it's. an e.u. commissioner tweaks that integration talks with ukraine have been put on hold but kiev wants official confirmation meanwhile there are still functions of pro and anti-government protesters on the streets of the ukrainian capital and the american people would want to react. to support the people of ukraine. and u.s. senator john mccain joins other american andy you politicians who are putting their full support behind the ukrainian opposition. also this week syria is shaken by another wave of atrocities islamised rebel forces are said to have massacred dozens of civilians in the latest in a series of attacks. and is out and is set to exit its three year long bailout program the prime minister thanks citizens for their resilience but warns the

economic situation won't change overnight. are you watching r.t. international on the weekly with me andrew fowler. now a senior official has tweeted that trade deal to go she ations with ukraine has been frozen because kiev demands are unrealistic but a member of the european parliament who said the opposition headquarters in kiev says that statements by enlargement commissioner stephan fuel is not true and. has more. 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 feel able to reach out more on his official account that i quoted words and deeds over

the kremlin president and government regarding association agreement with european union after further and further apart their arguments have no grounds. for quote all this to fuel it also went on to say that several days ago in brussels when he was meeting the 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 war going on signing this deal has been put on hold because the greenside had no answer to that after this latest statement by the european official also puts huge pressure on the coverage because he has been saying all along continuously during press corps it is a meetings with the european officials and the opposition that ukraine would not step down from the euro integration. he was fully expecting to sign the euro association deal in the year is the future meanwhile the protests are going to be wearing and kiev and everywhere across the brain more than definitely more than one hundred thousand people are now in the central square of the iranian capital and

we're watching this situation to see how the latest statements by european officials late may or may not anger the protesters even more while ukrainian president told u.s. senators john mccain and chris murphy that his country is still on course towards even see gratian so let's take a look at what that could mean for ukraine and the possible reasons why nothing has been signed yet a senior aide diplomat says the kiev is demanding too much cash from brussels to pay its debt and kickstarted struggling economy signing the deal would also mean huge bills for ukraine to modernize itself to european standards and those could run to over twenty billion dollars a year the foreign affairs editor of chronicles magazine told us that the use office is designed only to serve the blog saying geo political aspirations. b. you all heard very few beers agree. which would have opened. west

european industrial products without the possibility of your creating industry thanks for the beast and the longer the evil doesn't exist as it grew and we're looking at. old. german or central europe which is germany austria. benelux have found us and they have. geopolitical interests in ukraine all along varying numbers of prayer demonstrates is still on the streets of kiev but the opposition leaders will debate whether or not to continue protesting on monday supporters of president any coverts were also acting force though coming to kiev from all over the country for the weekend high profile us politicians have meanwhile made it clear they are aligned with the opposition american senators john

mccain and chris smith. mccain says the u.s. could take action against the ukrainian government we do not want to impose sanctions it is not our desire to do so but obviously the american people would want to react. to support the people of ukraine in case of violence and that's just what we have done in other cases throughout the world. before mccain and murphy's arrival assistant u.s. secretary of state victoria nuland handed out snacks on kiev central square on wednesday what are high profile american and european politicians doing there among the protesters legal experts and blogger alexander macoris told us why he thinks these officials are constantly turning up in ukraine in capital. but the reason they are there is bluntly because i think these people want to detach the ukraine

from russia as they see it and they think that by supporting the protesters and here they might actually achieve that the problem with that strategy is that it's simply not working the bonds between the ukraine and russia economically and culturally ethnically and simply too strong and i think for american politicians and indeed european politicians to go to the ukraine and to try to do that is actually very unwise and very dangerous and he simply exacerbating making worse the differences the divisions in the ukraine which are already very great what we found to more and how the situation is unfolding in ukraine on our web site r.t. dot com has also got a live updates timeline which does give a thorough breakdown of everything that is happening across the country.

now in syria government forces attempted to reclaim the town of damascus this week that has al-qaeda linked fighters have reportedly carried out a series of massacres there our sister channel r.t. arabic filed this report. r.t. sources in the military say radical islamist fighters and toured the town of address and massacred local civilians according to the latest figures at least eighty people were killed in the districts which the syrian army has now liberated entire families were killed other families were kidnapped and are being used as human shields in the battle against government forces. militants from jabhat al nusra and the army of islam seize control of all the streets and cross roads very quickly snipers took positions on the roof and houses they carried out the massacre the first reports said twenty had been killed but today were dated figures it's a horrifying situation and

a scene of murder atrocities and fear r t sources in the military also say that some of the kidnapped families have been transferred to areas south of the town they're now being held in strategically important zones which the rebels have been using as a base of operations in these places are heavily fortified sources also say the total death toll in address may in fact increase because the syrian army has not yet liberated the entire town international affairs and defense analysts not just says they believe that without american support the islamist be that anything adamant in the resistance movement. well it's important to to first realize that the east let me strudels they don't want peace they don't want. to be settlement with us you don't want them don't want to take over syria by force if necessary if the government doesn't surrender first sunday the damascus is now

going to sprint or so we have a situation which united states great britain it were favoring their peace talks in geneva two they were also the. treaty is syrian army but that doesn't include according to them these let me say none the less in my opinion in the u.s. government they would like to bring down the road into syria at least to destroy the country so i would say that if the americans though support the east let's be nice let me just are you going to be the leading elemental the resistance of the rebels on according to the u.k. based syrian observatory for human rights a syrian city of aleppo has become a target of a strikes which have claimed at least thirty six lives fifteen of the victims are said to be children who stated on the latest updates from.

now in the wake of violence bailout exit the country's prime minister has made a televised address to the nation in which he thanked citizens for their patients and resilience it doesn't go to a powerful signal internationally that ireland is fighting back but the spirit of our people is a strong as ever. and they can he also stated the government will now focus on creating jobs and making sure the country never returns to a culture of speculation and greed but he also warned the economic situation isn't going to change overnight for syria explains why. the people know that in that decision they endured the 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

court the 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 the 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 than has come through the worst of the crisis but we shouldn't underestimate the size of the crisis it faced because of the enormous holes in the banking sector which in turn resulted from very cavalier lending by the banking system parish st mary citizens and taxpayers have had to pick up the bill for the mess the banking system with 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 or. 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. still to come in the program a protest about protests. a campaign against a draw floor that would impose tough fines for an authorized demonstrations turns violent as paper the keys it of attacking democracy that story coming up in a couple of minutes. will. technology innovation called the list of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. as the media leave us so we leave the people. of the same motion securely play your part of the physical.

issues that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all politics. are t.v. . dramas that can't be ignored to. stories others refuse to notice. the faces change the world. to picture of today's mug. from around the globe. look to. russia's president made it clear this week he's ready to defend traditional values

during his state of the nation address and also said the country does not aspire to be a superpower or to lecture others on high to conduct their affairs but is ready to defend itself whenever necessary he will place enough it's got the details it's traditionally become the place to be to find out the president's vision of the present and his plans for the future every year russia stop politicians businessmen economists and elites gather at the kremlin to listen to his annual address first head of just returned from there as well and here are some of the key points by the reporter had to make russia isn't looking at dominating 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 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. program. these are examples that diplomacy still works by the time when russia. suggested. the process of chemical disarmament stars and syria. very few countries in the world we came to support the so-called obama option which would have been yet another bombing of yet and as a country so i think this is a very important lesson. lesson on how the crisis of this time 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 get when you don't know what you do see it 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 referring 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 get off r.t. moscow. now in other news thousands of staged divide and protest in madrid venting

their fury over a draft floor that could enforce tough sanctions against unsanctioned rallies. about two dozen people were injured and seven arrested when angry crowds attempted to surround the spanish parliament activists condemn 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 little with strong support from the conservatives who hold a majority in the legislature. and in southern spain a cave dwelling community is also standing ground hundreds of activists formed a human barricade this week to resist being forcibly removed from their homes the residents say the government wants them out to make way for a luxury resort you see carefully of when to meet the defined set lists.

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 bonafide homes. we've been living here for two years now and really not a wood community it's the kind of place when they brews 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 to leave a long legs that we've done nothing for them don't we don't have 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 are in proper houses and it is

a residential area of the city that the caves are unsafe for any humans to live in that 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 actually one of the first united fans here and that's why because he's already. said with the yards to protect the roof. they need to be done even then us and he's willing to do everything to keep on living here for a. big satisfaction to be levied on house. the city council wants to clean up the hill years ago developers announced plans to turn this area into a tourist attraction and we think that's what's really behind the eviction. 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 given that the city council wants to shut down the killings but they don't want to tear them down 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 may be ready not so say the residents the city council isn't likely to abandon its plans to evict the residents but for the people living in the caves of san miguel giving up is simply not an option reporting we're not a space for our team and lucy catherine of. we've got some breaking news here in our to at least twenty one people are dead in twenty injured after a bus and a van collided into a city that's according to philippine police report suggests that the bus fell from

an elevated manila highway and fell on top of a van rescue workers are still trying to extract people from the wrecked. now another new saudi arabia delivers a severe punishment of political activists is sentenced to four years in jail three hundred lashes and a travel ban after calling for a constitutional monarchy and criticizing the ruling family head to r.t. dot com for the full story there plus following the hippie slogan make love not war can be punishable is an italian protester may end up in court after kissing a riot police officer on our website we've got all the details for you. now this week a delegation from saudi arabia allegedly visited israel to discuss mutual concerns over the recent around nuclear deal reports of long suggested that the two former foes are pulling closer together over disdain for u.s.

policies in the middle east including a thaw in its relations with terror well earlier we spoke to a saudi prince he believes the u.s. put its own regional interests over those of its allies that. i believe the main reason for the change in america's alliances in the middle east is issue of the 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 interest in the middle east not a us 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 usa and they rely on it. lawmakers in yemen have called for a stop to u.s. drone strikes the nation's parliament passed a motion banning unmanned aerial attacks however it's not a binding vote and it's just a recommendation to the government the initiative comes days after one attack reportedly hit a wedding motorcade and killed civilians while earlier we spoke to political activist medea benjamin and he told r.t. that drone strikes which are claimed to be winking out qaeda are actually pushing more people to join it. every time there's a drone strike that's the best recruiting tool for al qaeda and killing people in a wedding party i am sure that this will lead to not tens but probably a hundred people joining al qaeda and this guarantees the cycle of violence will go on in perpetual war the drone strikes actually are a support to al qaeda it doesn't get rid of al qaeda some international news in

brief now an israeli soldier killed in a shooting along the northern border with lebanon he was treated at the scene but died after being transported to hospital israeli military say that up to seven bullets were fired by a lebanese sniper following the incident the lebanese army was reported to be put on higher in the area in sweden violence erupted in the stock with anti fascist protesters clashing with far right supporters writers who broke off and some firecrackers at least two people were injured and twenty eight arrests were made police say the suspects could face a maximum charge of attempted murder. doesn't matter you are if you. have grown coming tomorrow. in berlin hundreds of people have marched in solidarity with residents of the refugee camp the demonstration took place after it was revealed that eighty people living there facing eviction germany is currently

the only country in the debating an initiative that would force asylum seekers to remain within the confines of the state register. this week a court in bahrain sentenced twelve anti regime activists to fifteen years in jail they had torched a car where in february but their supporters say the tough sentence underlines the gulf kingdom's continued pro-democracy clampdown with fear is that the country spiraling into a dictatorship former bahraini parliament member. zouk was charged with inciting terror criticizing the monarchy the sheer he says the authorities also bully politicians into not working with human rights groups the problem back then is very they say to understand we have absolute authority that was concentrated in behind law clearly and families and we need doors for thirty years to be shared. by the

people of floor an inclusive political system that is retaining the power to the people rule of law was never meant to have an illegal law compared to the international community stand and your own forces biased police and courts that is what people are you so i think is just part of the punishment and part of the threats and fears today position of the activists not to join the movement that calling for simple rights universal rights of their people to be equal to have dignity to participate in political system and to have the block meant that is fair with everyone. watching r.t. international coming up after the break we visit to ireland ravaged by nearly two hundred nuclear test explosions.

there calling obama's happy smiling selfie photo with the danish and british prime ministers at the mandela funeral an international incident but before we rail on obama for doing something stupid a funeral we need to clear one thing up the washington post says that this action occurred at the memorial service after the funeral was over and trust me after about three hours of serious lectures at a conference or some sort of super long wedding most of us would just be banging our heads against the wall out of boredom and i'd probably check my email about seven times obama's place you know i said most of us but the president isn't supposed to be like most of us because he represents all of us it's one thing when you're fourteen and too stupid to realize that selfie photos at the wake after grampa's funeral is a bad idea but it's another thing entirely when one of the most photographed and powerful people on the planet takes a selfie at the memorial service of someone he claims to respect although i might sound annoyed this sophie is pretty much irrelevant this is just

a big error of etiquette there are plenty of real concrete things with real consequences to be bad at obama over like our being religious wacko rebels in syria or signing into law the n.b.a. i wish with all my heart that we only had to be angry with obama over some minor etiquette errors but sadly they're just a drop in the obama bucket but that's just my opinion. every sunday morning most of the two hundred inhabitants of the village of psychomotor gather in a small church. i am was. i pad. two both to

a lack of interest in the seminary and its geographic isolation the parish hasn't had a priest for several years. was. i . was a sunday service has since been run by volunteers from the village reverent and with fervor they pray for their souls but also for peace for the departed the family members and friends that have left them too soon. and to rear their own nose centenarians the average life expectancy was in the sixty's people at work tomorrow or for years and no longer here to talk about what went on and many developed cancer especially thyroid cancer which is characteristic of radioactive contamination. thirty four people have been taken ill making therea one of the most contaminated atolls. this is

far from the postcard perfect image there's very little economic activity. the. coconut trees and the copra the dried kernel of the coconut shell which is one of the few ways to eke out a living here on the islands. once a month a boat makes a stop here to collect the culprit. there is no port into rare just a simple landing where basic provisions such as petrol and spare parts can be delivered. at the edge of the village in an old atomic bomb shelter where the population have to take refuge during each atmospheric test.