's in

a men's no border cross going to alex de beauvoir france taking the gold medal and the silver medal for the russians also for you in and things they did very well for the usa as well late in the evening here in sochi as they picked up a gold medal in the men's heart by its ski well obviously the men's half pipe is probably more famous in the united states for the snowboarding and why the flying tomato as he's known was a two time olympic champion coming into the saudi games but of course you're in the competition. crashed out and could only finish in four plays but better fortunes for the americans in the men's ski as david why is why you had an exile and first run scoring ninety two points and that was a good enough to give him an america gold medal wise for the somewhat on his second run scoring only forty points but i didn't matter for us a god goal and playing this. six gold medals so far it's

a solid year lympics also could be gold medal number seven soon for the usa when the women's two men started to win bob slay the americans setting a track record. on the first run off of two runs they have a ten second lead over their nearest rivals canada and a second runs taking place on wednesday well that follows hot on the heels of the two men american bobsled team who want to silver medal yesterday behind the russians so obviously american doing very well on the sliding trike of the moment. so just to recap hard to change these events america with six golds full selves and ten bronze is twenty battles over all. time so i'm trying to be the recall they say it's in vancouver four years ago it won the thirty seven medals including nine golds very impressive now i understand there is

a very big match up coming up between the u.s. and canada for women's hockey team usa was very disappointed in its showing the last time any idea how they are changing their strategy this time around. we're not really going to change our strategy much because i mean the canada and the usa that played each other so many times over the last few years can of course favor the reigning gold medalist after winning in vancouver but the usa they got the bragging rights last time out in a major tournament winning the women's world championships in ottawa a beating the usa forty two in the final of the two teams actually met. here that was in the group stages where canada just. was really a lackluster usa side by fritos of usa definitely have a point to prove there they seem to getting back to form in a big way they crush sweden six to one in the seven finals on the roots of a gold medal game sweden really could have been in double digits really to score

their side she was talking to the usa they had ten different scorers. points to be eighteen. so certainly the usa looking very good going into the gold medal game with canada on the twenty first and let's talk about the men's hockey what are the chances the u.s. russia match up in the finals. is a very good chance of russia us a match up in the final because basically the two teams have been on different parts of the draw you have a rusher in the top part of a draw after finishing fifth after the preliminary stages of usa finishing second serve air in the bottom half so they won't me do meet until the final while usa they have a quarter final clash on wednesday where they will play. the czech republic to be that near neighbors slovakia for one in the playoff run to get into

the last states and they have been delighted has really pulled the usa coaching staff advisor who to play in nets really they're going to jonathan quick but also injuries canes net mind which means that she benched the m.v.p. from the vancouver olympics ryan miller who was such an instrumental part of taking what was a very young usa side all the way and so close to beating canada four years ago but this u.s.c. team better a lot more mature they've got a lot of players have gained experience which is patrick kane two time stanley cup winner with the chicago blackhawks looking very impressive it's called the most goals so far off to the group stages netting fifteen and just conceding for phil kessel they probably got one of the form players so far in that solomon the toronto maple leafs forward had a great day in the season's break in the n.h.l. with his scoring is continuing and he was the first american trying to score a hand charades sense nineteen eighty when of course i was the famous miracle on

ice victory of it's only union which america eventually wins on to claim gold in lake placid so some very big very interesting match ups coming out for team usa both in men and women cockle but the signs are locking what are some of the other events that we should be keeping our eyes on. well i like just to point out it's all a. kind of beyond of in you might not be named it's too familiar with american beauty the biathletes who competes with norway. he wanted gold medal very early on that one of the first events say in silence in the men's sprains which resides his twelve olympic medal which drew in level with the. legendary norwegian. cross-country skier. doll a. doll and just needs one more medal to go out all on his own to become the most decorated olympian in winter olympics history and he might have a chance on wednesday in the next relay but just going back to hockey is

a very interesting development today actually all the talks really been about whether the n.h.l. is going to be playing in pyongyang in two thousand and eighteen and unfortunately it was a great response from the n h l commission a gary bettman who's who decided he couldn't guarantee that the n.h.l. those would be very long chang i mean i was trying to corey perry the canadian forward in the anaheim ducks forward this afternoon and he was saying just how he's enjoying the service told him and in general that's been the whole everyone really who's participating in this funky event has really enjoyed taking pause and it's just about bringing hawking to new audiences as well his ratings for the sochi olympics have been fantastic of course everyone remembers the russia vs usa game in the poll say age which was probably one of the best games i've seen in a long long time very interesting definitely we'll keep our eyes on such as the games continue to play out all the way to the closing richardson portfolio thank

you so much for joining us from sochi russia with the latest. well newly released documents from the edward snowden leaks reveal that the n.s.a. and its british counterpart the g c h q work together to spy on activist groups one of the people kind of the n.s.a.'s spying web what wiki leaks founder julian assange onj now according to the documents the g c h q also kept track of people who visited the wiki leaks website by tapping into fiber optic cables and collecting the ip addresses of computers in real time glenn greenwald's latest exposé is featured in the intercept and it claims that a two thousand and ten document shows that julian assange just name was added on to a man hunting target list now that list also features the names of al qaeda members in response to songe told democracy now reporters quote it is strange to see your name in that context with people who are suspected of serious criminal acts of terrorism clearly that is a massive overstep wiki leaks also put out

a statement criticizing the u.s. for even considering adding the publishing sites name to its list of foreign malicious actors part of that statement reads quote wiki leaks strongly condemns the reckless and unlawful behavior of the national security agency we call on the obama administration to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the extent of the n.s.a.'s criminal activity against the media including wiki leaks and its extended network now for a little bit of background when a group is designated as a foreign malicious actor the n.s.a. is then allowed to target its electronic surveillance extensively without excluding american citizens from that surveillance on the other end of the spectrum though the n.s.a. denies some of the most serious accusations coming from glenn greenwald's new article the n.s.a. tells our t. quote any allegation that n.s.a. relies on foreign partners to circumvent u.s. law is absolutely false the national security agency does not ask its foreign

partners to undertake any intel. agency activity that the u.s. government would be legally prohibited from undertaking itself and went on to say that the agency compliance with u.s. attorney general procedures to protect privacy rights this is just the latest chapter in the n.s.a. surveillance scandal that keeps getting convoluted. while some councils lawmakers are trying to stall anti-gay legislation from being passed into law the bill h.r. two four five three would offer a legal protection to individuals businesses and even government employees who refuse to serve homosexuals if they have religious beliefs that oppose same sex marriage the bill passed the republican controlled house in a seventy two to forty nine vote last wednesday and is now headed to the senate judiciary committee however or t. has learned that the committee plans to kill that measure by stalling it indefinitely and kansas is not alone in its attempts to pass anti gay legislation lawmakers in tennessee are now debating senate bill two five six six that is

a measure that would quote be meant to give businesses the explicit power to turn down same sex ceremonies if they contradict sincerely held religious beliefs essentially it legalizes discrimination against the gay community the measure is being dubbed the turn away the gays build and just looking at the map of where same sex marriages are allowed more states are against gay rights then for them right now only seventeen states and the district of columbia allow same sex marriage federal judges struck down a ban on same sex marriage in utah oklahoma and virginia a temporary stay has put in place in those states during the appeals process. you can takes us to a closer look of some gay legislations that are coming out all over the u.s. . kansas lawmakers have outraged the gay community here in the u.s. says you know last year the u.s. supreme court ruled that the ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional so you

have states that have a brace this ruling and you have states that are trying to shield themselves from that ruling and here's how kansas is doing it kansas lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow businesses and state government employees to deny services to same sex couples if quote it would be contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs so according to these lawmakers forcing businesses or state employees to deliver services to same sex couples is a violation of their freedom of religion and speech gay rights advocates are of course outraged over this some say it could be worse than simply not allowing gay marriage because we're talking about services that could include medical care so state hospitals can potentially turn away gay couples at the door and deny treatment and this bill would protect them from discrimination lawsuits if a gay couple calls the police an officer may refuse to help them on religious

grounds that's how broad the language of this kansas bill is we're asking residents of washington d.c. one of the most gay friendly cities in the u.s. what they think about this bill. i think it's really terrible i think that employers should not be able to just like not let same sex couples have the same benefits as regular married couples based on their religious beliefs that's a fundamental contradiction of separation of church and state he might think that's why. why why do you think that. i don't think that the state. should be able to force people to do things that go against their religious beliefs kansas's not alone so-called religious example laws have been. proposed in idaho mississippi ohio oklahoma and oregon twenty states have lost protecting residents from discrimination based on their sexual

orientation but most states do not and it seems last year's supreme court decision and the overall trend toward equal rights for gay couples have prompted some of these conservative states to take an even more aggressive stance against the gay community in washington i'm going to check on our team. meanwhile u.s. authorities have agreed to allow a russian citizen who is being held in an american jail to receive an emergency medical examination constantine you're a shame go has been complaining of shortness of breath and speech problems artie's almost all see a shark in a house the story of russian pilot in his forty's constantin your xango is serving a prison sentence of twenty years in a new jersey prison after being arrested by u.s. officials in a sting operation in liberia in two thousand and ten and being found guilty of conspiring to smuggle drugs internationally in new york and twenty eleven case sets major precedent as he's the first russian citizen to have been arrested in an operation involving u.s. special agents and imprisoned in the united states for an intent to carry out

a crime in a third country after your lawyer raised a red flag a few days ago saying his client had visible signs of being on the brink of a heart attack such as difficulty breathing and speaking chest pains and short term memory loss the russian foreign ministry yet again spoke out about constantine needing urgent medical care was taken to a prison hospital to be examined with an ultrasound as well as electrocardiogram for his heart which he had complained about a handful of times his lawyer however has told r.t. that he believes a much more in depth assessment is necessary the russian foreign ministry has been insisting that russian diplomats and more importantly russian doctors be allowed to visit your shankill in jail who has repeatedly voiced concerns about his health throughout his time in the new jersey prison his wife victoria speaking to our t.v. said that he never had any health issues prior to his iraq arrest in liberia where he was said to have been beaten and tortured this is what your lawyer told us on

this matter your show. we come to and was duly docked to the country of flight burey a subject to school three days of brutal torture were. to use were knocked. it was all in goss violation of international law and even national law for that matter of course your should go skis should be addressed. at the national level between russia and the united states now our team has reached out for comment to the u.s. state department as well as the department of justice and organizations such as the american civil liberties union human rights watch and others but so far to no avail imagine now for a second that the situation were reversed and an american was in severe need of assistance being largely neglected in a russian prison prior to his arrest in the sting operation by u.s. officials had previously never stepped foot on u.s.

soil and has no criminal record in any other country in the world now the latest we're waiting to find out is whether russian diplomats and medics will be able to eventually goes condition as well as where on standby and waiting for any official commentary from u.s. officials on this case creating a stir between moscow and washington. r.t. new york. ok well they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the reality is that most women work very hard to look very good and to keep their skin healthy and in order to do that there are a litany of products out there to help from creams to masks to peels and everything in between but it turns out some of the products that help you look beautiful have ugly consequences on the environment our lives wall has more. well you may have heard of micro beads the tiny plastic beads that are part of some face scrubs and body washes turns out those beads are bad for the environment they make their way

into our lakes and oceans and do not biodegrade the plastic beads end up being eaten up by fish and may have then surely end up in some form on our dinner plates now states are taking action to ban them including california and new york the bill recently introduced in the new york state legislature would ban the sale and manufacture of the teeny tiny beads new york attorney general eric schneiderman calls it quote common sense legislation that will stop the flow of plastic from illegal designed beauty products into our vital waters preserving our natural heritage for future generations well this certainly isn't the first time the environment took a cosmetic hits the food and drug administration ministration recently came out cautioning the public again using antibacterial soap and that's because they can turn a contain a germ killing ingredient called tried close in the chemical is also found in body washes toothpaste and deodorants among other toiletries since they were first used

in the seventy's consumers have sworn by the products in promoting a germ free leg style but now the f.d.a. doubts they are more beneficial than regular old soap and water is fuel support for scientific warnings that the chemical can interfere with hormone levels and contribute to antibiotic resistance and the age old advice of using sunscreen is also raising environmental concerns the journal of environmental health perspectives the warns that several tons of sunscreen under the ocean when beachgoers go for a dip they find that the chemical that comes from the sunscreen is leading to destruction of coral reefs and integrity part of ocean ecosystem that was the oil cosmetic lover to do. well your best bet to go green is probably to go natural but if you can't go bare faced you could make an effort to use environmentally friendly products in washington liz wall r t. well every two years the national science

foundation presents a report of americans basic knowledge of science to the president and also to congress tonight president takes a look at the findings that are less they own satisfactory. every two years the national science foundation conducts a survey as part of a report called science and engineering indicators that's presented to the president and congress in the survey they ask questions to get an idea of americans grasp on basic science they just did it again and the results are pretty that it in

the survey they asked the question does the earth go around the side or does the sun go around the earth as more than a quarter of those surveyed answered incorrectly more than twenty five percent of those asked said that the sun goes around the earth out of a total my questions the average score was six point five correct answers now that's pretty bad but honestly when you consider that we have a warrant science here in the us it shouldn't be that surprising for example another question was about evolution only forty eight percent of those surveyed said that human beings developed from earlier species of animals meaning fewer than half said yes to evolution and while the scientists conducting the study consider that a yes or no question in this country evolution is very much debateable. many people in this country believe the bible's account of how human beings were created is fact and because of that we have laws in some places allowing teachers the right to

question evolution and impress upon kids that it's just a theory so it's not a surprise to hear that less than half of those surveyed said no to evolution. also in the survey only thirty nine percent said the universe began with a huge explosion meaning nearly two thirds of americans surveyed said no to the big bang theory but that might be because again there are a lot of people in this country who think that the big bang is a load of crap whipped up by scientists to go against god something like that so yeah in the us science is not only debatable it's under attack we've got far right republicans using the bible to declare war on science we've got far left progressive's using science to declare armageddon and in the middle we've got a giant country that isn't sure if the earth goes around the sun. if we keep focusing on being right be set at the open minded and questioning more the only

thing we can be sure of is that as a country our day in the sun is shares and tonight let's talk about that by following me on twitter at the president. all right well that does it for me for tonight but for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r.t. america check out our website r.t. dot com slash usa and don't forget to follow me on twitter ap meghan underscore lopez from all of us here at r.t. have a great night. and star wars. in the finish line and eric.

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