innovations all the developments around russia. the future covered. russia calls on all those involved in ukraine's political crisis to avoid further escalation is a manhunt is launched the countries i was to be leader and members of the former ruling party. it's outrageous you need a bulldozer to push all the consultants from the u.s. and the e.u. . western politicians step up their pilgrimage to ukraine with the e.u. offering a financial lifeline to win over the new leadership and in the hours of their new. giant bear sheds a tear of farewell as the curtain falls on the sochi two thousand and fourteen winter games that will go down in history for remarkable and record breaking performances. and president barack obama's attempts to tame the n.s.a. may have failed as reports claim the agency scooped out hundreds of german

officials after the president forbade them from spying on the country's chancellor . ten pm in moscow i matter as a very good to have you with us here on our t. our top story the ongoing hunt for ukraine's ousted leader viktor yushchenko the chinese once powerful party of regions has prompted some strong statement from russia a statement issued by the foreign ministry says moscow's quote alarmed by the dictatorial and sometimes terrorist methods chosen by ukraine's interim leadership to suppress discontent the text posted on the ministries website urges all connected with a crisis to show deep responsibility to prevent any further escalation of tensions restore restore law and order and restrain extremists who are striving for power or he is in the embattled ukrainian capital with more. the situation here in kiev is

referred to by many now as a witch hunt because now former officials are being searched for words masked men having been seen stopping cars and checking the drivers and the passengers inside with the deputies another officer shuls they're looking for the party of regions which just a few days ago was the political force in the country is now under the threat of being banned while house the president. wants to build a new one of the worst accusing him of being behind the desk of civilians referring to the violent clashes and street fights between the rioters and so the police in kiev for the whereabouts of h.r. are known but he's believed to be somewhere in the east of the country where there's a completely different picture the eastern ukraine is of the country's industrial powerhouse soviet also heavily populated by the russians and in general they've been quite critical of what's been happening here in kiev for instance tens of thousands of people took to the streets of. protesting political changes in the

current she said us hopefully is equating second largest seaport and also form to both the russians and ukraine's black sea naval fleet to sit meanwhile here in kiev the new of course taken to the next stage in the fight against their political rivals around five hundred offices of the now ex ruling party have been burnt down those with a different political stance or physically attacked inside the parliament most of those which are right now it's more about emotions rather than political rivalry the most important thing right now is to prevent all parties from being banned completely because then the situation would lose missy. the president has fled the capital saying a coup has been carried out while the parliament passes new laws as fast as a printing press. taking down officials and appointing their old political rivals including putting the right wing hardliners. government falls. from the

national party taking charge of the prosecutor general's office which is just. a new regime is taking shape really quickly and with the use of strong measures it has nothing to do with democracy because those coming to power will go on with pursuing tough policies and they will conduct massive expansion of the eastern territories. among the first laws adopted the banning of russian as the second official state language despite nearly fifty percent of those living in the east of ukraine being ethnic russians the public is stalled from now on the right wing is going to be heavily present in ukraine's law enforcement at the moment the situation in kiev is basically controlled by radical people with with us who are pursuing a very very militant agenda which is a political call i think he is an utterly discredited man he cut deals with opposition leaders who were quite obviously since the nineteenth of january no

longer in control of the crowds and here there are reports that foreign journalists have been promoting different values from the rebels have now been put onto a wanted list as well as trying to temporarily ban russian t.v. channels many are now raising the question if this is the type of democracy so many ukrainians put their lives on the line for. key meanwhile the years foreign policy chief catherine ashton is said to me ukraine's new interim leadership following europe's pledge to provide the state with twenty billion euros once a new government is put together the i.m.f. has also confirmed its commitment to support here was floundering economy former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev says the west has crossed the line when it comes to stepping into ukraine's affairs. move move you're not don't move just have you seen what's going on the it's not religious you need a bulldozer to push all the consultants from the u.s. and the e.u.

and. the people decide for themselves issuing recommendations to nations is unacceptable we shouldn't. all sides to the negotiating table and took one month or six months if needed to come to an agreement eventually. christine stone a writer on the former soviet union thinks compromise may never been a priority for brussels or washington when it came to ukraine. far as we can see now the west will put up with anything for regime change in ukraine. is a cynical approach on the one hand we thought last we. are prepared to arrest nineteen year old concentration camp guards and on the other hand they give up power to the people. in groups like probably think. parties like at least in the orange revolution. there was an opposition there was

a government there was an opposition all these laws that have been in power. so far the last few days and the rather of all being passed unanimously even baroness ashton of the west surely will want to see. some opposition power at the moment there are none or not allowed one of these. suddenly going to say you are the opposition. the pro also we don't know but. in the next few days weeks and i can't see how they can be called a bowler like frank. stay with us r.d. international we're following developments in and around ukraine and you can also find the timeline of the crisis and up to minute reports online at r.t. dot com. right to see the.

first record. and i think that your. instagram. switching gears now the two thousand and fourteen winter games in sochi wrapped up in style sixteen days of competition a cat with a dazzling closing ceremony and our own a nice in our way tells us all about it from our sochi studios. this is sad and it's overwhelming we've seen so many big breaks and heartfelt waltzes cheers and tears here in sochi over the past weeks a lot of nail biting competitions nerve wrecking races and great performances all of those are going to go down in olympic history and this great celebration of sport certainly was sealed with a finale to remember you were taken further on

a journey through russian culture picking up from the opening ceremony it was a tribute to the russian greats in the arts music and literature and the organizers didn't miss the opportunity to poke a little fun at themselves over the infamous the limbic ring that would open at the start of the games of course the biggest excitement came from russian fans after the host nation searched at the top of the medal count with a total of thirteen goals and a spectacular moment of course to the farewell show was the magnificent spire work this play. links ceremony there are plenty of olympic moments to remember we've put together our top five sensations of sochi we begin with the guy they managed to grab eight golds and all of them in speed skating and actually twenty three out of the twenty four medals they want in sochi were in speed skating and never for a rising star of figure skating seventeen year old nina so to cover she became the

first russian ever to take individual gold in women's figure skating i'm very proud to have won a gold medal at the age of seventeen it's such a great feeling it's a blast with everything including with myself. sensation number three the new russians korean born speed skater victor on he won three golds for his new homeland an american snowboarder of a quiet. and join russia as the olympic team to become one of the gold medalist they didn't have any good starting in regards to it since it was a reach the goals that i wanted. for sure was the opportunity to get people's. person station number two is norwegian biathlete although born by then he became the most decorated winter olympian of all time a great performance for his sixth and final winter games and of course the top stop goes to team russia for their overall performance of the host nation making

a victorious comeback from the vancouver games and making it to the top of the medal table at home with thirteen gold medals thirty three overall. sochi has also welcomed some usual competitors to for them it was not about taking the podium but about enjoying the games and making everyone else happy and inspired artist paul scott has more on those athletes with a difference. for some athletes sochi twenty fourteen was simply about taking part take for example indian illusia shiva can shave in his commitment to his sports highlighted by his training regime winding his way down dusty trucks by passing jokes and lorries along the way. my wife's insight yes he may have come thirty seven thousand and thirty nine with the him it was more the state following accusations of corruption the indian and limpy committee were suspended by the i.o.c. in two thousand and twelve. during these games meaning cache that 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 we're not happy with but know that's over with so listen learn to everybody. that is just. one of the more colorful characters at these games was prince you bunches of hohenlohe of london. the fifty five year old is a descendant of a former german royal dinner station he's also a way photographer the pop star who goes by the name of royal disaster. these are his sixth olympics the jewel nationality ski's for mexico he's never won a medal for maybe deserves gold for p.r. . russia the only problem that he had this things the p.r. person like me to be head of p.r. before you know it's a great place. on the phone but you look at. everything it's really.

just got a positive over to europe and to america that we're so negative tone that made his debut in these games banani went in the luge to his real name mind as part of a sponsorship deal he changed his name to the german underwear company but he told me he wants to be known for his sporting prowess if i didn't qualify for the olympics 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 anything. on these 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 and list sporting excellence there is still room for sports to be for. other such olympics ever again lots of records and it's not just sports we're

talking about almost half of the planet was watching these games at some point with at least three billion viewers and talking about fans they set a surprising sound record with their vocal cords during one of victor and speed skating races but the cheers reaching one hundred ten decibels and here's another record quite an unexpected one thirty four babies were born in sochi on the day of the opening ceremony that's. highest single daily total of newborns ever such a games will also go down in history for the weather becoming the warmest winter olympics in history we're certainly not complaining there's been lots of sunshine and not snow the olympics of course officially over we're left with a lot of things to look back at but we're also looking forward to the paralympic games starting in less than two weeks meanwhile the nation's capital is welcoming its olympic heroes russian athletes who made it to the sochi podiums have arrived here in moscow to a deafening ovation as you've already heard team russia surprisingly outperformed

all of its rivals of the two thousand and fourteen games winning thirteen golds eleven silvers and nine bronze is you're seeing live video now of the celebrations at moscow's sheremetyevo airport while bidding a heartfelt goodbye to the winter games we asked you to submit your highlights and feel good moments of the olympics to our facebook page thank you for sharing those with us you picked the russian gold in ladies figure skating as one of the favorites also impressed by the national team's parades during the opening ceremonies other selected a performance by russian figure skating rookie and olympic darling yulia lipnitskaya has a favorite moment on just two hours time don't miss our in-depth roundup of all the olympic action in our sports bulletin with kate partridge. but before that here on r t was scotland's independence referendum looming britain faces the prospect of losing the union jack. and then up the set. so many things would have to be changed r.t.s. brits how they feel about saying good bye to

a treasured national icon after this short break. i don't see how european countries who are member of the european union can solve the problem without leaving the european union so it's all fields that countries like great britain or france you named francis specially with increasing poverty in my opinion they have a difficult they have a difficult time to solve these problems but i think at least they should rearrange the principle rules all free movement of persons and improve the system. told me my language as well but i will only react to situations as i have read the reports but i'm not in a position to know i will leave them to state clearly to comment on your latter point a complete say. to carry out

a call is on the docket no. thank you no more weasel words. when you need a direct question the prepared for a chase when you punch be ready for a. freedom of speech and a little bit on the freedom to crush. eighteen minutes past the hour u.s. president barack obama's recent ban on monitoring on the merkel's communications forced the n.s.a. to turn to other sources of european data reports say the agency switched to spying instead on hundreds of german officials including the interior minister. has more from berlin the national security agency was allegedly monitoring three hundred and twenty eight people here in germany mostly politicians also business leaders and this is according to a german newspaper here built and so on tag which says it's info comes from

a high ranking n.s.a. employee here in germany now that source was quoted as saying the agency had the order not to miss out on any information and that the n.s.a. is no longer able to monitor the chancellor's communications directly the interior minister a close confidant of mr merkel was also allegedly watched as well as several firms such as s a p a competitor of the us company oracle this allegation was rejected by the us national security council spokeswoman who said that the united states did not spy to give american firms competitive advantages the german interior ministry so far refusing to comment on what it called allegations of unnamed individuals but this is of course bound to make things quite difficult for on the lower merkel keep in mind revelations last year about mass u.s. surveillance in germany in particular of miss merkel's mobile phone had shocked this country sparking some of the most serious disputes between the two allies in a decade as a result we've seen

a tougher stance here the german chancellor now pushing for a european communications network berlin also pushing for a so-called no spy deal with washington the german foreign minister is due to visit the u.s. on thursday but he has said that he has doubts that such a deal would have very much of an effect. many things that britain the stands to lose of scotland breaks away in september is independence referendum giving up the union jack would arguably be the most keenly felt some of already started in visioning a flag that's been a cherished symbol of national identity for over two centuries or he's laura smith asked what they think about a redesign. the campaigns on both sides of the scottish independence debate the factions have until september to sell their idea of how the union should look going forwards westminster says an independent scotland would lose the pound but hardly anyone seems to be talking about something even more simple legs at the rest of the u.k.

could lose if scotland declared independence the union jack scotland's represented on the flag by the blue background and diagonal white cross but if scotland left the u.k. might have to give up the whole of these flags would become obsolete and replaced with balls the u.k. charity the flag institute has most tops and suggestions so let's see what people think that's annoying he's looking want to see. he's got the oh we're all kingdom so the current straight to working man i. know is to find she that one. or more of these are my favorite british one ok and what what you think of the idea what you think of the concept in general would have to do what is going to more. tax and everything so i don't want to change i suppose it makes more sense i mean this one point of having a share in marriage and a part of the u.k. anymore that's quite a trick to put. the situation in fact that you know be difficult for people to have

any change really yeah i mean nobody said. so many things would have to be changed . everybody but that you think maybe. you know the union jacks enjoyed a resurgence in recent years becoming an iconic brand again apparently everything from high fashion to soft furnishings it would be haute for britain to discard it and indeed there are no firm plans to change it even if scotland does declare independence but david cameron and alex salmond might do. well it's a bad the flag in my eyes as this war of words save it's got let's get just here in seattle. and her more discussions on prospects for independence under and live by musician and member of the yes cotland pro independence movement pat kane thank you for joining me here on our t.v. so david cameron promises to boost scotland's oil and gas industry with projects

apparently worth up to two hundred billion pounds if the union stays together do you think scotland could afford to turn that down and lose that money. i think was called and can't afford to do is not to look at the example of norway which is just over the water from. both the covenants we have to do that's an example of a nation that discovered oil at the same time in scotland same size of scotland and in the last forty years as a solvent wealth fund of about four hundred fifty billion pounds in the same period west missile has run up a debt of one point two trillion so i think the example for scotland to fall is not any advice that comes from the common income but but the example of norway aside to become a prosperous and sophistic least me on a mission with the benefit of oil and gas souls. the u.k. prime minister has called on alex semin scotland's first minister he's called a man without a plan do you think he has what it takes to lead an independent scotland. i think

our exam has proved himself to be a fine leader of the devolved parliament and i think you'll be a strong leader of the independent parliament i would hardly see as a man with a plan the way people in scotland it was brought just a few months ago i think is the most comprehensive blueprint for an independent nation of a published about six hundred fifty seven hundred pages so there's a there's a plenitude of plans for an independent scotland what we need of the tools and opposed to turn them into reality something that isn't available passing through westminster now a poll recently conducted in northern scotland by the press and journal found that support for independence had slumped about seventy percent versus about sixty five percent now in favor of a no vote to independents with seven months to go before the referendum do you think you have any plan or the leaders have any plan to try and turn that around well this is a strange post because it goes against. that we've been seeing over the last two or three months to actually show the usa gaining on the no side by a ten percent it's also quite interesting in terms of class politics of the

independents for the dinos a very rich an awful area and it actually looks as if the mood often. as enthusiastic about independents but the poorer parts are so i think that's quite an interesting dimension going forward as it's not just a bit scotland being prosperous taking itself into the way the world but us about solving its own internal problems of inequality as well which is a legacy of botulism bleeders i'm on the last several decades of westminster government now you could chancellor osborne the stress that an exit from the u.k. would mean a loss of the pound for scotland do you think that's something that's got many people worried and factoring into the decision making on their boats. well i think the standard. mr osborne took a few weeks ago about ruling negotiation on a shared car and see it as it's a bit of a bluff because i don't think he has any interest in destabilizing is own economy just as we have an interest in generally or destabilizing the british economy and i

think there will be pragmatic judgments after a year sport to figure the two economies will coordinate and then to each other scotland could use the post on its all of course but the british government has to be quite careful because of it starts to say that they can't use the point then scots can equally say that we don't take on the debt so these are these are unstable arguments and i think the strategy will be pushed to yes to find just ability between the two nations a sensible arrangement after you publish their currency union what will happen but it's old scaremongering at the moment to make sure they get a new vote which you see what happens after yes for i think will be there are a sensible approach and finally briefly if you can in terms of a yes vote the e.u. has said that if scotland breaks away away have to reapply for membership and that's not a guaranteed thing do you think scotland could do without being a member of the u.k. and also without being a member of the e.u. . as a strange question certainly

a master but also who suggested the house's own problems in his own backyard as a spineless politician with the catalonians i think it's quite strange when one thinks of other nations coming into the european union scotland has been harmonized with e.u. laws and regulations for the last forty years was part of what they call the acquis community here it would be much more difficult to run scotland over of the e.u. and much easier to allow it to gradually harmonize and connect up its institutions and laws are already connected up over the negotiate imputed after after the dependents vote so i think quite soon after the new plan is for eighteen months two years i think scotland will be fully integrated with the e.u. because again it's the sensible thing to do all right pro independence a campaigner pat kane joining us live from london thank you for your time thanks very much. well gas magnates may claim fracking is safe but as we report online they will put up with it near their own homes more on the controversy sparked by

a statement from exxon the c.e.o. on our web site r t v dot com plus internet giant google claims robots may eventually be able to understand us better than we know ourselves that the lowdown on that on our website. at next our own sophie shevardnadze probes switzerland's immigration dilemma an interview with one of the country's leading right wing politicians stay with us for so if you can.

transit through to vnukovo report you'll best way to the heart of most. judy cox a utah mother out of spite but an entire line of t. shirts at a popular chain store at her local mall the reason that she bought them was because she feels that the images of nearly naked women on them violate her local towns decency code she wants to make it clear though that she feels the store has the right to sell this type of shirt just not displayed in an exterior window ultimately her plan is to return the shirts on day fifty nine of the store's sixty limit let's hope for her sake they don't have a no return policy i bring this up because this is a great example of a nonviolent form of protest that actually works cause the scandal and more importantly it will make the company lose a few dollars technically the girls on the shirts are even fully exposed believe me i checked thoroughly and i wouldn't even call them r.

rated the local communities have the right to be more conservative than the rest of the nation if they want to be and it's good that judy cox actually did something rather than just sitting at home on the internet complaining about moral decay across the country if a housewife from a small mormon community can stand up to the man what's stopping you but that's just my opinion. i think that in all of these areas where you have the rise of what is called the new right there was dissatisfaction with with left wing keep. my friend in berlin does not seem to be aware of how widespread this agenda he is and having spent the last forty years and in an academic lunatic asylum i assure you that it is. in many many quarters of american life. i was in academia for a while i managed to get a straight jacket as well a dime's so let me go ahead jump in london yeah i mean i think spending time in the

lunatic asylums is kind of affected his you know thinking a little. the point is that the u.k. the. across europe values have changed cultural values have changed more broadly to become much more tolerant much more open much more liberal and space even in the united states. welcome to go outside of the shevardnadze switzerland has just narrowly voted it's in a referendum to protect tightly on a flow of immigrants into the country however the proposed quotas for at the new arrivals run contrary to the use ideals of freedom of movement when this was no to ruin the countries to.