i. was in. the headlines this hour on r.t. with the us house set to vote on impeaching president donald trump on wednesday some are warning that the whole process could actually backfire on the democrats and cost them votes in 2020. parents in the u.k. are angry after school changes the words in traditional christmas carols to be more inclusive we get reaction. and they want to move it reference as well she says big king jesus being savior if we don't have those things what are we celebrating so if we want to have style you advise your child has a religious education that include all strains of all walks of life. and germany brands washington's decision to sanction firms participating in or trying to

project an acceptable we look at who benefits from the gas pipeline and why the u.s. doesn't like. hello there it's midday here in moscow you're watching r.t. international the u.s. house will vote on impeaching donald trump on wednesday the president himself accuses the democratic leadership of pressuring party members to vote a certain way and also warns to the whole process could actually backfire democrats both from the house and the senate have pulled no punches trying to convince the public. have impeachment the constitution precisely to protect ourselves from a president becoming a tyrant in a desperate sadly the democrats impeachment inquiry has been flawed and partisan from day one it's clear that this president acted in

a way that not only violates the public trust each up or dies to our national security clear and present danger right now in this room is the pattern of attack and abuse of rules and out and decisions to get at this president what is president trump afraid of the truth the facts the american people understand what's happening here it's a hoax the whole impeachment thing is a hoax. well the pressure is especially high on those representatives that come from pro trump states and could disappoint their own votes is he's kind of more pain breaks down and the impeachment case. a vote on impeachment is set to take place the house of representatives has drawn up the charges and democrats are calling for donald trump to be removed how democrats are focused on fighting for the people we must hold this president accounts abou the constitution and nation dependent democrats seen watching these proceedings as

a huge victory they say donald trump has betrayed the whole country but the whole country doesn't agree the country is split and americans don't seem to care for partisan squabbles and many have become more critical of the democrats in recent months even within the house of representatives 18 democrats are bucking the party line and say they will vote against him to ensure that they argue that months before the 2020 alexion this doesn't look good for the democrats but we are so close there are now like i would tell you getting here knowing how. if i did and i don't either that or you're making. all these factors combined to make some democrats very nervous and donald trump seems to be emphasizing the fears on the other side of the aisle any democrat that votes for the sham will be voting to sacrifice the house majority their dignity and their career. another fear

hanging over the democrats is that they won't be able to actually remove donald trump from office after all republicans have a pretty solid majority in the senate so what's the plan well call up even more witnesses during the impeachment trial in the senate how on such a weighty matter. could we avoid hearing this could we go forward without hearing it i haven't seen a single good argument about why these witnesses shouldn't testify with these documents be produced unless the president has something to hide. and his supporters want that information hidden but who knows if these tactics will actually pay off remember the brett kavanaugh confirmation hearings the democrats called witness after witness after witness and the republicans seem to have been the big winners then these sexual assault allegations and heated rhetoric didn't win the democrats any points as the 2020 alexion edged nearer democrats stand to

possibly lose pretty big from this whole impeachment fiasco after all the trouble is actually driven from office the red state in the rust belt base of trump supporters won't be pleased animosity between the 2 sides could reach a critical juncture and if they fail they could face ridicule for dragging the country through a pointless procedure wasting money and wasting time so what exactly are the democrats trying to accomplish by impeaching donald trump to quote an old american saying after wonder are the democrats perhaps cutting off their nose in order to spite their face caleb oppen r.t. new york. was the run faster 2020 us presidential candidate from the libertarian party to this the diddies clear what the democrats are really up to you with their impeachment drive. anybody with common sense can see it you know there is no basis for impeachment and we know that there is a senate majority the only thing that the democrats are proving is that they were

sore losers during the election and we see time and time again a lot of people are gearing away from the democratic party not just by the way they're acting as if they're wasting the tax paying dollars. putting on fiascoes still cannot get over that donald trump is the president the united states i mean i was against him in the elections in 2016 and i'm running against him again in 2020 but you have to put all that aside and there are facts and there is you know the fake news and that's what we're seeing today. british primary school has found itself in the firing line after parents were angered by changes to the wording of traditional christmas carols the white all primary school in the southeast of england was redacted several carols replacing for example little lord with baby boy jesus critics say the changes do a myth the whole point of the celebration some parents have reacted negatively. if

he was just a baby boy named jesus there wouldn't be a celebration in the 1st place he's our lord and savior and king of all kings that's the whole point it's also a tradition is taking away the traditions of the country i believe my children have been discriminated against and the have been denied the freedom to fully express their faith christian belief and tradition of being 2nd forced and silenced in the name of inclusion and political correctness the words lord jesus are about the central message of christmas which is that god is with us in jesus to put it very simply but it's what christmas is about. well the school in question says it promotes british values including tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs and it's defended to the move by saying that some students did not attend last year's service because of their religious beliefs and the school wants to include all their pupils during the festive period we discussed the story with tim

viet he's from christian concern and also with the social commentator. the key message of christianity and the whole reason why we celebrate christian christmas is because jesus was born as a human being and yet it was god as well and came down and it's an incredible thing to think that god became a human being but that's what actually happened and that's what we're celebrating here and they wanted to remove that reference as well as jesus being king and jesus being savior if we don't have those things what are we celebrating i think it's a massive distortion let's be quite clear jesus wasn't god he was odd agreed from a theological perspective not agree he was a mighty messenger a prophet there is very little theological evidence the public space and the educational space is one which is secular it does not mean it is bereft of theology or education of belief or conscience but is inclusive of it so if we want to have standing advisory councils of religious education that include all strains of all walks of life of humanism as well and atheism of people who want to come in there with so of more free n.g.'s they are included nowadays and the question is whether

children should be free to opt out from an itty bitty where is mary jesus a baby and all the question that it is not decided on in a stable which isn't true i think that sets the parents for the fix or composition i think they could come a watch if they wanted to they're really so upset about people saying jesus or that they have to not even be in the same presence there's something to talk about there why are they so upset about people saying jesus is lord i can't even go watch and observe it you know and so i think i want to discuss that with them but also i want to respect their rights if they want to opt out of it they cannot sound of it another person should be made for that the head teacher has seen that she has had 60 people who last year opted out from religious services worshipful activities and under the education act collective worship is wholly or broadly of a christian tradition but it doesn't have to be a particular question is not what they did i was out that's not a commercial you want to opt out no none of that the question you know you just don't see the cost of the question is whether you should tell us the wording if

it's not what people should opt out if one agrees that they're not out. why was my only reason i don't have one so there's not a question in my city where this is a change the wording of traditional carols to remove the key belief of christianity or something that's not christian after all that's the question it's law at its best is the completion of god's revelation we are not here to supersede christians we're here to live alongside people and one another and in a modern secular society in the educational space we need to have a plural system where everybody is welcome this is the same old tired arguments that some so critical of how do you do that how do you not let migrants away when you have a tradition that words of christianity are not your traditional jonesy is not welcome you're saying belief and faith is the word so much as i blazes you'll discuss it although i would say all that what it is doing them so i will say that's of christianity you're the one that's being intolerant here because you're saying they shouldn't saying the word was this is a law that's the it's all an attitude here. will agreeing with some of the parents

is the u.k. political communications specialist damien wilson in his op ed on our website he does argue that joy is being sapped out of christmas from europe banks and other things to be more in place if you can get the full take on that. but also their time magazine's person of the year is the subject of a new documentary it does go right back to the 1st protests by the teenage environmental activists. she is apparently alone side the swedish parliament apart from the presence of a film crew to go to a website to see if her rises to fame is perhaps planned from the start and following the u.k. labor party selection fadia slovenian philosopher. gives us his post-mortem is among those who think that jeremy called when it was the victim of the media smear campaign and he argues that the labor party needs to get even more radical if it wants to recover the full analysis that he took. and

what may prove to be a major setback for transatlantic relations. as the u.s. senate has approved a sanctions bill targeting companies involved in the north stream 2 pipeline projects the measure aimed at disrupting russia's efforts to increase the supply of gas to europe is expected to be signed into law by president donald trump later this week germany though the country where the pipeline ends has slammed washington's sanctions. we believe that is unacceptable as it is an attempt to influence the sovereign decisions of europe we are holding negotiations with the united states well just a little earlier the german top diplomat reiterated berlin's stance that these sanctions are unacceptable strain to is almost fully complete and i can tell you that this u.s. sanctions bill is believed to open up this 30 day window for the european companies to abandon their work on the pipeline now i can tell you that the german newspaper

built revealed internal documents from germany's energy ministry where it says that berlin believes that this pipeline could be completed within this border area and then this could actually lead to a situation when the sanctions prove to be completely pointless but of course we understand that nothing is pointless when it can be aimed at the audience back home the audience that will vote at some point here's the deal from the american standpoint if the russian natural gas is delivered to western europe through all pipelines through countries like poland ukraine itself russia's energy giant gas problems diversifying the way its fuel gets to western european countries through new pipelines like north stream more north stream to that's

a disaster that gets europe hoped on putin's gas needle so let's just listen to how a u.s. congressman who was behind the sanctions put it last week this pipeline if completed. would make europe even more dependent on russian energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars that would fund the russian military aggression so we have learned that the us 2020 defense authorization act includes a bill that would penalize the companies that are involved in the construction of nord stream 2 there are plenty of german businesses that are who are involved because it is indeed in the interest of european consumers to get a new more reliable more direct route for the supplies now when it comes to the officials in moscow they have been blaming the americans for unfair competition in moscow's message has been very simple you don't really care about europe what you

want to do is sell your liquefied natural gas across which makes it more expensive in many cases but i just want to make sure that you listen to one american official because it can't just look at how they put it with the u.s. in another year of record setting not to gas production i'm pleased that the department of energy is doing what account to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of u.s. freedom to be exported to the world if the gas is russian that is bad putin's gas if it is something that's extracted in america that's molecules of freedom and a prank a talking to kevin i when that were jim and his committee chief on economy and energy. is ready to respond to any sanctions imposed by washington. if the u.s. keeps trying to obstruct the north stream project i suggest responding with

punitive terror of some german imports of american gas things cannot continue like this if we impose punitive tariffs on us gas sales will fall on the us will have to reflect on his actions the u.s. is unhappy that we are not buying that gas they want to boost their own trade and that's why they are imposing sanctions on companies involved in building the pipeline in the firstly american liquefied natural gas is obtained through fracking which makes it an acceptable for germany and secondly it is much more expensive than rushing gas the natural gas we get from russia is high in demand and due to falling production in europe the demand has only increased so we plan to import more of it this is why north stream 2 is so important the americans have tried to interrupt our oil and gas trade with russia from the outset and yet we have managed to cooperate for many years without interruption so both sides need this and we plan to continue whether the us likes it or not the. nationwide protests continue to create france at the moment as anger planned pension reforms show. dying down.

the partisan impeachment process against donald trump continues apace the framers of the constitution warned the impeachment of the chief executive was an extreme remedy are the democrats and the corporate media trivializing the impeachment process are they attempting to short circuit democracy itself. or love this country is phantasmagorical the people are extraordinary the government and the circle back maybe enough for much. more detail.

you should. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. some want to be. too great to be close to what it looks like 3 of them or you could get. interested in the water. pressure. again our series of chilling sketches produced by an inmate at guantanamo bay you've been published in a report called america torches the pictures show the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques that abu zubaida was subjected to between 20022005 he was captured in a jihadi safe house in pakistan in 2002 and was then sent the so-called cia black

sites in thailand and his drawings relate to the alleged torture there was then transferred to grant one ton of my bed where he still being held without charge he was the 1st person to be subject to the brutal interrogation program which was approved by the administration of george w. bush and it's since been acknowledged by the cia is a quick overview of what happened. as soon as they locked me up inside the box i tried my best to sit up but in vain

for the box was too short i tried to take a curled position but to no avail for it was too tight the very strong pain made the screen unconsciously. they kept pouring water and concentrating on my nose and my mouth until i really felt i was drowning and my chest was just about to explode from the lack of oxygen . the. long hours went by while i was standing in that position my hands were tight to the upper bars. it felt like an eternity to the point that i found myself falling asleep despite the water being thrown at me by the guard.

well you know. that the u.s. does have transparency issues when it comes to high. knees treated. has he suffered any lasting physical psychological damage a result of the torture well you know he must you know anybody would but it's i've visited him $67.00 times a year rudy is a tyrant and it's really quite hard to see 'd over the. years in the midst of adjustments because of what techniques were used on him the waterboarding may produce some problems. the fact is there were you saw him for 17 straight he did it is. road you didn't want to. believe he's not going to face any

charges he has not faced any charges then the clear issue is here why is he being kept for so long in kuantan i'm obey. like yes or is there's no question that for 17 years he's never been charged i reverted for 10 years we've asked repeatedly for him to be charged and that is very frustrating but they do it in c. and the cia is in the united states. as far as he was never a member or nothing to do. or 'd ever and. what's the purpose all that when it's been shown to to essentially fail to yield accurate information from many suspects. well i think it showed your crew is accurate intrusion from almost anybody it's certainly the seal to attract me. to any accurate extermination throws

a bit harder because they didn't know it accountability is that. 'd i would love me people will be. all right there are always 'd to look forward not backwards. now we used to if they don't work backwards but people who were started there are going to remain stuck. no i don't think there. 'd are really there are many. or all right what they get in the 'd. process against planned pension changes hit france far and wide on change state officials say that 600000 people were involved across the country the weather estimates to the number was near it a 1000000 what started out as the most peaceful demonstration in the capital quickly descended into find its.

i was i. i i. i i well demonstrations were held in several french city some of them turning ugly dozens were arrested in the capital on wednesday the french prime minister is going to meet with union leaders though he does insist that the government will not pull back on the controversial pension reforms however protested his do you think otherwise. i'm here today because we have problems with financing for hospitals we have lots of expenses and

the raw constraints when it comes to procuring materials and recruiting staff we're here today to say that we'll are both public hospitals and we want to say to them. the working conditions are bad they have no future it's very difficult for us to live properly on our current salaries there's been no change it's just a bad trauma to the thought so i thought i'm here in solidarity with everyone who's been affected by that reform which is the vast majority of people public but it is possible that everybody should be protesting against them for having said that they want us to work more earlier this year and it's unacceptable and more news in brief night u.k. firefighters have been tackling a huge blaze that broke out on tuesday night at an industrial estate in manchester authorities want residents to stay away from the area and there is nothing nearby to keep windows and doors shut no casualties there have been reporting 14 people have died in a severe explosion at a chinese coal mine 2 people remain trapped underground there it is the 2nd

accident to strike a coal mine in china over the past week instance are being attributed to poorly enforced safety regulations and thousands in algeria took to the streets they're calling for a change of government a brand the present corrupt country has been gripped by political unrest since if you go. by case that's how things are looking is just coming up to half past 12 the afternoon here in moscow and more from us at the top. join me every thursday on the alex salmond's show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see you then.

time after time to welcome to a special edition of going on the ground i'm with john pilger his film the dirty war in the n.h.s. was finally screened on british television days after the end of jeremy corbyn socialist project at the general election john thanks for letting us into well your home 1st of all our international viewers certainly be wondering why a john builder film could not be screened ahead of a general election when it concerned one of the major policy initiatives in the election yes the major policy issues the n.h.s.

was brought to the forefront of british politics for the 1st time during the election campaign spokesman foam of course is all about their rules you say there are rules and there is a regulator called off home and the lawyers can bring out for rules and so this is why it shouldn't happen and they're perfectly correct but what we should be questioning is why a regulator has the power in effect to ban a programme about the the major issue of a british election campaign during the campaign. the film was shown what 3 or 4 days off of the campaign and and as i say perfectly correctly following the off common rules when we took a question a good excuse me is the partiality of regulators in my experience and television

right through my career it doesn't matter what you call them the independent broadcasting authority the independent television authority off home whatever. their own power shall attain their own stablish one partiality is the is is an issue that is seldom address but isn't the point that the regulates it and certainly the law is that britain's most biggest independent television station recognise that you personally are not an impartial journalist perhaps not so i don't know but the lawyers i know were perfectly happy with my film was combed by lawyers and and they did by and large very constructive job actually of of saying well that might be difficult to say that could be a liability issue there and so on and so there's nothing different about this documentary than previous documentaries into the sense that you still get the other side is close even that's what's different about it action it's close to home it

was about the national health us the national health service even more even more than bricks it touches everybody in this country and. in my view it should have been the major issue that moved people during the election campaign now the fact that my program wasn't shown on the country's biggest television. commercial television network and europe's biggest television network. is down into the power of a regulator and what is the power what power does that regulate to have is it a power on behalf of you was or is it a power on behalf of of of of powerful.