but the part worked out of the work the work through the bureaucracy ok all right i think i'm. going to define. our teams barred from you tube's premium advertising service in the u.s. and the latest example of the unprecedented pressure our channel faces in the country. the catalan crisis deepens with anti independence activists now pressing the government to keep spain united. and multibillion dollar business deals are on the table as king solomon of saudi arabia meets president clinton on his first official visit to moscow possibly signaling a wider shift in saudi foreign policy. oh

. this is our to international broadcasting live from the russian capital i'm jack lugar thank you for joining me this hour first r.t.s. facing unprecedented pressure in the united states with authorities there intimidating not only employees but even those cooperating with the network this was revealed by our editor in chief margarita simonyan speaking at a parliamentary committee he hearing door you don't know remained till recently new active measures except those targeting our reputation has been taken against us in the u.s. specifically new arounds have we ever experienced the kind of pressure that we experienced today in the u.s. to the point eventually being forced out of the country. joins me live in the studio now on tell us what kind of pressure has our channel faced in the united states ever since the first allegations of fresh interference in the us elections

emerged emerged last year this channel has found itself in mounting pressure back in january the u.s. intelligence community presented their reports intelligence russian meddling the report devotes its seven pages to r.t. and its supposed influence in the public discourse accusing this channel of so the kremlin pop propaganda however no concrete evidence was or has been given in september the us justice department contract to america. to register as a foreign agent in the us a law that was drafted in back in the thirty's and was actually a it's a prevent the spread of nazi propaganda now the measure could potentially obstruct work as i see america for example to notify the authorities of personal details of its employees and provide the trend transcripts of the interviews so essentially that would mean that he won't be able to get any any of the u.s. officials for the for the interviews. he's editor in chief described the situation as intimidating the russian foreign ministry said the measure is taken with minute

departure from the u.s. on freedom of speech principles. and i would like to reaffirm that in our view it's a blatant violation of u.s. domestic law and freedom of speech it's not only the freedom of speech that the us proclaims that's being violated it's the very principles that the u.s. is actively exporting right. now the ministry spokesperson also said that russia might even consider taking measures you know similar response to the u.s. media working in russia now social media companies that cooperated with us have also faced pressure haven't they now it looks like tech media giants are joining in this campaign against r.t. a few weeks ago tweets in its report to the u.s. congress well in the russian that see that is on the platform among various sports and trolls potential boards and trolls most surprisingly it disclosed confidential details about the amounts of money these channels spent on advertising on the platform. which would be over two hundred solved in dollars actually which of

course is hardly enough to sway the election compared to the millions and millions of dollars the main candidates buy and spend on their complaints also it would be interesting to see if tweets are reported to the congress its own efforts to promote on its platform during the election season. is a pretty bug nor should it make it look as if we've done something obscure shady or semi legal which is of course are too long since twisted contacted us with their proposal before the election they showed us a presentation of the advents told us how much it would cost and we agreed. now the latest of the tech giants turning upon this channel being google according to the us media reports google is removing the from from its advertising package on one of its major platforms you tube. here's through action from artie's that beauty editor in chief. r t has been

google's premium partner since twenty ten and accredited to an official status of the most watched t.v. news network in you tube it is absolutely an acceptable that while there were no notification savan the policy changes sent to our t. says internal info appears to have be leaked to the us media by google well if true the fact that he is no longer included in google's preferred advertising least in the us won't likely concern the channel too much he's currently already the world's biggest news network on you tube last month all channels smashed the five billion used mark on their website so well the main intrigue now is if we'll see if we just see any actions from the russian governments off to the today's hearing at the federation council well of course be following that very closely are in my of thank you so much for the update. the u.s. senate intelligence committee says the voting in the two thousand and sixteen presidential election was not affected by alleged russian meddling however the senators did allege that russia used social media platforms as

a tool to influence influence voters earlier three internet tech companies were summoned to work with the senate to help determine whether these ads were 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 can now bring in live the executive editor of twenty first century wired dot com patrick pennington mr headings on the internet has always been a safe haven for free speech how does read just registering as a foreign agent and being identified as a foreign entity change that. it

doesn't all it does is show that this is a politicized move by the united states by the ruling parties in washington right now it doesn't change anything in terms of the information sphere what it is it's indicative of a new culture in america a culture of intolerance a culture of paranoia and also a repressive culture and the fact that this is the case in the us is not the fall of saddam or putin or russia this is something the american leadership and the mainstream media have colluded to do themselves now their course many foreign outlets operating in the us but there seems to be a lot of restrictions coming against our channel r t do you think there's a specific bias against us. yeah there's a can there's a complete bias so. look at the media coverage for the last year ever since r.t.

was in the director of national intelligence report which looked something like a high school undergraduate sort of briefing paper that was submitted is a national intelligence estimate which is highly and should be highly embarrassing but there is no shame anymore in today's washington when it comes to all things russian but the problem is it's automatic assumption of guilt of anything that is russian so does that mean that everything that comes out of r t is propaganda does that mean every single person on r t is is viewing propaganda on behalf of the russian government this is what people in america believe this is what the new york times the washington post c.n.n. and most mainstream media outlets in america have been promulgating this idea they've thrown all journalistic standards completely out the window so everything that we've built up in civilization society in the last three hundred years has

just been basically thrown out the window so no longer is the marketplace of ideas the best way to sort of get to the truth now they're going to put they want to put restrictions and labels on things in this case it's the excuse of russia and so this is where the america's at i don't think this is going somehow i think this is going to fail because it is completely politicized there is no evidence that russia hacked the u.s. elections or that russia meddled in the u.s. elections or that russia influenced the u.s. to elections there's no evidence that's been presented so what is the basis of all of these policies and all of this rhetoric it's based on nothing that decision that works have guidelines for outlets that are labeled as foreign agents and if they don't do you think it's possible that some sort of restrictions could be created in light of these developments. if that's the

case and i'm going to say this the fact that senator mark warner from virginia had made multiple trips to the silicon valley to convince facebook executives to come up with some sort of evidence of russian bot activity on facebook that right there is a pure example of collusion that's real collusion between a silicon valley corporation and leading democrats and the obama white house that's the only clear case of collusion that we've seen so far in russia gate and so this is by definition this collusion between corporations and government if this is what's going to happen is if this is how the regulation is going to be extended that by definition is fascism ok this is donald trump is not fascism this is fascism corporate collusion with government together in lockstep and essentially regulating the information or labeling the information or discrediting defaming

libeling sources of information which they don't like the content it's not that it's doing anything against the american people or the american electoral system it's that it's been labeled as a sort of foreign belligerent and this is all political expedience of politics in america has nothing actually to do with the veracity and the content no one's ever presented one r.t. article or one news story if they have we haven't seen it yet that it's so somehow fake news or actual officially an academic can say this is propaganda they can deconstruct it none of that has been done this is completely neal mccarthyist but it's worse than mccarthy because this is now getting into the international information sphere because the information is for is global the united states is trying to exert hedge money over this internationally can run out of time to thank you so much for your time and your insights a pattern. executive editor of twenty first century wired dot com thank you.

following massive strikes against the spanish government that attracted over half a million people in catalonia anti independence activists have now been mobilizing in both barcelona and madrid this is all of course after last week's controversial referendum which saw violence across the region and associate churkin a is following events for us in barcelona. spain is basically gripped by this crisis of trying to figure out its own future following the referendum of october first that saw ninety percent of the people who came out to vote voted in favor of getting out of spain and the latest that we know is that the caps one leader has said that institutions of cap's lonia will be following up on the results of this referendum we do know that the caps now cuts one regional parliament will be meeting on monday to discuss pacific steps in terms of how to proceed towards independence now according to reports we're hearing that banks in france bonior are potentially

considering relocating their headquarters including bankers subadult according to reports its board members have been meeting or are meeting to discuss contingency plans as well as a bank in catalonia also discussing similar plans obviously all of this because of if catalonia does end up leaving speed it will also be leaving the european union and banks obviously would want to proceed with business as usual now in the meantime in strasbourg top e.u. officials have been meeting to discuss the situation in catalonia days after the referendum on rubbles and what was interesting to see there is top e.u. officials basically saying that the use of force is ok under the circumstances tickle as it is of course any government to uphold the rule of rule and this sometimes does require. police statements are especially

interesting given that capsule our leaders have said that over eight hundred people were injured on the day of the referendum images of police cracking down on polling stations taking away the voting ballots driving around voters using rubber bullets and really these images being described as scandalous by observers here and throughout the world. the general strike on tuesday saw over seven hundred thousand people. down downtown as people waved flags and chanted pro independence slogans in barcelona. catalonia does not now have several options regarding its future one would be opening dialogue with the e.u. and spanish authorities to mediate the crisis that's been soured by madrid's attempts to disrupt the referendum however the calland president says spain hasn't responded positive 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 proposal so mediation that we have of the table at the moment with all of the good spain's

prime minister has so far it rejected negotiations once again stressing that madrid these the vote as it legal meanwhile overnight protests in the capital crowds calling for national unity and the central government not to enter talks with catalonia. a. great. couple in gourami's really. in these objectives but for us it's very important. international community recognize what is happening here in the following year and also and we are making calls here in order to receive some international support even. in the process of negotiation with.

us by the government with the first option currently down for catalonia may look at other options now that could include its regional government going ahead with declaring independence and a parliamentary session confirmed that could happen as early as next monday. if they're out of the ninety 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 couple it was once an independent country twenty years ago if you stop watching not only have you been into the course of reporting already so i don't see what but they don't appear to be concerned about having concluded and which is not shooting a potential with them but as we live many other parts of you watching with interest as to what is up you upload it 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 credited

for many others of course you. perhaps the worst scenario for catalonia would be madrid taking back power from the regional government under the spanish constitution the central government could suspend the north eastern regions autonomy that seen as a last resort but the spanish justice minister has confirmed that spain could do it if catalonia declares its independence next week international affairs consultant woodburn north says spain needs to tread carefully. in december they would search in step and then they would then they. exclude themselves from membership or if the e.u. would accept such as she duration that is the and for the new. as an international organization we can never accept that the e.u. member state uses the army against its own people we should also not forget that the reason and the circumstances that spring spain the game remember being was

among other things too and in the day to shoot such a scenario would be a catastrophe for the strain to call it alone you know obviously and for the european union absolutely. some of france's working class the president micron as a leader for the rich and his latest comments aren't doing anything to help that image auburn you the details on that and more after a short break. america

has a comic it's called what a recount and they overcharge him for stuff and now that there's a disaster there leave them to rot and it's a failure of capitalism it's a failure of politics in washington it's a failure that we saw coming for decades and it's a failure coming to the shores of america. welcome back to the program president vladimir putin has welcomed king solomon of saudi arabia to the kremlin on his first official visit to russia the trip is seen

by many as an unexpected shift in riyadh's foreign policy as the country remains a strong u.s. ally in the opera trying to get reports on the possibilities that this meeting could open up. deals with the biggest and the richest gulf monarchies always mean big numbers on paychecks and king solomon of saudi arabia is in moscow to do just that for these contract signatures but it is no secret that when it comes to international politics russia and saudi arabia aren't exactly friends but that only adds spice to the story because when it comes to the economic partnership high ranking officials on both sides have been teasing the journalists with these big numbers multibillion dollar contracts are expected to be announced including three billion dollars worth of arms purchases by saudi arabia plus one billion dollars of extra cash for the joint and or g.

funds riyadh is also going to invest in gas production in russia moscow is going to build plants in saudi arabia and so on so is this a case of economic interests first politics second we'll see because i'm not sure that the leaders will be able to dodge that many issues where moscow and riyadh don't see eye to eye in international politics another issue that we have to watch out for when it comes to the context is of course the very close ties between saudi arabia and the u.s. remember donald trump chose saudi arabia as the first destination for his first foreign trip the president of russia vladimir putin was asked about all that last night but let's face it this major is always going to be the united states when it comes to political interests who said oh it was real remain is there anything in the world that is so absolutely constant. well king solomon's visit to russia had

a bit of a dodgy start because the golden clad escalator that he carries around the world suddenly stopped when the moderate was disembarking his plane but there was compensation for that moscow understandably ones to make the case as welcome as possible in russia he could see welcome posters on his way to central moscow and of course he's going to enjoy the best view of the crowd blown from his ritz carlton suite and i'll tell you what the saudi delegation didn't just book several suites at the ritz carlton not even the entire hotel but a whole cluster of moscow's most lavish hotels in the heart of the russian capital so there's a bit of a saudi kingdom there right now. the french president has found himself in the media spotlight again for the wrong reasons this time emmanuel mccrone was visiting a struggling company and had some strong words for the country's working class more

on that. you've been skiing has it. khan was visiting that training center in central france on wednesday when he was basically outside there was a protest taking place by the g.s.a. . 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 work albeit in far fruity language let's take a listen to what mr marquand actually said to myself oh you'd. be better off if we 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 it's not the first time that mr mark corners called controversy over some of his comments and 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 yield to lazy people in response to the protests that came over his controversial labor reforms here in france there's been huge criticism from the opposition parties here in france people saying that mr marquand 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 other criticism that mr machen is a president for the rich he recently unveiled his government's 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 for. all of the security for them and their family these workers 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 and willing to do anything to gain the attention to try and save their jobs. i'll be back with more on today's top stories in about thirty minutes so do stay with us. this manufacture consent to public will. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the flaming. lips and be the one. making the middle of the

room sick. here's what people have been saying about rejected in the senate it's full on. the only show i go out of my way to launch you know what it is that really packs a punch. yampa is the john oliver of r t america is doing the same we are apparently better than blue. and see people you've never heard of love back to the night president of the world bank so take. me seriously send us an e-mail.

one of welcome to worlds apart from all their differences russia and the united states are remarkably synchronized in their domestic politics both countries are currently going through a long over due process of elite where taishan noisy and calamitous in the united states was publicized but perhaps even more sweeping here in russia how will these internal transformations impact the state of the global order that both countries

lay their claims to well to discuss that i'm now in joined by sergei could i left the dean of the school of world become nomics and international relations at the more school higher school of economics professor kerr going to is great to talk to again thank you very much room great pleasure to see him now in many of your recent interviews you expressed a sense of dismay at the u.s. political establishment radin s.g. undermined their whole political system for the sake of undermining donald trump i wonder if it still intervening as a russian hawk or is it already concerning because someone say there is a danger of the khaled or all damage reaching far beyond. the thing being told from the beginning because. it's not only that. this is becomes too unpredictable. and dangerous it's overdue that is the has become the gist of the world never in history where the relations of russia and the united states

were bad or. he had to have this is the station we're in that is is the epicenter. international instability it's one thing and the second is of. concern about the fact that the united states undermining. even the idea of democracy what is happening there is a suicide of a suicide note of the week but of the political system in that it sees with the it will survive. that leading me to my next question because the russian system is often criticized for its poor ability to insulate state institutions from private influence on them are consistent has long prided itself on being the opposite of that do you think these. checks and balances kind of if down in town parties.