this hour's top stories from. alabama launches an investigation into meddling in a senate election campaign in twenty seventeen pro-democratic groups reportedly behind more than a thousand fake russian social media accounts to discredit a republican rival. reportedly seen entering a city in northern syria to kurdish held territory as a high level delegation from turkey agrees to coordinate with russia during talks on syria here in moscow. the scandal surrounding a disgraced advisor to the french president. a diplomatic passport and long after he was dismissed for attacking a protest. saturday

afternoon at five in moscow welcome to news from the international this hour first for you the u.s. state of alabama has launched a probe into an alleged meddling campaign during the twenty seventeen local senate election which had been blamed on russia but it now appears to have been created much closer to home it turns out that a pro-democratic billionaire funded a u.s. group to make a thousand fake russian votes on 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 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 tools 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 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 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 u.s. 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 will be 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 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 bought and find out they

didn't come from russia at all cable mufon r.t. new york media analyst daniel told us that the mainstream media is using supposed 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 spooks us 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 this story this

question since may of two thousand and seven team he has not come up with one bit of evidence of collusion between the trunk 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 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 past couple of hours it comes after the situation in syria escalated following donald trump surprise decision to pull u.s. troops out of the country with more on today's talks here. despite the meeting taking place in snow in moscow that is now as you can see totally into new year holiday season very serious topics on the agenda a serious face and russia turkey carving needed work on the ground now after u.s.

and now. it is expected to take up to one hundred days but certainly changing the situation already now especially even the area east of the euphrates river. this is where the american military have been present once they're out this territory that is now officially under the control of the kurdish forces may become especially vulnerable and that's especially after cherokee say it's he's getting ready for a military assault against kurds in syria's north korea that an kara's sees as terrorists so the russian and turkish delegations that included intelligence chiefs defense ministers and top diplomats met in moscow to discuss how to avoid any military confrontation on the ground in that area what should be done to boost joint work to return the refugees back to syria all displaced people back to their

homes in syria's north speaking to media following the meeting russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov has specifically mentioned the work being done regarding syrian constitutional committee that plays a very important role in a political solution to syria's crisis from let's take a listen. 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 us down a group to finish his work as soon as possible would not interfere in his continued work oh no there was a feeling that both sides both russia and turkey are rather optimistic on how things develop on the ground and they have expressed their hatred and believe that

the new year will bring more positive changes to syria and maybe a long awaited peace will finally return to this war torn country. meanwhile turkish armored vehicles are reportedly being seen entering the northern . city of drabness turkey's be boosting its military presence on both sides of its border with syria since donald trump announced the troop withdrawal troublous is around forty kilometers from the city of mount it is where the syrian army says it's now in control they were deployed there after an appeal from civilians and kurdish fighters who fear a turkish offensive he gorged on of explains the crucial role the kurds play in all 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 him. 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 so we didn't we already again serious 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 month beach in the face of turkish threats . in response to the request 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. and you can authorities say that forty suspected terrorists have been killed in police raids in gaza near cairo and north sinai the operation comes after friday's deadly attack on a tourist bus near the giza pyramids four people were killed in a dozen injured by a roadside bomb three vietnamese tourist died along with an egyptian guide no group claimed responsibility for the attack so far the authorities say they received a tip off the 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 of last year. it's 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 and donald trump both 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 goal for who can't part there are some though that are blaming the market instability on another source computer technology around eighty five percent of all trade is controlled by programs designed to buy and sell according to market data the algorithms work much faster than humans and they can check huge volumes of numbers in a matter of seconds financial commentator charlie boyle predicts more of hail 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 enhancing that but then you have the human nature side of markets which which corrects and

asic as it should these 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 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 that affectively been in 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 a team taken aback. twenty years. to remember sex trim.

and two men on a mini break to look at the big clock it is called one and if 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 full rich men need 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 january was also the high point in a trend that so immediate seating toilet bowl 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 phrase it in the u.k. into a mad max style distaste and

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. and his daughter yulia katz thanks so much less attention even the reagans ignored and the brains of the cells reporting 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 in the script. in the u.s. the u.k. and france launched airstrikes against syria but is a normal growth in that brits are welcome to know the results. i don't remember in may donald trump announced that my children so round in the british capital that

if i take it was a mistake because it is really angry they 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 omari from celebrities last year or c. 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 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. i was so huge it doesn't matter where you go for one russian he got more more and. i.

think it's said here to preserve the traits of feel. you have to live with your fear more. thank you i do not live in the. wild and you've got around

a former french presidential advisor sacked this summer after he beat up a protest that story after the break. seemed wrong. to shape our. answer. and in. the trail. find themselves worlds apart. just to look for common ground. with manufactured. public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. in the final.

week in all middle of the room. french politicians are demanding explanations from president they want to know why a disgraced former advisor still has diplomatic immunity and apparently represents france abroad xander reportedly used the diplomatic possible 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 on the preliminary investigations being launched in paris french politicians say people with his status can't travel 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 government or body which allowed mr ben-ami laughter to make visits to the country is obvious standard diplomatic procedures if person a caller thought it may seem couldn't get any worse off the weeks of violent protests engulfing france think again now is 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 entirely void the use of intermediaries

especially in africa. 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's of it is ask you to ensure the 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 been l.-a opposition politicians are now questioning whether a month on still has ties to his former confidant so this is having them as this could potentially short circuit french diplomacy 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 this action has 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 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 being 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 who 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 gov meant anything but a paragon of the 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. the store so show by leadership by cutting out as much plastic is 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. it's not just schools it's part of a wider drive to reduce the use of plastic in the u.k. among other things i want a ban on plastic straws and cotton buds as well as an increase from five to ten pence for the plastic bags that are given out in shops the possible changes could come into effect in january twenty twenty environmental journalists are all of a to cal told us that although commendable cutting out plastic in a single shot could pose talent is. the real problem is that kasey hughes cheap good job is in keeping food fresh and in reducing waste in the supply. and so if we have to take a pass you know it's three work 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 moved food is it is being damaged a nerve in the supply chain and that show lives. and that we are repo's one problem with another. it seems that facebook has its own complex rules when it comes to banning members and some of those surprising guidelines have been published in the new york times.

that's it for me for now wherever you're watching thanks for choosing altie this saturday i'll be back to update you with thirty two minutes or so to get. you know a lot of crazy things going up a lot of people you know. twitter arising and occasionally somebody pops up with something really insightful really interesting. my son

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. drug abuse started going after the users in the prison population so we started treating sick people people who are addicted to these drugs like criminals while i was on the hill. the war on drugs. there are countless numbers of people who are in prison for. for whom our own are 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 the business it's just it doesn't get easier.

time after time so you know what you're going on the ground while we're away for christmas we're screening some of your favorite episodes of the season coming up in this. full maskey on what he told the british prime minister in downing street in the past forty eight hours and the nation's contemplate sanctions against saudi arabia a reported former wife of the late king explains why critics face death and why she is suing the u.k. government if you were looking for avoid a pregnancy or come to the wrong place i bet if you want to write a shop the view of the week's news join me in action but first major nation media is arguably only suddenly discovered the world's worst humanitarian crisis when it shows like. the saudis that coalition the military alliance played that if they

can hold. on the polls to the effect. they can't wait to be strong to hold. the gold the country philadelphia headquarters called sky news that literally embedded in what looks like a saudi helicopter and all the while everyone with any sense knows that yemen is not just a saudi issue his even a senior adviser to the neo liberal brookings institute admitting it is it to raise a major issue if the united states of america and united kingdom tonight told king psalm. this war us to end would end tomorrow but can oppose breaks it u.k. tail saudi arabia want to do for that matter can oppose breaks it you can't even tell ireland what to do and will oppose breaks it you can even be the u.k. someone who met with u.k. minority government leader to resume for urgent breaks it talks on monday was the m.p. who represents gerry adams old seat of west belfast mascot joins me now paul thanks very calming bag on so did you get any assurance from tourism

a that island isn't going to be some sort of collateral.