following strong support for catalan independence from spain anti independence protesters are now gathering in barcelona complicating catalonia options on its future. multibillion dollar deals are on the table as the king of saudi arabia arrives in russia for his first official visit and it could be a signal of a wider shift in saudi foreign policy. through which should move vote. plus coming up empty handed again the latest u.s. senate committee hearing into russian meddling finds the presidential election was

not affected. it's just turned two pm here in the russian capital you're watching r t international with me jacqueline thanks for joining us. following those massive strikes against the spanish government that attracted over half a million people in catalonia now anti independence activists have gathered in barcelona this is all of course after last weekend's controversial referendum which saw violence break out across the region and to see a church has been following events for us in barcelona. then you can see a couple of hundred people was gathered there was this. oh yes and independent robbing banks there are quite loud and really are symbolic of massive seemingly was here and know that if you can see the street here it was people are

quite fascinated about keeping spain and hearts have been speaking out against the independence they've been talking about how they want the rule of law to prevail how there. was a way that we've been conducting was arrested and your friends in the crowds out of course that of course we criticize on the day of the referendum one of the worst of the people here now are just this one of the ones who are coming out saying once a week they would talk some of them was what they say your city i think what they should do is respect the lure in the constitution as all of europe and the european union have osteo the only thing we are asking is that they have by the constitution and the law which is what will defend the council you people you know people's most i think is civilized it will not give us anything respond if citizens festival we want a united spain this independent side air space to highs is just to rub us so far we

do know that the council on parliament said they would hold a session on potential independence process as soon as this monday so certainly this critical situation seems likely to continue given this stance of the cats long leadership to continue to pursue the results of the referendum where ninety percent of the electorate did vote to leave spain how exactly this is going to unravel the means to be seen could you want also said that he does want some mediation to be involved between barcelona and madrid and whether or not that happens and what kind of mediation is going to be and whether or not is actually going to bear fruit is what we're going to be watching now. earlier the general strikes over seven hundred thousand people to. take part in it as people we flags and chanted pro independence slogans along the pack streets catalonia now has several options regarding its future one would be opening dialogue with the you and spanish authorities to mediate the crisis that's been soured by madrid's attempts to disrupt the

referendum however the catalan president says spain hasn't responded positively to the idea of talks of what these number would we have never received any positive response from the state to any of the proposals mediation that we have a duty to lead the moment to say yes or whatever because spain's prime minister has so far rejected negotiations once again stressing that madrid sees the vote as illegal meanwhile overnight protests in the capital saw crowds calling for national unity and the central government not to enter talks with catalonia. right. greg. you've. got the lingo romany's really in sixteen in these objectives but for us it's very important. international community recognize what is happening here in the

following year and also there and we are making calls here in order. to receive some international support team. in the process of negotiating with. us by the government with the first option currently doubtful catalonia may look at other options now that could include its regional government going ahead with declaring independence and a part parliamentary session confirmed that could happen as early as next monday. if they're out of the ninety eight hour an extraordinary meeting will take place next monday ninth of october it's a debate to make in the mode you ation of the results of the referendum in other words to declare the independence of catalonia coupled it was once an independent country twenty years ago is establishing not only our view that into the course of a quarter your going to do so i don't see what but they don't appear to be concerned about having concluded which is shooting

a potential with them but as we live many other parts of you watching with interest as to what is up you can't lutea but i think we have to look at a couple you know its own merits giving all those out in catalonia deserted start think every place is different but it looks a couple only out is on that we do independence and it will certainly be because for many others of course you. now perhaps the worst scenario for catalonia would be madrid taking back power over the regional government under article one fifty five of the spanish constitution the central government can suspend the north eastern regions autonomy it's seen at least it's seen as a last resort but the spanish justice minister has confirmed that spain could suspend catalin autonomy if catalonia declares its independence next week we spoke to ludivine north and international affairs consultant who says spain's needs spain needs to tread carefully. in december going to church in step. with them

they really exclude themselves from membership or not if the e.u. would accept such as you duration that is the and for the new. as as an international organization we can never accept the new member state uses the army against its own people we should also not forget that the reason and the circumstances that springsteen became a member was among other things too and in the day to shoot the church as scenario would be a catastrophe to strain to call it alone you know obviously and for your absolute. king solomon of saudi arabia has finally met with the russian president and what's being called historic talks it's the first official visit to russia by the saudi monarch with many considering it a shift in riyadh's foreign policy huge oil deals that were on the table at the meeting our correspondent joins me live now. it's been

called historic unexpected what might come out of this meeting. jaclyn high while the thems of russia and saudi arabia have been played inside one of kremlin's most spectacular rooms so that means the meeting is underway as you were saying and deals with the biggest and the richest gulf kingdom always being in big numbers all of these paychecks and kids is in russia to do just that for these signatures on these many papers that are expected to be signed and he has told a lot of our pollutant that he is genuinely happy to be in russia although it is no secret that on the international geopolitical scene saudi arabia. aren't exactly friends but that only adds spice to the story because when it comes to the economic partnership and cooperation high ranking officials from both countries

have already been teasing the journalists ahead of this visit with the big numbers that i was telling you about we are expecting multi billion multi billion dollar contracts to be announced for instance possibly three billion dollars worth of arms sales to saudi arabia saudi arabia is also planning to spend at least one billion dollars on energy projects in russia saudi arabia also wants to invest in gas production in russia russia wants to build plants in russia and so on so no wonder the energy minister of this country and also the russian ministry of defense are together with vladimir putin talking to the saudi delegation and kremlin and we understand that this could be the case when interests go first and politics next because of these contradictions again but we will see and something we have to

also look at here and context are very very close. pause between saudi arabia and the u.s. we of course remember the donald trump shows the gulf kingdom destination for his first foreign trip and this was something that a lot of more prudent was asked about last night let's take a listen to what the russian president said. let's face it so this. is always going to be the united states when it comes to the interests you should always remain. absolutely constant. so we do realize that moscow is really looking forward to that shift and they were trying to make the saudi king as welcome as possible in moscow we have seen billboards he could see them on the way to central moscow where of course he has been enjoying

the best view of the kremlin perhaps from his words call to sweet and i can tell you that the saudi delegation they didn't just book number of sweets at the ritz carlton not even the entire hotel but actually a cluster of moscow's most lavish hotels so it's a bit of a saudi kingdom there in the heart of russia right now well we'll see what comes out of the talks there's no press conference planned by the leaders but the foreign minister of russia is expected to speak in about a few hours so we'll be trying to give you all the updates that come out from behind the kremlin walls directly. reporting live from central moscow thank you so much for staying across that story for us. the u.s. senate intelligence committee says the voting and the two thousand and sixteen presidential election was not affected by alleged russian meddling however hillary clinton who lost to donald trump claims russia scared off some of the voters. i was

on the way to winning until the combination of jim commies letter on october twenty eighth and russian wiki leaks raise doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off we can certify. that no vote totals were affected by the pallies are accurate the outcome of the election based upon we can move. they did not in any way shape or form that we've been able to find and alter that from there we heard members of the senate intelligence committee say that they believe that russia was currently in the process of trying to create chaos in the us elections and they talked about social media the vice chairman of the committee who is mark webber he went on to say that social media platforms were not taking the threat of alleged russian meddling seriously enough facebook recently turned over three thousand ads that they say were russia linked over one

hundred thousand dollars worth of advertisements that were bought between the years of two thousand and fifteen and twenty seventeen the social media giant revealed that most of the views that these ads received were accumulated after the election took place now senator warner went on to say that the american users of ads should be informed about whether or not ads are purchased by what he called foreign entities and he didn't define what a foreign entity is or how it would be determined if someone who purchased an ad was a foreign entity or not he just felt that ad should be labeled from there we went on to hear about how facebook has talked about the contents of these ads in the comments made to the press we heard it hinted that it's pretty clear that these ads weren't exactly linked to any particular candidate let's take a listen there's no way that you can look at that and say that that was to help the right side of the ideological joerg and. not the left or

vice versa or they were indiscriminate it seems. the overall theme of the russian. involvement in the us look create chaos at every level. and i would tell you the fact that we're sitting here nine months later investigating that in pretty strong success at this point when we heard the members of congress speaking to the press they seemed to insinuate or suggest or maybe even believe that the reason that their investigation is taking so long is because of the alleged success of the russian medlars and that they've done it so well that it's just very very hard to find the evidence they didn't seem to acknowledge the possibility that maybe the evidence they're so desperately looking for just isn't there. as we saw there the senators focused on russia's alleged use of social media platforms as a tool to influence voters they invited three internet giants to work with the senate to help determine whether these ads were generated generated by foreign

entities. we think it's important. that the three companies that we've invited google twitter and facebook will appear in a public hearing so that americans can begin to hear both about how we're going to protect i would argue three areas one making sure that if you see an ad that appears on a social media site then americans can know whether the source of that ad was generated by foreign entities. we talked to former u.s. intelligence officer scott rickard he told us the social media giant can be easily manipulated. what's interesting to hear here is out of the hundred thousands of dollars hundred thousand only dollars that was that supposedly by the russians very few interviews were actually made of that actually those posts well that being said that's because

you can easily control who sees these these posts using the hadrian algorithm and other algorithms that limit these the exposure of these both. in the democratic party was posting things those posts were really widespread view because of their collusion with google and facebook so this is really a comical joke to me and it's and it's really proves the red scare of russia can survive here even in the year two thousand and seventy. some of france's working class a president like ron as a leader for the rich and his latest comment isn't doing anything to help that image that's coming up after a short break. in case you're new to the game this is how it works the economy is built around. perforations washington washington media the media.

voters elect businessman to run this country business because. you must it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before. what holds if you should. be put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected . so when you want to be present enjoy. yourself want to reach. out to the right person to see what before three of the people. interested.

the french president has found himself in the media spotlight again for the wrong reasons this time emanuel mccrone was visiting a struggling company and had some strong words for the country's working class for more on that let's cross live to charlotte. charlotte what did mccrum have to say today. well basically was visiting the training center in central france on wednesday when he was basically out so there was a protest taking place by the g.s. and. and it's thought that he was aiming his comments at these workers who have been under threat of redundancy now for around ten months and basically he said that instead of protesting they should perhaps be out looking for would all be in full fruity language let's take a listen to what was actually said. they must have told you to. be better off if

they could get a job over there rather than stirring up some have got the qualifications and it's not that far for them to go. well it's not the first time that mr. controversy over some of his comments some people saying that he's basically sort of said very bad things about the working class showing contempt for them he's previously talked about illiterate people and people who use the bus to travel to work and he's also said that he wouldn't. people in response to the protests that came over his controversial labor reforms here in france basically he's called the working class like. you will be absolutely determined to do that i will not yield in any way not to slack because you're not cynics not to extremists. who are gathered here today to protest against macron and his policies which

undermine the very existence of the workers from. this movement is necessary it is the response of the french people who are protecting their rights. well there's been huge criticism from the opposition parties in france people saying that mr doesn't know what it means to work and that mr marquand should watch his language and have much more respect from the people it also comes amidst all the criticism that mr mccollum is a president for the rich he recently unveiled his government's first budget and in that budget many people saying that he has become the reverse robin hood as in that he's taking money away from the poor and he's actually. giving it to the rich and

this incident on wednesday outside that training center in central france sparked again scuffles between the police and protesters these protesters from g.s. and and from some of the trade industry unions here in france just unhappy about the fact that all they want to do is to speak to their president about the future of their jobs about the future or their security for them and their family these were around two hundred eighty have been under threat of redundancy now for around ten months and as we know from previously speaking with them they are just at the end of their tether willing to do anything to gain the attention to try and save their jobs. of course will be very interesting to see what mr mccrone says next charlotte reporting live from paris thank you from the update. the latest statement has sparked reaction online.

the f.b.i. is being sued by a victim of an islamic state inspired attack in two thousand and fifteen at a controversial cartoon drawing contest in texas a lawsuit alleges that the bureau may have been complicit in the terrorist incident by not acting on early warning signs and girlfriends ontario has more. the f.b.i. is under fire accused of encouraging a terror attack the accusation comes from a security guard who is taking his case to court bruce joyner was wounded in two thousand and fifteen and in iceland speier terrorist attack targeting the draw mohammed contest in garland texas.

both of them had assault rifles came around the back of the car and started shooting. now garland could have been a massive tragedy but mr joiner along with other guards and the police managed to stop the terrorists now he wants to get to the bottom of this quite shocking revelation bruce who's been a loyal law enforcement officer for most of his life and only seeks the food truth as the f.b.i.'s role in his near death all made that the two thousand and fifteen we did not understand why our own government would not tell us even privately what really happened that day so what does he bases accusations on well for starters the f.b.i. allegedly helped the terrorists hope to gain weapons by lifting

a restriction during a background check it's also believed the agent even texted the terrorists inciting them well to have a good time. and finally the f.b.i. is accuse the following the terrorists for the scene of the attack not up rehan them but only to drive away and let them get on with it i don't like to think that they let it occur but it is shocking to me that are now under cover agent sees fellows jumping out of a car and he drives on. according to research by an american university a shocking fifty eight percent of people charged with links to eisele had contact with either an undercover u.s. agent or informant helping the terrorists do who knows what it's very troubling to know that not only was the f.b.i. aware of this attack but likely perhaps complicit in carrying it out and even enticing the two terrorists to carry out the attack in garland texas some of the

facts are indicating that they had an undercover agent that was trying to get in with isis or if the attack had been carried out successfully and people died that was likely that this undercover agent and his superiors his supervisors in the f.b.i. felt that this would prompt him up to high ranks within isis he didn't have a legal duty to prevent it but it certainly is negligence at the very least remember james komi the former f.b.i. chief well he didn't mention any of this during the twenty fifteen garland present reefing and when asked whether counterterrorism investigators are looking for a needle in a haystack he said the whole country is a stack and the needles are invisible apparently there was at least one needle that was visible that he chose not to mention francis jagow r.t. . russia's done it is holding a hearing on meddling in the country's internal affairs foreign ministry spokeswoman marie a horrible is speaking right now let's listen in. teachers.

we have just heard. your shot of this very detailed speech sure thank you now it's . from the standpoint of the foreign minister of russia is the other united states breaking their own laws regarding the activities of the media. which we wish i was an expert discuss on this issue it was based on and the. studying of american law. and all the basic american bills and laws regulating the activities of the journalists including foreign journalists regulating these freedom of speech guaranteeing freedom of speech. and our assessment is very straightforward we see an objective for violation of the domestic laws of the us with regards to freedom

of speech but i would like also like to add. that. here is your point it's not just about the brinson poles of freedom of speech that are declared by the us but were violated by the very principles that the u.s. has been actively exporting outside of their country this is the basics bartz all for american foreign policy somewhere they recommend these failures somewhere they infiltrate to instances to steal their values and other nations and countries but they themselves are violating these very values with regards to our russian channel. and we haven't spoken in detail. about where these laws and principles of freedom of speech are violated with regards to other media.

we were interested in the question of russian media in the us and i would like to reaffirm that our assessment. is. only that we can clearly see a violation of violence for us domestic laws against. russian media as we see restricted measures. on fiscal matters a strict a fiscal measures taken against our channel that. we have also spoken about other measures taken against our channel during the briefing a week ago which you can read about that in part. some of the demands have been. stated by the us have and some have been in the states it is through the news makers they have been

trying. to say what is what awaits in the future they were trying to put fear into our hearts and there's a whole information campaign including elements of pressure and elements of. administrative measures. to be taken against our media's. interest myself i would also like to ask a question now. and this case here we have these i would like to just go straight now to. me and you have told us about a large number of measures on sanctions taken against you personally to. your eyes and your channels. now i held her which a question to you as you are well represented in other networks as well but you have just.