body of assassinated aronian general consumer arrives in his home country tens of thousands lined the streets is killing us put the world on war alert half the relations between the u.s. and iran the lowest in years. we could expose founder julian assange claims he's dying in prison in london plied with sedatives and subjected to 23 hours a day of solitary confinement maybe allegations and a christmas phone call to a friend. rang me because he spent christmas with me and my family in 2010. time again. he said to me but i'm slowly dying. and we cast our eyes back over 2019

reflecting on what happened the russian national memorial jailed at the height of russian great scandal and what moscow called a politically motivated case. from moscow thanks for joining us on a weekly or r.t. international i'm daniel hawkins welcome to the program before we go to our other headlines news just coming in from italy where 6 tourists are been killed in the northeast of the country after a car crashed into a group of 17 holidaymakers all the victims are thought to be german nationals it happened just after 1 am local time in the south are all region which is popular with visitors all year round and the emergency services plan to hold a news conference later this hour we'll update you when we do get more details.

the week and the year got off to a troubling start with tensions skyrocketing over in the middle east following the united states assassination of iran's most senior commander it seems sort of mani's body has now arrived in iran these are live pictures we are bringing you from the southwest of the country the city of us. greeted by thousands of mourners there as you can see thrown in the streets on saturday thousands also turned out in the iraqi capital baghdad or the general's position there iraqis have been also ongoing since friday's deadly u.s. air strike on baghdad international airport iran swiftly to avenge his death as relations with the united states plunged to a new low donald trump has also threatened to retaliate without hesitation if iran attacks american bases. they attacked us and we had back if the it again which i strongly advise them not to do we will hit them harder than they have ever

been before. on saturday evening the u.s. confirmed that several rocket attacks took place in iraq some close to the american embassy in baghdad and a military base near the capital iraqi security forces so no one was hurt in the attacks and no one has yet admitted carrying them out is a look at how 2020 opened with a turbulent and terrifying 1st week. iraq

says it will now limit the american forces actions in the country after friday's events from now on the u.s. will only be able to conduct military operations with iraq you can send some of moneys assassination polarize the reaction worldwide out within the us as well our senior correspondent broadcast they have takes a closer look at the consequences you can imagine how trump agreed to it then he was playing golf and up comes an agent smith holding a folder he says was the president you remember when we killed baghdad yes the eyes the sky yes the media did love it how how would you like to do it again.

oh yeah. iraqi television has just confirmed that cosine sula monny former general in iran's revolutionary guard unit commander of the could force has been killed in a rocket attack apparently initiated by the united states. to settle for the us at our allies on alert at the petrol matic attack iran's top military command here and . down in the community. salim 80 has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for the last 20 years one gets the impression that the agent that came up to trump didn't exactly brief the president and potential consequences of killing the 2nd most powerful man in iran general. c'mon the of iran's quds force

we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war then you probably shouldn't have killed him general sunni money was considered an icon in iran and iraq a man who helped prevent isis takeover of iraq and syria who inspired and mobilized tens of thousands of people multiple countries to fight the blight that is isis while qaida you know enough the americans are not aware what a great mistake they've committed they will face the consequences of this criminal act not only today but also in coming years there is no doubt that the u.s. is now more hated among iranians in iraqis hundreds of thousands have joined the funeral processions and protests condemning his murder rage is in the air iran has promised revenge american civilians are being evacuated from the entire

region u.s. embassies and bases in this slew of countries are knocked out troops have been put in combat readiness and now now middle east in the red lert they claim that they only want peace that was the time to take this action so that we could disrupt the spot deter further aggression from qassam salami in the iranian regime as well as to attempt to deescalate the situation trump asked no one europe woke up to a world that was a heck of a lot more dangerous than when they went to sleep germany claimed tensions that only god up stating the obvious the british called for everyone to come down from doesn't us for permission frankly the europeans haven't been as helpful as i wish that they could be the brits the french the germans all need to understand that what we did what the americans did saved lives in europe as well at best he's right

chances are he's wrong and at worst what america did is going to. hill heck of a lot more people than would have died otherwise which they may have thought of the us to anyone but they didn't trump told no one not even his own federal government not the house of representatives and not the senate 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 or rather he did tell someone apparently what trump kept from his own nation from his own people he told the israelis our assessment is that the united states informed israel about this operation in iraq apparently a few days ago the murder of a mani was an act of war by any measure by any book on law and social media world war 3 was the top trend people are genuinely afraid the us football team has cancel

plans to train and count the head of the world cup out of security concerns and judging by means being spread appropriate or otherwise no one in particular is enthusiastic to go to war all black humor aside any escalation would be disastrous for all of us human lives 1st and economy 2nd a 5th of the world's oil passes by iran every day in the event of war it would stop we don't yet know how much of a blunder sulaimani is murder was what we do know is that the world now is a more dangerous place millions will hate america for this and that hate will last for generations just remarkable isn't it how many people more and more keep having to die so trump and the pentagon can feel safe we've been hearing

a reaction from analysts in the you know on united states questioning donald trump's decision to kill seems so him money. if this action this assassination this drive by shooting in gangland style makes americans safer then why was the 1st thing the state department said is for all americans to get out of iraq as quick as you can you know so obviously it's not making us safer the idea that now pompei would say oh we need to just deescalate we don't want war where you've already create you've already made an act of war on iran and over if you do look at the stock exchange you'll find it's been reported that lockheed martin and the other war machine stocks are going up so everyone's going to make money off the war except the poor of working americans who are losing money the middle class who's dying the working class who's losing money and having to pay for these absurd wars that enrich the elites.

there's no justification under international law moral law our constitution is just aggravation and the fact that we're there in a way as a gas then 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 are doing this to make us safer they said that we had they had to do this to make american safe and complete nonsense i feel less safe because there will be retaliation expansion and who knows what is going to lead to. 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 ought to sit there and say to themselves all right the americans now feel entitled to kill anybody and our government because of what over what disagreements over syria or whatever else. we can leaks founder julian assange is claims he slowly dying in the british jail

he's in cos right there in the lenses he's trying to call eyes and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day he made those disturbing claims in a phone call to his friend violence with christmas eve. he sounded all full and it was very upsetting to hear him the idea of him being sedated has come from several people who visited him who clearly been told and the british government have been asked about it and they refuse to address that matter and what they say is they're not mistreating him but clearly he's being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day he sounded awful and he said to me that i'm slowly dying here please remember he's served that time all the bail charge and he served his time too and he's now on remand it's highly unusual to put a remand prisoner in belmarsh when they're not a threat of a physical violence threat to society i think we need some answers from from the

british government why are they treating him like this why can't we have some independent assessment 100 international got to those and asked to arrange a visit at least to send some representatives to check on him but that hasn't been allowed nils meltzer the un rocketeer on torture has been very clear about asylum just mistreatment and describes it in the most of hauling terms and yet his claims very recently in november that the british government of completely ignored his request to see julian probably his health properly assess. it in assad's was arrested in april and since then medics and un observers have warned about his the climbing physical and mental health hearing in february will decide on his extradition to the united states is accused there of publishing classified military documents and could face a 175 year jail sentence. for the british home office has

refuted a sergeant's claims calling the mud felted and false it's spurred some politicians activists and celebrities to further draw attention to his plight. i want to know her. she had been exposed to psychological torture for a prolonged period of time that's a medical assessment and we asked for in all states to investigate this case. 15 keating's rate and. things of. the medical situation is that by urgent there is no time to lose.

in the way you more of the big events of the past year including a look at some of the political pawns who spent time in prison and more still to come after this break. here's a thought experiment and a bit of a prediction for 2020 going back to saudi aramco around as it went public just recently at a market valuation an excess of $1.00 trillion dollars i think at one point was worth 2 trillion dollars i think that we're going to see them make a hostile buy of a company maybe facebook for example and it could be the 1st trillion dollar hostile raid in history because they've got the balance sheet out if you've got a 2 trillion dollars balance sheet that means you've got you know the ability to

borrow another trillion so you've got a 3 trillion dollar war chest if you go after an apple or even a berkshire hathaway 5 or $600000000000.00 why why what inside the room go by berkshire hathaway just as a hostile right and then they own a huge portion of the whole global market the american market why not they've got the balance sheet now they want to diversify away from oil and gas and i think we're going to see a move like that the next 6 to 9 months. going . to alter international and taking stock 2019 next as we reflect some more of the signature events of the year just go. i.

now among the people who are languishing behind bars during 2019 for some it was for questionable reasons that they were perhaps politically motivated now let's remind you what happened to maria buton a russian and national she was a gun rights advocate spent more than a year in a u.s. jail for being an unregistered foreign agent now to federal prosecutors and media the media rather her involvement with the american gun lobby and mingling in republican circles seemed proof enough that moscow was sending agents to meddle in the united states news coverage smeared her as a spy and she was also wrongly accused of trading sex for political gain bruiser discussed her ordeal with us when she returned to moscow. do you think it would have happened if the political climate had been more sets of

the trump became president it's going to. be. certainly the political climate is one thing thing is rhesus monkey to carry greg to see it but there is racism in us and it's getting stronger look if i belong to any other ethnic group number i shouldn't there be no keys today however if you are russian and you are and us there is reason to be worried and i am living proof. do you agree it was done on purpose to create an image for the us audience the public is familiar with and i mean it was cool but maybe to know absolutely absolutely they just took some hollywood cliches in made me the scapegoat the color of my hair and my features served as proof of guilt that's the way it should be because we see this in the movies only bade it made for good headlines on t.v. if you're moved to sex for money hype the piece itself is pretty boring for an

agent or not that's how bureaucratic really exciting with the added flames to the story i saw with my own eyes that there is no justice in the us some more than 90 percent of defendants will plead guilty to a way jury because they know they'll be convicted what kind of justice are we talking about the. money to decide to play do we were watching the case very closely just like all russia some noise said the prosecutors might not have enough evidence to prove. why then take a plea bargain with his mother you know with the beside of the yellow. imagine you are in a foreign country away from your parents you have no contact with your family you're locked up in solitary confinement it's very cold and you sit on the floor so you might be facing 15 year sentence i thought about how old i was. going to be and whether my parents were going to be alive when that day. and then you find out that according to statistics and you were asked about 90 percent of the friends who face

the jury get convicted of the chance of you losing is while quite high besides who would have been judging me but i would have faced a jury washington the people who watch c.n.n. and people who already have been fat this narrative and we dose people you wouldn't have mattered what i was being accused of i would have been on trial for being rushed out of been sentenced to 15 years so i believe i made the only right decision there was no other way to signal stronger meaning so do you know 2019 was also a year of information overload to new ways to block out what we didn't like the things that went a little bit further than simply a baseball. coach hit full speed all knowing you know the water repercussions saw a collective collective sort of voices or even people taking a big hit on the career is it kind of more print looks at how the power of the public backlash became weaponized on the internet. us society is said to be the

freest in the entire world never before have people been so free to be who they want to be identified however they want to identify and you can say whatever you want yes americans have total freedom of speech just so long as what they say doesn't go against the mainstream media narrative if that happens you get cancelled . so how do you avoid getting canceled well be careful when making jokes or better yet avoid humor altogether a comedian lost his dream spot on saturday night live after making a joke that was offensive to chinese americans and even if you're offensive joke is decades old it could still hurt you kevin hart lost his gig hosting the oscars after his tweet. resurfaced and were discovered. facial expressions can be important also this young man smirked at the wrong time

though he was also wearing a hat that has been deemed to be offensive. just to avoid this cat also. who the president. supports is trying to get your honk if you through your home put my hand i don't. like. people like you and the political views that this hat is associated with can also land you in hot water like former miss michigan after 18 now as the aids peace or that it was i think it's very hard if you know. it's harder than becoming our eyes on him again. it's not just trump supporters liberal star scarlett johansson faced a huge amount of backlash after she tweeted out that as an actor she can play any person any tree or any animal such insensitivity the term cancel culture has

recently been added to dictionaries so there is no escape best to apologize in advance for your past jokes your political views or for your religion. are to new york that's it from the team and i for this hour is next with worlds apart and i'll for bush to go out on foreign minister back in 30 minutes time with the latest see that. but if you want you post the budget and i do the job would be at the bottom or there's no g.'s new speech and if she did you feel. does and about that come up when you guys e.q.'s. in the news i mean guys are that

infants involved. a lot of you will see sawing during fuzzy fights about to kids out to both sides. and she simple as a meeting with them instead of as if. the. cabinet 5 days doing this is. an english lady a people who simply. assume an invalid in. israel media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. tyson nation little community. are you going the right way or are you being

that. direct. what is true was his fate. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. aura made in the shallows. reduced to 6 physics is nothing but the harmony you can create on vibrating strings that is chemistry chemistry is the melodies the melodies you can play on strings what is the universe the universe is is a symphony of strings. you know world big part of. a lot of things and conspiracy it's time to wait to dig deeper to hit the stories that made stream media refuses to tell more than ever

we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door. 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. on the wild come to worlds apart today we're coming to you from barcelona where thousands of people to go to the streets to celebrate international day without having and nation state to hear stuff to watch the independence referendum put on

your remains both authority and in bargaining chip in spanish politics and as they kept saying government in ministry that just average closer to their worth the actions in 4 years what is it leave the secessionist possible i'll be putting this question to alfred bosch minister for foreign action institutional relations and transparency of patel on am. all for bush it's good to talk to thank you very much for your time thanks for inviting me especially when i introduced you as a minister but the spanish authorities you're more like a counselor with an outsized mandate because the spanish authorities don't believe that colony is supposed to have any foreign the action of foreign policy it's and then they'd over independent state why this could to lonny need to have for inaction the. you are responsible for oh we're not going to argue about words we simply translated like that in english so that you understand that i'm part of

a government the catalan government is not an independent government belonging to recognise state but still we do have a government minister like lenders in germany have or other governments also have and yes we've been seeing how the spanish government especially the ministry of foreign affairs lay brady has been trying to stop us from making any foreign action we think we're entitled to that because. nowadays in the 21st century you go to be competitive and have a place in the world otherwise you won't prosper i'm sure would agree that the lonnie's not like any other spain this dispute has been plaguing this country for 3 centuries and if you look at the recent polls it's not evident that the majority of cut a lot of support independents i wonder how do you frame this issue is it still about full if independence or do you stop way outsell determination and the right

to vote the regardless of which way the boat go from a pro independence party and our ideas that we can have a better country and better welfare for all people with a cow to learn republic so that's what we're pursuing and regarding how many people support that you have all kinds of polls some of them were a majority and some of those perhaps not but that's exactly why we want to vote we want to know the real numbers we want to know who's supporting in the pens and who would smoke and there's no way that the kingdom of spain can agree on such a referendum like the u.k. did it for scotland or. so we don't think we are better than any other nation but we're not less than any other nation but the you know that the problem with ref. around and i think the bracket situation shows that the independence moment it's called support is that as well is that people may change their mind the circumstances may change. are you sure that if you have international

a recognized referendum and if the majority of catalan say no to independence is that going to put the issue to rest once and for all. not for me or people like me but we will have a result and we will accept it obviously. the same thing if there is a yes we expect the spanish authorities and the international community especially the spanish government to do what they didn't do on october the 1st 2017 when such a vote was held and they did exactly the opposite which is put people in jail my predecessors in the catalan government we saw columbus police troops being sent to hit people in their heads and we seen almost 2 years of preventive jill for people who were going to vote can i ask you specifically about that our friend because.