syria and israel accuse each other of cross border missile strikes so far there are no reports of casualties. in iraq and a hard place after weeks of massive yellow vest protests on one and a half million people have signed a petition to sue the french government over its alleged failure to act on climate change. fears grow that the notorious mercenary army blackwater implicated in civilian massacres in iraq is making a comeback after a full page ad was published in its name warning we are coming. plus a russian town becomes the subject of a national scandal after the children of local officials go on a trip to turkey using charity money.

for joining us here in moscow this is r.t. international. some news just in syria and israel have accused each other of cross border missile fired i.d.f. and syrian military both claim to have intercepted incoming hostile targets let's go to television our special correspondent paula slayer poor seems to be the latest in a series of clashes one of the two sides had to save themselves. well the situation flared up within the last half hour what we receiving reports now are that the syrian air defense system claims to have intercepted missiles that struck near the syrian capital of damascus what we're hearing from the syrian side is that

they opened fire on to quote enemy targets to con front them and we're also hearing from syrian state television that the strikes came from the direction of lebanon and that a number of targets were intercepted at the same time we are receiving reports that these strikes came from israel now israel has previously launched attacks in strikes in syria so this does seem part and parcel of the bigger picture we have heard from the israeli defense forces the i.d.f. and they saying however that israeli missile defenses intercepted and aircraft missiles that were launched from syria so what we're hearing on the israeli side is that they activated a missile defense system in response to syrian missile fire so both sides there giving a slightly different take on what happened the israeli saying that there were no injuries and no reports of damage at the same time israel does have a policy of not confirming nor denying any kind of strikes it carries out in syria although it is widely believed that in particularly recent months it has carried

out quite a number and these generally target either his bailout or you ran both of whom are on the supporting side of the syrian president bashar al assad. course from reporting from tolliver frank. was the one and a half million people have already signed an online petition that demands to sue france over climate in the action piles fresh problems of the french president who has tried to put kate furious yellow verse protesters who are rallying against fuel tax rises or to show that dubious q has the story. seems this was not the president the corn was hoping to find under his christmas tree on christmas day this petition is backed by four charities including two charities here in france and it's not just go on and move the one point six million signatures it's also being backed by french celebrities but we are simply going to sue the french state for its inaction

and regarding climate change we're trying to force the state to drastically reduce emissions another headache perhaps of president gore who has already been having a difficult few weeks as the yellow fest protests continue they've been going on now for more than six weeks some of the weekends here in paris have seen would have been described as the worst roit seen more than half a century. now they all started six weeks ago on nov seventeenth over plans to increase a tax on fuel here in france now that led to a president trump in the u.s.

to mock president might call over that the paris agreement isn't working out so well for paris protests and riots all over france people do not want to be large sums of money much to third world countries there are questionably run in order to maybe protect the environment chanting we won trump law france for weeks off to protest started president might called turned round and said you know what ok i've heard your cries we're actually going to scrap that field tax increase all admission now the yellow vest protest as haven't been totally a piece by that and it seems that president michel. has i'm did environmentalist's by making that decision many people saying you can't sit on the fence when it comes to climate change how can you scrap a fuel tax which is meant to be used for money to improve the environment and say at the same time that you're fighting to protect the environment. the international community remains committed to the fight against climate change fronts and your

must show the way the fight goes on and this comes amidst bad pollings for president michel as well a current polling suggests that he's at twenty seven percent follow there when he came into office when that was around sixty percent so it seems the festive period not so festive president might call in and it seems the french president is on many people's naughty list this year. the all of us protests have echoed around the world most recently in germany where an m.p. from the left parties are urging people to rally like the french was as special be more resistance in germany we need more people to come to the streets that's how we'll achieve our aims let's pressure the government the politicians to bring about social justice the quality issues in germany i even worse than in france because the new with new year liberal policy is that a monarch paul is moving forward in france have already been passed in germany. so we are seeing the facts first hand german establishment is scared because they know

that their position is untenable they know what they have done to this country and they know that the people are angry one of the problems in france is that the movement is not hardly noticed and but they are just starting out in forming leaderships in germany we already have been understood leader of the movement which is dark next she has incredible political experience and she can provide that leadership to guide us to a change in our country. we are coming that is the chilling warning in a bizarre full page gun magazine in the name of one of the world's most notorious mercenary armies blackwater. top private military contractor blackwater was banned from iraq in two thousand and seven after numerous arifin reports of massacring civilians what makes that even stranger is that blackwater was renamed to academy leading many to speculate the infamous name is plotting its return. and i wonder if

. they were dead bodies everywhere wouldn't. be among the dead bodies lying on the street that's. seven years old. we have requested comment from both the magazine and the company that now owns

blackwater we'll let you know as soon as we hear from them in the meantime blackwater founder erik prince recently published plans to replace u.s. troops in afghanistan with a massive private army was repeatedly turned down by the defense secretary jim mattis is now stepping down from last week announce that he's having the number of pentagon troops in the country and pulling the pentagon out of syria altogether leaving some to think that it paves the way for mercenary armies to return in a big way co-founder of the international antiwar movement code pink benjamin believes privatizing war is a disturbing idea. i don't think the american public would stand for a company that has been so has committed so many crimes in the past and just the idea that we would be paying for people who would be fighting for profit we've privatized so much of our military are ready but it's been all of the services that the military needs not the actual fighting itself but let's be clear about one

thing erik prince and mercenaries make money by continuing wars not by ending them so this certainly would not make any sense for an american public who has shown through different polls that they are very tired of wars that we've been in in in the case of afghanistan it has been over seventeen years so rather than pass this on to a private military i think the american public would be much more inclined to say bring the troops home get out of the world altogether and that that would be an incentive then for peace talks to actually become effective. british newspaper the times has a named and shamed staff of the russian media outlets offices in the u.k. . and of spreading disinformation on the of their list to be met with indifference by media protection groups. and initially it was it was a bit of a shock on the other hand it's kind of hardly surprising given the anti russian

sentiment there is you know travel in all your key newspapers just a bit it's yes not nice to see your picture up there with your name except under the headline of being part of a frame when stooge but as i say you know it's very much part of what's going on just saying you carry the sunday times has been so thorough in its reporting of the threat of so-called russian descent from ation that its latest story about the russian funded radio stations putin it which has a bureau in edinburgh carries the photographs of the journalists that work there labels them kremlin stooges and quotes a politician who suggests that their assets should be frozen i would good for school harassment i think putting the pictures of hauteur graphs of people who work on a newspaper like that i think is tantamount to almost it might put those people's lives in danger i'm a member of the national news journalists and are we write into my unit in the new

year to ask what do you need is planning to do about these journalists working for russian media organizations here in the u.k. have had to develop a thick skin over the past few years as tensions between london and moscow have heightened articles calling for outlets like r.t. and sputnik to be banned have become a regular occurrence but recently the big papers have gone a step further and they started singling out the journalists working for russian media outlets this is the london bureau chief for russia's channel one more series of last month he did some filming outside the gates of a british military base first story about the british army's cyber warfare unit aimed at fighting so-called russian propaganda he didn't break any laws gave his press credentials to all the security guards he met and left several weeks later the u.k.'s daily mail newspaper printed. his personal details and accused him of being a spy the story was reprinted by

a plethora of papers it ratcheted up so much that the u.k.'s defense secretary issued a statement for citizens to stay vigilant. we sent an inquiry to the defense ministry there's a form on their website but we didn't get any response filming near the base is not a legal it's a public area public land you don't need permission to film there you need permission to get inside talk to the stuff we didn't record our interaction with the security personnel we didn't try to penetrate the base the b.b.c. correspondent did the exact same thing as us it was broadcast and no one thinks of punishing him there's nothing illegal and you don't even have to work for the russian media to find yourself in hot water just expressing views that the mainstream is enough to be labelled a kremlin stooge putin's poor or useful idiot in the information war nowadays you have extreme language and if you find someone with an opinion which you

object to and you don't agree with you then abuse them or her by causing by causing them a stooge or to use the famous explosion about lenin there were useful idiots the sputnik story isn't the first time the sunday times has used the naming and shaming tactic back in october the paper took aim at the tongue in cheek i see why in my you tube channel which is funded like r.t. by russian taxpayers and fronted by yours truly the paper didn't shy away from printing my photograph and labelled the project the blue peter of russian propaganda the times didn't request a comment from r.t. or myself it seems that naming and shaming doesn't carry a right of reply. lotty asked several media organizations to comment on what happened among them the international federation of journalists the international

press institute and the o.s.c. we'll let you know when we get a response. german magazine der spiegel says that it's reporting one of its former top journalists to the police over allegations he stole donations made to people who featured in his articles class lotus is already mired in scandal after admitting last week to fabricating over a dozen stories the spiegel since sacked the award winning writer suspect he may have faked more stories than either owned up to. and i was a man who popularized the term fake news startled trump is a look back at some of the year's biggest fakes according to him. you are fake the level of dishonesty is that if you. know. who she is and how fake the risk can be very faked that one from famous catchphrase fake news has dominated the headlines ever since he first uttered it why does it

drive his detractors so crazy well some would argue that it's true false information and deceptive reporting seems to be everywhere let's review some of the fake news of twenty eighteen. well one of the most outrageous examples was the cover of time magazine it depicted a sobbing toddler representing donald trump's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents however it turns out that the girl in the photograph was not separated from her mother. who was not separated from her mother but yeah she's the face of this immigration problem and she has helped create awareness. but let's go through some other examples now folks had a good laugh when it was revealed that the washington post had actually cited the satirical publication known as click call when reporting on the fact that british people were trying to make the song american idiot by green day go through the

charts when donald trump was visiting the country and in other instances we've seen journalists just straight up making things up. for example a reporter for the web zene known as mike claimed that maria know who's just pled guilty to charges of being an unregistered lobbyist for russia was in a meeting at the oval office i thought this was a photo shoot but it's not this is memory of a receipt for the in the russian spy on in the oval office with trump turned out that she was wrong and the person in the photograph was actually a national security council staffer but in the journalist defense they both do have . red hair and we all know that all of us gingers look the same. how about a paper on canine rape culture in dog parks or a feminist rewrite of hitler's my struggle it turns out that this year fake news was used to make a political point people were submitting fake research in order to expose what they

believed was a bias in ak and damian some of the fake research got through so. closely . and one trend we saw throughout the year was fact checkers retracting their fact checks what could be more embarrassing those who claim that they are stopping the spreading misinformation actually spreading misinformation themselves and admitting to it based on what we've seen throughout the year it seems pretty clear that fake news will be well alive in twenty nineteen cable mopp and r.t. new york ok of it with no useful you have to the short break.

thank. you. what politicians do. they put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president i'm sure. that you're going to be the

first to see what the forty three of them or can't be good. interested always in the waters of our. city. the russian town after the children of city officials travel to using money donated to a children's charity. has the story. a group of children from the russian town of clint's a five hundred kilometers from moscow went on a trip to turkey the journey was organized by a charity foundation which helps children with severe illnesses and those caught up in difficult situations it to be about this go to the clean super. bowl in the movie with them at the who contributes conclude or to give of their form dream a new car out of a well turns out some of those children work kids city officials local media

discovered a video where the town's top officials try to explain why this happened went viral but you can double if you got me you've got to be needed to go to the clinic we need to do. it with you. or you could. do it but you might. be dishing it gets even better or rather wars the mayor's daughter was also among the lucky ones to go to the russians were outraged and many of them went on social media to vent their fury these super arrogant officials are fully confident in their impunity they must be fired a government official is a duty not a privilege. all right phish shows are the neediest people in our country the poorest scumbags but it's not just ordinary citizens who are up in arms officials have also come out strongly against of the incidents calling it

a moral and noxious after this scandal erupted the had of the city administration explained that the children of local officials work as volunteers and some of them are gifted members of society. talented children they are volunteers this world and it was the year of volunteers there was a special meeting with the candidates with chosen just as the fund ows to do they had of the charity foundation says there were no violations you ring the selection process she now plans an official complaint against the local media but the flames of a scandal have already been lit the governor of the region says he will investigate what happened and ask for the local official who loved one being asked about the consequences the willing to put in your book most of which it was which this you know one of the first phone. well we've learnt that you no longer works there

the matter of the town under fire is now reimbursed the costs of sending the children of officials on that trip. china's highlighted what it calls apocryphally of u.s. claims of spying by beijing accusing washington of using its embassies around the world for covert surveillance but he the u.s. accuses china of attacking cyber security but the latest wiki leaks release shows the u.s. is guilty of throwing stones in glass houses statement came after wiki leaks published a list of u.s. embassies purchases the report highlighted spy gear reportedly made for the cia and national security agency global operations beijing claims that u.s. embassies are being used to spy on foreign nations around the world including washington's own allies given that it compounds are said to have bought various spy quitman including cameras disguised as ties shirt buttons and caps and this is also purchased microphones night vision gear and secret g.p.s. locators u.s.

is yet to respond to those claims meantime network security expert benjamin child told us that this would be not just a violation of international law but also of agreements with beijing the now infamous u.s. eavesdropping of its alley's is already common knowledge in the world president's office ellie's had openly criticized the us on the use of similar equipment before a sudden spike in behavior are right oh right by allegiance to international laws and agreements not to mention mention trust for example the u.s. and china have signed agreements a few years ago or on stopping spying activities for commercial purposes the more than china is a peaceful country and we believe in women situation through trade but at the same time china is becoming very well equipped in modern warfare exposure in the fending the country in electronic warts. tennis legend martina navratilova is in the spotlight after getting embroiled in a twitter spat over transgender people who take part in the sport as women. clearly

that can't be right you can't just be claim herself a female and be able to compete against women there must be some standards and have competing as a woman would not fit the standard tweet provoke mixed reaction online including from cyclist rachel mackinnon who last year became the first transgender athletes to win a world title that's transforming genitals do not play sports what part of related to tennis i hope you see your way to regret and how you tremble this never to have us through it is just another variation on someone saying that if you have a piece you're not a woman let's get real and stop pretending she isn't trans phobic just because she's rage and famous and effect woke like pretensions you're the real hero here and martina the truth is painful to some but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be spoken it's incredibly disappointing that you've been intimidated into backing down from telling the truth or to live is considered one of the greatest tennis players

of all time she's also widely known l g b t rights activist but following the spate of criticism she apologized and deleted tweet. the issue of transgender athletes in sports generating huge debate so you can check out more views by heading to our web site that is out dot com. that brings you right up to date join me in half an hour for the latest. you know world of big through things a lot and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell. me to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the path 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 watching closely

watching the hawks. seem wrong. to me. yet to stamp out disdain become educated and engage with equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart. just to look for common ground. well so you will be in luck that is your last year's does do you know that was what

gave us it would the people most of congress or not all what i mean. i mean. really a local superman film he can use he has you know if you buy if. you're in the stuff and they leave you. with a few more in their favor one within them what are most muslim people many muslims in this film i will. i will start to feel.

dead. i've always been lucky had a great education a good job and enough money to live on. and it's more about where i would sleep i could eat but now i'm facing christmas alone. the streets on the. city come

to the. pub it is just some of the hotel i bought some you know disappointed in the food still give out food for the homeless to. her. life. because you don't really feel like a human being in it. and then. the guy just came over smithsonian de mille says you have this bucket.