the only show i go out of my way to. really. is. better than. the sea diver heard of. the world bank he. sent us an email. i almost half a million people protesting catalonia is madrid decides to impose direct rule to smith's key officials for a regional election. has come under scrutiny with the u.k. foreign secretary britain's the times newspaper and the european think tank slamming this channel and insulting our guests. the pentagon hails the

liberation of the syrian city of rakoff from islamic state by u.s. backed opposition forces though the city has been left in ruins. very good evening to you my name is neil harvey you're watching the weekly here on r.t. international. hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of camps alone either expressing their support or opposition to the move for independence madrid's decision to impose direct rule and to strip the local government of its powers and governments also calling for a regional election within six months leaders branded the move. this measure we are going to implement has a lot to do with the goal of holding an election in catalonia the region will have to hold an election within six months but my intention is to hold it as soon as we recover. a lot of this by. the spanish government has carried out the worst attack

against scotland institutions and residents since the orders of the military dictator francisco franco we. were hawaii in a greatly irresponsible act crossed all boundaries ban asking at a factor coup d'etat to ask the 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 while the catalan 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 anya 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 shelf 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 either a protester is that also a ticket 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 will in no 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 of course it's nonsense that the cattle in the region wants to become independent it's about territorial 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 on forces because they're insulted and blamed in catalonia the children of the civil god and national police offices are

told in school that their father 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 it won't break up 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 really go. ways out of the situation between the spanish government and the local catalan officials outlets 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 direct rule coming from a treat. catalan as story it is it 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 is invoking 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 sound 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 who's a professor of iberian studies he says that exerting this kind of pressure in a democratic country is not legitimate what is the role of. democracies in the twenty first century. i think the consensus is a very strong one and i can't imagine that the people who are right to. choose go along with a new election after the government they were elected to morrow is is overthrown. and i think president bush in moments of very violent he says well if this can be done to us what things can be done to other people if you're going to. well throughout the week we driv has been tightening its grip over count alone here on monday to independence leaders were arrested for the roles they played in organizing the referendum one of them is the leader of the catalan national assembly the other is the president of an organization that promotes the

council on language and culture since then boss alone has seen even bigger demonstrations uniting hundreds of thousands of people thank you were i was i i. was i. i i i. i i. i. i. was. back away something that i think that that's one of us has. i want to take a look now at how spain has been cracking down on catalonia push for independence.

and. a lot of their argument only to those in charge in the council on government who are the protagonist in this challenge to our coexistence and i ask them to cease illegal activities they should abandon their objectives. i. was.

we are now applying article one five five because no government at all in a democratic country can accept that the law be ignored or violated or changed and this has all happened under false criteria and they impose their criteria on everybody else. on the heels of catalonia as referendum to break away two major italian regions are finishing voting for more autonomy on sunday the region's leaders explain how they see the historic ballot so. we want to overcome the inability of europe just solve problems and face up to them by offering a new dimension we want to a more united stronger europe one that takes into account the specifics of territories this is what can be simply called the europe of regions. the page of history will be written in any case village so will not be the same as before we

want to initiate this in a manner that's democratic lawful and compatible in line with the constitution polls are closing for the areas first referendums of their kind of with more than fifty percent of the people having voted invented the vote is considered valid and although the votes are non-binding meaning they won't change any powers they are expected to send a signal from locals furious at having to subsidise poorer parts of the country while this vote has been much anticipated in these two regions for more than sixteen years venator are two of italy's economic powerhouses together both regions account for almost a third of italy's g.d.p. and almost a quarter of the nation's electorate they are home to top tourism and industry hotspots including mainland and venice we spoke to university of milan politics professor mark a bus sun he believes that history's been night. we are witnessing for the very first time people that go to the polls oscon or negotiate and i would to have more

autonomy we just want more autonomy we want more of our money in our regions and never happened before the birds were just fiscal slaves of the rest of the country so were the van into people the nations in. and they were the very first time i say no we don't like it it's going to be a big change it's going to just put the issue all the north back into the political discussion so first right now it's a call from all our autonomy that is we want to keep more of a money we'll see out of this it's not clear from the legal point of view or constitutional point of view how it's going to happen but from the symbolic point of view it was incredible you know more i guess tonight more than sixty percent of though vana to people maybe forty five fifty percent of the lawn birds will have voted for that so that's really a very clear sign in national politics. face

the week of intense scrutiny with the channel coming under sustained attack for what critics of colditz kremlin propaganda the new holkins expects. ati 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've appeared on this channel if you study the output of of russia today it is a scandal it is a scandal that members of the party opposite are continuing to to validate to validate and to meet. that kind of propaganda by going on those programs but some of his fierce criticism the foreign secretary of peers to have missed out a bit of important information his own conservative colleagues have also appeared as guests on the child as well as someone closer to home his own father stanley

johnson was interviewed by going on the ground i was the afshin rattansi just last month. the times newspaper claims there are now calls by the labor party for off 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 made in-house. high probably not much point in responding to a complaint to an authority that does not regulate out of two advertising the out campaign was developed in-house by the other team and fully proved by all u.k. vendettas 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 on our shows ever from politicians and journalists to academics and thirty's 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 artie's political agenda these useful idiots remain oblivious to r.t.c. intentions and based 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 an organization called the committee to investigate russia as not to mention u.s. senator and former presidential candidate bernie sanders as well as none other than the current american president donald trump i guess that's 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 checking the episodes would have confirmed this back to boris johnson himself he is listed on the reports official guest list taken from web site descriptions for the comedy show news thing well they may want to double check that one as well its power in say three boris johnson boris welcome. are we going to get a chance to fight the spanish before america and russia killer saw. the . proportion of the reporters sponsored by george soros as well as the u.k.

and u.s. embassies in the czech republic it certainly spares no criticism of those giving interviews on this channel. we decided to ask some of our guests who were mentioned in that list of so-called useful idiots what they thought about the description. development is somehow trashy it gets more and more aggressive across europe the political debates and one of these games they are playing. they are destroying the reputation of politicians they don't like i don't think that it's fair to say that we are simply hearers russian stooges i am not anti russian but sometimes i'm quite critical of russia over syria and over the detention of political prisoners like than others. you know of course everybody has their agendas but i think it has

certainly not tried to constrain my expression or the expression of many other people i know i work with a network we speak our mind and we're critical of the west when it's appropriate and were critical of russia when it's appropriate. the reality is there is a dissident voice in the u.k. the only very rarely gets any airtime in the mainstream media r.t. is is the only place that has been providing a regular platform for what used to be dissident voices in the u.k. but now much more mainstream voices the syrian city of rocco has been declared free of islamic state but it now lies in ruins i'll explain or after the break. again in a moment now to sanctions are breaking but. both sides did you really know. the russian economy and the russian financial system and i know

a lot of people who are looking for creative ways to get better results. in case you're new to the game this is how. the economy is built around. corporations from washington to washington to meet. the. voters elect the businessman to run this country business if. you must it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before.

this week the pentagon confirmed victory for coalition led could have troops fighting islamic state in the syrian city of raka the defense department hailed the operation a significant breakthrough. we have a great success against what was once known as the core caliph like iraq and syria and now we're actually ending the beginning i think the interest stage in watching the caliphate is rocket the latest pictures from iraq a show despite the victory it's now a virtual ghost town the destruction you see here was caused by i saw militia shelling and coalition as strikes aid agency also say that a huge effort will be needed to end the city's humanitarian crisis i still claim for a car as its defacto capital in twenty fourteen the first major offensive against the terrorists began two years later it used to be one of syria's largest cities now it's mainly in ruins but.

recently called mission after us is we're ready to demolish the whole building to doget one member of i said 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 coalition aircraft only ten percent hit their targets the rest hit civilians. the u.n. estimates that's an average of twenty seven people are being killed in iraq out every day. and they seem to be no real escape for these civilians their level of suffering friends relatives family of the children it's actually.

it's just getting. humanitarian relief teams are only now beginning to arrive there has been a disruption in the wonder supply political action of who 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. members of the u.s. led coalition have already pledged millions in humanitarian aid to iraq are but it's probably two questions for russia's defense ministry which is provided aid to 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. william shakespeare died more than four hundred years ago but he still causing a stir his works have been stoned with a trigger warning by lecturers that britain's elite cambridge university staff are warning students which texts could contain sensitive material such as violence well scenes of sexual assault well the book asks why the bard is now a cause for concern. o'keefe 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 or rape murder and suicide they also happen to have kept people talking about thought any issues like class 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 the students or your. for smart enough to be able to handle this without a warning why shows you should be green. four hundred use the show. being good

enough for the impish we do for. if you're reading the literature you should expect some surprises for you 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 on 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 gloop see just staged tie to some john three years ago several people fainted from the graphic violence including one of the fisa question reviewing the show that very same critics still gave the production an exceptional review ought isn't always comfortable the most challenging on it's can be anything but it's and now they're all growing concerns not just in academic circles that

modern students are being too morally called old if they can handle the content in classic literature how are they going to cope with life in general you are up to date with the latest headlines see you at the top of the hour. here in southern russia in sultry attending the ball by discussion club and our topic is us russian relations and the state of the worlds.

live . my. goal. was a bit of cut a lot of b.s. to study well at the kind of mushy finality and i don't want to let the your talk about how much more i'd let her be honest and a half in the flesh emily i shall get a letter i learned to whom i had that that's not to be

a story. so it's not so much so much so that. he. was before this was useful to you. the fee should be a dozen people and. they've been nice and friendly document sentencing we don't want to do with if ya moved left for us with your friend just obviously i told you . about that one had. the bottle in which market had to sit up yes it's b.s. and. the bomb but don't tell except that i wish i had that would be when i say that i love the idea i give much thought to whom and much more are going to be on with an a ha. i don't mean. but there's

a little how do you have the thought has the. effect of a better to something about that i don't fucking let me off while i know how that the jets are looking to us and i'm going to feel will sort it out then said. can was off with but he couldn't . get out of the hole to. be the measure of the law another bit of confusion with a lot. of us of all your love. of your corn a little on the slow. a saudi and. a little.

tiny and also he was a he had the whole movie multiple injuries along kind of not to soak them to yourself you. will hear mars on that. if you will be a political philosopher see say you also clear the air with them just. before the be the end of the if you have with. so loudly that in this room to host them. you can hear him dive. in and want to know what happens when the stuff first jump you know just when it comes on and then when she knew that she knows i was going to be something that you have you know our story you will see not only the people in the room with mostly what.