we are apparently better than food to see people you've never heard of love back to the night my president of the world bank so they. really. seriously send us an e-mail. i. almost half a million people protest in catalonia madrid decides to impose direct rule dismissed key regional officials and call for a regional election. r.t. has been under scrutiny with the u.k.'s foreign secretary boris johnson britain's the times newspaper and a european think tank all slamming this channel and insulting i guests. on the pentagon hails the liberation of the syrian city of raka from islamic state by u.s. backed opposition forces though the city has been left in ruins. i'm

kate partridge and you're watching the weekly headlines here at r.t. international thank you for joining us. hundreds of thousands of people have been on the streets of catalonia expressing their support or opposition to the move for independence it follows madrid's decision to impose direct rule and strip the local government of its powers the spanish government is also calling for a regional election within six months catalan leaders have branded the move a coup but you have no this measure we are going to implement has a lot to do with the goal of holding an election in catalonia region will have to hold an election within six months but mind to inch an is to hold it as soon as we recover. a lot of. the spanish government has carried out the worst attack against scotland institutions and residents since the order of the military

dictator francisco franco we. were who even agreed the irresponsible act crossed all boundaries by announcing and in fact a coup d'etat to oust a democratically elected government. the transfer of powers to madrid and the dismissing of officials alleged to have broken the law is expected to be approved by the senate within days and while the council on parliament won't be dissolved it will now be stripped of its capacity to elect a president protests continue in the streets of wasilla and across the region of council lani and now people that gathered here in this area of the city earlier well they were against the independence and many of them were from different union shops the region now they came here this sunday with their families and with their friends they brought flags shelfs spain and they were shouting slogans including out of a spine you know which means a long live spain at the same time on saturday we saw tans of thousands of other

protesters that also took it to the streets of boston lawn and they were supporting independence and they were supporting the results of the referendum that took place on the first of october now all these people now feel that they are. it well in the way stuck in a state of limbo and at least for the next six months now we managed to speak to some of them here in the streets of barcelona and. it's nonsense that the council in the region wants to become independent it's about ter tauriel unity formed in the roman times spanish unity is worth fighting for against the nonsensical actions of the council on board was eat me though we've come here to honor and express respect to the spanish armed forces because they're insulted and blamed in catalonia the children of the civil guard and national police offices are told in school that their fathers to reduce the spanish constitution does not forsee any

referendum because it's illegal and most of all it doesn't foresee a referendum to break up spain for centuries spain was one breakup to do the will of criminals poesy differing mood among. people industries and a lot of uncertainty really old this shows a deep crisis that the region is at the moment and it is indeed the biggest constitutional crisis this country has seen in decades now many believe that the inability to negotiate ways out of the situation between the spanish government and the a local catalan officials at last to this particular situation to this crisis now spanish government gave the catcher leader up until last thursday to back away from proclaiming independence out or to be ready to face the possibility of a direct through coming from a treat. catalan as story it is that kept confirming the independence however at the same time they're also kept suspending the declaration of independence and all

these allowed to the events of saturday when the spanish government and nouns that it isn't voting article one fifty five of the constitution for the first time avar and this measure can only be applied if the regional government does not comply with the obligations of the constitution so now spanish prime minister calling for a snap elections to take place in this region within the next six months he is also calling for the dismissal of the local government asked the local government allowed to this crisis but important detail is that all these measures should first be approved by the majority of the spanish senate but nonetheless what we're witnessing here is a big crisis not only a constitutional crisis but also a crisis within the the nation within the catalan people we spoke to thomas harrington a professor of my berrien studies he says exerting this kind of pressure in

a democratic country is not legitimate what is the role for democracies twenty first century. i think. it is a very strong and i can. imagine that the people who are rightfully elected in the september two thousand and fifteen elections going along with a new election after the government that they were elected to form part of is is overthrown by the circle of artists and i think of president bush in moments of very compelling fight when he says well if this can be done to us what other things can be done to other people if you're going to sit by that little. and throughout the week madrid has been tightening its grip over catalonia on monday to independence need us were arrested for the roles they played in organizing the referendum one of them is the leader of the castle a national assembly the other is the president of an organization that promotes the council on language and culture well since then boss alona seen even bigger

demonstrations uniting hundreds of thousands of people. i was. i was. i. was. was not enough. back away from the gun could have picked that goshawk one of us and ask. god well let's take a look at how spain has been cracking down on catalonia as push for independence.

was. to those in charge in the capital and government who are the protagonist in this challenge to our coexistence i ask them to cease illegal activities they should abandon their objectives. i.

need we are now applying article one five five because no government to talk all in a democratic country can accept that the law be ignored violated or changed and this has all happened under false criteria and they impose their criteria on everybody else. now faced a week of intense scrutiny with the channel coming under sustained attack to what critics call its kremlin propaganda daniel hawkins explains altie has been in the spotlight for a while under fire from government officials the media even think tanks here are some recent highlights. boris johnson led the charge in the u.k. house of commons with an attack on opposition m.p.'s who appeared on this channel if you study the output of russia today it is a scandal it is a scandal that members of the party opposite continuing to to validate

the date and lead you to meet. that kind of propaganda by going on those programs but some of his fierce criticism the foreign secretary of pierced of missed out a bit of important information his own conservative call. also appeared as guests on the shuttle as well as someone closer to home his own father stanley johnson was interviewed by going on the ground most afshin rattansi just last month. the times newspaper claims there are now calls by the labor party for the u.k. media watchdog to investigate artie's advertising campaign on the london underground they even contacted us for our take on the matter later saying our press office refused to comment except we did two questions do you wish to respond to this complaint which advertising agency created the adverts for r t what were they meet in house. hi probably not much point in responding to

a complaint to an authority that does not regulate out of door advertising the ad campaign was developed in-house by the other team and fully proved by all u.k. vendors we are glad to say many in the u.k. are engaging with our advertising understood thanks for swift response. and it gets better one thing tank recently completed the mom of the task of compiling a list of all the thousands of guests who've appeared all our shows ever from politicians and journalists to academics and thirties and even groups them into categories and then dismisses them as useful idiots many people in europe and the us including politicians and of the persons of influence continue to exhibit troubling naivety about r.t.s.

political agenda these useful idiots remain oblivious to r.t.s. intentions and boost its legitimacy by granting interviews on the shows and news casts so only useful idiot list john mccain one of the most vocal critics of russia even film director rob reiner gets a mention in the celebrity section he's now part of our organization called the committee to investigate russia as not to mention u.s. senator and former presidential candidate bernie sanders as well as another of the current american president donald trump our guest that finally the smoking gun of russian election influence former first lady michelle obama gets a mention although her name only appears in the program description she was never an actual guest secondly episodes would have confirmed this back to boris johnson himself he's listed on the reports official guest list taken from web site descriptions for the code. the show news thing well they may want to double check

that one as well it's forward say three boris johnson boris welcome. all we go into. the spanish before america and russia kill us so. other reporters sponsored by george soros as well as the u.k. and u.s. embassies in the czech republic it certainly spurs criticism of those giving interviews on this channel. well it's let's discuss a ship or with max kaiser the host of our show the kaiser reports max thank you very much indeed for joining us from america well many guests from your program listed in this report and they're also called useful idiots i mean how do you feel about that. well in the matter of boris johnson we've had his brother leo johnson and leo told me off camera they thought his brother was

a lunatic and probably should never have entered politics but looking at this report monica richter who put this report together who is monica rector she's not even american she was educated at oxford which of course is a tool of nato the whole establishment an elite in the u.k. and this report is in salt to americans and other words the report seems to suggest that americans as categorically are stupid it's pretty much in this report that americans are stupid they can't think for themselves and that they need someone from oxford university to tell them what to think this is very pretty revolutionary thinking and what i'm talking about the american revolution this is what we had to put up with before we had

a revolution in america elite oxford educated. and then complain who insists that only they know what's good for everybody and our team is very popular because it embodies the american spirit is probably the most american news outlet in the world is our t.v. in a body is something that is lost in america a feeling of independence and free thinking you don't see that on m s n b c the more you don't see that on fox news anymore they all kowtow to the industrial military complex they all kowtow to this contrary of rapists in hollywood and in new york and it's it's pathetic that this woman monica richter is even allowed to walk around in america where they're being challenged vociferous lee for her claim that americans are too stupid to think for themselves and it's insulting and i rish that we could have an open debate with monica and we can find out what

her alter your motives are like the journalist she manson's on our say that defected you know voice of america came to me two years before that famous woman defected live on air and asked me to do the same thing for a bag of money i told them no i'm a journalist i have integrity i don't do that the calling of your shysters and that over the last two years later there was that a public defection live on air i'm i'm almost one hundred percent guaranteed sure that that was a pay to play bribe event orchestrated by those of america that do not want any competition in the media space whatsoever they want to be run by oleg uplifts they want the pure corporate agenda which by the way is the government's military agenda and they don't want any challenge to that whatsoever this woman is a tool she's been looking like an idiot in six months from

a year from now she'll be completely discredited just like all the other litany of ridiculous. folks that have come forward to embarrass themselves first but that's my first answer to your question well the next let's have a look at beyond want to hear it can look at the european values organization that actually published the report among its sponsors is the u.s. embassy in the czech republic so that does not then raise any questions of bias. well they're projecting the values of the old soviet union days i mean they they still are living in the the old soviet union days and they're projecting their own adequacy onto our t.v. thinking that somehow our t. is not the world beating competitive media colossus that people are flocking to on mass because they have a bias toward truth that's what i've been saying from the beginning you know it's

the old like in the one nine hundred fifty s. when rock'n'roll started all the elites and the entrenched folks were like oh what are we going to do our kids are listening to rock n roll you know and now it's of course the standard that we all come to accept our t. will become the standard for news excellence where the next two or three years people look at our team say they were the trailblazers they went their own way and to not listen to the corporate handlers that we see the america amisom be see rachel maddow is an embarrassment for every american who watches or they cringe and they cry and they say what happened to america that this toady this is out there stumping for the worst caucus stocker see elements in the united states the warmongers the bankers who are stealing from folks every single day the prison industrial complex the eco hole cost provokers that's rachel maddow constituency and puppet masters and it's embarrassing and this woman monica richter impinging

every single impugning every single american by calling them stupid they can't think for themselves it's very pre-revolutionary america i hope americans right up and realize that we're under a threat the british are back in the oxford educated elites are back in place we if we have to stage another revolution then that's what we got to do because we've been infiltrated now by these these. oxford cambridge educated monarchy bootlicking toadies like rachel maddow and monica richter and we need to do something about it before it's too late. i don't not know it's my school as a host of all teens cause report thank you very much. shakespeare's plays are not coming with a warning label more on that story just over a minute. in case you're new to the game this is how it works not the economy is built around.

perforations from washington to washington the media the media. voters elected to run this country business equals. boom bust it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before. what politicians do something. they put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or something wanted. to be right. this is what. people are. interested.

they said. welcome back this week the pentagon confirmed victory for coalition led kurdish troops fighting islamic state in the syrian city of raka the defense department hailed the operation as a significant breakthrough we're having great success against what was once known as the core caliphate iraq in syria and now we're actually in the beginning i think the interest stage and watch for the caliphate is morocco however the latest pictures from iraq a show that despite the victory it's now a virtual ghost town the destruction you can see here was caused by ice ill militia shelling and coalition air strikes aid agencies also say a huge effort will be needed to end the city's humanitarian crisis i so claim drucker's its defacto capital in twenty fourteen the first major offensive against

the terrorists that began two years later and it used to be one of syria's largest cities but it's now mainly in ruins. but. recently called mission after us is we're ready to demolish the whole building to target one member of i say they have no problem killing civilians. we ran from death and any human being would be afraid the sound of the planes makes us afraid they were shelling the civilians destroying buildings and houses rakhal was destroyed by a coalition aircraft only ten percent hit the targets the rest hit civilians.

the un estimates that's an average of twenty seven people are being killed in iraq every day. and they seem to be no really the scapegoat for these civilians their level of suffering friends relatives family of the children exceptionally. strikes targeting. what the humanitarian relief teams are only now beginning to arrive there has been a destruction in the larger supply their political mission of because of course the area was under siege for such a long time there is a severe lack of medical services medical care hospitals that are functioning a severe lack a lot of course and so there is a massive massive humanitarian need on the ground all members of the u.s.

led coalition have already pledged millions in humanitarian help to rocka but this is prompted questions from russia's defense ministry which has provided a two other liberated syrian cities. what is this rush of western countries to finance rucka alone by a storm is seems only one thing remains to quickly cover the tricks of the barbaric bombing of the u.s. and the coalition which buried thousands of civilians liberated from still in the ruins of record. now william shakespeare may have died over four hundred years ago but he's still causing a stir his works have been stamped with a trigger warning by lecturers of britain's elite cambridge university and stop awarding students which texts could contain sensitive material such as bylines or scenes of sexual assault well arty's playboy asked why the bond is now a cause for concern. okie me from their worse than killing last and tumble me into some loathsome pit whenever mans i may behold my body do this and be

a charitable murderer so should i rode my sweet sons of their fee no let them satisfy their lust on the that's a snippet from shakespeare is a first tragedy titus andronicus the play features graphic violence gang rape and fourteen murders and now certain english lecturers at cambridge university are putting special warnings on their timetables when they're going to be covering potentially distressing topics like these they're going to have to have a lot of disclaimers with the works of shakespeare though some of his plays can be very gory they feature things like incest rape murder and suicide they also happen to have kept people talking about thorny issues like claws relations race relations and anti semitism for centuries i want to know what the people visiting the famous

shakespeare globe theatre in london have to say about the warnings i think. demis down. students. mature for smart enough to be able to handle this without a warning for shows who should be greener and what for them to juice the show. being good enough for them to screw for. if you're reading literature you should expect to have some surprises she expect to be shocked to see or something like that in particular if you're a student i think the problem with the world these days is that there's just so much focus on being offended by everything that people are just so scared of what they can actually say or do cambridge university has told me that any warnings that they put out are the initiative of individual professes and that it's not a policy adopted by the english department as a whole by the way when the globe see stage tied to some jonica three years ago

several people fainted from the graphic violence including one of the things to question next reviewing the show that very same critics still gave the production an exceptional review ought isn't always comfortable the most challenging arts can be anything but it's and now there are growing concerns not just in academic circles that modern students are being too morally called old if they can't handle the content in classic literature how are they going to cope with life in general. well for more on these and plenty of other stories that go to our website. at the top of the hour my colleague neil harvey will be here with the latest headlines i should.

be here in southern russia in solitary attending the ball by discussion cause and our topic is us russian. and the state of the world. seem wrong. to shape out. the trail. to look for common ground.

this is a stronghold for puerto rico's independent. of the caribbean island which was an expose of the u.s. in eight hundred ninety eight is about to elect a new.