as i please. i asked myself the question did we take a wrong turn i think it's quite the opposite. i've done nothing wrong president defends his policies in a televised address aimed at the fusing of widespread public anger that's been driving the yellow vests protests for the last six months or so the u.s. africa command is forced defend itself after a report reveals washington has been running dozens of military missions on the continent we asked people in new york what. is names of some of the covert operations jukebox lotus what does it make you think. literally. drum music from africa nothing comes to mind. is actually the name of the u.s.

military operation in africa. i mean. world leaders to stand on china for a major economic gathering the annual belts and road for of it's to boost economic and political cooperation will all be on the table. good morning welcome just gone eight o'clock here in moscow you're watching international now the french president has gone on the defensive claiming he's done nothing wrong in the way he's been dealing with the country's issues he took to national television on thursday night to make an impassioned address to the public . as i did your complete military coup i asked myself the question did we take a wrong turn i think it's quite the opposite i believe that to lead

a democracy today no matter the country has to accept not to be popular and i'd rather be responsible and be unpopular rather than to seek to charm in such a way that would always be fleeting only well in that speech which was aimed at quelling the yellow vests protests macron did touch on a wide range of issues and also promised reforms to charlotte in school reports. president michael may have spoken for almost an hour with the wind to aging discussion of the things he'd like to do over the next three years but what he would lacked on quite a lot was the details so yes he talked about lower taxes but he didn't specifically say what that meant in terms of a figure it's my duty to defend a pragmatic reform will review eight hundred twenty twenty and if it's not effective or too large we will correct it one of the more controversial issues that michael also touched on was the reforms that he introduced last year in two thousand and eighteen and this was the reform to the wealth tax which for many

yellow vests has been a very big bone of contention so what has this movement say it is and what have i taken away from this grand the great first of all we all heard this feeling of injustice fiscal injustice territory injustice going to social injustice the feeling is here it's invaded we must provide an answer well the yellow vest protest is be happy with what's been announced it's unlikely what we do know is that these protests have been some of the most violent in france for more than half a century. now the cool says the right one and we're not going to change it just because the wind is blowing.

well to gain more support president macron also decided to get rid of what he calls a symbol of inequality the french later said he would abolish an elite school which is famous for its prominent crown jewels however some have labeled it an attempt to shift attention. from the real problems. efforts are being made to put up a smokescreen so that we forget what the real problems are in france this is undoubtedly a distraction it's not a critical question who will replace the e n a with another school because we will have to continue to produce senior officials but we heard from analysts who do believe the president's move is unlikely to widespread public anger. the french population is in favor of what he's suggesting so this was kind of playing catch up

with. almost certainly we know there are going to be protests at the universe don't really seem to have very very much to do to offer apart from turning up in france in city centers and and causing disruption but it's the broader movement of the yellow vests those who we don't hear very much from who are kind of being pushed to the edges that may well be a bit more open to what macro is suggesting people are unhappy with this policy but what is too is that there is no united demand about what to do with this is that school i didn't say the european union there's nothing as you can do because you know i've been one to force these sort of nearly well it's loans and of course i gaze with that but even if we didn't can do anything about it so is the dilemma in ac's measures is more social spending more. or less taxes but in settings this course is it is going to get dirty i don't know i was going to

balance the budget there's a lot of those alleged so it seems at least it is mostly a discourse of discourses trying to satisfy people that isn't going to be done because the disease content is too deep. now the u.s. africa command has had to defend itself after being king of military imperialism it comes after a report shows since twenty ten the u.s. has been running thirty six operations all across the african continent far more than had previously been revealed by the government organization says its military activity has brought stability with more details his. u.s. africa command with our partners strengthen security forces counters transnational threats and conducts crisis response in order to advance u.s. national interest. and promote regional security stability and prosperity major car

weiss a spokesperson for the u.s. military's african command has come forward and stated the purpose of the pentagon's operations on the continent now he was responding to a tweet by the young gun control activist david hawkins now hawgs tweet was reacting to the fact that currently there are u.s. military operations underway on the african continent is not a small number the official reason given is to promote stability but it's hard to measure success when so little information is available to the public about what's actually going on for example for u.s. military personnel were killed in the african country of niger and this came to light members of the u.s. armed services committee those are u.s. senators had no idea what they were even doing there but i didn't know there was a thousand troops in niger and you heard senator graham there he didn't know we had a thousand troops in these areas did you know i didn't know and for something that top aleck that officials don't even know about it's rather extensive so we decided to go out and talk to members of the u.s.

public about afrikaans activities perhaps they have some information that top government officials don't have box lotus what does it make you think oh literally nothing echo case made what do you think oh. drug music from africa junction serpents what do you think that is i think nothing comes to mind how about maybe an alcoholic drink definitely and a justified cmon yeah. yeah i don't know could it possibly be maybe like a new song or a hit song that sue you think it might be like a drink possibly cocktail possibly actually the name of the u.s. military operation in africa last that's why i mean. very interesting i think if you. think say phil terrible operation junction serpent yeah that makes me feel terrible you don't like the way that sound sounds like you're doing something. now as far as we know the u.s. military in africa could be doing nothing but noble deeds they could be holding

little orphan children and feeding the hungry but we don't know that we have no information. r.t. new york well the founder if you point africa does question whether u.s. military activity has in fact contributed to regional stability. the bottom line is that the u.s. military does do things knesset lead does do things on the cover up sometimes it does things on the disguise the u.s. operation on the ground in the after is quite extensive in many cases it goes beyond what the the senate in the u.s. and very much so what the american people would expect in the case of africa which as we do know islamic terrorism has a foothold it's questionable as to where the the u.s. operation eighteen through ends on the ground whether that in itself has caused or has extended the terrorists to be able to recall or actually extend their stay in the areas which they claim. that i knew were new bull energy brecqhou which were

set in chimney on monday wind and solar plants generated more than seventy percent the countries that trickle needs that's thanks to strong winds and abundant sunshine at least that's according to a local think tank but while green energy does power forward phase are growing over what this could mean for the production methods of the past for example one of the most controversial in the country's coal production many regions depend hugely on their mines which provide ties and save jobs for local communities peter all of the travel to one such region and censuses from. this open cast coal mine in the east of germany near to the border with poland casts a black out into the horizon. governments want to see coal phased out of use by twenty thirty eight and recently there's been loud voices of support from not both here in germany and also in the wider world class.

the problem for areas like this is that it's upwards of sixteen thousand jobs in the local area either. depend directly or in directly on this coal mine being operational i spoke to local residents and asked them where they sit when it comes to environment versus economy. all of the businesses in this area depend in some way on mine is running their wages here we hope coal production will still continue . without coal mine in our region will die it can't happen coal must not. believe the call industry disappears then even more young people will leave this place will be like a retirement community in just a few weeks the european parliamentary elections will be taking place and it's in

areas like this that conservative opposition party alternative that germany's are looking to pick up verbs also happening here in the state of brandenburg in september are all important local elections and that's why you have to candidates are campaigning hard with the local coal mining communities. we need a stable power supply which we won't have if we shut down coal we have coal in this region for many years to come and we intend to use it wind water and solar are not enough in this area known as the louds it's there are seven mines that feed three power stations all in all they provide around seven percent of germany's annual energy needs as the country as a whole or germany takes almost forty percent of its power from coal the plan as it stands is to eliminate all nuclear power by twenty twenty two and phase out all coal energy by the end of the next two decades the implementation of the climate

change plan will accelerate structural change in many regions and sectors especially in the energy sector the goal of the federal government is to preserve the regions as energy regions of the future to create jobs and to avoid structural breaks and restrictions on. international competitiveness the government promised forty billion euro earlier this year to help mining communities with the transition however people in this part of the country aren't convinced that throwing money at the problem is going to help us with money is not enough we need a clear plan before we go ahead and publish an end date for the coal industry we need to have a plan of what will replace it and. all reputable science points to a need for us to change the way we impact upon the environment one of the biggest challenges though may be how to change generations of industry and life without

turning these communities into ghost towns peter all over r.t. in the laos it's called field germany. now a centuries long tradition of referring to ships as her and she is under threats because the scottish maritime museum has become referring to them in exhibits as it to be to appear more gender neutral the move comes after it was found people had been scratching off references to boats is she from information signs although the director of the museum says the decision to change the reference was not triggered by vandalism but to recognize changes in society despite this a spokesperson for the british merit marine industries federation said their organization would continue the centuries long tradition well that tradition does date back to at least the fourteenth century some historians belief sale is the satiate of femininity with motherhood and also protection but the struggle to keep up with modern times is sparking heated debate in society r.t.

got reaction on the streets of the city of portsmouth. i disagree trey i think nation day it ought to have history and things like that i think quite important to keep our history say to square i think would be a shame i think that so beautiful and therefore they ought to be fine and therefore she. should change you can major city change for the sake of change i mean if you're historically the bridge. pre-marriage and. already don't see any particular need to train you personally we thought that it was called because we have a queen and if we had a king then the ship would be a he was. very angry. well we also spoke to a former submarine captain ryan ramsey he believes the decision to scrap the title for a while upset generations of sites. is

a safe haven for so many scientists and actually they see that they see that capability that ship of all i think that's where the focus is not so much whether it's netanyahu man or woman but actually some of the ship's name the seas they're named after everything but it's actually what the ship. for the site is for that's speciation for a long long time for the origin of it comes from now which is a funny. sort of scholarship. or so for me it's a capsule of the new year so we also sort of this is so awesome reshape and the west has it right. almost some of the sources we as we want to get on missions nationally there are way more important things to focus on the names of ships in the ceremonies that tradition something we lose our history and tradition it's.

also within the military. now still to come this hour a meeting of economic minds is underway in beijing the china's annual belts i'm ready for and we're crossing live to that event just after the break. most people think just stand out in this business you need to be the first one on top of the story or the person with the loudest voice of the biggest street in

truth to stand losing business is just the right questions and demand the right answer. the. question. hello again now the belgium road forum is under way in china this week leaders from here asian countries and further afield to have gathered to share their views on how to better develop economic cooperation or to shed more light on this now we were going live to beijing you go she done office there first covering the event you go just outline then what's on the agenda today.

well and the it's president's ministers heads of key international bodies like the u.n. or the international monetary fund all of them have gathered here in beijing that's the second biennial gold and road forum and now this is sort of a beijing's push to draw the attention of global political elite to itself i should say russian leader vladimir putin is already here and he has delivered his opening a sort of an opening statement in which he outlined the key challenges faced by the participants of the forum which include unilateral sanctions have a lesson. that it's important to create an effective onset of the risks of global economic political and technological space fragmentation and on the rise of protectionism the most dangerous form of which is the illegitimate one sided measures taken without any account from the un or even worse trade was.

now when it comes to i should say quite expectedly vitamin pulled and also talked about the need to broaden and expand the corporation between russia and china and indeed we've already heard the announcement of the joint military drills between the countries that are said to come sometime. in the near future also the russian leader stressed the importance of this format of the very initiative of the belt and of the of the belton road initiative because this forum is part of something much grander much bigger the whole bolton road initiative was announced by china back in twenty thirteen and it is a complex forward by in which china invests into infrastructure builds a new road a new communications all over the world especially in asia and africa so vladimir putin stressed that such approach is the right way to move forward in the more than world sort of two d. centralize the whole global political order now also when it comes to to the

chinese leader xi jinping in his turn also talked about the importance of russia as chinese economic partner and now also all of that is coming against the backdrop of gladness putin's meeting with the supreme leader of north korea kim jong un i should say the first of its kind between the two and clearly the leaders had a lot to talk about well why am i telling you all this it seems that this spring twenty nineteen russia's diplomacy is focused and it has asia and it's spotlight. ok thank you go you go to turn off their forests in beijing. now demonstration by students in the colombian city of bogota has turned violent forty people were said to have been injured including eight police and three journalists . i offered

a show to show pollutions more cannon some students had reportedly been throwing improvised explosives at least thirty five arrests were made and students have been demonstrating against the failure of the colombian government to implement education reforms promised last year. as a presidential hopeful search for supporter head of the twenty twenty presidential elections democrats are even looking to extend voting rights. people in jail can vote now here is my view but i think the right vote is inherent to our democracy yes even for terrible people lower the voting age to sixty mm getting young people voting early makes them voters for life our politics will affect young people for decades to come they should have a say in their own future and a raft of democrat moves appear to confirm a shift to a progressive agenda democrats brought to republican proposal last month to prevent

illegal immigrants from voting yes that may that may be more because unauthorized migrants overwhelmingly tend to vote democrat democrats also push to lower the voting age to sixteen though that was rejected by the house political expert and author gina loudon believes winning the election is all that matters to the party. most americans think once you kill people and you take away their right to be alive your rights are pretty much negated at least until you've served out your term in prison and in some cases even as you know in the united states we can do the death penalty regarding murder because we believe you relinquish your rights when you take another life they realize now that the basic americans out here are the people that we call them joe six-pack in america the guy that's just working his job trying to provide first family he's not going to vote democrat anymore because the democrats have gone so far regressive left that they've lost their rank and

file old school democrats that used to vote for them and in fact not only have they lost i'm president trump has reigned them then and has become the president really of the average american so the democrats realize they have to go someplace else they're quite desperate and they're willing to let criminals and children vote. two people have been killed and the fate of fifteen of them. does remain unknown off an explosion at a coal mine in the self-proclaimed against people's republic can you try and rescue operation is underway the russian emergency services are working in close cooperation with local authorities believe the blast was caused by me think gas leak only cost a small. people's republic emergency services haven't arrived here at the scene over a cold wind blasted few hours ago at the moment there is still both working behind

me and they are now waiting for the russian emergency services to come and help them as well and those guys are expected to be here in the early hours of friday morning so for we know for sure that soup people too cold miners have been killed as a result of this blast and fifteen people are still unaccounted for and this is where there is commission. didn't he say your place right now her mom calls her of artsy lugansk region and that brings you up to date on the news this morning here in r.t. we're back again as usual in just over half. after the previous stage of my career was over everyone wondered what i was going to do next the pope the ball different clubs on one hand it is logical to sit in

the home fields where everything is familiar on the other i wanted a new challenge and a fresh perspective i'm used to surprising people and i saw why not if you think. i'm going to talk about football narvi or else you can think i was going to go. by the way ways of that slide here. when lawmakers manufactured just sentenced him to public wealth. when the ruling classes project themselves. with the financial merry go round of lives only the one percent. of the time to ignore middle of the room signals. to lose the real news is real

world. is this. realistic prospect. and you understand why it kind of creeps people. but i think there's there's what i call the creepy line and the policy about a lot of these things is to get right up to the creepy line but not cross it i would argue that implanting things in your brain is beyond the creepy line on it. at least for the moment.

at the end of the twentieth century silicon valley industry titans like steve jobs and bill gates made a promise that would forever alter how we perceive the world it spans the globe like a superhighway it is called internet and you suddenly are part of

a new mash of people programs archives i believe it's the personal computer and the internet manatee into the information age laying the groundwork for a moment to innovation at the dawn of the twenty first century there would be a new revolution a new generation of young genius of this made a new promise beyond our wildest dreams. the ideas that we take all. the world's information and make. everyone limitless information artificial intelligence machines that would know what we wanted and would tend to our every need the technology would be beyond our imagination it's almost like magic yet the concept would be as simple as a single word search. this was the beginning of google and less than a decade later facebook they would make a new promise to humanity what i think so interesting about google and facebook is

they were founded at american universities at stanford university you had two students larry page and sergey brin decide they wanted to create the ultimate search engine for the internet across the country you had in the case of facebook mark zuckerberg who was a student at harvard decided he wanted to create a social media platform basically to meet girls and to make friends and hence we got facebook you never think that you could build this company or anything like that right because i did it just started in our just building stuff because we really thought it was cool it was all about promise it was all about the shiny future was all about the free flow of information but there was also a certain idealism behind it i think that a company like google we have the potential to make very big differences very big positive differences in the world and i think we also have an obligation as a consequence.