if you. feel. me. feel. it i'll be soldiers of venezuela waiting for you to be on our side are you among. never treats. as the venezuelan president urges troops to stay loyal to the south declared leader of the country one kwaito admits to talks with the military to overthrow president with. a new report suggests that one in

twenty people in the u.k. do not believe the holocaust ever happened also this down. but. i don't see violence movement is launched in france against the yellow vests protests in the country. a very warm welcome to you watching r.t. international with me in the air and great to have you with us. the armed forces are now the focus of political turmoil in venezuela who swore himself in as leader during anti-government unrest says he's in talks with the military to turn them against the venezuelan president nicolas maduro at the same time the president has visited troops and urged them to stay loyal. if it all could be soldiers of

venezuela we're waiting for you to be on our side who among us. soldiers of venezuela we're waiting for you to be on the side of the constitution are you crowed period. we have made our position very clear about the dictates or your nature of this regime and so we want to take power never a traitor. install a transitional government and court free elections louise boyle. that's how it has to be. us national security adviser john bolton has threatened action if there is violence or intimidation against the opposition leader hungry doe the self declared leader has contested president maduro as a second term elections calling them illegitimate because don of takes is through great ohs rise from obscurity. international recognition and a new grand social status dropped on one why door like

a brick wall i mean just look at this from no name to total fame judging by this the life of the new poster boy for the venezuelan opposition leapt into another dimension overnight the point of no return was this. i'm mike pence the united states supports the courageous decision by one god all united states probably recognize a national symbol president one is the constitutional interim president of venezuela he's the most evil now marred by the media and entrusted to not fail by the united states and countries making up its retinue and apparently the latter could be weighing hard on venezuela's newest a democratic symbol where you do said that there was nothing he could do that he couldn't handle the pressure from the americans. if we had only if i was at the meeting when we said he was being

pressured by everyone now this is the claim made by people but when journalists confronted what you do with a yes or no question he struggled to answer well to be fair he did it twice in fact but each time differently can you confirm whether the meeting took place and what did you talk about all venezuelans know this person i would repeat my question have imagines do as data could be you are not i've already answered i haven't of course not so what if we spoke with officials of course we did circumstantial evidence also hits that the room of why do it being overwhelmed by washington's a mission could be true look at the person appointed by the white house to oversee the transformation of venezuela a lift this building thirty years ago this week last summer work here so it's very nice to be back this is america's main battle tank in the regime change course part

of the reagan administration he funneled the long way around federal weapons through iran soon he was right wing anti government extremists both think illegal under u.s. law he tried to pressure congress into giving the weapons to the regime of reassessment in guatemala who was later charged with. genocide and crimes against humanity is just a couple of confirmed achievements by earlier albums from when he held the position and i'm not kidding the position of assistant secretary of state for humanitarian affairs but perhaps most importantly our brahms allegedly was the architect of the two thousand and two coup in venezuela back then it failed in days so perhaps now is being given a chance to redeem himself through it's all for a good cause democracy never needs to be imposed it is tyranny that has to be imposed you heard the man so you better say cut mr y door the us is about to spread

its regime of democracy to venezuela this time around and you are going to carry it on your shoulders a long running economic crisis in venezuela has led to millions to flee the country people there are struggling with high pay inflation along with food and medicine shortages one of the causes was a dramatic fall in oil prices but the situation has been heightened by u.s. sanctions and a financial blockade and independent reports for the u.n. say the crisis in venezuela is being exaggerated in the media and then weaponized as a pretext for regime change we talked to it thought. what we're seeing here and it reminds me a lot of the run up to the two thousand and three invasion of iraq we have seen here it coordinated effort to denounce them on. motherhood or

to involve human rights to say we need regime change because of the venezuelan people but who is costing who's aggravating the problem this sanctions have aggravated the problem the economic war have aggravated the problem when other little. needed anti in leiria medicine for an outbreak in november two thousand and seventeen wanted to buy it in colombia colombia refused to sell there are hundreds hundreds of cases in which the financial transactions that every state needs to survive have been blocked because citibank or wells fargo have close the accounts of venezuela. two thousand and three oil rich country iraq gets devastated and it's the major oil companies that are reaping the profit two thousand and eleven libya another

oil rich country gets devastated and they or oil companies are laughing you know that is an enormous interest on the part of u.s. business to get end there. what we want to avoid is shedding of blood and i told the opposition people who might not personally met in caracas at the time look if you talk to the government what do you think is going to happen there are seven eight nine million committed childish that's one of the got to do do you think they're just going to roll over do you think they're going to disappear no they are venezuelans they have rights and they are going to demand their rights so you cannot simply ignore their existence so you have to make sure that you reach some sort of a compromise. so our sunday events were held across the globe to mark international holocaust remembrance day it comes seventy four years since of your

troops liberated auschwitz the nazi death camp that was occupied in poland former prisoners of the camp visited the site where holocaust museum is now situated they shared their memories expressing the importance for people today to remember the atrocities that were carried out. during the nazi purge in the second world war seventeen million people were killed six million of them with jews more than a half of europe's jewish population was murdered in systematic attacks when he was starved to death killed in gas chambers and burned in furnaces in concentration camps but despite the evidence from that time a recent poll suggests that one in twenty people in the u.k. deny the holocaust ever happened over half of those surveyed did not know the number of victims while eight percent think the scale of the atrocity has been exaggerated airframes there are from the simon wiesenthal center thinks those

statistics are alarming. holocaust denial is simply a new form of anti-semitism the holocaust is the most documented tragedy in human history there are millions i repeat millions of documents that prove the crimes of the holocaust there's no basis for this denial it's totally absurd so why do people do it it's in basically a new form of anti-semitism the leaders of the world the leading political leaders in every country have to make clear that this is a fact that this happened and this has very important consequences for their country as well and then there's the question of the educational systems in other words this is subject that has to be taught in the school curriculum at the proper age and to be done effectively and with the best technological and other educational aids the basic idea behind holocaust education is that the tragedy that

we call the holocaust has lessons for humanity about the dangers of hatred the dangers of anti-semitism racism fascism and obviously we think that it's important that people study the holocaust to learn from that tragedy and to try that managed to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy. after eleven consecutive weeks of street demonstrations it seemed some in front have had enough of the unrest they've even launched that only to counter the increasingly violent best protest salehi bensky explains. fronts and protest the two go oh me no i'm like two lovers strewing around paris in fact the french seem to love processing so much it's almost a national sport but it's a sport that has a very nasty streak the yellow vest protest group are probably the best

known they've been out in force since november seventeenth so that's now eleven weekends they say the government's not doing enough despite the concessions and a national debate is taking place in the yellow vests are determined to stick it out they've already planned acts twelve before we even got to the twelfth weekend but their protests have often descended into violence that's been described as the worst in more than half a century. i will not concede anything to do see what destruction and disorder.

but in true french fashion there is now an anti protest protest meet the red skull that is so unhappy about the violence and the destruction that's taken place during the yellow vests protest that they've now formed their group and they're out in force. to groom religiousness originally why all the demonstrations today it's because. many people have had enough of the pointless violence in this country that are demonstrating i believe good to defend the principle of nonviolence and to defend democracy it's very simple feel. to emphasize the importance of liberty in democracy we're facing a movement in france that's attempting to restrict our freedom. i have chosen to

come here to defend democracy and freedom but peacefully without violence well if you thought this was just a red protest against the yellow protestors think again there is also now a team yes that's right the blue vests are also anti yellow vests they're anti violence so what you've got at the moment is the yellow vest protesters in the middle and on each side they're all the vests and you've got the red scarves remind you of something yes that's right it's almost like the treacle or the french flag and it seems that just like the french moto libertarian gallatin for eternity it's living on in the french spirit so the french regardless of what size they're on still have this opportunity with each other albeit in their ability to protest or to protest a protest of a protest or something like that. charlotte even ski party paris

with some clearly losing patience with the yellow vests brand of protest the movement itself is also faced a strong clampdown from both parties sometimes leading to serious injury jerome or three goes the leading member of the movement was hit in the face by a flash grenade and ses he may lose the sight in his right eye. was. no. it. was. he said this was. global clear as you i've had my i've been stitched up because even as to whether i'm going to regain my sight also find out someone at some weeks old and i make stream me angry because these are things i should not be happening today in front zones what they're doing is totally unacceptable and i have to recover and i will return to the protest as soon as i can because the battlefield long and tough is where you have a goal for

a better france and for a more humane. we call for a taste of use tear gas and stun grenades and clashes with demonstrators in the city of the solemnity the protesters rallied against a deal with macedonia to end a decades long naming dispute. was. was. crowds gathered in the city on sunday night voicing that anger at the greek president over the unpopular war was this comes two days after athens ratified a deal to establish a new name for the former yugoslav republic of macedonia the country is now known as the republic of no macedonia but many greeks object to the new name saying it implies an historic claim to the greek prophets of macedonia for decades greece's fourth basically over neighbor macedonia is name because athens border region is

also called macedonia one of the country's official name safeway r o m short for the former yugoslav republic of macedonia stop the laying claim to the rich history of that name after all military genius alexander the great still study to walk out to be is round the world was born in macedonia. with the things blocking its neighbors nato and the e.u. membership over the issue is finally agreed to name the republic of north macedonia macedonia's parliament amended its constitution to ratify the name change. a brazen robbery walks visitors to a top moscow art gallery and a look at some of the runners in ukraine's presidential election we got those stories coming up after the break. i've been saying the numbers mean something they matter the u.s. has over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crimes happen each

day. eighty five percent of global wealth you want to be all for bridge eight point six percent market saw a thirty percent rise last year some with four hundred to five hundred three per second per second and one rose to twenty thousand dollars. china's building two point one billion dollars ai industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only number you need to remember is one one does not show you know forward to miss the one and only. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then.

welcome back a candidate so lining up for presidential elections in ukraine with the votes roughly two months away twenty people have already registered for a leadership bid donna hawkins takes us through some of the front rightness. for the last fifteen years every presidential race in ukraine has given the country a new political shocks of the system and it looks like this year will be an exception now if you've ever followed ukraine's domestic politics you'll know there's rarely a dull moment. this

year's election will see an almost wreck or number of candidates twenty to be precise and this number could still rise the list of nominees has both familiar faces and dark horses with some colorful contenders also thrown in here's just some of those candidates the political heavyweights yulia timoshenko. her career has seen it all from becoming the country's first female prime minister to spending three years behind bars for embezzlement she was a candidate in two thousand and ten and again in twenty fourteen so could it be third time lucky and this man has already played the ukrainian president in a hit t.v. show can he turn fiction into reality meet star comedian and producer of the minute zelinsky also a popular actor in russia by the way. now

he's had a great start even managing to steal the limelight from the current president's new year address when announcing his own bid yes you do for incidental carrying the late desirable metabolism. there is a hitch though zilinskas bid to be the anti elite contender was rocked by scandal when he was found to have business ties to russia and any connection to moscow is a major no go to anyone who wants to win this race. the most recent addition to the list is another headline grabber and ideas of suffering go once betrayed as ukraine's joan of arc. now she is also no stranger to controversy after being jailed in russia for involvement in the murder of two russian journalists she returned to her homeland as a hero even becoming a member of parliament only to get arrested once again by her own countryman the charges quite a catalogue plotting

a terrorist attack planning to kill members of parliament and the president even plotting a coup. was really. really so far it seems she'll be running her campaign from a detention center the current president is expected to run but he wants struggled to lead the pack with an approval rating of about seventeen percent he may be praying for divine intervention and with his own newly independent church well who knows what can happen for now though his new campaign slogan might just help those numbers out of me. more than a year after the modern protests rode a wave of hope for democracy prosperity and transparency. for glutes. those dreams still seem distant fraught with economic

challenges human rights issues and lingering corruption whoever takes that presidential oath this spring it certainly won't be a cushy job that many would envy. visitors to one of moscow's top galleries have been left stunned by an all day show's robbery a thief apparently took a masterpiece by a russian artist archive clingier in broad daylight as well the gallery was open authorities released a video showing the moment it was taken works by the nineteenth century artists rarely appear on the market or in private collections in two thousand and eight a picture by the artist went for three million dollars at auction is unclear if it's a coincidence but the artwork was taken on the artist's birthday there is a happy ending here though the undamaged pitcher was recovered earlier today and the suspect was tracked down and questioned. canada's prime minister justin trudeau might be in for a grilling today as parliament resumes he's expected to face criticism for sacking

the country's ambassador to china john mccallum the decision follows the diplomats controversial comments about the extradition case involving a senior executive from the chinese telecoms giant weiwei artie's evangelos sips as in beijing explains. well this all comes after canadian prime minister justin trudeau decided to fire somebody and china last tuesday the canadian diplomat made controversy when he publicly argued that the u.s. extradition request see a film in long actually has a lot of flaws i think she has quite good arguments on her side one political involvement comments from donald trump in her case there's the issue iran's sanctions which are involved in her case and candidate does not sign on to these sanctions well with holdouts the canadian boxer then came out saying in

a statement again that he misspoke and that he apologized for creating confusion aware kind of being on the case but this is a little bit too late and all this drama in the name of the man. who is currently on bail in canada and the u.s. the united states government is pressuring its neighbor to the north to extradite her now the united states government house and so when's the to request an extradition for in the united states and the chinese side also is hoping that the canadian traditional system would not turn a blind eye we have seen the statement made by the canadian ambassador to china jon mccallum i believe that everyone with normal judgment can see the nature of the incident we hope to canada can have a clear understanding of the problem and that is there is more and more tension building between these two countries and allies and business partners the relationships between them is hitting a low. thanks for choosing r.t. international desk monday morning my colleague in the now will be with you at the top of the hour with the latest.

seemed wrong. to me. to shape out just to become educated and engagement equals betrayal. one of the many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. us veterans who come back from war often tell the same stories. we're going after the people who were killing civilians they were not interested in the wellbeing of their own soldiers either they're already several generations of them so i just got

this memo from the circular defense's office that says we're going to attack and destroy the government and seven countries in five years americans pay for the wars with them money on those with their lives if we were willing to go into harm's way and willing to risk being killed for a war then surely we can risk some discomfort more uneasiness for. me and i mean i didn't you know your son. was you going over. those whom you know most of us will be in your years and years it was notable to. not like you. please don't believe the ways that i did my best religion as the white. people. use them you see if there's

one of those. these who get. you know so i know you know you can cause. you know world big partisan movies lot of things and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the back and shouting past each other it's hard for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now we're watching closely. for watching the hawks.

welcome to sophia go home sophie shevardnadze one ice is affiliated to sam laid upon nigeria mercenaries played a major role in pushing to terrorise spec is outsourcing the name of the game when it comes to modern conflicts will ask was class ends to mention director at programs africa and veteran soldier for hire. mercenaries have been the mainstay of african wars for decades having a decisive impact in sierra leone and nigeria and other theaters of conflict and while the media portrays them as cash hungry brutes local government still has soldiers of fortune to get them out of tight spots. companies are more efficient than regular national on this continent private military contractors a viable solution to this regional conflict and could their actions help to bring

peace to war torn hotspots. cold was class and director at programs africa and executive outcomes veteran welcome to the show it's great to have you with us because you run your own security company now after having spent years in the special forces and then reached fame as a member of mercenary unit excited about comes there have been t.v. programs about you a character based on you it was played by leonardo di caprio and blood diamond are you using all this fame and attention to bring more clients to promote the business is a good thing. right so we all get all their obviously and we follow different career path let me just rectify something from the start not so much special forces units as airborne units close but not the same that's where i spend my military career and yes after that i joined executive outcomes.