syria and israel accuse each other of cross border missile strikes so far there have been no reports of casualties. although five million people signed a petition to sue the french government for failing to take action on climate change and. also fears grow that notorious mercenary army blackwater implicated in civilian massacres in iraq is making a comeback after a full page ad is published in a warning that we are coming. under russian town becomes the focus of a national scandal the children of a local pool of local officials go on the trip to turkey using charity money.

good evening and welcome this is all to. the israeli military's claiming to have shot down several missiles coming from syria that's up to syrian state media recused israel of attacking targets to the west of damascus find out more from our course a hell of a bus pulled paula good to see what can you tell us that about what the two sides had to say for themselves. well the situation has flared up quite dramatically between israel and syria and as you say both sides accusing the other what we're hearing from the syrian side is that they say they activated their ground to air defense missile systems in response to incoming missiles from israel what we are hearing is that they managed to intercept eight out of ten rockets now syrian state media says that they intercepted what it's calling hostile and enemy targets that were aiming at areas in the damascus region. we do seem to understand that the main target was

a weapons warehouse in that area that belonged either to iran or hizbollah both of course are enemies of the jewish state at the same time we are receiving reports that survey defense systems have been deployed near the syrian capital for the possibility that there could be further strikes from the israeli side now while all of this was happening there were explosions that were heard in southern lebanon it's not quite clear at this stage how and if they are linked but we are seeing hearing reports that israel is responsible for those we have heard from the israeli side the israeli defense forces the israeli army has issued a statement in which it says it managed to launch its defense missile systems and that they intercepted at least one rocket that was fired from the syrian side now there were explosions that were heard over cities in northern israel in the israeli side saying however that no one was injured and that there were no reports to property or any kind of damage now all of this is hot on the heels of the american

president donald trump announcing that he was withdrawing american troops from syria you might remember that just two days ago the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said that would godless of whether or not the united states withdraws israel would continue to act and act full civilly in syria take a listen. to at the bar and the decision to withdraw two thousand u.s. troops from syria will not change our consistent policy we will continue to act against iran's attempts to stop with the military presence in syria and if the need arises we will even experiment ructions the. now as a wall of israel usually doesn't confirm or deny any kind of activities or any kind of actions it conducts in syria or across its northern border but certainly for the last five years or so it's almost an open secret that israel is conducting strikes particularly against caches of weapons equipment all facilities epilogue either to

iran or the syrian president bashar al assad now we're just receiving information that three syrian soldiers have been injured we are waiting for confirmation from the syrian side but that is just the latest information in terms of any kind of casualty count certainly tensions between israel and syria are escalating earthly brings the latest from paula thank. you. all morning a half million people have signed an online petition demanding to sue fronts over climate action do basically picks up 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 a president who's 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 royd 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 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 want trump law france for weeks off to protest started president mike 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. as i'm good 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 fast if the president might call in and it seems the french president is on many people's naughty list this year. he'll have a smooth going to spread to several other countries a member of germany's left party has people to rally like the french was as they died specially 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 new your liberal policy is that a monarch is moving forward and france has already been passed and. 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 already noticed enough but they are just starting out and forming leaderships in germany we already have been understood leader of the movement which is dark next she has credible political experience and she can provide that leadership to guide us to a change in our country. we are coming that's the chilling warning in a bizarre full page gun magazine that 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 following numerous horrific reports of massacring civilians what makes them even stranger is the blackwater was renamed to academy leaving many to speculate that the infamous name is plotting its return . no wonder it would appear that there are.

there were dead bodies everywhere and it's. going to be on the only t.v. viewing so i think among the dead bodies lying on the street that's. seven years old and. we have requested comment from both the magazine and the company than our own blackwater we'll let you know soon as we hear from the order found erik prince

recently published plans to replace u.s. troops in afghanistan with a massive private army the idea was repeated to down by this man defense secretary jim mattis mattis though is now stepping down himself trump last week and out of things halting the number of pentagon troops in the country pulling the pentagon out of syria altogether and that's leading some to think it paves the way the mercenary armies to rid the co-founder of the international antiwar movement code pink that's medea benjamin billy's 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 poor 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 and in the case of afghanistan it has been over seventeen years so rather than pass this on to 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 named and shamed star photo of russian media outlets offices in the u.k. this is after an m.p. accused the organization of spreading misinformation the hounding of the outlets journalists though has been 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 say but it's

not nice to see your picture up there with your name except under the headline of being part of a crime when stooge but as i say you know it's very much part of what's going on just saying you key the sunday times has been so thorough in its reporting of the threat of so-called russian descent information 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 photographs of people who work to support the on a in 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 union of journalists and are we right 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 of russia's channel one more series of last month he did some filming outs. 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 of 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 abused him or her by causing by causing

them a stooge or to use the famous explosion about lennon there were. 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 labeled 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 international federation of journalists the international press institute and the o.s.c. you will let you know what they say when we get their response. german

magazine der spiegel says 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 glassful o.t.s. is already mired in scandal he admitted last week to fabricating more than a dozen stories there spiegel since sacked the award winning writer it's a speck of fakes more stories than those he owned up to and one man who's popularized the fake news is donald trump here's a look back at some of the year's biggest fakes according to him. i think you are fake the level of dishonesty is out of control it should be used for. the lies mr. bush 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 the mike claim 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 my review. of the in the russian spy on me in the oval office with trump turned out that she was wrong 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. closely

. or. and one trend we saw throughout the year was fact checkers retracting their fact checks what could be more embarrassing those who claim 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. i think staying with more news coming up after this short break.

the greek riots occupy wall street arab spring these are the beginnings. of the protests across europe today it was all connected it's all based on the exact same concept of bankers printing too much money creating this wealth and income gap and it's a delayed or deferred riot you know should it be there violence was baked into the fiat's cake and now leaders like back home are getting their just desserts. when i wear mine when the comb over mine. changed there are. the level of the physiology that is at the level of the brain the brain as a formal plasticity can we why your itself and not just the brain but also the rest of the body respond to.

the scandal has hit a russian town after the children of city officials travel to turkey using money donated to a children's charity medina cocina has the story. a group of children from the russian town of clinton say 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 these go to the consumer. who are in a mood with them god of the who contributes to cool to look at 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 cannot you cannot mean you thought that they needed to go to the clinic we need to do. it with you. or you could. do it you might do. what you call it gets even better or rather wars the mayor's daughter was also among the lucky ones to go to 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. our officials are the neediest people in our country the poorest. but it's not just ordinary citizens who are up in arms officials have also come out strongly against of the incidents calling and immoral and noxious after this

scandal erupted so they 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 where the candidates were chosen just as the formed to do the 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 regions as he will investigate what happened and ask for the local official who loved one being asked about the consequences but willing to put you in because of this you know one of the iraqi national congress naturally waiting well we have learnt that you no longer works there. the mayor of the town under fire is now reimbursed the costs of sending the

children of officials on the trip. china's highlighted what it calls hypocrisy of the us claims of spying by beijing accusing washington of using its embassies around the world for covert surveillance. but you know the u.s. accuses china for tagging in cyber security but the latest wiki leaks release shows the u.s. is guilty of throwing stones in glass houses or statement came after wiki leaks published a list of u.s. embassies purchases the report highlighted spy gear reportedly made for cia and national security agency global operations beijing claims u.s. embassies are being used to spy on foreign nations around the world including washington's own allies diplomatic compounds are said to have bought various spy quitman including cameras disguised as ties shirt buttons and caps embassies also purchased microphones night vision gear and secret g.p.s. locators the u.s. has yet to respond to the claims now work security expert benjamin chow 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 alleys is already common knowledge to the world president's office ellie's had openly criticized the u.s. on the use of similar equipment before a certain spying behavior are right oh right violations of 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's situation through trade but at the same time china is becoming very well equipped in mordor warfare exposure in the fender in the country in electronic warts. tennis legend martina navratilova is in the spotlight after getting embroiled in a twitter spat over transgender people participating in the sport as women clearly that can't be right it can't just be claimed herself

a female and be able to compete against women there must be some standards and have a competing as a woman would not feed that standard. the tweet provoked mixed reaction online including from cyclists rachel mckinnon who became the first transgender athlete to win a world title that's transforming genitals do not play sports what part of is related to tennis i help you see your way to regret and how you've handled this never to have a suit 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 transphobia just because she's ridge and famous and effect woke like pretensions you're the real hero hero 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 and i've got it over considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time she's also widely known as an l g b t rights activist but

following the spate of criticism of luck tweet she apologised and deleted her message the issue of transgender athletes in sport is generating huge debate you can check out more views on the issue for yourself by heading to our website r.t. dot com. that wraps it up for this evening to stay with us my colleague don hawkins are being eroded today in half an hour. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. i've been saying the numbers mean something they matter the u.s. has over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crimes happen each

day. eighty five percent of the global wealth he longs to be old for rich eight point six percent market saw a thirty percent rise last year some with four hundred to five hundred trade per second per second and bitcoin rose to twenty thousand dollars. china is building a two point one billion dollar a i industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only number you need to remember is one one business shows you can't afford to miss the one and only boom but.

i am max kaiser this is the kaiser report santa didn't bring me nothing santa is on my black list now santa's air travel. yes it's christmas day a great part of the world celebrates this as some sort of holiday i were my reindeer shirt and that's not a reindeer that's bambi there's a random deer in the forest on rudolph or reindeers or christmas events that's a law that's fake news fake news from the forest that's a close as i can get and this is my closest i can get to tinsel it looks like my tinsel jacket and that is what i'm wearing for you know we had began twenty

eighteen with the stock markets in the first six months of the year and nine months of the year really were on a tear they went up and up and up and up and many millennial zx were showing their robin-hood app screens showing how much money they were making also at the beginning of last year you had a lot of bitcoin bros and when lamb bows and to the moon story it's in the bitcoin space who are like you know we're driving our lembo is and we're so rich well the end of the year hasn't been so kind to them i want to go through some of these screen grabs here from the millennial is at the beginning there who are sharing their portfolios being up these are some pretty dramatic yolo year of living you only live once it's.