saying there are no. judges drop. dead. presidents. in relations. and away from protests spreading across. over the country's economic problems.

let's get into your top stories for this hour welcome to them so ultimately this is the story that russia has now successfully tested a public test which is a new hypersonic strategic missile cold. and president vladimir putin called it quote an excellent new year's gift to the nation well let's get some details on this now. joining us here live in the studio. any reaction any world reaction to this test yet well of course it's sort of has been the flavor of the year for the russian military in twenty eight. happened yesterday we saw the video of the going to show we just in a few moments from now but the reaction has been well it's been scanned mongering mostly the latest headlines. are saying that well explain why you washington has. the obvious reason is of course the previous. by the u.s. . have any measures anything to counter those missiles so they have no means

of defending against them and so really this is this does continue because the first time the russian president vladimir putin unveiled that these new weapons are ready our combat ready indeed was in march and it followed by a worldwide hysteria and so now this latest video of the russian defense ministry is not looking really good let me put in calling this of all god tests an excellent new here is a gift to the nation why why is this launch so important and basically what exactly is on god well first to understand what is in god i would like to invite all of us' to have a look at the said video of the test because it is the first time the sequence of the launch was filmed in full have a look. so

you can see going up into the air from the ground and. this weapon is some of the most advanced that russia has and some of the of the most advanced weapons in the world really because it's hypersonic it is classified as a glider and now i suggest that we all have a look at a clip that we compiled for our viewers explaining why this is so breakthrough.

so do use in it. and it's hollywood uses like composite materials which allows it to travel so far and at such a speed i mean twenty times the speed of sound also one of its key features is that it is being classified as a glider so it means it could carry it can change the trajectory as it flies that's why it is so difficult to intercept it and that is why apparently even the united states are admitting that they have no ways of and no effective ways to intercept it so that's why vladimir putin did indeed call it a great new year's gift for russians have a listen. you easy they haven't go system is invulnerable to any current missile defense system of a potential enemy this is a big victory for him but he was. calling it a big victory there the russian president vladimir putin you go to you're talking about you know speeds here twenty times the speed of sound of forty tons ranges numbers that frankly no one's really even seen or heard of before but of course

when you talk about washington being a bit concerned about this and washington saying they don't have any effective counter measures does russia's missile program does it pose a threat to global security because it looks evan it looks pretty wondering well it can pose a threat to the security of any country in the world as at least that's what is being that is the claim made by the russian defense ministry and by the russian president but the thing is the word fear that we saw in one of the headlines at the beginning of this block of this news piece is not really very accurate because washington nobody really has to fear these missiles because it's military doctrine even russia doesn't have the offensive sort of the the doesn't reserve the right to go on an offense for example even in its nuclear capability and the seven god missile is nuclear capable so the whole thing about the military the russian military being so much in flavor this year is about russia feeling intimidated

that's what moscow include the kremlin has been saying for a while now i mean it all boils down not just to the old as history story of nato expanding to with russia's borders and russian diplomats spending countless hours of trying to persuade many to sheaves to stop this expansion but also it is the u.s. pulling out of the i.n.f. treaty so russia feels at risk of being dragged into another race and broken memories of a cool war now it's so it's not just about this one particular missile it's just it's about the russian military. as a whole it does not seek to intimidate others unless it feels intimidated itself. thank you. we discussed the situation with defense analyst ivan eland who believes that the current political climate could spark a new arms race if it hasn't already. well i think the u.s. is also working on these types of thanks on 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. has defenses can deal with them but existing u.s. defenses aren't that good against regular missiles so it is start. 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 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. french judges have called off a two decade long probe into the deadly attack on the former rwandan president's

plane which ultimately led to the genocide in one thousand nine hundred four investigation was a stumbling block between the two countries it was looking into several rwandan officials close to the current president in connection with the death of the country's former leader the decision comes off the reports that france also rejected a bid by human rights groups to reopen a separate probe into whether the french military shed any of the blame for the deaths of hundreds of people they promised to rescue during rwanda's genocide and one quarter takes a closer look. today we're being asked to leave with the people who killed our family were told they're

sorry they will do it again and some people believe that i'm not one of. the fighting was triggered by the downing of a plane carrying the french backed president in one thousand nine hundred ninety four hutu extremists blamed the rebels and the rebels denied involvement for the past twenty years paris has pursued those responsible for the assassination but not anymore the inquiry has reportedly been dropped over insufficient evidence. we have to interpret this decision by friend judges as a form of resignation faced with a political context which prosecutors did not know how to fight over the years france suggested the tutsi rebels headed by the current president paul kagame they were behind the attack they even charged seven people close to the leader pull could be the physical elimination of rwanda's then president was seen as the only means to achieve his political ends a total victory this process of the massacre of the from the so-called interior the

rwandan government flatly denied the allegations and cut diplomatic ties with france fast forward and roll want to has some nice words for the french i think the president. put it takes a. different. i think. does an open mind to. how times have changed the world bank considers rwanda to be more business friendly than much of the developed world and france seems to have an interest macron even back to rwanda's pick for the head of francophonie group of french speaking countries. if there were to be an african candidate this. and had the friend that would make you love to send it's i think that the rwandan foreign minister has

a leading us but she's found sure france and rwanda have had their differences in twenty five years since the genocide justice has never been fully served but for the present it looks like that doesn't have to stand in the way of a little money making. quarter. clashes have gripped after the death of a journalist who set himself on fire he was protesting the country's growing economic problems and the rest is drawing comparisons to the events that led to today's us revolution in twenty eleven and ultimately that of the arab spring uprising up the story. is. the story.

for our people who have no means of subsistence today i started a revolution i'm going to set myself on fire eight years after the arab spring and tunisia is still in turmoil with protests over the economic situation and the high unemployment rate in january of two thousand and eleven the old school dictator ben ali was forced to step down the democratic transition gave way to a new constitution and for free elections that paved the way for pro western secular forces to dominate the new government back then u.s. president barack obama hailed the progress toward democracy and called it an amazing transformation musial was the first country to undergo the transformation we know as the arab spring and given it is now the first to have a low. actions we thought it was appropriate that tunisia would be the first to visit the white house for excellent progress that's been very good to be this

transformation. and for. there were very high hopes as well but the recent round of protests sparked by the journalist suicide show that many feel that things haven't really improved and that stability is fragile condition but who should the reasons for this young man suicide pull that see isolation and the difficult circumstances journalists face in tunisia and benefit and this tragedy sums up the status of journalists in tunisia he was driven to do it because of possible living costs journalists work with no contract and earn poverty wages. in fact a large number of journalists live in a fragile situation both financially and legally and i see that with a large number of journalists and she needs you know since the arab spring to me she has followed the path of liberal reforms advocated by western leaders and governing is still widespread the overall living situation has been improved

teachers among other public employees have been pretty badly affected there have been calls for mass protests and when it comes to the european union back then the e.u. demonstrated its support for the transition to democracy by implementing the three m's money mobility and markets however the high hopes have been widely disappointed and now it seems that the clout of the european union has declined in the countries that had revolutions many people have lost hope. probably some. expectations. uprising. two thousand and eleven but their government has been able to deliver. high hopes on the economic situation has deteriorated. unemployment really. sky and in some areas while there have been some improvements we've had the elections

in tunisia you know. more freedoms enjoyed by the population more freedom of expression freedom but i do protest but at the same time social and economic problems the basic infrastructure of problems that existed at that time are still there that whether we will see similar. results this time i think it's through early so there are many similarities but there are also many differences the same time that we're seeing. as tunisia streets once again fill up with protesters in response to another public suicide it seems that western style free markets and free elections haven't solved the country's walls the amazing transformation seems to have left many on satisfied cable mopp and r.t. new york. britain's at the times newspaper has printed

a highly controversial interview with a chechen fighting against anti-government forces in eastern ukraine the head of his battalion that is fight his way out in syria and the leader was even part of a terror group committing atrocities in russia and the up a trend has been. so. 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 and 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 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 the bid to church and had 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 classes first. 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 literal people who home the ukrainian media space and play along to putin's propaganda recruitment agents some are just useful idiots when 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 complete long military conflict especially supported by arms and money from outside have always attracted people different groovy does it seem happening in syria reveal who support religious fundamentalism is coming from far away and who else will they find in ukraine these jihadi fighters how pure crain realize its agenda of suppressing dissent think it's intentional try to whitewash the connection of the ukrainian government to these groups while knowing that they are their core cooperating with the ukrainian government supposedly the jihad as are the biggest threat to the western world for the last how many a couple decades now but the government of britain and for that matter the deep state in the united states they certainly don't look at it that way they look at these groups as useful i don't know how many readers when they see a story like this really know what the background is for example let's take of the look at the relationship that m i six the british intelligence agency has with the

white helmets who are essentially a public relations group for al-qaeda and it live province and elsewhere in syria does anybody how many people put two and two together and say wait a minute this doesn't smell right why is our government why is the british government which is a close ally of the united states working with these terrorist groups i thought we were against terrorism and it is i think very hard for a lot of people to look at this and say wait a minute maybe we're not as against the terrorists as we pretend to be. we have. u.s. president. visits a u.s. troops stationed in iraq.

you know what we're going to hear. about trump announced that there will be no withdrawal of troops from iraq it was the president's first trip to iraq since taking office and it came after trump's abrupt search in last week to pull u.s. troops out of syria now that announcement was so you know we will be our kurdish fighters fearing they've been stabbed in the back with turkey vowing to launch an offensive against them the syrian government has reportedly said its troops near the kodesh held city of man bridge where tensions have been on the rise and fall asleep reports this has been confirmed by auti sources that syrian troops have arrived in the province of which is in northern syria and it is an area that is

controlled by the u.s. backed kurdish fighters has 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 engage in activities against the syrian democratic forces so kurdish commanders have made

commitments that they will turn over areas to local populations as they have been so tremendously successful in 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 friend threatened that man beach would be the next target as i said before our relationship is at a critical juncture either we must put it back on track or it will further deteriorate bustin of man vision is one that as i said is going to be given priority in our joint work and are therefore and this is one of the as the four measure of it kate is one of the issues for us to work together when.

we have a part of syria and two we don't support separatism my two once an agreement to be reached. a spot on a free syria well remember this is right at the corner where all these forces meet the u.s. forces and s.t.'s the kurdish forces as well as the arab militias that are supported by turkey and turkey has demanded the handover of this town mendez for months now 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 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 end. troops work so it could be a stand off by there are some of our top stories for this thursday december the twenty seventh on international though many more still to come with the top of the

hour hope you can join us this. match geysers financial survival guide liquid assets not those that you can convert music that's quite easily. to keep in mind though as a tremendous place in a large does record. what politicians do. they put themselves on the line they get accepted all rejected. so when you want to be president or injury. or somehow want to be rich. that you'd

like to be close to see like them before three in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters in the. west sydney. well 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 a nearly impossible until the united states kind of settled this domestic divide with the environment and in d.c. he's you know i hate to see these laws 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 do it you're damned if you don't.

come to russia no one's ever known one has ever heard of a country never even heard about most.

i was in los angeles it was march of one thousand nine hundred one and. i go over and i look out the window and there they are. so i was arrested in that day and i wanted her to. i understand she has not got a body and i could produce one she did me but just to save her all the scam not as my daughter so she wouldn't do this. they were under. i could not plead guilty to everything that they accused me of. i said not guilty. plea i was convicted for conspiracy and dire received twenty four year sentence. there's a way in which you have to see the conspiracy law as

a very important tool of law enforcement if the crime is selling drugs and some men in miami sells twenty kilos of cocaine to an undercover agent you want to ask who is the seller working where does the money go if the money goes back to a drug lord in colombia who's going to keep the proceeds he's in the conspiracy even though he actually wasn't there when this sale took place he's a conspirator and so part of the goal of the conspiracy law is to make sure that the most senior level all of those in the criminal organization are justly punished the problem is when you flip it around and the lowest level people in the criminal organization get punished just like they are the key. and that's the big problem

and the way in which the conspiracy laws are being applied. i know end up in federal prison in dublin california i realized that i would need to spend a lot of time in the law library. i needed to film from a arise my sound my case and everything that had gone wrong if you furthered the conspiracy one step you're guilty for everything in the conspiracy no matter when you entered the conspiracy it could have been the last day. because i had collected some money on i technically was guilty conspiracy. held responsible for everything that everybody else had done and my sentence my twenty four years was established based on the sum total of all the acts the thing that sandy had manufactured that's where my ears came from my ears didn't. they.