headlines today a top u.n. write sexpert says the united states jailing of whistleblower chelsea manning for refusing to testify against the wiki leaks founder is tantamount to torture. police in hong kong make hundreds of arrests on new year's day as an estimated 1000000 people turned out for the 1st big anti page in protest of 2020. to ditch drug january french wine producers and the government did now it's the alcohol free health initiative describing it as an attack on the country's culture .

welcome to the program just 14 pm here in moscow now live from the international world news center it's kevin know it with a salad. first the senior u.n. official this launched a scathing attack on the united states over its ongoing detention of whistleblower chelsea manning saying her treatment amounts to top chip special reports. made the claim in a letter to the u.s. government which was written in november but says 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 supplying classified information to wiki leaks she was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison then another twist president obama commuted his sentence just before he left office but she was arrested again last year for declining to testify against wiki leaks publisher julian the sarge global affairs analyst patrick henningsen told us the u.n. let's it now will be a boost for supporters of both manning and the sanj but lawyer an activist kevin zeese explain to us too how the law is being used he says to coerce manning. 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 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 a staunch supporters have been saying now for over 6 months this is unjust that this is unfair they're trying to create something new this is the whole point of coerced trying to coerce manning to come up with something that the 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 to reframe julius aunt and wiki leaks as it is from a journalist and a publication to being a cyber criminal in a hostile foreign intelligence agency the entire case all the indictments against dishonor are based on that we frame in principle. and they are trying to get chelsea manning to give them something a key to actually make that marriage didn't work and she's not she's not volunteering anything and this is frustrating the us system tremendously. well meantime heading into a new decade during the sangean ferry much better he's also behind bars in a british prison after being dragged out of the ecuadorian embassy where he spent the previous 7 years with an update on the. few buildings in the walls have come

under as much scrutiny as this one here at the door and. in those 4 walls for 7 long years possibly the most famous whistle blower who time to get a staunch withhold up until port 2019 the 48 year old 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 serving out 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 above it but london's defense rings hollow in light of reports by many organizations including the new web which claimed 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 one step closer towards being charged for publishing classified information and conspiring to hack a top from a computer the 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 julian or 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 worked out a sanchez extradition hearing is set for factory 2020 but in light of these recent talents of the fans fears are growing that does little chance of play this close to sure i mean what and of course what news most of the united nations special report 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 quote course earlier this year and this sort of was a confirmation that what neil smelters said seems to be true that you. just love to have a potential sphere troyer into while one always hopes that lead to justice will prevail us authorities have rather spared applied wired for

a start so it might well turn out that when a country is to secrets risk of being exposed justice that is a word that's up for interpretation so as to tailor our to. hong kong saw in the new year with more violent protests really organizers for the turnout of more than a 1000000 the said there were around 400 arrests with police blaming radical protesters for the trouble. i. accomplis say must

ride his recklessly vandalized public facilities in several areas historic he's moved to end the rally early when the clashes erupted washington supported the protest from the outset bear in mind the hong kong based political chain thinks it's more to do with building wider political leverage against beijing. did united states popper's we will support hong kong but don't launch from administration most likely to hold on to shield and gave me as human rights issues in china as bargaining chips to exert pressure on china people would like to see a novel nice asian process a reconciliation process but the parents. and the hong kong government have maintained their passion and they have feels to me any concession is the politest is and to do for democracy in. the time of year 21000

done and dusted let's take a look back at more the events that defined the 12 month just go. on. as put some money in the meter fire the machine look at our 29000 highlights a bit more detail socially politically and beyond 29000 calls a fair bit of upheaval to our lives were. worldwide talking of which for some the march of modernity as we head into the 2020s is leaving more than a few people fearing for their much loved heritage case in point our next story let's take a look at one tradition that seem to be under threat dr january is heading its army in france where there's anger over a proposal to adopt dry january it's a month abstaining from alcohol basically after the excesses of the holidays good idea or not what french one is of course as much a part of the dinner table as the food itself so this health preserving plans proving hard to swallow for shallow dubin skin in

a not too scientific survey as some other ideas on how to freshen up from the new year hangover without having to put too much of a cork in a culture. when you raise a gloss of wine or beer in florence it's customary to say soul today which means health but if you waking up with the sore head off the celebrations on new year's eve you may be wondering if all those songs done you any good off to rule 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 anger 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 dried january i have not heard of it i have heard of many other traditions like movie is that it's something like that but with wine i don't think it's possible no 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 solti public falls wanted to do but after explaining to prisons what dry january is what they think about it. for 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 for the 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 which is why he drinks more than me i don't know how to respond it seems for once president might call really has his finger on the pulse on 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 time 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 i would prefer some tea maybe mixed with a bit of alcohol just a bit i'm like those women who drink discreetly in the kitchen the fellow who wants my ip for wine frankly onus was in a small meal and even when you have it i prefer why you know. what wine is it

if it's a very good wine then why it 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 is salty. well thank you charlotte ok more of our reflections on the year just gone coming up mongst it will look at president trump's attempts to be the one to end the decades of discord between the israelis and palestinians even though we so-called deal of the century we see this pretty one sided plus songbirds big screen on the small some of the movies in the shows that all of us talk at all of us terrified of simply don't know what fear is coming up.

so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. dramatic development only. exists i don't see how that strategy will be successful. if you sit down and

talk. again 18 minutes past the hour thanks for watching us live from moscow this hour solo into a new decade new year with 29000 gone let's take a look back a bit more of the events that defined the year we got some more choices this. go under the heading power games that we got there we got. to we could look at all deal of the century this make a deal of the century focusing on but we're talking about the middle east the israeli palestinian conflict in particular it was another really punishing year for many palestinian sume some of whom for the last 18 months have been protesting in gaza close to the perimeter fence with israel's been a real mess there a lot of trouble ati's paul asli next than takes a look at president trump plan to sort it all out and to bring as much to write it deal of the century to fruition. how to mess up the middle east conflict even

more trump's perfect plan step one proclaim yourself a mediator we need. a leader that wrote the art of the deal israel palestine are going to make it that probably is the hardest deal there is to make and i'm a very good deal like i believe me if you can't make a good deal with a politician then there's something wrong with you step 2 you don't even try to look neutral showed your sympathies. in. step 3 don't be stingy shower your favorite with kids is all this year was placed with american recognition of it's an extension of the golan heights

a territory seized in wall but will sign a presidential proclamation recognizing israel's sorry. and right over the golan heights and american recognition of way spanx it all means the establishment of israeli civilian settlements in the west bank is not per se inconsistent with international law and if that wasn't enough state for hit the other side as hard as possible the us closed the palestine liberation organization office in washington the not quite palestinian embassy to the united states trump administration will not keep the office open when the palestinians refused to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with israel and decided to defund the united nations palestinian relief agency the united states will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation we're very mindful of and deeply concerned regarding the impact upon innocent palestinians especially school

children or the failure of un r w a and key members of the regional and international donor community to reform and reset the un aren't w a way of doing business step 5 scrap the tiniest pieces of what's been of the peace for a solution after all who needs a 2 state solution something all the sides had already more or less agreed on the deal of the century is the way forward but a much touted brain conference was snubbed by the palestinians apparently they need to think out of the box you can change your course for the positive if we're willing to try new things and think outside of the traditional box step 6 state mysterious despite promise after promise they still no clear plan on the deal of the century and people on both sides of the conflict are not as hopeful of trump's vision as trump is himself and all who trump he's

a man that thinks he can manage the whole world the way he manages his businesses and it's really hard. i don't think he has done a lot for the world in the time that he's been in office. against in the big global high level it is impossible to reach peace with him i think because he is a man that is not a soldier has not come from the army he does not understand the peace between this rose of posting this could not be achieved with the. with the current affairs going. i think according to my religion real peace will come when the messiah comes but i think it's worth trying i don't know where world but i know he's better than clinton as 2019 draws to a close people here seem less optimistic than they were a year ago a pretty sober note to end the year on policy at r.t. jerusalem. big story will continue to follow it will make sense lighten things

a bit a change of focus to savor the cultural our lights of the year just go on press the button see what it fires up wasn't all protests demos and trade wars of course we managed to escape into some decade of finding t.v. series and movies as well director's cut should do the trick it meant saying goodbye to some long running blockbuster favorites while others left the audience is deeply divided daniel hawkins takes a look at what was on t.v. and in the movies. it's been a long year in global news intrigue scandal uncertainty and cliffhangers we've seen it all at least we can all wind down with a good movie everyone's favorite pastime bringing people together in a cinema or on the sofa well ok 29000 hasn't quite been like that. spring arrived bringing a monumental conclusion in the 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 a 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 thrones 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 so did you think. 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. 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 u.s. military soldiers will 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. listen of joke or is 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 this is 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 that's why movies like joker are 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 through it as well is 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. wow well that's enough control to see if it's a night 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 go to. the baby.

so cute down all kids and cuddly friends with more snapshots so we're just going if you want to keep up to date with all the news that's happening from us right now check out our sites out more social media about with more this lighter for me kevin though in the rest of the team in russia this is the afternoon big season's greetings to you still celebrating and thank you for watching. international. politicians do something to. put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or some want to be. to the right to be press this is what the 3 of them can't be good. i'm interested in the why is it that. they sit.

in a world of big partisan through things a lot 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 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 truth the time is now we're watching closely watching the hawks. the world is driven by a dream shaped by one person those but. i am.