right now 5 pm sunday afternoon 50 january here in moscow in the headlines the body of assassinated iranian general monies returned home today and tens of thousands lined the streets to see it his killing has put the world on war alert relations between the u.s. and iran sank to the lowest in years. wiki leaks founder julian assange claims he's slowly dying in a u.k. prison saying he's being plied with sedatives and subjected to 23 hours a day of solitary confinement he made those allegations and if you were to friend in a christmas phone call of. duty and rang me because he spent christmas with me and

my family in 2010 what time of. all he said to me i'm slowly dying i. new year old protests in hong kong after a massive turnout for 2021st rally turns violent with riot police deployed to try to disperse the protesters. welcome to the weekly with me kevin oh in the international law 7 day roundup of the news that's made it indeed is making right now the headlines 1st tensions in the middle east have escalated dramatically this week after the united states assassinated iran's most powerful general in an air strike on baghdad international airport in a parliamentary session in turan this sunday lawmakers fiercely condemned the attack and chanted death to america. the da da da da da

da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da general. bodies now been repatriated to iran where he'll be buried on choose day there's been a huge outpouring of grief in the country with tens of thousands of mourners paying tribute to the slain commander crowds also from the streets of the iraqi capital on saturday for a funeral procession iran is responding to fury to friday's deadly u.s. air raid that going to avenge seller manny's death as for donald trump he in turn has threatened to retaliate without hesitation if taran attacks american bases. they attacked us and we hit back if the attack again which i strongly advise them not to do we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before and the rand has responded to that warning saying the u.s. doesn't have the courage for a full blown military confrontation the latest exchange of threats comes after several rocket attacks took place in iraq on saturday evening close to both american embassy in baghdad and an airbase north of the capital iraqi security

forces say no most hurt so far no one's come forward to say though behind it here's a look at how 2020 opened with a turbulent and terrifying 1st week. some .

celebrities assassination has polarized opinion worldwide including within the us next our senior correspondent world goes day of 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. the rocky television has just confirmed that cassim sula mani former general in iran's revolutionary guard or the commander of the clued force has been killed in a rocket attack apparently initiated by the united states. this is the us at our

allies at alert at the petra matic attack iran's top military commander and. selim 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 seems to me monica monda 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 sulaimani was considered an icon in iran and iraq a man who helped prevent isis a takeover of iraq and syria who inspired and move allies tens of thousands of

people multiple countries to fight the blight that is isis while kada 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 with us is now more hated among iranians iraqis hundreds of thousands have joined 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 in lockdown troops have been put in combat readiness and now now middle eastern 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 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 that would stop we don't yet know how much of a blunder sulaimani is mud 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 in the pentagon can feel safe. we're going to have a c. correspondent we've been in reaction from analysts in the u.s. they've questioned the wisdom of donald trump's decision to kill general still of money. if this action this assassination this drive by shooting in gangland style makes american 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 one. there's no justification under international law and 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. for the news this weekend wiki leaks founder julian assange is claims he's slowly dying in the british jail he's incarcerated in alleges he's trying and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day he made the disturbing claims in a phone call to his friend von smith on christmas eve. 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 being 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 you know please remember he served that time all the bail charge and he served his time too that

he's now on remand it's highly unusual to put a man prisoner in belmarsh when they're not a threat of a physical violent 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 holy terms and yet it's claims very recently in november that the british government of completely ignored his request to see julian probably his health properly assess. the songes arrested in april and since their medics and un observers have warned that his physical and mental health are in decline hearing in february is set to decide whether or not as exhibition

will go ahead to the united states he's accused there of publishing classified military documents and could face a 175 year jail sentence. though the british home office has refuted the songes claims of torture calling them unfounded and false but it still spurred some politicians activists and sell it celebrities to further draw attention to his plight will continue to follow the story in the coming year no doubt now another one we're following china was up in hong kong can tell you the latest is china says it's sacked its top official who dealt with relations with hong kong state media say men's been replaced as beijing's chief liaison there's been months of violent antigovernment protests in hong kong which took on renewed energy of the new year. was was.

one particular aspect of the unrest violence and brutality when perpetrated by the hong kong protesters has gone largely without comment from the west r.t. says kate taylor asks why. hong kong has gone from being the economic power of the orient to the face of the fight for democracy and boy does that fight fire. an amendment to a preexisting north that would allow 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 oats are politicians and. continue to hail the peaceful aspirations of

those fighting to wrest themselves from beijing all the while coming down hard on those aggressive does spots in china it's disgusting what they're doing in hong kong they're taking away basic rights trying to seem trampling the most basic human rights beijing is increased its interventions in hong kong and engaged in actions to curtail the rights. and liberties. of its people but it seems so many incidents have managed to escape the scrutiny of western media was. it. seems 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 china is treading cassidy and 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 are 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 wong why did he build as the face of the protest movement was snapped speaking to an official at the u.s. consulate oh when i forgot to mention he's not big on compromise so there's no end game there is to infinity ward at home people are willing to engage there's also an organization funded by the u.s. congress which has been distributing money to groups it claims are preserving democratic rights then of course there's the incendiary legislation washington's past the human rights and democracy out that includes amnesty for those arrested up 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. these 2 bills the noblest intervention of hong kong some turn north than necessary and without groans it will also harm the relationship and interests between hong kong and the u.s. all of this on top of the protest as musts waving of 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 that little less popular major. is. the truth in the lead. because. for him to

go away nobody is coming to hong kong. for the gold. tolbert who is number 0 for. 50 percent or more. it was dropped by 50 per se as far as as fear rises and as prosperity fades it seems this fight for freedom is costing hong kong more daily than many could have imagined. saskia taylor reporting there ok well let's take a minute as we were only into the 5th journey to take a better reflection about $12906.00 as we look back at more the signature events of the year just gone. so let's crank up the big memory machine show you see we're going to talk about this hour there are numerous political figures were level languishing not just you decide in 2019 we didn't work oh dear dear dear let's let's do that and let's do

this. you just love technology don't you talking about people languishing with some claiming the charges against them were politically motivated so we'll play the go to joe it's work in super and of course one that springs to mind maria buton a big story that was from russia in the year just spoke to us in october this year the russian gun rights advocates spent more than a year in the u.s. jail for acting as non-registered foreign lobbyist to federal prosecutors in the media her involvement with the american gun lobby and mingling in republican circles improve enough that moscow is sending agents to meddle in the us news coverage scimitar as a spy she was also wrongly accused of trading sex for political gain in the discussed here all deal with us known as soon as she got off a plane back in october just gone here in 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 this long political and taught us it certainly political climate is one thing thing is released as much are greg to see it that there is racism in us and it's getting stronger. if i belong to any other ethnic group number i shouldn't there be no keith today however if you are russian and you are and us there is reason to be worried and i'm living proof. that they still agree it was done on purpose to create an image for the us audience the public is familiar with it. 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 because clearly bade him made for good had lines on t.v. if you are moved to sex for money hype the piece itself is pretty boring for an

agent or not that's how bureaucratic norm. 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 guilty to a win jury because they know they'll be convicted what kind of justice are we talking about. signed a plea deal 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 with 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 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 start besides who would have been judging me but i would have to during washington 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 strong women and so do you. from october of the year just some other stories 20 months it was also a year of information overload and ways to try to block it out but things went much further than simple face palming. culture was said time and time again were really full speed online didn't it at some point the wider repercussions the collective silencing of voices or sometimes even big careers as people fell killam

open looks into the power of public and weaponized. on the web. 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 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 team soon make america great again around seeing a native american now in washington a troubling incident at the foot of the lincoln memorial disturbing viral video has sparked outrage toward covington catholic high school america great again hat is just as maddening and frustrating and triggering for me to look at as a k.k.k. hood as to avoid this cat also. who the president. to support his plan to get your honk if you do your home my hand i don't want. them to kill 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 conservative which i think is very hard and you know he is harder than

becoming our eyes on him. dave. 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 you know a fold so many stories in the big apple to make a mental note to self don't touch the touch screen with 2 fingers only one will get it right next to that so rob has some of the big stories of 29. more with a week to return to just over half an hour an hour to keep up to date was something that with maybe a vote in iraq as well happening right now and so much more social media for all the latest news as it happens to me time and i'll take half an hour off kevin on

saying thank you for watching a big season's greetings to you from russia. you know world big part of the 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 smarter 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 we're watching closely watching the hawks. time after time corporations repeat the same mantra sustainability it's very important to excel or transition to sustainable transport sustainability and more

equitable and sustainable. they claim their production is completely hamas. getting. it into something companies want us to feel good about buying their products while the damage is being done far away and this is again i'll just point any minute i need money. me doing the nieminen and. understood the superman in. israel media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe from. the isolation community. are you going the right way or are you being

led so. what is truth what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a mate in the shallows. welcome

to front running 20 twentieth's with me max foster and stacy herbert as we look ahead to the 2020 lecture looking at all the policies and. today we have to take a deep dive in to china and china is it forcing us into a sputnik moment now of course donald trump ran in 2016 make america great again and part of that is now a clash with china joining us to discuss this issue is dan collins and marshall our back now according to the i.m.f. using purchasing power parity china is already 25 percent larger economy than the united states and cons of course you live there for 20 years what did you see here you're in brooklyn as you can hear around us we're across the river from manhattan

and.