i want the revenge. that was how it. was and. us state of alabama launched an investigation into meddling in a senator lecturing campaign twenty seven t.v. pro-democratic group is reportedly behind more than a thousand fake questions social media accounts used to diss discredit the republican bible. highlevel turkish delegation heads to russia for talks on syria this is a government forces that claim they've entered the northern syrian city of man bitch and the fear is that turkey is a bounce in the region offensive against the kurds. and the scandal surrounding a disgraced advisor to the french president why didn't the media reports claim alexander bernardo's been using a diplomatic passport long gone after he was dismissed for beating up

a protester. a very warm welcome to you watching r.t. international with meaning to our own great to have you with us this morning now our top story the u.s. state of alabama has launched a probe into an alleged meddling campaign during a twenty seventeen senate election which was earlier blamed on russia it turns out that a pro democratic billionaire funded a u.s. group they created more than a thousand fake russian bots on social media allegedly to discredit a republican rival with more on this his kellerman. the attorney general for the u.s. state of alabama is looking into democratic party dissin for mation during the twenty seventeen special election it appears that roy moore the republican candidate may have lost due to some shady activities that did not come from russia the

information is concerning the impact it had on the election is something that's significant for us to explore and we'll go from there it's been revealed that during the special election democratic party operatives worked on facebook and twitter to undermine roy morris campaign now doug jones the democrat who won is backing a federal investigation i'd like to see the federal election commission and the justice department look at this to see if there were any laws being violated and if they would prosecute those responsible for this scheme to undermine him was pretty simple create fake facebook pages and russian accounts on twitter to confuse republican voters this gave the false impression that roy morse campaign was backed by the kremlin and it put it into the mix of anti russian hysteria and the operation was carried out by the pro democratic party cyber security firm known as the new knowledge jonathan morgan the c.e.o. of new knowledge is actually considered to be an expert on these kinds of issues he apparently is the mastermind behind hamilton sixty eight

a website that frequently reports on social media activities which it blames on russia saying that they're intending to sow discord at the same time new knowledge helped release a senate report that was considered to be a bombshell about alleged russian meddling in the us presidential elections the irony is that jonathan morgan who says he's against dissin from asian is now banned from facebook for just that we take a strong stand against people who say sions to create networks of accounts to mislead others about who they are or what they're doing it seems that these companies have all become meddling experts for the mainstream media that frequently covers reports about alleged russian descent from a ship to get out paris of. lee has not chosen to run with this story the revelations were revealed on december nineteenth but it was only on december twenty seventh that c.n.n. chose to report on this this information they only did so after there had been some outcry that and their reporting on it was very short now we've reached out to

c.n.n. to see why they haven't jumped on this story and we are waiting for a response i wonder how much coverage this new piece of information will get as we uncover some of the mystery behind the alleged russian bots and find out they didn't come from russia at all tabletop and r.t. new york media analyst daniel is the last one is that the mainstream media uses the russian meddling as a political instrument. media are so heavily invested in this russia gate story which is turning out to be a non-story or actually a very misleading story but they are not willing to admit it they sort of can process this new information because it goes counter to their narrative so they're trying to ignore it we have the spokes booking themselves i mean everyone is pointing to russia they're putting out dubious information about russian influence and then they're trying to use. the specter of russian influence in order to

influence american elections so it's like you know it's like it's media disinformation squared mueller has been looking investigating the story to this question since may of two thousand and seventeen he has not come up with one bit of evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and the kremlin all along it was quite evident that the the story was very different the story was how the russia gate story was being concocted in order to for order to for other purposes. high level turkish delegation is due in moscow to meet with russian counterparts on the situation in syria now focused on the u.s. troop withdrawal from the east from syria and the future of the city beach damascus says its forces have entered the northern city of a quest of civilians and kurdish fighters fearing a turkish offensive r.t.c.

cowshed on are they explained the kurdish position. they call themselves freedom fighters he calls them terrorists the us use them as their proxy army well after this used to there will be a strong deliberate and orderly withdrawal of u.s. forces from syria very deliberate very orderly turkey has already begun massing its forces on the front line. the kurds know all to world the consequences of that they've been there with afrin back in january the turks launched operation all of branch against the minorities northern most territories there were reports the syrian army could have intervened but in the end the kurds put on a brave face and decided to go it alone and their friend fell and quickly for the turkish army the operation was hardly more challenging than a drill. the

turks almost move deeper to another major kurdish stronghold of man bitch their u.s. generals literally had to put their bodies between the two to prevent bloodshed now the u.s. is abandoning syria and the kurds while erdogan has been making it clear that a kurdish held man bitch just won't stand with them these terrorists have to go to the east of the euphrates if they do not leave we will send them that was postponed eventually but not indefinitely unless the kurds leave man bitch. we're already against syria's division entire aim is to make terrorist organizations leave the area or if the terrorists leave then there is no work left for us anyway the american withdrawal has left the kurds with a limited number of options really so they've turned to damascus asking to shield

them we invited the syrian government which we belong to to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect man beach and the freeze of turkish threats. and onslaught in response to the requests of the population of man beach the syrian government and its armed forces announce it is sending in troops to man bitch and so there they are the government forces have entered the kurdish kingdom for the first time in years with russia being a major influence on damascus turkey's once again turning to moscow so the cards have been dealt and now it's down to turkey they will go all in. investigative journalist mark blumenthal broke it down for us why kurdish thought collaboration worries turkey so much we've heard conflicting reports of actually the syrian government entering the city of men being which was recaptured from isis in two thousand and sixteen by the kurdish and this would indicate that there is on the

ground collaboration between the kurdish s.d.f. and the syrian government a lot of people are troubled by this in turkey the u.s. didn't consider this a possibility but the fact is that these kurds are syrians they're syrian citizens and actually this is a natural partnership against a common enemy in isis and so both the syrian government and the s.d.f. are determined not to see isis return and i think it's actually a positive development as far as stabilization goes. the u.s. stock market saw its worst christmas eve trading day ever this year and analysts think they found the culprits computerized trading systems they say that the programs which have gained popularity since the two thousand and eight financial crisis fell to understand market demands. that the big people are buying. into their lab rats almost a spectacular amount of money. around eighty five percent of all trade is

controlled by machines or formulas which are programmed to buy and sell according to market data algorithms work much faster than human front can check huge volumes of numbers in fact financial commentator charlie boyle thinks there is more painful ahead for wall street. the next year is going to bring a crash much worse than two thousand and eight we had a lot of systems algorithmic based trading and a lot of financial products that were basically made up and systems were unhandsome but then you have the human nature side of markets which which corrects and as it as it should. these bubbles are going to correct again and this is why we're experiencing a dip in the stock market at the moment we've got these artificially inflated stocks all around the world and interest rates have been crazily low and the only people have been benefiting from that is the is the rich institutions. but it's

going to come to a head with the biggest the biggest one issue over the next half a half the year i'd say is the is the debt we've gotten more debt than we've ever had multiple times and the problems are much bigger than we had in two thousand and eight so they can't print any more money they can't reduce interest rates any lower and most of the banks even if you increases the interest rates a small amount that affectively been in the insolvent. twenty eighteen drawing to a close this time to take stock of the old year probably boyko and the in case you missed it team taken aback now. twenty years. to remember sex tramp. and two men on a mini break to look at the big clock it is twelve one of i see why my eyes look back at the last twelve it's a christmas miracle. there you go off to a sexy start making january a scary time for rich men me to draw on you to store these fred that you can defy

the secretary gavin williamson was involved with a married woman when he was a manager at a fire place it was fourteen years ago and you can do i sympathize with him until you realize it's kevin williamson in january was also a high point in a trend that so immediate seating tied to paul it's. just natural selection working its magic in february an official report declared that the u.k. was facing brags that. that's paraphrased president secretary david davis calmed everyone down by saying the president in the u.k. into a mad max style distain c.m. a few months later he quit and oddments britain is still very very also marked the first major u.s. school shooting and this time in florida there would be plenty more but the u.s. made the brave decision to do about machos when twenty eight really got going

someone normally a child. and his daughter yulia pets that got much less attention though even the reagans ignored in february for the cells reporting squarely on russia uncertain russian diplomats was sent packing from western capitals moscow denied any involvement and did a couple of cloak loving cathedral enthusiasts neighbor was busy this group. in the u.s. the u.k. and france launched airstrikes against syria but in my full way no on broken in that brazen welcome to know the results. i don't remember how that came a don't trump announced that my claim is so around in the british capital that it's practically a war that the state doesn't really angry they've insisted that just because the moderator is the highest it's been in a decade that does not mean the us president can be so mean also the ginger only treats of the celebrities lastly rosie wearing a dress that didn't fit in here in the great romance of the year reached base

politically speaking donald trump finally met north korea's economy tire and kim jong un in a singapore hotel the best buds agreed to denuclearize north korea and world war three was delayed by a week at least all of it in the first six months of twenty eighteen. now as they age doesn't matter when you're young at heart and for one russian grandma that means cooking up more and more skydives.

news to be circular pulled the trigger for your new. work. yet you weren't. sure what you. are that you. i mean braving details still to come this hour a new scandal is brewing around a former french presidential advisor this summer after he beat up a protester have the details for you after the break.

join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. welcome to the crystal ball edition of crosstalk what can we expect in the new year we have a great lineup of guests telling us they think. you

know world a big part of newton's laws and conspiracies it's time to wake up 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 on the back 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. welcome back now french politicians are demanding explanations from president mccrum they want to know why

a discreet east former advisor still has diplomatic immunity and represents france abroad alexander but our law reportedly used a diplomatic passport during business trips after his dismissal the former presidential security advisor was fired in the summer after a video emerged showing him viciously beating a protester politicians in france a people with his status can't travel without the knowledge of the ministry of foreign affairs. when you want to visit a country with a diplomatic passport you need to send a verbal note your ministry of foreign affairs in flanders near me when you're arriving to facilitate the visa process if the ministry is not able to provide us with a verbal no then the must have been an intervention from outside it may be from ohio government which allowed us to have been a laugh a minute visits to the country's obvious standard diplomatic procedures if person a call the thought this year couldn't get any worse off the weeks of violent protests

engulfing france think again now his disgraced former bodyguard alexander another is back for a second bite of the cherry it's emerged he may have been using diplomatic post boards obtained during his time working from that call one of which is said to have been issued trusted confidant only weeks after being filmed beating up a protester was . was the french foreign ministry says it's just for their return and says they should only be used for official for it any use of these passports since there would have been despite the commitments made by the person in question it's alleged he used them doing a trip to africa including a visit to chad where he said to have met the country's president that meeting came

just weeks before korn made an official trip to chant and was forced to red faced to give an explanation this person was a no win official or an official intermediary on the foreign minister that diplomatic advisor to the president and his africa advisor representing the head of state in africa president macron wants to inter. i live with the use of intermediaries especially in africa though the former aide maintains he never represented himself as anything but a private investor corns office has formally rubik banal or with regard to current personal it to the dismay ask you to ensure the conducted with strict respect for the confidentiality and ethical responsibilities of your time in this office. despite nearly as a trying to distance itself even further from bella opposition politicians are now

questioning whether a man called still has ties to his former confidant this is having them as this could potentially short circuit french diplomacy exam of the knowledge could be a danger for the republic this man is different from the image of someone who was sanctioned after what happened in may and who up to this action has received two diplomatic classrooms when you have a diplomatic passport means that you go to speak for the country so of course on this one like why you see a meeting you know people official people you know in africa if this person is no one you know according to a today to the government if it's not a diplomat if it's not a friend if it's not an advisor then what he is and who is i mean otherwise you know why he had those passport back and who given this passport back so obviously there's a connection like somehow somewhere with one person or different people maybe the

president's else i don't know but if what has been revealed you know for the past few hours about his few trips in africa if this is true then it's very concerning. the u.k. government has been slammed for its latest push to reduce the use of plastic in british schools the country's education secretary has called on all schools to drop single use plastic items by twenty twenty two and use the environmentally friendly alternatives but critics were quick to point out that the government's own national program to deliver fruits and vegetables to schools makes thanks pensive use of plastic packaging shown sutherland's co-founder of the campaign group a plastic planet believes the government is anything but a paragon of eco virtue. if the u.k. government to go to encourage organizations like schools to reduce their plastic usage to create plastic free schools then of course they must show by leadership

by cutting out as much plastic as they can possibly do it is not defensible for the government of the u.k. to send out calls to schools to say let's cut down on plastic in communication that is that should be in plastic it's matt i think at the moment the u.k. particularly there is a huge amount of noise about i think we're probably the noisiest nation about plastic in europe if not the world and it's very easy for people outside the u.k. to think that we are actually showing extreme leadership in this issue that that noise is translated into action but the reality is we are in the u.k. and we need to speed up. the target for schools as part of a wider drive to reduce the use of plastic in the u.k. among other things it wants a ban on plastic straws on cotton buds as well as an increase from five to ten

pence for plastic bags the possible changes could come into effect in january twenty twenty and environmental journalist all of a tick hell told is that although commendable passing out plastic in a single such shots could pose challenges. problems. in the supply. and so if we have to take passing out straight away then either we shift to another material which would also have. us. all we will find that the cost of food goes up and that we are more food it is it is being damaged in the food waste in the supply chain and that show floyd's shoot. and that we are reposing one problem with another.

or do get in touch and say your thoughts are stories by following us on social media and look at back in about thirty minutes with the latest headlines i see that . you know crazy things a lot of people. and somebody pops up with something really. nice someone doing drugs my nephew 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. users in a prison population. we started treating sick people people who are addicted to

these drugs like criminals while i was on the. war on drugs. with numbers of people who are in prison for. for. minor offenders in the drug trade it's a lot watching your children grow and miss you in wave and say by day. this is just it doesn't get easy. seems wrong. to me but yet to shape out. and engage equals betrayal.

when so many find themselves worlds apart. to look for common ground. this is boom and bust broadcasting around the world and covering the world of business and finance on part children in washington d.c. today we welcome you to a special edition of food bust if we focus on the great recession which is now a decade in our rearview mirror we'll look at the causes of the calamity and what

went down on that rough and rocky road to ruin and how it incredibly impacted the u.s. the eurozone and the rest of the world plus we'll look at where we are now how safe are we from another monstrous economic meltdown and what might be the next financial crisis ready let's go we start with bill clinton a democrat who was u.s. president and his financial policies clinton nomics which began in one nine hundred ninety three when he took office in lasted until he left in january of two thousand and one he started following the single term of george herbert walker bush a republican now known by many as bush forty one or simply forty one president clinton was handed a growing economy from bush forty one with annual gross domestic product g.d.p. rate of three point five percent the good economy was however partially premised upon years and years of increasing spending and rising us budget deficits clinton

nomics sought to keep the economy going while balancing the deficit and with the help of congress which was then controlled by democrats legislation was passed to increase taxes on the wealthy furthermore defense spending was cut from five point two percent of g.d.p. . one thousand nine hundred ninety just three percent in two thousand the house passed the tax increase without a single republican vote that vote was particularly difficult for democrats after bush forty one has popularized this phrase. push and i'll say no and they'll push again and say. read my lips was and candidates for congress were asked to take no new tax pledges and while the bill passed it cost many democrats their election in one nine hundred ninety four republicans won control of the house and clinton nomics faced tougher hurdles in congress clinton omics was first kept the

us economy moving along in addition to policies put in place like welfare reform and free trade deals such as the north american free trade agreement and significantly financial deregulation was taking place within the clinton administration and then through the nine hundred ninety nine gramm leach wiley law which repealed the glass steagall act a law enacted the in one nine hundred twenty nine after the stock market crash as banks were being destroyed during the great depression the last stigall importantly separated investment banking from commercial banking the concern was the improper speculating role commercial banks were playing in the stock market using in part their own customers money they were seriously self-serving some said greedy and place not only the financial sector but the entire economy in park area sparrow and when those bank speculative bets went bad the markets melted down crashing with contagion not only amongst the back.