a fragile truce that takes effect in the disputed carcasses region of do not go to knock out a buck but reports of shelling come from both sides our correspondent is in the part of the conflict zone reporting on the devastation and how locals view the standoff. sites i can see it has been razed to the ground but it has been said by so many of so many calibers sizes and types. and coronavirus cases that rise sharply in northern england with hospital preparing for even worse while government guidelines are so confusion.

for broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is r t international i'm sean thomas glad to have you with us as we recap the week's top stories with our weekly program. and 1st the latest on the standoff in the caucuses between armenia and azerbaijan in the disputed territory of not gotten a cut above the 2 countries say that they are abiding by a cease fire that came into force on saturday but both have accused the other of violating that truce with russia serving as an intermediary the 2 sides managed to seal an agreement including an exchange of prisoners and war dead in the contested region the deal paves the way for further talks had to be mediated by russia the u.s. and france here's some of what we saw from the key players on saturday. if you live . near a ceasefire is announced from 12 pm 110th of october for humanitarian purposes but it's we are committed to a peaceful settlement of the current conflict and the ready to resume the peace

process with it but if you have if the armenian side is committed to the truce regime the phase for a political settlement will come and the phase for pressured negotiations will end our goal remains the same restore the integrity of our by john the fighting erupted in a buck in late september with armenia and azerbaijan laying the blame on each other as a bridge on claims that 9 people died and more than 30 were injured during shelling of the city of ganja in the early hours of sunday a rocket reportedly hit a residential building and a rescue operation is underway armenia denies any involvement in that attack but locals think otherwise. it's just it was too in the morning we were sleeping i heard a huge sound and i saw everything falling on the glass would the won't everything my son ran and in a t. shirt and picked me up i saw rock fall on my face i opened my eyes and another rocket hit i said to myself what is this i opened my eyes and couldn't see anything but dust cease fire we know these armenians very well we know how they behave they

are 2 faced they completely lack honor you can't even call them. they are barbarians they are not human if you have a war it's with soldiers but we are civilians we were sleeping at night just hours after the truce that took effect on saturday air raid sirens went off and got a buck and the locals ran for cover a correspondent you could have done of is in the local capital and heard several explosions the city has borne the brunt of the shell fire over the past 2 weeks there are multiple civilian casualties although the numbers are unclear at this stage if you go to brought this report from the area as it be fragile truce initially came into effect. the city of step on the kurds is a sorry sight i can't see it has been razed to the ground but it has been battered by so many bombs of so many calibers sizes and types this street got the full wrath of a cluster munition all the hallmarks i hear burn down because shattered glass and if

you look closely at the walls and windows here along this whole street they have pierced with tiny tiny holes this is the deadly power of a cluster bomb and other aspects of using one is that when a rocket shoots dozens of little bombs of little grenades many of them don't explode so we were being told not to go down that street because that's where locals gathered those grenades that didn't explode and there detonating them on purpose they're doing so because each unexploded grenade like this poses a grave threat to especially to children because they look harmlessly look innocent so a kid picks up such or such a bomb starts playing with it and it explodes in their hands now it's been just hours into this tentative cease fire between armenia and azerbaijan but everyone who i've been talking to and counting on it also with each day no truth has been

observed the war continues there is absolutely no change. to cease fire is temporary for 2 or 3 years it will be calm and then it will start again like this time every day we are in danger we wake up and thank god that we are alive i don't know what is going to happen to us. which we have moved trust in what they say in particular in the current developments in the ceasefire looks worse suspicious staus the director of britain's crisis research institute told us he thinks neither side will be able to make real progress without broad public support. shaky partly because they are all about interest in both sides not just between so dysfunctional both sides public opinion and for instance we must be afraid that was a risk that already had but who are some dissenting voices saying why are we stopping the war when we as a result we winning so there's a danger that governments who made the improvement could be pressed for public opinion to new that will particularly only as interest on the other problem is that

the agreement is essentially a very short point says that it's to enable the new to be recut and also for christians to exchange and those felt the tools to actually find a way a mechanism for bringing about a longer term ceasefire and even peace i think russia is the key player because it enjoys a considerable degree of trust and a little contact with those of our german omonia and its next door. and so it has its own interests in in a peaceful solution and it's the pro his props all the players further away. interests that they don't have any risks rushnell the state stands to lose if there's a conflict in its backyard. nations across europe are tightening their coronavirus restrictions after a spike in case numbers germany france and britain have all seen dramatic increases in recent weeks the british prime minister is expected to announce a partial lockdown for the north of england on monday it could include the closure

of all pubs and restaurants but local mayors are resisting the plans and threatening to launch a parliamentary challenge and a nationwide public trust in the government is at an low ebb as artie's shadow edwards dusty explains. when considering the u.k. government's response to. pretty and probably wouldn't be the words on the tips of most people's tongues over the course of the year the u.k. has seen thousands of people dying in care homes tests and tracing deadlines set and missed the u.k. topping the death toll across europe plus of course britain being on the verge of a round 2 and while most people think the government's response needs to be completely written off it seems as though not everyone agrees it's been. i think it will be like the lympics that's when it's all over and we look back and reflect we would actually be extremely proud of ourselves some people might think a wooden spoon is more appropriate than a shiny metal especially considering the latest news that 16000 positive tests for private 19 have been lost meaning the super spreaders

a blindly unaware they're still spreading thousands of people blissfully unaware they've been exposed to covert potentially spreading this deadly virus a time when hospital admissions are increasing in the 2nd wave blunder after blunder critics say the government's not learning from its mistakes but as the country hurdles towards a 2nd wave of the virus confusion is still lingering in the again with mixed messages coming from. the hospitality but as i understand it. apologies i misspoke today in the northeast new rules mean you cannot meet people from different households in social settings indoors including in pubs restaurants and your home you should also avoid socialising with other households outside go to work but stay at home eat out to help out but don't socialize kick start the economy but stay in your bubble it's no wonder the country is confused especially considering the man telling the u.k.

what to do is accused of being a tad confused one of the major problems is widespread confusion about the local restrictions people feel very let down a very frustrated very forgotten can we pin all the primal boris johnson. after all these are unprecedented times far to go back to all that no prime minister has ever fought before and after months of economic paralysis boris johnson began to i'm not the lockdown even though parts of the u.k. was still plagued with the virus and so the north south divide found its latest partition the timing of the lifting of national lockdown was london centric please remember this the next time you see politicians pointing fingers at our people on the eve of a 2nd wave many might think the government would know what it was doing by now especially considering it had around 6 months to prepare but when clarity has been replaced with confusion can we govern really expect people to follow the rules when it doesn't seem to know them itself shut the artsy learn.

the french president's plan to fight extremism by teaching arabic in schools was met with staunch resistance earlier this week as artie's reports now from paris. on the plans announced by president mike korn france is fighting back against separatism and a deviation away from the secular nature of the republic but the law which is yet to be fully drafted and released has been seen as an attack against islam not on speech did they kill to alleviate those concerns. the problem is islam ist separatism this conscious derives political religious projects which materializes in repeated deviations from the values of the republic which often results in the constitution of a counter society and whose manifestations of the dropout of children the development of community based sports and cultural practices which are the pretext

for teaching principles which do not comply with the laws of the republic french authorities fear that children and students learning arabic in mosques all being taught by religious associations could fall prey to indoctrination. by is a mists and in a bid to have more control the government plans to expand its availability in schools but not everyone is convinced that it's a good idea according to a new poll some 69 percent of respondents were not in favor so what do people here in paris make of the idea yes for me it is a good idea today people from around the world have a right to speak their language and to teach arabic in our schools is a good idea because we have a lot of young people from north west africa and europe. personally i'm completely against this idea because here in france there are too many generals asians we point to say no this is march and mostly when there are more serious matters but

who i don't really have an opinion on that but it has to be controlled it might be a good idea if there are other languages that might be a good idea to learn arabic he wrote italian spanish english all these languages and i think that's a really good idea i think people do what they want to do if they're interested it's critics have also rounded on it the note saying it is being counter productive it's ridiculous it's the best way to boost the proliferation of quranic schools or denominational schools if we want to islam ice france this is the best way to get there the language of the republic is french institutionalizing learning of the arabic language in schools is cowardice and a mistake but even if arabic losses are more widely on offer there is no indication there would be a prolific appetite for them it's currently the 8th most popular foreign language chosen by 11 to 15 year olds and figures show that only about 0.2 percent actually

study it what's not clear yet and this is perhaps where the concern comes from is whether or not under the new plans arabic will become. poultice mandatory lessons here in florence if that was the case it is likely to feel the full of those who believe teaching arabic in schools only focus can mean a tear in ism and lose the feeling of patriotism the exact opposite of what. there's nothing wrong with teaching in schools what purpose i think there's a political message and i think that's where all the french are against this there's a very big problem today i mean if we don't want to beat around the bush and shrink integration if we want to help communities to join together live together. and which is one of the best instruments which can be used to get people around together to understand god is a little but of course we teach the other languages even the president is in favor

of teaching the arabic language so i think we shouldn't mix the subjects and say and i've also heard people saying online that teaching arabic is an act of separatism you know that arabic has existed here for a long time and it never brought me that radicalism or terrorism there is a specific branch of muslims who naturally make the headlines but this is only a branch that's not all muslims don't generalise. took a swing around the world now to look at some stories making headlines this weekend and public anger is boiling over in israel over the new nationwide coronavirus lockdown tens of thousands rallied in cities across the country on saturday calling on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to step down clashes broke out in tel aviv and several people were injured. a security guard has been arrested in the u.s. city of denver over a fatal shooting a protester was killed during rival rallies between left and right wing groups on saturday local reports say the suspect had been hired by a local t.v.

channel in the meantime over in belarus. police used a stun grenades and water cannons again. an opposition rally in the capital minsk dozens of people were reportedly detained including russian journalists covering the unrest it is the latest in a series of protests since august disputed election which the opposition claims was richt. still to come this hour in the weekly the spanish government's move to all but seal off madrid to tackle a coded spike is struck down by the capital's highest court we'll tell you all about that when the weekly returns after this this is our international. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the

world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. you'll media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation community. are you going the right way or are you being so. direct. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or inmate in the shallows.

welcome back this is the week we hear on our 2 international now on thursday madrid's highest. rejected new lockdown measures imposed by the central government ruling they violate people's freedoms the lock down order was issued after a surge in covert cases in the spanish capital but opponents say the decision was taken too quickly without consent and ignored the fundamental rights of millions of locals if you don't actually it was the having one of the superior courts of justice of madrid has refused to ratify the measures aimed at restricting people's ability which were imposed by recent central government order the community of madrid saw those measures as hasty nonconsensual and affecting the fundamental rights of millions of citizens that the courts have unanimously seen eye to eye with us on this and madrid residents told us how they feel about the government's lockdown plan for the capital. seek him out it seems that the measures are only

intended to annoy madrid because there are many provinces in spain which are going through the same thing as us and they don't have to do the same so i am not at all in favor of what the government is doing. as me. i think the measures that were taking were good but it is true that economically it will be very bad for us that. we have to move on we have to continue with our knives and i think that we can have a normal life if we are careful or in spanish political analyst wholesale drama says the focus has shifted away from fighting the coronavirus. out of this that. instead of thinking about a real fix for the problem in a common effort to fight the virus from which everyone would benefit the central government and the regional authorities are constantly criticizing each other and looking for some new strategies all this leads to chaos from which we the ordinary citizens suffer. donald trump's physicians says the

president is no longer contagious after recovering from cover 19 and can resume campaigning across the country that said the 2nd presidential debate will not be going ahead it was canceled after trump refused to take part remotely the vice presidential candidate did manage a t.v. face off this week but there was an unexpected star who stole the spotlight for all about 2 minutes take a look. at . the v.p. debate was in stark contrast to the earlier trump biden showdown both carla harris

and mike pence mostly refrained from interruptions and predictably the pandemic took center stage. the very 1st day president donald trump has put the health of america 1st whatever the vice president is claiming the administration has done it clearly it hasn't worked if the trump administration approves a vaccine before or after the election should americans take it and would you take it and donald trump tells us i said to him that we've taken i'm not taking the fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine if the vaccine emerges during the trumpet ministration i think is is unconscionable there's a lot missing here in terms of substance i think there was a lot that was was the coronavirus is an important issue but it's not a legitimate political issue because not 2 sides to it there's not a pro coronavirus side in an anti krone virus side but there are legitimate political issues pro-choice pro-life views on gun control the use of drug legalization should america be the world's police anymore these are legitimate

political issues that are not being discussed because again we're letting the media as well and the debates in a way that's just designed to be the most sensational and the most you know quote topical rather than the most politically relevant is a part of the problem of the format of the debate are they trying to cover too many issues would it be but it would be better served to have one or 2 things that they talk about the whole night and really go at those issues and quite candidly why do we even have vice president or have these debate in the 1st place they don't create policy we're all very interested in policy and the technical details you know but a lot of people that's not the way that they make their decisions about voting and most people are trying to vote on. what they you know with their friends and family like they're making decisions about ideas that they've heard about but they don't really know the details i mean we can't expect regular americans to be knowledgeable about all these different vast policy areas even the politicians themselves don't really know all of the details of these different policy areas i

don't think it's true that the american people are unable to understand the issues i think that the issues are intentionally obfuscated in a way to make sure. the average american cannot weigh in on them a thing perhaps the different format where you have maybe 3 or 4 broad categories that allow for the debaters to get into into the into those those categories by be important was there a winner who won this debate in pinning one. well i don't know if there was a winner or not i tend to agree that you know a lot of these questions are really not areas of steps and if discussion i think we really can't expect them to get into the details of any kind of particular policies and that they're really not trying to do neither one of the candidates really inspired a lot of confidence if we had to choose a winner i would have to say that had to be maybe pens only because it's his way to do the debate certain points i don't think that either debate changed

any single voters opinion whatsoever i think that the voters had already made up their mind before the debate i think tonight's debate did absolutely nothing and the reason for that again is that the poll opinions were kept out this was a rigged debate. a state of emergency has been declared in sudan after some of the worst flooding there in years and for many it means that life is proving even more of a challenge in what was already one of the world's poorest nations. or rather i began the water has destroyed all of our furniture and belongings they were all lost in the flood of being evacuated from our homes to safer places several houses were in time it's truly we managed to save some furniture but the rest was taken with the water.

some people are living now under a tree we don't have anything left the children live under trees there's no place to shelter us and the village is still submerged in water we're building a house out of wood and plastic she's just a shell to ourselves and our families until things get better. that does it for the weekly this hour will be back in 35 minutes with another look you're watching our international.

the world is driven by shaped by one person. thinks. we dare to ask. the same wrong all well we just don't all. get to

shape our day because the answer. and in. the trailer. one song let me find themselves worlds apart. choose to look for common ground. ok let's just say i just know that the catalyst i'll just. keep coming i want to make i want to fly it was you know. how lucky. we hope to be but there are some friends of the us are still so that the so beautiful thing

to do something to see. the child for sure. they have about the house and the simple alibi the cell phone in the most simple i'll put them on them that you know we're going to. do some whiskey and we're going to update on the cease fire negotiations in moscow on the issue of the border and is a war on coal but also for populism and the left and right. q .

chain reaction process in the reactor a tremendous heat which scientists have learned out of control. really. was so excited about nuclear engineering because i thought it would solve the world's energy crisis is exciting science to realize you've got the power of the sun. reactor there so all my own when everything works. to refer when making energy the problem is that everything does work japan's nuclear nightmare continues a 2nd hydrogen explosion at the fukushima daiichi nuclear complex destroyed the reactor exterior all 3 daiichi reactors have nuclear fuel rods that have been exposed to some degree so they're teetering on the edge of

a meltdown i mean you need to sit. there you. know the. first thing more. concerning that situation in japan i'm now joined live from vermont to understand now we're reporting at the moment that they're all suggestions that a partial nuclear meltdown is now underway this is not a nuclear chain reaction this is not a nuclear bomb this is the radiation left over after the chain reaction is started ok sort of story to interrupt but you say this is not a nuclear bomb but would not the effects be the same as a nuclear bomb if obviously it does reach meltdown and there isn't. splosion. the chemicals that are going to be released are similar actually the chemicals released from other the radioactive chemicals released from a nuclear bomb disappear quicker then the radiation that is released in

a nuclear power plant all we're looking at an apocalypse this is churned all bowl on steroids do you think it's definitely going to happen or do you think crisis could be averted no i don't think crisis can be averted. her containment building of a devious fancy nuclear reactor could keep that power plant shutdown longer than expected 1st energy says it will restart the plants clean told a crack displaced those who live in the shuttle to dispense heat see any problem can be alarming i don't give it a lineup.