headlining today thousands turn out as the funerals get underway for those killed in friday's u.s. airstrike including the death of iran's most senior commander washington meantime insists that assassination was to avert war claim it's committed to the escalating tensions with. already for every day for years the senior police chief says levels of child exploitation in britain are back to victorian era levels leaving austerity and increasingly powerful drugs guy. and vulnerable children risk in armenia to work criminal schemes being revealed helping foreigners a legally adopt young.

why they just turned 3 pm saturday for the january live from the r. to international world news center season's greetings it's kevin owen here with this hour's update so 1st thousands strong crowds are lining the streets of baghdad for the funeral procession of the iranian commanders killed in friday's u.s. air strike including iran's top general kasim solomon ie the iraqi prime minister is said to also be in attendance there today as well as iraqi flags mourners are also waving the flags of iran backed militias loyal to saddam any it's understood his body will be repatriated to iran for burial on chews day he was among 10 killed on friday following a direct order from donald trump the u.s. president defended the assassination saying it was necessary said to prevent war in the middle east but it sparked widespread fury across iran and beyond. solemn 80 has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for

the last 20 years what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago we took action last july just stop. a war. we did not take action to start a war that. this was an obvious terrorist move a move that entirely shouted cowardice in every respect we will not fall for the propaganda and blackmail by the americans in whatever manner and whenever we deem appropriate we will give the proper response. the killing of iran's general salim many sparked protests across the middle east then and further afield members of india's kashmiri shia community marched with images of silly money shouting anti american slogans while in pakistan protesters wrapped coffins with the u.s. flag and set them alight in iran itself 3 days of mourning are underway and thousands of turned out in cities nationwide to one of the general.

u.s. leadership has been saying on almost every platform they can find that they are working to deescalate tensions with the islamic republic of iran that was the time to take this action so that we could disrupt this plot deter further aggression from qassam solo mommy in the iranian regime as well as to attempt to deescalate the situation it's not an easy case to make killing the country's 2nd most powerful person most well known military leader and commander of the elite could force of the revolutionary guards doesn't look like deescalation however washington insists its actions were a defensive measure at the direction of the president the u.s. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u.s. personnel abroad by killing costumes still in money this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans the iranians are already promising revenge the supreme national security council of iran held an emergency meeting on friday

and announced that they had made difficult decisions at the right time and place the vengeance will be extracted it's not through aggression by the us i mean they should they should expect anything as it is a lot of this this aggression the international community is now gripped by fear that we could be on the brink of war there is no justification under international law and moral law our constitution is just aggravation and the fact they were they are in a way as a guest and have an embassy there we've never had been given any authority to do what we did i think it's morally wrong and if they're doing this to make us safer they said that we had they had to do this to make americans say complete nonsense i feel less safe because there will be retaliation and expansion and who knows what is going to lead to. washington says it's an ally of the iraq again. government and it's working in

iraq's best interests however baghdad is completely under happy with this move 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 the iraqis don't consider this to be a particularly friendly gesture they want to restart the su war again among the shia who don't want this to happen what has happened is a blatant violation of iraqi sovereignty the fact that he's a high state official in a government that we're not at war with we've crossed the rubicon not only in tehran but in moscow beijing pyongyang caracas they all have to sit there and say to themselves all right the americans now feel entitled to kill anybody and our government because of what over while a disagreement over syria or whatever else. the

international response has been vocal china says it is concerned turkey is angry and syria accused the united states of spreading instability it's a pity to see. the get it but what if the united states used. to kid somebody. the way gangs do it but not everyone agrees though israel says job well done president wrote deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively busy with the united states in this just struggle for some peace security and so forth and america's nato allies are not thrilled at all we have woken up to more dangerous world the us action did not make it any easier to reduce tensions we had all parties to deescalate for the conflict is in none of our interests.

it didn't exactly go over well at home either american media has accurate all sorts of allegations about solid money most americans had never heard of before saying he is the new face of terrorism and evil but democrats say that trump is rushing the country to war without congressional approval the risk of a much longer military engagement in the middle east is acute and immediate. this action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into now donald trump is defending is he says he saved lives and that he's protecting the country however in some of his responses he's actually said that solomonic should have been killed years ago so why now is perhaps donald trump trying to play the card of being a national savior in the lead up to an election i don't foresee the iranians making

a rash choice because they understand the neo cons who are behind shawn's policy and trump himself on iran they don't want anything more than to have iran do a very who are high profile strike back the us propaganda machine is in high gear demonizing stolen money who 99.9 percent of americans had never heard of 2 days ago . worse than hitler killing americans left and right none of this is true none of this is supported by facts but the propaganda machine is on high high high alert and americans are being prepared for another war so i don't see the iranians taking the bait. a senior british police chief says levels of child criminal exploitation in the country about to levels not seen in more than a century shown sawyer who leads britain's modern slavery policing if it's blames a stereotype is a major factor in the drugs gangs the driving force he says for these children they

almost back to victorian times and to being criminally exploited these kids are looking for family and security for understandable reasons of austerity stay youth services have been vacated this gap of youth provision between the school and family is the void of the exploit is a failing. and what his figures say that in england alone there are more than 8 and a half hours from suspected child victims in the past year an increase of more than 73 percent on the previous year that she was full sawyer also pointed the finger at government cuts to youth services but the home office insists is doing all it can to possibly protect the children and child exploitation cheryl phoenix spoke to she's from the anti discrimination group black child agenda she says it's almost impossible though for youngsters to escape once they are dragged into a cycle of criminality. these children a lot of people fail to see them as the victims of what's going on and then they become criminalized and once you become criminalized at such a young age it's almost impossible to get yourself back on track a lot of these young people that we find as part of these drug caton gangs as

they're called have been permanently excluded have been rejected from society so i think we need to go back a few steps and even jilt deal with our young people from a primary age level because as they get into secondary school which i can guarantee when they go back next week my phone will be ringing in constantly with children being kicked out of school for have a natural hair not having the right tie on or maybe their shoes so if we start stop doing this you know sledgehammer approach to what we are talking about as children then they wouldn't find themselves in these gangs in the 1st place but no one's actually listening or doing any think about the exclusion matter and the high rates and the issues that we have with young people in the care system as well who if there was another study done you'd actually find that majority of these children have come through the care system are actually being exploited also in the sexual airiness in areas as well as just being on gangs and you know getting involved in county lines which a lot of them don't actually know what they're doing so it is

a much bigger picture it's not as simple as what's been said. already revelations about vulnerable children in armenia to or it's been discovered that for over 20 years a criminal network forced mothers to give up their newborns against their will so that they could be sold abroad for adoption reporting next roof or not. this is a story with many children involved but it is not one of these typical happy ending tales a team might expect to hear during holiday season an investigation is on to go in now in armenia into an alleged black market adoption network believed to have been operating for years to citizens of the republic of armenia using their contacts in one of the republican obstetrical institutions organized the adoption of more than 3 dozen children more than 30 babies to italy and there were also cases of adoption by u.s. couples one of the victims has been trying to achieve justice for almost 2 decades

already her name is susana she says 20 years ago doctors pressured her to give up her daughter stella threatening to report her case of a 16 year old mother to police and her father she signed papers refusing her rights . because i held my baby in my arms after he was born i stayed in the hospital for another 2 days of soon but i didn't see him ever again they told me that he was born prematurely and didn't survive i was given some peoples to sign but i was too weak to understand what i was signing in december they are mean and authorities detained the country's chief ops attrition who sues on accuses of threatening her and other officials as part of the probe it does make a better man was released several days later due to lack of evidence it sparked public outrage. a lawyer who has represented susanna since 2013 has his explanation for 7 long years we were shouting about it at every corner this

is a mafia that is stronger and more powerful than the one controlling drug traffic i can say there were relatives of the rulers involved. in 2017 human rights watch released a 102 page report titled when will i get to go home documenting thousands of cases of children in armenia needlessly often forcefully isolated separated from their families and placed to institutions more than 90 percent of them have at least one living parent and said the international ngo then tried to draw attention to disturb in inaction by authorities the government of armenia has made some both commitments to reduce the number of children in institutions but needs to make sure this promise is backspace serious sustained action 2 years later last september the authorities noticed that 4 times as many children went to foreigners rather than to

locals and started investigation all adoptions have since been suspended in armenia which might be a good news though changes little for those who believe their kids were wrongfully given away years ago but. there must be a legal solution so that we could do validate the don't should of the child it's about selling children i will do everything i will not back down there must be a fair trial. ok as you see in this case with the track of the. morning for the generals being killed we've got more later also coming up also the bigger picture you see black rock rewarded for pushing painful reforms while the anger in france over awarding a top gong to said american bank boss linked to the country's divisive pension changes the school's always protests over the last few weeks to make some connections covered up on the program.

join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking. yes of the world of politics or business i'm show business also you have. this idea as you point out the anecdotally cheney fired all the cia agents in the field because they were too sympathetic to the locals and he felt that was a liability in the major media spheres of washington d.c. they don't want those reporters those stars to rub elbows in the great unwashed of the flyover states because they may become sympathetic to the working class they may become sympathetic to the to the disenfranchised. to 6 physics is nothing but the harmony you can create on vibrating strings but

it's chemistry chemistry is the melody and melanie's you can play on strings what is the universe the universe is a symphony of strings. international this weekend france has revealed the nominees for its highest state award the legion of honor but some of the names are causing more than a little consternation we can report including the head of the french branch of an american asset management firm linked to the country's controversial pension reforms and all the trouble over that was in the late blood rock is one of the world's largest asset management firms and has been in france is 2006 now last summer and apparently pushed for privatizing part of the french pension system with the us style format it's accused of trying to take advantage some of the country's deeply divisive reforms which have seen those weeks of crippling strikes on going specially in the world of transport shall i do better as he looks at whether or not

the company indeed could if the reforms do get through. to be awarded france's a legion of own a medal is to receive the country's highest award so no doubt this year's recipients were pleased as punch to know that they'd been given the nords it when the list was announced one name provoked rather than appreciation it was that of the. head of the french branch of the american management company black rock. well critics accused of trying to cash in on the controversial pension changes that are currently being pushed through by the french government. directly benefit from the pension reform. the chose to honor the lead of blackrock france is nothing but an antidote blackrock is simply the dark side of the pension reform john transource you believe president of blackrock france is promoted to officer of

the legion of warner on january the 1st as a reward for pillaging of our pay as you go passions the presentation of the legion of honor it is on france was to relieve the provocation it reveals the close ties that exist between the graun and the world of finance he's selling our retirement system to american pension funds it's a big deal strikes against pension reform and now into their 5th week it's the longest running strike in half a century across problems people have taken to the streets to let the government know that plans to merge 42 different pension plans into one universal system at the same time as raising the age of retirement are not welcomed. lose on pension reform lose and everything and the next issue is the form of social security and social protection and. we are not at all in favor of the status quo we

are in favor if improving the system but not tearing it down and we will go on until it is withdrawn and improved but has already come under fire off it was accused of attacking french pensions now it's alleged to have provided recommendations to the government in regards to reform and way and it will benefit from any privatization of france's redistributive pay as you go pension schemes something the government and but cork is at pains to deny in no way how this sort and influence on the current pension system citron what dispatches the french market is a box of trees from blair clark stop talking nonsense. and this is a big but in an internal document unveiled by french t.v. in many t. last month that books of. streets is a lot bigger than the secretary of state to might have you believe it outlines the high market value in france and how blackrock wanted a piece of the pie critics say bestowing the legion of honor on black ops manning

fronts is a rule for the pillage of the country social retirement system and while black rock perhaps isn't as well placed as others to take a slice of french pension savings it certainly is primed and ready to jump into the market there are people who are afraid that the complete pressure pension scheme is going to change and that this is just the 1st big step to go to something which would be more open which would be totally funded scheme which is the contrary was going to do in france so this is obviously from a political point of view very bad timing and the middle of these massive strikes which is we're going this is a those strikes are going on for practically or a month we're reaching records now a lot of people are satisfied a lot of people who are very tired of these strikes kind of people say that they won't stop the strikes until the government draws back from its initial that it's

giving the impression that there is a plan b. that there is something here and the government is actually just laying down to the grounds of the 1st product but there's something worse coming out of. australia now has an unlikely coalition couple running the show in government but it's got people wondering whether or not the greens are getting their 1st taste of will be forced to toughen up over immigration or whether converse with chancellor kurtz's hard line conservatives will have to loosen up over protecting the planet or your correspondent peter all of a look to who may blink 1st. so i asked him to be back as chancellor of austria and at 33 years of age the world's youngest head of government his conservative people's party agreed to a coalition deal with the greens on new year's day his previous government that was with the rightwing freedom party collapsed amid scandal kurtz says now though he can be both tough on immigration and protect the planet it's east it is possible to

cut taxes and make the tax system more environmentally friendly as possible to protect the climate and our borders there's a point in the program about tax relief for those who work but at the same time there are measures to fight illegal immigration and political islam the greens still have to rubber stamp the agreed deal at a special party congress this week but this turquoise green mix certainly has more of the turquoise of the conservative people's party when it comes to policy and green among the main sticking points for green members agreeing this deal our concerns surrounding immigration migration and austria's ban on the wearing of the islamic headscarf currently children up to the age of 10 barred from wearing this item of clothing under the new deal that would rise to 14 also in the mix is the establishment of more deportation centers for failed asylum applicants secured

detention plans or a policy from the previous deal with the rightwing freedom party greens actively campaigned against this in the past saying it unfairly targeted migrants tax reform and changes to how party financing works in austria are also going to have to be accepted by the greens if they're to be allowed to be able to push through their climate package while part of a coalition government but apart from gradually reduce. c o 2 emissions that climate package is pretty thin when it comes to detail despite this their leader seems happy with the agreement it was not easy but we have not been elected because we can only achieve easy things we are here to take responsibility for it is certainly true that we are the 2 biggest winners in the election but we have been elected for different reasons we have a great deal of responsibility and out of respect for democracy that we tried to

stop bush or dialogue in terms of climate protection we have probably made agreements beyond what we expected in austria must become a forerunner in europe and internationally on the issue of climate protection despite some reservations the greens are expected to give this agreement their blessing in exchange for that seat at the top table this is very canny politicking from sebastien curt's he came to power in 2015 making a pact with the populists at the very height of the micro in crisis in europe the tough on the border control pledges are still there in this deal however what it's now joined by is a commitment to the climate or be it with the purse strings of government very firmly in the hands of his conservatives something that may be watched quite keenly by austria's closest neighbor cortes is now trying to address the 2 main issues of the next decade immigration and climate change this can become an interesting test

case for germany and indeed for europe german conservative underlines plan to carbonized europe's economy received a lot of support in the european parliament in one of her 1st outings as e.u. commission president and it's thought that as germany ponders a post merkel future a blend of green in concert if may be the way in berlin as it is in brussels in hours it's set to be vienna peter all of r.t. berlin the director of the austrian economics center spoke to us says that the greens either have to adopt a center right stance or maybe break up the coalition. well it's definitely a very promising experiment that will show it security on the one hand and it's a logical renewal can be combined both parties share all their strengths and they allow to put their own.

issues their own topics within the coalition treatment so it's like at parallel running of both parties and not war coalition they probably operate parallel so there might be rounds for conflict in the future is pretty strong and very strict on what he wants and what he has presented during the election campaign he sticks to the promises that he has made so either the greens adapt to the. center right policies. of course is strong with r.p. or there will be a constant conflict with then within the party and eventually break up of their. pact of the treaty to see him so far this weekend about with just about half an hour's time just over keep up the speed of a thing that may have between now and then on to dot com and our social media from

the latest headlines are next shows in your part of the world are ready and raring to go after the break so as kevin i was signing off from wherever you're watching however you're watching this season's greetings and have a great weekend. there's a lot of here is an economy where china has caught up or surpassed us you know the mobile payments market 50 times the size of the us or over here still reading checks our banking system is not innovated 5 g. we've kind of recently walking up the last couple years and go wow we don't even have a company that can make 5 year quitman it's been a win win for china and it's been a lose lose for the u.s. . the that is if she warned you posted by you can i do the dishes at the bottom or those jeans nudist beach and see me we do you believe true she.

does and about that when you guys you q.s.l. behold he needs them you guys are that in fact involved. a lot of you will see slowing your info as it fights about 2 kids each other both for the most called. discipline but as in the adults that means you have. the. cabinet 5 days doing. the people who simply you. would include in total. i am this is the kaiser report oh yeah we're in rio de

janeiro oh yeah i wore my strong bikini on the beach while the bottom part the whole bikini i'm not that woke. stacy i hope everybody enjoyed our new year's eve specials with gentle and and michael hudson we had to specials in the new year those were back in the northern hemisphere that we recorded with them but we're still here in the southern hemisphere and i have some headlines i'd like to look at you know looking into 2020 now that we are officially there b.b.c. fight back over election savaging as chiefs plan to increase broadcast the midlands and the north b.b.c. chiefs are planning a big expansion of broadcast from outside of london to assuage critics as they came under fire today from both sides of the new house of commons the corporation is aiming to demonstrate that it is listening to the whole of britain following the general election campaign when it was accused of glossing over the strong views of leave voters in the north and even of letting its impartiality slip oh no the

impartiality slip b.b.c. . write well i've read the tory manifesto that boris johnson wants to try to encourage the b.b.c. to to to take more of the government line and to make it more of an organ of the government officially an organ of the government as though it's kind of on officially the the organ of the government and i think for me that is quite important about this is something you and i have observed is something we've said on kai's report we've said it on all sorts of media outlets social media our blog or things like that that we've discussed that is that we have the same problem in america all of the presenters on the mainstream news on the cable news are centered entirely out of new york entirely out of washington d.c. all of the newspapers across america we used to have local television we said local newspapers we have used the regional newspapers region.