on independence riots flare in barcelona leaving dozens injured as protesters decry a federal government cabinet meeting in the regional capital. sacked for refusing to sign a pro israeli pledge u.s. school therapists food texas or parties over the mandatory that's in place in more than a dozen other states. traditionally crossing the line that's wrong doesn't sound right you go to work to work you don't go to work for your outside life you should be able to have your own political views outside of your work. and denmark has decided that shaking hands is something more than just the

sign of friendship the country has adopted and all that makes you shake hands at the danish citizenship ceremony. shaking hands is a personal choice there are many members of the jewish community who would choose not to share cards of the opposite sex it's a sign of friendship if you don't want to be friendly if you don't want to mix in with the coach if you don't want to be tolerant go. great to have you with us this saturday morning this is our t. international with me. but first this hour a partial shutdown of the united states government has come into effect the senate has failed to approve billions of dollars for the border war with mexico demanded by president trump. we're going to have a shutdown there's nothing we could do about that because we need the democrats to

give us their votes call it a democrat shutdown call it whatever you want but we need their help to get this approved so democrats we have a wonderful list of things that we need to keep our country safe let's get out let's work together let's be bipartisan and let's get it done the shutdown hopefully will not last long this is the third shutdown they see year nine federal departments have stopped that what with almost four hundred thousand employees suspended hundreds of thousands more will work for free until an agreement can be struck dave lindorff a founding editor of the online news website this can't be happening thanks it's all a bit of a gimmick it's just it's all theater it's playing to the media the media is making a big deal out of it. and it really isn't a big deal the less it blew up into something that was going to last for a month or two months or something and started hurting me in the government's

ability to pay its debt on time as happened one time with this but it you know it's becoming kind of a joke in the united states that you know this super powerful super rich country can't come up with a budget every year and it's almost every year thing that trump has made it more so with this continuous threats to shut down the government but it's really a joke it's unclear how long the shutdown will last but president trample yes trust it could be full of a very long time we take a look back at the main reasons for shutdowns in previous years.

violence flares in barcelona as pro independence protests erupt in spain's council lonia region more than sixty protesters and policemen have been injured with escalating out of a federal government cabinet meeting in the regional capital. flows

less often barricades built to extra police were brought in ending with at least thirteen arrests a local journalist fortunes up to speed with a vengeance. army the cabinet meeting is held in madrid that has federal centers that already and the lizzie actually also want to do it here in barcelona and people took it as a provocation because only one year ago catalonia declared independence so people obviously are angry because they want to be independent and they want to be separate separate from the whole thing so as you can see behind me you have signs of libor that this is politicos which means greece libor rate the political prisoners still nine of them are held in the tension and basically you have people

you have young people protesting and still trying to remember what happened here one one year ago so a people took out of the streets not only here in the center but also they blocked a piece that were seven which is the three way leading to the airport so many people were blocked today and couldn't go home for christmas. of artes had hopes that relocating the cabinet meeting to barcelona would reduce tensions in catalonia previously all parties had agreed to an effective dialogue a year ago or catalan independence referendum was deemed illegal in madrid regions leaders were arrested for rebellion and sedition. a spanish history academic admissions newcastle university says the politicians completely misread the mood of the people. the cats the. current workers the. chicks their mind they consented to match spanish. and the.

crowds was much less a good deal so many ways that was expected because of the government thanks it cannot control everyone. is the clue stand on this planet and we can. see in since the elections in december last year. was somehow symbolic but more important both spanish and the current government the current government because they haven't been able to do much good last year in terms of good solution. well dressed in europe this time in france as the so-called yellow vests protesters are preparing for as thick consecutive weekend of nationwide protests against government policies journalists on the front line also run the risk of being caught up in the action our correspondent sheila debates it takes is there some of the basic precautions they have to take. i am and.

if there's one thing the french really know how to do it's protest at all t. we believe that the best way to tell a story is to really get to the heart of it and that's essentially what we try to do as a team in the protests. but this brings its own difficulties and dangers so how do we try and stay safe well firstly we always carry a medical kit now as well as the basics i think that these little i washed pods are

with their waiting gold particularly after being ticked i asked. as you can see tear gas is being fired by the police because these teargassed going everywhere now tear gas is an irritant sickly if you're always you know is your mouth and your lungs and its effects kick in after about thirty seconds now that can include difficulty breathing and chest pain it's a chemical weapon which is actually found from being used in warfare yet it's still used to control crowds to mitigate its impact we wear protective goggles like this and respirators and it really is absolutely crazy on the streets of paris rubber bullets being deployed each she is streaming down my face again as a result of tear gas i can't tell you how many times now we've been gassed with all those. gloss bottles the stones the tear gas canisters and sometimes even molotov

cocktails flying about having a hard hat is very important. when things turn particularly nasty the police have been known to shoot rubber bullets now it may not look like a very much but one of these little guys can cause some serious damage and they can even be lethal so try and keep my core area safe where this fast it weighs around two and a half kilos and the idea is that if i get a direct hit it's going to help disperse the impact and hopefully reduce any injury . thanks. so that's the basics of the kit now we're all set for the next act.

thanks to a speech therapist in the us is suing all thora t's in texas after being sacked from her job as an elementary school for a few things a pledge she would never boycott israel this is required by law signed in over a dozen states prohibiting the employment of people with anti israeli sentiments artie's kell of more projects planes. the first amendment of the u.s. constitution guarantees citizens the right to criticize the american government however if you criticize a foreign government you might get in trouble and twenty six u.s. states government contractors are forbidden from boycotting israel in texas employees are required to sign an oath saying that they do not and will not boycott israel or engage in any activity intended to sow economic harm one speechcraft just refused to sign the oath and was fired she says this violates her rights and she's

taking it to court it's a baffling that they can so this down our throats you know and decide to protect another country's economy versus protect our constitutional rights and this isn't just a red state republican thing here in a liberal new york a similar laws in effect we are against the b.d.s. movement and it's very simple if you boycott against israel new york you we've been hearing what locals have to say about it think it's a little bit odd it's ridiculous crossing the line that's wrong doesn't sound right you go to work to work you don't go to work for your outside life you should be able to have your own political of views outside of your work because people can do as they wish i guess and you know you shouldn't put that on employees to be the one way or the other you can have someone sign. an agreement for taking another country congress even as a bill in the roster that would punish american companies were engaging in a boycott we must continue to stand firm against the profoundly by this

campaign to legitimize the state of israel through boycotts divestments and sanction supporters of the bill say that it would only affect major companies however some fear it could be used to punish individuals were this legislation to pass federal officials would have a new weapon at their disposal to chill and suppress speech that they found objectionable or politically unpopular if there was a law forbidding criticism of the. american government we would see rioting every american is taught about the moral principles the country was founded on however there are many who feel that israel deserves a special layer of protection from those who might disagree with its rather controversial actions. r.t. new york. times shake is supposed to be a simple gesture of friendliness but today is causing something of a full out denmark has adopted a new law obliging people to shake hands as part of the ceremony to become

a danish citizen supporters of the lord says that shaking hands is a custom and part of being danish the reason it's causing consternation is because of claims it targets muslims for whom physical contact with non-family members of the opposite sex is forbidden for religious reasons some town matters are refusing to comply. it's against my conviction to have to force the people to have. or this is a subject they find of loss of discussion we hosted one earlier on r.t. with both science proclaiming it's all about respecting their respective traditions . it just shows how petty and vindictive the danish government is shaking hands is a personal choice there are many members of the jewish community you would choose not to shake hands of the opposite sex you can be vibrant members of society you can play an integral part in health and education as a lawyer in business and be

a good citizen without having to say well actually you know what for religious reasons i do not want to shake somebodies hand and therefore i'm not going to do that doesn't make you any less of a human being less of a responsible citizen and you want to live in denmark they want to shake hands well from we shake hands get in the modern world use this nonsense we don't shake hands it doesn't matter how it's going to be for us to the village guy go they finish go back to their country want to be forced it's a sign of friendship if you don't want to be friendly if you don't want to make similar coach or if you don't want to be tolerant go home i'm sure there's loads of places where you don't even have to shake hands but you can chop each other's hands off if you steal some of the job enjoy it is going to play to the gallery are going to talk to you about individual freedom human rights. to the gallery. does it necessarily make it possible that you won't be responsible citizen engaged in society played an active role just been able to practice your faith the ferry

the fact that people have been forced to do this you've got dozens of mares of. no you don't object moving to the north and the point is the central point is this that it's about individual responsibility it's about human rights and it's about stopping bigotry and this more pacifically designed to target just a muslim community is discriminatory and inacceptable if you read the articles if you take the time to do it rather than just play with a chip on your shoulder you'll see it's not just about muslims and secondly if you don't like to shake hands don't move to denmark or don't because. at the initial citizen and this idea that it's an attack on your human rights hormone grow up whatever you want to simulate whatever you want to sit in with western culture but no they want to play the other people or this god mohamad ease always doing this it wants to spread create division and then he accuses me of played to the gallery

listen we shake hands in the west it's the way it is by not shaking hands does that make you a less of a human being doesn't stop me from contributing to society are making a positive contribution now i'm somebody who personally my own choices i do shit people may learn female but there will be people out there who choose not to touch their choice and if it's a question of faith and tradition look no further than confectionery brands the world famous the world famous tobler and chocolate has now been declared hello.

the certification did not result in any change to our beloved traditional toblerone of original recipe which production process essentially makes the house criteria anyway. islamization does not take place in europe it is therefore certainly pure coincidence that it depicted nine chunks that brightly is now certified as how. iconic swiss chocolate becomes hard to confirm with islamic purity though. everyone who claims to be a pullman's to this lamaze asian of europe must of course refuse to buy a taunt to say good boy i do not it's his next move but.

the us ones gemini's be careful of the hill it gets to supply its new high speed internet web network or tell you who they were afraid of after the break. i certainly don't expect that very many people will choose to be biologically all.

move your body isn't working for a while it also means your mind isn't working so well i believe that indeed we will have pretty much no biologically old people even though course we will have a much greater number of chronologically old people. welcome back president pounds left the international community stunned following his sudden decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria however the move has been backed by a number of leaders including one major nato ally. the trump told us during our conversation will you quit direst from here. before and after

that is good as long as you give us the support in terms of logistics and how they started to withdraw all they have. not all those parties of the conflict in syria are on board with the decision there is anger among the kurdish forces in the region with family members of the fighters the paling to washington to reverse their withdrawal mothers and wives of soldiers in the so-called syrian democratic forces have been gathering near an alleged american military base in l.f. in. america turned its back on us as we continue to fight and. it was a learning curve any. why did they leave us at this time. you know we went to the airfield they promised us that they would not leave and now they've sold us out tension is already escalating in northern syria with turkey now vowing an offensive against the kurdish forces which currently control among beach

a representative for the syrian democratic forces told russian media they could be ready to hand the town back to the syrian government to prevent turkey launching a similar operation in the province like it did after the liberation from islamic state back in twenty sixty. we do not support and we would oppose efforts to move south and engage in activities against the syrian democratic forces so kurdish commanders have made commitments that they will turn over areas to local populations as they have been so tremendously successful in liberating those areas from dash we expect them to live up to those commitments. that i'm from on base maffei to thank and that talk is threat with cost to find together the

americans and the collison again the talk until there was trouble from the restaurant advantages is complicated business around territory. but this year we noticed more movement from the euphrates shield along the front line as turkey before its military operation on a free and threatened that manned beach would be the next target. as i said before our relationship is a critical juncture either we must put it back on track or it will further deteriorate we have agreed essentially to normalize relationship again man dish is one that as i said is going to be given. in our joint effort in this is one of the

. measures one of the issues of work together. we are a part of syria and we don't support separatism what you want an agreement to be reached. as part of a free syria. well we heard from a former pentagon security analyst michael maloof who thinks the syrian government will look to fill the void being left by u.s. forces well i think that given that the u.s. is pulling out it's only inevitable that assad would. begin to move move his troops back in and these is very very important strategically. to keep the turks away as well the turks are not going into monday's as they have threatened to do so given a back to the sun is very important and i think that that voids the potential

for a major conflict between turkey and the kurds and so and also. turkish president everyone has pledged support now for assad so. this this is all beginning to offer an a whole new dynamic in that region as a result of the u.s. pull out. germany may block chinese telecom giant huawei from a government tender to develop a high speed internet network it comes amid rising security concerns over the company's possible espionage activity for beijing a u.s. delegation reportedly visited lenin held a closed door meeting at the german foreign ministry encouraging a boycott of huawei the company has already been blocks from building high speed networks in the us australia and japan the u.k. secret service chief alex younger has also voiced concern over germany's lighty

watchdog has expressed skepticism due to the lack of evidence proving byways by activity. serious decisions like a ban you need proof well just oriel it jeffrey took an editorial director of the american institute for economic research thinks this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. they wes's is famous for its air for its hacking and cyber surveillance of every political system in the world i mean so this is this is getting really out of hand and it's starting to be i must say deeply embarrassed seen for the u.s. on international economic stage but i think it's really sad because response to be in the middle of a trade truce but instead of just using the ninety days to come to a better understanding what the u.s. is doing is almost you know every forty eight hours another propaganda blitz against china is kind of a rhetorical bombast we're getting on a daily basis is actually having

a tremendous human cost and it's also futile i mean yes china is a rising economic power if you want to call it power but actually what it really means is that we can as a world community get to get richer and richer together and i think the u.s. needs to like come to terms with us and stop playing the bully on the playground. equip of indigenous people from argentine patagonia are stealing some of the world's biggest oil and gas companies for environmental damage in the pitchy tribe say that contamination from fracking sites statens their lives and the wildlife of patagonia. the sea does your little he got good current ecological situation in clark and where it is very serious and alarming and our community feels under threat because

there's been a violation of our rights and there's uncertainty over our lands getting energy firms have taken advantage of legal loopholes to come here in the big day and night years they can put this on a deadly menace over us. we'll get isabella. despite the region's natural richness that people here are very poor energy companies come under and contaminate our leathers but the fortunes they make are kept for themselves and the people they pay off to cover this all up. the way these oil companies operate is pure environmental vandalism and demonstrates how little control local authorities truly have.

been there look i hope this will be a serious investigation with those responsible named and duly dealt with we are sure we will win this case and then we'll be able to keep our lance and safeguard our health but most importantly they want to save our identity and culture. well our t. has approached the oil companies the comments we'll bring you that as soon as it comes that those are the headlines for this hour we're back in thirty minutes with the latest john is that if you can't. i had a great education a good job and a family that loved me. i never had to worry about how i would eat and where i would sleep. i'm facing christmas alone out on the streets of london.

you know to see that it will still give us food for the overs. because you don't really feel like a human being in that. and then. the guy this came over to me so me in gave him. judge obus book. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race based on off and 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.