the imminent departure of u.s. defense secretary james mattis. to relaunch say. the u.s. congress has criticized the cooperation deal between associated press. news agency . might exploit it for propaganda. seeks a second meeting with u.s. judge ordered to pay. damages to the family. to being released from.

wednesday december the twenty sixth and just off to moscow the news team here hard at work rounding up this hour's top story. the u.s. defense secretary spent his christmas working at the pentagon even off the abrupt decision to remove him from office. that he had planned to resign and james mattis wrote the following holiday to american soldiers. in this world to washington change you hold the line storm clouds loom because of you you'll fellow citizens live safe at home james mattis resigned last week after the u.s. president announced his decision to withdraw troops from syria he also advised on all trying to keep troops in afghanistan opposing the idea of using private contractors or in a war the now it seems that's precisely what could happen next as but i guess they have explains imagine you're sitting there on your porch reading about guns and

huntin all things good and then you see this ad we are coming blackwater judging by the logo the infamous private security group who is trigger happy and dick's further disgrace the very name mercenary. that. they were dead bodies everywhere are losing the argument going to be with you people and among the dead bodies lying on the street that's causing the movement seven years old.

just last week a former blackwater contractor was charged with first degree murder for his part in that slow thought it was then that things went iffy for the mercenary group. which was then rebranded renamed and resold into obscurity but it's presumably back now united states is spent dearly in blood and treasure in time in afghanistan every prince co-founder of the original blackwater now that everyone's fearful over trumps of ghana's stalin withdrawal erik prince sees an opportunity the option i was pushing the options that were considered by some in the white house in irregular warfare option that would use

a capability some special forces capability some contract a capability to strengthen to give a skeletal support structure to the afghan security forces prince is selling a new kind of war private war war waged not by governments but by corporations the plan is simple six thousand mercenaries backed up by a few thousand u.s. special forces guys give them a small air force private their force and lulu cost about five billion dollars a year a year for reference the afghan war has cost on average five billion a month for seventeen years but the pentagon is reluctant you just can't trust national security priest these reputation to merck's to guys willing to kill for money when the american put to put their mission credibility on the line

privatizing it is probably not a wise idea every prince has been absent for years he's been selling this plan since he found out that the president wanted to get out of afghanistan the president was right to campaign against endless wars but here is another message to hand he's going to all the maddest for this to happen if we leave decisions on warfare soley to the pentagon we will be at war for well mr prince had. new year to you james mattis u.s. secretary of defense will leave his post on the first of january and john bolton trump's security advisor is much more pliable there are always a lot of discussions i find them helpful i'm always open to new ideas but the issue here is different it's more about principles about morals we know how blackwater behaved in iraq we know what they did when they had immunity they ran wild they

shot and killed with abandon would you trust the same people to run an entire war trump may do it just to because. it won't have the he won't have the spotlight or the u.s. troops do it's quite conceivable that he might. buy into that idea united states has had over one hundred thousand troops in afghanistan and still the taliban has grown and in terms of its influence the answer will not be the use of private military contractors to resolve the overall problem of afghanistan but it's going to take you go shushan and discussion among the countries in that region. every princes selling point may not be that he's cheap or it's that trump and the pentagon will become less accountable gotta start will no longer be entirely their responsibility if blackwater or whoever alex messes up at the be on their heads and

it'll all be written off to plausible deniability and corporate bureaucracy so what do you think worth a try letting mercenaries run an entire war. israeli military is claiming to have shot down several anti aircraft missiles coming from syria and syrian state media saying three soldiers have been injured in an israeli strike on an arms warehouse to the west of damascus paullus leader 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 in the targets that were aiming at areas in the damascus region we are hearing met the israeli strikes have caused damage to an ammunitions and that three so when

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 can manage 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 would godless of whether or not the united states withdraws israel would continue to act and act false of lee in syria. 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 which military presence in syria and if the need arises through even expand operations there certainly tensions between israel and syria are escalating. the u.s.

congress has expressed concern over a new cooperation deal between the associated press and chinese news agency xinhua it's worried china might exploit the american of letters instruments or propaganda as you go down over explains. the u.s. government is on red alert this time quite literally after the a.p. news agency signed a memorandum of understanding with chinese counterparts who are the letter lawmakers sent to the boss of associated press explains that senior journalists are well basically all spies and shouldn't be dealt with at all. seeing who was serve some of the functions of an intelligence agency by gathering information and producing classified reports for the chinese leadership on both domestic and international events the congressmen and women who signed the letter seem to be a bit out of the loop though because here's a newsflash a.p.

and seeing who are have been partners since nineteen seventy two this memorandum is something of an official pinky promise to stay friends and make each other's jobs easier the reason them all of understanding updates a relationship that has been consistently the same since one thousand nine hundred two and opens the possibility for future commercial interactions it does not include or invision any sharing for its official intelligence information or any other technology and normally this indeed would be way under the radar of the us government but this time the chinese are involved democrats and republicans often seem like they're ready to rip each other's heads off but as soon as breaching gets in the picture oh they sing in tune nine is effort over take the united states as a world preeminent superpower china is totally eating our lunch they intend not just to supply america but all countries on earth and the west china is ruthless in

how they go after us we're in a fight with china we had to ride the china tyler earlier this year the wall street journal reported that washington was mewling branding seen hawaii as a nasty foreign agent this is what happened without seeing the us this is what al-jazeera has so far been avoiding the letter to the a.p. chief seems to continue the trend when the american government tries to sketch over the media landscape the mighty still stand for now at least but the foreign agent label begins to loom over the horizon the interest in burning the bell the congressional letter is on the one and there were. i want to. protect u.s. national security but they're trying to protect the country claims. a free enterprise system that of companies over free to tree with counterparts not only domestically but around the world so on the it's

a contradiction if you want to claim that you have freedom of enterprise on the one hand and yet you're restricting enterprise on the other hand so it's a very touchy subject and this is the question isn't there or have to go to u.s. public. and while the u.s. is worried about chinese propaganda china is worried about us buying beijing is accusing washington of using its embassies around the world for covert surveillance but here the u.s. accuses china for attacking cyber security which just like you weeks release shows the u.s. is guilty of throwing stones glass houses. 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 of aging claims u.s. embassies are being used to spy on foreign nations around the world even including

washington's own allies. diplomatic compounds are said to have bought various forms of spy equipment that includes cameras designed disguise i should say ties or shirt buttons or caps embassy's also purchased microphones night vision gear and secret g.p.s. locators the u.s. has yet to respond to the claims a network security expert or benjamin child told us this would not just be 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 to the world president's office alys openly criticized the us on the use of similar equipment before a sudden spike in behavior right away right by late into the international laws and agreements not to mention mention trust for example the u.s. and china have signed agreements a few years ago on stopping spying activities for commercial purposes and more than china is a peaceful country and we believe in living situation through trade but they the

same time china is becoming very well equipped in more than warfare expression in the fending the country in electronic warts still to come here on the program on r t a u.s. judge orders pyongyang to pay hof a billion dollars in damages to the family of a student who died after a stint in north korean custody of that and more in just a moment. so

what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confront dacian let it be an arms race is on offense very dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. when our mind when the calm tempo or mind ease changed there are fees ico. of the level of the physiology that is a bit level of the brain the brain as a form of plasticity can rewire itself and not just the brain levels the rest of the body responds it. could be with us today a u.s.

judge has ordered pyongyang to pay huff a billion dollars in damages to the family of a student who died after being released from north korean custody it is a quick look back at what happened to otto won't be. after i planted in detail to accomplish my plan i arrived in pyongyang on the early morning of january first two thousand and sixteen i committed my crime of taking out the important political slogan from the staff only area made the worst mistake of my own life but the point is. to say for me.

he was sick. lined he was dead he had a large scar on his right foot north korea is not a victim their terrorist hate today's droid hate they purposely and intentionally injured i think you need to define torture the fact that he had. an ox ache in several up at the were brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen to bring we don't know what the request was and that is i mean could that have been torture at the time we don't know we don't have enough information about what happened. at that initial insult to draw any concrete conclusions following the death of auto warm washington relisted north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in nov twenty seventh scene of rejects the arctic ocean the torture the student prior to his death and i thought all trouble getting ready for a second meeting with kim jong un we look at what consequences the war be

a case of. the us should be prudent and practice self control keeping in mind that if it persists in the anti d.p. r. k. smear campaign while i'm reasonably picking a quarrel with the d.p. r. k. over the human rights issue it will pay dearly for all the consequences rehashing accusations of badly evidenced torture against north korea seems to be a step backwards for peace especially when only several months ago trump and kim were shaking hands and making nice. anything you. can. thank you for staying. did you talk about. the man you met today as you know has killed family members has starved his own people is responsible for the death of fear why are you so comfortable calling him very. interesting how

back then trump attributed discussions on korean denuclearization to none other than otto himself or rather his death and the north was set out to win as well with the u.s. potentially lifting sanctions but the script on the significance of those deaths has now been flipped aside from kim's destruction of a nuclear test site neither side has fulfilled the promises of the singapore summit despite all the hardy pledges neither denuclearization nor sanctions relief has taken place and looking forward to the next summit it's still unclear how both sides might use all those case in the political arena. christmas present has just become christmas past christmas future is still to come and spied by the festive season germany correspondent peter all over now gives his own rendition of a classic christmas tale hello hello and welcome by the fire would you like to

hear the story one involving three spirits which is quite similar but for many reasons quite different to a christmas carol will come with me to germany where i'm going to. german journalist abbreviates and a k k he's been elected to the role of leader of the christian democratic union party. taking over from america who ran the policy for eighteen years was never going to be the task but as the clock struck worn a.k.k. was reminded of the she was pastor of the party tanking in the polls and also at the ballot box the c.d.u. and their allies took sivia losses in twenty eight. and then in. local elections it is painful for this it to you that we've lost so many votes the

losses for the c.d.u. . for the green party on the center left and the un team a gratian alternative to germany right. now after bringing tidings to kate the spirit was gone see this is how it's going to work you're with me so far right leaving the past in the past and switching to christmas present the second spirit to visit a k.k. showed her the state of play today while ms was the first choice of chancellor angela merkel to succeed she wasn't the first choice for a large groups of the c.d.u. party germany's conservatives wanted someone well a little more conservative the c.d.u. needs an awakening and a renewal at this time of migration and globalisation the modernisation must be firmly grounded in national identity and traditional values in our actions and

mindset it's uniting a group that fits the bill is pale male and stale if i was to be somewhat unfair that would be the main task for the woman now essentially the heir apparent to take over from mrs merkel when she steps down chancellor. so let's see what that spirit brings with it in the future. there's a whole load of states and other local elections lined up in germany next year that in a lot of ways will be seen or votes of whether germans believe that a k k is the woman to take the country forward i'm glad merkel plans to step down as chancellor and twenty twenty one and performances on the ballot box could decide the way it plays out so there we have it all story has come to an end and all that's left for me to do is this and to wish you all the very best from us here at r.t. and hope that twenty nineteen brings you wealth health and happiness. so christmas

time has passed and the end of the year is across the stories that made twenty eighteen as a quirky media analyst lionel has his post no look. really bad said that white russian. oh maybe you could read it oh please stop it you know we're talking about. mark as zucker burned his testimony regarding facebook social media and the loss of data his appearance before face before congress was a disaster that the short of

a disaster next mainstream media news in general took a hit from every conceivable angle and i believe one of their readers might have been. the jim acosta moment next. marco and globalists in general but did disaster and it was a template and a learning lesson for i think most of the world. there is a revolution going on in the world right now regarding the new platforms a new bases for information delivery and platforms such as this are proving that this is the best source of news again why the ability to not be limited by a commercial the ability to speak freely the ability to question more.

the initial screech clamor of revolution. we saw with the yellow vests we sought elsewhere we saw different beginnings of what will be a cataclysm a change in the structure of the world is what was intended to be this global even a polar type of congress's ation of the world that's changing. the truth hurts somewhat top stories for this hour here on international but plenty more to offer you if you're around about half an hour's time i'd love to join you that.

more people feed the economy because they buy scratch tickets scratch off lottery tickets you know when i was living in the ghetto in new york you know the red apple grocery store uptown had the highest prices in town and a liquor stores are open and you buy you know more expensive in the ghetto and that's how you build an economy it's almost built on the backs of the poor america was built on the slave market america was built on prison labor to give them a look at the good times of america the ne'er do wells it's all very swishy and swell that's over we got to go back to basics. and. boy i think it certainly makes sense for for moscow to think strong in its context with the united states i just fear that the dominant view in this city is that it is nearly impossible until the united states kind of settle this domestic divide of the environment and in d.c.

he's you know i hate to see these. was work toxic but that's exactly what it is and then i think it's in a way you know you're damned if you're doing it and if they'll. win or make us manufacture consent instead of public wealth. when the running plus the project themselves. with the crime and the merry go round lives and we don't want us there. doing all middle of the room signal. doing. real news.

will say you will be in the blood that is your last us does do you know there was what gave us it would the people not have connoisseur or not all what i mean. i mean if. you knew your local superman from him he can see as you know he was lifted by if. it was your in the form of the media. i'm with you more than with the very one within the model most north and even when he was up in the film i was in the most i was at the field.

by the way bankrupt person or bother to back up what all that is there is about those they perceive them as institutions completely divorced from your mom 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 state. too many inmates in not enough space to. another crime another. country and already fed up with the start of what would an overdose of some. of the population explosion in america would all in this country isn't

going to force water. or is not 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 them like an overall message but then do an individual one to each child throw them a kiss talk to them about what you do daily the rest should be just you.