the united states of fascinate the top iranian revolutionary guard commander in a drone strike in iraq iranian supremely to is warning of a harsh retaliation against the us. the turkish parliament decision to deploy troops in libya faces strong criticism towards israel greece and cyprus fear it will escalate the conflict in the region. and continuing our rewind of 2900 key chapters we remember the tragedy which struck not to dog the jewel in the park.

a warm welcome you're watching r.t. international with me the carriage well 1st we start with the overnight breaking news from the middle east the united states has assassinated a top iranian revolutionary guard commander in a drone strike in iraq the arabian supreme leader is now warning of a harsh retaliation against the u.s. because the insulin money let the revolutionary guards the leads could force them was killed in an operation directed by u.s. president donald trump well t.c.d. our correspondent joins me in the studio now with more details now more on this strike is being seen as a potential turning point in u.s. iranian relations can you talk as though one happened and how serious this could be it's incredibly serious this is perhaps the most serious it is being between the united states and iran in recent decades that there are now all the obvious this is potentially you know a big war big conflict just just around the corner there seem. mani was

called the 2nd most powerful man in iran he was seen as potentially a successor to the supreme leader which is which is why we've seen such or such a halt reaction from the iranians you know right up the hierarchy radian officials coming out and saying there will be consequences where with thinking about how to retaliate but we will retaliate and the iranians are making no secret of it the question is how they will do it. the u.s. act of international terrorism targeting and assassinating general saloon money the most effective force fighting dyess isis al-qaeda and how he's extremely dangerous and foolish escalation the u.s. bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism he was assassinated this brazen assassination just after arriving at baghdad airport his car was targeted by

a strike and apparently they identified him by a ring that he wore there wasn't much left of him he himself was why this is such a high profile especially in iraq while why this is such an infamous event is because it was him who came 1st to the defense of organized the rockiness to resist isis what had seen that isis is going to take over the country that there was nothing to stop them the iraqi army was in shambles it was he who organized the p.m.s. public mobilization popular mobilization for forces and they they resist the dice as they push them back and then the iraqi army came along and clean things up and now they see him assassinated like this the united states by the way says that this was a preemptive defensive action saying that he was going to organize they get

a tax on american lives on american troops and he was a threat that doesn't hold water with many experts and u.n. officials coming out to say hold on a 2nd less there's a specific targeted threat you can't just kill something that's a violation of international law unless the americans adamantly did this in the defense of the american lives. at the direction of the president the u.s. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u.s. personnel abroad to buy killing qassam soleimani this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans the united states will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world. yet for all the talk of protecting their people not all the people seem to be aboard this decision for example we see wolf wolf 3 high trending on

twitter people people are genuinely scared because this this is an escalation that is unprecedented we've had american officials american representatives coming out and saying that hold on a 2nd problem and probably never told us trump never warned congress never notified the senate that this was going to be carried out this is completely unilateral completely at the hands of susan made by trump without without warning will consulting with any of the elected officials. their administration has conducted tonight strikes in iraq targeting high level iranian military officials and kill an iranian quds force commander custom silly money without an authorization for use of military force against iran further this action was taken without the consultation of the congress. the reunions of while the deciding on consequences and retaliation the clear the period of mourning. a lot of the bait

on television on social media about you know where this is where this is going to go a lot of worry as well trump and his pop he just tweeted a miracle fly just an american flag ironically enough one of the 1st responses under it is a repeat of his for 2012 well he accused president then president barack obama of trying to start a war with iran to boost his raisings now look you have trump with. poor ratings as well as impeachment around the corner himself seemingly starting a war what else you can call it taking steps that could potentially start a war with iran nevertheless we you know we've got to keep keep an eye on this retaliation is coming in remains to be seen whether iran will act rashly whether they'll think this rule of would rule war that no one wants to see what happened across the story for us our senior correspondent my guys to have thank you. ken

we're joining us now dr swear i'm totally a has do you know the gentle school of international affairs thank you for joining us on the program not the us our place as it is a fascinated and rainy in general is this the point of no return for the u.s. and iran. making is a very unfortunate situation because until 2016 iran and the united states seem to be you know in a major stage of reposts mark through the nuclear deal and now you know everything is calm unraveled and killing of course him so the money you're right it's not an ordinary act because even though the u.s. designates him of the terrorist and the iranian revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization that's a unilateral thing because you know end of the day he represented the state of iraq at the very very highest levels and he was a close to ideal of how many the spiritual leader and

a hard lot of autonomy to do you know major operations and to expand your non-sweet of influence across the region in the middle east especially in the shia stone which includes iraq or lebanon on syria and so on so to take him out like this i think he's you know i think we have not really talked through i mean the u.s. government drum as well as a pentagram to talk about consequences because you see there is a belief that they can as stablished deterrence through application of maximum force and you know by to be capitation of major quote unquote terrorist leaders but cutting so the money is not about a bunch of the cousins sort of wanted to represent of a state and that's where you know it's a much higher level of are the stakes are higher and surely the retaliation is not only going to be limited to acts of potential attacks on u.s. forces in iraq but also the allies you see this is the big problem because the u.s.

has an alliance system in the region especially saudi arabia and also israel who are dead against iran and so this would really spite a lot because the iranians can hit at the u.s. bases at american contractors like what happened recently and. the d. you know he's a proxy want to know what is going on i feel very much me people of the people of iraq the people of lebanon the people see the needs of the people of libya i mean all these countries you have a situation where there are regional powers that have legitimate rights and who have influence but then that attribute to power coming from challenging people and are trying to come. influence and the you know our piece of what iraqis remember nicky the wall that started in 2003 when saddam hussein was overthrown 17 years in the fall on the iraqis even on the streets some of them are saying you don't troops

should leave us alone and then there are those who are not debating whether the u.s. forces should remain because as long as u.s. forces about 5000 of them remain in iraq they are one rebel now to our attention but you don't so you know it's like a self goal of the u.s. i thought that obama's strategy relatively speaking was more clear cut letters and get it on there to strive to include them gradually and you know create a more conducive atmosphere which is free of tension and violence but now i think the removal of the the describing of that eusebio it was a 1st step and now killing according to the money definitely means that it's under glare water and other conflicts and of course another can 7 sorry to interrupt another consensus around town and fighting i said i mean the general has been killed who headed the elite iranian extra territorial force as involved in the fight so how will his death affect security in the region. that's true in fact although the u.s. is calling cousins of them one of the terrorists as you rightly mention he was

actually getting the anti isis and the anti you hardest you know movement in their entire region he was coordinating forces with so many allied militias militias as well as governments to try and check this extreme sunidhi how does one that has been emanating from from the region so it is a blow you know. the u.s. is stepping back in from part of syria but it remains in iraq and in the gulf region and is reinforcing more for troops there but isis can regroup because you know in northern syria they have taken advantage of the u.s. dollar so there's a confusing mix of our policies by the u.s. there's not clear strategic commitment or are signaling being done on one hand they say isis is already over and trump has declared victory over isis so then it's up to the countries in the region are really hard to try and forge a united front and to beat this demon but unfortunately they're been divided by the

u.s. aligned system i've brought american an anti american and iran has been placed in the anti american camp so that's the problem i think they have to find of where for you know the regional powers especially iran saudi arabia and israel they must find a way to coexist with the u.s. you laser dialogue when you can't be at the pentagon claim to be asked like what a defensive action to defend american interests in the region. well look at the casualties there suffered recently from these popular mobilization force they are not on the scale of this retaliation i mean there was one american contractor was killed in an airstrike and since then and then there was the siege of the u.s. embassy in baghdad where nobody no lives were lost there but the retaliatory tactics they're using is maximum force there you know robbing grenades and. what were and you know the number 2 dozen people what apparently killed one of these popular mobilization forces recently and now general sort of money himself as one

of the coordinator of all the problem organization forces so i think the last proportion and what we're going to realize is that the you know the fact he's also going to be disproportionate and is going to be not exactly aimed at you was for to be alone but vet and ellen system and their region of the whole structure you saw instead of just making it spider out of control the more i could be probably a black man to manage these i mean you simply you know for the moment while i was looking in the sort margo you must be on your knees and that you know we do called a terrorist but frankly the other survivor thought he was the enemy of humanity and of the whole region you cannot bracket to no money in the sea in thinking you know that's a problem with the u.s. or anyone who opposes the airhead you money are their dominants implant brand random most generous and his have you have a right to keep them so i think he's not have gone beyond control and as they should be stepping back an exciting history the u.s. often advises many countries to exercise restraint when they are in regional hotspots i think this is

a time when the anti international community should tell us and of course you know i'm also not to make mr good to go beyond the president's thank you dr turn chile a professor indeed of the general school of international affairs thank you for time. now several countries have condemned the turkish parliament decision to send troops to libya there's deep concern from israel greece and cyprus over a possible escalation of the conflict in the region calling turkey's move reckless turkey's decision to deploy troops in libya presents a dangerous threat to regional stability the repercussions of such reckless move will be dire for the stability and peace of the entire region and a phone call with the turkish leader the us president raised concerns that foreign interference could further complicate the situation in libya but both agreed to maintain their diplomatic cooperation libya is currently in a deal power regime as a un backed government of national accord that's headquartered in the capital tripoli and there is the alternative so-called eastern cabinet headed by general

hurley for half that a 3rd region is controlled by local tribes and militias libya has been in a state of war since an uprising in 2011 so the ousting and killing of longtime leader moammar gadhafi in recent months the u.n. backed government of national accord has been losing ground to the rival administration of general khalifa haftar leads the libyan national army don't like general half does forces currently control most of libya's territory including crucial oil and gas resources the un backed government formally requested military aid from turkey last month. libya's neighbor also has major reservations the egyptian foreign ministry is calling on the international community to urgently respond we've been hearing analysis from turkey and beyond on anchors military plan and it's possible repercussions. we see a very soft announcement by the arab league we could see that they're unified only by name we're seeing turkey become more and more now the major player in not only

libya in the north africa and the east and the middle east turkey is showing that it's not going to shy away and present add one is willing to use his military muscle to get the results he wants at the diplomatic table as well turkey made a very important chess move the greeks decide for yourselves whether the egyptians. of course are very disappointed by did decision but turkey's strategic move will. brink in some. advantages strategic advantages for turkey we will see the method the manner of how turkey is dealing with this problem and challenges in the coming days if turkey sends more troops then general haftar will also look at more support from the governments he's already there are already backing him including and especially egypt the united arab emirates they will send their own proxies or troops or more weapons so in that sense the

situation could definitely escalate in a military sense. among the defining impressions left by $29.00 t. the world was left watching helplessly as not true don could be told by the end of the quake leave revisit the tragedy and assess how long it will take for france to recover.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to us of the world of politics sports business i'm sure business i'll see you there. welcome back well now $29000.00 done and dusted it's time to take stock of some of

the defining events of the. an april ablaze tore through not to feed well in paris nearly destroying the 850 year old long mark so a day by the ski reports on just how deeply that was felt in france and how the scars will remain for decades to come. fronts was shaking to its core in april fully a ravaged the jewel of paris not to dumb. across

the world they was show too with blanket coverage over the place and harry in

paris thousands came out to the streets standing shoulder to shoulder watching this centuries old cathedral. my heart just drop like. are you kidding me it was completely shocking and i was just constantly away like ok the couple when he would say the tears everything just complete just. just refreshing closely looking for any sort of update and i thought it was gone i thought there was no way you know they were going to put it out at all with. everyone at work we just kept refreshing the page and seeing what caused it what had happened we couldn't believe that notre dame was on fire we were at home in seattle and we had literally booked our plane tickets to france the night before and was going to be one of the highlights of course it was it was a little bit of a blow really came in the early hours of the piece a little bit more. that cost was being counted with the price

tag potentially reaching billions of euros money polled in from wealthy benefactors and people chipping in what they could but that provoked anger itself many frustrated that the money was so forthcoming for a building when people were struggling to make ends meet the outrage intensified when the authorities were accused of not being completely upfront about lead contamination in the area following the fire some 450 tons of lead in the roof and the steeple melted during the blaze schools were closed for decontamination but many accuse the state of pushing the reconstruction of the cathedral ahead of people's health and environmental defense association decided to take matters into its own hands it accused the authorities of having lacked in their response and in

transparency it is a question of establishing who is responsible for this miscommunication which has left the population uninformed on the dangers to which it is exposed in our opinion people's lives have been in danger since the night of the disaster because the environmental code requires elected officials to provide precautionary information in real time on public airwaves unfortunately. we never heard this advice and people and journalists stayed around the cathedral on the forecourt and whole families stayed on the ground on the terraces with all the windows open watching this disturbing show without knowing that the plumes hitting them consisted of extremely toxic lead dust and went dangerous to health but officials claimed there was no risk and somewhat angry about the coverage of the contamination at the site saying that all old buildings were built using leds and there was too much fear mongering don't. you really have to lie on the ground if you want to see this story

about lead has been around for a long time that's causing an additional problem for the not true don distance and as isolated from the tourist travel agents across the world were forbidden in a certain way to come to america because of the risk of contamination which didn't exist 8 months old and this is what surrounds not a huge perimeter fence safeguarding the sites tourist numbers through here though i'm more of a trickle than the flood that they used to be and that has hit the businesses around the cathedral hot to least we have lost who is we have lost the pilgrims we have problems with the restoration work and the level of security that is because the building is still not secure and we suffer from all these how the businesses here have seen their sales figures drop at least by 80 percent during certain periods currently let me the month of december average 70 percent trade is hey want

to return to the status quo but the work to secure this so i can restore it to its former glory is expected to take years in the meantime some businesses fear that they may end up on the cheap too just like much of not today in 2019. paris. mind of our breaking news this hour now the united states has assassinated the top commander of iran's revolutionary guard in a drone strike in iraq has them still him on the lead the lead could force units conducting anti terror operations in iraq and syria but washington claims he was planning attacks on u.s. citizens and interests the iranian supreme leader has warned of a harsh retaliation against the u.s. for the killing we'll update you on developments and reaction in our next bulletin in just over half an hour of all the latest updates you can visit our website r.t.

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