oh. syrian government forces push deeper into ad libbed dislodging al qaeda linked fighters from villages in the south of the rebel controlled. plus punishing polluters the french government introduces a new tax on s.u.v.s and trucks and its battle to reduce carbon emissions. and research shows u.k. weapons sales to the saudi led coalition in yemen have spiked dramatically in the last 5 years despite britain being signed on to the arms trade treaty.

here watching our to international coming to you live from the russian capital where it's just turned 5 pm welcome to the program. the syrian military is making significant gains as it attempts to wrest back control of the country's final opposition enclave over the course of a week long ground offensive in southern province government forces are reported to displace islamist fighters from around 40 villages the campaign is causing concern in western capitals though as run gossip explains. it's been a while since asaad made headline news it's been everyone but to him america selling out its allies and pilfering syrian oil 3rd bullying kurds claims of bias that the u.p.c. w. but no last until now thousands of syrians forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives as hundreds of ground and air strikes hit the region of it live overnight something as a part of a new ground offensive by syrian government forces. russian backed government

forces up intensified the bombing campaign all of. the syrian military has been a bit of a role capturing a slew of villages and towns and media days of course whenever that happens the media and his opponents exploded in outrage same thing every time we want a peaceful resolution we want talks we want. we want we want we want with do with al qaida. it live is ruled by a high at the sharm an offshoot of al qaida h.c.f. feeds on war and drinks violence it turned deadly into a cesspool of zealots and fanatics mercenaries and foreign jihad this sort of world

war i mean the fact that it was where they found the founder of isis it's the safest place you could find kind of gives it away and h.t.s. refuses any negotiation with the syrian government are you seeing the issue here how do you get a peaceful resolution when one of the biliteral is a homicidal maniac that just wants to come. your head off in the name of god or interest lies in killing the terrorist in order to protect the civilians not leaving those civilians innocent under the supervision of the target and being killed by. the issue here is refugees for now civilians have fled from the immediate war zone but they have to do somewhere and the safest place for now is north. look 50000 people are once again coming from live to our lands we

already have 4000000 people and now another 50000 are coming and this main crease even further russian and turkish diplomats are in overdrive trying to manage what's happening and prepare for what's to come it is absolutely clear that the status quo is over america selling out its allies and camping out in oil fields turkey diluting kurdish territories with arab refugees and now the last islamist stronghold if it falls it will mean the end of the syrian civil war it will mean asaad wins. the military operation in neatly province is in line with the policy goals set by bashar al assad the aim is to liberate the entire territory of the syrian arab republic. it is their right to clear and to extend the. sovereign the fear of the state in days. off their territory is what they're doing

at present sooner or later i believe that the syrian army will expose these people from from being flippant from the entirety of the syrian territory and i don't think that it is this sort of pull from mali it may be difficult it may take some time but sooner or later they are going to be expelled from from the syrian territory understandably those who spent billions fled in syria with weapons and ammo with fighters and propaganda they don't want that to happen so certainly logical for them to insist on impossible talks so long as he's wasting his time waiting for the other side to pick up the phone the turks can continue colonizing northern syria the americans can continue pumping out its oil we're now at the last domino and it's. with france's grown swell of popular

anger over controversial pension reform plans showing no signs of subsiding the new year only looks set to add some people's economic woes the government is now preparing to introduce a bruising tax hike on the most polluting vehicles in order to meet tough targets reporting from paris here charlotte to ski. as presents are being wrapped from under the christmas tree is the french government has given its citizens a gift that they may want to return it's passed a new law to increase taxes on s.u.v.s and trucks meaning that vehicles that pollute the most will pay you more from $20.00 to $20.00 the new pollution tax will come with a $20000.00 euro price tag that's up from the current $12.00 and a half 1000 you raise it's no doubt that s.u.v.s are heavy polluters but despite that they are still popular in france making up some 30 percent of sales in the 1st 11 months and 2019 so want to drive us in paris make of the tax hike even

a. it's true that those vehicles consume a lot but people have to get around people who work every day when they need those types of vehicles for warmth it's be true there is no other way to earn money. everything's increasing in price nowadays and we've seen the whole country on strike the government can tax the citizens but eventually they will have no choice but to protest it's unfair in france you have to pay and pay and pay taxes are rising while salaries a stay in the same new tax comes on top of already tough new measures are to european level to lower car emissions many governments are pushing people in the direction of boy electric cars which is seen as being greener and better for the environment but at the same time the french government is actually considering reducing cash incentives for new electric cause perhaps not great news for those who are thinking of buying one france also plans to ban fossil fuel cars within the

next 20 years in paris they could be banned in the next 10 years to do people here feel that they are being pushed by higher taxes vehicles that use traditional fuel towards electric cars. it's a natural progression that was seen one which will. more and more electric cars. electric cars why not it's a good we can use them in our country if the government helps us to buy electric cars why not but otherwise it prefer to drive my car even if it pollutes it's not that bad and there are other concerns was many people say they want to be green charging points for electric vehicles are still not widespread while still in paris there are plenty of around the city elsewhere that's not always the case for the like you we need to have enough places to recharge them in addition to service census is the same as with cycling's in germany are

a long way behind we have to develop cycle lanes and we have to develop charging stations. or the vehicles in front seem to be developed but that's not the case with one france even the president doesn't set a good example travels by car while we travel by food by bicycle by scooter so it seems there are still many mental barriers for people even thinking about buying electric cars but as the cost of taxes on fossil fuel vehicles are set to steeply roys they may feel that there is no other choice. altie paris. and must be top of the us democrats christmas wish list to see donald trump kicked out of the white house but the president seems to be spending the holidays full of good cheer saying he's in a very good position ahead of a senate trial and with out in mind and by to now for a cheeky seasonal impeachment drinking it. disclaimer if you're not 18 change

channels and those 18 plus is out drink responsibly 3 months ago 3 long months ago the impeachment inquiry against donald trump was announced and now the house of representatives a say in my go for a double whammy and impeach trump for a 2nd time if more evidence comes to light so since we're clearly in it for a while yet and it's christmas off to roll we've come up with a little bit of a libation based game pick a drink. so let's lay down the rules if ok when trump takes a swipe at knott's pillows he also says that it's all a witch hunt bottoms up but slow and steady wins the race let's make it a half he does that a lot off the wall then if politicians uncharacteristically locate their moral compass and decide no one is above the law center then no one is above the law president trumps continued actions but the rule of law is that america no one is

above the law we vote to defend the constitution and our democracy so that the president trump and every future president will know that they are not above the law now the stakes if the republican admits the troubles may be probably potential just a little bit naughty drain that just joking that's never going to happen but for any republican who steps forward to defend his needa truth is because if that has been one moment of clarity in this whole saga it's about 2 camps if you blew your about the memory impeachments hash tag if you're right you'll probably be reporting the hash tag and seeing red ok so if a journalist got a bit tipsy at the christmas party and betrayed the oath of objectivity sally looked and said journalist is better and thinks that writing trump equals bad articles is a good cover for his bias so i'm take a and before i forget if anything to do with mother russia sneaks a mention. that might be the one to tip you over the. letter you know

friend primary objectives within the united states is to show this to foment unrest for their nation or tea is putin's propaganda machine here in the united states i think you've got the gist but in case you were in any doubt any mention of a quid pro quo it's a simple question yes or no i don't recall bribery business i did not have sexual relations or. meant but seriously i wasn't joking about the dems gunning for a 2nd impeachment if that is. they managed to wring out evidence suggesting that trump somehow obstructed the investigation but we all know it's unlikely to need to anyway i mean even don't know that he broke a sweat i don't feel like i'm being impeached why would he sure the democrat controlled house of representatives can possibly as many impeachment articles as they want but the senate needs to sign off on booting the president from the white house and the senate is carney controlled by the republicans making not a bit of a long shot maybe not need to finally recognize that shouting impeachment is

trumped the election quite the opposite in fact it seems america actually quite nice this particular dog probably why they chose him in the 1st place goodness that was exhausting i need a drink. there's been a sharp rise in the u.k. weapons sales to saudi arabia and its coalition partners over the last 5 years that's despite britain having signed up to a treaty designed to prevent arms exports to rights abusers in screens has been calculated by oxfam which says it's deeply concerned over the way the weapons have been used in the conflict in yemen. according to the charity and the 5 years since the arms trade treaty came into force the kay has license sales worth nearly 6 and a half 1000000000 pounds to 8 members of the saudi coalition in the 5 years before the agreement was adopted on until 4400000000 pounds worth of weapons to those countries arms trade treaty it was adopted on christmas eve in 2014105 sovereign

states ratified the chord and a further 33 signed up as well it regulates the arms trade in order to provide human suffering and ensures weapons are not sold to those who violate human rights back then the british government was also keen to stress its importance. the a.t.t. is the only legally binding treaty regulating on promoting legitimate and responsible trading conventional arms he remains a unique and valuable instrument with tanner from oxfam told us that the increase in sales shows that britain is an abiding by the treaty it signed. when the arms trade treaty came into effect the u.k. was a real champion of that treaty unfortunately say those 2 countries that we in yemen know party to not war in yemen have actually increased and i think this is being sick know that you're yemen world's worst humanitarian crisis right now and the u.k. and far from kind of living up to treaty in and the word is that treaty has

has continued to so countries involvement conflict where we know international intamin know is has been disregarded and with pressure mounting the british government has had to put arms sales to saudi arabia on hold and june the court of appeal said they were unlawful and made with out assessing if the gulf state had violated humanitarian law in yemen it's expected the government will appeal the decision in the supreme court saudi arabia's intervention in yemen started in 2015 to fight with the rebels who they see as terrorists however if the level of civilian casualties and the conflict that are a major concern. ruth

tanner again says there's clear evidence rout has committed human rights violations in yemen and that the u.k. must stop selling arms to the saudis the evidence is really i have a well meaning and that there's been consistent violations of international law and and as you say the case was really clear that. that the government needed to you know if it was going to continue to license weapons had to be clear about what that there was a pattern of violation and that violation was clearly that so i find that height that will be upheld and i think it's. you know very sad that the government have

had to try and chosen to appeal this decision and wish to continue to sell weapons that have been used in a war that is causing untold poverty and hard destruction for the people of yemen young eco activists in germany have had a dressing down after disrespecting their elders that story and more after the break. i am. same hammer i can use to smash someone's head is the same hammer i can use to build them a home but that's a human choosing what to do with that's me expressing my values for the tool and that's what we need to do with artificial intelligence as well.

as what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president i'm sure. it was something i want to. have to do i could be close this is what the 43 of them all can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters in the house. there should. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. welcome back britain's guardian newspaper has been forced to amend an article it

published last year about russia's role in an alleged plot to extract joined us songs from the ecuadorian embassy in london where if national takes up the story. the crime and the punishment the guardian newspaper gave a misleading pression to readers and was forced to clarify that its article was well something that you might be tempted to call fake news the piece in question published in september last year claimed that russia had a secret christmas plot to smuggle julian assange out of the ecuadorian embassy in london to moscow a tentative plan was devised that would have seen that we can expound they were taken out of london embassy in a diplomatic biko and transported to another country one ultimate destination multiple sources have said was russian the involvement of russian officials in hatching what was described as a basic plan raises new questions about a san just ties to the kremlin but then this to geisha in which was led by a high profile panel of academics and journalists and last 13 months found that the

authors got carried away with some of their claims the plan in relation to mr sanders ability to be able to leave they could door an embassy was not devised instigated by russia there was nothing illicit about the plan as described in the article the investigation was triggered by a formal complaint from the former consul of ecuador 3 they'll not a virus or described several of the papers assertions as falls and defamatory r.t. talked to him they talk about secret talks of russian diplomats in london and they have trained me us this past contact me in. the kremlin in order to execute some kind of plot that's why i feel 'd that their article needed to be challenge. and i myself. need to have an apology from the guardian apology there happen but

their review panel has. decided. and has ruled that the article was indeed misleading breach in the heart of conduct of the press in the united kingdom but i'm not completely satisfied with the correction the other thing is that they have not being. amended does the article still says that russian diplomats. secret talks in london in order to. flee the embassy that's not true finally enough one of the journalists who penned the piece luke harding was behind another controversial article published by the garding that piece also published last year claimed that the old transcom pain manager paul mann a ford had held secret talks with a son to an ecuadorian embassy somehow one of the most surveyed places on earth

didn't manage to capture any evidence of that alleged high profile visit the guardian didn't attract the story but deep change the headline shift in the responsibility to its sources mr no rise has called the latest corrections he story journalistic fiasco for the guardian for again publishing false information that's not the only article does a part earned by the same mouth those that the same author there's a pattern they have accused of buying into the embassy they have. several articles which i mentioning in my complaint. as a pattern from the same journalese which have disgraced the newspaper and his complaint mr not a virus accuses journalists of hiding behind confidential sources the article indeed cited various sources and it seems by sources they probably meant their

imagination. a german environmental group affiliated with eco activists credit on merck has. outraged by insulting the older generation on social media the group friday's her future germany posted a tweet saying why do our grandparents keep lecturing us every year they will soon be gone whether they were being silly or sinister german politicians including the an environment ministry were quick to fire back i don't think you are doing yourself any favors with this tweet you can get crazy every time you get any criticism and constantly demand more respect than throw a tantrum it undermines your legitimate concerns climate protection is everyone's concern and as a social g.t. for every generation tasteless i am glad that the majority of young people in germany do not think this way we must be respectful to other generations and that only during christmas after the backlash the activist issued an apology saying it

was meant as a joke julio rivera from the reactionary times opinion website things that in any case the arguments in the climate debate are somewhat overblown. this type of rhetoric in these types of tweets and you know it only really resonates with the frenzy far out reaches of the environmental movement within their menial their climate you know induced media they really truly believe that having too many humans on earth is going to lead to a catastrophic apocalypse which is absolutely ridiculous because the evidence just doesn't support that narrative i mean on the arm is a you know created a superstar out of gratitude and they're going to create more superstars in 2020 and it's only going to get worse but that's unfortunately the ignorance of youth if we believed all of these environment environmentalist and all of their crazy predictions over the past 3040 years i mean if they were true men right now would

be underwater that's your world news wrap up for now but i'll be back at the top of the hour with more thanks for tuning in. largest surreal idol in the room light of. my limited role more than i was sentenced to die in prison by the exposure love my life. case to grab some media attention i mean it's a shooting in a 16 year old's 16 birthday party. something the police tell a lot of pressure. close to kids. for he is. just drunk it's like i couldn't believe those. me out so far

they are all more than the shorter one peaceful with the stench of all of the sheen of the cars i will stand right next to. me for years before you go see them my point in doing that is 1617 years old so. you could lose one boozer loses clung to his fear of them both of tonight live full food really. formal is close to. the truth. taxes are not going to do it you have to go right to the root of things it's assets and debts at the balance sheet balance sheets is what they should talk about and that's where we can be clever because taxation is the dumb why of trying to get the wealth back from the from the wealthy.

i'm absolutely welcome to going underground we will be back with a brand new season starting on january the 8th but until then we will be showing some of your favorite shows from the last season of the decade coming up in this show is israel trying to destroy the birthplace of jesus we asked the 1st female mayor of bethlehem via a boon about israeli occupation and accusations of the ethnic cleansing of christians from palestine. and fighting for justice in the middle east and one of britain's most celebrated

composers how it played on his legendary music for the snowman and composing for everyone from princess diana to the united nations head of his performance tomorrow with welsh soprano katherine jenkins at the royal albert hall baltimore coming up in today's going on the ground a 1st after tomorrow's u.k. general election let alone the fallout from the u.s. inspector general's report into obama corruption in the usa will come christmas when millions of people of the book all around the world look to bethlehem in palestine to celebrate the birth of jesus christ but is what is happening in bethlehem arguably just as political as the major international stories we have covered on this program this year we can go now to bethlehem in palestine joining me is bethlehem former mayor bob dylan thanks so much vera for you coming on to if you could just paint as a picture of what beth them is like this year because obviously there's a wall is the aida refugee camp bank seizo tell the woman in black the woman in black jewish women's organization protesting israeli occupation tell me what it's

like this year christmas this christmas despite all the challenges and christmas this year was. very beautiful very like a. the christmas tree at the end of me the bird is huge number of atlantis where there the tree of bethlehem looked gorgeous the motor was the joy of christmas and the joy of christmas is this year all over the place in every city in the west bank in. love it for who would that i'm a large area go everywhere people are celebrating the joy of christmas the last time around we spoke to may around one selman he described christmas celebrations in bethlehem as almost an act of defiance against the defacto u.k. u.s. backed israeli occupation do you think that occupation is still on the minds of all the pilgrims that will be there celebrating this year well actually the wall speaks

for itself the wall by itself is an occupation so when you look at when you're at the city you enter the city definitely there are of normal conditions however our persistence to contact the celebration of christmas in the city of the nativity in the city of birth of peace it is yes a determination that we are there to celebrate christmas despite all the paying guest actions and despite all the american policy we have the right to live joy to live peace and this is what we express in our celebrations and through our message of peace not only to us for do not live repeat is but to the whole world as well you mentioned the wall what exactly has happened to bethlehem to christians i understand.