transit route to vnukovo report you'll best way to the heart of most. russia calls on all involved in ukraine's political crisis to avoid further escalation is a manhunt is launched for the country's ousted leader and members of his former ruling party. it's not really juice you need a bulldozer to push through the consultants from the u.s. and e.u. . western politicians step up pilgrimages to ukraine with the e.u. offering a financial lifeline to win over the new leadership in other news this hour. a giant bear sheds a tear of farewell as the curtain falls on social two thousand and fourteen winter games that will go down in history for remarkable and record breaking performances . and president barack obama attempts to tame the n.s.a. of apparently failed as reports claim the agency snooped on hundreds of german

officials after the president forbade them from spying on the country's chancellor . eleven pm in moscow i met très of a good to have you with us the ongoing hunt for ukraine's ousted leader viktor yanukovych and his once powerful party of regions has prompted some strong statements from russia statement issued by the foreign ministry says moscow's quote alarmed by the dictatorial sometimes terrorist methods chosen by ukraine's interim leadership to suppress discontent the text posted on the ministry website urges all those connected with the crisis to show deep responsibility to prevent any further escalation of tensions restore law and order and restrain extremists striving for power or has more from key. 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 i.d.'s of drivers on the passengers and sides with deputies and other author shows they're looking for the party of regions which just a few days ago was the clue political force in the country is now under the threat of being banned while house the president speaks to the rest. of the world was 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 is released 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 russians and in general they have 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 i'll stop really is equating second largest seaport and also form to 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 the issue right now it's more about emotions rather than political rivalry the most important thing right now is to prevent all parties from being bound completely because then the situation would lose all legitimacy. 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. 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 if you are the e.u. foreign policy chief catherine ashton is said to meet in a crain's new interim leadership after europe's pledge to provide the state with twenty billion euros once they form a new government the international monetary fund also confirmed its commitment to support here is economy former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev thinks the west has crossed the line when it comes to stepping into ukraine's affairs. move move to fritter no don't move us have you seen what's going on the it's not religious you need a bulldozer to push through the consultants from the us and the e.u. . they should let the people decide for themselves issuing recommendations to

nations is unacceptable shouldn't sunburned. all sides to the negotiating table and talk one month or six months if needed we will come to an agreement eventually. christine stone a writer on the former soviet union thinks caramelize may never have 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 week the germans are prepared to arrest nineteen year old concentration camp them on the other hand they give up power to be people in 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. he suddenly going to say you are the opposition. the pro also we don't know but. opposition. days weeks and i can't see how they can be plausible really quite frankly. stay with r.t. international work closely following developments in and around ukraine you can also find the timeline of the crisis and minute by minute reports online at r.t. dot com. right now to see the. search for. an i think picture.

on our reporter's. instrument. in the. russian capital welcoming its olympic heroes the countries are slaves who made it to the sochi podiums arrived in moscow to ovations with good reason prior to the winter games most optimistic forecasts a book the host no higher than third in the standings but the champions are seeing now exceeded the expectations and secured the top spot for russia winning thirteen gold eleven so over nine bronze just yesterday they were cheered on by the crowds of so few stadium during a dazzling closing ceremony or tees i mean now it has more from our social studio. and it's overwhelming we've seen so many big breaks and heartfelt losses 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 olympic ring that went 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 fireworks display. at the links ceremony there and plenty of olympic moments to remember we've put together our top

five sensations of sochi we begin with the dutch they managed to grab eight golds and all of them in speed skating and actually twenty three out of the twenty four medals they won in sochi were in speed skating and number four a rising star of figure skating seventeen year old nick of a she became the first russian ever to take individual gold and women's. you're 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 battle 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 vic wild one married to siberia and join russia as the olympic team to become one of the gold medalist i didn't have a good start of a view that states that was are going to reach the goals that i wanted. but she 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. so she has also welcomed some unusual 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 so she twenty fourteen was simply about taking part take for example indian illusia shiva can shave in his commitment to his school is highlighted by his training regime winding his way down dusty tracks by polishing joints and lorries along the way. i want some sight

yes he may have come thirty seven pounds of 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. was lifted during these games meaning can shave and 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 now that's over think that's a lesson learned to everybody and that is just. one of the more colorful characters of these games was prince you bertus of hohenlohe in london the fifty five year old is a descendant of a former german royal dinner state he's also a way photographer and the pop star who goes by the name of royal disaster. these are his sixth olympics but your nationality means he skis 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 had this things the p.r. person like it's a big head of p.r. before i mean you know it's a great thing. on the floor but you look at. everything it's really. just got a positive vibe 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 to tell his real name mind as part of a sponsorship deal he changed his name to the top 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 is the most important thing that i try hard in training hard to get to the. island 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. 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 that's. point with at least three billion viewers and talking about fans they set a surprising sound record with their vocal cords during one of the speed skating races but the cheers reaching that's not 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 of the city's highest single daily total of newborns ever the sochi 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 enough 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 earlier my colleague marina joshie talked with a man who was in charge of making sure everything went like clockwork in sochi now the flame is out dimitri tradition and co shared his thoughts with r.t. about the subject. the biggest achievements probably for us for russians the nation's. the best games ever in the history of my country all the us live us that we obtain the confidence that russia is scape ability to deliver ambitious projects and the most important decide that the world that we generated to historical legacy for the generations to come well i have the games as you know russia has come under a lot of criticism so how do you feel about those reports i mean how the in any way overshadowed the games you know it's impossible to shadow the truth we were in the brick it's all of this from the cold war and now it was broken everybody

who came and we can is this. fish and turned spy and how we're hospitable they really change from the criticism to the cover and the real positive things looking at the object of infrastructure that have been created in the city had all of the games what can you tell us about how they are going to be used in diffuse the future of my native tito so that she is very bright to this land for the legacy it's all these very well. with the money allocated to maintain and of in this but the most important. events place where host in a couple of months host in the formula one the race in four mons and no more to come in the vault of all championships so sure in the from the ordinary soviets the summer resort to the all the international sports and laser convention

this is the nation. getting a heartfelt goodbye to the winter olympic games we asked our viewers to submit their favorite olympic moments for us and we got a groundswell of them thanks for sharing your associate memories with us and you pick. russian and golden ladies figure skating as one of the favorites some were also impressed by the national team's parade during the opening ceremonies others selected the performance by russian figure skating rookie and olympic darling yulia lipnitskaya and in just over an hour's 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. said. so many things would have to be changed we asked brits how they feel about saying goodbye to the treasured national icon after this short break.

i think that in all of these areas where you have the rise of what it's called to do right they were stiff satisfaction with with left wing keep in the my my friend in berlin does not seem to be aware of how widespread this huge enmity is and having spent the last forty years and in an academic lunatic asylum i assure you that. in many many quarters of american life. i was in academia for a while i find it in a straitjacket as well a dime's so i'm going to jump in london yeah i mean i think spending time in the lunatic asylums is kind of the fact of his you know thinking a little bit the point is that the u.k. he and the across europe values have changed cultural values have changed need to become much more tolerant much more open much more liberal and space even in the united states.

thanks for staying with us here on r t twenty minutes past the hour president barack obama's recent ban on monitoring on the merkel's communications force the n.s.a. to turn to other sources of european data apparently reports. the agency switched to spying on hundreds of german officials including their interior minister let's get some perspective on this from former m i five agent. thank you for joining us here on our team a frequent contributor for us obama did say eavesdropping on friends and allies is out of bounds as far as he concerned so why did it appear that the n.s.a. is still spying on other german officials let's not forget that the n.s.a.

has been caught out spying on every german in germany so whether it's under the merkel personal telephone or whether it's three hundred twenty german eighty million germans are being spied on by the n.s.a. so. ok just one it ok just three hundred twenty eight million you know i think this goes much deeper there is no guarantee that the n.s.a. will stop spying on anyone in germany including angela merkel the only thing that can go to some way to rectifying the situation is not to rely on the u.s. guaranteed we're going to spy on you is to actually take matters into their own hands technologically and technologically and this could be done over ten years ago now the leak apparently came from an anonymous high level n.s.a. official speaking with a german newspaper so it appears that there are other people willing to leak of secrets besides then say just edward snowden. possibly yes i mean this is the.

bit of a. newspaper it's been reported everywhere but that doesn't do any corroboration one way or the other about this actual fact so who knows but i think the principles go deeper which is if you're in germany you're going to be spied on and sad because . the decision taken by the european parliament to actually break away from the us depends if you have in your own technological systems networking things that microsoft and. all the other systems that they've developed since then and we could then have developed our own systems in europe which would be independent and much more secure and would have guaranteed european systems pretty and this was of course abandoned after nine eleven in the us and i hope that the european poll visiting the possibility of building up that market here and so now we have these reports coming from this newspaper about german officials being spied on isn't this

just state craft for example we have victoria nuland comments being secretly recorded allegedly by members of intelligence from one of the former eastern bloc countries and then that be released isn't this just kind of how the game is played well of course cities i mean you know countries do spy on each other the point is that german intelligence agencies should be protecting their german politicians and the german government from being spied on by other governments and other intelligence agencies that's what they're there to do know to be complicit in helping the n.s.a. and u.s. intelligence agencies my own people in their own country that is not what they're there for they're there to protect the national integrity national security of the german country and if they are complicit and we know they're complicit from the revelations made with snowden to the x. keyscore then they're not doing their job to protect the german people do you think there is the possibility of this new. internet system being established infrastructure being laid out that works its way around u.s.

surveillance in order to trade information without any kind of involvement or possible eavesdropping do you think that could be successful. i think it is still possible yes and it's. a win win for europe because it would be building up an independent knowledge base it would be good for business it would protect all of our previous east not just in terms of you know people spying on people because of intelligence but things like the protection of our financial transactions the internet medical records and the internet these are all key pretty cheese. and if you can actually move towards the continent to build an infrastructure that takes the systems right here i think that's exactly what the european parliament and that's exactly what the national government should be doing in europe all right form around i five agent. for us from dusseldorf thank you for your time of all the many things that bring the stands to lose if scotland breaks away in

september is independence vote giving up the union jack could arguably be the most keenly felt some of already started reinvention in a flag that's a chair a symbol of national identity for more than two centuries artie's laura smith a lot of what they think about some new designs. the campaigns on both sides of the scottish independence debate a hostage in opt 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 way that 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 get back old 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 the nicest looking want to see. who's got the overall kingdom so the current state sure king. no is too faint she got one. some of these are my favorite british ones ok and what what you think of the idea what you think the concept in general would have to try 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 there's some point to having a share in marriage and i'm partial to the u.k. any more that's quite attractive but. the situation in fact that you know be difficult for people to have any change really yeah i mean of you said. so many things would have to be changed. it really was 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 thought in mind as this war of words gets here and. gas magnates may claim fracking is safe but as we report online they won't put it up anywhere near their homes more on that controversy sparked by a statement from exxon c.e.o. on our. internet giant google claims the robots will eventually be able to know us better than we know ourselves get to the bottom of that futuristic forecast on our website. and the rise of the far right in europe in the spotlight coming up next in cross talk with peter lavelle.

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 aren't even fully exposed believe me i checked thoroughly and i would 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 could stand up to the man what's stopping you but that's just my opinion. wealthy british style. time. for. the markets. scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for our no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to cause a report on our. winter is when the sahara comes to life. oasis palm trees are being harvested. people are waiting for the biggest event of the year. the desert festival.

this is the. 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. hello and welcome to crossfire all things considered i'm peter lavelle going to extremes all across europe right wing anti e.u. parties and groups are gaining strength and in some cases respectability what accounts for this hard economic times are the growing alienation and frustration with the euro project could it be said the new right is really the old right but

wearing a nice suit. to cross the rise of the right i'm joined by my guest sunny one dial in london he is a journalist and writer for the guardian and i. zerah in berlin we have harold whelan baki is a researcher and member of the european radicalization awareness network and in harrisburg we crossed to paul godfried he is an author and professor emeritus at elizabethtown college right gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it sunny if i go to you first say i think my introduction should be a little familiar to you because i stole it ok from an article that you wrote recently and i want to quote one of the sentences talking about the right wing right wing groups and parties in the west they put on smart suits stop using crude racist language and set out to gain respectability explain to our viewers what you mean when.