our. top u.n. official says the united states is jailing of whistleblower chelsea manning for refusing to testify against the wiki leaks founder is tantamount to torture. new year's day and hong kong sees hundreds of arrests as an estimated 1000000 turn up for the 1st began to beijing protest of 2020. times the pushback against the dry january health initiative as french wine producers on the government denounced the annual alcohol abstinence as an attack on the country's culture.

a very warm welcome to you you're watching r t international with me and if you ever. a senior u.n. official is accusing the united states of torturing whistleblower chelsea manning with her continued incarceration a letter from the world bodies that special rapporteur on torture to the u.s. government from last november has now only just come to light. the practice of coercive depreciation of liberty for civil contempt involves the intentional infliction of progressively severe mental and emotional suffering for the purposes of coercion and intimidation at the order of judicial authorities such deprivation of liberty does not constitute a circumscribed sanction for a specific offense but an open ended progressively severe measure of coercion for filling all the constitutive elements of torture or other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment chelsea manning was a u.s. military intelligence analyst but was arrested in 2010 for leaking classified

information to wiki leaks she was convicted in 2013 to 35 years in prison president obama commuted her sentence just before leaving office but she was arrested again last year for declining to testify against wiki leaks publisher julian a song global affairs analyst patrick henningsen says the un less so it will be a boost for supporters of both mining and us songs while lawyer and activist kevin zeese explained to was how the law is being used to coerce money. in a grand jury which is a secret process before someone is indicted or you go for it prosecutions occurring to determine whether someone should be prosecuted this is a power of the court to coerce someone into testifying now this law can allow a person in the united states to be held 'd for the length of the grand jury in order to coerce them to testify before the grand jury and no longer serves the purpose it was intended to serve it's now become

a weapon of prosecutors it was initially designed to protect people who are being investigated the reason they're kept secret because it trying to protect people being investigated before they're indicted so you don't know that they're being investigated but in the longer serves our purpose and now serves the purpose of being a tool for prosecutors that's abused and i think chelsea manning is a victim of that abuse the report by nils meltzer does give an additional air of legitimacy to the case of manning to really back up all of the things that manning supporters that the song should have been saying now for over 6 months and that this is unjust this is unfair the trying to create something new this is the whole point of coerced trying to coerce manning to come up with something that the d.o.j. can use to make a real case against the sunday shows you how flimsy this is this is the degree degradation of the justice system in the united states and also in the u.k.

as well in the case of the songes more like more resembles a banana republic style facade of a state judicial apparatus this is all part of a campaign to reframe into reframes rulings on and weekly x. as if from a journalist and a publication to being a cyber criminal in a hostile foreign intelligence agency 3 entire case all the indictments against dishonor are based on that really framing principle. and they are trying to get chelsea manning to give them something to actually make that marriage don't work and she's not she's not volunteering anything and this is frustrating the u.s. system tremendously during a song isn't fairing much better he's also behind bars in a british prison after being dragged out of the ecuadorian embassy where he's been the previous 70 is his correspondence. few buildings in the walls have come under as much scrutiny as this one here at the door and it's not in those

4 walls for 7 long years possibly the most famous whistle blower who time to get a sandwich would hold up until 8 port 2019 to 48 world was sensationally tracked out by british authorities. that work for the wiki leaks founder this was a huge betrayal by the latin american country that had sheltered him since 2012 aquittal said the relations had soured with the sand and his bad behavior triggered them opening the door to the police and revoking his asylum but it's worth noting that just a bit acquittals bank account got an almighty boost with a $4200000000.00 loan from the i.m.f. where the u.s. has huge voting rights a staunch is currently sitting in belmarsh prison in the country's capital sucking

up to meet sentence but jumping bail in 2012 but many are saying that what he's actually been handed is a death sentence because over 60 doctors wrote an open letter to the u.k. government saying that he might die in prison britain for its part denies any wrongdoing the allegations mr son she was subjected to torture and founded and hold false the u.k. is committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that no one is ever barbet but london's defense rings hollow in light of the reports by many organizations including the new web which claims that as a scientist health continues to deteriorate authorities are simply standing idly by the blatant and sustained arbitrariness shown by both the judiciary and the government in this case suggest an alarming departure from the u.k.'s commitment to human. rights and the rule of law unless the u.k. urgently changes course i believe yes the inhuman situation mr songes continued

exposure to arbitrariness and abuse may soon end up costing him his life but his songes battle for his well being is not only fight on his hands ever since wiki leaks exposed gross misconduct by the us government washington has been pushing for his extradition on espionage charges giving him a helping hand the british government despite international outcry the u.k. home secretary signed a us extradition request putting us on that one step closer towards being charged for publishing classified information and conspiring to hack from a computer 18 charges that washington has put forward could carry a maximum sentence of 175 years behind bars the reaction all over the wild people are crying foul they say that this is not a case about punishing a crime but of silencing

a voice surely in their singled out for special treatment for one reason only here's the truth he's such an innocent important man is because he is a freedom fighter however much you dislike. his case is the most important for me give you freedom this is just. miss rule of law and operation. washington's bid to get asylum stateside was also helped by not the european country sweden the scandinavian nation was investigating a rape allegation against the whistleblower and would have been within its rights to request his extradition to face trial since that case predated the u.s. request london would have been obliged to send a songe to stockholm fast but sweden has now closed that investigation conveniently removing the. final obstacle for the americans funny how it all wiped out a song just extradition hearing is set for factory 2020 but in light of these

recent talents of the band's fears are growing that does little charts of play discourse sure i mean what and of course what news most of the united nations special report or on torture is certain how corrupts and how in stress that the entire system in the u.k. including the judiciary and the media has forgotten when it comes to julian. you know before you call course earlier this year and this sort of was of a confirmation that what neil smelters said seems to be true that you. just love to have a potential sphere a trial into while one always hopes that lady justice will prevail u.s. authorities a rabs bad applied wired for a start so it might well turn out that when a country's dirty secrets are risk of being exposed justice is

a word that's up for interpretation so as to tailor r.t. london. on congress or in the new year with more violent protests with the rally organizers putting the turnout at more than a 1000000 there were around $400.00 arrests with police blaming radical protesters for the unrest. he was hong kong police say masked rioters recklessly vandalized public facilities in several areas there were parties may have to enter the rally earlier

after the clashes erupted washington supported the protests from the outset but hong kong based political scientist joseph chung thinks is more to do with building wider political leverage against beijing. the united states the problems we will support hong kong but don't launch from the administration both likely to hong kong issue and believe me as human rights issues in training as bargaining chips to exert pressure on china people would like to see a novel nice asian process a reconciliation process but apparently the genie and the hong kong doesn't mind maintain their own in and they have feels to me and the concessions to the protestants and to get full democracy in the. commons military chief has been killed in a helicopter crash near the capital taipei the defense ministry says 7 others also

diet but that the remaining 5 on board survived the blackhawk helicopter was heading from the capital to a base on the island's east coast but 13 minutes after takeoff it disappeared from radar and came down and a mountainous area so i guess know why the aircraft got into difficulty but an air force general told reporters that the helicopters condition was not ideal. now with $29000.00 done and dusted let's take a look back at more of the events that defined the here. now socially politically and beyond 2900 caused a fair bit of our people to our lives worldwide but for some the march of modernity . was felt. sorry that much of

a ditty as we head into the twenty's is leaving more than a few people fearing for their much loved territory let's take a look at one tradition seem to be under threat to dry in january over in france there is anger over a proposal to adopt a dry january a month of abstaining from alcohol after the excesses of the holidays french wine is as much a part of the dinner table as the food itself so it's not going down well so the debian ski has some ideas of how to freshen up for the new year hangover without having to put a cork in your culture. when you raise a gloss of wine or beer in france it's customary to say so and say which means health but if you waking up with a sore head off the celebrations on new year's eve you may be wondering if all those songs done you any good after all and instead of trying a hair of the dog you might think that it's time to join the millions of others across the world in having a little bit of a breather from alcohol that's right it's time for drawing january

a month of alcoholic abstinence it's been so popular in the angle from world that there were even plans to introduce it here in france but to the french who are famous for their love of a little plonk even you know what droid january is trying. no it's not possible it doesn't exist in france dry january i have not heard of it i have heard of many other traditions like move into is that it move into something like that but with wine i don't think it's possible no no not at all no with free no no i don't understand it this really exists so pretty much a resoundingly nor perhaps all the more reason to kick start the idea given that alcohol kills tens of thousands of people in france every year that's exactly what

france's health agency salty public also wanted to do but after explaining to prisons what dry january is what they think about it. a month without drinking whole it's difficult for the french. i could try it but i'd rather not it would not be too pleasant without wine. the french are going to die. well that would be the reaction i mean why. it's like not eating because they're not used to it who drinks more than me i don't know how hard to respond it seems for once president might call really has his finger on the pulse of what the french are thinking for he's said to have fiercely opposed to promoting a moratorium on alcohol in january or perhaps it's any toy of the year and given the choice will parisians be raising

a normal colics all day for dry january well if they slaughter anything to go by probably not to dilute the other 370 maybe it makes to reserve a bit of alcohol just a bit unlike those women who drink discreetly in the kitchen. i prefer wine frankly ole miss was a nice small meal and even when you had it i prefer why you know. what wine is it if it's a very good wine then wine is. well that settles it to draw it january is definitely not a french thing and all not know it from us here in paris bone and ne is salty. flexion donegan just gone up ahead of the big screen now some or some of the movies and shows that got us all talking terrified or just downright curious so coming up after the break stay with us.

you know world a big part of the law and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. the world is driven by dreamers shaped by the one percent of those great.

thinks. we dare to ask. welcome back continue on with our look back 2019 now let's swing back to some of the cultural highlights of the past year i wasn't all protests demos and trade was we managed to escape into some decade defining t.v. series and movies as well it meant saying goodbye to some long running blockbuster favorites while others left audience is deeply divided daniel hawkins takes a look. it's been a long hearing global news entry scandal uncertainty and cliffhangers we've seen it all at least we could all wind down with

a good movie everyone's favorite pastime bringing people together in the cinema or on the sofa well ok 29000 hasn't quite been like that. spring arrived bringing a monumental conclusion and epic game of thrones saga it won millions of fans around the world i mean do you even know anyone who hasn't seen at least one episode it even became a feature in international twitter diplomacy. it took 8 years to get literally everyone to jump on the west the rose by an wagon but just one series to get people fuming about the finale game of thrones season 8 has to be the most disappointing season finale of the decade. merry christmas to everyone except the people who like the game of throwing series finale. thinking

about how cursed we are to live in the time when we're both the game of thrones finale and the star wars finale sucked people even launched a petition to reshoot the final season nearly 2000000 signatures and still rising and if you thought breaks it was divisive don't get me started on that file episode and into thinking. i will. i was just really. after such division of viewers would desperate for some unity and in came should noble people flock to see the latest hit stand aside game of thrones as the draw more about the world's worst nuclear accident shot right up the t.v. rankings to normal is on fire. and every atom of uranium is like a bullet. for the mini series struck such a chord with viewers in both east and west it also struck some bones of contention why were there no ethnic minority actors how accurate was the science why so many

cliched stereotypes nope so noble couldn't please everyone either and with every new episode came a new take on just how accurate the drama was or wasn't their characters are distorted and misrepresented as if they were villains they were nothing like that the plan work is a shown as though they are scared of everything this does not reflect reality in reality they were quite decisive very decisive not one of the operators fled after the explosion is a composed calm intelligent man who never denied his responsibility also became the knight screw darker and so that our screens walk in phoenix's joker delved into the murky depths of society and the human mind. when you bring me out. introduce me as joker.

i and as the height grew so did the panic yeah people actually got worried that film could provoke members of the so-called community self pitying missiles or mystic lonely online trolls into violence along bells even rang in the us military soldiers of a board about the risk of attacks during screenings it was all right on the night there was no mass violence critics loved phoenix but would divided over the film itself and whatever you thought of it some people certainly took inspiration from the character mixing fun to see with the reality and certainly sparking debate. gnat gnat gnat gnat gnat. the listener of joy

agrees that a move radical change is needed this is not enough and this is what all those democratic leftists i'm not aware of this dissatisfaction the grows today is a serious one the channel deal with it with gradual reforms more tolerance to health care now it's a lot of beams of dystopia you know people don't really know where society is headed some people are loving the direction some are very scared and that's why movies like joker really speak to people another thing we're seeing is is that people are so sick of politics that they also just kind of want to zone out and they want something that's just just pure entertainment but the number one movie this year was a bender is the end game and i think that also speaks to it as well as that there's not really a political message in that it's just kind of eye candy and something to zone out to it's mindless entertainment and that's important i think to. people who are just sick of hearing about politics all the time because it affects

everything right. well that's enough controversy for tonight christmas is off for all the season of goodwill to all it seems as though people just love to have a good old squabble over things and even the magical world of cinema just can't please everyone unless of course you happen to be baby goda. holding. the baby. big. thanks for joining us here on r.t. international we would love to hear your own take on the highlights of 2930 get in touch by following guys on social media living on your comments there we're back to top of the hour. keyser report the 1st episode of 2020. stacy armor and i are going to have some

really special guest dr michael hudson you know back in the seventy's 970 s. there is a movie called death wish with charles bronson remember that i remember that we could do a remake and you were the star you play the charles bronson or all as called debt which. any are vigilante banker economists that goes around new york blowing away baghdad where you think i love it ok i will set that up. time after time corporations repeat the same mantra sustainability it's very important. transition sustainable transport sustainability stay number may not be more equitable and sustainable world. they claim their production is completely hama's. and look. into. it into something companies want us to feel good about buying their products while

the damage is being done far away and this is something else this must be going to mean and i need much. news to me didn't anyone and i'm stunned. understood. welcome to the alexandre in show one who bought the vorta happy new year from him

in finland but the friends of just happy new year they seem to be happy all year round because they've just been voted the world's most contented country though in last week's show we asked the question whether it's the excellence of philly said to cation the secret of finnish happiness in this week's show we come to the political system and that's where the consensus politics of finland of under 10 the social and economic model which exchanges high pass no taxation for the excellence of social services summit in this just been elected the new funny prime minister at 34 years old the youngest prime minister in any democracy on earth and furthermore she leads a 5 party coalition all of which are led by women and the sat remarkable fact indicate pot should finish politics or rather the underline the continuity of the consensus politics of the us not that country there to examine the prospects

for finnish politics in the new year who better than alexis kuna say editor in chief of the helsinki times. let's discuss the the coming to power of sylar marine must be a great boon for for journalists and helsinki been the whole world is interested and and this young woman the youngest prime minister on the planet so as a bit a lot of international journalists beating a path to the helsinki times to see how she got to go on yes absolutely it has been tremendous interest from the international media and even you know hillary clinton to eat it about the new government of finland that. wrote in finnish that vast war me good finland and i have also received several e-mails and. from international media who want to know more so i look as good copy for the helsinki times i would imagine yes there are plenty of both the formation of the

government has not always 5 parties be led by a young woman but 2 thirds of the new cabinet are women as well yes that's right it's even for finn that this is a new record of female leaders and especially their age is very young tell us about the finnish politics for our international audience or you know a 5 party coalition the social democrats who are the lead party the prime minister's spot here they had less than 20 percent of the vote in the elections just passed when that is a quite remarkable reaves well how do you manage to keep coherent living for 5 parties in a coalition of bust like having cats well this is this is not uncommon with the finnish finnish politics it has happened several times that there are many different parties and especially these are small parties who get just

a fraction of the wards they sometimes even become kingmakers when the big parties they don't want to work with each other so. they just go and collect the small parties together and form a government like like right now but the finish politics is somehow you you could even say boring a lot doesn't happen in the pali i love the strays a lot doesn't. but a lot has happened well 1st because i think it must be one of the most reported events center bashfully to have this this new capital led by young woman but this is a huge story internationally yes it is that there is like i think finland has never got more attention to its new government than now and mainly because these are women and these are young women most of them then again you know finland is a consensus.