body of our society the rainy and general. tens of thousands lined the streets killing us support the war the world war the relations between the u.s. and iran. claims he's dying in prison in london. and subjected to 23 hours a day of solitary confinement he made the allegations in a christmas phone call to a friend. rang me because he spent christmas with me and my family in 2010 while on bail. he said to me i'm slowly dying. i.

new year new protests for hong kong after a massive turnout for 2021st rally turns violent with riot police the ploy to disperse protesters. live from moscow thanks for joining us now with the rundown of top headlines here at international. welcome to the program. now the week and the year got off to a troubling start with tensions skyrocketing over the middle east following the united states assassination of iran's most senior commander it seems mani's body has now arrived in iran in the southwestern city of ark was greeted by throngs of mourners on saturday thousands turned out in the iraqi capital for the general's funeral procession rallies have been ongoing since friday's deadly u.s. air strike on baghdad airport iran swiftly barred to avenge sort of mine is that as

relations with the united states plunged to a new low level trump has also threatened to retaliate without hesitation if iran attacks american bases the attacked us and we head back if the it's 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 say no one was hurt in the attacks and no one has yet claimed responsibility for carrying them out is a look back at how 2020 open with the turbulence and terrifying 1st week.

if. iraq says it will now limit the american forces actions in the country after friday's events from now on the us will only be able to conduct military operations with iraqi consent mani's assassination polarized the reaction worldwide and within the us as well our senior correspondent war against the f.

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 is just confirm 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 u.s. at our allies on alert after the tragic attack iran's top military commander here and. around 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. command 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 in 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 and 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 last 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 kill a heck of a lot more. people than would have died otherwise which they may have thought of if they had asked 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 cathal ahead 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 but we've been hearing reaction from analysts across the united states questioning donald trump's decision to kill general sort of 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 quickly as you can you know so obviously it's not making us safer the idea that now pompei would say oh we need to decide deescalate we don't want war what you've already create you already made an act of war on iran and over. 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're doing this to make us safer they said that we had they had to do this to make american safe complete nonsense i 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. wiki leaks founder julian assange has claims he's slowly dying in the british jail

he's incarcerated in and alleges use tranquilized and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day he made those disturbing claims in a phone call his friend von smith on christmas eve. all 4 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 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 for 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 are 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. and sons' he was arrested in april and since then medics and un observers have warned about is the climbing physical and mental health hearing in february will decide on his extradition to the united states who is accused there of publishing classified military documents and could face 175 years in jail. now the british home office has refuted a scientist claims calling them unfounded and false it's still spurred some

politicians activists and celebrities to further draw attention to his plight. and other headlines china says it's sacked its top official who dealt with the relations with hong kong state media say wings remains been replaced have been months of violent antigovernment protests in the city which took on a renewed energy over the new year. the e.u. . the to. a particular aspect of the unrest the violence and brutality were perpetrated by the hong kong protesters has gone largely without comment from the west. asks what

. hong kong has gone from being the economic pole of the orient to the face of the fight for democracy and boy does that fight fire. with an amendment to a preexisting north that would allow for the extradition of criminal suspects from hong kong to mainland china has brought the financial haven to its knees as a protest accent into the 7th month violence on both sides has escalated but all the wild over politicians and john continue to hail the peaceful aspirations of those fighting to rest themselves from beijing all the while coming down hard on those aggressive dust spots in china you have a chinese government that's getting increasingly aggressive increasingly repressive it's disgusting what they're doing in hong kong they're taking away basic rights

trying to stream trampling the most basic human rights of its own citizens is increased its interventions in hong kong and engaged in actions to curtail the rights. and liberties. of its people but it seems so men students have managed to escape the scrutiny of western media but it was. i think. scenes like that combined with the discovery of 10000 petrol bombs packed with high explosives and shrapnel make it harder to see is peaceful what appears to be a slippery slope into the territory of terrorists methods you can all fight for freedom of speech by silencing people. who disagree with you. you cannot fight for

democracy by terrorizing the public to force others to support you. you cannot condemn brutality by brutalizing people who hold different views to yours deval in acts one step closer to the actual terrorism china is treading kathleen refusing to send in troops to shut down the protests and local elections were held in which pro democracy candidates won in a landslide hong kong authorities conceded defeat the extradition built has been withdrawn but still the barricades on signing the flames according to china washington. china urges the us to correct its mistakes and stop interfering in our internal affairs we will take further steps if necessary to uphold hong kong stability and prosperity as well as china's sovereignty some have chalked down beijing's words to paranoia but let's take

a look joshua was widely billed as the face of the protest movement was snapped speaking 20 fishel at the u.s. consulate oh when i forgot to mention he's not big on compromise so there's no end game that's the internet to war at home people are willing to engage it there's also an organization funded by the u.s. congress which has been distributing money to groups it claims of preserving democratic rights that then of course there's the incendiary legislation washington's past the human rights and democracy act includes amnesty for those arrested at protests and will monitor hong kong to ensure that in the eyes of the u.s. of course an appropriate level of autonomy from mainland china is up to these 2 bills an obvious intervention of hong kong some turn north than necessary and without grounds it will also harm the relationship in the interests between hong kong and the u.s. all of this on top of the protest as much swayed. the star-spangled banner have

sparked concern that the u.s. might be lending more than just a supportive hand leading many to ask the question if the protest as a calling for self-determination is appealing to a foreign power to shape the future the best way to go about it especially when that foreign power might want to contain a rising star they're reaching. for and using methods that have created challenges for the united states and for the world and we collectively all of us need to confront these challenges from the p.r.c. head on and on each of the many facets the fallout of all this has a little impact on washington of course it's the average hong kong or who find his pocket that little bit lighter on his home but little less popular the violence in hong kong has spooked foreign investors shoppers appetite has also soured in the wake of all the violence with the retail sales in sri fall and hong kong facing its

1st recession in a decade bombed apparently being caught in the middle of take ass and rubber bullets isn't topping any tourists the wish list because hong kong saw it's no worse number of visitors since 2003 the major. is really the truth. because. nobody is coming to. my 50 per. week. is dropped by 50 per se as far as as fair rises and as prosperity fades it seems this fight for freedom is costing hong kong more dearly than many could have imagined. still to come more of the big events of the past year including a look at some of the political pawns who spent time in prison. more still to come

on the week. to 6 this is nothing but the harmony you can create on a vibrating strings that is chemistry chemistry is the melody the melanie's you can play on strings what is the universe the universe is a symphony of strings. in a world a big part of newton's law and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door on the back and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for

the truth the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. welcome back to the weekly and taking stock of $2900.00 next as we reflect on more of the signature events of the year just gone. well among the people who were languishing behind bars during 2019 for some it was for questionable reasons that they were perhaps politically motivated let's remind you of what happened to maria buton or the russian national and the gun rights

advocate spent more than a year in the u.s. jail for being unregistered for on lobbyist out of federal prosecutors and the media her involvement with the american gun lobby and mingling in republican circles seemed proof enough that mosque 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 hooten or discussed her ordeal with us when she returned to moscow. do you think it would have happened if the critics who claim to have 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 our great to see it but there is racism in the us and it's getting stronger look if i belong to any other ethnic group number

i shouldn't there be no peace today however if you are russian and you are and us there is reason to be worried and i am living proof. that they still agree it was done on purpose to create an image for the us audience the public is familiar with in an. absolute absolutely they just took some hollywood cliches in made me the scapegoat the color of my hair in my feature served as proof of guilt that's the way it should be because we see this in the movies only it was quick bait 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 he added flames to the story i saw with my own eyes that there is no justice in the us some he's more than 90 percent of the fan and 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 besotted 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 a 15 year sentence i thought about how old i was. going to be and whether my parents were going to be alive when that came and then you find out that according to statistics and you was about 90 percent of the friends who face the jury get convicted of the chance of you losing is quite high style besides who would have been judging me and i would have faced a jury in washington are the people who watch c.n.n. and people who already have been fat this narrative and with those people you would

have mattered what i was being accused of i would have been on trial for being russian out have been sentenced to 15 years so i believe i made the only right decision there was no other way to civil stronger meaning so do you. want to go and see him was also a year of information overload and new ways to block out what we didn't like well things went a little bit further than a simple face. culture full speed online of the water repercussions of course that meant the collective silencing of voices or even people taking a big hit on their career is a lot more point looks at how the power of the public backlash became weaponized on the web. u.s. 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 tweets 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 pat also. who the president. supports benefit your hockey if you do your right hand i don't want.

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 he now has 8 conservative which i think is very hard and you know he is hard in between 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. r.t. new york that's it from the team and i for this documentary programs coming up next the visible war exploring abuse in the u.s.

military will back in 30 minutes with the latest. 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 writing 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 us. israel media a reflection of reality. in the world transformed. what will make you feel safe.

isolation full community. are you going the right way or are you being led to. direct. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a maybe in the shallows. what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race. spearing dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk

'd 'd 'd. 'd 'd 'd one day the latest weapon coupled with the biting skill of the american soldier stamp ready on the alert all over the world this country is.