i. think. that. the russian military conducts a public test run of a new hypersonic strategic missile lotty obtains unique footage of the launch. over the times interviews a chechen fighting against anti-government forces in each he trained he says that there are members of islamic state in israel. and a standoff develops around northern syria government forces are amassing there amid fears of a turkish offensive against local. is

joining us this hour this is our theater. a major new missile delivery system called avalon god's will and to russian service next year altie is the first channel to show unique footage from the defense ministry first public test run the weapon which is capable of firing nuclear missiles. it's picking off to the launch of russia's oven guard ludmer putin who oversaw live personally from defense ministries control and command center here in moscow to explain the importance of wednesday a vent saying it was great success as it was excellent new year's eve to the entire nation ending

a tooling sure russia's security for generations to calm them good. you use the more. vulnerable to any current or prospective missile defense system of a potential enemy this is a big victory for a country. russia claims that is a unique equipment and it is better than anything that any country in the world at face moment has let's take a look at some of the best features of a bang guard. as russia's president puts it it's all about protecting the country and its population in the vanguard sounds indeed like a very powerful weapon if you words about what happened exactly today the weapon

was launched from the virus key military base in russia than. as kremlin reporters successfully heat the training target on the. six thousand kilometers away of course there were different concerns over the use and the launch of ivan gart on guard weapon in the west with critics say it does not comply with the global treaties especially the so-called after treaty intimated range nuclear treaty to require in the u.s. and back then the u.s.s.r. of the treaty was signed thirty years ago in ninety eighty seven all nuclear and conventional weapons with the ranges of up to fifty five hundred kilometer is but russia says it does not now violate the treaty in any way and putin

said today after the launch that vice versa. it restores the global balance the global security balance just to remind you of unguarded was a month. nuclear weapons that putin presented during their march same the dry shahad to develop its military industry in response to us says success in this fear and developing their own anti missile defenses so definitely putin sees. floor inch and developments of military industry in russia as a response to us is moves but definitely not everybody sees it the same way we discuss the situation with defense obviously believes that the current political climate could spoke a new race. well i think the u.s. is also working on these types of things in the first one to launch one doesn't

always get to win the contest as the as we saw in the age and also in the space race but certainly. the u.s. existing u.s. is defenses can't deal with them but existing u.s. and defenses aren't that good against regular missiles so it is start this. doing away with the a.b.m. treaty is start a new arms race but i think you know we're just building more and more nuclear weapons when we should be trying to limit them and the new start treaty is coming which is the arms limitation for the longer range missiles is coming up in twenty twenty one so you know that would be a good time to cool you know cool off the arms race and you know lock in some limits on these types of weapons as well. britain's the times newspaper has printed a highly controversial interview with a kitchen fighting against antique of mint forces in east ukraine the head of his

battalion admitted that his fighters wage jihad in syria and the lead it was even part of a terror group committing atrocities in russia who patrol. so a big piece in the times on chechens on east ukraine front lines from a few dozens to more than one hundred there shoulder to shoulder with kiev's army but technically aren't part of it they're absolutely frank and open about their background saying we've been to syria in iraq we've been taught to kill by jihad it's there here's an extract from the times some of the potential ians gunman admit to having home the combat skills and islamic state training camps in iraq and syria this horrific background does get a mention what the times journalists don't mention is other elements of the commander's biography like being part of an underground movement behind the past terrorist attacks in russia which took hundreds of lives earlier another british

newspaper reported that the very same commander was against murdering civilians however he said those bloodbaths were understandable and were the only way to make moscow hear something as to why he and his fighters are in donbass now here's what it says in the times report be it a church and have a simple explanation for fighting for ukraine against kremlin backed separatists putin is our enemy he said he brings a really evil we did hear about ethnic chechen groups fighting on both sides of the front line a long time ago so why would the times bring it up now the peace follows plenty of articles on ukraine versus russia that came out lately here are some of the headlines moscow's always been described as an aggressor think the current straight naval clashes first of all yet when it comes to this report on chechen militias

ukraine's deputy minister of information policy is thinking putin's propaganda on purpose or maybe not moral people who home the ukrainian media space and play along to put. propaganda recruitment agents some of just useful idiots what i asked russian diplomats about ice a linked fighters siding with kiev's forces i was told after years of various external attempts to radicalize ukraine there isn't really much of a surprise that you could prolong military conflicts especially supported by arms and money from outside have always attracted people different views the same happened in syria reviewable who support religious fundamentalism coming from far away and who ows will they find in ukraine these jihadi fighters help ukraine realise its agenda of suppressing dissent all parts of quite a familiar story with a couple of new twists we have us the ukrainian government and military to comment

on the times reports about them working with terror linked chechen fighters we'll let you know and your response. fears are growing of an armed confrontation in northern syria around the kurdish city of the syrian government has reportedly sent troops after threats of a turkish offensive against the kurds middle east correspondent details this has been confirmed by r.t. sources that syrian troops have arrived in the province of man bridge which is in northern syria and it is an area that is controlled by the u.s. backed kurdish fighters they've arrived with some forty pickup trucks two tanks alawi's and armored personnel carriers it follows a request that was given last week by the kurds to the syrian soldiers to come and assist them and we are hearing. that they are planning an offensive so certainly the situation on the ground is intensifying not only between the troops but also between those who support them in other words the united states versus turkey now

this comes hot on the heels of the surprise announcement by the american president that the united states will be withdrawing american troops from syria. we do not support and we would oppose efforts to move south and in gaijin activities against the syrian democratic forces kurdish commanders have made commitments that they will turn over areas to local population as they have been so tremendously exists successful liberating those areas from that. we noticed more movement from the euphrates shield along the front line as turkey

before its military operation on a free and threatened that manned beach would be the next target as i said before. our relationship is a critical juncture either we must put it back on track or it will further deteriorate but you know man the issue is one that as i said is going to be given priority in our joint work you are there for him this is one of his vision for measuring good one of the issues fresh to work together with. we are a part of syria and we don't support separatism but you want an agreement to be reached and soften mystery as part of a free syria at the same time tensions are also increasing between israel on the one hand and syria and lebanon on the other the lebanese are drafting and urgent complained to the united nations security council over what they say is israeli military jets infringement of lebanese airspace it follows his waiting strikes overnight to state in which israel hit

a number of targets in the damascus area this is what the lebanese transport minister has to say humanitarian disaster which could have affected passengers of two civilian aircraft lebanon's air space during the israeli air cross invasion force strikes on the south of damascus was narrowly avoided now at the same time the russian defense ministry has issued a statement in which it says that when those israeli strikes were happening there were two civilian planes that were coming into land in beirut and in lebanon and that israeli operations endangered or could have potentially endangered civilian lives he is waiting operations happened and act and saw the syrians having to activate their ground to air missile defense systems at the same time we syrian soldiers were injured and an arms depot was badly damaged. ok let's bring in middle east analyst londoners good to have you on. it's

a very worrying sounding situation in syria sending reinforcements there they're worried of a turkish assault against the kurds how volatile would you say the situation is. well the membership is right at the corner where all these forces meet the u.s. forces and s.d.f. the kurdish forces as well as the arab militias that are supported by turkey and turkey has demanded the handover of this town mendacious for months now because it is west of the euphrates the united states and they and turkey had in a sense divided up north syria the u.s. was going to get everything to the east of the afraid east turkey to the west and they've been pushing and pulling over this one town men dish which in theory should be on the turkish side but now syrian forces have rushed up north to sit right at the edge of many big and it looks like this could be

a sparking point for the scramble for northern syria is that related would you say to the u.s. pulling out. absolutely because of the u.s. had stopped turkish forces from moving in there and now the u.s. is pulling out turkey is determined to take that town but the syrian government is equally determined to get in there and stop turkey from moving eastward right through where the american troops were because both the syrian government and the turkish government are demanding just territory so it could be a standoff if they can just go ahead with an offensive against the kurds would you anticipate any kind of reaction from the united states. oh yes i think so i think the united states would be warning turkey not to do this russia has also warned turkey not to do it the kurds of course are are apoplectic there's screaming

they've been stabbed in the back by the united states and they're they're trying to get the. sympathies of u.s. politicians of which they i think they have a large degree. they have many friends in washington who are all trying to get the u.s. to make sure that this territory is not handed over to the turks because that could lead to a situation like a free and where there was widespread ethnic cleansing and a destruction of kurdish towns. in this kind of complicated then very unusual situation where a lot of change could we see the kurds forming an alliance with with the syrian forces. absolutely and as we speak there are negotiations taking place between the kurds and the syrian government the syrian government has has moved troops up to deros or a number of places ready to replace the americans and they're waiting really on a deal with the kurds because the kurds will look to damascus after all there is

a long history of cooperation between the y. d.g.'s the main kurdish militia and a mask after all those types of loss the father of bashar lost side who allowed to open an office in damascus in one nine hundred seventy s. helped the white p.g. become the dominant party in northern syria and when they withdrew in two thousand and twelve from the east of syria the syrian army withdrew in order to protect the cities of the west they handed off the entire east to the kurdish forces so there isn't a sense and there has been a long history of alliance between the kurds and the outside government and it's a complicated situation as i said in the fluidly changing really appreciate some great analysis there from the middle east expert joshua landis thank you pleasure. now israel's alleged actions are not the only serious escalation after an offensive

by them in the region turkey is warning france against backing kurdish militias in syria insisting that the french soldiers there were no benefit to anyone and stuff to france a place to keep troops in syria despite the u.s. announcing it was pulling out. if francis trying to contribute to syria's future great but if you're doing this to protect the militia this will bring no benefit to anyone mcraney doesn't want to leave right after trump because if he leaves right after trump left he's going to look like he's going to look like he's playing follow the leader he's going to look like an american puppet he's going look like he's on the bad side of a ventriloquist act with president trump and he doesn't want to look like that he wants to look strong when we look at french the french role in syria it's basically been non-existent they've played second fiddle to the united states if they think they can fill in the shoes of the united states and continue the coalition fight against isis without the u.s. france has neither the money to finance finance this operation they don't have the

boots on the ground to support the operation so it's basically a lose lose situation with france right now strange and in the name of blackwater suggests the notorious mercenary group is making a comeback we'll have details after the break.

when our mind when the content of our mind is changed there are easy to ration 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 levels of the rest of our body responds to. join me every thursday on the alex i'm unsure and i'll be speaking to us of the world of politics sports business i'm sure business i'll see you then. president trump and wife melania have made a surprise trip to iraq his first since taking office and he announced that he won't would use the u.s. military presence that more than five thousand american troops there in the country

they've been fighting islamic state terrorists since two thousand and fourteen jumps journey it comes amid critical changes in his middle east policy including pulling pentagon troops out of syria as well as talks of slashing the military presence in afghanistan. the policy shift came right after u.s. defense secretary james mattis resigned last week he also advised on the trying to keep troops in afghanistan opposing the idea of using private contractors in war the now it seems that's precisely what could happen next the explains. imagine you're sitting there on your porch reading about guns and huntin and 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 antics further disgrace the very name. but i never heard that.

there were dead bodies everywhere and this is the argument going to. be among the dead bodies a night on the street that some which was in the middle of the 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 easy for the mercenary group which was then rebranded renamed and resold into obscurity but it's presumably back now i stay to 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 down withdrawal erik prince sees an opportunity the option i was pushing the options that were considered by some of the. white house an irregular warfare option that would use cia capability special forces capability some contracted 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 the few

thousand u.s. special forces guys give them a small air force private their force and the glue cost to 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 put their mission credibility on the line privatizing it is probably not a why it's 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 and he resented her message to hand he's going after all the maddest for this to happen if we leave decisions on

warfare slowly to the pentagon we will be at war for well mr prince had been new year to you james mattis u.s. secretary of defense will leave his post on the first of january and john bolton trumps security advisor is much more pliable there are always a lot of discussions i find 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 every prince's selling point may not be that he's cheaper it's that trump and the pentagon will become less accountable gotta start will no longer be entirely their responsibility if blackwater or whoever al smetters up at the beyond 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. christmas has passed and the end of the year is near cost stories the may twenty eighth teen is our quirky media analyst lionel here's his personal look back. believe. that what i think. oh maybe you could read a little please stop it you know we're talking about. mars

as zucker berg his testimony regarding facebook social media and the loss of data his appearance before the face of before congress was a disaster nothing short of a disaster never mainstream media news in general took a hit from every conceivable angle and i believe that one of the reasons might have been. the jim acosta moment next that prompted merkel and globalist in general the did this sastre and you was a template and a learning lesson for i think most of the world. senator elizabeth warren also called why it was our focal hondas a woman whose native american ancestry was completely unraveled and disproved be a d.n.a.

. it was anything short of miraculous considering the fact that everybody in the world of politics both democrat or republican everybody the media print otherwise everybody was against him his family his legacy name it how even survives is another story but he was no regular. the revolution going on in the world right now we guarding the new platforms in the basie river mation delivery and platforms such as this are proving that this is the best source of new again why the ability to not be limited by a commercial the ability to speak freely the ability to question more if.

you saw the president from in control with chuck schumer dissolve being in the. sofa or the couch in the settee whatever you were just being lectured to with nancy pelosi saying i think we should maybe take this elsewhere and it was a chance for people to see what politicians sound like when they're really getting into it. the initial screech and clamor of revolution. we saw with the yellow mask we saw it elsewhere we saw different beginnings of what will be a cabinet close of a change in the structure of the world this is what it

was intended to be this global even up polar type of conflict as nation of the world that changed. the truth hurts. then i knew that i was thinking you never have too much he said i have too much of may so i'm going but you are incapable hands down hawkins will bring it today at the top of the hour. for 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 right and the liquor stores are

open and you buy you know more expensive in the ghetto and that's how you build an economy it's always built on the backs of the poor in america was built on the slave market america was built on prison labor to give them it looked at the good times of america the ne'er do wells it's all very well that's over we got to go back to basics. you know world of big partisan law and conspiracy it's time to wait to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door. 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.