top headlines here on out see the crisis in venezuela intensifies with new elections for the opposition held national assembly cold and u.s. sanctions against a state giant imposed on assassination threats alleged. moscow

suspends participation in a landmark cold war era nuclear treaty in a quote mirror a response to washington's withdrawal from the agreement for six months over alleged russian violations also this hour. a controlled consecutive weekend of yellow vest protests in france clashes between demonstrators and police during a mob denouncing police violence. and the week's top stories on the main headlines today welcome to the sunday weekly when i see it from. the standoff in venezuela is escalating in a speech at a pro-government rally the country's president nicolas maduro announced plans. all

fresh elections for the opposition controlled national assembly he and his rival the assembly's president who proclaimed himself venezuela's leader last week both addressed large crowds in the capital. because of the national assembly do you agree with that i agree and i stand by that decision do you want to make shoes do you want. let's have parliamentary elections now. soldiers the hour has come the moment has come to declare your support for the constitution humanitarian aid and for change for your family people are gathered here to protest against an equal as my dear and to demand free elections this guy was made by one white oh in other parts of the city there's also protests to support an equal as mature as president and also to celebrate the twenty years of the revolutionary socialists and there were some very strong his words from the u.s. beautifulest maturer who would do well not to test the resolve of the united states

. 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 also back and one white zero as president and said that nicolas maduro had to leave as reportedly from the national and local press. the economic measures against my daughter target the country's key source of revenue immediately freezing seven billion dollars in assets it is a move likely to further drive up the cost of basic goods like food and certainly keep protesters out on the streets it's estimated that the sanctions will cost venezuela eleven billion dollars in lost oil exports this year washington said that it would lift the sanctions if control is transferred to one quite though as the

oil sanctions were being announced and u.s. national security advisers notepad called the eye of reporters on it was written five thousand troops to colombia colombia of course shares a border with venezuela where the auto accused washington and then of assassination plans there's no doubt that trump gave an order to kill me he told the colombian government the colombian maffia to kill me if something happens to me one day donald trump and the colombian president will be responsible at the forefront of america's attempts to undermine the majority government are three of washington's most hawkish figures artie's caleb mop and now looks at the team taking on the author of he's 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 it is make them 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 the united states makes the u.n. work work and that is exactly where you 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 not interested in a campaign of economic pressure to starve the regime of the revenue it uses to fund

stabilization 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 us 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 put this in the back of the campaign uing us blockade of and as well in the stranglehold it but 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 its allies in europe and elsewhere want their cake and they want to have their cake and eat it i mean it's very they're double distorting or think here riaz people in venezuela the u.s. and britain and what they thought about america's stance towards caracas.

and we need help from stable countries and the us is a stable country. i do not recognize one wide always the interim president and the government of the us must respect the position of us and as a whelan's who have elected president my new room where fair elections. see it well yes and no but there is some sense to it personally i'd say they should entity in the uk no it is venezuela it should solve the problems of venezuela. it. seems to be a typical us move to go for any nation that has been a model oil venezuela is a country that's been around for a long time and they should solve their own problems. sometimes you just need to go out and just help them any more it's not all about aid and some think it's about how many of us are going to go out there and help you through it or. democracy to do it most of us want to go for the any idea where is on the map i have no clue how

to venezuela no president. or the current president as he is. i wish i do is know the yewtree is back to the whole story new election in the country i just wanted to be a few sort of agree that that would be the best way forward for over this way that's what it is up to what they want isn't it not what i want. this week so although 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 from the treaty the very next day the agreement between the two countries was signed in one thousand nine hundred seven and banned all land based ballistic and cruise missiles and launchers with short to intermediate range as easy even if done off now takes

a closer look at what's behind this dispute. it's not like the u.s. withdrawal from the iron of deal chord 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 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 but time for talk was over. you know you don't own our american partners said they were suspending their participation in the i.n.f. treaty and we will suspend ours also they announced they were conducting research and development and we will do the same i've asked our 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 shamelessly violates it the russians are in violation of the agreement now officially in the us has a problem with this message nato classified as s s c eight russia says that it in full compliance with the i.n.f. treaty but washington chuck 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 off you ski 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 in all actually it says the u.s. is no saint louis since twenty fourteen the. u.s.

is 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 launches 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 deny russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct russia though has an ace or

two apart sleeve like the brand new miss as 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 mussing missiles on 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.n.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. we definitely don't want to see our continent's billion back to being a battlefield or a place where. other superpowers confront themselves so we must prepare for a world without the un if there is a need for dialogue with russia for all part 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 in diplomacy anymore and we really haven't

for several decades said they 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 is dating military superiority over russia over china as well and that these treaties simply get in the way. in france a yellow vest march denouncing police violence so clashes as thousands of protesters across the country took to the streets for a twelfth consecutive weekend ironic with educators of those injured of previous demonstrations by police using a controversial crowd control weapon one that a french court recently ruled however is acceptable to you.

police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds the country's interior minister has defended the use of special weapons against quote rioters however he also stressed that any abuse would be punished according to official figure. now over two thousand people plus around a thousand police officers have all been heard at yellow best events since november seventeenth and our sister channel r.t. france spoke to some of the protestors bodog to do during their two on november twenty fourth they came with friends to paris to peacefully participate in a demonstration express my concerns with the usual slogans michael resign at sixty two thirty one of the riot police cauldrons attacked the moving crowd and the g a lie if grenade hit my legs and exploded. injured twenty

five to thirty people injured and maimed mostly yellow vests those who were wounded the for the sockets from the same weapons that are suffering see united artists for us it was obvious no difference you know 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 am the twenty if i a person whose i was injured so it was important to come today in order to at least to support the speaker's. meanwhile the president macron surprised many by claiming he too would die on a yellow vest under certain conditions a political analyst nickelback overture told us the president would do better to come down from his ivory tower. if where you live this means being for higher paid work and a more efficient parliament than i am a yellow vest i think this is extremely important because sometimes people don't realize how tough the police are in france how they how violent they have been

discussed for weeks i have seen personally and this man being shot in the face just fifty centimeters away from me for doing nothing nothing at all i think. the people in his entourage just don't understand what's going on there so much disconnected with them. well the french are leaving on a daily basis 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 and i think he's dislike of people disapprove of some of his actions i'm talking about a trip. where running down the top stories over today and over the week here on the weekly on r t still to come an awards ceremony in the united arab emirates to recognize a government actions to address a gender imbalance is has some rather surprising winners more on that after the.

country's gone into a nihilistic fever. i think we got to hit the road and get out the traveling across america to find what makes america take the charlotte the genius the quintessential american hero this is it we've come to a point which alan would have done something we always are on the current system. we're starting last with is going to head 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. to what we've got to do is

identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. spearing dramatic development the only really exists i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical. to sit down and talk. thanks for joining us for the weekly today as part of a drive to empower women in the united arab emirates held an awards ceremony on sunday to recognize the government departments trying to address imbalances but one thing wasn't quite right all three recipients of awards which were presented by the vice president on the ruler of dubai all of them were met. here's some of the online reaction. i'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you that you forgot to

invite women. really nailed the diversity there one of those gray you've achieved an excellent balance of men with facial hair and men with facial hair i congratulate you one gender and two by the u.a.e. as prime minister stressed in a statement online that 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 as women's rights are still severely restricted in the country women require the permission of a male guardian to get married for instance they also can all get a job without their husbands consent and divorce is rarely granted we spoke to political analyst catherine shocked about the award ceremony she said it's easy to pay lip service to equality but concrete steps must be taken. i think that the u.a.e. with its leadership should have actually be you know made good and actually present

at least in a what you want women i mean to at least pretend pretend that you promoting gender equality is not even trying they're not even doing good p.r. all for one thing that gender equality either also another question what was the point of the exercise that's all it was new at time question of attraction the repairs done to have women represented what it's made them visible somehow but nothing was actually done other than one particular woman was brought to date for her efforts she didn't even receive you know would you imagine anything like that it's one thing to speak reform it's another to actually enact them and i think that still for even those that you read smashed much better than the rest of the board for one reason is that it has opened up its border about foreigners and that therefore changes had to be done. to kind of catch up with the rest of the world i don't think it's new we know. the organization behind the initiative has responded to the story the gender balance council says that women in the u.s. hold important roles in society from m.p.'s to firefighters and entrepreneurs.

women will continue to be a driving force in establishing the nation as a global role model for agenda. a long running route between greece and the u.k. it's back in the headlines it's over who owns the ancient artifacts known as the parthenon marbles the director of the british museum where they're on display has infuriated athens by ruling out their return saying that taking the marbles 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 with say creative in the destruction of the temple and the looting and the pillaging of the 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 keeping him 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 long standing feud and how local see him back in greece i think it's being here is probably for the greater good i disguise. every night history so i feel like they should go back to the model should be retired and put back where they belong one in every museum in the world there until why why i was so generous i would keep them here if they were british arctic fox in greece i think it would be few differently if i was greek i would want the return of no i consider this i consider what else can do to be theft since i'm greeks and i'm also

in favor of returning the elgin marbles i guess it's quite nice to have them kept cops to go home for a period because the exhibition. i would like to see may be some kind of sharing arrangement. but if i build a house and someone in america likes it he 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 like but some of the top stories over the past week rounding up the weekly for this hour here on our international though it has been a busy week for your worldwide headlines we are with. six guys are financial survival. when customers go by and you reduce the price. in

elf will reduce the flour. that's undercutting but what's good for markets is not good for the global economy. or the stand in here for most. of whom one has. a good arm or are more trouble than there are rather tough it out before orthodontic yeah. i'm going to let him but i don't cut him any cut and kick and. i don't lose the channel for truffle that it. was then now mauling my michelle the downside of. the hay for not doing.

good it's whole foods but choice the i knew you didn't pay off the time in syria said. he she ought to have a. model for that even after the whole fuck around with mr hates it for jim and then i hope that our freddie macor. i think he has a big achiles to when election. they have elections people are suffering from many things they're. sick you are i think. begin to think that they can help the country and to make it to build to become secure and stable country so i think he has a big chance they think that he will be going to ninety per cent of the people they gonna be happy if the perception is that when that action.

united states can always add a. new. tax on other countries. economic sanctions or are often just the beginning another thing you like to do is place some military pressure on the countries which are talking about. and there has to be an effort to demonize that country and the leader of that country. believes it's a responsibility for the head. and we need to make rules for the rest of. those without us there will be.

countries gone into a nihilistic he'd just want to thank and they've got to hit the road and get the child in america to find what makes america take the shots and the genius of america here this is it we only point around which hollywood has gone insane starting last with is going to head east into this one. we're going into the belly of the b. i think i'm leaving now don't forget the more gondola know we may be completely different but end of this journey. so i guess if we're heading out of me yes i mean the theory is that what happens in vegas a specific day you may guess bright they can keep it. to i'm already completely blank i can remember a single thing that happened i think it's good nothing leaves vegas because they do one of them your allies are on the exit where they just delete your brain they don't number.