just to your station shouldn't for you goodall from the one who's do you would be. among the stories that shapes the week a u.n. expert on torture says the way julian assange has been treated in recent years and months of psychological torture the assessment came a day after a sonder failed to appear in court for health. history of some shoes some stupid person that has been exposed to foreclosure to true over a period of time. from impeachment to case closed all 5 get something from special counsel robert muller final say on the trump russia collusion reports. and redrawing the map of the e.u. elections the anti-establishment parties make major gains as europeans crave a shake up of their politics.

this is the weekly here on our t.v. welcome to our roundup of the headlines that shaped the past week. on friday a u.n. expert on torture claimed the way julian assange has been treated amounts to psychological torture adding that he doesn't think the wiki leaks co-founder will get a fair trial if extradited to the united states. this is. crucial together is to medical experts in to fine and and documenting symptoms of physical and psychological torture until treatment mistress' functions all the symptoms that are typical for a person that has been exposed to psychological torture over a long period of time we're speaking of severe stress some chronic anxiety and severe psychological trauma what i have never seen is several democratic states

going up in order to persecute the myths and isolate and single out a particular individual without granting him the protection that actually is accorded to him but a lot written was quick to head back with the country's foreign secretary bringing the experts assessments wrong and inflammatory as well saying assad had always been free to leave the ecuadorian embassy in london. the controversy came just a day after assad his extradition hearing was postponed as poor health meant that wiki leaks co-founder failed to appear in court with all the details he has. didn't the sound was actually meant to be here in person he was meant to pass via video link but he's not even well enough to appear via video link 10 minutes on she's been moved to the hospital wing old belmarsh prison that wasn't a maximum security prison where stabbing at 50 eccentric specific details when he went into the ecuadorian embassy back in 2012 and went to the state all praying for

him so about the face of his health what we know is that there was a push from the medical board to. the fact that they did this and that may put him on the board speaks speaks plenty and that's how you know being in a higher security max a maximum security prison is difficult for anyone but julian spent 7 years confined in the ecuadorian embassy before but without medical treatment without most of the medical treatment so he's gone in other words states that most people might think this was meant to be the 2nd hearing about this on just extradition it will have to be a fairly procedural affair well there wasn't any major arguments from a scientific team or the presentation the official start of it has been moved to the 12th of june essentially the question of what's meant to be all cute and hair boils down to 2 fundamental things it is take to get us on to act as a journalist when he published those slow news that secret u.s.

materials and information and crucially for him is the u.k. going to allow him to be handed over to the u.s. so far as he is where he could face up to hundreds and 75 years behind bars that will turn. 17 counts on the espionage act and one commentator just about richard in his face it comes in 75 years in prison which is outrageous the idea that a publisher can be. prosecuted and persecuted for the publishing the truth and face of lifetime and in a prison in another country is. right this espionage act was never the full of in games against agendas standing against government officials who knew the secrets and the pasta of course washington's argument is that assad is and such on the list that he's at path and that his publications put the lives of informants by the u.s. . for its allies around the world in grave danger although what's interesting here

is that with the charges it unveiled against. a lot of people even his critics of which there have been many many press freedom organizations and just journalists and whistleblowers around the world say that the news with this extradition case could have serious implications for the freedom i'm depressed and concerned those who are around the world which is why i took on it so you much attention. u.s. special counsel robert mueller has handed in his resignation 2 years after he opened his probe into alleged collusion between donald trump and russia speaking to the public for the 1st time since the investigation he sought to clarify the major findings of the report but it's killed more than explains both camps in washington are interpreted in his words in their own way. robert mohler is all done the special counsel's office is closing and he's going to retire and to celebrate $35000000.00 in 2 years' worth of work he decided to address the media there's an

old psychological test they call the war shack and basically it's a set of ambiguous ink blots it's up to the mind of the patient to determine what just see and the 10 minute presentation of robert muller seems very much be in the eyes of the beholder if we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so. we did not however make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime it's not that different from what he said at the end of his report but the democrats certainly took a lot from the statement of the mother was essentially referring impeachment to the united states congress. statement makes it clear congress has a legal and moral obligation to begin impeachment proceedings immediately miller statement makes clear with those who have read his report no it's an impeachment referral and it's up to congress to act they shewed given the special counsel was

unable to pursue criminal charges against the president if the congress threw stones of the crimes and other wrongdoing of president trump and we will do so i think it was very clear if you could clear the president he would have but he couldn't makes clear well muller said the report speaks for itself a special counsel found no collusion by any americans in ira's illegal activities now trump or the opposite from robert mueller he says he's in the clear nothing changes from the mother reports there was insufficient evidence and therefore in our country a person is innocent the case is closed thank you then the white house press secretary clarified with the statement there was no real news and there he reiterated the points that he'd already made in the report. that we agree with them there was no collusion there was no conspiracy and we consider this case closed he completed his investigation now he's closed his office and it's time for everybody to move on the report has been published the investigation is long over but the

saga continues both sides are sticking to what they said all along so you have to ask yourself if everyone was just going to keep saying what they've said the entire time impeach trump or no collusion why did we have the investigation to begin with . our new york t.v. host and political commentator steve malzberg told us that the democratic leadership understands that it won't be able to get trump in peached. nancy pelosi knows that it's politically and unpopular and she would be the 1st to go it sure in the senate he knows that even if the house impeach is donald trump then it goes to the senate and they have to convict him and they need 2 thirds of the senate to convict him and schumer knows that's never going to happen it didn't happen with bill clinton and when they impeached bill clinton he won reelection so nancy pelosi has been around long enough to understand that the public doesn't really care about

this and they're fed up with this whole russia nonsense and so they know that even if they have pictures of the house it's going to fail in the senate and donald trump i believe really wants to be impeached he's kind of egging them on you know hey do it if you want it's a horrible word it's a terrible thing but he's kind of prompting them to i dare you to do it because i think and i think nancy pelosi knows it will help trump. their opinions have taken to the polls and what's considered the most fiercely contested new parliamentary elections in years it's not anti especially establishment parties win big and longer established centrist parties lose their grip and reflecting the apparent appetite for change voter turnout was the highest in 20 years at over 50 percent.

elections are green and liberal parties make significant gains anti-establishment movements came out on top in countries like italy france and belgium right wing populist groups now hold about a quarter of the seats in the parliament and the charlotte reports while the results might be surprising there was no shortage of political drama in the run up for months pundits have been predicting a rise in anti establishment policies ahead of the e.u. elections after once they were wrong but across the bloc in the weeks leading up to the vote panic was setting in. take martin days before fronts headed to the polls top court ordered her to pay back 300000 euros to the european parliament this followed

a case in which the national rally queues to paying in aid incorrectly but the timing felt it was almost as if it was a way to tell voters the purpose just couldn't be trusted that came hot on the heels of accusations that former trump strategist steve bannon was actually the one pulling all the pens strings yet the public didn't seem to catch and the national rally still talked the polls hate in france other scandals that were rife in the media included one russians well at least the alleged russians. it was of course if. the party which was in coalition. people's party found itself under the spotlight not for its potentially dubious policies but for a good old cash influence gambit. revici's

. he says there was even an attempt to drag le pen's name into the thick gate as it became known a few months ago marine le pen was singing the praises of austrian vice chancellor heinz christian straka saying how formidable he was struck as being forced to resign we find out why he was trying to sell his services to foreign forces behind this nationalist movement is a submission to foreign forces despite this the f p o still managed to pick up just over 17 percent of the vote in austria. there was also of course the elections very own 2 moment one swedish democrats candidate accused the other of sexual harassment and even though this scandal

washed away it didn't hamper the anti immigration party's performance they increased their share of the vote to more than 15 percent. and despite merkel not calling it out warning the populous parties wanted to destroy europe we are haring to deal with populist movements that in many areas are contemptuous of our avail use and want to destroy the europe of the values we represent we have to stand up to this these parties significantly increase their representation in many parts of the e.u. sex money the long arm of washington reaching for controlling europe nothing seemed to put voters off seeking something new what is clear from the results of these elections is that the old guard could no longer count on the masses to support them in blind faith what europeans want is something different it seems but godless what

that is what i think why you're skeptics because of the migrants people are skeptical because they do not know why it's going to get them they are afraid of migrants or. the reason is the decline in the number of elites compared to the rest of the people as well as the quality of the democratic representation. spurs because they are caused because i was young i think it is because of immigration all europeans who are afraid of tea many migrants coming i think this is the primary cause of this boat. parties had a disastrous defeat in my opinion it was high time for it and now we'll see whether the european results could influence our national politics all be implemented here and. i think that brings the debate in england has made many people here in germany think about it this discussion has turned many citizens against the you. i think people feel as if the existing political parties are giving them what they want and

therefore they're hunting around for something else things to some extent is probably a protest just trying to engineer a tory vote to go more with. it wasn't unexpected as an outcome i would say that kind of a level of division i would have expected across the country as of the venezuelan president and the country's opposition leader put their differences aside for talks and norway that story and more after the break. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president i'm sure. somehow want to be rich. but you'd like to be close to see what the full story of the morning can't be good

. i'm interested always in the waters about how. things should. be. standardized testing. it's a very well done nowadays and you know to say we should have standardized testing to be like saying well we shouldn't have our blood pressure checked or or even our weight if you're going to see the doctor those are standardized instruments and you need to be able to know how children are doing right from when they start school. welcome back the israeli army targeted syrian territory on saturday night killing 3

soldiers and wounding 7 it says it was responding to 2 missiles fired from syria also their house more. well this way defense forces the i.d.f. has confirmed that it hit a number of targets in syria overnight saturday and it says that this was in retaliation to 2 missiles that were fired from syria at the israeli part of the golan heights there were no reports of injuries or damage on the israeli side but we are hearing from the israeli cabinet that it was the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who posts in the ordered these retaliate tree strikes now it comes as the israeli army issues a statement in which it says its planes and helicopters hit 2 artillery batteries and a defense battery and also a number of observation points along the israel syria border syrian state media is reporting that there are 3 syrian soldiers were killed and an additional 7 injured this happening in the eastern part of the connector country side all of this is happening as tensions between israel and syria escalate particularly in the area of

the golan heights now earlier in the week jarrett cush know who is the son in law and also the senior adviser to the american president donald trump was in jerusalem where he gifted netanyahu with a map that had been personally signed by the american president and there clearly showed the golan heights as part of israeli territory netanyahu held a press conference in which he acknowledged and thanked the american president. brought me something from the u.s. presidents in the state department there is an official map of the states or israel which had not been updated since the sixty's well now it's been up to it's. brought me the new map which includes the golan heights is part of israel it's signed by president trump who writes marks so i would like to say that's very nice. and now this follows trumps a full recognition of israeli sovereignty over the golan heights back in march that

happened during a meeting between the 2 leaders we met on yahoo was at the white house in washington this has. been denounced by the international community who consider the area occupied territory and that is the status they have accorded it ever since israel took over the golan heights back in the 1967 war at the same time we are hearing from the syrian side they say that the aerial defense systems were activated to strike at so-called enemy targets in the southern damascus countryside so certainly the situation between the 2 sides remains tense and both sides on a state of high alert. this week representatives of venezuelan president nicolas maduro and opposition leader one guardo held a 2nd round of talks in norway without producing a deal the host nation did say the 2 sides have made progress however the us has its own solution as we have repeatedly stated we believe the only thing to

negotiate with nicolas maduro is the conditions of his departure the return to the negotiating table comes despite the opposition's and this will reluctance to take part quite as self proclamation of power it was supported by a consistent and harder stance among western leaders over the last 4 months if your style of takes us through the power struggle. to leave i swear to formally issue the duties of the national executive as president of venezuela. that was how it all began a long and put old road to the kiryas and mayhem venezuela's in today it wants me local politician overnight short into political stardom and with the u.s. on his side it seemed one why don't you simply couldn't lose. i'm mike pence the vice president of the united states the united states supports the courageous decision many more countries followed suit brazil has just issued

a note recognizing one we're going to go as venezuela's president. one plan. one way door in europe where you go you know one global venezuela began to devour itself from the inside to one by protest streets flooded people on mass reassuring maduro of their support all venting their anger at a president they call a dictator. meanwhile washington and rolled its arsenal from threats to sanctions to even seemingly harmless things like aid it try to slip the balance of power in favor over their man why don't i wish him a long quiet retirement on a pretty beach far from venezuela and the sooner he takes advantage of that the center is likely to have a nice quiet retirement not a pretty beach rather than being in some other beach area like guantanamo an

unconventional holiday but among the mildest ideas in america's rhetoric all options are on the job all options are on the table all options are on the table all options are on the table all options are on the table because they always are but with all that commotion in why dove's camp would have made during the incumbent leader was willing to go all in conventional to trying to articulate his readiness to talk it out with his new rival program if you go i am committed to international dialogue today tomorrow and always i'm committed and personally ready but back then why do it was feeling too good to grace's arch nemesis confronted with the blatant refusal my duro klang to the 2nd best thing he had and has apart from the support of a good share of his people the military is. stood strong with the dural despite what you do and washington's efforts to encourage defection.

the president impostor tried to make it look like things were going his way. the armed forces are standing behind the people and the constitution but very soon his votes tool overstatement was clear decisions were sporadic local and way below the critical mass needed to have the doura worried and all that leads us here to a complete stalemate why don't has won the battle for the hearts and minds on capitol hill for the embassies for the right to be called president of venezuela on the diplomatic papers of 3rd party countries but not his own to like to see them into vain militarily your vision i as president in charge of the national parliament will evaluate all necessary options however cautious it may be an official evaluation of an international intervention is as good as an open call for one but with the us no longer looking as trigger happy as before why do it has sent

his emissaries to talk with the duro no longer too good for that and the us apparently once confident a quick power play would lead to victory now has learned that all or doesn't elect presidents that's a roundup of just some of the biggest headline stories from the past week entertaining in this hour. international economic forum is a unique event in today's business world. over the last 21 years the forum has become a leading global platform for discussing the key economic issues facing russia emerging markets and the world thousands of business community members attend a forum to address today's and vital issues. special forum coverage on r.t. . china

is not a partner of number one for us yet. and e.u. countries are create partners number one with this and. i cannot share the. news who would do so would say that it's a turn of russian he's. no russia i hope will never turn eastwards you know russian egoless is looking to move the sides west towards in the steward's . nobody could see coming that false confessions would be that prevalent in the spot place the phone book of the. books any interrogation out there what you'll see is threat promise threat promise threat lie a lie a lie the process of interrogation is designed to put people in just that frame of mind make the uncomfortable make them want to get out and don't take no for an

answer don't accept or do not wish she said therefore would. send a statement that i would be home by that time the next day there's a culture of odd accountability and police officers know that they can engage in misconduct that has nothing to do with all they got across. on. their. own of welcome to worlds apart there are few things more polarizing in education than standardized testing has long divided chase into those who believe it leads to

substandard educational. and those who see them as the means of providing not just the quality but also the quality of education but this some groups of students consistently better that than now they say how does one tell equality from an inbuilt cultural advantage well to discuss that i'm now joined by a canadian educator and president of the international academy of education dr whelan so it's good to talk to you thank you very much thank you very much now we're recording this interview the very stressful time for many families and russian i'm sure around the world one there are children a taking exams that will determine their future and i think there is a renewed debate again about whether their standardized tests are a comprehensive fair and reliable measure of academic achievement where do you stand in that debate. i think this is very evil. standardized

testing. period well done no days and to say we shouldn't have standardized testing the be like saying well we shouldn't have our blood pressure checked or even are we going to see the doctor those are standardized instruments you need to be able to know how children are doing. right from when they start school but you know that's one of the consistent criticisms of standardized tests is that they tend to stifle creativity they don't measure it while enough and that they want to kind of skew the educational process towards a more mechanistic and more authoritarian the approach. and the other thing that people often mention is that it makes. student oriented teaching which i know you are a big advocate of much more difficult do you share that concern. i want to see . just the start of the measure kids' development through to grade 3 or grade for make sure children learn to read well but i had one indicator would be how

wells of society bringing its children from not just from birth but from conception up to age 8 or 9 and being successful readers in the whole process of course you can have room for creativity in art and so on it's not about. and i think the big creates these very polarized extremes that are just just not the case but it's one thing to see how the child is doing on the developmental. scale and it's another thing to use their test scores to evaluate his entire academic performance or the performance of his school do you think that the task or is deserved the way that society is gave to them. you know i i don't know what it's like in russia but in united states tests like the pisa test of program of international student assessment those results come out and there's a big who are 3 or 4 days and then the teachers go on about doing the business same

as usual now where it's different is when they have state tests and so on where schools are being held accountable for test scores and so on and so so the argument is that. teachers are being forced to spend more time on mount science than reading skills at the expense of some of the arts certainly there's a worldwide trend to have kids graduate with global skills we need kids who can handle very complicated texts nowadays the literacy requirements for even the most basic jobs to be a carpenter a welder you need very high levels of literacy skills now and same with the math skills and skills it's not that's changed in the last 20 years i think it's not only about which subjects to concentrate on but how they are doing that and i heard you say that given the diversity of student population is the teachers can no longer be expected to teach within any particular grade that they should be teaching on skills on the pathway help.