washington that now saying it's considering sanctions against ukraine putting its weight behind protesters here when we look at those who are rallying to defend the government. the president vladimir putin is set to deliver the i knew will state of the nation speech to parliament specifically time to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the russian constitution. and silent alliance israeli and saudi intelligence are having secret meetings for a breakthrough nuclear deal with iran left both countries highly frustrated.

by the world headlines live from moscow this is the international with me from the news team thanks for joining us protesters in ukraine's capital kiev reinforcing the barricades and showed no sign of going home for a police operation fail to disperse the crowds and the united states is now considering sanctions against ukraine over the earth already as a response to the demonstrations. all policy options including sanctions are on the table in our view but obviously that still is being evaluated thousands though are still out on the streets of key have with one opposition leader having rejected calls to hold talks with the country's president and is demanding the government step down but there is more than one opinion being expressed in ukraine's rallies parties are really going to go takes a look at the other side of the devils. it's

new it's hip it's exciting and it's a revolution and like moths to a flame the bright lights of rebellion are drawing in western politicians political has beans to even homegrown rock stars all keen to breathe the air of change to stick pictures in the fashion the message the foreign media is having a blast to the chest is here feel they're fighting for the future of the country pro european protesters clashing with police they saw these agreements as a chance to open ukraine up to european business ideas rule of law standards here in my done has received a mass amounts of airtime in mass media both at home and abroad but this will fact is the opinion of people here is not necessarily representative of the opinion in all of the ukraine in fact it's just the opposite but you wouldn't know it just by watching the news but here's the other side of ukraine's protests the invisible one

they may go unnoticed by the media but thousands of people are rallying in many cities you have to eat when i'm trying to join the e.u. and opposition instead of taking students and school children to the scramble to sit down at the negotiation table and help find the best solution for our country. and we've gathered to say no to the orange strange if they capture buildings brought the work of the government with or is unacceptable should only home ordinary people. the mess just doesn't fit the pretty picture of a change a revolution. it's democracy and revolution it's a nationalist the coup because they instigate people to break the law they want to grab power and ukraine a partner state that you. don't like the people yelling ukraine is europe in capitals independence square these people have been looking at the possible consequences of the trade deal with europe stephanie is imaginary and i'm glad

don't want our utility payments to rise and pensions and salaries frozen. the only meanest food cheap labor to buy their products unlike the protests in kiev these rallies aren't marred by the presence of masked men ultra radical slogans or tumbling monuments and because for the media if it bleeds it leads only telegenic revolution gets a chance to be heard and seen. it in an r.t. . ukraine has always faced the divide between west and east as you can actually see here on the map it's literally split in half the countries west has historically been closer to europe the majority of the population is catholic and speaks ukrainian while in the east ties with russia have traditionally been stronger earlier the u.s. secretary of state expressed disgust over the ukrainians government's response to the protests but some analysts suggest those words ring a little hollow. it's clear that the what the united states government is after is

regime change in the ukraine and it has nothing to zero in with what they say they're concerned about that is you know three rights here and they're not they're still you know we saw eye to. eye for the occupy movement in dozens if not hundreds the cities carried out in an organized way were united way. by the federal government against people who are peaceful is focusing here and now we hear. these kind of statements coming when is the ukrainians at the leaders of the opposition are trying to overthrow the government there not just in gauging peaceful protests they are engaged in a process which they hope will bring about regime change and in that campaign they have the full backing of the u.s. and nato and when asked if the situation in ukraine will stabilize if the current opposition comes to power the majority of ukrainians thirty seven percent said it

would not and another percent said the opposition may bring stability but still would not be able to effectively govern the country meanwhile it's not uncommon to see european and american politicians at opposition rallies in kiev in fact the u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland once again joined the crowds this time offering snacks to the protesters and police details on that online dot com. it's also international now in just a few hours russia's president vladimir putin will deliver the annual state of the nation address this time it's been planned to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the russian constitution more on this in the expectations with you go to school. it's the elites of the society gathering at the kremlin today top

politicians businessmen economists diplomats experts and so on and traditionally this is the format to find out what the president and his team are planning for next year including some changes and proposals as well for instance it was during a similar address that it was first proposed to increase the presidential term think four to six years which was done later on this year the address does coincide with the twentieth anniversary of russia's constitution and it is widely expected in general his presidency will devolve to a large part of his speech to russia's mean law and now there's lots of speculation over whether or not any changes will be proposed and how crucial the could be but while the timing of the address was a specifically chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the cost the president is also expected to talk about a wide range of issues. problems with illegal

immigration problems with the economy in society and so on but still all of this is speculation we do have to wait for the actual address to take place and that will happen later on today and of course i'll be bringing you all the latest news on that throughout the day. and off still to come here on r.t. britain uses a minor increase in economic growth to boost its foreign aid budget. it's a response with the british government at the time with money it's very tight for everyone for families and the government to be sending more more typos money approved later on we find out why u.k. officials are so keen to send cash elsewhere and risk up setting those who are still struggling at home. plus public calls to curb fracking in texas get the attention of dallas city county. which is put in place the furthest lol we're strict in the industry this and the rest of the world's top headlines coming your

way just among. the. problem it was a problem very hard to take a look at once again long here the club has never had sex with me there's no. telling. what's. going to.

play. one of the problems. of the. joining us are international research the unlikely pairing of saudi arabia and israel are reportedly teaming up in response to washington's middle east policies representatives from the country's intelligence services apparently met for talks in jerusalem they are united in their disdain for america's reversal on intervention in syria that of course followed by the agreement over an historic nuclear deal with iran let's get deeper into this now here's a guy in

a chicken. the two countries saudi arabia and israel found themselves in one but in their frustration over washington israel and saudi arabia hate the nuclear deal that the u. was now the world power struck with iran israel is very vocal about it the saudis are a little bit more restrained but the saudi intelligence chief said there would be a major shift in dealings with the us saudi arabia wanted the us to go all in on syria the u.s. instead went along with russia's proposal and cut a deal with the syrian leadership to get rid of chemical weapons there saudi arabia and israel are very suspicious of each other the saudis oppose the creation of the jewish state they support the palestinian cause so it's too early to speak of friendship but washington definitely brought them closer together at least in their desire to threaten war saudi arabia is now reportedly working with israel on a plan to attack iran it reportedly gave israel the green light to use its airspace in the case of

a strike and pledged assistance here in washington these were the lobby is fighting what they describe as a tendency in the u.s. to disengage from the middle east the apac meeting was all about it they talked about how war fatigue in the u.s. could be a reason for washington to want to be less involved in regional affairs they saw the nomination of chuck hagel as defense secretary as a signal pointing in that direction of course the obama administration quickly reassured everybody that the u.s. will not stop interfering in the affairs of the region but israel and saudi arabia are not so sure at this point or they don't see the kind of interference that they would want to see i'm going to shut down in washington or keep. the earlier we spoke to saudi prince philip in the fight on all sides he believes the u.s. is ready to jeopardize ties with its closest allies in order to preserve its interest in the middle east. yes. i believe the main reason for the change in america's alliances in the middle east is issue of the iranian nuclear program and

that's a shift in the u.s. approach to iran from one of confrontation to one of containment but this is the main reason even if it does come at the expense of america's strategic allies like saudi arabia and israel it is of utmost importance to and i guess i'm just interested in the middle east if u.s. foreign policy takes care of its own interests that are strategic alliances with israel that under normal permanent alliances with saudi arabia with american interests are going much more important to washington alliance as the head of a school forget that saudi arabia or israel or that washington state court. and intelligence as well as many other aspects of the usa with that and they realize. that a former u.s. diplomat john graham he told us what he thinks is making both saudi arabia and israel so angry about u.s. foreign policy. both countries israel and saudi arabia are very annoyed or frightened right now because of american policy toward iran now what's happened to

annoy you frighten both of them is that first of all bob i actually called and talked on the telephone to his counterpart something an american president hadn't done for decades and second the meeting in geneva actually produced an agreement which looks like iran will make significant changes in its nuclear policy in exchange for the lessening of sanctions keep to the agreement then we will definitely be lessening sanctions and this is driving israel and saudi arabia nuts now the u.k. has managed to squeeze out a little more growth than expected britain is increasing the foreign aid budget the treasury chief is about to approve a one billion pound increase with most people yet to feel the benefits of any economic recovery many think the aid is going to exactly the wrong places laura smith reports. britain's economy is growing better than expected so more money in

our pockets to relieve some of the misery of lift people out of poverty help them pay their heating bills controversially and despite cops and hardship home the more positive figures will also mean increasing the amount the u.k. sends a broad in foreign aid not because there's more suffering in the world but to meet an obituary target not point seven percent of national income the british government seems set on increasing amount of money sending overseas aid for the sake of meeting a particular target nor is target driven policy which is the worst kind of way. but we think it's irresponsible of the british government of the time with money it's very tight for everyone for family from the government to be sending more and more times payers money particularly when a lot of the current defeat budget is not being spent very well money gets lost through fraud money's being spent in countries which even have their own aid

programs to other countries it means sending a billion pounds more over the next five years and where's that money going well over the last five years nigeria has received more than a billion pounds from the british taxpayer it's got its own space program and is mired in corruption an estimated several billion pounds are stolen from the states every year by corrupt officials and politicians and india also trying to push a man in space they get two hundred eighteen million pounds a year from britain and they've got their foreign aid program worth one point three billion dollars the gas' accountability report shows the u.k. already spends more percentage wise on foreign aid than any of the g eight country and the greatest irony britain. still borrowing billions of pounds every month and

now grief is on the up it will be borrowing more than it has to just to give away let's go to some of the international headlines for you in brief. time here. you know those pictures basically speaking of themselves it's egypt violence between riot police and. second university in cairo security forces firing tear gas to disperse the crowds many of whom were rallying in support of the ex president mohamed morsi since sunday the country has seen widespread scuffles between students and police over twenty people being arrested i to germany now where a crane crashed into a supermarket killing one and injuring at least five rescuers were struggling to come through the wreckage as other parts of it were also thought to be at risk of collapse or the reason for the accident still under investigation. united

nations has condemned israel for demolishing palestinian homes in the occupied west bank dozens more properties were destroyed at the move displaced families for the second time in two weeks of course israel is trying to expand its own settlements a process which is strongly criticized even by its closest ally america and since the apparent restarting of the peace process between the two over three hundred palestinians have been displaced off with them children. and to brazil now where in the state of rio de janeiro unleashed floods and landslides causing traffic jams closing airports seizing commuter trains and no casualties reported as of yet at least one person is missing after falling into a swollen river over the weekend heavy rains in the northeastern state of left at least sixteen dead and one person missing. now on screen as well let's have a quick look at see what's waiting for you. right now for example of

a look at this one lost in translation the search is on to find the. memorial service turns out that right there i wasn't sign language he was making it up all along and find out how the trickster was. also why you're there on our website. dismissed a six year old boy suspended from school after kissing of a classmate. a show of affection has now led to claims of sexual. defines a country's success. faceless figures of economic growth. for a factual standard of living.

it's also international live from moscow straight to our breaking news this just in here we're getting reports of a bluster which is going off in the afghan capital kabul right near the u.s. embassy and nato headquarters are also situated very nearby here in all its international we will bring you the latest information as soon as we get it. for

now the city council in dallas texas has introduced a new law putting the brakes on the fracking industry that essentially moves the drilling of wells far from residential areas now this comes off the texans voiced a major concerns that shale gas drilling is putting them and their homes at risk the state was shaken by a string of several weeks ago scientists suggesting nearby drilling may be to blame environmentalist w. mccord was at this council meeting he agrees fracking should not take place anywhere near population centers. they weren't drilling in our densely populated urban areas they were drilling out in remote areas with low population where they weren't doing any damage or destruction to anything when you start coming into an area with that been so popular bringing in all that truck traffic all those chemicals to be exposed into the air and the water in the soil where people are

harmed and where traffic accidents are are prevalent and we're spills of chemicals or danger of that becomes a whole different deal other cities are looking to what we're doing they're already tightening up their ordinance and other places they're looking to tighten up ordinances so yeah this probably will set a precedent and it's probably a pretty major one. now as the u.k. edges closer to a possible referendum on the future of its membership prime minister david cameron is making plans for the renegotiation of britain's ties with brussels and he wants to use the notoriously pro european a foreign office to lead the talks so at the risk of infuriating the euro skeptic m.p.'s of his own party however as aussies tester australia reports the renegotiations alone could be enough to open up pandora's box. where does the u.k. stand or want to step in the e.u. well there are two possible scenarios one it stays in the union with a really good position that everybody is happy with or to an outright exit the

european union is standing like. fortunately we can. simulate a debate or war games organized by the europe is but it taste of how difficult and painful any process could be now while the difference is a bow and everybody was in agreement. this is across the continent. more of a euro phobia that we realized in britain the wheels have been churning one of the most sensitive topics related to the immigration pointing out what they say is an exploitation of the british welfare system which brussels says is not backed by any concrete evidence adamant that it is not cherry picking what. is essential if not possible exit. britain's just cherry picking it simply

isn't the case. that the european union is actually failing on the grounds that it's losing track in the competitive marketplace we've a long tradition of democracy we've seen people fading completely. out i think britain is heading towards the exit a key question coming out of that simulation is what exactly does the u.k. want and ask for europe how much is there willing to give to keep the u.k. happy if at all or let's give you a very quick reminder of this breaking news we just moments ago here in our international getting reports of a massive blast going off in the. right next to the u.s. embassy also very very close. to the nato headquarters as well details to come here on r.t. international next though fresh restrictions on the banks it's causing frustration in wall street abby martin breaking the set is one of the issues and for us.

as we all know the holidays are a great time for families to get together and sometimes on the elko gets flowing they're also a great time for us to argue about everything from politics to religion with the ones we love but if you happen to be an n.s.a. agent and the government has an official list of talking points that way you can win those family arguments for sure yeah that's right the government is now giving n.s.a. agents lists of very corny talking points going to firedoglake so that way they can convince their relatives over the holidays of just how awesome effective and necessary the national security agency truly is despite all those little revelation

thinks of mass spying by snowden trust me talking points exist for a reason political social and religious organizations and use them so that when their members who may not be the best debaters on the planet can defend the positions of the organization and i would have no problem with the n.s.a. gave this list to agents they could answer questions from journalists but when the government wants you to propagandize your friends and family over christmas and thanksgiving it all seems kind of cultish to me that's just my opinion. i'm adding martin and it's just great. did you hear yesterday the people want to huge victory against big banks as the bank regulators signed off on the volcker rule a measure that would prohibit commercial banks from engaging in proprietary trading

what this means in layman's terms of that banks can no longer use people's deposits for many types of risky investments which in part is what's led us to the two thousand and eight financial collapse but don't pop the champagne bottles just yet if we can expect a government sponsored by wall street to not sweep the deal with some nice perks for the banks stearns see under the volcker rule banks will still be able to hide behind something called market making which is when a bank buys and sells securities like stocks and bonds on behalf of clients the rule as it's written now leaves an enormous gray area in determining what is proprietary trading and what's market market making rather furthermore one of the most egregious parts of the law makes banks managers themselves responsible for testing but their banks are complying with the rules absolutely genius because banks policing themselves worked out so well for the american people back in two thousand and eight so while i applaud the attempt at reform here and let's not forget that we're living in a corporatocracy and as long as corporations ultimately dictate these laws i'll be

breaking the set. of the. it's a. very hard to answer. to. that or how to act with the target there. was. a. little. today in new york court rejected a bid to grant personhood to chimpanzees in the state and freedom from captivity if

i authorize that would have been a first of its kind legal victory for animal rights and us the group who pushed for the last year at the non human rights project believes that animals deserve all the legal rights that humans do as does my next guest area franchise and animal abolitionist lawyer and professor rocker's university he was the first person to ever teach an animal rights theory class and have been changing the conversation about sentient creatures ever since gary joined me earlier and i first asked him to explain to me what animal abolition of. animal evolution is the theory that we ought not to be focusing on the treatment of animals that the fundamental moral question is can we justify using animals at all however humanely we treat them i mean i think that we have to confront the fact that because animals are chattel property and they have no inherent or intrinsic value that able only extrinsic an xterm value the standard of animal welfare is actually very low so even if you if

you take the most humane places in terms of the way animals are treated it's still really horrible and so basically the the i'm trying to change the conversation away from treatment and over to use search ask the fundamental question why are we eating wearing or using animals at all particularly when we don't have to so that would sort of be the answer nutshell what's the response of the concept that humans are cognitively different than other animals. you know i mean it we're the only animals who use symbolic communication so you know what goes on in our heads basically is very very much connected with this thing called language and these concepts that we get from from the language that we use so i have no doubt that animals are cognitively different from us but the question is so what i mean even you know if yes they're going to be different but they're sentient they're perceptual where they're.