free. cute free. food free brokers quality video for your media project free video done to r.t. dot com. tonight loyalist clashes shake northern ireland yet again after belfast council's decision to fly the union flag from city hall for only eighteen days a year. mali government forces chase militants out of a king's city with the help of french military air strikes after president francois hollande stated intervention in the area will continue for as long as necessary to bring up to date on the latest on that one tonight. washington says it will reassign its afghan mission to assisting local forces from the spring sparking speculation that it might be planning to keep up its military muscle in that chaotic country.

you're watching around the world it's kevin owen here at the new center tonight just after nine pm now moscow time at least four police officers have been injured in the latest outbreak of loyalist clashes in northern ireland tensions been running high for more than a month after belfast council decided to fly the union flag above city hall for only eighteen days a year firth is in the province for his looks into what else is fueling the unrest to. recreational rioting that's what some people are calling it. has been taking place all across the past in the past weeks many of them pockets violence breaking out of the crisis is on the other side many of them young their faces covered the slaves come under attack with rocks and petrol bombs mark easton's the director of the east belfast mission creep is working with young

protesters to try to calm the tensions some kids are doing it for fun or doing it for more sinister motives in terms of control terms of par in terms of ego. or doing it because it's sexier than the playstation you know young girls are doing a girls even with young children we've seen on the streets who i don't think a fully realized what their actions. are just. and somewhere. and yet there's nothing for me. on the surface and this is being about the decision at the beginning of december to limit the number of days the union flag flies at city hall but in what's been the most sustained outbreak of violence since the one nine hundred ninety eight good friday peace agreement and it's clear that the problems run much deeper what are the protesters here asking.

he was to start. on the street to protest against. a nice banks a very retail aflac. rubbish and. you know but when he wanted also it on the streets for his own actions we can make for do you think the protesters would predict that any kind of compromise when it comes to this been a flag of it's the flag. we know we're not going to get it back up to normal action because it's the majority really. any unionist horns now pull to try to reengage politically but we're told much more will need to be done they'll be no quick fixes here i don't think there's any silver bullet i think there's so many different things need to happen economic. investment political investment

community investment by and by all the stakeholders in these communities to try to resolve the wide raft of issues that are a blight here say far there's been over one hundred people arrested more than sixty police officers injured and millions of pounds spent in policing these riots and in lost business revenue. these riots have been highly localized the damage has already been far reaching this is a new generation bringing finance back onto the streets of belfast it's a far cry from the dark days of northern ireland's conflicts that doesn't make it any less trouble a. surfer. fell fast. well sarah has been following the latest developments in belfast she's there right now she says there are fresh protests you can see the photos she's posting and read what she says she's witnessing as well by following on twitter now let's get some more analysis from

jason ball she's on the line of members of the christian science monitor someone from dublin in fact jason good evening to you what do you think is feeling the unrest here simply the flag or more to it. well there's no. proximate cause of the on rest is the flag. at this point it's we've been six weeks so it's difficult to believe that the flag alone is the cause. there are a lot of a lot of talk about economic issues and recreational rioting but it's really difficult to say because the protests. despite the appearance of some groups such as the ulster people form new ones entirely sure exactly what it is that the protesters want also a theory too but a changing demographic they're. absolutely correct northern ireland in general and belfast in particular have traditionally being protestant unionist loyalist are going to areas and the recent census results should both go off. but that's not a slate nationalist majority and northern ireland doesn't have

a nationalist majority it no longer has a unionist one it's more sort of fifty fifty situation so therefore a bad time to take that decision over the flood good guess well it's extremely complicated i mean we heard talk in your report about the possibility of a compromise in fact the vote that was taken was the compromise the original motion had been to remove the flag altogether and the cross community alliance already. offered the compromise which were passed that it will fly. here which brings it into line with other british government and civic buildings throughout the. i mean what can city hall do is got itself into a real rock and a hard place isn't it if they overturn the decision it's going to look like more brawls take it over potentially cause a flare up on the other side they're stuck up they are going to get over this they're counted and they certainly can't undo the decision. first. nationalist councillors would love to be resupplied and second of all even if they could be convinced to do so in the name of public order i think it would look very bad for the consul to. competent to back down and he has of violence there are

claims that these rights are organized by political parties and vice social network site dangerous could that be the case i don't think we're going to the political parties there certainly i mean all you have to do is look on twitter and you can see that there's a certain amount of organization going on on the internet limits late social networks what it's really hard people use them the the blame being put on political parties is that the mainstream you know the parties the ulster unionists on the democratic unionist schools need to look at the area in advance of the who keeping all the loyalist voters and bringing them out onto the streets and i can no longer control them that's the only issue anyway so what's your prognosis which way is this going to go now over the coming months is it going to calm down or was i going to go from bad to worse it's very difficult to say i just today with. this comes with the usual health warning i'm writing a long piece in the background significance of this for the christian science monitor there and you course what on social media today we've seen photographs

issued work with sides. claiming that each other calls to get today's a record but i don't see if not since do we get drawn into the into the wrong going to get much much worse. probably also a suspect device or no i just wonder if you have viable small explosives find on the train line belfast today no it's not yet clear who planted. these are not good signs geoff walsh thanks me on the line janice for the christian science monitor as you appreciate it. america's to leave local forces in charge of combat operations in afghanistan and switch to a support role this spring instead now the announcement came from u.s. president barack obama after a round of talks with his afghan counterpart of what's being hailed as the last chapter in the u.s. mission that is going to can reports next american involvement in the country looks set to rumble on during his election campaign president obama may have sounded very resolute to leave afghanistan in two thousand and fourteen but the white house is

now negotiating terms to stay there the president said if u.s. forces stayed their role will be different but critics argue it's an attempt to rebrand the military presence which both the majority of americans and afghans oppose michael listen to what president obama said about the mission after twenty fourteen i think. you know although obviously we're still. two years when. i can say with assurance that this is a very different mission. and different task and a very different footprint for the u.s. if we're able to come to an appropriate agreement now one of the key points of the agreement that the president mentioned there they key point probably is immunity from prosecution for u.s. troops so that the afghans cannot prosecute any american soldier if they commit a crime that's the deal that the white house couldn't get from the iraqi government

the u.s. wanted to keep some troops there but couldn't because of how we opposed the iraqis were to allowing the u.s. to further operate there with impunity but with homemade karzai it could be different he indicated that he is willing to give that immunity and that he's willing to bargain besides he knows that he's in power because of the americans and many experts believe his government will collapse in no time after americans leave but whatever post twenty fourteen deal comes out of their negotiations it might not be easy for washington to sell it to the american people because despite the administration trying to present of ghana's that is a success story in many ways they see it as a failure and don't understand why their troops should stay any further policymakers in washington can't really come out and say that they don't want to walk away and just just pack up and leave from such an important geopolitical position now that they've spent billions and billions of dollars to have a presence there but such chill political calculations may not sound very appealing to the american people at

a time when the country's head over heels in debt goes you can little despite the latest events with afghan forces are no position to take full control of the phase of the war torn country is so says phyllis bennis she's from the washington based institute for policy studies spoke to me but it. we're talking about an official acknowledgement by the two governments that now the afghan military is in control what that means is anybody's guess but what it does not mean is that the u.s. troops are going to be pulled out early there's a huge occupation force in the country that's not going to be brought out in twenty thirteen in the spring what we're talking about is a claim that as of that time the afghan people the afghan military the afghan government will officially be in charge they will be in charge of the military now the idea that the u.s. forces still there or the nato forces still there are going to take their orders from the afghan military i think is rather spurious that's certainly not going to

happen i don't think the afghan government has the capacity to survive without massive u.s. support that means both economic support and crucially military support but his reliance on that support leads to one massive corruption which is widely hated throughout the country cars i had very little public support in in the country and militarily his his very large army isn't capable of standing up to the other militias it's one more militia the u.s. leaving will leave his government and his own position in a very and in a very precarious moment and he may well not survive that politically. this next study threat this prating will panic right now very soon smart little short on the war for sea and israel where citizens are stocking up. in fear of a nuclear strike by iraq also so find out if the prime minister's support can salvage the u.k. struggling textile manufacturers we're talking about what after this break.

we'll do the. science technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. grid laboratory to mccurry was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tunes mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world this is why you should care only. more news today. again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing

from the streets of canada. giant corporations are today. french pilots been killed in fighting in mali as france continues to launch air strikes against islamist militants in the west african state comes after mali's government troops chased rebels out of the key central town of qana aided by the french military has come on this no talk to the director of the french center for the study erected he says in paris very good evening the first death on the french side since the start of the military intervention in mali was announced today sadly how is the french public how are the french public reacting to the government's military involvement in the west african state how is this news going down you know

a whole the whole country support the french president all political parties as well it would be convenient thing that france should fight against terrorism and help them out you've got permission if we even if we have still some hostility to the end of the. maghreb you know it is also a matter of national security because it's much more comfortable for us to fight jags in west africa than in france or in europe when you think it's going to make a difference if you take it on home soil here yeah this is the main the main threat to france today it's just to not to have attack terrorist attack on the national home ground so we think it's absolutely better to divide them in the south around zero or in somalia for instance. but there's a lot of action going on at the moment i'm thinking about somalia two there are two french soldiers killed during a rescue operation of the hostages also died sadly because this news make paris maybe change it foreign policy in the future or are they going to continue on the same part of sort of the moment you know we are not going to change anything i mean

on the contrary it is a strong signal same to tourists france would never accept any pressure from japanese groups and this is all the determination of the country if we even if we have to do something during a very risky operation like the one that we. and some of the last night so you're talking about a lot of support from the public starting back from this looking at it from abroad as we are here in russia etc to read the rest of the world we're seeing very active if not aggressive foreign policy from france so my analysis of throwback maybe to france's colonial days do you think the same thing no i think it's absolutely stupid it's a nonsense you know it's an old song called them something good in the western world so in france it is it is something over and the persian and mali and somebody are something very different in their persons leave yeah you know in mali and some of you know we we fight a reason we try to free our stitches it's something very different than the criticism we are concerned. of course it was

a stupid aggression it leads to the global the stability of north and west africa you know i disagree with the past french policy because it was only for the person of interest of the former president and to him in the name of human rights talk about living you've mentioned it to some of the rebel groups operating about they were reportedly involved in the recent war in libya how does that affect the intensifying situation in that country well it's difficult it's too early to say i think that on one hand the risk groups are more appreciative that we were before and so they have to think protecting themselves and the other is that they come for before to do anything else but on the other on the i think they will be looking for revenge against rogue. maybe in the region maybe europe may be. in the western africa but i think this is nothing new in that i think the tourist really have to worry because it's not only a fight in trends it's also the fight against europe the usa and all the western and northern african states are going to say thank you for your thoughts director

of the a french center for intelligent studies of your life in paris. british clothing manufacturers are calling for support from the prime minister and the government to be growing concerns over the lack of products made in the united kingdom but with more and more close being imported from overseas the task could therefore prove tricky that is laura smith founder. it's got the british flag on it but all of these clothes made in britain a quick look at the label shows they're not made in china or made in vietnam anywhere but here and down on the high street the story's no different you'd be hard to find anything with a made in britain label on it in any shop a recent survey by a daily mail journalist found just one item in sixty three with a british made label but now david cameron and his ministers are being urged to back british from their hats to their socks and wear only british made clothes it's

not impossible there are companies that still make clothes in the u.k. including the firm that's doing the urging private white p.c. but the vast majority of what we were ninety percent at the last count and including everything i'm wearing today is made abroad since two thousand and fifty two percent has jobs in the textile industry have disappeared and we imported twelve and a half billion pounds worth more clothing than we export it last year even some companies that trade on their very british north don't manufacture here so even if david cameron and his colleagues did pledge only to buy british it's unlikely to revive britain's ailing textile industry. check out our website smart right now hundreds of aboriginal rights activists have staged a mass rally in canada pledging to bring the country's economy to its knees you can find out why the what the beef is what it's all about it r t v dot com also to

enrage to the flailing economy it appears some greeks have declared war the mainstream media would talk in the bar that a lot yesterday want to get speed on it online for march to. and for the first time in georgia's history the country's lawmakers overturned president saakashvili is veto and set free two hundred political prisoners and that story you can read up on . auditing dot com. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says stopping iran from making a nuclear bomb will be his top priority if he wins the upcoming parliamentary vote the threat of an attack seems so real in fact that many israelis are already snapping up gas masks and renovating bomb shelters as artie's paul a slew of. mushroom clouds confusion hysteria this is israel's last day according to a young filmmaker who wants to shock his country into taking action i have created this morning to share my thoughts and my fears with the world about the potential

threat that is coming from iran if you ask me this same question two years ago i will say that people don't think about it so much but today it is different we can see that the majority here of israel are preparing this so i think most mentally one inch grandparents are holocaust survivors from a mania a foreshadow he fears of what could come it took hitler six series to kill six million jews and it will take a where the only six minutes that's why and maybe some or maybe israelis are really uneasy fearing a grand might be building a nuclear bomb and tehran isn't mincing its words threatening tel aviv it will teach it a listen if it tries to attack first warning is we need missiles will make sure israel does not survive in the center of israel is

a problem and that's where we have to move forward not only that we haven't got enough voters it's very very populated so everything that is falling in this area can cause casualties. in two thousand and six during the second lebanon war rachel balmer ors and her family hid here from the katyusha rockets raining down from across the border she never imagined she'd be restocking her shelter again so soon and for potentially more deadly consequences of course i'm afraid from the war with iran because nobody wants war and peace and now i have also some rain children five grandchildren and i'm afraid i'm afraid because my cells will go to the army there are soldiers in the air i don't want it the recent war with gaza was a chance for tel aviv to taste of the iron dome missile defense system but israelis

are anxious in part because of widespread media coverage of just how unprepared for war the country has many bomb shelters and residential buildings are rundown and neglected or have become furniture storage rooms while most of israel's arab citizens about a twenty percent of the population lacks shelters altogether as the chances of war start looking all too real the army says four times as many israelis are collecting state funded gas masks when they were several months ago i am a big concern it's not like i think they're going to be aware of. just. the side my fear this thing came from and with impending doomsday predictions circling the country no one wants to be caught unprepared. r.t. television. as washington be bluffing about the troop withdrawal from afghanistan was the entire mission justified in the first place so the big questions the residents hits the streets of new york to get the answers to.

the obama administration has recently said that it's considering having no troops in afghanistan after december of two thousand and fourteen is that a good thing a bad thing or totally made up thing designed for political shenanigans this week let's talk about that do you even think he's going to do it he said that's a years ago and it didn't happen so i don't buy it you know you finish what you started what did we start and what do we have to finish what is finishing mean i guess to capture or kill or. do you think that we've defined what it means it's tough because you know we don't know everything i think we need to have a world presence to maintain the why is it up to us to maintain

a world presence why don't we just get out of everyone's business well that's a good idea too but if no if we don't do it nobody will and otherwise the world's going to go to war and we were in his stabilizing factor and until now and time it's been us but we're the ones causing all the wars. depends on your perspective i guess i'm sort board more defending than attacking my opinion is that the reason we are over there is because of the wonderful oil and i don't have it's all about money and. that the marine is someone who puts your life i'm the line doesn't that make you mad it makes me really upset because we have a lot of marines that are dying each and every day in afghanistan you know and you know for god's sakes i can be next you know so it does make me pretty upset that he's promising something that he's not owning up to the bottom line is we're so used to having us troops all over the world up in everyone's business that we probably can't imagine us pulling out of anywhere and that makes americans the

world's bullies whether we like it or not. well i could tell he was staying in america next to for a next program our regular financial check up from a studio in washington d.c. with laura lister off to the break.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harvey welcome to the big picture. good afternoon welcome to capital account i'm lauren lyster here in washington d.c.

these are your headlines for thursday december twentieth two thousand and twelve in the u.s. as the fiscal cliff approaches reuters reports republicans are aiming to vote today in the house on a plan which obama promptly says he would veto meanwhile fitch has warned the u.s. could lose its aaa credit rating if washington doesn't get a deal to treat what we call economy ria no this may all feel like deja vu and maybe it will all turn out fine maybe it won't though where do you want to place your bets we'll talk to the daily reckonings eric bryant and joe bowman about their choices plus a german study finds paying taxes has a positive impact on a person's subjective well being no word on what the findings would bring in the west but if you are counting on taxation to make you feel like your quality of life is on the up and up stateside we'll talk about some other economic options and the opec of maple syrup has been robbed millions of dollars worth of the hot commodity has been stolen from canada's maple syrup cartel yes cartel i said maple syrup

cartel and those are not my words that's according to the new york times we'll talk about it in loose change let's get to today's capital account. in the u.s. as we watch this fiscal cliff charade it honestly sounds just so much like what we were hearing during the debt ceiling debate of two thousand and eleven when lawmakers were bickering and another ratings agency was threatening to drop the u.s. is aaa credit rating and then it of course did now that was met with much fanfare in the beginning but then not many direct consequences the dollar has strengthened against other currencies the u.s. has borrowed at record low rates since and maybe this whole fiscal cliff saga will .