but. you don't want. to bring in line the teacher from cancer lonia where people are queuing up to do banged up polling stations in the past the loaded and i went to a polling station on cue to open. but also in this week's headlines tech giant google facebook and twitter have all joined in the hunt for increasingly allusive looking alleged russian election madness. germany sees a wave of protests after the alternative for germany party enter the national parliament for the first time cuts. you for cheese river cross it

is. shelled the city islamic states days in syria look numb that has been driven out of the city of d.m. reso and across the euphrates river. allowing welcome you watching the weekly here on r.t. international the latest headlines on the stories that shaped the week. well it's decision time the spanish region of confidence in less than an hour people that will start voting on whether to break away from spain madrid has threatened to shut down polling stations and branding the referendum illegal that's prompted some locals to stage sit ins to make sure the ballots casting goes ahead. police offices have visited several theaters to let activists know that they must

leave the premises by six am local time a deadline which has now expired but we can now cross live to onto his medina a function of his now warlock to climb polling station in boston loma dana we're pulling soldiers followed people evacuate those buildings. now as you can see behind my back crowds are people are still there are very close to the wall and station people are saying here that they are ready and they will vote and indeed this sunday morning all eyes are just as you sat at polling stations located across the region of the line and these polling stations are about to open their doors in less than an hour now local police have warned that all activists should leave the size by six o'clock sunday morning and local police was as well a structure it not to implement force however to confiscate all of material connected

to the referendum now right now we're standing and know one of the neighborhoods. and the people behind my back are those from the so-called neighborhood watch should they came here to protect the building of the school that is about to become a polling station some of them came in the middle of the night around forty five am and some even stayed overnight and now they say that they are ready to vote and as you can see they're already building a line of people there along the building of the school so people are getting ready to vote now and there is no turn ssion the atmosphere is quite a peaceful everyone is clapping supporting each other exchanging slogans and even passing out coffee to one another now in last in about an hour ago a police car approached the building of the school now we've got to. policemen here present across the street but they're not approaching the crowd they're not contacting anyone they're just basically standing across the street and looking at

what's going to happen the same people are doing you're looking at what's going to happen now lead on saturday if these spanish interior ministry said that most of the calling stations which vote organizers sad designated to host the referendum have been shut down by a story this and really in the past couple of days we've seen mounting tensions on the streets of gaza lauda and across the region we've seen the protests or is taking it to the streets both for and against the referendum well let's just recap what happened in spain and the street and in the past couple of days. was. thank god. thank. you thank you.

again today is the crucial day for the referendum on the independence of council on an ole eyes are at the moment at the polling stations located across the capital city of barcelona and of the region and we're here on the ground bringing you the latest crucial day in day thanks for that the saudis are doing a coach in a room barcelona who's going to be bringing his all the latest throughout the day polling stations due to open in less than an hour now so stay with us for the latest. on the spanish government regards this referendum as illegal saying that its aim is to break the country with tension from mounting between madrid and barcelona if officials from both sides have traded accusations of extremism. disturbance it would. clearly be. adopting. people who. are against. it if the government has crossed

a very dangerous red line he has decided to resurrect franco. but it seems that the banished government does have reasons to worry about losing this region catalonia covers six percent of the country's territory and accounts for twenty percent of spain's g.d.p. the region is also responsible for more than half of investments into startups and almost a quota of foreign tourists go to council only has one madrid is so desperate to stop this referendum. i. think we members of the former government have been judged and convict. and barred from public positions. because we let people ok.

ok ok. ok it's that good and when that was put to me that. well you know this. was an expensive way they came to me about the way that. i was. sick of. with spanish society divided here what's launched me refrain from taking some light saying it's the internal issue of spain well that's that's that's some cut to

catalonians that her kids that you have turning its back on the regions wasn't so good in the film i mean the feel there was a. little bit of the this is the feeling that this was not a good look at what i was going to i think we will have earned the right to be heard out of this is something that has not happened up to now this is something the european commission has been deaf to they will not be able to continue ignoring this issue. well confluence voice that anger at madrid mage your journalists have been trying to pin down the e.u. to get its view at a media briefing this week r.t. spoke to one of the reporters who was there now well you have a double stand out in a freedom of expression whilst found that four thousand got in other strand out for their own you condemn it when they shut down cambodia daily but you stay silent

when a member states starts playing with freedom of expression if they shut the private websites if they start arresting jewelries how can you say this is cause additional that we don't have anything to say i mean this is freedom of expression anything else that we can help you with today. it's an internal constitutional problem according to you in the house to be sold into frame or called internal orders or do you go over there of being the problem is that this is true until until when certain issues arise like this in the last few days the issue of freedom of expression which is not only an internal constitution i mentioned spain it's clearly in your body you know which is that if you want to pass. constitutional order not only spineless because you cannot hold

it that's what we've learned that the stars in less than an hour our teams both here in moscow and in barcelona we'll be updating you on the situation on the ground throughout this sunday stay tuned. thirty. major tech firms are cooperating with the u.s. authorities by handing over information supposedly related to russian meddling in the american presidential election twitter and its statement also took a swipe at all t. jacqueline very good looks at the latest efforts to root house russian trolls. the internet is now trying its hand at hunting down even the slightest sign of moscow lurking in the shadows facebook twitter and now google are all gearing up to testify in congress on pesky russian meddling next month. twitter has released

a report with the name just made to fill headlines russian interference in two thousand and sixteen u.s. election bots and misinformation now it sounds spooky but the findings are more than a little vague twitter apparently found and shut down a grand total of two hundred one suspicious accounts that broke their spam rules and while russia is mentioned in the report those accounts aren't actually proven to have concrete links to moscow what was clearly laid out however was this channel spending on ads shockingly proving that r.t. uses social media and buys advertisements. facebook really similar findings earlier revealing four hundred seventy in authentic accounts then admitted most ads run by those accounts didn't even reference the u.s. presidential election at all so the kremlin is so sneaky that it was able to rig an election without mentioning the actual election pretty impressive facebook also said russia spent one hundred thousand dollars on those ads and other words less than one percent of how much candidates spent campaigning on facebook. while

stories of how moscow sway u.s. voters with a bunch of social media as continue to dominate the mainstream media the most shocking social network revelation is all but ignored wiki leaks has posted an email conversation in which facebook's chief operating officer seemingly proposes helping hillary clinton's campaign head. i still want hillary rodham clinton to win badly i'm still here to help as i can i'm thrilled at the progress here louise making. looking forward to working with the first woman president of the united states. google is also accused of having close ties to the clinton camp a leaked memo written by clinton's digital strategist surfaced online. i'm in it he talks about eric schmidt boss of google's parent company and the work that he's done for clinton i have been kept apprised of the work being done by eric schmidt's group and others working directly and indirectly with your team on the whole i am

comfortable with where we stand and confident in our roadmap to launch day and beyond but if you're waiting for these special committees and investigations to be set up into whether facebook or google actually help the clinton camp don't hold your breath just in case but i think it's a witch i think that they don't care about what hillary was doing and they want to very biased against the pain so far they haven't showed me and that was a that was a pro trump that was paid for by the russian government i just see what's happening in this post-election period as a result of a bunch of sore losers that were shocked that they didn't win the election but i think that the responsibility for us ought to be is what has our government done has our government been involved after they're in power and unfortunately we're involved too much around the world one of the big allegations against russia saw a major blow this week with three u.s.

states saying the department of homeland security provided them with both information the t.h.s. told twenty one states that the systems had been hacked during the election but the three states in question say that the information was looked only late but also wrong and that the agency should apologize but it seems news of alleged russian meddling won't go away everyone and everything it seems is being accused of having connections to most go including right to it the drudge report website and even the n.f.l. scandal caleb maupin also new yorkers if they should could distinguish real from made up accusations against russia. which scandal was said to be the result of russian trolls by a u.s. senator was it a an f l players not standing up for the pledge or for the flag was it b. confederate monuments or c. the california independence movement california and it's a you're right see because i don't know i really don't know do you believe that

kidding no i don't know who is a russian agent is it alexander ovechkin matt drudge or tom cruise tom cruise no doubt us a b. and you're right which is used as a tool for russian propaganda according to this same us senator is it a fox news be read it or see snap chat. read it yeah you're right about that i would say b. and that's what yeah the same guy said that read it done right now do you buy this idea that rush is everywhere russian trolls are in fla anon do you buy that i think it's all over the internet so it has to be true the country prefers to quit explanations without any facts we discuss the recent allegations against russia with media analysts leinil on point without a columnist for the hill news websites. what is troubling to most americans here is that the latest example involves playing race cards in american politics from some

russian sources to try to divide americans there are allegations with some that didn't at this point who are the russians russian government russian people people who speak russian what we don't know anti fracking ads black lives matter how is that going to help donald trump all i know because it causes chaos details don't matter just mentioned russia mentioned r.t. and we're off and running president putin and everyone else knows the exact truth the whole truth about what happened when it would prove relations is to stop it stop whether anyone will admit it or not is not stop stop interfering in the american system stop promoting racism or racial division promoting any political candidate or party in the united states by not doing the things that were on the news now that they are doing one question what is the what is the best evidence you

have take all the time you want the best evidence you have of anything that you have attempted to accuse russia of you know the senate intelligence committee democrats and republicans the f.b.i. every law enforcement agency every count of intelligence agency in america many many and most republican senators and republican members of congress republican and i'm a liberal democrat republican agree with every word i just said about what russia has done i'm trying so hard to play along i swear to you i'm not trying to be don i don't understand what if somebody were to pay an ad for black eyes matter n.f.l. boycott whatever it is so what if they would have by an ad that is on the news already how is the russian. story somehow worse deeper affecting people more. then the other story of yuri ten thousand times on ten thousand other platforms. remaining pockets of terrorist resistance in the

syrian city of g.r. is or were pounded this week by government forces on the ground and russian air power from above islamic state siege of the city was broken by the syrian army a month ago the terrorists that are left now are surrounded by both the syrian army and the u.s. backed kurdish forces are to travel to the city to witness the battle here's our correspondent with his report from the front line. food out palace once that is sort of most exclusive resort now a modern day fortress out of necessity. for three years the garrison here has thwarted isis attempts to cross the river at times it was a close run thing and we don't have saudi can on him from the onset coming up to the roof was very dangerous because of the snipers it was really bad but when the

army broke the siege and they fell back a month ago it would have been suicide to film up here not anymore. these five star hotel seem better days but thanks to its grandiose design and height acted as something of a fortress here indeed as sort and just to show you how close we are if you have a look through this hole at that hospital well everything behind that is isis part of the city of that is sort of across the river they also hold sway this is all their territory that's the euphrates river and across it is isis it's from there that they shelled the city at will and from there that they launched the occasional raid across the river taking the other banking is key to liberating the city entirely isis still sends fighters and alms back and forth across the river at

night it may take weeks but it is inevitable isis in syria is on its last legs its collapse has been as spectacular as its rise since the beginning of the year the so-called caliph it has lost thousands of square kilometers losing precious oilfields and strategic towns to the advancing syrian army and the u.s. backed rebels that is. not to say it's over all that it will be. isis has nothing left to lose according to the syrian military the families of isis fighters and diehard supporters have allegedly retreated to the town of my dean they have nowhere else to go in the shrinking caliphate this is the final act the dream of an islamic state has been shattered but even in its death throes

will inevitably claim more lives. from that his or her syria. germany has seen a number of protests denouncing the policies of the alternative for germany party and i thought it made a major breakthrough a week ago and entered parliament for the first time. one of the biggest rallies gathered outside the a i think headquarters with protesters shouting at the party leaders as they celebrate to be election result the a.f.p. claims the protesters were acting so aggressively they were afraid to make the building. there was then bundestag elections also made headlines angela merkel this by coming out on top thought plunge in support her christian democratic party registered its worst result since nine hundred forty nine that means hard times

could lie ahead i thought he's done you explained to many i'm going to merkel is the embodiment of stability in the face of crisis and diplomacy with a firm hand and sound decision making well as for that skill this term has been marred by a series of setbacks firstly she decided to open the doors to asylum seekers out the height of the refugee crisis almost a million flooded into germany in twenty fifteen alone while some more welcoming others started to worry the country just wouldn't be able to cope. year after mark a lot open door policy germany saw a rise in modern crimes one of the most shocking hundreds of women alleging they were sexually assaulted in cologne new year's celebrations by men of north africa

an hour of appearance. the events in cologne took their toll on merkel's popularity. the chancellor's controversial refugee policy is also blamed at least. partly for something much more sinister and dangerous. is the most terrorism. poorly vetted or later radicalized migrants cross the border germany saw multiple terror attacks take place markel faced the biggest leadership crisis. and.

finally the g twenty summit presents an international p.r. opportunity for chancellor merkel but while she advertised hamburg as a gateway to the world protest groups had other ideas welcome to hell and the authorities failed to prevent the chaos. the city descended into riots torched cars and pitched street battles with the police much of the media held accountable for this even choosing that venue to start with she may still be queen of the polls but merkel may need a fourth term just the right some of the mess she created in the third. now don't forget to follow us on facebook and twitter for regular updates as people prepared to cost them votes and consul lonia onto the latest on the back of the top of the

hour join me then. is there which will make. the most get a little. bit. less of a minute but i. know both of you want to but i get sort. of this yes or no but if you dump out and just know she refused. to. wear the blue he will get a good area for immigrants it's this we never really know for sure but this is been a active area.

thank you so i. know. when i started no i. wouldn't make this manufacture consent to stick to the public will. when the right wing closest to protect themselves. in the final merry go round lifts and be the one percent. we can all middle of the room see. the real news room.

leg. it's taken these children's homes. now it's ready to take their future. little came here could erupt again at any time. most people have a stark choice. live in poverty. what's going to get. but

some are following a different approach. it's. the same unsuitably. the point that hope for a better life.

welcome to worlds apart as the newly minted german parliament ariens gear up for their first session analyst are arguing whether last week's both resulted in a disappointing victory or a comfortable loss for the country sitting chancellor with the lowest share of the vote since nine hundred forty nine uggla merkel's party retains hold on the top job but it will now have to share the chambre with the parties it shares almost nothing in common the way it did the german politics just change in a major way by staying mostly the same well to discuss that i'm joined by former editor in chief of the german newspaper. mr zimmer it's an audience you talk to you thank you very much for your time. to you while the newspaper where you have worked for more than half a century of the desired just published a transcript of its editorial meeting from i think it was nine hundred eighty two when the you all discuss the entry of a new party into the german parliament.