i. was. britain's prime minister gives an impassioned speech in defense of briggs it deal a six hundred fifty m. piece prepared to decide its fate. a three month national debate begins in france as president tries to take the heat out of the yellow vests protests.

and former chief of staff of the israeli army has just left his position of mitts for the first time that it armed syrian militants and directly attacked rein in forces on syrian territory that's something that the been previously strongly denied. very good evening thanks for joining us this is r.t. international. we start this hour with breaking news after hours of passionate debate british m.p.'s are expected to start casting their votes on the briggs's divorce agreement negotiated by prime minister to resign may steele's widely to suffer a heavy defeat sky news for example is projected that it will only find support from one hundred eighty five ball makers with four hundred twenty three expected to oppose it such a defeat would make it the biggest parliamentary loss in. five years.

when our u.k. correspondent polly boyd polly they've been debating it's been really really heated in the houses of parliament all day they've been hammering away where does this leave any new information that's emerged in those last minute please. well one thing that there isn't is any sort of sense of intrigue right now because this isn't a question of will to reason may or won't to reason may manage to push her deal through parliament the question really is what margin she is going to lose this rather historic vote by how colossal her loss could be it looks like it's going to be well over one hundred votes we will find out very shortly but there are all sorts of predictions and of course we're getting dreadfully close to that greg's it edge a bit on the twenty ninth of march when the u.k. is set to leave the e.u. so the clock is really taking and people here not just the politicians are aware of

that and to reason and hope that some m.p.'s would perhaps be persuaded into voting for the deal because of how little time there is until the u.k. is set to leave in order to avoid crashing out of the e.u. with no deal at all but they don't appear to have been won over by that argument and m.p.'s of all stripes in the house of commons are dead set against a deal from hard core bragg's that is to remain as who want to overturn the referendum and stay in the e.u. they all say that this is a bad deal or of the majority of them rather and they say that it leaves the u.k. at the mercy of brussels now they have been debating this deal for well over a week now for eight days and politicians today had their last chance really to have their voices heard before all this went to the vote take a listen to what they had to say two days for this not a bounce what's best for the leader of the opposition. is slow

down to what is best for the country. i can confirm this w. bush will struggle against this deal tonight. no response the prime minister would allow no deal. to take place the reason the single chance of the government getting the necessary legislation through. our. call this a multilateral no do. prime minister says she wants to unite with each she has done is divine. jeremy call been the leader of the labor party the opposition party here saying this is a bad deal. to reject it and the possible of options if the deal is rejected there are so many it is really a rather complicated situation but the government would have to have three days to

set out its course of action if the deal tanks as is predicted and the rumor already is that over in brussels john called younker is clearing his schedule for tomorrow morning getting ready for potentially to reason may to fly in and try and renegotiate this deal or win some concessions yet again of course she's already done that she did that in december already and she could still potentially going to go she ate and try and bring the deal back to palm and before march the twenty ninth but brussels hasn't signaled that it's ready to make concessions to the u.k. so if she fails again well then the labor party could force a general election or now this really isn't outside the realms of possibility but said could be a rerun of the referendum it's not impossible now constitutionally speaking so all the options really and now all that on the table and that's been to reason may's argument leading into this vote she's been saying that voting for her deal is the

only way to ensure that the will of the people that referendum that was voted on in june twenty sixth seen her deal voting for it is the only way to ensure that the will of the people here in the u.k. is in acted politicians don't seem to be buying that. and we'll find out by which margin into course all this is beginning to look very much like a constitutional crisis because there isn't a majority on any side for any option that the may meant and the politicians just like there are people in this country are very divided david brock set many things a correspondent in london police with the latest and the time to talk with these over because they can tell you that the day of debating has finished and as you can see people just wondering around they'll know which way they're going to vote but the voting will be getting underway very shortly indeed in the meantime there's been an tiebreaks it campaign is outside the parliament building and they've been

putting on quite a show depicting briggs it is titanic with reason. to do skipper here's some thoughts of professor thomas brooks dean of durham university's law school. european union i think is his ascent if you come out all right with this because they've been able together by solidarity and they've shown enormous solidarity throughout this process in the u.k. and this deal the prime minister thinks is a good one and hopes she can get the parliament this is this is a power of course to turn to other european union countries from following suit so they did serve a purpose i think the other thing to do to agree a deal were clearly britain had said that they were going to get this through one way or another and clearly are not seemingly getting this through and affectively ways that a lot of their time. after months of violent protests across france presse the

cronies bidding to engage the nation in a move that was met with cynicism by political foes a twelve week long public consultations now got underway to address the issues behind the yellow vests movement on the show the dubious give reports on how the initiative is going down with the public. we've seen the crowds as usual for justice i get a scope that's probably a few hundred for train she hundred fifty maybe three hundred fifty have come here and that every point in this roundabout they are being stopped by the security forces for moving one room actually made a run for it they ran up the road and it looks like they were attempting to enter. the town over bush to hold troy and get closer to the action president michael is here in the town today to launch that national debate these debates are to take place across france he's open to listen to the concerns of people people couldn't

say what they concerns of the internet they can take part in the debates and he's saying that this could change the new contract with the people here in france but yes we've already seen the groups trying to to run off from the main crowd and as a result of that security forces tightening the area here completely also deploying tear gas was sold out and pepper spray painting used on some of the protesters who have been trying to push the police we're going to turn around and you might also see that enforcement supreme brought in including a water cannon that hasn't been used so useful but it is there overseas as a deterrent now the debates are going to be held in areas like the town halls we've been speaking to some of them as fronts to get their thoughts on this ground national debate rose. i met with the end of vests in my area this time

just saying they're just using benefits to doing nothing i've seen people who have no money to pay salaries to their employees i meet such people every day when. he's talking about the president's letter there are so many questions which marriage are supposed to give answers to will be there. difficult even if we started opening special locations to receive people should mirrors be doing that we have questions tens of miles before we even reach the outskirts of town we saw security forces on the roundabout on the major junctions and when we tried to enter the turn we were told that because we didn't have accreditation for the actual event which is taking place in the term hall that we couldn't pass annoyed that with our car north we decided to walk in and actually we've been speaking some of the protesters here who say that only residents all of the town all being allowed in and some of those have actually been denied access if they move wearing the yellow vests for the moment

there is anger and apathy with this idea of the yellow vests this yellow vest movement has been going on now since november seventeenth and at times we've seen some of the worst violence in moving half a century here in france as a result of that the government has given many concessions that so far it doesn't seem to be enough for the core supporters of the ship visuals who still seem to have the support of the majority of french people when it comes to the polls let's take a look at the timeline of events since this protest movement started back in november seventeenth. honestly this is the right one and we're not going to change it just because the wind is blowing . i will not concede anything to do see what destruction and disorder.

i take my share of responsibility. they were was. the former head of the israel defense forces has for the first time acknowledged his country supplied weapons the militants in syria something that was previously denied at least correspondent paul asli has the story well this is the first time ever that any israeli military official has acknowledged that israel has been providing aid to rebels fighting against the syrian president bashar al assad and what we're hearing from god the eyes in khartoum essentially expelling the beings are what has been until now

a badly kept secret he says that israel has been supplying rebel rebels with light weapons for so-called self defense at the same time he also says that israel has been fighting in rainy and horses inside syria and he revealed some details of those operations in january twenty seventh in would begin attacking the infrastructure they run into a building in syria agreed to go mass was from twenty seventeen would begin attacking systematically a number of times each week without making any statements beneath the radar this comes as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu continues to threaten the remaining ukrainian forces inside syria he says that they must get out fast and that is well won't stop attacking them earlier he denied that is always arming rebel forces. we do not interfere in this terribly bloody conflict we do however provide humanitarian aid to young boys and girls it is expensive but we will continue to invest now these reports are nothing new in the sense that they had

been rumors for quite some time back in september last year the idea of course the jerusalem post newspaper to take down an article in which it said that its war was providing weapons ammunition and cash to syrian rebel groups at the same time towards the end of last year there were reports that a former israeli defense minister was meeting with syrian rebels earlier the wall street journal published an article in which it said israel was providing cash to rebel fighters across its northern border so this announcement certainly confirms that the rumors that have been circulating are in fact true. defense politics commentator mirror believes that the israeli actions i am so late securing the country. when he's ready officials now talk about arming rebel groups they don't mean in any brode campaign mode israel these taking care of its own interests and if there are groups which aim to

end then juries well then israel would gladly arm those other groups fighting its own enemies in an area five ten twenty kilometers from me this is not intended to let the rebels take over it or aleppo let alone. so it can be overstated the fact that those rebel groups were helped by israel only focused on israel's immediate interests. fighting is ongoing in a five star hotel an office complex in the country's capital nairobi between police and gunman who seized the complex al qaeda linked terror group al shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault at least five people reportedly being killed at this

point many more injured it was still being held inside as well as hostages according to local media witnesses have described scenes of carnage and say several men charged with building complex includes a hotel and office buildings where international companies are based. upon my belief. if it were if it was just the funding of. so i went. oh yeah but i didn't go to evolution i did most of the speech. ok let's return to our top story now and head to london where british and pains are

deciding the fate of prime minister treasonous draft briggs's deal to lace for our correspondent that he sallies just outside the houses of parliament looks quite cool you all things pretty hot inside there although we have a pretty good idea i think the way these fights likely to go what's the atmosphere been like that today ahead of the big event. well it's really been an atmosphere of division being perfectly frank i mean further down the road behind me here on this road no bank just outside the houses of parliament there are a number of protesters both supporting remain and then leave positions and they're really trying to position themselves all along the street to get the attention of not just all of these television cameras here but to get the attention of the many drivers driving past and getting them in support and there have been some well as you can see good natured debates between the two sides but this whole process has been really been defined by the acrimony in which it's taken place this is an issue

which has divided friends families households and of course now dividing political parties as well and that's the conundrum which faces to resolve may a revolt thought to be around one hundred of our own m.p.'s standing against same with the labor party really a number of labor voters across the country also voting to leave while others are to remain and just outside parliament in parliament square as well the huge rally taking place with screens and speaker systems again supporting remains position and also many addicts. for a second vote second your friend who was it's been dubbed a people's vote which they say would finally sort the way out of this mess but we are also hearing this evening that there were a few amendments to to be on the table which would push the vote back those amendments are really removed which means that within the next half an hour or so we could be getting the results of that really crucial vote and if it goes as

expected well the reason they will be facing the street and it's uncertain whether any of that division will go away any time soon and they say if i can always go on the line just trouble you for a while moment of an opinion than anything else it's been what more than two since the the referendum. there's a good chance that this proposition this tale will be voted down that it won't be approved we should leave the country in quite a mess do you think that the public really understand what is going on do the people on the street really understand the ins and outs of what's being proposed and where they stand right now. i think the public do in just my own opinion i think what what has happened over the last two and a half years is both sides of the argument have only hardened themselves in their own positions and haven't really been willing to listen to the other side so for example that there are many leavers who are advocating to leave on world trade organization rules there are some economists many economists who say that that

would be disastrous for the british economy but they seem to be even more insistent that no that's what we want to do on the other side those remain as you say have a second referendum or even even more such council brags that not realizing the impact that would have on the fifty two percent or so who voted to leave and that trust in democracy and i think what you're seeing on the streets in households in all of these debates is perhaps both sides not really listening to each other and just really wanting to get their way and what the prime minister would argue is that she's trying to find a compromise a middle ground but also it seems that she succeeded in doing. it is really pleasing nobody and alienating everybody on both sides of this really divisive debate thing a good point about the battle lines certainly that's what we saw from jeremy corbyn and the reason may in the last moments of those debates in parliament today many things that are with the latest from the. move on to other news now the

right wing alternative for germany party is to come under investigation by the country's domestic intelligence agency the aim is to determine the extent to which the party has right wing extremist motives a number of m.p.'s have praised the move yes because obviously in try the party is given the state is a test case secondly the young alternative is declared a suspicious case and thirdly the movement within the f.t. the weekend is declared a suspicious case. put the a of d. on the investigation is correct our democracy must protect itself from its opponents even if they act under the guise of a party in a four hundred fifty page report the intelligence agency classifies their fifty as a case investigator that states that this will not involve full on surveillance of the party meanwhile the regional youth wing of the f.t. has been put under surveillance because of suspected ties to extremists. ok let's

bring in an a.f.p. representative party member peter bicester who serves as the foreign policy speaker in the bundestag great to have you on peter appreciate this will give you a chance to respond as well i can imagine you're fairly unhappy about what we've been hearing what do you think of the reasons for this investigation. and ok i thought maybe we had a lengthy delay there but it piers as though we have lost the connection with peter was able to speak to him a little earlier so maybe we'll be able to get him back certainly we will try to do just that. in the meantime u.s. democrats are reportedly preparing subpoenas for donald trump's interpreters who worked on his meetings with the deal over concerns that the american president is concealing nationally significant information if i had

a choice i'd rather not do that with the with the interpreters but we may have no choice we'll have to see down the road what happens but we want to get to the truth this comes after the washington post reporter went to extraordinary lengths to conceal content of his meetings with the russian president allegedly confiscating notes is interpreted made other articles from the weekend suggested might be a russian asset the us president was quick to react to that. i've never worked for a right you know that is the better than anybody i've ever worked for right not only did i never work for russia i think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question because there's a whole big fat hole it's just dark. trump also lashed out at the media saying that it's getting crazier every single day another big term storage the weekend the inquiry open by the f.b.i. on whether the trump might secretly have been working on behalf of russia the probe

was reportedly initiated after trump fired f.b.i. chief james komi last year the president has had a say on that too. so the people doing the gate were people that have been born that are known scoundrels there i guess you could say dirty cop so what you say should i have confidence in the f.b.i. or sell its agencies when i see more and i see all of these both when i see lisa and her lover as there's. good fats here you see what they said about me having nothing to do with adverse to gay shit the election is next year so what the republicans and other people going to be asking is why don't you just wait and get him out the old fashioned way by beating him by coming up with somebody better than actually the asons of what this thing is because in this froth and in this frenetic this move to say impeach impeach my respect release him again i don't think anybody

really understand what impeachment means the american public is complete and totally tone deaf at this point by virtue of this incessant russian collusion russians buying russian does. the american public it doesn't make any sense nor we've heard a big cheer waited to it anything new anyone russian involvement here american public just have set said enough with this police give us a new country maybe make it chinese just to mix it up a little bit americans are tone deaf when it comes to everything in any they russian. canadian data analytics firm has accused the united states media of having a pro israel bias a new study published by four sixteen labs says u.s. outlets routinely depict israel in a more favorable light than palestine auntie's could have more but looks at how this alleged bias might love difficult for u.s. politicians if you want to be

a mainstream politician being pro palestinian or anti israel is not your best option congresswoman tulsi gabbert was an. tact after she announced that she was running for president in two thousand and twenty because she had criticized israel's use of live ammunition against gaza protestors among other things on it. for support for israel and i consider her a friend and good woman but she is dead wrong on assad and criticism of israel and gaza was a mass terrorist israel attacked and it's not enough to just support israel but you have to want those who don't support israel to be punished senator marco rubio is going after a newly elected congresswoman simply because he had voted against a law that would penalize those who boycott israel and it's not just democrats who catch flack if they don't toe the tell of the wine rand paul a republican is facing away the attack ads congress wants to authorize key military support to keep israel safe president trump strongly supports that but not rand

paul will stand with israel or will you stand in the way if you want to be successful in politics follow the lead of new york city mayor bill de blasio he actually went as far as saying that being pro israel is part of his job and this is what i do as mayor it's a sacred responsibility to speak up for and defend the state of israel there is no closer relationship on earth literally no closer relationship than that between new york city and the state of israel and when it comes to media coverage of israel palestine conflicts well it's not exactly balanced new research shows that for the last fifty years pro israeli stories have been amplified in american media the large gap in israel centric headlines over palestinian ones was four to one in favor of israeli stories israeli perspectives and narratives find greater space in the american media compared to those of palestinians now the authors don't even see this imbalance is a problem they think it's just natural that u.s.

media would follow us foreign policy. critically this appears to be a systemic problem in coverage rather than a result of deliberate planned bias instead of this has likely more to do with what scholars allude to as the u.s. media's affinity to broadly align and support their government's foreign policy objectives but despite the media imbalance the us public is becoming less and less favorable to israel a new poll shows that thirty eight percent of americans think that israel has too much influence in american politics and that's fifty five percent among democrats so it looks like the gap between the u.s. public and mainstream media coverage is growing up and r.t. new york. ok let's get back to our guest we lost connection with him slightly earlier peter bostons an after party member he's actually the foreign policy speaker for the party in the bundestag. the story that we were we were

discussing is domestic intelligence agency in germany investigating your party how do you feel about them what do you think about the reasons given for this investigation. well in the fact that this is not. just a test case about the us per announcer very very intensively and partly so. the reason this early in very clear and very easy to to discover the if you become so strong that we are too successful in our. old parties and. outs a book to discuss all the topics we have read us winning because we have to decide the must meet wretch slot is ation your criticism and euro currency critics and all of those topics the stock just thinks the facts are on our side the truth is on

our side so the only way they see how to fight us is distribute taishan and they are apparently this really taking our party and this is one more step and this is this three day shit campaign understand the point you're making you know you you fly in the face of the mainstream politics in germany and that's why they don't like you but are you helping your friends are you helping yourselves for example some of your members at times of these language that's been considered by some as inappropriate to believe anderson then hot insulted muslims and what they consider sacred is not doing you more harm than good or is that just the nature of your organization on that and actually you know we have several examples of. things that i call it the shots of out of political parties were saying the same like our politicians and they say not it's.