the dangers posed by the revival of nationalist. policy. as an independent state join for the first time.

in the stories that shaped. u.s. midterm elections the democratic party taking back control of. the senate. with us. now countries around the globe are marking the one hundred years since the end of the first world war heads of state and dignitaries from over seventy nations have been in paris for the. events. including flowers to remember the victims of the war similar ceremonies have already been held in a number of european. countries including the u.k.

and belgium. it is also important from a modern political perspective as well as world leaders gather to discuss some of the more pressing issues they earlier attended a working lunch in the palace plenty of interest had been building over the prospect of a meeting between the russian and american presidents however it was earlier reported that the two leaders sat opposite sides of the table during lunch and into the talks would more likely take place and the next g. twenty in argentina are these giant daniel hawkins as more. there was also another aspect that caught the media's attention aside from the main event and that was endless speculation on to lead us in particular the president of russia vladimir putin and the us president donald trump media speculation was rife for weeks on end how would that meeting take place would there be a meeting a tool which leader would show him who what signals would that send to the world

and indeed to other leaders and how would the french maybe president of minor well take such a meeting taking place on french territory during this very special commemorative event earlier spoke to the american high school to hughes to get some inside knowledge on the american side of things and how the whole thing was viewed from the other side of the atlantic this time they're actually being very tight lipped in fact this weekend that was something very uncharacteristic of a trumpet mystery of it is that we didn't have a lot of details we didn't have the behind the scenes being leaked out to the new york times the washington post which it makes me think that possibly the leaks might have been locked down or more importantly we're talking about such serious issues that even those who might have leaked to the past realized that if they're not in the best interest of either country or any of the parties involved and in terms of interest of course there was a lot of media speculation on both sides from from the american the russian side and in the end the believe the presidential aide said the reason why it didn't go ahead was pretty much out of respect for the french they didn't want this to happen

. probably probably a good idea as we discussed i think it's a good idea but i think it's not only just out of respect for the french who are your host i think more out of respect for the reason why they were here to honor the veterans across the world international they gave their lives up for world war one in all the conflicts going on i think it actually had been very inappropriate for president clinton president to talk to me together and i think they actually showed very good respect for each other more probably the soldiers that were being honored this weekend by choosing not to take the time attention away from them and the meeting itself was quite brief said yes. there was a meeting but was there really any more to it than you know. that we saw at the. pleasantries and greetings exchanged do we know any more was there any juicy details coming out of that said there is a juicy details because for once both gentlemen did exactly i think what the world didn't expect them to do for so long both of them had been characterized as whining

blong and having all the attention on them and this time they actually about the tension to be right where it was and for that i think a lot of people unfortunately that seem to have a negative view of president who are disappointed they wanted to see some sort of chaos they wanted to be able to throw insults after them and say look at what they did but the truth is both men active exactly as good representative of their country this weekend is going to be. joining us you know post tell. you some of the visits where they have been to. come in for criticism as well. on the body language was different was that we mention the whole thumbs up thumbs down on how easy would be if things were. rolled and politicians open their mouth and get themselves into trouble well and usually that's what's caused most wars are actually politicians opening their mouths and talking talking to each other but there are some very serious issues that need to be discussed right now between the two countries and you do have vice president pins as president trump was taking off from paris he is actually taking off for asia for

a long term tour to go to the several asian summits an economic summit over in that area that's very important right now so i think that's a good lead in to the g twenty or issues like the i.m.f. or trade section sanctions north korea lots of issues will be discussed but they're going to do it at an appropriate time and i think that is what made this weekend actually very special for everybody involved. r.t. france managed to catch up with president putin in between remembrance a day events they asked him about the pressure this channel has been facing in france. because. we have always heard from our western partners that one of the main principles of democracy is freedom of information creating lists and special counsel switch decide which media is bad and which is good this is unacceptable but this has nothing to do with democracy but. just before this weekend's commemorations trump criticize micron over his proposal to create

a european army president trump called his words insulting however after meeting in paris they glossed over any differences and agreed on more european defense spending r t france as one important for his real. alternative military forces are not a new idea president micron has simply revived it europe is a large powerful economic unit and obviously it seeks independence and sovereignty in terms of defense and security i see it as a positive process in terms of strengthening the multipolar world. where we asked historian peter koos nick why europe may feel it needs a unified military and what the implications would be for the balance of global power. the fact that every nation is modernizing our in nuclear power is modernizing its nuclear arsenal now united states bennie up to one point seven trillion to modernize its nuclear arsenal russia and china all doing the same so

the broader question is in what context is that mean more defense spending more military spending if there is a european are bad like to see it being a completely defensive army i'd like to then see rebalancing between united states and europe in terms of the role played by nato and the reason why the europeans think they need their own armies because they find trump to be so untrustworthy trump has made very negative statements about nato but beyond that by tearing up our poll in the us at the iran nuclear deal that was a really sobering move on the u.s. targets for the europeans by trump's trade wars with europe europeans know the united states can't be trusted now that's part of why you see the. image of the u.s. declining so rapidly around the world not everyone is in paris and to mark the anniversary of the arm insist crowds have also gathered in the city to protest against donald

trump's policies and he's trying to be. a lot of people law and credibly unhappy that president trump is here it's a commemoration of one hundred years since the end of the war in fact some of the biggest suggesting ten thousand people across the city have come out into protests just like this at this one they say a few hundred people have come out here to say that they don't want trump to be in paris some of the signs just behind it don't if you can see it says trump equals carol which is in french and many other people holding their signs and symbols out in fact some people actually dressing up as parody trump individuals to get the message across that they don't like president trump they don't like his policies i've been speaking to people taking part in this protest and they say that this is a man who is making war with everyone and in fact it's not just people from france they've come out here to show their dislike of trump to show they dislike this is ministration we've also been speaking to some american and irish ex-pats he said it

was just so important to be part of this protest today to show president from that he's not welcome this is why they said they were here where american citizens living abroad and that were part of the woman's march and for us it was important. to say that chomp is a disgrace to america and we think that time does not represent american people is a professional is not somebody that i would look up to in any shape or form you know and the shipper for i just think you know he's putting america joe you know america supposed to be great again it's not great again like you know trump concerns everyone is not just an american issue is a global issue and every decision that he takes over the country will follow and we have other countries like brazil we have other countries like even in the u.k. a bit this was his are being called peter being replicated so he's in france today

he's not a french issue is a global issue and that's why we're here protesting he's not. welcome here is no welcome anywhere well those are just some of the views here in paris at this particular protest but as i mentioned this is one of many taking place across the city as he was making his way to that almost a ceremony just a few hours ago there was a protest a woman actually running in front of his motorcade with the words oh on her body a fake peace maker and that's what many people have said today this is a man with no belief that he's making war with everyone and i saw one sign that sort of summed up the idea is here this protest is a bit of a take on america i make america great again which trump is very well known for saying that it was make america good again because that's what people think here is that at the moment the policies that have been spewing out of the trump it is straight up policies that are making war not peace and they want america to be good

again. far right groups that flooded central warsaw on sunday as poland is celebrates one hundred years since it's a real establishment as an independent state the annual march was more controversial than usual though as it was announced the polish president and government officials would join. was partitioned between austria-hungary germany and russia polish flags and banners could be seen stretched down streets and across squares it's also been reported that a number of neo nazi symbols were spotted there was a large police presence watching over the march which took place at the same time as a state military parade in warsaw called the event a success. poland one on november eleventh there will be a great communal march to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of independence. the government's decision to march alongside of the far right nationalist has been

largely criticized along a professor from the hebrew university in jerusalem told us the migrant issue is leading to a rise of nationalist sentiment in europe the polish government decided to actually embrace the. tendencies and. ideologies of the past because. the fear from the immigration creates a bias a political bias and a political agenda that brings into a defensive approach towards the entire matter of the immigrants threats from the past are becoming the true reality of the present and rising again but we must pay attention to the fact that today we have more reasons not only anti simitis them but also what is going on with the european approach to the to the border questions and to the immigration question. the democratic party clawed back control of the

house in the u.s. midterms on tuesday we'll be back in a few moments with more on that stay with us international and the week. i've been saying the numbers mean something they matter the u.s. has over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crimes happen each day. eighty five percent of global wealth you want to be all for rich eight point six percent market saw a thirty percent rise last year some with four hundred to five hundred three per circuit first second and bitcoin rose to twenty thousand dollars. china is building a two point one billion dollar a i industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only numbers you need

to remember is one one business showed you can afford to miss the one and only boom bust. it's been seventy is since the united nations adopted the universal declaration on human rights but in many places in to remains a declaration and not a reality how to bridge the divide between practice and preaching. welcome back this is r t international and the weekly live from moscow on friday moscow played host to landmark talks on the afghan peace process china iran india and pakistan war monger those present at the meeting along with the taleban is the first time the militant group had a sit down for this cause. and of high level multilateral meetings after almost two

decades of war in afghanistan and the fact that they shared the same room with cobbles representatives is seen as a significant breakthrough although the afghan government didn't send a delegation members of the afghan high security council were there instead they said kabul is ready for direct peace talks with the taliban with out preconditions while the representative of the militant group told us their focus is on washington and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. the whole issue is with us and they're going to get somebody comes in that is that the kind of operation we would in order to live it does a single american soldier in afghanistan that's why we should have a good day that it's all good with the we have. no i didn't drop the what a lot of us we have we want good relations specially what i want to live with the u.s. turned down an invitation to the talks but did send an observer which is what i have comments now on what may be behind washington's rejection of russia's mediation

efforts. by any measure the afghan war has dragged on for too long too many people the dead too little achieved too much hatred bred. on just one day the twentieth of october a jury elections three hundred and eighty eight civilians while the plethora of attacks so no wonder that even nato is calling for peace the taller bomb must understand the continuing to fight is pointless there must sit down on the negotiating table the potential for peace is creating our own test be in many years unless of course peace is made in moscow in which case the us won't support it america is skipping the moscow peace summit saying washington only

supports afghan led efforts the united states believes that all countries should support direct dialogue between the government of afghanistan and the taliban to reach it and to the war. and. we've been clear that no governments including russia can be a substitute for the afghan government interact negotiations with the taliban wave which never stopped the u.s. special envoy from meeting taliban officials in cata last month for direct negotiations i think the more countries that approach the afghan government and the taleban and all the warring parties and say let's talk let's have peace rather than war that's a very logical thing for most people and for most countries i just don't think in the united states the united states at this particular time wants to see it also

the military industrial complex in the united states is a very very big part of the u.s. economy the guns and the planes and the ships and the bombs that they use and sell all around the world support a lot of jobs in the united states i don't think that the wars in general or going to end if they can do some maneuver to make a better situation for the united states in afghanistan seventeen years of war and terror is nato soldat countless thousands dead on each every side generation's fed and misery and violence drunken hatred and the heroine finally the taliban agrees to open talks it's a huge deal ed the u.s. possums war it seems is preferable to peace that comes with russian help.

crucial midterm elections on tuesday left congress narrowly split between america's two major parties the democrats seized the house of representatives while the republicans built on their advantage in the senate floor to emerge to as. one of the most contentious states of the republicans appeared to have won by a small margin but two democrat leaning counties continued to votes following election day. the move calling it an attempt to steal the election a statewide recount is now underway and must be pleaded by thursday but it's far from the only thing that went wrong in the vote. thanks to our

. old. bush. thank you. thank you our thanks to our crew our.

thanks. midterms were dubbed a referendum on trump's presidency and many say he's passed the test with republicans retaining control of the senate and a target they had set before the elections but it's not all plain sailing as artie's came up and comments. so which party won the epic midterm battle for control of the u.s. congress well if you listen to both sides they both won and last night the republican party defied history to expand our senate majority to found the story of the constitution's checks and balances do the job. fancy pelosi has got plenty of reason to be happy it's the first time the democrats have had a majority in the house of representatives in eight years they can now launch an

investigation spree into donald trump and block all kinds of legislation but you would think they would have won a bigger blowout after all they are running against the new hitler who happens to also be a russian spy you can go for nationalism you can go for anger opposite of hitler the same type of propaganda to you would have seen in germany in one thousand and thirty eight these comparisons to trump it's like it bums me out but trump will be outmatched by putin and i have never seen an american president simply surrender to the leader of russia we call it soccer now the donald is far from a media darling lots of media criticism and pressure and his losses weren't so bad when compared to his recent predecessors he not only maintained control of the senate but the republicans actually picked up a few seats so do lots of americans just like hitler and russian spies well perhaps

they were just watching a different channel twenty seventeen was a very successful first year for president trump unlike obama business confidence is now soaring under president trump in fact the news is so good so the vote was described as a referendum on the donald so what's the verdict well the voters seem to have stayed within one of two echo chambers there is one echo chamber that loves the donald and the other that hates him the country is divided and now congress along with it definitely be us. media and the political parties have definitely created more divisiveness and more friction between. between the parties as well as within the within the society itself and i think the media is largely to blame there. sometimes leaking information that should not be leaked sometimes. twisting the story a different way than that should be. you know sometimes just falsely claiming something that's not correct and that's substantiated so i think we've got. we've got

a media and also elements within the government that are actually creating within the u.s. government that are actually creating more of a divisive. atmosphere within the population. one of the good from i'll be back in about thirty five minutes with more of the weekly much more to interest story. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race is often spearing dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line big get accepted or

rejected. so when you want to be president. or somehow want to. have to go right to be cross that's what i'm up for three in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters of my colleagues. question. when lawmakers manufactured to sentenced him to public wealth. when the right wing clauses protect them so. when the final larry go round lifts only the one percent. to ignore middle of the room six. million more you leave. the world. during the past thirty years

lebanon has been subject to six invasions from israel. six invasions at prestigious every every year every five years we are there. being one of this is definitely the come out so you never. tell me welcome to worlds apart seventeen years after the united nations as the universal declaration of human rights in many parts of the world it's still a declaration rather than leave reality and that's not only because upholding human

rights is hard work for many societies but also because of the hypocrisy and politics associated with the issue to divide between preaching and practicing out of reach to discuss that i'm now joined by peggy takes a director at the un human rights office thank you it's good to talk to thank you very much for your time to be here now you gave a number of interviews and reach you talked with some alarm about the advent of the post human rights era and before you talk about these new phase let me ask you about be human rights era which supposedly preceded it how would you define it chronologically and how was it different from what we see around us today right well i think i have to clarify and i am not an alarmist about where we're heading on human rights i think what's happened over the course of the seventy year history of the universal declaration is that there's been a global understanding of certain basic rights fundamental rights that all people have and that we've been working together over that period to try to implement them

and i think globally we've made enormous progress and i always say that i'm very glad to be a woman today rather than a woman in my mother's generation or my grandmothers and i think my daughter will. we'll live in a world that's that's probably better off for women's rights than my generation was so it's that type of progress that we see during the human rights era and yet this was also during the period. wars were launched on. the legalize torture research secret prisons the. dehumanization of average grave i mean all those abuses that were supposedly committed by human rights respect and actuaries abroad rather than at home i wonder if let's be clear i mean there the basic premise of universal human rights is that human rights abuses occur every place and anybody who tries to say there are countries that are rights respecting and others that are not isn't isn't really taking taken account of that reality

from the united states myself and in the united states there are all sorts of groups that work on human rights abuse in the united states every day because there's a lot still to be done. in preparation for this interview went through your twitter feed you quite often repeat people who have a sound with many key in the world they believe that there are certain countries who will represent clear abusers of human rights like russia china cuba syria and then there are others who are more respectful of human rights like the united states or western europe do you think that division. is less. i think the division was never that clear and i do think there are a number of trends that have made people recognize a very important fact and that's the indivisibility of human rights one of the big things that happened in the human rights movement is that when it first started it grew out of a movement following the second world war that focused more on political and civil rights and it's taken.