you. know old otoh. there are guys. in the stories that shake the week the syrian army liberated the city of one of islamic states final strongholds in the east of the country we hear the story of two girls from the region and their fight for survival amid the devastation. very bad blood there. are those. failed expectations and growing uncertainty catalonians president gives i'm a big list signals about the region's independence as madrid dumond's he clarify his position. the leader of austria's people's party sebastian ca's claims

victory in the country's election as the political right enjoys a surge in support. while come to the nineteenth world the us divil of youth and students in sought sheet. and fountains of people from around the globe to stand on russia's black sea resort town of song to promote peace dialogue and international solidarity. you're watching the week here on altie international with me in a day or two to bounce all round up of the week and top stories of the day welcome to the program syrian government troops have liberated the east in a city of minden from islamic states is the latest blow to the terror group which suffered a string of made. defeats in the war torn country. i

. think. i. think if you're talking about a good job of describing how to look like. there's a market about it i think the public. eye. i. but for the people in the province liberation after three years of ice for brutality doesn't spell the end of that struggle when i went to meet two young sisters to hear their story. meet sally she's five maybe

six will perhaps seven she doesn't know and this market's these streets home surviving isis's see each of the resort was new mean feat so many perished as a result of starvation sickness violence. if. sally is a survivor she has a sister and brother were abandoned by their parents years ago they divorced and left the children to fend for themselves. can't oh i'm. almost killing the man she spends her days begging stealing playing and surviving no easy lot for them in this life bit of it was so me went from home to home to live in the streets they beg for

money to stay alive inside today sick for sally bags alone for my neighbors who knew their family have taken pity on the kids and have looks out for them sally's sister all she has left since her brother died of starvation we found the older girl at the end of this gloomy bullet riddled cargill is a room with broken windows in it leaves a young girl with only flies bloodstain mattresses for company. about a month ago sagitta who doesn't remember her age was brought in with a head injury when she fell she damaged an implant that siphons away the fluid different people tell different versions some say the full was accidental others.

it's suicide but i believe the fluids keep building and there will be consequences she will lose her sight hearing and the ability to swallow so the pressure on her brain has grown she'll find new cures in dead as order as we were filming a nice a shell landed just a few hundred meters away sagitta needs to get to damascus to survive but lacking identification relatives and trapped in a war zone it's difficult to see how that's possible sagitta doesn't get many visitors but there is one vigil person who always makes a smile that. if left alone sagitta begins to scream and cry she needs people the story has spread and good samaritans do show up a bit on that idea and not everything my friend and i can do we will do for her

everything fred up to the moment when she stands up and can see bushra whose own daughter is disabled is not rich will middle class she's poor but a kind hearts goes a long long way. there. are a lot. the reason for optimism. suffering has touched a chord action is being taken to get the girls out of bed as or but for now the really have aside from promises. is each other or i guess. from there it is or syria. iraqi government forces have reportedly nora's an operation against the kurdish city of kirkuk in the north of the country iraq's prime minister hi there are you know what did that his forces quote impose security

there at midnight on sunday the army began moving in the direction of nearby oil fields and in their base held by kurdish peshmerga forces the governor has called on the city's residents to come out onto the streets and defend the land tensions have spiked in the region after the kurds voted for independence from iraq at the end of september washington has both sides to avoid escalations and says it supports a unified iraq. the leader of the right wing people's party has claimed victory in all spheres legislative election paving the way for him to become the country's chancellor sebastian coe set to become the youngest leader at just thirty one years of age you know me we did not just run to win the election we did serve to bring austria back to the top today is not a day of triumph over others but it is the day to the population gave us the

confidence to bring about a new type of political culture. meanwhile the leader of the nationalist anti migrant freedom party which is projected to finish in second place has hailed their success. these shows what we have achieved in recent years do you friends to do or be clear in the political landscape policy there has more now on the outcome of the election. we now are hearing the final results with some code says people's party coming in a for first position the second position has been taken by the freedom party a right wing party as was widely predicted before these elections and in the third position going to the social democrats now congratulations have started coming from across the european union for sebastian kurtz he has thanked his supporters he has also said that he has pursued a goal and made the impossible possible as far as the leader of the freedom party

he has said that this is a great success for his party and then we've also heard from chancellor karen who says that the tosk of his party for the next five years for the social democrats is not to strengthen confidence in social democracy of course now it tension turns towards who will form this new coalition government and in this respect sebastian coats has left the field open he's given no indication with he will move forward but there is a lot of speculation on the ground here that he could form a right wing alliance with the freedom party and indeed if he does this it will be part and parcel of a trend that we're witnessing across europe that sees voters voting for more white parties was. was. viva the birth of course a review of if you think you've got three sixty's.

go back over the bar work you currently are in the to. her house celebration since about stay in campaign headquarters have of course already begun and will continue to contrast that with. sense of disappointment that is being felt by the social democrats. we had from several analysts about the results of the election they told us that with curt's as chancellor we can expect to see significant changes in the country's policies towards migrants he wants to one who can i just to get on with countries like america don't serbia and slovenia that this rule for illegal migrants became closed and since then. the number of migrants decreased very much and then. he would only be able to keep

proved already that he will be able to do something actually the whole political landscape in austria shifted to the right to think through thousand fifteen or more of the big. refugee well come. home and after that people found out that is much actually not such a good deal that lets so many people rich often are undocumented into the country this created a lot of problems up to now and. also just because germany and to establish. a new government is likely to get close to getting close to the eastern neighbors. in the week's top stories the president of catalonia signed an independence declaration on tuesday but then suspended it for several weeks saying he wants to hold and o'shea sions with madrid in the prompt at the spanish prime minister to

demand clarification on the region's position. we asked for a mandate to declare catalonia an independent state. with all due respect i ask parliament to suspend the declaration of independence so that in the coming weeks we can undertake a dialogue but a good deal for the moment we formally require the council on government to confirm if it has declared independence of catalonia after the deliberate confusion created over or whether it has come into effect. meanwhile people in catalonia have been left frustrated by the confusion many were visibly affected while listening to the president's announcement there and deeply disappointed at the end. madrid has given the catalan president until monday to state clearly his position it says he has three days after that to got the declaration if it's made reporting from barcelona for us this week was an associate.

was was you could see was. through their reach it was. it is necessary to show rebellion i do not know if i'm dependence is the solution but it demonstrates this half of the population is tied up with this independence will hurt both spayed and catalonia it took many years to make the country whole and to divide it just like that is absurd this particular square there screams being set up where no doubt this area is going to be like people in the hours to come preparing to listen to this crucial if the problem is right there and we do know that because that leaders in their meeting with the parliamentarian in the head of the preparation of what's going to happen and people here despite this being

a pro independence gathering really there's no certainty as of right now what exactly he's going to say was. look at the. end of the soonest that you've given up the international community to look at what he. took up and see what if you want to see. how. it again laid him in so i think he should have declared independence because now he says he wants done like a good morning and has asked the spanish government like seventeen times and every time the doors have been closed to you so i believe today he would finally declare a symbol and i'm a bit disappointed he stated he didn't take a step forward that everybody wanted and we understand he wants that but catalonia have spoken and believe wanted independence and you can only division you i want independence i don't want anything to do with this. brain my ancestors wanted it

but were forced to be spanish if i ever can see that my nationality is cattle and i'll be very happy that i know where the iconic gunshot wound barcelona was a counselor we are right now and thousands of people that we're going to be covered marching from that direction towards where this is not. all of these people are coming out to speak in support of the things that's within me as you know lou you really probably relate to the law if you assume because when. the u.s. has announced its withdrawing from unesco the united nations educational scientific and cultural organization the state department said the position was taken due to

concerns over mounting u.s. and reus the need for fundamental reform and you know because i lived anti israel bias washington still owes an overhaul five billion dollars to the organization five times more than all other member states combined and pressed on whether america would pay up the state department was reluctant to want so is it fair to say that it's true this creation is no longer trying to find a way. regressions. doing what i think we've made our germination and that is to pull out of the us thought. they were never going to get their money and less that you have less and less they will form and rejoin. meanwhile israel has followed america's lead with prime minister benjamin netanyahu announcing his country is quitting in esco as well. in twenty sixteen israel suspended its cooperation with you know attempted resolutions which ignored jewish

ties to a quixote science in jerusalem the resolutions also criticize israeli policies and the sacred places into them on the west bank netanyahu called the us me this week a brave and moral decision because you know has become a quote. of the absurd which distorts history jonas max blumenthal told us that the pro israel lobby in washington was ultimately responsible for the decision . this goes back all the way to twenty eleven in congress withheld funding for you nasco because you know it's go allow the palestinian authority membership and congress is very very easily influenced by the pro israel lobby whereas traditionally the state department and the u.s. mission at the u.n. have not been so this is the first time we've really seen the state department kind of get in line with the congressional elements that are funded by pro pro israel

lobby and easily influenced by it and i think this really reflects the weakness of the trumpet ministration. the world festival of youth and students has opened in russia's black sea resort of sochi the cultural event is expected to attract over twenty thousand visitors from around the world here are some of the highlights from the opening ceremony. and welcome to the nineteenth world festival of youth and students in sochi. as you can see behind me the opening ceremonies of the best of all have already begun the. performances that we've been technology human progress. many people here all of them very excited. danielle holkins is also insult she for us. but the excitement we've had. this square here behind me as well of course is

the grand opening ceremony which set that report from culminating in a pretty amazing forward to splay with fountains going off in the square here as well as managed to finally get out of that quite loud and noisy excited crowd to join us here in the square as well for us a bit more about what was going on inside and of course this is your first time in russia but not your first thought to you first of all how is it compared so far while i mean what a ceremony i mean that was something special now i attended the two thousand and thirteen festival in quito ecuador totally different experience nothing like this i was not prepared for what i saw in that auditorium that was that was a tremendous performance i mean music dance and the audience i mean the audience was just on the edge of their seat i saw people bursting into tears at. all of a numerous times people were just very emotionally moved by the ceremony it was quite powerful and to see so many young people just

a sea of young people in their or their yellow jackets there the uniform for the festival all kind of moving as one body there listening to the performances seeing it was something special twenty thousand people from a hundred fifty different countries certainly set so i believe a bit of a record for suddenly for the spectrum of arrivals coming want to speak to some of those people earlier to get some of their emotions and thoughts on their experience so far let's take a listen i came from the middle east from sri lanka we have so much in the meantime a lot of countries as you know more than one hundred fifty countries with a lot of cultures a lot of people excited to do people youngsters a great opportunity to come and meet dance move on to get to know you all around the world there's like a sense of that the possibility of food right at world a world with more social justice is seen possible and here we can see that we can meet people from every country that can prove their experiences what they are doing in their country. and that's what we came to do and it's really great of course as

well as a chance to to bond to network to meet new people it's also a chance for young people of all over the world to discuss and debate key global ideas is that caleb well yes i mean a real emphasis on technology and scientific research that seemed to be a major theme in the presentations in the videos that were shown in the song and dance performances there seem to be this emphasis on the idea that if we can develop and if we can raise the standard of living around the world and get people out of poverty and out of the conditions that drive them toward drugs and terrorism we can raise the standard of living around the world we can have a more peaceful and interconnected world where people are trading with each other doing business getting along and just kind of building a better life for humanity a very clear message but it's one that you just couldn't disagree with and that was of course a key tenant of a lot of the putin speech as well let's just take a listen briefly to what the russian president had to say. seventy years ago the first festival was held back then young men and women were brought together by the

belief that sincerity and kindness could break the ice of mistrust they believed it would help to release the world from injustice from wars and conflicts they prove that barriers are powerless in the face of real friendship. many people here young eighteen to thirty five but some are a little bit older perhaps some were actually in attendance but first of all in moscow in nineteen fifty seven they came from a very far away place to see it and they've returned to russia this time around to relive some of those emotions let's take a look at well that story. the up of the old rule because rule thirty thousand young people. for the festival and two of the hundred and fourteen the delegations thirty thousand people from one hundred and fourteen. countering the war. or.

peace and friendship. this is somebody you might recognize. you must imaging. people hear. the band called i cannot believe to be here. to play for live. microsurgery. to grow our century. we'll be sitting next to you first of all the lives.

of all our ideals with people your age. old. experience a little more open minded and begin that. night unforgettable. day in. song freezing in. the spirit i leave you to your piggy i do yet i've now made no good. as the investigations into russia meddling in the trying to sixteen us presidential election continue it's another new accusation has been made this time that moscow used the power. reality game to try and influence american voters. a c.n.n.

investigation shows russia's propaganda attack on the u.s. went beyond using fake accounts and on facebook and twitter post announcing a contest on. directing gamers to visit locations were alleged police brutality took place russian agents are accused of posing online as part of the black lives matter movement and using the game to exacerbate racial tensions users of the app were allegedly encouraged to play at sites where police brutality are taken place however now attempt has been made to explain how that might have influenced the u.s. election the claim has been mocked both online and off. but

some breaking news coming from the u.s. that has reportedly been an explosion at an all rake in the state of louisiana several people have been hurt with some injuries believed to be life threatening the cause of the blast is unclear at the moment and it's not known if oil has spilled into the lake whether it is located and we will bring you an update as soon as we get more details now we've got more programs coming up next and i'll be back at the top of the hour. what we want is to put an end to nuclear testing and then to move towards a world free of nuclear weapons and to do that we have to bring countries who seek or who of this to understand that their national security doesn't depend on the

possession of nuclear weapons. part of welcome to worlds apart unlike a decade ago the world without borders no longer seems a desirable or indeed uprooted proposition given the european countries with the most generous and welcoming migration policies i scaling them back is there still a humane and realistic way of addressing the global migration challenge without being swapped underneath it well to discuss that i'm now joined by demetrius papademetriou co-founder of the migration policy institute mr papademetriou thank

you very much for your time it's great to have you on the show it is my pleasure to be here it's generally believed that the european union despite some initial confusion has got a handle on this migration crisis the numbers have stabilized you no longer see crowds of people storming train stations in the western balkans so that inflow at least has been taken under control i wonder though if the european migration policy has advanced much beyond controlling the gates has the e.u. figured out what it wants to do about it as opposed to simply stemming the flow. well the answer is no they haven't but it is difficult to speak about european if by european you mean have the brussels institutions come up with some sort of an answer to all of this the answer is not. primarily because the european institutions do not have the mandate the authority to make decisions when it comes

to migration now the european member states all twenty eight of them still twenty eight. have every right to have different policies and some of these policies are succeeding for some of these countries and some of them are failing. until very recently just two months ago. italy you could say that you could have said that italy that either does not have a policy or it is struggling to develop a policy but you know they were still getting a couple hundred thousand people coming to their shores across the central mediterranean but three months ago they cut a deal with libya and libya has corporator them as a result we see essentially flows across the central mediterranean down to less than twenty percent of what they were in may or of march or april of this year i heard want to european officials say that the migration policies were designed for

fair weather conditions and what they encountered the two thousand and fifteen was a perfect storm but i take it from your riding that compared to what's forming currently in africa this massive population explosion. is going to make the events of two thousand and fifteen as challenging as they were look like light spring rain is the worst yet to come. well certainly there are no guarantees about the future this they're probably somewhere between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand people who have amassed in the north of libya and they're only a cup. well the possible options the one that the european union and italy and the team member states italy germany france etc are trying to implement is give us systems to these people to go back to their countries and the the international organizations that are working.