just chill. at 6 pm from moscow the news today of the united states earlier assassinated iran's top military commander in an early morning air strike in iraq provoking threats of retaliation from to run and its allied militias we'll bring you the latest tonight . other big news today the turkish parliament decision to deploy troops to libya comes in for strong criticism as israel and greece and now cyprus fear it will lead to a further escalation in the region. and continuing our rewind of some of the key stories the 29th seed the chance is there that we still played in front of us remember that the tragedy that struck not for a down cathedral in paris. good

evening busy news night is tell you about this january the 3rd one is kevin owen live here at r.t. h.q. with the world news update if you stay with me for the next half hour or so so the big story into the middle east this morning the u.s. secretary of state has defended america's assassination of iran's top military commander same sum of money in a drone strike on baghdad international airport on friday might claim the attacks saved american lives she said and further said that washington remains committed to deescalating tensions with tehran. that was the time to take this action so that we could disrupt this plot deter further aggression from chaos and salami in the iranian regime as well as to attempt to deescalate the situation. the early morning raid then also reportedly killed 9 others including influential iraqi and lebanese shia militia leaders there believed to be leaving the airport there in 2 vehicles

when the strikes took place some sort of money let the powerful could force which is an elite branch of the iran revolutionary guard corps charged with spearheading foreign operations the unit's been heavily involved in the conflicts in iraq and syria and instrumental in the territorial defeat of now in the u.s. the general was listed though as a terrorist the pentagon says he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american service personnel and was actively planning this a further attacks iran's leadership has reacted furiously to the assassination which was ordered direct by president trump and they've promised they will be retribution. the u.s. act of international terrorism targeting and assassinating general saloon money the most effective force fighting dying isis al-qaeda and hope is extremely dangerous and foolish escalation the u.s. busy responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism just as unprecedented in how how tense things are how both countries are in this is this is

the abbotts this is the abas to kill assassinate the man who is referred to as the 2nd most powerful man in iran a potential successor to the supreme leader he was killed after arriving at the airport in baghdad the u.s. airstrike he would see was targeted in this operation was preplanned they knew he was coming they knew where to strike the they were targeting him at the direction of the president the u.s. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u.s. personnel abroad by killing customs so in money 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 and the fallout has been global we've had leaders all over the world officials come out. against you know urging calm and deescalation and the reunions

convening the national security council they have one message the entire ring in hierarchy that there will be consequences retaliation if there is as of yet no indication how exactly the iranians will respond to it respond to this but they haven't launched any missiles yet and you know the they are stupid they're intelligent people they probably understand a war with the united states is the last thing they need but i doubt that the leave this you know without without an answer and so how is the u.s. justifying the myth while the united states is saying that. he was the ultimate bad guy this is this is from the state department this is in american press that we just killed the world's number one bad guy this is this is simpson in modeling he was at the forefront of the fight against isis in iraq when it seemed like isis the

jihad this would go to take the whole country was he who helped organize the p.m.s. the popular mobilization forces iraqi civilians banding together to resist ties and successfully while the army was in shambles as they got their things in order to help by the coalition but they defeated isis what the united states has been saying is that he is responsible for the deaths of 517 americans over the years that he was complicit that he had a rule to play in recent in the recent spate of attacks on u.s. bases. draw some indications that they may be planning additional attacks if that happens

then to act and by the way we get word of attacks or some type of indication we will take preemptive action as well to protect american forces to protect american lives. they disregard sovereignty did this work are the government they disregard the people of iraq their their utter arrogant behavior is has made the whole region outraged and then they wonder why people hate america but wasn't for a general sort of money there probably wouldn't be a syria today and there were. the black flag was over damascus thanks to the united states and its allies and if it wasn't for general stolen money probably there wouldn't be in iraq today and the capital over the capital we would have had the black sides of isis iraqis except for those bathurst who supported saddam hussein

in isis supporters who are celebrating the overwhelming majority of iraqis supports general salomone and are grateful to them for helping save the country wherever the united states goes and destroys its all for its all to defend democracy and freedom and the american people which is our nonsense so immediate row of occasions at the moment the us is urging american citizens to leave iraq immediately and not to approach the embassy in baghdad to secure green zone with american embassy iraqi government is located is in lockdown but might pompei again believes the strikes of largely he says been welcomed in iraq. iraqis iraqis dancing in the street for freedom thankful that general salim ani is no more i'm really here we are on american iran should solve their problems absolutely when we do not want them to solve it here we do not celebrate the killing or so the money or anyone

else because this will not serve us at the end of the day of a loved one as mentioned in iran where sort of money was widely revered the assassinations triggered an outpouring of grief and anger 3 days of mourning but announced and thousands of iranians have turned out in cities across the country to one of the general was paul asli and now reports next the u.s. assault polarized opinion across the world. we've witnessed reaction from the international community and particularly here in the region the concern is that the american actions will destabilize the situation there is a lot of criticism being leveled at the united states turkey has accused the american president of destabilizing the middle east have you that is being echoed by syria it also says that this will own. fuel the conflict. the leader of the iran backed his group that is based in lebanon has called for the resistance the world over to avenge the killing and at the same time and now the rain back in the gaza strip has expressed its condolences to tehran and as for the iraqi government they

have accused the americans also to quote a gratian that they say will lead to a devastating war the assassination of an iraqi military commander is an aggression on iraq as a state government and people it's a flagrant violation of iraq's sovereignty and dangerous escalation that triggers a destructive war in iraq the region and the world it violates the conditions authorizing the presence of u.s. troops on iraqi soil. cowardly u.s. aggression will only strengthen determination to follow in the path of the resistance is my leaders right now here in tel aviv the top defense vish officials of israel all holding an emergency meeting the israeli army has been put on high alert particularly along the borders in the north and the south and that is out of concern that there could be some kind of reaction from either hamas or hizbullah talking to israelis on the ground many fear that there will be a reaction the question is just when and what form it will take having said all of that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has welcomed the attack and

praised the american president donald trump president roh deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel sterne's with the united states in this just struggle with bruce security and so the birds the american action was a reaction to a series of military provocations for which iran is responsible we also see with great concern to around 60 of it is in the region was done before then dress escalation the reaction from european leaders has been more moderate not despite the concern being expressed that this will destabilize the region no one has been bold enough to really come straight out and criticize the american press. event nato has said that it is monitoring the situation closely with a particular i on its training mission in iraq so as you can actually determine the region and indeed the international community very concerned about what has happened here paula slater there a middle east correspondent so the next 2448 hours are going to be crucial will be

following the hour we've been bringing the reaction throughout the day as well mark severances here now from the quincy institute for responsible stay craft. you know it's sort of play for over the next 122448 hours to see what the response is going to be will it be a muted response will something big happened we don't know yet but either which way the u.s. said they did this because it was a defensive thing to do do you agree with. well you know there's no question in that trunk memory when i was regarded iran as an enemy if you're going to trump's campaign rhetoric it was nearly entirely wrong in terms of tearing up the nuclear deal and it is true that there has been a tit for tat going on between the u.s. and iran since feel we've isolated over the past few weeks in iraq however this really is a watershed and so throughout studied hezbollah in the broader hierarchy

see far from where we are with the concept of of rules for the game. there's a basic understanding that violence can be used on either side but within certain parameters however taking out the leader of the quds force in baghdad will be seen as a gross violation of these rules and what that means is. deterrence between you want to say as well as israel has broken down and we're now looking at an arrow not of deterrence but of preemption and there's a real concern that things are going to ask really even further and if you were to ask me you know you i predict to happen the answer is you have iran is going to

respond and iran has many different options about how it will respond in a way you wrote is actually in control it will choose how it wants to or talk to you but it really doesn't want a full scale face off with america does it. well that's really not the way you run tends to we war in iraq. recognize 2 although it has a population of 8x1w8x1w and that it doesn't want to go toe to toe with the united states or frankly many other country even in the region and so what it has done of it has created this sprawling network of military groups throughout the persian gulf throughout the lobato whether we're talking about hezbollah in lebanon we're talking about the hooty based in yemen and we're talking about power standing in groups based in gaza we're talking about various groups in

syria or canister he wrong prefers to project power in an asymmetric fashion and i suspect iran will continue to do so particularly now with the u.s. around the world max i want to talk about american reaction just a minute we'll come on to what nancy pelosi had to say just a minute but what abut a rag this could have been dragged into this iraqi official saying tonight hey they weren't warned so therefore they said we couldn't have really done anything to protect this man and these important people that died with it and by the way why do you think he was that well this is a man who i mean of the many people in the world who say that he evil but he was definitely brave i mean he was very often on the frontline in the world's most dangerous conflict. so he went directly into the heart of syria when the when i was with the high ira whether to facing off i still but not much thanks it

seems tonight for the for america but it's a complicated picture. it is. a lot of mixed views are are working out he was responsible for the projection of iranian power are really in many different ways from the bar to go to health care if you're even for it to south america or are you over the ground here was very how does it get us are particularly in the united states for helping to combat islamic state but it was quite instrumental in getting back isis in iraq or as well as in syria donald trump has some support from his own side but fierce criticism from the democrats particularly nancy pelosi she's come out and said hey you should have gone to congress 1st but this you didn't is she is. there ministration has

conducted tonight strike in iraq targeting high level iranian military officials and killing iranian quds force commander some silly money without another 3rd is ation for use of military force against iran further this action was taken without the consultation of the congress what ok she writes or not is she going to do something like this i suppose the military commanders are going to say you've got to do it stealthily you can't go around making big plans telling people advance what you're going to do does she have a point or not should have gone to congress. well it's very good of course you know what has happened in terms of u.s. foreign policy making i mean based on the constitution only congress should be much more involved in these wars particularly the so-called never ending wars. parked over what has happened over them over to iraqis is that the power shift through to exactly we were actually the president decides not only to declare we're going to

get into iraq the roots movement your reaction but you've been for you know 13 military operations and the kinds of missions. should require congressional approval in terms of use of the market are now worth the president is not going to say that he really had no insurance. you know that this leader was on the verge of striking a mirror target so there is going to be a real apis of us to show that the threat with him in and out why a preemptive strike we're going to be hearing with our congressional approval whoa wait to see what else the americans cause most we can leave it there for now i'm sorry we're out of time on this one but this story is going to run around for days yet as more details come out but maybe what proof they had and what the ramifications are what iran might do now except thank you for now so we'll let you get on with your evening and and come back to

a soon thank you might say part of it for the queen seems to be responsible stake draft. ok is coming up to 18 minutes past 6 in the evening moscow time you fight on the button right now so let's go to our next story several countries have condemned the turkish parliament decision to send troops to libya israel greece and those cypress have voice their concern over a possible escalation of the conflict in the region of what's happened in the past 24 hours in this permission or potential permission they're calling turkey's plans reckless. the 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 in a phone call with the turkish leader the us president also raised concerns that foreign interference he said could further complicate the situation in libya though the 2 did agree to maintain their diplomatic corp multiple forces have been vying for power in libya it's such a complicated picture since the ousting of longtime leader moammar gadhafi back in

2 in the 11 on one side there's the u.n. backed government of national accord that controls the capital tripoli you see on the map along with some coastal areas in the west of the country its rival over into broke the self-styled libyan national army headed by general khalifa haftar holds large swathes in eastern and central libya and the 3rd region to complicate it even more controlled by local tribes and militias now the u.s. government formally requested military aid from turkey last month present at one city do that went into business suits journey started and said potentially yes so in the face of an onslaught by half task forces that the post was made of now libya's neighbors are voiced major reservations over the troop deployment plans now egypt's calling on the international community to respond urgently we've been here analysis from turkey and beyond on anchors move yesterday and it's possible repercussions going forward next. we see a very soft announcement by the arab league we can 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's 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. greeks. egyptians. of course are very disappointed by this decision. turkey's strategic move will. bring 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 sent more troops then general haftar will also look at more support from the governments he's already there are

already back including and especially egypt the united arab emirates they will send their own proxies or troops for more weapons so in that sense the situation could definitely escalate in a military sense. this is coming in next new french media reporting that one person has been killed and several others wounded in a knife attack in a suburb south of paris police it seems have shot dead the assailant is the latest witnesses say there was a man wearing explosive vests to the top passers by the perpetrator was shot dead by the police officers blocked the area and they say stay away from there tonight the investigation over the instance on going is still fast moving while the motives of the attack are still not clear and small that's come through witnesses it's yet all that's all we know at the moment as we get more on that we'll bring it to you but it looks like that incident is over although of course the police are structured there is try to work out what's actually going on there is certainly

there have been fatalities as well. who well we head into 2020 of them with a lot of news going on but it don't forget 2019 was so packed with it too wasn't it it's consigned to the history books but the memories stay there so taken stock of s'more of the defining moments of the year just gone coming up. and this surely was one of them in april that huge blaze taught through not to dumb cathedral in paris lay destroying that beautiful 850 year old landmark devastating for the building devastating for the people who live in that city many of them reports next just how deeply it was felt in france and how those scars set to 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 what ching they sang trees old cathedral. my heart just dropped like. are you kidding me it was completely shocking and i was just constantly wady away like ok the help of what he will 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 that it could be saved but. that cost was being counted with a 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 accused the state of putting 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 in the lake and if you want to be in fact in this story about lead has been around for a long time and it's causing inundation a problem for the not true and there's isolated knocking down from the tourists travel agents across the world were forbidden in a certain way to come to paris near not to die because of the risk of contamination which didn't exist 8 months old and this is what surrounds. a huge perimeter fence safeguarding the sites tourist numbers through here though more of a trickle than the flood that they used to be and that has hit the businesses

around the cathedral halt to at least we have lost tourists we have lost the pilgrims we have problems with the restoration work or not saddam and with the level of security 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 in the month of december an 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 in 2019. paris yeah you never know do you want a new year brings for the good. for the stay safe and happy in 2020 and continue watching us at all to international i hope my name's kevin 0 in on but with more just about half an hour's time to check it all social media all to dot com for all

the latest on the big news today. thousands of american men and women choose to serve in the country's military and the decision. every song came to a complete. the day that i was right. here you know hold a shot they'd kill me and i see how it destroyed my life any screamed at me and he made me come in and he graham my arm and he write me. if you take into account that women don't report because of the extreme retaliation and it's probably somewhere near about half a 1000000 women have now been sexually assaulted in the u.s. military rape is

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