in a senate election campaign twenty seven a pro democratic group reportedly. used to discredit a republican rival. syria held territory. to coordinate with russia. and syria. disgraced advisor to the french president. using a diplomatic long after he was dismissed for attacking a protest. international

. to probe into an alleged meddling campaign during a twenty seventeen local senate election which had been blamed on russia but it now appears to being created much closer to home it turns out that a pro democratic billionaire funded a u.s. group to make a. social media allegedly to discredit a republican rival picks up the story the attorney general for the u.s. state of alabama is looking into democratic party. during the twenty seven special election it appears that roy moore the republican candidate lost due to some shady activities that did not come from russia the information is concerning the impact it had only 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. 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 this came to undermine it was pretty simple create fake facebook pages and russian accounts on twitter to confuse republican voters this gave the false impression that roy morris campaign was backed by the kremlin and it put it into the mix of anti russian hysteria the operation was carried out by the pro democratic party cyber security firm known as 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 ation 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 will 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 apparently 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 and 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 cable mufon r.t.

new york media analyst daniel is told us that the mainstream media is using suppose russian meddling as a political tool. the 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're not willing to admit it they sort of can't process this new information because it goes counter to their narrative so they're trying to ignore it we have the spokes spoking themselves i mean everyone is pointing to russia they're 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 this story 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 been concocted in order to for order to for other purposes. top diplomats and high ranking military officials from turkey have agreed to coordinate with russia on the syria crisis after holding talks in moscow which finished up in the last hour or so it comes after the situation in syria escalated following donald trump surprise decision to pull u.s. troops out of the country but let's get more on the talks now a corresponding riffing on what's been happening hi there so what's been announced by turkey and russia. i have to say that despite the meeting taking place in snow we mostly that is now totally new year holiday season you can see this mystery behind me as you say that very serious

topics on the agenda serious fate and russia and take it hard you need to work on the ground now up to us now its troops joel. it is expected to take up to one hundred days but certainly he's changing the situation in syria already now especially in the region east of the euphrates river this is where the american military have been present and once they're out this territory that is now officially under the control of the kurdish forces may become especially vulnerable so the russian and turkish delegations that included top diplomats defense ministers and intelligence chiefs met here in moscow to discuss what should be done to avoid any military confrontation in this area between any forces in there are many fractions on the ground as you know this is what the syrian conflict has been especially sadly famous for and that's especially after turkey say it is getting

ready for an assault against kurds in syria's north korea's that and caracas sees as terrorists so russia and turkey mad to see what should be done what they could do to avoid a music confrontation which means deaf. people what should be done to boost the return of refugees to see red displaced people back to their homes and what to do to bring peace to syria the solution is speaking to media following the meeting russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has specifically mentioned this syrian closer to shoot me so let's take a listen. to this. during the talks we specifically mentioned that russia and turkey with the participation of iranian colleagues did everything promise to create a syrian constitutional committee this is being done by all states as mediators between the syrian government and opposition and we hope that those including our

western partners as he called the asked on a group to finish his work as soon as possible would not interfere in his continued worst. you. know they were feeling that both sides both russia and turkey i rather optimistic on how things develop in syria right now and also added that they believe in hope that the new year will bring more positive changes to peace or to country and maybe a long awaited peace will finally come their thanks to you ok thanks for. the russian foreign ministry in central moscow. now the northern part of syria's been a battleground on several occasions since the war started back in twenty eleven and this meant that the kurdish population there haven't seen peace for a long time ago shit out of takes a closer look at their role in all of this. they call themselves freedom fighters turkey 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 and the kurds know all too 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 bridge so early in we already again syria's division entire aim is to make terrorist organizations leave the area 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 in the face of turkish threats.

and in response to the request of the population of man be huge 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 if they will go all in. egyptian authorities say that forty suspected terrorists have been killed in police raids in cairo and north sinai the operation comes after friday's deadly attack on a tourist bus near the giza pyramids four people were killed and a dozen injured by a roadside bomb three vietnamese tourists died along with an egyptian guide no group claimed responsibility for the attack so far the authorities say they've received a tip off that more terror attacks were being prepared against tourist sites and

churches the attack on friday marks the first since three foreign tourists were killed and three others injured in the resort city of god in july last year. has been a bumpy ride for u.s. stocks in recent months with markets hitting historic lows in october blue chip companies like facebook amazon and google all ended down investors were apparently reacting to the ongoing trade war between the united states and china christmas eve so another plunge and the democrats were quick to blame the president. today's events have made one thing clear president trump is plunging the country into chaos the stock markets down another five hundred points general mattis is stepping down donald trump though sees the u.s. central banking system the federal reserve as the main source of the problems in a tweet even compared it to a powerful golfer who can't part there are some though who are blaming the market instability on another source computer technology around eighty five percent of all

trades controlled by programs designed to buy and sell according to market data the algorithms work much faster than humans and can check huge volumes of numbers in just a matter of seconds financial commentator charlie predicts more upheaval 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 are go rhythmic based trading and a lot of financial products that were basically made up and systems were enhancing that but then you have the human nature side of markets which which corrects and as it has. should these these bubbles are going to correct again and this is why we are 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 who 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 men most of the banks even if you increases the interest rates a small amount they'll flexibly been the insolvent. with twenty eighteen drawing to a close it's perhaps time to take stock of the old year and the in case you missed it take a look back. twenty years. to remember sex trim. and two men on a mini break to look at the big clock it is twelve one if i see why my eyes look back at the last twelve it's a christmas miracle. there you go to off to a sexy start making january a scary time full rich man 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 consenting 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 easy 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 that gregg's it in the u.k. into a mad max style distain c.m. a few months later he quit and modern britain is still very very also mock the first major u.s. school shooting and this time florida would be plenty more but the us made the brave decision to do about it and mom was when twenty really got going someone norm . and his daughter yulia pads that got much less

attention though even the reagans ignored in their brain for the cells reporting on russia and soon russian diplomats was sent packing from western capitals moscow denied any involvement and did a couple of cloak loving cathedral enthusiasts neighbor was busy in the script. in the u.s. the u.k. and france launched airstrikes against syria but in my way the norm broke in that britain welcomed in on the results. i don't remember that name a donald trump announced that my friend is so around in the british capital that is practically a war zone this because it is really angry they insisted that just because the moderates of the highest has been in a decade that does not mean the u.s. president can be so mean also the ginger omari to the celebrities lastly rosie wearing a dress that didn't fit is a great romance of the year reached base politically speaking donald trump finally met north korea's cuddly tire and kim jong il in a single poor hotel the best buds agreed to denuclearize north korea and world war

three was delayed by a week at least all of this in the first six months of twenty eighteen. age doesn't matter when you're young at heart for one russian that means more and more skydive.

he said go to provoke university traits and yet. you have to live with their months of so if i can use it thank you i do not live. well but if. and you bring around a former french presidential advisor sacked this summer off they beat up a protester it's our next story after the break.

backstabbers financial survival guide oh you mean there's a downside to artificial mortgage truth don't get carried away that's cause report .

politicians are demanding explanations from president mccrum they want to know why a disgraced former advisor still has diplomatic immunity and apparently represents france abroad alexander banal reportedly used a diplomatic passport during business trips after his dismissal the former presidential security advisor was fired in the summer after video emerged showing him viciously beating a protester while the preliminary investigation is being launched in paris french politicians say people with his status contractor without the knowledge of the foreign ministry. when you want to visit a country with a diplomatic passport you need to send a verbal note your ministry of foreign affairs informs the embassy 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 maybe from a higher governmental body which allowed mr bernard law to make visits to the country is obvious standard diplomatic procedures if president corn thought this

year couldn't get any worse off the weeks of violent protests in golfing france think again now his disgraced former bodyguard alexander opener is back for a second bite of the cherry it's emerged he may have been using diplomatic posts 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. was 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

in 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 adviser represent the head of state in africa president macron wants to entirely void 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 pinella with regard to current personal it of it is ask you to ensure there are conducted with strict respect for the confidentiality and ethical responsibilities of your time in this

office. despite neely's a trying to distance itself even further from the nella opposition politicians are now questioning whether man can still has ties to his former confidant so this is having them as this could potentially short circuit french diplomacy who examined banal a good bit of danger for the republic this man is different from the of the image of someone who was sanctioned after what happened in me and who after these actions received two diplomatic passports when you have a diplomatic passport means that you go you speak for the country so of course on this one like why you see meeting you know people official people you know in africa if this person is no one you know according to a two 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 then 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 british government's been slammed for its latest push to reduce the use of plastic in british schools the education secretary is calling on all schools to drop single use plastic items by twenty twenty two and use environmentally friendly alternatives but critics were quick to point out that the government's own national program to deliver fruit and vegetables to schools makes extensive use of plastic packaging the co-founder of the campaign group a plastic planet believe the government is anything but a paragon of eco virtue. if the u.k. government is going to encourage organizations like schools to reduce their plastic usage to create plastic free schools then of course they must also. 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 packaged in plastic it's it's matt i think at the moment the u.k. particularly there is a huge amount of noise about plastic 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 and cotton buds as well as an increase from five to ten

pounds for plastic bags that are given out in stores the possible changes could come into effect in january twenty twenty environmental journalist oliver to cal told us that although commendable cutting out plastic in a single shop could post challenges. did real problem is a passive his cheek such a good job is in keeping food fresh and in reducing food waste in the supply. and so if we have to take a pass you know it's true. then either we shift to another material which would also have. zero although we will find that the cost of food goes up and that we are more food is is being damaged in the food wasted in the supply chain and that show lives. and that we are reposing one problem with another war. it seems that

facebook has its own complex rules when it comes to banning bad bows and some of those surprising guidelines have been published in the new york times.

and that's the way it looks from moscow this hour wherever you're watching thanks for choosing r.t. . 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.

this is boom bust broadcasting around the world and covering the world of business and finance i'm part killed 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 point and 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 and 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. well 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 to 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 that.