the crisis in venezuela intensifies with new elections for the opposition held national assembly cold u.s. sanctions against a state oil giant imposed and assassinations threats let. us . finish.

suspends participation in a landmark cold war era nuclear treaty in a quote response to washington's withdrawal from the agreement for six months over alleged russian violations. consecutive weekend of protests in france sees clashes between demonstrators and police during a march denouncing police violence. stories over the week the main headlines of today welcome to the weekly the sunday program here on. the standoff in venezuela is escalating in a speech at a pro-government rally the country's president nicolas maduro. announced plans for

fresh elections to the opposition controlled national assembly meanwhile of a large opposition rally the assembly's president won quite doe who proclaimed himself as well as leader last week said he would defy a government by opening humanitarian aid centers. because of the nationalist sentiment and if you agree with that i agree and i stand by that decision do you want to mention is that if you want. let's have a parliamentary election. we also announced that the venezuelan people already have three points from which to collect humanitarian aid soldiers power has come the moment has come to declare your support for the constitution humanitarian aid and for change for your family or people are gathered here to protest against the last my dear and to demand free elections the scalia was made by one white oh you know there are parts of the city there's also protests to support an equal as mature us president and also to celebrate the twenty years of the revolutionary socialists

and there were so much stronger words from the u.s. threatening the class mature a solution that europe would do well not to test the resolve of the united states. i i wish him a long quiet retirement on a pretty beach far from venezuela. asked venice. on a time. venice do you feel that already tense political climate in the country a military high rank today a general back and one way to go as president and said that nicolas maduro had to leave last reportedly from the national and local press. the economic measures again some of the auto talk of the country's key source of revenue immediately freezing seven billion dollars in assets american firms also won't be able to do business with caracas old u.s. payments or they will be entering a blocked accounts it's estimated that the sanctions will cost venezuela eleven

billion dollars in lost oil exports this year and washington said that it would lift the sanctions if control is transferred to one quite though on the day after the u.s. measures were imposed venezuela's supreme court slapped a travel ban on the opposition leader and froze his bank accounts in the country of an as well as the attorney general also ordered an investigation into one quite go so expecting him of assisting other countries in meddling in venezuela now the venezuelan president meanwhile has accused donald trump of ordering his assassination and saying that if something should happen to him washington and the colombian government would be to blame. now at the forefront of america's attempts to undermine the mode of government off three of washington's most hawkish figures are some of them the troika of tyranny. and now looks at the team taking on the authorities in caracas. i think a night of nations mike pompei oh drew

a line in the sand now it's time for every other nation to pick a side no more delays no more games either you stand with the forces of freedom or you're in league with his made him sound familiar either you're with us. if you love freedom and with nations with your bridge freedom or you are the enemy yes their ideas are not new but now they're linking arms in the global spotlight some call them the axis of evil or the troika of tyranny meet mike pompei oh elliott abrams and john bolton the three amigos of imperialism john bolton was a big supporter of the iraq war and he represented the united states in the united nations an organization he really didn't care for very much united states make the u.n. work work and that is exactly the way it should be because the. united states is. now mike pompei o is the new kid on the block without very much experience as head of the cia he tried to get the authority to conduct drone

strikes in afghanistan without the pentagon's oversight and he worked day and night to rip up the iran nuclear deal at the center of it is an interesting campaign of economic pressure to starve the regime of the revenue it uses to fund it was six of these throughout the middle east and indeed around the world now back in the spotlight after years of obscurity meet convicted criminal elliott abrams he was tied to massacres in el salvador any help to funnel weapons to the contras in nicaragua he was convicted for his role in covering it all up and he received a presidential pardon now he's a special envoy for venezuela it seems that his record in latin america has really impressed certain people america's new dream team is now taking aim at venezuela why because they just care so much for those poor oh pressed venezuelans they want them to have a chance at freedom and democracy right or is it something else. it will make a big difference to the united states economically if we could have american oil

companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in venezuela be good for the people of venezuela good for the people of the united states we both have a lot at stake here yes honesty is always appreciated the u.s. is once again talking about basically another war for oil so that it introduces these moral complications and gives rise to some serious questions about the u.s. motivations here and it's very frustrating from an american point of view it's one thing for trump to announce oh i support this other guy and that's great but but but these sanctions are kind of an act of violence in themselves i think we have to but isn't that kind of back of the katie doing us blockade of and as well in the stranglehold that they put on the economy of the country which is having very real humanitarian consequences for the people there it is a question of you know washington and it allies in europe and elsewhere want their

cake and i do want to have their cake and eat it well i mean it's very they're double distorting or think here as the oil sanctions were being announced by the u.s. national security advisors notepad called the eye of reporters on it was written five thousand troops to colombia and colombia shares a border with on his way into and some suggest it was an intentional message. to the school most a reason and the reach of that note. this

week's all the suspension of a key international nuclear pact the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty which was signed over thirty years ago on friday washington announced it was pulling out of the treaty for six months citing alleged violations on the russian side so moscow reciprocated withdrawing the very next day the agreement between the two between the two countries was signed in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven it banned all land based ballistic and cruise missiles on launchers with short to intermediate rangers. stand off look at what's behind this dispute. it's not like

the us withdrawal from the iron of deal cord anyone by surprise washington's been looking for the exit for a long time russia has repeatedly tried to steer this titanic of a relationship away from its size burke. for many years we have proposed disarmament talks with our initiatives have not found the support of our partners in fact they always find a pretext for dismantling the global security system but this week everything crashed and burned and went to kingdom come the time for talk was over. our american partners said they were suspending their participation in the i.n.f. treaty and we will suspend was also they announced they were conducting research and development and we will do the same i've asked all foreign and defense ministries. to keep the doors open for dialogue but also not to initiate any talks

on the issue why well one last time america's top diplomat threw a barrage of accusations at russia for violating the iron of deal without a shred of proof russia has violated russia's violation russia's shamelessly violated the russians are in violation of the agreement now officially in the us has a problem with this mess nato classified as s s c eight russia says that it's in full compliance with the i.n.f. treaty but washington check russia's arguments out of the window the united states and most of our nato allies did not attend this briefing as we all saw it for what it worse and the other attempt to obfuscate the violation and give the appearance of transparency it was like a bottomless cup as the allegations kept pouring culminating in america's withdrawal so now more schools done with being cooperative and all actually it says

the u.s. is no saint louis since twenty fourteen the u.s. has deployed in europe is m k forty one missile launchers which is suitable for american tomahawk missiles which is a direct violation of the treaty these missile launchers are based in rumania and already to be constructed in poland russia's defense ministry says in the past two years the us expanded its key missile factory in tucson across the board it swelled in size and hired some two thousand new employees moreover the pentagon's defense budget for this year by asked last spring and drawn up even earlier had already calculated the scenario currently being played out and this week donald trump revealed the chapters to come we will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with nato and other allies and partners to do. ny russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct russia though has an ace or

two apart sleeve like the brand new miss it unveiled last year including hypersonic weapons and even the us admitted it has no counter form and defense minister sergei show who says there's more where that came from we suggest starting work on adapting russia's caliber missile launch systems from maritime to land based ones we also suggest beginning work on a new land based type of velocity ballistic missile or short to medium range yet at the same time moscow says it's never been driven by the offensive potential of its weapons it's all about parity essentially russia points to the fact that america's somehow been defending against the iran and north korea threats by marching missiles or in russia's border and no one likes to be surrounded by the military of a state that openly calls you an adversary and still moscow leaves the door ajar despite everything the new arms race doesn't have to begin it says russia has

promised not to deploy any missiles in europe first but if the us chooses to set this in motion well two can play that game. the suspension of the i had f treaty has provoked a reaction worldwide with some e.u. politicians voicing their concern that europe could now become a battleground for rival powers. definitely don't want to see our continent william back to being about those fields or a place where. other super powers come from themselves so we must prepare for a world without the un if there is a need for dialogue with russia for all part of the german foreign minister and i will do everything to pave the way for talks within the six month period apart from that nato will thoroughly assess what the u.s. withdrawal would mean it is important to keep the window for dialogue open i don't think the united states really engage isn't diplomacy anymore and we really haven't

or several decades said they in this year union went out of business in one thousand nine hundred one and we thought it was our right to establish our dominion over the entire planet i don't think they really care what the russians have to say i think what they're really interested in his gaining military superiority over russia over china as well and that these treaties simply get in the way. and francais yellow vest march denouncing police violence or clashes as thousands of protesters across the country they took to the streets for a twelve week. more

than twenty eight traders were reportedly detained and eight police officers injured or across from us this time around participants weren't just calling for social reform rallies were dedicated to those injured by police at previous marchers authorities say that over two thousand people have been hurt at yellow vest events since november seventeenth and our sister channel r.t. france spoke to some of the protesters. would you like to do document at the during your to on november twenty fourth they came with friends to paris to peacefully participate in a demonstration express my concerns with the usual slogans michael resigned at sixty two thirty one of the riot police cauldrons attacked the moving crowd and the g a lie if full time grenade hit my legs and exploded whitehaven sank to the injured twenty five to thirty people injured and maimed and mostly yellow vests those who were wounded before the suckers from the same weapons are suffering see united artists for us it was obvious no difference. this is important because i

became part of a new family the family of the wounded i'm not the only one wounded like this i became part of a large group who were injured there are many seventeen hundred people i'm the twentieth a person whose i was injured so it was important to come today in order to at least to support the speaker's. meanwhile president macron surprised many by claiming he too would die on a yellow vest under certain conditions a political analyst a nickel about coverage told us that micron and his team are simply out of sync with the french people. if a yellow vest means big. for higher paid work and a more efficient poem and than i i'm a yellow that i think this is extremely important because maybe sometimes people don't realize how tough the police are in france how they how violent they have been these past two weeks i have seen personally and this is a man being shot in the face just maybe fifty centimeters away from me for doing

nothing nothing at all i think macro and the people in his entourage just don't understand what's going on there so much distin netted with what the french are leaving on a daily basis that they have they don't know what type of answer to bring macro cannot come back he is over as the french president he can only give back his image he's hated by more than half the population today i'm not saying he's dislike of people disapprove of some of his actions i'm talking about hatred. so an awards ceremony in the united arab emirates to recognize the government actions to address dread and imbalances it's got some pretty surprising winners will have that in less than one. he's gone into

a nihilistic fever. i think we've got to hit the road and get out the travelling across america what makes america the charlotte the genius of this place the south american hero this is a point which alan would have done something we always are on the current system. we're starting last with is going to headed east into the swamp we're going into the belly of the bees i think i want to leave now. we may be completely different in this. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. spearing dramatic probably the only mostly. i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical. to sit down and talk.

to join us today for the weekly as part of a drive to empower women in the united arab emirates held an awards ceremony on sunday to recognize government departments trying to address gender imbalances but for some one thing wasn't quite right old three recipients all of the awards which were presented by the vice president and the ruler of dubai all of them well. you know some of the online reaction to that. i'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this but you forgot to invite women wow you really nailed the diversity there one of those great you've achieved an excellent balance of men with facial and men

with. my congratulation. one gender and two by the u.a.e. as prime minister how stressed in a statement online that iraqi women are playing a central role in shaping the country's future he also says that getting more women into positions of power is a priority for the government despite that though women's rights are still severely restricted in the country and they require the permission of a male guardian to get married for instance they also cannot get a job without their husband's consent and divorce is rarely granted we spoke to political analyst catherine shutdown about the award ceremony she told us that it's easy to pay lip service to equality but concrete steps must be taken i think that the leadership should have actually you know made good and actually present at least in a what you want women i mean to at least pretend pretend that you from which in gender equality is not even trying they're not even doing good p.r. for pointing that gender equality you go also another question what was the point

of the exercise that's all it was new at times have a truck should be you know repairs done to women represented what he's made them visible somehow but nothing was actually done other than one particular woman was congratulated for her efforts she didn't even receive you know would you imagine anything like that it's one thing to speak before with another to actually not and i think that still for even to give you a flush much better than the rest of the board for one reason is that it has opened up a lot so about foreigners about their full changes had to be done. to come and catch up with the rest of the world i don't think it's new we know. the organization behind the initiative have responded to the story of the u.a.e. . councils said that women in the u.a.e. hold important roles in society from m.p.'s to is an entrepreneur as it adds that women will continue to be a driving force in establishing the nation as a global role model for agenda. a long running

between greece and the u.k. is back in the headlines and who owns the ancient artifacts known as the models the director of the produce museum where they are on display has infuriated athens by ruling out their return saying that taking the models from greece was a creative act. picks up the story. the british museum is back in the headlines this time its director has stirred up trouble by saying removing the world famous twenty five hundred year old parthenon marbles from greece to be taken to britain in the nineteenth century could be seen as a creative act thanks to a new context you could of course be saddened by the fact that the original environment has disappeared when you move a cultural heritage to a museum you move it outside however the shifting is also a creative act technically u.k. law prevents the return of such pieces but the problem is greece considers the

classical marble sculptures stolen and wants them back seriously what was so creative in the destruction of the temple and the looting in the pillaging of a nation's keys to its ancient history greece's culture minister described the museum directors approach as narrow and cynical a mindset that downgrades cultural heritage to an exchange sale out but in fact it's not just greece that's pressuring the museum other artifacts perceived just snatched during the times of the british empire are being demanded back to so far to no avail the museum is only ready to loan saying the pieces are better off being displayed as part of a wider collection. you have to take it keep in view one hundred fifty years yes give us some months and we can have.

millions of people come to enjoy the british museum every year let's find out what some of them here make of this longstanding use and how local see it back in greece i think it's being here is probably for the greater good i just got a degree in art history so i thought i'd better go back. at the mall and employed by twenty one in every museum in the world. why why i was so generous i would keep them here if they were british or to fox in greece i think it would be few differently if i was greek i would want the return of no i consider this the way i consider what's elegant it to be since i'm greeks and i'm also in favor of returning the elgin marbles i guess it's quite nice to have. to go hunting for

a period because the exhibition the story made i would want just to print maybe some kind of sharing arrangement. if i build a house and someone in america to mix it cannot take it with him and say i will take good care of it i will keep it in america come see it whenever you're light see you know there are just some of the top stories over the past week of wealth near serenity international there are many more to fill in for the rundown here on the weekly we're going about twenty five and. what politicians do sometimes. they put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to express an injury. or some want to. have to go right to the press that's why the four three in the morning can't be

good. i'm interested always in the waters about how. things should. be and i mean i didn't you know you're. going to if he. doesn't want to know most of us will be in yours and yours was not a very good night but really you. please don't believe the ways though i did my best it's not as though i. was nice then you see if this was not. the school get minutes from the union you can close the front. so after reading trash for life in a stick the nicaraguan group. invited us factory for the twenty

fifth anniversary of the founding of the episode. on october fifth or in the past this plane was shot down in a car for the poor play dropping arm. church that reagan had privately. and there was one crew member the parachute to shake the. new regime. my name to geno's interests. wisconsin cure me after we arrived. the nikken armored your dish your tribe you know which take i suppose out to the crash site and asked us to events we wanted to go on a helicopter with us so they crashed i wasn't a shock to us about all the flights he'd been on all these covert flights of course and he was course angry because he had been abandoned by the reagan administration

he was basically a covert operator mercenary he was proud of. his capture would reveal a complex web of covert operations run by us colonel oliver north reagan's administration had bypassed congressional control and funded the country insurgents through drug trafficking and secret arms sales to be wrong. all secret. but the house and the shoot down. of the old images they just really tired of the rounds are no and i'm not taking any questions in just a second i'm going to ask each journey general meese to brief you on what we presently know what he has found. what. the revelations of the iran contra affair gave new momentum to the work of the peace activists. evidence showed that the weapons were coming from the largest

pentagon arms depot on the west coast california's concord naval weapons station. they were alan and i went out just to check out the situation. and discovered that on one side of the road. were literally hundreds of buggers with all these weapons . there's a train track and these bunkers that came out and cross they called a highway and then went out to the pier is where these balls were loaded on to the ships. we had a press conference and.