mentions in britain don't you watch treasury for. just a small experiment a democratic party group explain away alleged interference and an alabama state election the investigation is being launched over the group that fakes more than a thousand russian social media bots to allegedly discredit a replicant today. yuri in france yellow vests protesters have been out on the streets for a seventh consecutive weekend in running battles with police. and. the freedom of information act this helped to expose high level corruption and wrong doing in the u.s. comes under pressure all parties want the right to reject requests they think are burdensome.

a very warm welcome to you you're watching the we can hear an r.t. international all the latest on the ground the stories that shape the week the first we start in the u.s. where a scandal surrounding alleged meddling in an alabama state election campaign continues to unfold what's being called a small experiments by a pro democrat cyber group that fakes russian thoughts is now suspected to be a plan desperate to influence the vote and as the state's attorney general launches a probe into the case saudis are trying to to investigate. americans not the russians have at least set up one army of pseudo russian bots to sway opinion and boost election turnout it's the big story this december and as more and more details come out as the new year gets closer those involved are having to do more explaining. scott shane started the domino effect by writing

about the whole false like scheme in the new york times a week later another outlet reveals his scoop was from way back in september when he was invited to speak at an off the record event for the group behind the bots project but the journalist didn't see a thing about that in his article i don't think there's any kind of disclosure that's relevant so i'm happy to be corrected it's always a tradeoff as to what the ground rules of whether you get something useful for your readers journalists also eventually got hold of a report assessing how well the scheme worked and it the experts don't call it an experiment like scott shane did the journalists also wrote that the whole thing was likely too small to have a significant effect on the race compare that to these words enormous effect on the turnout that's the phrasing from the report. the venture cost

one hundred thousand bucks pennies compared to the money usually splashed out on campaigns but that doesn't take responsibility of the man who stumped up the bill reid hoffman billionaire co-founder of linked in and big democrat donor he ended up having to admit he had no idea where his cash was flowing i find the tactics that have been recently reported highly disturbing for that reason i'm embarrassed by my fee there to track the organization i did support more diligently as it made its own decisions to perhaps fund projects that i would reject and so there you have it we have an apology to. the head of the firm behind the technical side of the op jonathan morgan is another person still under pressure he came up with a blog post where among other things he wrote this this seemed to us to be the work

of internet trolls not russian activity just to remind you this came from the man who during the actual alabama senate race yelled on twitter the russians were busted russian trolls trying to buy hamilton sixty eight and taking an interest in the alabama senate race what a surprise this tiny detail aside jonathan morgan keeps defending their false flag experiment after all they've said it it's in the name of democracy now it's up to the probe to judge if these people cross the line in their noble endeavor and in any case america's definitely learned the masterminds of meddling could very well be home grown. he has requested a clarification from the new york times and will keep you informed from a u.s. congressman michael flanagan expressed doubts that the case would have any real consequences. now you see it's water under the bridge there's no chance that the election can be invalidated less of course they can demonstrate that the sitting

senator i'm soft participated in some sort of illegal activity or subterfuge which i doubt that can be done or or is even done it was even done on his part the first tenet of democratic politics is they will accuse you of what they are do work themselves in an effort to to distract in an effort to confuse those who might be honestly reporting it if they're saying it they're doing it and i'd like to have mr moeller look into this and and come after this in the same way. you know best protesters have been out on the streets of france for a seventh weekend in a row more than twelve thousand people joined the anti-government demonstrations. oh. i.

was sure. i. was. well there are lots of dangers from these l b d foodies or more commonly known as flash for weapons that they use soon or things such as tear gas grenades sound grenades and even these rubber bullets and those can all do significant damage if they hit people in those protests people with broken bones fractured teeth bruising internal injuries we even saw a number of crew being injured over the last few weeks by some of the items that are being shocked out of those flash pools but the injuries can be even more serious and not and for some people they. life changing oh wow mike you were going to. do it. why would the french

government want to pull states of still all these flash walls that can as i say launch things such as this the rubber bullets well that's largely due to the protests that we've seen in france over the last few weeks the country has been in gulf by these void in the process for some people describing them as being the worst royals in half a century and they've actually been some specifically into the injuries caused as a result of rubber bullets with many civil liberties groups just saying that they shouldn't be used now a group of u.s. academics published a study in december of last year saying that fifteen percent of people who were injured by rubber bullets specifically actually ended up with permanent injuries with the majority of people losing their sight they said three percent of those injured specifically by rubber bullets actually went on to lose their lives so the question is why is the french government still deciding to go with using the flash

tools which have been proven in some cases to be deadly and still wanting to spend more than two million euros on its version of protecting the state. dozens of protesters were arrested in paris but city officials say that new year's celebrations will go ahead despite the rest the other best movement started in november against a field price hike and continued even after government concessions the demonstrators claim they're ready to take or milf already. if you organize all souls' in this way we use coded messages we're now trying to make the police job more complex their work easier because they do not make it easy for us they remove all mosques protected classes grass roots being the target during these demonstrations all the protection that we have they want us to expand the flashbulb make it and so it would be i do not remember how much four hundred fifty to two

hundred yes to two hundred washbowl that is we would probably make it can withstand super army to meet with people that we are not idiots and therefore to said we must open ourselves so different from. the trumpet ministration is proposing changes to the freedom of information act which could make it harder for the public to access sensitive records out of the public domain activists have voiced that outrage at the move. this is a war on transparency this is a calculated attempt to shield the interior department from scrutiny to shield it from watchdogs and to shield it from accountability the u.s. government says the changes are needed to handle an unprecedented surge in freedom of information requests and to improve customer service if approved the new rules would allow the interior department to reject what it considers unreasonably burdensome applications and impose limits on the number any one person can make

well last year more than eight hundred thousand requests were filed five agencies received the bulk of them including the departments of defense and justice while homeland security received almost four hundred thousand requests on its own officials expect those numbers to increase next year these are some disclosures brought to light with the help of the act and twenty sixteen ever quest revealed that an american supplier was substituting would hope for parmesan and its products and hillary clinton's government related emails that she had kept on her private account they were made available information requests also uncovered cia director gina house bills links to waterboarding of terrorist suspects investigative journalist dave lindorff these plans go against the spirit of the act. what it's going to do is force people to have to go to court to get action on freedom of

information request which is totally antithetical to open government and to what the foyer. of the freedom of information act was designed to do it had been set up so that you could write and get information and not have to go to court see get anything other than classified information these are not classified things that people are looking for there they're open government things that should be freely available and quickly available if they say it's to be more efficient and to respond better to quote customers meaning citizens that it's a complete joke they're doing the opposite it reflects. basically the fact that they're trying to run a secret government. as the edge will to an end so cold russia bashing has hit a new low recently leaked documents revealed that a u.k. funded charity has been trying to fall stuff on t.v.

russian sentiments the paper suggests the integrity initiative group has been using pundits on journalists across the wild to achieve that goal is mark ousley of investigates. if she were an organization it would be integrity initiative low and behold an army of propagandists disguised as anti propagandists whose job is to malign the slander be it states ideas people even british politicians our investigation has found wiring evidence the shadowy programs official twitter account has been used to attack or been the labor party and their fresh us one three quoted newspaper article calling corbin a useful idiot that goes on to state he's open visceral anti-press to knees and how the kremlin course as surely as if he had been secretly peddling weapons to tattle for money you can imagine the shock mr coburn must have felt when he learned

through these leaks that integrity knishes eve had no operational to defame him well funded by the british government no less but slandering german corben opposition politicians isn't the only job with integrity initiative which is working its accounts edition from asian overseas by bringing together groups of experts to analyze and discuss the problem posed by russian this information the government is funding this initiative with daily two million pounds this financial year but funding covers its activity outside the u.k. and it has not found any activity within the u.k. the hacktivist group anonymous has leaked details on the operation integrity initiative functions by setting up independent clusters candidates seem to be hand-picked big plus a few influential charismatic but the chief requirement seems to be you've got to

really hate russia the integrity initiative was set up to bring to the attention of politicians policy may. opinion leaders and other interested parties the threat posed by russia to democratic institutions in the united kingdom across europe and north america now here is what's been bugging me personally if these white knights and self professed fighters for the truth of what they say they are why are they hiding why are they trying to stay in the shadows anonymity of the team remains paramount as our activity increases we will no doubt attract unwanted attention irregardless he is how their class the system works see you have an article in the french le monde a harsh attack on alleged russian propaganda in france the author the french professor happens to be part of integrity initiative french cluster at least

according to the leaked lists and gets paid to trash talk russia they even boosted their grand plans when visited by a coup found the institute of statecraft which birth integrity initiative in italy and the atlantic council published a big study with help from an editor of less very influential italian newspaper surprise more bashing russia it became increasingly evident in twenty sixteen that russian strategic narrative sometimes including dissent from asian and conspiracy theories were systematically spread in italy by the vast network of pro and five s websites and social media accounts not so much of a surprise it's called mini is also listed as a member of the italian cluster and also gets paid for his work unfortunately

according to an internal integrity initiative memo their peers to be a shortage of russian propaganda in italy. it appears that the promotion of a strategy to spread disinformation and to influence the italian political opinions has been limited and came much more from national populist boxes rather than from russia what sort of a foreign country strange isn't it how they choose to keep that part secret we can go on and on about other clusters but you get the point they're gritty initiative even targets are us here at r t according to the leaked documents they have people presumably who they paid to report r.t. to off gone the british media regulator ofcom actually publishes complaints statistics only if over ten complaints didn't make that list it seems like integrity initiative not audience members convinced of calm to go after tea

we've all noticed our anti russian sentiment in the media has soared over the last years and saw as still we now know one of the reasons but above all these leaks and in my view tear the mosques off the bol that fights russian propaganda as they claim and what's underneath is ugly we have asked the u.k. foreign office to comment on the integrity initiative allegations they told us that the group's parent organization had been hacked and that they leaked documents were amplified in favor of a russian this information campaign or professor of politics piers robinson has been investigating the paper's told us why he thinks the u.k. government has taken such an interest in the russian media. it seems to be just as much about promoting insuring up official u.k.

policy towards russia as it is about actually countering any russian threat the u.k. government and other western governments in the us in recent years have had increasing difficulties persuading enough of their populations as to the legitimacy of the foreign policies that they have been pursuing and at the same time western countries have been going through a period of political crisis an economic crisis and i think a lot of this drive is as much about trying to shore up shakey official narratives and trying to shore up political systems in a situation of political crisis as it is actually about countering russian propaganda or i think i would suspect that's a little bit of an excuse here that really what's going on the problems much closer to home and a bit to curb the spread of radical islam german lawmakers muslim posing a mosque tax we have the details on that for you after this very short break.

when i was still seem wrong. just don't call. me the world yet to see. this day comes after. and in detroit because betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. 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. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the

world of politics sports business i'm sure business i'll see you there. welcome back a seasonal alert from girl scouts in the united states now who are warning parents not to encourage their children to hug guests over the holidays the organization says this could pressure goes into showing other types of physical affection instead of the child herself should decide whether to give a hug or not a psychologist we spoke to say is learning about consent early on is key. sadly we know that some adults prey on children and teaching the daughter by

consent early on can help her understand her rights know when lines have been crossed and one to go to you for help the girl scouts movement in the us was founded in nine hundred twelve the group calls itself a leadership development organization promoting confidence courage and character to discuss its latest advice we spoke with conservative media personality gina london and women's rights advocates resurfacing. if you don't teach a child early on that they are in control of their bodies and that they are in control of their boundaries then they are subject to later on not be able to set healthy boundaries i think that this is all about communication and that's the key if parents are having the age appropriate conversations with their children that are well documented and data driven then they shouldn't have to have any sorts of concerns for thirty percent of the sexual abuse that happens to a child happens by a family member so here's the fact of the matter children are often not the around

people that we would like to think are healthy people unfortunately we don't always know as adults what the appetite a person may have for a child in a sexual situation these conversations need to be taking long before any gifts are exchanged and any expectation is made i'm not saying that anyone should be lackadaisical about the cues that children are taking but it is a balance and it is something that is really important and we're not going to solve it by telling our arts little girl on christmas day that she doesn't have to say thank you to grandma for her gift i just don't think that that's that's when we presume that as a solution we're missing out on what is really happening here in my opinion or putting children at greater danger fortunately most times when a person is being molested the parents have no idea if the grandfather uncle is molesting them and so it the onus is on the parents to be aware cognizant of what the child is communicating to you as a parent have determined that these people are safe for your child to be around that the child this taught respect and manners and respect of elders and whatever

whatever the appropriate response is for that child in that moment because some children have a natural bent toward inward and we need to teach our children to be. parents don't always know when a person is a safe person or not and we can't teach girls to put grace before being able to protect instead healthy boundaries no one saying that we should respect for elders . for protecting our children but again if you decide only to protect your child on a holiday when they're already exposed to this relative that there are uncomfortable around the mistake is already made. britain's defense minister voice deep concerns about a possible spying threat from chinese tech giant while away on thursday this comes amid a confrontation between the company and the u.k.'s closest ally the united states as washington has reportedly been pressuring allies to bar the firm probably boyko

digs deeper into the story they seemed like the best of friends one side with cash to flash the other keen to court chinese investment you have a golden era of u.k. china relations and what are the relations between britain and troika of very good issues in the past i think we've come to an understanding over. this should be an indispensable partnership. we have cemented britain's position as china's best partner in the west with the u.k. playing bragg's it really with brussels trade ties with china seem as important as ever but there's a bone of contention coming between london and beijing or rather a phone of contention we've got to look at what partners such as australia in the us doing in order to ensure that they have the maximum security of that five g. network and we've got to recognise the fact there's been recently exposed the

chinese state does sometimes aren't in the maligned way while our way is one of china's most important tech companies that the world's second largest mobile phone producer and it makes the laptops and tablets gadgets that rival apple and samsung but crucially weiwei also sells some of the communications hardware that allows mobile phone and wireless networks to operate and when they. u.s. currently embroiled in a tip for tat trade war with beijing the chinese tech giant has come into the spotlight washington says it's concerned that using weiwei hardware will give beijing the ability to spy on foreign countries and exert too much control over western impressed structure by the way has raised serious concerns among u.s. officials for a potential role in cyber espionage given their reported links to china's state security services and while way threaten the security of our networks due to their

close ties to the chinese government and now the u.s. is pursuing well ways chief financial officer who was arrested in vancouver at washington's request to now faces extradition to the u.s. over possible violations of sanctions against iran but the case appears more than a little politicized the u.s. president suggested he might use china's tech princess as a bargaining chip with beijing if i think it's good for the country if i think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever meet which is a very important thing which is good for national security i would certainly intervene if i thought it was necessary australia or new zealand have followed the u.s. is lead and banned huawei from providing tech for its five g. rollout citing security risks the u.k. has yet to follow although there are murmurs in that direction what we're witnessing is more can of security hope something it can. russia for we have other

work you know it sees itself in a vulnerable position where it doesn't have secure access to this particular market over the margin having talks in the background between the american state department and the british foreign office trying to pressure raise and put leverage on the british government to come out and support the years sanctions to the tires of the one channel but i don't think for one second. america's foreign policy to dictate to the policy that britain needs for true truth a world of regret so there's little hard evidence of why our way ever having engaged in any spying or handing over of data the company denies any ties to the chinese government beyond paying its taxes for the u.k. following washington's lead and banning way risk souring up until now fruitful friendship as well as slowing down the rollout of vital new technology for london

it will be a tough choice between weiwei and the us way. lawmakers in germany's ruling coalition have proposed that muslims in their country pay a mosque tax the move aims to make local muslim communities less dependent on foreign donations and curb undesirable influences that could lead to radicalization similar taxes already exist for practicing catholic and protestant communities. oh goal must be that islam emancipates itself in germany from the influence of foreign states and gains the strong good the mystical reinsertion one of the biggest sponsors is the turkish islamic union for religious affairs financed by the turkish government it's said to provide money for half of all mosques in germany geopolitical analyst and consultant rainer office told is that if introduced the tax is only likely to tackle the issue of radical islam it will not in any way stop the influence of radical elements because they can always send their finances

to german mosques or to german groups which are interested in the radical islam through foundations and are other ways so the financing through a mosque tax will not exclude these ways of funding it will just create traditional framework for institutionalizing and more deeply rooted in islam in germany would perfectly fit the global agenda for migrants and the global compact form our refugees which have been adopted only recently thanks for joining us this hour on r.t. international and do you get in touch if you have something you'd like to share with us by following us on social media and even on your comics now we're back in about thirty minutes with the latest on my colleague.

hello my name is peter and i've been living in bushnell for about seven years and this is a film about just some of the crazy things i've got. time.