happening to the economy. european commission. now want to hold. protests in the capital. by politicians. i. protest. and democracy. does not want to dominate the world but will. breaking free of the aid program.

thanks for joining us here on international we're highlighting the top headlines of the week today. ukraine is seeking official confirmation of the e.u. has put on hold on a trade. deal it's after a tweet was posted by the e.u. commissioner for enlargement. expectations. in reality details here with. we have a statement by one of the european officials who is responsible for the enlargement of the european union particularly doing eastern direction with the staff and through labor tweeted more on his official account that i quoted words and deeds over the korean president and government regarding association agreement with

european union after further and further apart their arguments have no grounds it reality with the global just a few really also went on to say that several days ago in brussels when he was meeting a delegation of ukraine's government he had warned that any further discussion about the association deal is conditioned by the greatest side of the deal i did not know the origin of the signing this deal has been put on hold because the greenside had no i'm certain that this latest statement by the european official also puts huge pressure on the culverts because he has been saying all along fifteen years lee during the press corps is the leaders with the european officials and the opposition that israel would not step down from integration. he was fully expecting to sign the eurozone station vilanova in the year is the future meanwhile the protests are continuing and everywhere across a brain more than definitely more than one hundred thousand people are now in the central square of the iranian capital and we're watching the situation to see how

the latest when the european officials may or may or may not and the protest is even more. diplomatic sources are citing money matters as the reason behind the alleged e.u. postponement kiev has been saying from the very start that the country's failing economy could not handle the deal offered by brussels not to mention the modernization requested by the e.u. which would also cost a pretty penny now the nonstop anti-government rallies have been gaining momentum in central kiev tens of thousands also took to the streets this weekend to support president you know. the two rallies happened just a few hundreds of meters apart. well earlier i spoke to the foreign affairs editor of chronicle's magazine who told me it's no surprise that the deal has been yet again frozen. call her a deal. very dubious agreed which would

have opened. to west european industrial products without the possibility of your ministry thanks for the release any longer of course ukraine is divided country in the west you have uni i can't really see in the east you have moscow. all the dogs. in the middle you have people who seem to hear the chair speak russian but feel ukrainian and regional. ukraine as it ended the. thanks for joining us thousands of state of bottom protest in madrid venting their anger over a draft law that couldn't force tougher action against un sanctioned rallies. i also two dozen people were injured seven arrested when i agree crowds attempted

to surround the spanish parliament activists condemned the proposal which would impose hefty fines for offenses such as burning the national flag calling it an attack on democracy the bill is likely to pass into law with strong support from the conservatives who hold the majority in the legislature but activist doris a bendigo house she says the protesters need to show they are not ready to give up without a fight. see it is certainly nice you know this is only the beginning we need a lot of efforts to stop the terrorist nations who didn't want this year to end without at least starting to demonstrate against his will see and yes this is only the beginning because it will take some months before long to be considered and adopted yes but hopefully chiefly if we want to meet that it's not the last time we need more people as this protest was mostly spontaneous we want to make our voices heard and now we've wanted to say look if you always want to imus and we don't be able to shut us out and we're going to bring out. elsewhere in spain it's

a matter of save our cave as a community living in a hole owed out hills or order to get out by the authorities the settlers refuse to cave in that story is coming up. you're watching the weekly on r.t. international russia's president made it clear he's ready to defend traditional values this in his state of the nation address this week a lot of also said the country does not aspire to be a superpower also lecture others on how to conduct their affairs but is ready to defend itself whenever necessary you go to prison office details. it's traditionally become the place to be to find out the president's vision of the president and his plans for the future every year russia's top politicians businessmen economists and elites gather at the kremlin to listen to his idle address first head of just returned from there as well and here are some of the key points why the world had to make russia isn't looking

a dummy needing the rule but that doesn't mean it has to stop protecting its sovereignty and traditional values. we know that there are even more people around the globe who support our position in terms of ensuring traditional values these are the values of traditional family and the value of human life including religious life that is not only material life but also spiritual of course this is a conservative position but the point of conservatism is not that it hinders the movement forward and upward but that it precludes the movement backwards and downwards back towards chaos and a barbaric state. diplomacy was another point in the president's speech or specifically recent breaks loose with syrian chemical weapons and the rain in nuclear programming many animals to greet these are examples that diplomacy still works by the time when russia. suggested. the process of chemical disarmament stars in syria. very few countries in the world were keen to

support the so-called obama option which would have been yet another bombing of yet another country so i think this is a very important lesson. of crisis of this type should be sold u.s. plans to build an anti missile defense system in europe one of the biggest sticking points in moscow's relationship with washington was of course also talked about the president's message was simple without a threat from iran what's the point of building it moscow does see the shield as a threat to its national security and putin says powering up russia's military is one of the ways to protect against it. you know when you look at what you do see unless it was more sinister that it's no country should harbor illusions of achieving military dominance over russia we will never let it happen russia is ready to meet those challenges both political and technological that we've got all

the potential needed our military doctrine as well as our military equipment allow us without a doubt to ensure russia's security finally it be furring to the current situation in ukraine putin said moscow respects the desire of those partners who want to be closer to the e.u. as long as decisions aren't made by hotheads and are based on dialogue you've got to skin off r.t. moscow. now ireland is finally ready to financially go it alone having managed to become the first e.u. state to work itself free of rescue loans this milestone is expected to dominate the irish prime minister's televised address on sunday. has this report from dublin . people know that in that decision they endured three years of very very deep you had salaries going down and you had their benefits of being slashed a lot of deep spending cuts so what the government really is trying to do is say that this today is symbolically stepping out of what they call the shackles of the kreutzer hoping that this will really give that morale boost to the people whoever

they are there is no illusion here that there are still high unemployment that have to be tackled as well as a very high number of people skilled young workers leaving the country moving to countries like australia or canada to pursue better opportunities some of the businesses here construction businesses starting all over again here in dublin however when you go just one hour out of the capital the story is really different you still see high unemployment and that's not something that they can quickly change overnight and again the government already said that austerity policies are actually going to be continuing so if this is to be seen as a success it's going to be a psychological. boost in success in terms of exiting again more closely monitoring of the troika economically there's still a long long way to go for our land to really be calling itself a success. it is ten minutes past the hour here in moscow a lot still to come on the program including south africa looking to the future as nelson mandela is laid to rest but some fairing the worst.

of it. will want to get both. sides of that later in the program here and also international we hear fears that tensions under the surface are about to boil over also. in less than a week. we've been married and we've been on there each australia's high court strikes down the countries for allowing same sex marriages here on r.t. international we look into the broader box for gay rights in different countries is coming your way after the break. so you don't know if you're confident that the irish people won't be asked again to step in. the day when the when the private banks of the end of any cause to start after hopkins pleasure to be found in our economic again what always happens is

a. central bank with politicians they say this will never ever happen again and it keeps on company but we have to ensure is that if those company. doesn't switch police make an awful cost for tots. right see. first strike. and i think that you're. on a reporter's. instrument. it's

the weekly here on r.t. international it's proving to be a tough month for gay rights this week australia's high court overturned the country's first law allowing same sex couples to marry before that india held legislation that criminalizes homosexuality while croatians overwhelmingly voted against same sex marriage and a national referendum the report here with a gun a chicken. most western countries already recognize in some form the right of gay couples to get married and adopt children but in other parts of the world there is the opposite trend in less than a week. we've been married and we've been on there each in australia just days after the nation's capital allowed same sex couples to get married the high court there struck down that decision saying the regional authorities had no right to

decide the matter to live in a relationship with loves and trusts to do any seven australians couple of them saw their marriage annulled days australia's high court ruled that gay marriage was illegal because the marriage act only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman and only the parliament can change the legislation the most recent attempt to change the law in the australian parliament failed last year polls in the country show support for gay marriage stands at fifty three percent. and all four that absolutely amazing that in our history britain were jumping through hoops to try to make sure that every tree on the planet has its natural environment from far east that we would be challenging the definition of marriage which creates exactly that environment for a child requiring that it's between a man or woman india the supreme court has just made gay sex illegal again since the nineteenth century india has had a ten year sentence on the statute books for quote carnal intercourse against the

order of nature four years ago a lower court found it on constitutional the supreme court just brought the law back into force by making a similar argument of the australian judges only the nation's parliament has the right to change it but with the overwhelming majority of indians against same sex marriage and with a conservative nationalist group leading in the upcoming elections in legislative change in the next few years is highly unlikely you have about a old. all the communities of this country. and each of the main sort of thing you are seeing something similar this december. in a referendum to outlaw same sex marriage. the most powerful the population. changes in the constitution in the tug of war between those who are and those who are not allowed to say i do the conservative view on marriage seems at least at the moment

to be prevailing in many parts of the world. this year same sex marriages receive the royal stump of approval in england and wales but by pushing the legislation through prime minister david cameron only deepened the rift within his own party conservative coleman had a kidney he says such issues should be put first to the public. it's actually the same sex marriage station that was the straw that broke the camel's back but the conservative party remains divided and same sex marriage is one of the causes of that so what i would have liked to see the first let's have a debate about it in the work out how to get the legislation right perhaps a system like france where. religious institutions hotels or whatever then you won't want to hold. weddings or you can do so and then the state simply on the rights you need between two people in the interest it really will form that union

takes extending that would've been a better way to do it and i think a referendum would have been very important because it removes the controversy is the question for david cameron is can he convince the conservative that he's such a conservative to bring this legislation forward. now the russian adventure. around the world trips marking his birthday in his own unique style he's setting off. across the pacific ocean in a rather small. daring voyage that lots of other stories for you including this one for example. providing. for the pentagon keep the reasons for. the breakthrough technology. for now on r.t. international a cave dwelling community in southern spain is standing up to the latest attempt to evict them hundreds of activists formed

a human barricade this week to resist being forcibly moved from their homes their residents say the government wants them out to make way for a luxury resort. to meet the defiant. hammering out an existence on the outskirts of granada sprucing up a front yard with some of the best views in town it's an eclectic community that's literally burrowed into a mountain the residents of the hill of san miguel have converted dozens of caves into bona fide homes we believe in here for two years not and do not a look community it's the kind of place when they bruise help each other out it may not be a life of luxury there's no running water or electricity but for residents like anna that's not a problem when it does that they live long enough ladies that we've done

nothing for them down with us cup everything here. but those who have made their home here may have their days are numbered although they've lived here for years now the city council has been fighting to get them off the land. these aren't proper houses and it isn't the residential area of the city that the cases are unsafe for any humans still have it they could collapse at any moment. it's an argument this resident simply doesn't buy one tony opara has lived on the hill of san miguel for more than eight years he believes the city is over exaggerating the dangers in order to help developers get their hands on the land. of the one of the dense here and that's why houses because you sort of already. need to be said to weave yards to protect the roof. they need to be done even in a venue and he's willing to do everything to keep on living here and for

a. big study to be. given the city council wants to clean up the hill years ago developed it was announced plans to turn this area into a tourist attraction and we think that's what's really behind their vision. for now only eight caves are facing the risk of eviction burma is one of the residents who could lose her home she too suspects and alter your motive that would be like giving up the city council wants to shut down the campus but they don't want to. that's why we think they really just want to get the land to use it for their own purposes another concern cited by the officials is sanitation the caves they say are dirty and the area has been described as a slum that sits above the city we made a very clean not so they the residents the city council isn't likely to abandon its plans to the residents but for the people living in the caves of san miguel giving

up is simply not an option reporting or we're not a space and for our tape i'm the. now it is their weekly on r.t. international we come to you live from moscow israel and saudi arabia cementing an unlikely partnership with both countries increasingly alienated by the policies of their longtime ally america saudi and israeli intelligence officials reportedly met for talks in jerusalem this week washington's diplomacy heavy approach to syria and iran has fallen foul of israeli and saudi interests in the region r.t. international spoke to a saudi prince who defected from his family calling the royals an oppressive regime he told us that the u.s. is prepared to sacrifice the integrity of regional alliances for its own strategic interests. here let's have a bit later i believe the main reason for the change in america's alliances in the middle east is the issue of the reed nuclear program and that's a shift in the u.s. approach to iran from one of confrontation to one of containment this is the main

reason even if it does come at the expense of america's strategic allies like saudi arabia and israel it is of the utmost importance to the u.s. and its interests in the middle east u.s. foreign policy takes care of its own interests but our strategic alliances with israel under a nonpermanent alliances like with saudi arabia the american interests are much more important to washington than alliances let's not forget that saudi arabia and israel always need washington support militarily and on the intelligence level as well as many other aspects they need the u.s.c. and they rely on it. we get to worlds apart with looks on a boy here for now nelson mandela has been laid to rest of his ancestral home after ten days of international mourning for the iconic leader he's gone down in history as the man who find quest apartheid and bridge racial and ethnic divides with mandela's passing some africans fear the ghosts of the past may return as paula

points. don't lean sought refuge in south africa from the congo because of one man nelson mandela causes the one more loud of the do side of the. camp but now he's gone and only means afraid she and other foreigners like her will be kicked out i think that there are tears well thought in the eyes because they don't one foot in the area complaining that it's put in there that taking their jobs millions of africans have fled their troubled countries in search of a better life in south africa but more often than not they've swapped one horror for another with no money work or prospects a handful have made this place a methodist church in downtown johannesburg home if you're a green or you for your german or if you're fringe and you come into this country you were in to experience what experienced here one of the things that protected

for instance was that it divorced us from the rest of africa who failed is struggling to support his wife and five children in a brutal attack she was beaten so badly she miscarried he was left for dead their crime being foreigners in a strange land i think we could we have. a right to life i think i should also let you in south africa prejudices run deep not only are african foreigners accused of taking jobs away from locals they're also held responsible for accelerating crime so if who is doing the film where they're going to do the work to who is good and. where we are to give them a sense of going home though is not an option political instability acute poverty and violence awaits them. for twelve long months has been too afraid to step foot outside this church and now with mandela gone she's more afraid than ever

liz too says something about the flood of them but now is not no one was talk about the flooding that's as night follows the schools close providing refuge to people seeking sanctuary in a country that doesn't want them. to one is south africa. by the weekly returns in half an hour's time but for now the irish minister in charge of ties with europe tells r t what his country has gained and lost since joining the e.u. four decades ago worlds apart ochs on a boycott just a moment. just

imagine a foreign leaders like alexander lukashenko or vladimir putin just showed up at anti e.u. protests and all garia greece are hungry to urge people to leave the e.u. and join up with the eurasian customs union obviously the big media would be on fire screaming that this is part of an attempt to usurp democracy and steal the country's away some sort of imperialist agenda and you know what they might be right about that but the weird thing is that for some reason the mainstream media isn't talking about foreign politicians speaking to and or possibly agitating protesters in ukraine like speaker of the lithuanian parliament loreto grows in india and e.u. vice president got sick proto c. of h. and former polish pm jaroslav kaczynski he had the european union brassfield is just fine for their politicians to go to foreign countries and fire up protestors to start a pro e.u. revolution but then all their journalists write about is how russia is trying to put pressure on ukraine. to not join the e.u. the obvious hypocrisy of this stinks all the way up the boss scale but that's just

my opinion. hello welcome to worlds apart this year marks fortune years since arlen joined the european union but you don't see much celeb rationing here and that may be due to the fact that few have paid a higher price for this integration than the irish people each one of whom already contributed almost nine thousand tourists in taxes to effectively saved are the euro was that worth it well to discuss that i'm knowledge joined by the countries minister for european affairs pascal donohue mr donohue thank you very much for your time i know that when arlen was celebrating the thirty if thirtieth anniversary of joining the euro there was this whole program of exhibitions and

conferences to celebrate the occasion but we don't see. that level of celebration this time around and i wonder whether it is due to all this territory or perhaps it reflects maybe a broader more skeptical reassessment of joining the e.u. well the main reason for the change in diet mood is the scale of the economic crisis that audience health insurer to over the last five years. we have gone through a period in which our economy went through a very sharp decline we saw on employment go up do we had to deal with a very very difficult. crisis within our banking system. and because of all of dos it's understandable that people are not read the mood to celebrate anything. because. of the difficulty that many people feel. we are seeing for

the first time now in five years some signs the scale of difficulty is coming to an end we're seeing our private sector create jobs for the first time now since two thousand and eight and our economy is now one to thirty year of growth. hope if you were to come back in a few more years time to look at the next face of where we stand you'll see a very big difference from where we are now well i mean did hope to see a big difference couple of years from now but i think some would argue that one of the reasons why people are so skeptical about this whole european integration people in ireland i mean was it because of that having to incur all that private banking doubt upon themselves and. i wonder whether you think that aren't would have been pressured then obligated to be all that banking that if it wasn't a member of the e.u. citizen number of assumptions in your question that i would challenge i think

they're wrong the first assumption is that there is a majority of people skeptic skeptical in a number of times as it is certainly increased from the last saying it has increased but that's very different from saying are inferring that the majority of people are against our scandalous ever edgerton i think you know this campus is growing we were able to as an inference in your introduction as well on your question the. a majority of people are against the level of integration of where we stand in our relationship with europe at the moment. that's not to say that the russian now oh for people are accepting data integration is the same it has changed over time we joined the european union as a country whose level of income was below the european average despite everything that's happened we're now at least in line with and ahead of us in some cases in terms of your specific question regarding banking decimeter.