and as you can see behind me we are in rio de janeiro oh my god so beautiful so much going on this is a country in transition. 10 pm to moscow syrian government forces push deeper into dislodging al qaida linked fighters dozens of militants there in the south of the rebel held bringing up. punishing the polluters the french government uses a new tax on s.u.v.s and trucks in its ongoing battle to try to reduce carbon emissions. shows u.k. weapons sales to the saudi led coalition in yemen have spiked dramatically in the last 5 years despite britain being signed. a treaty.

to get even for russia that rev you want you around the world right now one is kevin this is r.t. international great to have a company and of course 1st off before the news very best you have to be celebrating christmas right now season's greetings so 1st of the headlines this december 25th evening the syrian military is making significant gains as it attempts to wrest back control of the country's final opposition on klav over the course of a week long ground offensive in southern italy province forces are reported to have displaced islamist fighters from around 40 villages but that said the campaign is causing concern in western capitals as a senior correspondent explains it's been a while since i last had made headline news it's been everyone but him america selling out his allies and pilfering syrian oil. 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 day part of a new ground offensive by syrian government forces. russian backed government forces up intensified their bombing campaign well of all out i will go to the camps near the turkish border to escape from us and rockets 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 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 is ruled by at the sharm an offshoot of al qaida h.g.'s 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 egypt is 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 it's is a homicidal maniac that just wants to cut 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 you know. under the supervision order and being killed by

that earth the issue here is refugees for now civilians have fled from the immediate war zone but they have to do somewhere in the safest place for now is north. look 50000 people are once again coming from egypt 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 that. it is their right to clear and to extend the. sovereign the fear of the state in danger. 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 bent out 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. already fall. with france's grown swell of popular own grove a controversial pension reform plan showing osama suiciding head in the new year seems new year only looks at some people's economic woes too for another reason because governments know proposing to introduce a bruising on the most polluting vehicles in order to make tough new e.u. targets reporting from paris about shiloh do boesky as presents are being iraq from under the christmas tree is the french government has given its citizens a gift that they may want to return its past a new law to increase taxes on s.u.v.s and trucks meaning that vehicles that pollute the most will pay you more than 2020 then you 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 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 war and it's be true there is no other way to earn money. more 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 something 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 electric cars which is seen as being green and better for the

environment but at the same time the french government is actually considering reducing cash incentives for new electric cars perhaps not. great news for those who are thinking of buying one for months also plans to ban the fossil fuel cars within the next 20 years in paris they could be banned in the next 10 years so 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 lead to 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 a 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 greener 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 world we need to have enough places to recharge them in addition to service senses is the same as with cycling's in germany where 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. of 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 ski altie paris while the 1st story interest you you might like this one to come up across the

channel the u.k. is also looking to go to great britain to spend over a 1000000 pounds of electric cars with a critical sim read over it this is simply not fit for the purpose of stories coming up. but before we talk about this it must be top of the u.s. democrats' christmas wish list to see donald trump kicked out of the way for the president of the list seems to be on the face of it spending the holidays for the good cheer saying he's in a very good position ahead of a senate trial so with that in mind as it is the season to be jolly taylor avoids the song for a cheeky seasonal impeachment drinking game. disclaimer if you're not 18 change channels and those 18 plus is out there 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 after all we've come up with a little bit of

a libation based game pick a drink unsettle it. so let's lay down the rules if ok when trump takes a swipe at knott's pelosi all 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 in no one is above the law president trumps continued actions with the rule of law. in america no one is above the law we vote to defend the constitution in our democracy so that the president trump and every future president would know that they are not above the law now the stakes if the republicans admit the troubles may be probably protect you just a little bit naughty drain that bottle just joking that's never going to happen but for any republican who steps forward to defend his needa chair it 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'll read 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 or so as to foment unrest for their nation or t. 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 britain i did not have sexual

relations or. long speech 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 that we all know it's unlikely to need anywhere i mean even donald's barely broke a sweat i don't feel like i'm being impeached and why would he sure the democrat controlled house of representatives can pass as many impeachment articles as they want but the senate also needs to sign off on booting the president from the white house and the senate is currently controlled by the republicans making up a bit of a long shot maybe nancy pelosi and co need to finally recognize that shouting impeachment won't lose trump the election quite the opposite in fact it seems america actually quite nice this particular underdog probably why they chose him in the 1st place goodness that was exhausting my need to drink. there's been a sharp rise of the u.k.'s weapons sales to saudi arabia and its coalition partners

over the last 5 years despite britain having signed up to a treaty designed to prevent arms exports to rights abuses the increase 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 in the 5 years since the arms trade treaty came into force the yukos license sells worth nearly 6 and a half 1000000000 pounds to 8 members of the saudi coalition contrast that to the figures below the fact that in the 5 years before the group was adopted london sold 4400000000 pounds worth of weapons to countries now this arms trade treaty was adopted on christmas eve in 2014. the time 105 sovereign states ratified the accordion a further 33 signed up to it it regulates the arms trade it was supposed to in order to prevent human suffering and to ensure weapons are not sold to those who violate human rights but then the british government was also keen to stress its importance. the a.t.t.

is the only legally binding treaty regulating and promoting legitimate and responsible trading conventional arms he remains a unique and valuable instrument with china from oxfam told us the increase in sales shows that britain isn't abiding by the treaty it signed. when the arms trade treaty came into effect and the u.k. with a real champion of that treaty unfortunately sales to countries that are at war with in yemen are party to now war in yemen have actually increased and i think this is the signal that. you're yemen world's worst humanitarian crisis right now and the u.k. and far from kind of living up to their treaty n and the word is that treaty has has continued to say how countries involvement conflict where we know international and having no is has been disregarded. or meantime with pressure mounting the british government said to put arms sales to

saudi arabia on hold in june the court of appeal said there were unlawful the made without assessing if the gulf state violated humanitarian law in yemen it's expected the government will appeal the decision in the supreme court so the rebels intervention the bigger picture in yemen started in 2015 to fight the rebels who they see as terrorists however it's the level of civilian casualties in the conflict that are a major cause for concern. so .

tyler again says there's clear evidence that red has committed human rights violations in yemen and that the u.k. must therefore stop selling arms to the saudis. the evidence is really i have a well meaning. that there's been consistent violations of international law and and as you say the case was really clear 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 clear that so i find that tight that that system will be a pal and i think it's. you know very sad that the government have to have trial chosen to appeal this decision and wish to continue to so weapons that have been used in a war that is causing so untold profits and homme and destruction

for the people of yemen. it's nearly 80 minutes past the hour how they could even face what should go to international review children around the world in more of our news coming up young eco activists in germany but a dressing down off the disrespect that we're old is coming up. what holds and do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president and you. want something i want to. have to go on to be the person this is what the local variable be good for. i'm interested always in the waters of my house. or a question. same camera can use to snare

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 that's me expressing my values for the tool and that's what we need to do with artificial intelligence is he. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. today there are good tennis and bad news the bad news in yemen the united states deems to be the good. one in syria the cia and the u.s. military were engaged in covert actions really throughout the world. where they were assassinating populist leaders they were backing up right away military juntas

funding an army of death squads there's no. more because there's always a small. really good. profit. again u.k. police have been going green with a major spending drive an electric cars but the eco idea is full and a bit flat as he explains next seems the vehicles are not quite up to speed in a few departments. imagine being a criminal in london and you have c.c.t.v. numberplate the texas police patrols and more to keep the peace if you need to escape the police it might not be the easiest thing to do but one thing might be working in criminals favor increasingly police forces are adopting the use of electric cars and that means they may not be able to keep up with.

vehicles that are less damaging to the environment are struggling to cope with the arduous needs of emergency service autonomous driving and safety systems are not conducive to pursuit or response driving and even if the electric police cars could keep up they might not last very long because the batteries they use would soon run out plug in electric cars do not have adequate range and they take too long to charge up which is a significant challenge the motivation behind the deployment of these cars is desired by the police to be more eco friendly figures from 30 police forces across the country show that 448 green vehicles have been leased or bought by the police at a cost of around a $1000000.00 and a half pounds but now it's being reported that the vehicles are only being used for lot of agencies and for police officials to travel around before they were being used in a patrol situations and the metropolitan police have set themselves and i'm bishop

target to cut all of their vehicle emissions to 0 by 2050 a politician should be checking always. ensure the public has buddy for money because truly the money is very much needed are in place also across the country to. share with all all sorts of crime she just always had to improve and our credential or start to be a mystery not city's a bowl for our hearts. all prague reaction. to your high speed solider as a sub electric cars have proved there in effect in this in other countries in september police in the us were forced to give up the chase with suspected crooks when the battery in their tesla police vehicle went dead british police are making a noble effort in the war on climate change but the cost could be

a price to pay in the war on crime sally r.t. . meantime while we're talking green a german that young people's environmental group affiliated with the eco activist group to turn book has caused outrage by insulting the older generation and social media that we tell you more fridays for a future germany post a tweet saying why do our grandparents keep lecturing us every year they'll be gone soon anyway whether they were being silly there or simply sinister none the less german politicians including the environment ministry of quick to fire back i don't think you are doing yourself any favors with this tweet you can't get crazy every time you get any criticism and constantly demand more respect then throw a tantrum it undermines your legitimate concerns climate protection is everyone's concern and is a social duty for every generation tasteless and glad that the majority of young

people in germany do not think this way we must be respectful to other generations and not only during christmas after the backlash the activists issued an apology saying it was meant as a joke who hear of hero from the reactionary times opinion website things that in any case some of the claims in the climate debate are somewhat exaggerated. this type of rhetoric in these types of tweets and you know it only really resonates with the french the far out reaches of the environmental movement within their maney other climate you know induced mania 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 climate alarmism 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 environmentalists and all of their crazy predictions over the past 3040 years i mean if there were true manhattan right now it would be under water and that's it so far from us here in moscow tonight more on tito call money is kevin 0 in for me and the rest of the same things watching the news that day stay with us for next programs in your part of the world if you can and if you're celebrating it big season's greetings to you right now. and. those in the. u.s. military were engaged in. the world. where they were assassinating leaders

they were backing up. their. presidential candidates the future of the u.s. the world. every week. student trade was money. this sunday exclusively. you know world big part of the law and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that made stream media refuses to tell more than

ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door on the back and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the troops the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. 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 ask the 1st female mayor of bethlehem dear 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 met so soprano katherine jenkins at the royal albert hall possible coming up in today's going on they got to 1st up 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 made. edge of actual stories we have covered on this program this year we can go now to bethlehem in palestine joining me is bethlehem former mayor vera baba and thanks so much vera for you coming on to

if you could just pages a picture of what beth them is like this year because obviously there's a wall is the aida refugee camp banks the woman in black the woman in black jewish women's organization protesting israeli occupation tell me what it's like this year is this christmas despite all the challenges and christmas this year was very beautiful very light and the christmas tree at the end of me the bird in huge number of atlantis where there the tree up badly have 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 a major levitt for food and i'm a large aerial everywhere people are celebrating the joy of christmas the last time around we spoke to mayor and 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 and could patient 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 actions and despite all the american policy we have the right to live joy to give peace and this is what we express in our celebrations and through our message of peace not only to us for dinner.