i recently became convinced that the war on drugs was a mistake there are countless numbers of people who are in prison for. a long sentence in this for minor minor offenders in the drug trade it's a lot watching your children grow up and miss you in waves and say by day as you're walking out of a business it's just it doesn't get easier. donald trump takes credit for defeating islamic state terrorists in syria and is now considering a total troop withdrawal also ahead. a

feisty exchange in the british parliament as treason may faces hostility over her contingency plan for a no deal brags it. after weeks of tackling violent yellow vest demonstrations friends police launched their own protest over working conditions and unpaid overtime at the same time some media are now blaming russia for the yellow vests under arrest you have been out looking for those suspected of infiltrating from the east. by you in paris so you make people protest known that to look neat. little should be shown. up on you but if you. are broadcasting not direct from the studios most companies are too international i'm sean thomas glad to have you with us. and the u.s. president has announced in the defeat of islamic state in syria donald trump took

to twitter giving the u.s. and themself much of the credit for the victory over the terrorists. we have defeated isis in syria my only reason for being there during the trump presidency we now have official confirmation that u.s. troops will be leaving syria now president trump's tweet contradicts everything that we've been hearing from the state department and the pentagon over the last several months here's what the head of the coalition to defeat isis said just over a week ago we want to see a resolution to the syrian civil war through the u.n. security council resolution process and we also want to see the removal of foreign forces from syria particularly the iranian commander proxy forces from syria his various americans will remain on the grounds that they have to the physical to be to the caliphate until we have the pieces in place to ensure that the defeat isn't there now there are at least two thousand u.s. troops in syria and removing them would be fulfillment of one of president trump's campaign promises white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders released

a statement saying the process of returning troops back to the u.s. has actually already begun and the statement also says that this doesn't signal the end of the global coalition to defeat isis or its campaign to isis has been defeated in the sense it holds no territory perhaps president trump is overstating the the u.s. role in that effort isis was largely defeated by the syrian and russian militaries along with the lebanese group hezbollah and the timing here is very curious turkey is threatening an offensive on u.s. backed kurdish forces in northern syria and president ever to one has demanded that the u.s. backed forces withdraw and said that the operation to attack them could start any moment so turkey is unlikely to attack u.s. forces and this could very much factor into president trump's decision to remove american forces. earlier my colleague kevin owen was joined in the studio by you

going to stun off for a broader look back at the u.s. campaign in syria. it's not the first time that the donald trump announces the withdrawal of troops from syria but last time that happened he backtracked pretty quickly you turning in the staying in syria for another year or so well now yes indeed and he is taking the credit for it and just to give him the credit that he deserves in really the united states did do a lot to defeat eisel in syria i mean that can can't really be taken from them they pretty much liberated all of the eastern and northern much of the northern syrian regions of course not their soldiers not their troops but their proxy a sort of army as the kurds i mean the self-proclaimed capital of the caliphate rucka was liberated by the united states and their allies the thing is the means that the because they did kick eisel out with the their favorite tool with their favorite approach and that is blunt stupid force so that's what they used on rocket

for example they pretty much a blitter rated the city with bombings once a flourishing prosperous city now it still lies in ruins i mean we've heard a very very big outcry you coming from human rights groups for instance who have been accusing the united states of indiscriminate bombing and even using a term as an annihilation war and saying that this should be considered a war crime with the united states a bombing there just to give you the scale of how bad it is bodies are still being found in rock or complain and in twenty seventeen. thirty years we were forced to leave our homes because of eisele when we returned we found everything which used to rubble look at all the devastation rocky is

a ghost city. where living in the midst of destruction we feel completely abandoned . everything around has been destroyed. life years horrible this is in rubble you have to pay to remove the debris with all money there's no running water so we have to buy it in. the u.s. coalition because the destruction of records and has a responsibility to rebuild the city we need to help with restoring the water supply in clearing the rubble. i found a man on the streets near my house my friend and i tried to detonate it from a distance but it didn't go off we thought the mine didn't work and work towards it it exploded my friend was killed survived. so the white house and confirming u.s.

troops as they put it but we heard they were true put it well is is along the way but either which way started to come out is it all happened once what's the plan here what's been said about the timeline for all this while this is this is a very good question i should say because yes indeed right now we're hearing that some of the troops are being withdrawn already but i mean the united states they do kind of send troops in and out of syria regularly this is called military rotation this is this is a thing so they send out a number of troops and send back in another group roughly the same size of so this is what's been happening in iraq for example in the years that came after the official and of the military campaign there and this is sort of the question that stands right now with syria whether or not how will they be withdrawing troops what scale will this withdrawal take will it be all of the troops or will this be again an iraq war in afghanistan sort of

a situation so we have no details on this i mean a lot of that stems from. the front of the united states. have been changing the rules of this game as i said game was and go in when it comes to why the in syria in the first place because it certainly wasn't an official invitation from the un recognized leader bashar assad and to the country saying they want to fight terrorists. so now they've defeated unlike the i don't ready introduced a new reasons a new pretext as why the should stay for example combating and kind of countering iranian influence in syria where did that come from so now they say that their priorities have shifted again we're not asking for regime change we're not asking for the russians to leave we're asking for is a compromise settlement there's a strong. readiness on the part of western nations not to ante up money

for that disaster unless we have some kind of idea that the government is ready to compromise and that's not create yet another horror in the years ahead one thing that is obvious is that the united states there are still unhappy with the bashar assad being at the helm of syria so the a bound to keep some influence so they will in a way that looks like they will remain there in syria just to what extent it's still to be seen former u.s. diplomat jim johnson as things decision will meet with a huge wave of criticism but the good thing that helps to lead to what the only thing is that's going to restore stability in syria that is to put the whole country back under the gun troll village of the government a question is is will these so-called experts that he's appointed to run his administration sandbag him and drag their feet and find some way to dig gate this decision and that's the real question we don't know the answer to a lot of people of fact virtually everybody in this administration except the

president himself will be opposed to this decision and that's why it's been so long in coming remember he also. he wanted to get out of afghanistan but all the so-called experts told him the reasons why he couldn't do it. with less than one hundred days left until the u.k. parts ways with the e.u. teresa mayes government is ramping up no bragg's it deal preparations the prime minister's divorce plan continues to face serious opposition with m.p.'s are due to have a final vote on the deal in mid january may made her case in parliament on wednesday triggering a heated exchange with the opposition leader jeremy corcoran. until the deal has a date has been ratified it is the responsible position of government and it is it would be the responsible position of any government to put in place contingency arrangements for no deal no deal would bridge disaster for our country and no responsible government would ever allow it i know it's christmas i know it's not to

miss talking down the chimney under the christmas tree he still hasn't found. the prime minister who is supposed to be undertaking a negotiation was the prime minister the trial to bring an acceptable deal but why didn't the prime minister stop the pretense and stop wasting four billion pounds in a cynical attempt to drive good deeply damaging deal through their house you know who is a right honorable gentleman doesn't want to see money being spent on no deal he's governed easy on so so so this is day to go. the stakes are getting higher and higher and the debate is getting harder and harder and is in fact one hundred days to go before bracks it turns from being this vague concept that everybody in the u.k. seems to be arguing about into something very real and it's been now two years of attempted negotiations and it's absolutely clear at this point that some of the

situation is more uncertain than ever and certainly passions are flying high on advice for the right honorable judge about you know they're trying to area that are to go. get it appears that the opposition party leader jeremy corbyn apparently had called the british prime minister a stupid woman during prime minister's question time today i referred to those who i believe are seeking to turn the debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as. people. this is speaking i did not use the word stupid woman about the problem is still anyone else and i am completely opposed to the use of sexist or misogynist language in absolutely any form tool so we can no certainly leave this lip reading to the

experts in terms of who said what the key is that once again attention has shifted from the substance of practice it to now this scandal and alleged namecalling making up the headlines moving for verge for at least for today and while it's clear that the problem has gone nowhere and specifically the european commission this wednesday has officially started preparing for a new deal bracks it's contingency action plan so things are getting quiet real the debate as hard but where all of this is going to lead remains a massive question more than three thousand troops will be put on standby as part of the no deal contingency plan other measures include securing medical and food supplies over the coming weeks families and businesses will also be receiving official guidance on how to better prepare but independent british i mean generous

and concerned believes that fears over a chaotic exit from that you may be misplaced. they're actually playing up a no do scenario letters going out to households and businesses is project fear with nuclear nuclear warheads on at the moment so they're ramping up the fear of this aging betted by brussels is an option that's on the table and under government legislation if we don't have a deal in the next few weeks then we just leave under world trade organization rules and there is no problem with that the problem is in westminster is that we have too many m. e. m. pace and any pay standing behind cameras going on radio just just arguing amongst themselves not listening to what the voters want we've got to remain prime minister that are in main opposition and we've got remain m.p.'s in the house of westminster they wish they were given a clear mandate by the people to leave and we knew exactly what we were voting for and that is leaving without a deal if that comes down to it but i mean brussels now broadcasting to you they

they really don't get it and understand the brussels brinkmanship that takes place here of course it goes to the wire and we should hold their feet to the wire as well oh we've got one hundred days to work this out because this lot will cave in because they need us more than we need them. all right as we touched on earlier in the midst of all the braggs of drama this wednesday one moment from the parliamentary debate has lip readers hard at work some people are asking whether jeremy corbyn muttered a massage a mystic comment under his breath have a look for yourself or did the labor leaders say woman or people. this kind of missile journalistic language must not be tolerated. he did not call her a stupid woman and so i don't think there is any basis for an apology as i understand

it he said. it doesn't look like stupid woman to me i can see stupid but not the woman. in a big win for whistleblowers an italian journalist and partner of wiki leaks has successfully appealed a freedom of information case with the u.k. metropolitan force over documents being passed between u.s. and british authorities concerning wiki leaks editors. requested information held by police concerning correspondents within the u.s. justice department she claimed that any data about wiki leaks journalists should be published the police had refused to stating that she has no right to request

information about other individuals but this latest decision made by a british tribunals panel as now allowed access as long as there is a written consent we heard from the wiki leaks editor in chief on the importance of this a victory. we never know whether all the people who have been working for we can leave have also been indicted but this that hopefully will come to light but we believe strongly that the information gathered by the metropolitan police has been on that we have for the united states justice department and information possibly shared of course with the justice department united states which is appalling you know you it means basically spying on journalists this is a very important landmark ruling for all journalists. now they can in certain cases for example when there are many people involved. consensual

authorization from a large group of people to represent those people in the future with them information that cases for your cases so it's an important addition an important tool in the toolbox of all journalists. police officers have started breaking ranks and joining the yellow vest protesters have been rocking france for weeks now we will bring you that full story after a short break this is art international. joining

me every thursday on the alex i'm unsure when i'll be speaking to a guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then . what is the pin that's going to pop the global bubble back in two thousand and eight there was a two thousand and eight subprime crisis. today i think we can safely say that the bubble popped but the collapse of. the mag this is r t international with weeks of protests still simmering in france

a disgruntled police officers have started their own protest against unpaid overtime and dangerous working conditions and at least one terminal in the french capital's main airport officers are causing long lines at passport control by staging a slow down protest reporting from parents. well it seems it is now with the yellow vests in the blue vest says police are now trying to squeeze concessions out of the government they're unhappy with what they see is deteriorating conditions the amount of overtime they've done some twenty three million hours and that includes because some of the work that we've been doing over the last five weeks with the best test is and of course the increased security that we're seeing around christmas markets and some sites across france in the wake of that strasburg attack and they say it's simply not enough the unions describing the situation for police in france has been absolutely diabolical. they're not getting obese was too

cautious or even considering the social and professional obligations of our colleagues when they are not in uniform they become yellow vests because we are middle class or even lower because of our salaries our origin that's why some colleagues feel that they are yellow vests because of the yellow fasts really resonates with police well those mean cry from some of the police unions who've been in discussions with the interior minister since tuesday those discussions are ongoing but already the government is offering some concessions being put on the table trying to quell the sunnies the last thing they want is for the police to continue strike which has been described as many as act one giving the suggestion that they prepared to go a little bit further as the yellow vest and be going over the last few weeks the concession on the table so for is a three hundred euro bonus to be paid to the officers who've been involved in the

deployment of the yellow vests protest but the unions say it's just not enough and actually what they want is for those twenty three million hours of overtime being paid a huge bill according to the interior minister. the state currently goes almost two hundred seventy five million. neuros to its police officers for overtime not in recent months or years but for decades we cannot have debt that level they're also unhappy the unions about what they see is being moved to enough in the port for the police budget which is due to be discussed as part of the two thousand and nine hundred budget in the national assembly on that day they say it's not enough money to pay for the overtime and it's not enough money to improve the conditions nor is it enough to recruit the extra staff that they need to deal with the continuing protests those talks ongoing between the unions and the interior minister but it seems that already this slowdown of the police this new blue vest protest here in

france is already having some impact. alright the original widespread yellow vest demonstrations called for fuel tax levies to be dropped on political reform to occur and some have been looking away from the government for the source of the discord and rushed to link the movement to moscow earlier went on the hunt in a tongue in cheek sort of way for suspects in. the scheme i don't think i've definitely found one. yes. by you in paris to make people protest known the two look need. not need. to win your chest but i see. the russians are they behind the yellow vest protest what is it that you would just like he would push out good to me leave the military move good. the party has the

news in your mouth. the mainstream media say that russia is behind these protests you must be wearing a yellow vest on saturdays immediately issues a. story. well this place suspiciously could be said of russian activity in france. france the you mean you know it is so discordant to protesting to just spoon france into chaos. here here. is a story what's your favorite color. are you sure it's not yellow. your problem. should.

be all good song. most of the but i was involved in staying with france a french parody twitter account has been suspended just a day after it was launched it made sarcastic tweets about a menu in the wake of protests by the yellow vest movement although the account has now been resurfaced under a new name is lost many of its original followers and your original version remains banned the twitter pages run in the name of a fictional seven year old girl been why do she posts tweets under the hash tag must go mocking the government and while calling for airstrikes but she's not alone a seven year old girl from aleppo now has a similar account she tweets about the horrors of war in syria calling on the international community for help although her posts against syrian president assad's regime are written well in fairly good english in an interview with c.n.n. she appeared to be reading from a script i once. that she's there. and

the school is because founder of the been want to have a do a count james a kerry told us what motivated him to create the parody. the motivation behind it obviously i mean it's fairly clear it was to do with some of that donna was you know a piece of regime change propaganda during the syrian civil war and decisions for war were being made on the twitter of a little girl that's a ridiculous concept think about and to expand that out to you know any country it's crazy and it was just pointing out how you raise you know how insane that idea is that a child and you know some on the street reporters in aleppo were basically dictating foreign policy pretty united states israel turkey you know all these countries are basing their words on what was supposedly just a child who decided to tweak one day so we just decided to run with it this time as

france was you know blowing up the news and. just to point out the hope ocracy of when this happens in a western nation nobody had any problem with macross using what are chemical weapons on his own people and we just wanted to point out that when this happens in a nato country if there is no propaganda effort there's never to cover it up. the e.u. and italy have agreed on a truce to end a months of a bitter raul over the country's much disputed budget for the next year extensive reforms and tax breaks planned by its euro skeptic government would have put italy on course to break euro zone fiscal rules that drew the threat of sanctions from brussels even though several other countries are also in the red currently all nineteen countries which use the euro must observe a deficit ceiling of three percent of g.d.p. spain belgium portugal and slovenia are among the nations who have had

a telling off for breaching the rules but it's france's big spending plans for next year that has got the time politicians riled paris is projecting a three point two percent deficit for two thousand one thousand and while rome was threatened with sanctions the e.u. has signaled france won't be punished it's that perceived discrepancy the scene leaders try to force through their budget since day one. this is the first a town in budget the doesn't like no surprise this is the first italian budget written in rome and not in brussels the economy italian a sign that the italian economy is healthy and this is an economic move that will give italy this to pretty neat we want change one comma in this document there is a plan b. you have to go through that that we are not going boards that are betting on. working for the future. it. right in italian m.e.p.

from the five star movement we spoke to says there are positive aspects in the new budget despite italy struggles with the some where even he thinks about that it's people think about of course think about the software that the european call is this during the last year or so we are very very satisfied about we have our european commission that was appointed in twenty four the and that now are those where almost twenty nineteen they don't represent anymore political situation that was e.u. report is saving up for the broad stewarts. france this should be completely the ball and what i mean we have nothing against the france and though we hope the french can do some expansionary mangers in order to about bit the relieving for the french people we are all europeans but we cannot state you start your different approach to all of the main countess of europe more news in thirty

minutes and thirty seconds say with czar to international. the u.s. senate struggle. over the shogi murder and calls for an end to the american involvement in the war on yemen is this a defining moment for this bilateral relationship will so-called values trump card political reality. the principle emotions. i want him to do his will. so i try to attach personal feelings.