much greater number of local agree old people. proconsul 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 school therapist in the us susan texas or parities over the mandatory oh it's also in place in more than a dozen other states traditionalists 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 abuse outside of your work. and denmark decides that shaking hands is something more than just a friendly greeting has been made part of the country's citizenship ceremony but

not everyone sees it as a positive move. shaking hands is a personal choice there are many members of the jewish community you 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 a coach or if you don't want to be taller and go. to . a very warm welcome great job the weather is this last a day this is r.t. international with me now our top story violence flares in barcelona as pro independence protests erupt in spain's catalonia region well in sixty protesters and policemen have been injured with and get escalating over a federal government cabinet meeting in the regional capital.

with so as less often barricades built extra police were brought in and any ending with at least thirteen arrests a local journalist brought is up to speed with events. burma the cabinet meeting is held in madrid that has federal centers that already and those the 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 hosting so as you can see a behind me you have a signs of leave it at this is politico's which means peace libor rate the

political prisoners still nine of them are held in detention and basically you have old people you have young people protesting and still trying to remember what happened here one one year ago so at people took out of the streets not only here in the center but also they blocked eighty seven seven which is that freeway leading to the airport so many people were blocked today and couldn't go home for christmas. authorities had hopes that relocating the cabinet meeting to barcelona would reduce tensions in catalonia previously all parties have agreed to an effective dialogue a year ago a castle on independence referendum was deemed illegal by madrid ratings leaders were arrested for rebellion and sedition a spanish history academic of britain's newcastle university studies the politicians completely misread the mood of the people. have.

more. money changed their mind. and. do you see many ways. thank you cannot truong everyone. this is the first time on this planet and. since the elections in december last year. was somehow symbolic and both the spanish and the current government on government because they haven't been able to do much in the last year in terms of legislation. more unrest in europe this time in france is the so-called yellow vest protesters are preparing for a sixth 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 shala dubinsky takes us through some of the basic precautions

they have to take. i am i and. if there is 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

worth their waiting gold particularly after being ticked i asked. as you can see tear gas has been 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 needs to be crazy on the streets of paris rubber bullets being deployed. 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

the. glass 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 to spruce the impact and hopefully reduce any injury. thanks.

so that's the basics of the kit now are all set for the next act. 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 well this is the third shutdown this year nine federal

departments have stops that work 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 web sites these conti happening thinks it's all a bit different giving it it's all theater it's playing to the media the media's making a big deal out of it. and it really isn't a big deal unless 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 an every year thing and trump has made it more so with this continuous threats to shut down the government but it's really

a joke. and it's unclear how long the shutdown will last but president trump earlier stressed it could be for a very long time so we took a look back at the main reasons for shutdowns in previous yes.

a speech therapist in the u.s. is suing old florida keys in texas off to being sunk from her job as an elementary school for refusing to 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 she's kind of moping explains the first amendment of the us 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 well one speech pathologist 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. says 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 will boycott 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 abuse 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 has 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 divestment and sanctions 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. the handshake is supposed to be a simple friendly greeting 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 that is that supporters of the law insist it's a national custom 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 mess are refusing to comply. it's against my ideology and conviction to have to force our the people to have body contact or this is a subject that find that lots of discussion we hosted want to early on r.t. with both sides 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 in 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 be

a good citizen without having. you know what for religious reasons i do not want to shake someone's 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 tell us 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 being able to practice your faith the ferry

the fact that people have been forced to do this you've got dozens of mayors 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 law 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. i'm an issue 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 pretty the other people are this god mohamad e's 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 around from contributing to society are making a positive contribution now i'm somebody who personally my own choices i do shit people can 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 bronze the world famous tobler in chocolate has now been declared to be a low. the

certification did not result in any change to our beloved traditional toblerone original recipe its production process essentially meets the howling criteria anyway. islamization does not take place in europe it is therefore certainly pure coincidence that it depicted nine chocolate variety is now certified as how. iconic swiss chocolate becomes hard to conform with islamic purity you know. everyone who claims to be a pullman's to this lamaze asian of europe must of course refuse to buy. time to say goodbye i do not feel good is next moves but.

still to come the u.s. warns germany to be careful of the hell it gets to supply its new high speed internet network or tell you who they were afraid of the break. what politicians do. they put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected . so you want to be president and she. wanted. to write to the press this is what the korean people are. interested in the why. there should be. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy on sunday

shouldn't let it be an arms race is often skeery dramatic development is only going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk. welcome back president has 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. so. the trump told us during our conversation. from him. before and after this.

as long as you give us the support in terms of logistics and how this started to withdraw they have. not all those party to the conflict in syria are on board with the decision there's anger among the kurdish forces in the region with family members of the fighters appealing to washington to reverse their withdrawal mothers and wives of soldiers in the so-called syrian democratic forces have been gathering near and alleged american military base in aleppo province one zero zero zero of all the american turned his back on us. as we continue to fight and did resign it was learning to ronnie and i. why did they leave i said. you know we went to the airfield they promised that they would not leave and now as 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 long 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 two 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 gosh we expect them to live up to those commitments. that i'm from on base fighting again the talk is threat with cost to find together the americans and

the collison again they talk to me until there was trouble from their surroundings are valid as is complicated this is surround 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 man beach would be the next target. as i said before our relationship is at a critical juncture either we must put it back on track or it will further deteriorate we have agreed essentially to normalize our relationship again by june of may and it is one that as i said is going to be given priority in our joint work

you are there for and this is one of the as the four measure a good one of the issues for us to work together. we are a part of syria and two we don't support separatism but you want an agreement to be reached and soften this tradition as part of a free syria we heard from 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 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 assad is very important and i think that that avoids 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 the chinese telecom giant while away 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 and held a closed door meeting at the german foreign ministry and courage and a boycott of huawei the company has already been blocks from building high speed networks in the us australia and japan the u.k.'s secret service chief alex young girl has also voiced concern however germany's i-t.

watchdog has expressed skepticism due to the lack of evidence proving ways by activity. for such serious decisions like a ban you need proof jeffrey circa 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 this and stop playing the bully on the playground . a group of indigenous people from argentine pasa goni are suing from of the world's biggest oil and gas companies for environmental damage the push a tribe say they contamination from fracking sites threatens their lives and the wildlife of passage area. does it does your little he good good current to make a logical situation clark where it is very serious and alarming 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. despite the region's natural richness that people here are very poor energy companies come under and contaminate our lead 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 how.

it looks like 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. plus he has approached the oil companies for comments i'm open to that as soon as it comes and thank you for joining us again this the hour we're back in thirty minutes with the latest headlines i'll see if.

there is a country russia as if no one has ever heard of and never even heard about. leg. length. leg.