washington expresses concern. new hypersonic weapons saying there are no effective counter measures the. final test was successfully carried out on wednesday. the wave of protests spreading across after the death of a journalist. protesting the difficulties of being a reporter and that of the country's economic problems. the judges drop a two decade long probe into the deadly attack on the former president's plane it's a case that's long been a thorn in relation. to surprise visit to iraq to meet with the country's

leadership but ends up only holding a simple phone call. or your top stories for this thursday december the twenty seventh welcome to the program here this is. russia has successfully tested a new hypersonic strategic missile named god president vladimir putin called it a big event for the armed forces and the country as a whole but earlier in this program i spoke with a correspondent from will. tell us about the media reaction to this. launch did certainly become a top news story all over the world those analytical pieces that have had a chance to come out there were more along the lines of why the united states should feel this missile and i should say it kind of does can. the same messages

that we've been that we've been seeing for months really because this evan god missile was one out of five vance two weapons unveiled by vladimir putin back this march and that's when just everybody went bonkers and everybody should feel scared even though it has been since the message of the russian government that it is purely defensive that these weapons they are meant to defend russia not to attack any other country obviously a very important launch certainly for the security of russia or and as is said by the russian president vladimir putin he was talking about this system back in march the first of this year but what exactly is well first i would like to stop as to why exactly this new inch is important it is important because it is the final test before this missile goes into service and now let's just have a look let's enjoy how it unveiled.

as for what exactly happened god is well it's just one of the most advanced weapons and missiles in the world is a quick preview of what it's capable of really. so it's incredibly it's incredibly precise and also it is classified as sort of a glider missile what it means is that it doesn't go beyond the earth's atmosphere it travels through it and this is what allows it to go really low like a prone sort of thing and to. maneuver very unpredictably that's why everybody is

so concerned that's why even the united states is saying that it apparently doesn't have any means of intercepting it because of its unpredictability and maneuverability but as putin has been saying since day one with the other guard system this is to act as a deterrent this is a defensive system was what he in volved in any way with the outs will final test while he is the commander in chief so he watched this final launch and also it was a bladder putin who announced that this mess the russian military will get the first units of this missile as soon as next year that's why russia kind of made an emphasis this year to world roll out as many new and advanced weapons as possible keeping the country safe you know you've got to talk to me about the balance of power here how does this new apple guard missile system affect global security well sure it's a missile so by definition it is designed to destroy things to obliterate them to do damage but so does pose

a threat but there are two different sorts of how you can pose a threat one thing is saying look we have this new found seem so we're just going to attack you all now and destroy your countries and another thing is saying look we have this new advanced weapon so we are ready to defend ourselves but only if we're faced with any aggression and this has really been the case with this message and as put by the russian president vladimir putin have a listen to shows the u.s. is now leaving the iron if treaty was going to happen it's hard to imagine what if the rockets are located in europe what should we do which is of course we will have to ensure our security with some concrete steps not say later we're trying to get an advantage we're not trying to get an advantage but merely to seek your balance to ensure our security and this really applies not just to this particular message or as a matter of fact to any other for weapons unveiled by the russian president in march this is about. the russian military as

a whole because the country has been pushing forward its military capability all year it has been sort of the flavor of the twenty teens so to speak but it hasn't been in the offensive sort of way russia has been maintaining that it is a measure of deterrence and not of aggression we discuss the new weapons implications for global security with a number of experts. but i think the u.s. is also working on these types of thanks and 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. a dui existing u.s. defenses can't deal with them by existing us and defenses aren't that good against regular missiles so if 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 government 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 coeur to you know cool off the arms race and you know loggins and limits on these types of weapons as well i think that is a motive i think it's in the interests of the russian people the american people in the whole world to not see an increase in a new arms race the danger here is that the u.s. military establishment is going to react to this by saying well we need to poorer ever more money into developing our own hypersonic missile systems and we have a new new escalated arms race of course right now the united states is spending seven hundred billion dollars a year on its military which is more than the next nine countries combined so we know who's leading the way in the in the military arms race but i think russia i

would assume they're hoping that this can be a reality check and bring and promote more negotiations and less military development. violent clashes have gripped tunisia after the death of a reporter who set himself on fire it was protests. growing economic problems and the difficulties of owning and living as a journalist the incident is drawing comparisons to the events that led to today's us revolution in twenty eleven which was also started with the man who bunton self and of course all of that eventually led into thoughts of the arab spring.

brought people who have no means of something 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 is the arab spring and given it is now the first to have elections we thought it was appropriate that tunisia would be the first to visit the way this

excellent progress that's been. going to be just transformation to be inclusive 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. the reasons for these young men see. you saw a poll that sea isolation and the difficult circumstances journalists face in tunisia and benefit as this tragedy sums up the status of journalists in tunisia he was driven to do it because of the impossible living costs journalists work with no contract and earn poverty wages and laying on the facts 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 chinese you sense the arab spring tunisia has followed the path of liberal reforms advocated by western leaders and poverty is still widespread the overall living situation hasn't 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 of them have had high expectations. of uprisings in two thousand and eleven but their government has not been able to deliver. the high hopes on the economic situation has deteriorated. and unemployment is really. sky high and in some areas while there have been some improvements we've had

elections in tunisia you know. more freedoms enjoyed by the population both here freedom of expression and freedom but i had to protest but at the same time social and economic problems the basic infrastructure of problems that existed at that. are still there that whether we will see similar. results this time i think it's truly there are. many similarities but also many differences. that we're seeing here 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 whoa the amazing transformation seems to have left many on satisfied cable mopp and r.t. new york. french judges have called off

a two decade long probe into the deadly attack on the form over one president's plane which ultimately led to the genocide in one thousand nine hundred four the 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 a 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 had promised to rescue.

today we're being asked to leave with the people who killed our panel where it's all there sorry they will do it again 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 for pul could be the physical elimination of rwanda's then president was seen as the only

means to achieve his political ends a total victory and this at the price of the massacre of the. so-called interior the rwandan government flatly denied the allegations and cut diplomatic ties with france fast forward and roh want to has some nice words for the french i think the president. has. put it takes a. different. i think. doesn't open your mind to things 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 as pick for the head of francophonie group of french speaking countries. if there were to be an african candidate and head to francophonie that would make

a lot of senates i think that the rwandan foreign minister has all the expertise for that role but sure france and rwanda have had their differences and 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 donald quarter r.t. your program or so interested. people feed the economy because they buy scratch tickets scratch off lottery tickets they live in the ghetto in new york you know the red apple grocery store uptown have the highest prices in town right in 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 felt on the backs of the poor america was built on the slave market america has built up prison labor to give them

a look that they 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 groovy lot and conspiracies it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that made history media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door on the back and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight. for the middle for the troops the time is now we're watching closely watching the hawks. are going to join us today at the u.s. president will hold trump and his wife of paid a surprise christmas visit to u.s. troops in iraq and what looked a bit like

a rock star entrance so soldiers taking selfies and signing autographs. the visit didn't old go quite to plan though also on the agenda was a meeting with the iraqi leadership however the two sides apparently couldn't agree on the format of the meeting which then ended up being replaced by a mere phone conversation with the head of one of the two main blocs in iraq's parliament was not at all amused by trump's surprise visit branding it a blatant violation of sufferance he will let's get some more details on this here

or not see it national and that's going to risk a middle east expert based in beirut ali great to see you today thanks for coming on r t this whole trip was that a christmas surprise for the troops but surely baghdad must have known that the trip was coming i mean do you think we can read anything into the fact that the envisioned meeting between trump and the iraqi leadership just failed to happen. yes it is quite strange if you are asked me you know what i president of the u.s. goes to a country and doesn't meet with its leaders. and the fact that there's a only a phone call all this points to something you know or a strange which has taken place you know there could be various explanations trump is quite an orthodox in his approach to international affairs and maybe that's this on orthodox approach is what caused this is this agreement maybe he wanted the iraqi officials to come to him and sort of view him going to visit them that's what caused a problem with donald trump you never know what exactly it is but as i said it's

very strange when you know the person that the u.s. goes to a country and doesn't meet with his officials but i think that what caught my attention in this visit was the statement which trump said about the possibility of deploying get you wish commandos on the iraqi border with syria. to quote my attention personally and i would remains to be seen if those statements are in response to some of his critics who said that you know leaving syria would allow full i just to emerge once again so trump is responding most saying or prevent that from happening by stationing troops on the iraqi border with syria or does it indeed reflect a strategy that thomas wanted to pursue you know putting these troops i think and i want to i want to just sort of join you on this i do apologize ali for interrupting forgive me please but you very very very good point here saying and as you were saying as well that trump recently announced he was pulling troops out of afghanistan and also out of syria saying ultimately that the eisel threat there has

been or is being eliminated do you think iraq should have been added to that list as well with u.s. troops being pulled out of iraq. well personally yes i do think that iraq should have been added to the list but today's visit i think in that case for the time being that it won't be out of this list you know trump said that he would give them to me for the time being they're going to stay at the same time you know as i said with trump you can never be sure you know you could hear or see a tweet to in twenty four hours but as things stand as they are there doesn't seem to be any intentions of the americans to withdraw from iraq also you have to bear in mind that the iraqi that this saw use of american troops in iraq is a lot more a lot bigger than the size of all american troops in syria which were only two thousand in iraq also when it comes to oil which trump always focuses on iraq is a lot richer in oil than other countries where ali is that is that what you're saying you're basically saying the only reason u.s.

troops i'm so i'm so sorry but the only reason u.s. troops would stay in iraq is because of assets in the region is that what you're saying. i think that's one of the main reasons but i'm not i wouldn't say that's the only reason i think that another reason would probably be not to empty the middle east out of american troops because they would consider an american troop presence in iraq to be a condom counterweight against iran as well also this would be a source of reassurance for israel you know israel was very disappointed with the american withdrawal from syria i'm not sure the trump is ready to disappoint them that much with the withdrawal from iraq so for those reasons i think for the time being at least. probably most probably we're going to see continued american military presence in iraq middle east expert ali risk joining us live here on the international always a pleasure thank you for your time. thank you. britain's times newspaper has printed a highly controversial interview with a chechen fighting against anti-government forces in eastern ukraine the head of

his battalion earlier admitted that his fighters wage jihad in syria and that their leader was even part of a terror group committing atrocities here in russia and the trunk of his students 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 their 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 be it a 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. here 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 kurds straight naval classes 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 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 movie does it seem happening in syria we've easily support allegiance fundamentalisms coming from far away and who

aus will 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 of the united states they surely don't look at it that way they look at these groups as usual 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 i my 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 os the ukrainian government on military is a comment on the times report about them working with terrifying to fight as well let you know of any response for the meantime though that wraps up the program for this hour here on our international my colleague new day or two it will be here in about twenty five minutes with more of you thursday news headlines for the meantime though thanks for joining us.

when our mind when the content the lower mind ease changed there are fees out of 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 the body respond to. my seven mis doing drugs my nephews was still in drugs my sister just with doing drugs it was like an epidemic of drug abuse america's public enemy number one in the united states is drug abuse we started going after the users in a prison population sewer we started treating sick people people who are addicted to these drugs like criminals while i was on the hill i increasingly became convinced that the war on drugs was a mistake there are countless numbers of people who are in prison for.

a long sentence in this for minor minor offenders in the drug trade it's a lot watching your children grow up and miss you in waves and say by daddy as you're walking out of a business it's just it doesn't get easier. this is the kaiser report the big year for curved a lot of slow downs mostly downs oh let's get the updates from so you are just a warning i do have the giggles for some reason so just in case you know i had a very good christmas i had still the giggles from it but as we pointed in previous episodes december has been the worst month of december since one thousand thirty

one for stock markets it's also been the worst december for coincidence back in what twenty thirteen twenty fourteen so we've had a pretty bad year twenty eighteen in bitcoin and i'm going to look at some of the data. has come out in the second half are going to be talking to tony going to go deeper deeper deeper into between and the whole outlook for it but this is an interesting story that happened right before christmas just in queen base moved five billion dollars in crypto as part of an upgrade it was worried would take a toll on the market quote the five billion dollar number represents five percent of all because eight percent of the total supply of ether and twenty five percent of all like queen so queen base didn't announce this before they did it partly because they were afraid hackers weren't trying to somehow get inside it and.