hello yet again it's no exactly ten pm here in sochi of what is the last day of the twenty second winter olympic games and the closing ceremonies underway right over my shoulder there with a healthy mix of grandeur and humor we can't bring it to you because of those pesky olympic copyright rules but we can tell you that the one ring that didn't open during the opening ceremony well it was still struggling to do so as well intentionally though this time in the closing ceremony it seems like the organizers one of a poke a bit of fun at themselves in a ceremony that viewers are calling simply stunning but that's painted a picture for you i wore the live picture there's been anyway so rich new records but also broken dreams and all that raw emotion that we've learned to love and cherish in the games are the memories will stay with us for years of course congratulations as well the sportsman lightweights all the winners and all the

participants especially the russian the home team for their victory but it was late in arriving it has to be said but fully deserved end of the day so here are t.v. busy ranking and sorting the best and the brightest moments of the olympics and today i was the day of course that really sealed it for russia was made it did and what a way to finish the game so these are let's put in perspective the best ever winter olympics for russia since the fall of the soviet union that's thirteen gold medals and what is really amazing what i find really amazing is that just four years ago in vancouver they had their worst performance ever at a winter olympics with just three gold medals and they managed to quadruple that turn around don't well this is it exactly so there is a big rethink this time you know four years ago and they it was a massive overhaul there was a massive purge and sporting personnel they brought in the sporting coaches we invested huge amounts of money in our sporting facilities for their athletes and they're now reaping the rewards in the sort of tea categories here firstly they've reasserted themselves. as in sports where traditionally they were always very good

so figure skating is one of those they picked up three gold medals one of the it was. who got gold in the women's figure skating for the first one they got for russia in the history of the olympics the other one was the cross-country skiing today we saw russia pick up a one two three in the fifty me fifty kilometer mass start which was sensational and then we've got breakthrough sports such as snowboarding two golds there we've got three gold medals in the short track so these are sports that russia had never meddled in before and even the bobsled they've got two gold medals and that's a first for russia so suddenly they're seeing all this hard work pay off and largely it's down to a good amount of foresight four years ago and the gall to say you know what we're going to take this by the scruff of the neck and we're going to sort it out and they've done it across the board and building amazing facilities that were here for years to come so hopefully this before somebody starts here quick final time cycles he really shone that night to me he did he really did three goals amazing you know

he wasn't in vancouver because he fell out with his country russia gave him a chance he's really shown three gold medals or so wild you should not forget the american because he got a russian passport just three years ago and he's given russia its first gold and snowboarding so well done to that it was god's will be there in four years ago the right hope so depends on what big indorsements come their way i'm afraid this is the world we live in but i really hope they are here because they're big heroes for russia or it will be as the closing surrogates of the way thank you for coming in tell us a little bit about russia made it so big this time in these games and it wasn't by any measure blood look we've been talking to the medalists on the russian team about their preparations their training and they've been telling us about the legs the country went there to ensure that they all had the proper of best facilities i . mean it's true of sports did some really great change everything in cuba are sure for a sport. there were two or three games. good medical. good

do. whatever it is simple with your world athletes you've traveled around the world surely you couldn't ignore what the western press was saying about russia about sochi ahead of these games how do you feel about that overall and do you think that people have maybe changed their stereotypes about russia. because of the beautiful game. because the. more. you can see. thank you. yes i know there are real stars of show and they were behind the sport of celebration there was another olympic contest taking place in salt she won a fashion the best designers label small over the world competed to make their teams on the athletes the ones that stood out and

a number of them certainly managed to do just that martin andrews as always you've got a good eye for these things yes you what caught your attention that your top five well there's something to talk about in the fashion i mean i could've given personally many gold or bronze by the insurgency but it's ok in two minutes here we go let's go let's start first of all number five we've got the pink panther routine that was of course the figure skating the past because skating and it was a loner and robin. there was superbikes you saw them all that then you could say that you know i think it looks a bit like a pink sausage but you say i got not because we draw in america and he was in a strange military kind of outfit very strange but they they did well there was a purple on the ice but i think you know i'm not too sure regarding you know. let's go to number four we've got the fans of course the fans who come to the past few weeks we've got elaborate costumes we've got wig overs the norwegians with horns all of the norwegian flag on the place crack you see also

a group of canadians who were dressed as elvis that we always see pictures of now great guys in fact in the in the stadium they were creating a great atmosphere they were starting a mexican wave so good for the fans because at the end of the day if there was no found. it isn't here number three number three yes we got the opening so many questions of germany now i think. simply hideous and ugly designed by. christmas come early that never allowed into germany ever again you look at them i mean they're just horrible it's like a throwback of rainbow brite all the cadbury i mean they are even holder they said martin. you know i could be cruel but yes a thumbs down to the german i. fitz number two the sexy outfits of the slalom let's look at the prince about this of course he's a descendant of german royalty. in the yet he's actually fifty five years old good for him for participating in the old and he probably should wait not really he

comes away with a medal he didn't expect it's a six olympics but look at him it is wonderful to talk to some of these clara it's a red come about with his red tie because then you want to stand out of any lobes are self to find the world number one is that this is number one i thought long and hard about it so actually i thought of her to give it to our poor souls are going to be coming up i almost gave it for your jacket yes my special coat i'll give it to you in the end maybe if only people at home knew the drama as we had about what to wear here anyway number one we've got the scandinavian team of the norwegian look at that nasty looking like the moscow state circus it's kind of. my grades if you stare at it and what was interesting is actually as they played the different games they wore different trousers so that was just one outfit unfortunately didn't they didn't score any medals they won silver in vancouver saying that the costumes helped sort of you know purpose on the ice but it didn't do them much favors and i'm sure they'll be throwing away those questions before they go back to norway yeah you were going to hear i bet that andrew thank you very much thanks for your

top five there we're now putting the final touches an all encompassing a limping program for you after the servant officially closes over my shoulder in a few minutes we think the recent great fireworks we're staying put for that next though artie's i live across the on how the olympics played out on the internet. with. their dispersal over the week peaks around the ice hockey suggest that the ice hockey is probably the king of the games for many although it's unfortunate the russian proved not quite the winner as we hoped it would be in that respect now let's have a look at the global cities and let's have a look at which cities were tweeting most intensely about such a twenty four team. boston st petersburg right in there in the global tour hierarchy i'm delighted to see that london of course is always there no matter what you look at in twitter you walk the same way but vancouver toronto and chicago are really getting in on the act this time toronto is the city that topped the global list and if you have a look at the high stocks for a week ago you can see such a twenty four team with a twenty four percent sochi problems the famous famous beam was up three percent

last week three percent of global conversation around sochi this week that's changed quite considerably i think sports and sporting heroes have broken out in the coverage we've got twenty eight percent it's a twenty fourteen and as you can see chelsea problems has dropped to less than one percent of conversations around sochi the reason is probably because a great mean that was born with steve rosenberg famous twin toilet tweet from the holes of course. probably burned a little brightly and burned out rosenberg of course set the set the template for what was to come afterwards but when it got to the stage that members of the american luiz team were tweeting about wolves walking down their car doors and in their sochi quarters things started to get a little bit out of hand another example of this is the austrian journalist who tweeted that the roof of the media center was in a state of disrepair this wasn't true however c.n.n. did want to use the photograph permanently on all their affiliates to show how

things were going badly in sochi now one of the reasons why such a twenty such a twenty fourteen has proven such a success is down to marvelous sporting stories like the fifteen year old guy who charmed the nation perhaps charmed the world with a performance of extraordinary grace in the team figure skating it was also an opportunity people to share extraordinary moments like this photo finish in the ski cross which i think left everybody who watched it gasping for air and then there are the great human stories alex bilodeau who celebrated his gold medal of course dedicated to his brother and the man is a shining example to many around the world. brian wood of course yes this is the famous. that's been reassured over forty thousand times this lady failing to deal with the technology. of a camera at the figure skating arena fished in sochi athletes got in on the act. started taking selfies with expressions such as to get in on the comedy in the trolling that she was being subjected to on twitter and then there were diplomatic

moments when stephen harper for example the prime minister of canada. perhaps rolled barack obama suggesting he'd look forward to picking up a can of beer when the canadian or create a beer with the canadians beat the americans. also gave a stellar performance on line by paying respect to al assad to the japanese figure skater his tweet to her was retrieved over forty thousand times and of course no version no no assessment of the sochi twenty fourteen olympics online would be complete without reference to everybody's heroes i think that you make an bobsled team who funded themselves were funded by the internet as such to get to saatchi and who were massively supported online. and matches are picking up for you in moscow here aside from all the professional athletes and their eternal chase for gold so he also welcome a number of somewhat unique sporting figures from a fan favorite the jamaican bobsled team of course to a princely mexican veteran of the game's artie's paul scott went out to chat with

them. for some athletes twenty fourteen was simply about taking part take for example indian illusia shiva cash haven his commitment to his sport highlighted by his training regime winding his way down dusty tracks bypassing don't send lorries along the way. and i weis insight yes he may have come thirty seven thousand and thirty nine but the him there was more at stake following accusations of corruption the indian and limpid committee were suspended by the i.o.c. in two thousand and twelve was lifted during these games meaning cache vin could finally compete under his nation's fly unfortunately there's a lot of politics played to the flag of india which i'm sure many people might call me not happy with but now that's over that's a lesson learned for everybody. to look ahead to one of the more colorful characters of these games was prince you bertus of hohenlohe

a london bug the fifty five year old is a descendant of a former german royal dinner state he's also a photographer the pop star who goes by the name of royal disaster. these are his six olympics the jewel nationality skis for mexico he's never won a medal maybe deserves gold for p.r. i think that russia the only problem that at this stage of the fired up p.r. person like it's a big bit of p.r. before i mean you know it's a great place. on the floor but you know the for everything it's really. just got a positive pipe over to europe and to america that we're so negative it's time to make his debut in these games bruno banani went in the luge you know his real name mind as part of a sponsorship deal he changed his name to that of a german underwear company but he told me he wants to be known for his sporting prowess if i didn't qualify for the limit. they wouldn't care at all what names i

am so i think is the most important thing that i try hard in training hard to get to be. on does any winter olympics complete without the jamaican bobsled the main attraction for press and fines raising their own funds to compete missing a connecting flight losing their luggage on coming second last still didn't dampen their party spirit proving that in amongst all the sporting excellence there is still room for sports to be fun. sochi. and still more news coming your way after a short break stay with us on r.t. international.

transit route to vnukovo report you'll best way to the heart of mosco and russia trees being gay is not criminalised there are absolutely no punishment for being gay in russia the only thing that these laws for is spreading information family information on nontraditional sexual behavior what are you going to legislate against couples to swing you know who. you know trade partners or is it only a certain type of sex that you are legally able to you know it is so why it is propaganda you know it's so unclear.

thanks for staying with us here on r t sixty minutes past the hour let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories turmoil in ukraine after the most turbulent week in its post-war history the country now undergoing a complete government overhaul since taking over the reins in the capital lobby the opposition has been hard at work establishing its own order r.t.c. group is going on has more from kiev. situation here resembles more and more cool since the president's fled the city along with some of his supporters those deputies of state or from opposition parties and they have been passing laws like a printing press the latest include the appointment of the acting president and the russian as the second official language in the country even though in the east up to fifty percent of those living there are ethnic russians still under the full

control of the protesters some of the former officials have been arrested while the appointed are known for their fire right. to say that events unfolded quickly here is almost to say nothing and for more about how things went all in what's the situation here like on the ground here is a report by my colleague alex. all hell was breaking loose in kiev on tuesday to compromise with seemingly reached all of a sudden ukraine's capital was plunged into the worst violence seen so far almost two hundred dead the central streets of one of europe's finest cities looking like a war zone and snipers shooting from the rooftops including our crew what we have now is that you have a radical elements that we have ready. there which is somehow here and driven by especially as we see using snipers and so on and which is not controlled neither by the opposition either by

the west directly so everything went out of control just two days later it was a totally different scene after the president made the biggest concessions yet by offering an early election and opposition led government and a return to parliamentary republic there were twenty core of the protests didn't buy it. if the president does not resign by ten am. i swear. i my ten o'clock on saturday they were is nothing left to storm all the police were gone and the ruling party had. he lost control over the capital so this is the presidential administration building which used to be the probably the most protected governmental building in the whole of the of the biggest fight in the first stages of the protest happened here now as you can see we are taken on an excursion that is no longer controlled by the police or the government the protesters have occupied this building as well this means that you will never be back here as the past the president made the head see retreat to the east of

ukraine and was now really defiant even after receiving news that parliament had ceased to recognize him as leader by an overwhelming majority and announced an early election since. all that is happening now for the most part is then the lead man crimes this is my strong belief i will do everything takes to prevent my country from splitting up to stop the bloodshed it went from bad to worse we have a quote which with parliament releasing this aren't quite well unity my shango from prison sparking jubilation on independence square. actually dreamt of seeing you as a force changed everything your heroes here is the best of this country has protesters are in high spirits and the east and south of the country are simply indifferent to its leaders have declared itself governance and constitutional power fuelling talk of a permanent break up in the country and. reporting from kiev in ukraine. here's

a map to show you how much of ukraine is refusing to follow the new lead these ten provinces home to more than half the country's population regional leaders gathered in the eastern city of harkov this weekend to express their disapproval of what's going on in the capital. russia is starting to do local authorities are in charge of all political decisions on the ground in these regions we have to protect our land we think that the central authorities are paralyzed and that their decisions cannot be considered constitutional but the new order in the capital is not the only thing people in the east of the country are angry about many say they feel abandoned by a president on a car which after he made concessions to the opposition and fled the capital. i'm shocked and disgusted by the actions of the president i never thought he'd never betray the ukrainian people i thought that he'd hold on to the end. you know expert alexander macarius things down a covert his own policies during a crisis turned his people against him i think mostly only code which is a political corpse we've seen people in the eastern ukraine it's

a saying how utterly betrayed they feel by him there was a release today by his own party what's left of it the party of the regions which accused him of betraying the ukraine i think he is an artillery discredited man he's made threats which he's never followed through he's never supported he's the police and the security forces who were very loyal to him right up until almost the end and he cut deals with opposition leaders who were quite obviously since the nineteenth of january to no longer in control of the crowds and here so he's political leadership has been disastrous and i think that he's recognized across the whole country. so it's the studios now for the spectacular olympic fireworks that are going on as we speak kevin. yeah hi there miles i've got a missile with me as well here let's take

a look at what's happening over our shoulder show you a live forgive me if i turned out to watch this spectacle as well there we are in the amazing closing show we'll talk about that in just a minute it was a really strange moment when the flame extinguished that huge olympic flame that had such a journey together and we saw it. at the beginning of all this so much excitement you saw the tears on people's eyes that i got a bit weepy really strange to see it go really touching the flame is now officially out it's essentially the official start of the paralympics this is what sochi now means for the olympic organizers also because of the seventh but for now let's concentrate on the closing ceremony so it's really unfortunate but it is always par for the course we were able to show. us exactly what was going to decide that because a very strict copyright rules it seems like that every time within the picture it's nothing new however we were looking. at wachovia as well and you are saying it was

phenomenal it was family was very different than the opening ceremony just as grand again they went back through the deep russian history this time there was a focus on the historic. performing arts so they went through. the bugs one theater downstairs learned it was an artist when he was there just just at the very end very famous russian conductor conducting what looked like a child's chorus and they essentially i assume are seeing as we're looking at these beautiful fireworks so really a tremendous show people were floored lots of people crying in the audience people very proud of course russia coming out on top of these olympics breaking so many records it's going to such an emotional moment when it all comes to an end i think people are genuinely happy but also a little bit sad right now but of course we must look to the future so. paralympics kicking off on the seventh of march the last for just over a week doesn't it and then just remind us what's going to happen remind of us what's going to happen to the majority of this site afterwards while there is a huge help but this will be the future of russians were saying earlier that

russians did not break in bangkok are in fact their worst performance ever thinks and so i think it's a huge read overhaul of sports and there's a hope that this will bring sport back to the polity that it was back in soviet times when there was no going to have to get into the way it. just doesn't take a pause because it looks like we're getting some great shots only crowd here following this but not quite sure how well you can see that at all but oh yes you can see it over because you can see it's fantastic i mean look at me the what you're looking out the movie shot of the moment so you know guys you know you can see the love what a beautiful backdrop what a spectacular end to what has been a great games thomas barkley are on today said they were at a great game says far as the i.o.c. is concerned and i think that russia russians were a little bit skeptical themselves michael was tough that was the thing norma's and to have her and i think russell was maybe a little bit nervous that they wouldn't pull it off and for russia today they

realize that they did it and they did it really really well and that means something very important to russians to ordinary russians across the country just want to hear what was your very quick highlight oh it's so hard don't see what we're doing on the spot being so close for us to get the opportunity people are ready to help my friends on the road i'm jealous so i feel very lucky to be here and for me it was sydney medals here so close to one of the touch and i was allowed to go to the guy for those medals that. well they just have a good home thank you for watching our coverage i hope you've enjoyed it we've been here for three weeks of this saw on the whole rest of the team hope you've enjoyed it thanks ever so much being with us that was though the twenty second winter olympics from here in sochi having it over now of course and this is a year off korea four years time they're already up and ties you know really over a. i had a presentation actually at part of the opening ceremonies so efficiently russia has handed over the olympics they have the paralympics but this is a quote from us here in salt shape but. goodbye.

thanks guys it's been an unforgettable experience well thank you for staying with us here on r.t. international we'll be back with more after this short break. i just her state of the city address new york mayor bill de blasio said that he would put forward legislation for the city to issue special municipal identification cards to undocumented immigrants he summed up his feelings by saying to all my fellow new yorkers who are undocumented i say new york city is your home too and we will not force any of our residents to live their lives in the shadows yeah that sounds nice but the reason these illegal immigrants live their lives in the shadows is because they immigrated illegally why should new yorkers bend over backwards for

illegal criminal immigrants this is the same logic that if i catch a guy breaking into my house as a gracious host i should offer him a pizza because it's his home too this is not just a slap in the face to rule of law but also to the immigrants who do go through the bureaucracy and headaches to become u.s. citizens the right way the legal way so the blasio if you're going to provide these illegal immigrants with some sort of document it should be a plane ticket back home with instructions on how to apply for a green card the legit proper way just like everyone else has to fashion just my opinion.

going to extremes all across europe right we can tell you the parties and groups are gaining strength and in some cases respectability what accounts for this hard economic times or the growing alienation and frustration with the euro project could be said the new right is really the old right so we're in a nice suit. alone and welcome to worlds apart teller and inclusion and understanding these are values that the l.t.p. community has long stood and called for and can't be nearly i dumped it style of the l g b t advocacies anything but tolerant and inclusive do calls to boycott the olympics and top of sporting events really how to fight against homophobia well to discuss that i'm now joined by five time

a limp dick matterless and one of the world's greatest divers greg louganis missile again it's a big honor to have you on the show they hear it's great to be here now. almost over and so far we haven't heard a single gay athlete complaining all of discrimination or on all mistreatment here in russia isn't that perhaps a sign that all those allegations about l g b t a legit l g b t persecution in russia. may have been blown out of propulsion do you think the calls to boycott these olympics were justified well i've also been following on the internet i'm not watching n.b.c. . just staying true to supporting the sponsors of the olympics. so in seeing what's happening in russia. you know there were arrests there was a transgender individual that was taken. away escorted

away from one of the venues you know so yes i mean there there are things that are happening i think that n.b.c. is sweeping a lot of it under the carpet we're not hearing about a lot of the things but you can find a lot of the true information on the internet but isn't this something that also happens routinely in many of the western countries as far as i understand why lance against gays and lesbians and transgender people has been on the increase in many of the western countries in particular in the united states in two thousand and twelve i believe it was at the highest level since one thousand nine hundred eight yes i mean we have been making strides forward in some areas and then in some areas of our own country i mean we've been taking steps backwards but i think with the bt community you know i was able to get married in the state of calif.