thank you. million people protest in catalonia as madrid decides to impose direct rule dismissed key officials. are has been under scrutiny with the u.k.'s foreign secretary boris johnson the times newspaper and a european. channel and. 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.

this is our international recapping the week's top stories with our weekly pro. now 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 a direct rule at the local government of its powers the spanish government is also calling for a regional election within six months. leaders have branded the move a coup. but you have 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 mine tension is to hold it as soon as we recover. the spanish government has carried out the worst attack

against scotland institutions and residents since the orders of the military dictator francisco franco. a pretty them to. rejoice in a greatly irresponsible act crossed all boundaries ban asking and effect a coup d'etat to ask 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 catalan parliament will not 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 protest or 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. it's nonsense that the cattle a 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 cattle 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

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 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 at last to this particular situation to this crisis now spanish government gave the cats one leader up until last thursday to back away from proclaiming independence out or to be ready to face the possibility of a direct rule coming from a treat. catalan as sore it is to 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 iberian studies if things are exerting vis

a kind of pressure in a democratic country is not legitimate. what is the role of the force in the liberty of democracies in the twenty first century. i think the consensus on the shuttle and side is a very strong one and i can't 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 central of artes and i think president bush among makes a 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 and let it happen throughout the week madrid has been tightening its grip over catalonia last monday to independence leaders were arrested for the roles they played in organizing the referendum one of them is the leader of the kava lama national assembly the other is the president of an organization that promotes language and culture since then

barcelona has seen even bigger demonstrations uniting hundreds of thousands of people. thanks. to our was. was. shot. was a high back a week and i'm going to pick that up sock one of us has. was well let us now take a look at how spain has been cracking down on catalonia as

a push for independence. to those in charge in the government who are the protagonist in this challenge to walk coexistence i ask them to cease illegal activities they should abandon their objectives.

we are now applying to one five five because no government to talk 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 that criteria on everybody else. on the heels of catalonia as referendum two major italian regions have finished voting for greater autonomy on sunday the leaders of lombardy and veneto regions say that over ninety percent of voters said yes to reclaiming more power from rome in the non-binding referendum here is how the leaders of both regions view the historic ballot. we want to overcome the inability of europe just solve problems and face up to them by offering a new dimension that we want to more united strong europe one that takes into account the specifics of territories this is what can be simply called the regions

. page of history will be written in any case vinnitsa will be the same as before we want to initiate this in the mind of the democratic i'm compatible in line with the constitution these are the areas first referendums of their kind and with more than fifty percent turnout in vonetta the vote is considered valid although the votes are non-binding meaning they won't change any powers they are expected to send a signal from locals unhappy at having to subsidize the poorer parts of the country a referendum on greater autonomy has been much anticipated in both regions for more than sixteen years veneto and alum body 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 their home it to top tourism and industry hotspots including milan and venice we spoke to university of milan politics professor marco bus sonnie he believes history has been made here we are witnessing

really the disintegration of this kind of european order and there will be a confederation in europe clearly like ten or fifteen years from now but not based on the nation states. that we know if cuts alone you know. and spain break apart then a lot of things will happen there that will have definitely a domino effect with scotland and all sorts of other regions there might be easily thirty five to forty five new countries coming up. islamic state claimed capital of raka was liberated this week but there was a heavy price to pay that story in other news after a short break watching the weekly here on our two international. how does it feel to be a sheriff the greatest job in the world it's as close to being

a king in any job there is one business model helps to run a prison now we do or don't like a video visitation i don't know one comes in even more when i was a sergeant maybe more is. this what they want to. know and they don't give a damn if you did their best to put it back in. the louisiana incarceration rate is twice as high as the usa breach what she could is behind such success.

welcome back to this is that the weekly on our team international now r.t.i. has faced a week of intense scrutiny with the channel coming under sustained attack for what critics call is kremlin propaganda artie's dana hawkins explains. 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 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 shuttle 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 mammoth 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 b.c.'s 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 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. brittany's . portion of the report is 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 that were mentioned in this list of useful idiots what they think about that description. development is somehow trash 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 here is 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 the 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 time in the mainstream media. 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 for. newsweek the pentagon confirmed victory for coalition led kurdish troops fighting islamic state in the syrian city of raka 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 ending the beginning i think the end stage and watch for the caliphate is morocco over the latest pictures from iraq a show that despite the victory it is now a virtual ghost town of the destruction you see here was caused by eisel militias shelling and coalition air strikes aid agencies also say huge effort will be needed to end the city's humanitarian crisis i still claim to rocka as it's defacto capital in two thousand and fourteen the first major offensive against the terrorists there began two years later used to be one of syria's largest cities but is now mainly in ruins.

recently called mission after us is we're ready to demolish the whole building to target one member of i so 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 back it was destroyed by a 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 every day. and they seem to be no real escape for these civilians their level

of suffering friends relatives family of the children especially. since the guy started it. would be 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. members of the u.s. led coalition have already pledged millions in humanitarian help to iraq but this is prompted questions from russia's defense ministry which has provided aid to other liberated syrian cities what does this rush of western countries to finance.

seems only one thing remains to quickly cope with the tricks of the booming of the u.s. and the coalition which barry thousands of civilians liberated from in the ruins of rocco. the french parliament has adopted a controversial counter-terror bill giving increased powers to security services the new law is drawing wide scale criticism from rights advocates who fear it will civil liberties now police will have even greater powers to search homes without a warrant and conduct stop and search operations on the streets. communications more easily including phones and email places of worship suspected of promoting extremism may also be temporarily shut down the architect of the law is president himself he says this is an alternative to the current state of emergency which has already been extended six times. the anti terror draft

law on the reinforcement of internal security has been adopted by a parliamentary majority and it will come into power in november the first when the state of emergency expires the state of emergency was effect however we've seen in recent months that unfortunately doesn't protect us from the reality of certain tax because any state of emergency can protect us in totally reduce the threat. france a state of emergency is due to be lifted at the beginning of next month it was first issued following the terrorist attacks in paris in two thousand and fifteen but many fear the new. even more basic freedoms we gauge reaction on the streets of paris. no more product no i don't agree with it and i'm sure we can do things differently i don't think it is the way to solve the problem of terrorism. i think that when you look for something they have real reasons for doing so me personally am not against it. but i really don't think it will help to fight any terrorists it

will only harm personal freedoms and i believe it is designed more to control the people of this minority more your point i think we would have the means to control people there are already laws in place we know we are under control and i phones are being monitored if they will now be able to get into our apartments i do believe the goal is fighting terror earlier the u.n. also slammed the anti terror bill it warned of the measures if implemented would limit freedoms in french society political analyst dan glazebrook warns that without policy changes the new law will not be enough. and deal with the root causes which is the brutal foreign policy on the one hand and then the alienation of entire communities due to your systematic institutional discrimination and racism on the other hand if you're not going to deal with those even the most vicious police state will not be able to stop there being some people who decide to lash out unfortunately at the you're never going to be able to keep your population

one hundred percent safe because your whole foreign policy is about setting fire to two other countries. william shakespeare may have died over four hundred years ago but he still causing quite the stir his words have been stamped with a trigger warning by lecturers at britain's elite cambridge university staff are warning students which texts could contain sensitive material such as violence or scenes of sexual assault or asks why the bard is now a cause for concern. ok to me from their worse than killing last and tumble me into some loathsome pit whenever man's i may behold my body do this and be a charitable murderer so should i rolled my sweet sons of their fee no let them satisfy their lost the that's a snippet from shakespeare as a first tragedy titus andronicus the play features graphic violence gang

rape and fourteen murders and now certain english lecturers at cambridge university operating special warnings on their time tables 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 the students. in the churn for smart enough to be able to handle this without

a warning. for them to juice. being good enough for them. if you're reading literature you should expect to have some surprises you expect to be shocked to see or similar to a particular 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 to. meant as a whole by the way when the globe series is staged tied to some drama three years ago several people fainted from the graphic violence including one of the things reviewing the show that very same critics still gave the production an exceptional review art isn't always comfortable the most challenging art can be anything

but 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. and there's a from about thirty two minutes with your news with the weekly watching our two international. it's.

we're here in southern russia attending the ball the discussion club and u.s. russia relations and the state of the world. on the welcome to the worlds apart after years of being unable to strike a peace deal with the palestinians israel now wants to have a say in the resolution of another conflict this time in syria its objective is to

minimize the regional influence of iran but isn't it a little bit late in the game to discuss that i'm now joined by. a prominent israeli politician or most foreign minister of israel ms levy it's great to see you thank you very much for talking to us thank you now you are currently in the opposition to use really prime minister benjamin netanyahu bad as far as i understand when it comes to the issue of iran most. israeli politicians agreed that it represents a major deadly threat to israel that has to be curtailed through all possible means at my right in formulating your position yes not only for recently politicians so we believe that iran is supposed to use well but not only to you but to the into. and therefore we need to be dealt with the international community as such. i see him prime minister netanyahu who recently visited russia communicated something along those same lines to russian president vladimir.