transit routes. you'll best way to the heart of moscow. the two thousand and fourteen winter olympic games marked by phenomenal athletic performances conclude with an enchanting spectacle the night sky of such a sparkling with the world's eyes glued to the breathtaking closing ceremony. with the olympic flame extinguished we look back at the intense competition this insane of the games as well as the top notch support from the spectators. and in other news ukraine moves closer towards splitting apart the opposition dominated parliament appoints its own acting ministers and president while the southeast refuses to bend to its will with the head of state nowhere to be found.

and broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is r.t.m. john thomas glad to have you with us now the twenty second winter olympic games are now officially over capped by a spectacular closing ceremony and a fireworks display the drew the all of all who watched the organizers promised to put on a show and they delivered even poking fun at themselves over that one tiny ring that just wouldn't open up during the opening spectacle the i.o.c. president even thanked russia for the games which he said lived up to every expectation and more it was a memorable olympics with plenty of new records and celebrations but also heart breaks as well congratulations to all of the winners though and all of the participants a specially the russian home team for their late surge to the top of the medal count we have been very busy putting together the best and brightest moments of the

games tees team in sochi present our olympic program. since ations or russia comes to mind their own drew will talk about them at a minute you're starting are you number five we're ok holland the netherlands the dutch nation wondering six the medals table the rules my face will tell you why because they got eight gold medals all in speedskating over one day you know one sport kind of sort of person if you like they got twenty four medals in total twenty three of those were in speed skating and the other one came from. i told you last hour all good stops we all want to run the speed skating i've got a car else could've come from so that's number five the dutch the next one the new generation of russians that we've seen at these unempowered zidan that new generation do well also wearing skates we're talking figure skating at least what a star she was pressure is really on her it really was too because the other star there was the fifteen year old skier who fell twice didn't who routines many people

fall oh no that's russia hopes gone but it's not the giver turns up puts in the best performance of her life and she is russia's first woman ever to win figure skating gold in the individual event after olympics and mason. also got new russians to enjoy because four years ago wild and big they were on. guard amazing i'm a fantastic then i got russian passport speak wild as an american he married a siberian then got a russian passport and asked why did he come here what was the story of his because it was a well he no initially he wanted funding he couldn't get the funding he needed to do his training from america and russia gave him the option but they said look you have to be right you russian citizen how can i do that you can marry that russian girl friend of yours who happens to be a snowboarder so they did anyway so coming here he got a career and he got love drea and love i mean they were together before have to say that it wasn't an arranged marriage and from that respect kevin it was love there already but look at blossom on the slopes too because she got

a bronze medal brilliant victory and victory on. he didn't he fell out with a south korean pet or a shin skating to go with him or the fall out with their i don't know do i but i'm sure the pope had a set to on the phone is what i'm saying you must be some green are these in the south korean i mean well i'm going to go let me give you a quick story first he fell out of the federation he had an injury to you which meant that we did not seem at the last olympics but russia said look if you need another country to represent here we are will give you all the funding and the expertise you need it was a bit of a gamble from russia's point but look at paid off your three gold medal cracky where next. well next i'm going to turn the page where next year we're going to go to the old wolf darlin he did or we just so was forty two is old for a limp it is no it is from an impi and it is from million and look he became what he has become the most decorated winter olympians ever because during his time in sochi he picked up two gold medals which means he's now got thirteen in total over

six olympics so that's amazing and then of course how can i not talk about teams you know russia number one number one and this is the main reason for me i was in vancouver four years ago everybody was so disappointed distraught it was a lot of soul searching because they only got three gold medals that was their worst performance ever since the fall of the soviet union forward wind for years and now put in the best performance since the fall of the soviet union that got thirteen gold medals at no time as russia got more than that and really accelerated towards the end though to me it did it really did an article that don't well it's hard to say but i think a lot of sport is down to your mental preparation too and once you know you've got the the ground swell of your home nation. building in your flavor seventy percent of the people watching here think up to sixty percent were russians themselves like that and we saw great examples of that vic wild i'm a big fan now but he was almost out in one of his hate on his route or on route to the final but he didn't panic he carried on and you could see he wanted it more

than the other guy and he got it. so she's also his fair share of scandals too it can be argued that it got more than it deserved indeed from west in the styria over gay rights to highly debated rulings by the judges and referees of the games and so that has been covered in busy laughing the biggest controversies of these olympics joins with a you've got your top five and i says that by saying that sochi has been surrounded by more scandal than any other olympics in recent history to blue way of the games went on it is indeed someone into russia's got ninety nine problems but the olympics is that one group all started. number five is doping overall the olympics were very quick and special mention that the later. they did and it happened just lately because the latest technology can detect the smallest traces of any kind of substance. we had a german by athlete whose results were an old we had ukrainian skier who was caught and her scored discounted and austrian skier in fact was banned from today's just

this morning fifty k. . cross-country ski. before number four is snow it was one of the biggest criticisms coming it is a. place to have snow all of the major news networks showing the beach down here no one bothered to show the beautiful mountains we have just an hour's drive away the snow was here was great weather lots of sun that did create a bit of a problem to have to report the slopes when there were in short sleeved shirts and sure not just a day many days we had people one of the i.o.c. . organizing committee was here today saying people were complaining they were getting sunburned but the snow was slushy we had a lot of falls but when it comes down to it the athletes and the i.o.c. it was very happy with with the conditions there was a back up plan we had a couple of fog delays but overall everyone skis snowboards on the same snow number three number three is versus yeah huge it was a huge one so debatable whether or not it should be number three but let's have it

at three tonight because it was a huge scandal leading up to the olympics it should be mentioned during the olympics there weren't any kind of instances reported of discrimination or any kind of problems for that matter we spoke to many many athletes scores of them that were very happy with the way things went. on to be such a big issue in the world cup because of the legal is of course people are saying ok search is over where will the critics go now catheters going to be interesting they trust you so much much more severe. laws there can. turning. sexual orientation it should be mentioned though ironically at the same time as these games all of the noise about about russia and anti-gay laws in the united states in arizona during the games a law was passed which basically allows anyone to to decline any kind of service to someone based on their sexual orientation because of their religious beliefs let's

look at number two moving goal post number two. i think it's fair to say the most exciting moments of the olympics the usa versus russia of course a long time rivals goes way back to soviet times really. there was a goal that was there would have been a third point could have been a winning goal for us so they scored a cording to international hockey federation's if the goalpost is off its pegs the goal doesn't count the ref on the ground was american that was a problem for many on social media but up in the box the the judges who watched the tape did say that according to the rules the goal does not count but many unhappy russian fans especially on the internet. watch talk realistic i still number one media media's been leading up to these olympics we heard about sochi being held in a war zone about toothpaste bombers terrorism terrorism terrorism of course that's no joke security was a big thing we heard about hotels not being done no doors of blackwater it was just

just a tremendous tremendous media coverage really not about the sport not about the athletes but it should be said that once the games got started it did become about them and that was what the organizing committee wanted so their overall satisfied hoping that sochi could have broken some of those russian stereotypes top five scandals thanks for telling us what you thought about in the run you put the bid mr lovely. best with the games although the competition was truly limp you know i think you'll agree for years long rivalries to. a plethora of photo finishes the winners were forced to give it their all if they wanted to find themselves on the podium end of the day he's pulled skull to spread the game's seaside plasticized of it aside to tell us about the high pole for us not olympians it's quite hard to imagine the intensity of the competitions the people taking part in it. yes it really is a fine line isn't it between success and failure for all those joyous moments that

we've seen spare a thought for those athletes who have now really missed out on success by a fraction of a second in some cases the margin between success and failure between joy and despair is so narrow that even the latest technologies concept right the competitors take for example the women's downhill skiing for the first time in winter olympics history the gold medal was actually shed and tina maze clocking identical times not even a piece of tracing paper could separate them well in the men's biathlon must stop french when not in full cart was going for a sochi hat trick he was going for his third medal of these games he threw himself over the line in desperation but was now only missed out of it is now we edged out in the photo finish by norway's emil haye place france in a match in the despair for four card and who can forget one of the more humorous climaxes and finishes to any race in winter olympics history it came in the men's ski cross now of the four competitive is three of them fell at the final jump they

all slid over the line at exactly the same time in different positions and shapes along the ground not one of them knew exactly what was going on so as we celebrate the sporting successes here in sochi let's just take a second and spare a thought for those who haven't narrowly missed out by a fraction of a second all those years of training and hard work and it comes down to the blink of an eye but of course not all the competitors here in sochi were expecting to compete for gold and not all competitors here in sochi needed a photo finish to determine their final position in the standings. for some athletes sochi twenty fourteen was simply about taking part take for example indian illusia shiva can shave in his commitment to his sport highlighted by his training regime winding his way down dusty tracks by passing goats and lorries along the way. my wife's 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 and was lifted during these games meaning cache vun could finally compete under his nation's fly unfortunately there's a lot of politics played with the flag of india which i'm sure many people back home were not happy with but now that's over think that's a lesson learned for everybody and lot of things to look ahead one of the more colorful characters of these games was prince who purchase of hohenlohe london the fifty five year old is a descendant of a former german royal dinner state he's also a photographer and the pop star who goes by the name of royal disaster. these are his six olympics the jewel nationality ski's for mexico he's never won a medal for the maybe deserves gold for p.r. so i think that russia the only problem that at this stage that i or the p.r.

person like it's a big bit of p.r. before i mean you know it's a great play. on the floor but you know what the for everything is 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 it's not his real name mind as part of a sponsorship deal he changed his name to that of the german underwear company but he told me he wants to be known for his sporting prowess if i didn't qualify for their lives they wouldn't care at all what names i am so i think. the most important thing that i try hard in training hard to get to the olympics. and is any winter olympics complete without the jamaican bobsled the main attraction for preston fans 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. such as.

we are in this. 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 to get here 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 olympics because over seven years but for now let's concentrate on the closing ceremony it's really unfortunate but it is always par for the course we were able to show. us exactly what was going to say that because a very strict copyright rules. like that every time with a live picture it's nothing new however we were looking. at wachovia value is that it was phenomenal it was family was very different then 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 boatswain theater downstairs it was largely he was there it's just just at the very end very famous russian conductor conducting what looked like a child's chorus and they sensually i assume are seeing as we're looking at these beautiful fireworks so really a tremendous so 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 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 to say the paralympics kicking off on the seventh of march 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 well there's a huge hope that this will be the future of russians more thing here that russians

did not break and are in fact their worst performance ever at nothing thanks and so i think it's a huge dream overhaul of sports there's a hope that this will bring sport back to the polity that it was back in soviet times when there was the what's the message into it. just as i take a pause because it looks like we're getting some great shots only crowd here follows this but not quite sure what you can see that it over oh yes you can see that over because you can see it's fantastic about looking at the what you can looking out the right move a shot of the moment so you know guys you know you can see the look what a beautiful backdrop quite spectacular end to watch but you know a great games thomas barclay are on today he said there were a great game says far as the i.o.c. is concerned and i think that russians were a little bit skeptical themselves so i could work with stuff that was the basic normal and to her and i think russia may be a little bit nervous that they won'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. well aside from all of the official sporting records there has been a few on official records as well even amusing ones now to start off with almost half of the planet turned in at some point to see these olympics with at least three billion viewers talking about fans they said a surprising sound record during one of victor speed skating races with their cheers reaching as not as one hundred ten decibels now another record has to do well let's hope with future fans thirty four babies were born in sochi on the day of the opening is ceremony the city's highest single day total of newborns and now the sochi games will also be remembered for the weather these were the warmest winter olympics in history those records and many others including some controversies made sorcery a star in social media as well now the sochi two thousand and fourteen winter

olympics have now officially closed they provided countless on forgettable and inspiring sporting moments that will be remembered for a long time. now the turmoil in ukraine and other news has been the top story of the past few days some amazing and pictures coming out of there after the most turbulent week in its post-war history the country is a currently undergoing a complete government overhaul the parliament has appointed the speaker as interim president after voting for the resignation of victory on a covert since taking over the reins in the capital the opposite position has been hard at work establishing its own order piece going off is in cuba. the 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 of

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 are still under the full control of the protesters some of the former officials have been arrested while 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 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 by the. 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 a queen core of the protest 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. lost control over the capital for this is the presidential administration building which used to be the probably the most protected governmental building in the whole of fear 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 we see a local which will never be back here as a protest the president made the head see retreat to the east of ukraine and was stoutly defiant even after receiving news that parliament had ceased to recognize him as leader by an overwhelming majority and announced an early election solution . all that is happening now for the most part is than the leaves many 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 article i will unity much anger from prison sparking jubilation on t.v.'s independence square. she dreamt of seeing you as a force that changed everything your heroes here is a best of this country has while protesters are in high spirits and clear the east and south of the country are simply indifferent to its leaders have declared itself

governance and constitutional power fueling talk of a permanent break up in the country and. reporting from kiev in ukraine. let's take a look at ukraine itself here's a map to show you just how much of ukraine is now refusing to follow kiev's lead these ten provinces in blue are home to more than half of the country's population the regional leaders gathered in right up here this weekend to express their disapproval of what's going on in the capital. nothing to do local authorities every charge of all political decisions on the ground in these regions we have to protect our land we think that the central authorities of paranoia and that their decisions cannot be considered constitutional but the new order in kiev is not the only thing people in the east of the country are angry about many say they feel abandoned by president. 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 iranian people i thought that he'd hold on to the end now that used top diplomat catherine ashton is set to travel to kiev on monday to discuss ways out of the current crisis with opposition leaders that says former prime minister yulia timoshenko has already sat down with the u.s. envoy as well as that use chief representative in ukraine. of the former president of the soviet union thinks that the west should let the people of ukraine decide their own political future. have you seen what's going on there it's all trade is you need a bulldozer to push all the consultants from the u.s. and e.u. all told there they should let people decide for themselves issuing recommendations to nations sees an acceptable they shouldn't provoke people they shouldn't send bandits in old sides need to had to the negotiating table and talk to one month or

six months even needed they will come to an agreement eventually. the south take a swing around the globe to look at some other headlines making news this hour pro-government crowds have gathered in venezuela's capital they chanted in support of president nicolas maduro and for the socialist bolivian revolution movement led by the late leader hugo chavez anti-government rallies across the country have left eight dead in violent clashes over the past weeks. two people were killed including a twelve year old boy when a grenade exploded at an anti-government rally in bangkok that occurred just hours after a gunman opened fire at protesters in eastern thailand shooting a five year old girl there tensions across the country have been escalating since november with hundreds having been injured in. the bus station blast has killed a dozen people in

a province in northwestern pakistan that borders tribal areas used as a safe haven by taliban forces after peace negotiations with the taliban broke down the last week islam abad launched a series of airstrikes on a militant hideouts killing at least thirty eight insurgents meanwhile in karate supporters of the secular m q m party rallied to show their solidarity with the army. the lawless area along the border of pakistan and afghanistan also saw a conflict on the afghan side where taliban fighters had killed twenty one soldiers in a checkpoint attack this comes after the group refused to an exchange of prisoners with the u.s. calling the deal too complex afghanistan's president has urged islam to take serious measures in eliminating the terrorist threat in the area. crowds have marched through the main square in at madrid rallying against what they claim are curbed civil rights and freedoms the protests covered

a wide range of topics including employment and economic issues as well as immigration demonstrations that fell on the thirty third anniversary of the failed coup in one nine hundred eighty one which saw the parliament and cabinet held hostage for eighteen hours. well coming up after the break it's worlds apart with host oksana boyko this is r.t. international stay with us.

winter is when the sahara comes to life in. a way says palm trees are being harvested. people are waiting for the biggest event of the yeah. the desert festival. this is through a. race leading camel races have spent the last year preparing for the grueling marathon. the day before the race there's a heavy sound still overcoming the power of nature is a never ending challenge. a desert winter a nutty. i marinate join me. in part and financial reporting very interview

and much much. only on the bus and only on. welcome to worlds apart teller and its inclusion and the understanding these have values that the l.t.p. community has long stood and called for and can't be merely i adopted style of the l g b t advocacies anything but tolerant and inclusive do calls to boycott the olympics and other 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 thank you it's great to be here now lympics are

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 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 in d.c. . just staying true to supporting the sponsors of the olympics and 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.