that. subscribed to roughly. twelve euros fifty a month. after nationwide protests on the most violent riots in paris an opera century french government by suspending a controversial hike in the cost of fuel for six months also to come. president trump complains about an uncontrollable race between the u.s.

china and russia running hadn't been spending crazy becomes just a few months off the raised in washington's military budget precisely to counter moscow and beijing. u.s. radio stations are banning the christmas classic baby it's cold outside i'll throw backlash from me to activists all guests debate the issue i think there's a lot of outrage i think women are really really angry what's behind it is you know women want relief we wonder what change there are a lot of important issues right now and when we we focus on songs like this and try to get it out i mean what we're painting a message that needs to has just become unhinged. it's nine o'clock here in moscow and you're watching international live from our

studio with me in india cuba welcome to the program. the french government will suspend a controversial increase in the cost of fuel in the wake of nationwide protests the u. turn comes off to paris witnessed three weeks of the worst riots in hoffa's century . well it seems that opinion polls show that most people are favorable to those concessions given by the government and announced by the french prime minister today but as with many of them have said this is not enough and they will push for that tax reductions and it looks like the protests that was planned for this saturday will still go ahead so what did the prime minister see in total well first of all he announced a moratorium on fuel tax hike that was due to take place in a month's time in january and said that that will be suspended for six months he also announced that there would be no increases to utility bills so that's gas and electricity in the hope that will help and many working class british people who

say that they just struggling to live with the high costs of living here in france let's take a listen now to want to really have to say both has been this fiscal measure for six months and introduce it into has been discussed with. no taxes worth putting the nation's unity in danger well these protests have been going on for france for the last two weeks who are into this week now and over the last few weekends there has been a lot of violence moring those protests particularly in the saturday just go on hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets and people on saturday burning cause buildings smashing in new ching shops and coups ing millions of euros of damage to different economy into the city of paris let's have a flavor now and see what's happened over the last few weeks.

i. was. with. the french prime minister also who said today you'd have to be day not to hear the wrath of the french people and he says the government has been listening to them although many of the protesters feel that this is probably too little too late and

they feel that this concessions that been offered she didn't come in this protest movement as i mentioned for the moment they see that the protest on saturday will still go ahead and it looks like this movement hasn't yet got the concessions from the government that it wants so called yellow vest riots have incurred large financial losses in some areas shot profits for instance are down fifty percent protestors road blockades of course transport companies nationwide an estimated four hundred million euro and four million euros worth of damage was done to paris on saturday alone as demonstrators ran riot smashing property across the capital. fury at the fuel price hike has sent emmanuel micron's approval ratings to their lowest ever less than one in four now approve of the french president sharply down in just a month patricia shunyo regional council for france's and national rally party says my calls response has horrified protesters was actually with the with the ghetto

firsts listening to the announcement made by the prime minister and they were appalled when they heard what do they think we are are throwing some peanuts and. thank you this is going to commerce basically what the prime minister announced was the fact that they were only he was only going to temporarily halt their prized prices in fuel and this is not what they've asked for the they know very well what it said that it's a temporary measure that he said after six months we will decide what to do after six months they will probably implement it six months from now we have european elections so it would actually mean that straight after the european elections micro-grid actually make the decision whether or not to reinstill these taxes yes or no just is just not enough and not a strong enough commitment made to the huge outcry from the french people is first of all got to do with this with the terrible arrogance of my car what he didn't

realize is actually what the yellow vests stood up for in france were very legitimate cases and that more than eighty percent listen to this more than eighty percent of the french people actually support what the yellow vests are claiming today the second problem is his great ignorance mccaw is totally not aware what is going on in real trucks outside the big cities he and his government have no elected people don't know anybody and don't know what's going on the french people are dead that spirit their purchasing power has plummeted they're being over text everywhere there is harbor unemployment and things are getting cheaper their spending power is going down and taxes are going up they are fed up with it. the old firm says he's confident the future talks will be held with china and russia to stop what he called the uncontrollable arms race he also described to us what it is spending is crazy despite being the very person who increased it just

a few months ago precisely to counter moscow and beijing caleb maupin has been trying to make sense of trump's moves. pouring money down the pentagon hole has been one of the donald's few consistent policies and since taking office trump has been serenading the military we took care of the military like it's never been taken care of before new equipment is coming in we're going to have the strongest military we've ever had by far and hopefully we'll be so school we'll never have to use it but i'm talking about tremendous defense capability offensive capability it's in space so we're going to do the space force. but now he's changing his tune he's singing i have a dream and he's talking about harmony and peace between russia china and the united states. sometime in the future president g indicts together with president putin of russia will still talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major uncontrollable arms race the u.s.

spend seven hundred sixteen billion dollars this year crazy yes why spend so much money on bombs and tanks well this is for a president who just signed a bill in august for a twenty nineteen military budget of seven hundred sixteen billion dollars that's sixteen billion more than in twenty eighteen so why the increase is it to protect our citizens from terror well actually according to the pentagon it's about russia and china but we will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we're engaged in today but great power competition not terrorism is now the primary focus of u.s. national security no new arms race nobody wants a new cold war well if that's the case it might be smart not to pull out of the nuclear arms treaty especially one that was essential in stopping the old cold war right now to here in the agreement they should have been done years ago so people come to this that we have more money than anybody else by far we'll build it up

until they come to this and when they do then we'll all be barred every. head by the. not only. so let's take trumpet his word and assume that he's just trying to steer a sinking ship well arms race may not exactly be the best term to describe it after all the u.s. military budget is bigger than russia and china's combined and this year russia actually decreased its military spending not exactly an aggressive move but yet somehow they are the aggressor.

meanwhile while trump is gushing over his friendship with president xi imposing tariffs and staging military drills in the south china sea is not exactly a friendly move but u.s. policies have me some possibilities that are ground it would be very irresponsible and dangerous to the united states to seriously violated the basic norms of governing international relations and damaged by no us military relations so no need to prove to a song of peace but as the donald looks brightly into the future and imagines washington moscow and beijing walking down the yellow brick road together you might want to try out a different strategy cable pop and art see new york. trans national foundation for peace and. told us trying to should know better than to send conflicting messages. if some leader somewhere who has no power over other countries or. personality and political stunt it would not be a big problem for the world but when the united states president. it is obvious

that way. i think it is a problem there is no one foreign and security and defense policy of the united. this seems to be mainly. some kind of. very. contradictory statements coming out of him all the time. dangerous you know it's really difficult to find out what is going on in the. predictability this erratic. statements one. nuclear weapons or something else. all the world as well as seeking talks with russia and china trump wants to talk peace with the taliban and the american president has asked pakistan for help with arranging that it's awkward though as trump had a big spat on twitter with pakistan's leader a few weeks ago stories coming up in a bit later in the program.

it seems the classic christmas tune baby it's cold outside is finding itself left out in the cold when it comes to festive playlists on u.s. radio stations it follows a backlash from some listeners over the lyrics about a man attempting to persuade a woman to spend the night with him critics say it flies in the face of the need to movement your hair looks well now unknown mind. i'm going to say that i tried. it on. the track was first recorded for the nineteen forty nine hollywood film neptune's daughter and quickly became a hit winning an oscar the following year scores of artists have covered it since need to activists say they're living normalize manipulative and coercive behavior however others point out if those rules are applied many other songs will be dropped to baby it's cold outside is basically

a date rape song i'm glad people are finally realizing this. here's your annual reminder that baby it's cold outside is basically a date rape song they won't play baby it's cold outside because it implies rape but they can play this horrible rag music that talks about sex drugs shooting people and cetera these other holiday songs must also be removed as offensive as well i saw mommy q. since santa claus subjecting minors to soft core porn white christmas racist sent a baby golddigger blackmail. my colleague daniel home can spot the issue of the debate asking whether classic culture is incompatible with modern values if this is something that is creating such an uproar we can't ignore it and also maybe it's reflecting that things need to change and that. maybe maybe things have

maybe christmas carols also. has to evolve with our society there are a lot of important issues right now and when we focus on songs like this and trying to get it out i mean we're painting a message that mates who has just become unhinged in going after these christmas songs from the one nine hundred forty s. which yes was a different era but frankly nobody nobody has cared about and so the meter movement wants to stay wants to stay current and relevant and i think that we need to focus on the main issues the biggest issues and stay away maybe from some of the lesser things like some of these christmas songs i think there's a lot of outrage i think women are really really angry the argument that maybe this is a little bit overkill. i think you have to look at that and see kind of what is behind that and what's behind it is you know women want relief women who want change women want their voices heard been reading into the lyrics of the song and also some some of. us have been i've been reading about this it's very interesting to see the different news you said it's really

a question of interpretation is that it could be taken in different ways i mean i think if you're. a survivor of rape you're going to interpret it that way as a date rape song i think most people are going to study that it's from the one nine hundred forty s. and you know you could make an argument this is that this is a woman who several to celebrating for the actuality and it's really a flirting again and i am here today and i understand and i do understand both sides of this argument i just see really the need to focus on on some of the bigger issues i understand that they're women that are survivors of rape and i do understand the argument i understand the side where we have to look at everything we have to. stand because it's way if women are truly angry about this and then there must be something to it but at the same time you know i want to see a woman who can and who can stand strong who can look at the song and say you know what that's not going to bother me i know what my boundaries are i know when to leave for me i feel like it's almost a step back to see all this rage and anger over that i want to see women going you

know what we recognize the cultural differences are back that in those in that time that that kind of sucks for back then but think of where we are now and we're going to have a voice coming up here on our tech giant microsoft admits it's all in when it comes to supplying the pentagon with technology. we want silicon valley to know just how ethical and honorable a tradition the military is the president of the multinational is pledging to hand over his latest know how to the u.s. military despite resistance from the employees this story on roll after a quick break.

i've been saying the numbers being something they matter to us is over one trillion dollars and. more than ten points over time stamp this. eighty five percent of global will you want to be ultra rich eight point six percent market so thirty percent is one of your some with four hundred to five hundred three per second per second and one rose to twenty thousand dollars. china is building two point one billion dollars industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only numbers you need remembering what one does that shows you know for a myth. welcome

back to the program the boss of microsoft says his company will supply the u.s. army with all the technology it needs the decision was taken even though some of the tech giants employees have expressed concern. we are going to provide the us military with access to the best technology to all the technology we create full stop we have to win people's hearts and minds we want silicon valley to know just how ethical an honorable tradition the military has many microsoft employees don't believe that what we build should be used for waging war when we decided to work at microsoft we would doing so in the hopes of empowering every person on the planet to achieve more not with the intent of ending lives and enhancing lethality last week microsoft won a four hundred eighty million dollars u.s. army contract to provide or granted reality systems it's also bidding for

a controversial pentagon dale called the joint enterprise defense infrastructure cloud is expected to cost ten billion dollars it will be part of the u.s. defense department's efforts to upgrade its i.t. systems but microsoft is not the only one competing for the lucrative contract. amazon also has its sights on the jet ideal go over say in the running but dropped out saying the contract would be inconsistent with its principles technology analyst roger came believe the new kinds of contracts for microsoft outweigh the concerns of its employees. it is interesting that silicon valley which is one of the younger culture are all lying terror on. doses. so studiousness that the whole thing and certainly some of what misses a is directed at existing employees i think the message from them is pretty much we're going to be an important part of our portfolio and we. bond with

if you have an issue with that we may need to decide to do something about that but i also think it's important to understand that knowledge terry and technology. and all. time. to use all grounds. you know nor surprise. you and you know. i can stand says donald trump is asking him to help in peace talks with taliban militants in a bid to end the seventeen year war in neighboring afghanistan but it comes just two weeks after trying in a twitter spat with pakistan's leader where he threatened to cut to the country artist donald quote it takes a close look at the unpredictable relations between the two nations if you only listen to what president trump says about pakistan you might think the country is

a haven for terrorists one that at the same time is soaking up aid money from uncle sam we can no longer be silent about pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations because they don't do anything for us to do a damn thing for us but no longer paying one point three billion the fact is that we're paying that not because that's what they've done to help us nothing so it comes as a bit of a surprise that it's now the us asking for help from islamic bod but it's not the kind of help that comes in the form of a check but help in resolving the us is seventeen year war on terror in neighboring afghanistan now trump already sent a letter to the prime minister which judging by pakistan's reaction was very cordial he's emphasized that pakistan and the usa should explore opportunities to work together and renew their partnership and now the u.s. envoy responsible for bringing the war to a close is taking

a trip to pakistan now this politics of flip flopping might seem strange but it's not the first time u.s. foreign policy has contradicted itself when it comes to pakistan washington already tried to mend ties back in september when secretary of state. like pompei o flew to islam a bud i hope we can turn the page and begin to make progress even proclaimed the u.s. needs pakistan we need pakistan to seriously engaged to help us to get the reconciliation we need in afghanistan but that statement came amidst us threats to yet again cancel aides to the country confused well you're not alone i do the americans from both distance this isn't a three x. then normal august and i know all this. much work does it only. because you turn bogus on but if. so when do you. box them

help in sequence but. with the plane good us bad us hasn't done much for peace in afghanistan where the taliban washington sworn enemy is on the rise despite talks and peace conferences in moscow in geneva this year no concrete solutions have surfaced neither with the u.s. the afghanistan government or the taliban coming to the same table mistrust and inconsistency is the name of the game in this conflict and the us a stance on pakistan is no exception. news this hour i'll be back in around thirty minutes time but in the meantime we're going to our website that's come to check out any of all stories next up it's and then bust.

so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race in. dramatic development only. i don't see how. you sit down and talk. but all right. we're.

going to. write down the bank. based walker. and this is going to. internationally known that these industries. simply ignored the money and. the mother of the. day in this.

my teenage gang rules here because they were not doing enough to move. the mind of a drug because you were who was but. maybe will be very. nice seeing her in the spirit of bliss. and now it's looking for the yeah when i knew you sent as soon as we sent and now the end of the little who . knew about the monkey in the room. i see. you know world is a big part of the law and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig

deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door on the bad and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now for washing clothes for watching the hawks. this is boom bust broadcasting around the world and covering the big world of business and finance and the impact on all of us i'm part children washington thank you so much for being on board we're sure glad to have you coming up today there is lots of news and a heck of

a lot of it relates to trade so we're going to focus on. trade from both the perspective of u.s. agriculture and companies and look not just at china trade tensions but at the mexico canada circumstances to do so we'll be joined by steve walz burge alex myla bitch peter schiff and danielle plus cutter is leaving the organization of petroleum extorting countries our two producers have and you will tell us what that means all that directly ahead let's go. a moment of modest progress on trade that almost feels like a breakthrough leads our global report today as the leaders of china and the united states postpone any further escalations other lingering dispute at the meeting on the edges of the g twenty summit in boito sorry's argentina the agreement between u.s. president donald trump and chinese president xi jinping appears to effectively trade a postponement on the u.s. side of an increase tariff on chinese imports from ten to twenty five percent which was to begin on january first for

a pledge from china to buy more american products president trump as usual was eager to fill the void of specifics on the deal with personal puffery and unfounded claims on twitter of imminent major benefits from the deal for farmers who have lost major chinese market share chinese authorities notably declined to confirm the claims in mr trump's tweet moving forward u.s. trade representative robert light hisor who has taken a harder line in contrast to treasury secretary steve i'm a new mission were poor to be be the point person for further negotiations with china and some have questioned if this is just a delay or a period of time when something could actually be done and negotiated here's what u.s. treasury secretary had to say on the subject i think there is a specific understanding that we're going to turn the agreement that the two presidents have into a real agreement over the ninety days obviously some of the issues.