syria and israel accuse each other of a cross border missile strike damascus says three of its soldiers were injured after. more than half a million people signed a petition to the french government for failing to tackle action on climate change . fears grow the notorious mercenary army black. rock is making a comeback. but it's. coming. after the. group go on a trip to turkey. thanks

for joining us live on r.t. international. you're very welcome with us on the rundown this hour now the israeli military has claimed to have shot down several. coming from syria syrian state media saying three soldiers have been injured in an israeli strike. to the west of damascus. reports from tel aviv. 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 are hearing that the israeli strikes have caused damage to an ammunitions

depôt and that three syrian soldiers have been injured 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 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 we're godless of whether or not the united states withdraws israel would continue to act and act forcibly in syria. decision to withdraw two thousand us troops from syria will not change our consistent policy we will continue to act against iran's attempts to start with a military presence in syria and if the need arises through even expand operations there certainly tensions between israel and syria are escalating. more than

one and a half million people have signed an online petition demanding to sue france over climate action. takes up the story seems this was a lot the president that much 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 well 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. it's an action 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 press 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 right seen more than half a century. now

they all started six weeks ago on nov seventeenth over plans to increase attacks on fuel here in france now that lead to a president from 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 four weeks after the protests 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 has i'm good environmentalist's by making that decision many people saying you call or 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 like polling suggest that he's at twenty seven percent follow them 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 now the yellow vest

movement has spread to several other countries as well a member of germany's left party has urged people in her country to rally like the french they was what is often dies now should be more resistance in germany we need more people to come to the streets that's how we will achieve our aims let's pressure the government the politicians to bring about social justice need equality issues in germany i even worse than in france because the new new liberal policy is that a monarch is moving forward in france has 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 already nice 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 advert in the name of one of the world's most notorious mercenary armies blackwater the top private military contractor was buying from iraq back in two thousand and seven after numerous arifin reports of massacring civilians will make the i'd even stranger is that blackwater was renamed academy it in money to speculate that the infamous name is plotting its return. i know we're here in america that. there were dead bodies everywhere. among the dead bodies lying in the street that's. seven years old.

and we have requested comment from both the magazine and the company that now owns blackwater we haven't got a response as of yet the blackwater found erik prince recently published plans to replace u.s. troops in afghanistan with a massive private army that idea was repeatedly turned down by defense secretary jim matters he's stepping down although trump just last week announced he's halting the number of pentagon troops in the country pulling the military out of syria altogether that leads to some to think it paves the way for mercenary armies to

return in a major way the co-founder of the international antiwar movement code pink benjamin believes that privatizing war is a dangerous precedent. 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 was shown through different polls that they are very tired of wars that we've been in 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 i'm shane stauffer the russian media outlets offices in the u.k. offer a politician accuse the organization of supporting misinformation hounding of the journalists from the outlet but 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 nz russian sentiment there is you know travel in all you key newspapers just say but it's yes not nice to see your picture up there with your name makes h.r. and under the headline of being part of a name when stooge as i see it 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 can. he's the photographs of the journalists that work there labels them kremlin stooges and quotes a politician who suggests that the assets should be frozen i would good for school harassment i think putting the pictures of photographs of people who work. 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 journalists are we right into my living 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 b.b.c. correspondent did the. 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 labeled 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 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 to came at the tone 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 or did ask several media organizations to comment on what's happened among them the international federation of journalists the international press institute and the o.c. as well we'll let you know when we do get a response from. german magazine der spiegel says it's reporting one of its former top journalists that the police over allegations he stole donations made to people he feels for in his articles class is already modern scandal after he admitted last

week to fabricating over a dozen stories there spiegel has since sacked the award winning writer it suspects him or faked far more stories than he's owning up to. and one man who certainly popularized the fake news this year is donald trump and here's a look back at some of the biggest fakes. thank you afaik the level of dishonesty is out of control for me it was for me i realized this the issues and how fake the press can be very. telling 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 show but it's not this is memory of the receipt for the in the russian spy 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 damia 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 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 while alive in twenty nineteen. r.t. new york. china has accused the us of hypocrisy over its spying activities we'll have that story another still to come after this break.

when our mind when the content of our mind is changed there are. the level of the physiology that is at the level of the brain the brain as a form of plasticity can rewire itself and not just the brain but also the rest of the body responds.

to the program scandal has hit a russian town after the children of city officials travel to turkey using money donated to a children's charity but in the cost of a picks up 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's a bit these go to the consumer. who are in the mood with them god of the who contributes computer to work with 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 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 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 with the candidates with chosen just as the formed to do they had of the charity foundation says there were no violations hearing 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 woman who put it 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 mayor of the town under fire has now reimbursed the costs of sending the children of officials on that trip. china has highlighted what it calls support chrissy over the u.s. claims of spying by beijing accusing washington of using its embassies around the

world for covert surveillance but he until the u.s. accuses china for tagging cyber security but the latest we get weeks really shows the u.s. is guilty of throwing stones in glass houses the statement came after wiki leaks published a list of u.s. embassies purchases the report highlighted spy gear reportedly made for cia and n.s.a. global operations. as u.s. embassies are being used to spy on foreign nations around the world including washington's own allies and diplomatic compounds are said to have brought various spy quitman that includes cameras the skies the thais shirt buttons and caps embassies are also purchased microphones as well as night vision gear and secret g.p.s. locators the u.s. has yet to respond to those claims network security expert benjamin shell told us this would be not just a violation of international law or but also of agreements with beijing. the now infamous u.s. eavesdropping of is ellie's is already common knowledge in the world president's

office ellie's and openly criticized the us on the use of similar equipment before a sudden spike in behavior are right oh right by late into the international laws and agreements not to mention mention trust for example the us 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 limited situations through trade but at the same time china is becoming very well equipped in modern warfare exposure in the fending the country in electronic wars. tennis legend martina navratilova is in the spotlight after getting involved in a twitter spot 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 competing as a woman would not feed the standard tweet provokes

a very mixed reaction online including from cyclist rachel mckinnon who lost the became the first transgender athletes to win a world title. that's transform genitals do not play sports what part of it's related to tennis i hope you see your way to regret and how you've handled 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 transphobia just because she's rage 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 of a tale of a is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time she was also widely known as an l.l.c. with the rights activist are following the spate of criticism she apologized and deleted tweet the issue of transgender athletes of course in sport is generating

a huge debate you can check out more views on the issue at our website dot com there's the headlines for this hour up next it's the documentary channel incarcerating us we'll see you back and i'll find out. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or something want to be preached. to the right person it's like. three in the morning people are. interested always in the why. should.

where is that comes to russia no one's ever no one has ever heard of a country you never even heard about most.

by the way thank a person or bother to think of them at all that is or is about them save us a of them was us the tour was completely divorced from human so. the justice department said today the inmate population of federal and state prisons in this

country is at an all time high. the public sees a need for more prisons because crime is the number one concern of the people in this thing. moved too many inmates in not enough space to. another crime another. country and already fed up with the stuff. in america with all of this going to. prison population or just want to. comment on. a shocking new number was released today that deserves our undivided attention one out of every one hundred americans is now behind bars walked up to the prison board

trade. the most important thing. is to talk from your heart if you have more than one child give a like an overall message but then do an individual one to each child throw them a kiss or talk to them about what you do daily the rest should be just you if you've written a porn we've had people pray we've had people saying one guy showed his little boy how to shoot a basket the creative. these are gifts to your children. the families of punished right along with. they have found people don't think so but the collateral consequences of somebodies incarceration a fax not just that whole family but it affects us whole community and affects you .