the head of nato calls for a deescalation of tensions in the middle east and says the us acted on its own accord when it assassinated iran's most powerful general body and stoltenberg stop short of condemning the killing meanwhile millions fill the streets of cities across iran for the funeral procession off the country's slain general custom song the money. moscow's christ the savior the draw is thronged with worshippers as eastern orthodox christians around the world celebrate christmas has been following the since. last year we saw several thousands of people attend the services here on christmas t.v. dish it might be even more it is fairly mild for this time of the year olds although i have to say i'm fairly sure least on the outside here.

9 from moscow news headquarters where it's just past 4 in the morning queue watching r.t. international welcome to the program. now the head of nato says the alliance was not informed of u.s. plans to assassinate iran's most powerful general kassim salim money he installed a black says it was a unilateral act by america but he stopped short of criticizing washington for the killing. this is a u.s. decision it is not a decision taken by neither do global coalition nor nato but all allies are concerned about iran's destabilizing activities in the region iran support 2 different terrorist groups a un stoltenberg didn't have too much time to talk to the press on monday afternoon in brussels what he did say though was that the nato military training mission that

was operating in iraq will be suspended with immediate effect then well deescalation more than once was the words uttered by the nato secretary general he said that this was the message that had come out of the meeting from the other the ambassadors of those allies that make up nato saying every single one of them had been putting forward well basically the same words and that word deescalation at the meeting today. called for restraint and deescalation. a new conflict would be in no one's interest. so we are on must refrain from further violence and provocations well this latest from the nato secretary general comes as the prime minister of iraq. hardy discuss doubts over the claims by the us that he was in baghdad in order to plan attacks against u.s. diplomats the iraqi prime minister says that solomon he was there as part of

a diplomatic reports more and at least an attempt to to create a diplomatic reports more talks in which the iraqi prime minister was intending to be asked well as all of this news comes out the words coming from european capitals and also capitals of other nato member states has been one that echoes that word again we heard from the secretary general deescalation and calming things down we are looking to deescalate and stabilize the situation while the u.s. will take operational judgment call but they've got the right of self-defense if you look at what general sort of man he was doing he wasn't is not victim in this scenario he was a regional menace. that we had a conversation with trump about developments in the region and we will show the news at that point i especially have suggested to him that tensions with iran and its should not be heightened. forgiveness and the american action is a reaction to

a whole series of military provocations through which iran bears the responsibility we are in a dangerous escalation point now we have to contribute to deescalation with prudence and restraint while our nations are calling for a calming down of events in a deescalation the what we're hearing coming out of the state department is that they did the right thing in targeting a solemn army with mike pompei you know the secretary of state saying the region is safer because he's no longer there american people should know. the president trusts decision to remove kassam so the body from the battlefield saved american lives there's no doubt about that we made the right decision to take out this terrorist american people should know the present terrible never shy away from protecting and defending america is what we've done over these past weeks president made the decision this was the time to stop this reign of terror from this guy who was the globe it certainly wasn't the longest of press conferences from u.n. stoltenberg the nato secretary general in brussels didn't seem comfortable taking

too many questions from journalists on the subject wanted to get out there was soon as possible deescalation the watchword throughout his press conference but he was also very keen to stress that the targeting of saddam ali was a u.s. decision not a nato decision well meanwhile in iran millions of mourners are turning out for the funeral of kassam soldier money there's been a huge outpouring of grief across the middle east and beyond in iran supremely the only aware as he said prayers over the slain commanders coffin in tehran some mourners carried red flags associated with unjust bloodshed and revenge while iran's foreign minister stated the u.s. cannot break the will of his nation to go on you know what have you ever seen such a sea of humanity in your life donald trump do you still want to listen to the clowns advising you want to a region do you still imagine you can break the will of this great nation and its people and of malign u.s. presence in west asia has begun well the u.s.

strike also killed 100 s. he was the deputy commander of iraq's popular mobilization forces and one of the most important military figures in the country r.t. spoke to hundreds back in 2017 and here's what he had to say then. this is curious here for ages countries is a unified system and it is in our interests that iran remains say that iraq remains say the new administration is trying to start a war in the region and this is madness our whole region will go out against it by using every means we have we are in charge of our lives we resist it saddam who was supported by the americans we fought against the u.s. invasion in iraq and we will oppose any kind of american aggression in the region. or one of the 1st repercussions for the united states came from iraq m.p.'s who voted on sunday to expel foreign forces for conducting the killing on their soil

the iraqi lawmakers resolution not only calls on u.s. troops to leave the country it also asked the government back for military assistance for the u.s. led coalition plus it urged for a formal complaint to be raised to the u.n. against washington for violating iraqi sobriety which as we have heard has already been filed well donald trump is now warning iraq to brace itself the heavy sanctions if baghdad kicks the troops out we have a very extraordinarily expensive very base that's there it costs billions of dollars to build long before my time we're not living unless they pay us back for it if they do ask us to leave if we don't do it in a very friendly basis will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever. although iranian leaders all vowing to avenge solomon his death our senior correspondent word goes dave has been looking at how much be a better move to play the long. on the face of it trump and iran they

always wanted the same thing iran knew secret always wanted the us to get the hell away from it out of iraq out of the middle east and trump well he won the election promising to end america's wars we want to bring our troops back home and i got elected on that if you go back and look at our speeches i would say we want to bring our troops back home from these endless wars what a man wouldn't say to get elected in reality he escalated conflict if the conflict where there was a scratch trumps policies would tear it open into a wound on the trump of america went from a fool with iran having a nuclear deal to assassinating iran's 2nd most powerful official i don't think trump expected this not merely in mourning a man that the u.s. claimed was a terrorist and i highly doubt he expected to have all his embassies go in lockdown with crowds demanding death at the gates.

i was due to meet and you know mommy 8 30 am in the morning he was killed as he left baghdad international airport i'm still marty said the general salute mani was carrying in iran some response to a message iraq is too great for on behalf of saudi arabia easing tensions between the 2 countries in the region so the money was apparently on a peace mission carrying proposals on how to reduce tensions in the region this is from the mouth of the u.s. backed iraqi prime minister versus him we have the state department it's sure and says that he was actually evil and take our word for it he was. organizing imminent attacks on u.s.

bases take our word for it is there any surprise that iraqis voted to remove american soldiers from their country the iraqis don't want foreign troops murdering who they will when they will the parliament has decided to ask the us to leave once a prime minister signs off iraq will withdraw its request for assistance which they followed with the us led coalition when isis was ascendant if the us refuses to pull out if it keeps its troops it will no longer be a friend it will be an occupier essentially in death sulaimani achieved exactly what he wanted for iraqis to expel america and if parliament doesn't do it we will take greater our action the white house is in panic trying to justify what it did the vice president telling fairy tales trying to tie sulaimani to 911 of all things trump threatening to bomb iranian cultural targets which would be

a textbook example of a war crime that again i doubt he cares much in iran millions burned the american flag in america they're burning the book on international law and order if the americans think about putting iraq under sanctions definitely iraq will look into other sources into either selling its oil financing its projects and finding more suitable partners than partner who comes to iraq iraq he citizen use iraqi airspace iraqi ground to kill iraqi officials and that is definitely not the way that we are looking into our allies. another news the south thousands of worshippers have filled central moscow's christ the savior this tuesday morning and eastern orthodox christians around the world celebrate christmas nicky aaron reports from outside the iconic church. it's been

almost 2 weeks since the west liberated christmas but the big day has finally arrived for orthodox christians celebrate christmas day on january the 7th so we started starting here on christmas eve and now it's christmas day and it's a pretty big deal for people here in russia that's because russia is home to over 39 percent of the docs kristie and it's not just people here in russia they're going to be marking this day of course people all around the world will be people in macedonia it is rarely ethiopia that's just naming a few places but to people here in moscow is only one place to be on christmas eve going into christmas day and that's right here at tryst the state of year 50 jewel it's not only majestic on the outside it is also beautiful on the inside to and here's a fact for you it's the tallest in eastern orthodox church in the entire world so last year we saw several thousands of people attend the services here on christmas

eve this year might be even more it is fairly mild for this time of the year old although i have to say i'm fairly sure least on the outside here without further ado it's a vase just form crystal ball oh merry christmas from here in central moscow. the race is on to evacuate stricken residents in australia the most ferocious wildfires in decades ravaged swathes of the southeast at least 25 people are now known to have died and many thousands of had to abandon their homes relocated there's been a break 1st bite from the record breaking heat wave but emergency services are braced for hazards conditions to return in a few days the fires have been burning with such intensity that plumes of smoke have even reportedly made their way across the pacific ocean to chile.

well angry australians are directing their fear it prime minister scott morrison over his handling of the crisis and for suggesting there's no direct link between the fires and climate change despite many seeing it as a root cause of the unprecedented destruction. it's become harder fire seasons and longer the rival lepping between states this is driven by climate change scientists the brain very clear that paints a potential 20 years now that climate change is leading to more frequent and more severe bushfires and drought and heat waves we're already seeing catastrophic impacts you can imagine how much worse it will be if we allow the planet to

continue to warm if we allow the continent of australia to continue to dry out this is just a taste of what's to come if we don't act there's no argument about the links between in my view in the government's view and in any government in this country about the links between broader issues of global climate change and and weather events around the world but i'm sure people equally with knowledge that the direct connection to any single fire event it's not a credible suggestion to make that link. at least 30 people are reported to have been killed and dozens more injured in a bomb blast in northeastern nigeria the explosion took place on a busy bridge in the town of gamble grew close to the border with cameroon it's believed to been caused by an improvised explosive device no one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet although local islamic state affiliates active across the region and have committed a string of atrocities in recent weeks or were casting an eye back over 2019 after

the break including the people power that filled the streets of nations worldwide and how fears groove a global new arms race after washington walked away from a landmark arms treaty. join me every thursday simon show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world the politics sports business i'm sure i'll see you then. lead.

welcome back now the new year in scotland is a much celebrated event with the capital drawing thousands for visitors for hawkman day but the residents who live there full time say they are increasingly being shut out of their own city to make way for tourists to his numbers have grown rapidly in recent years but is proving to be a double edged sword for edinburgh the city council says the new year celebration

in flats causes an increase in noise pollution and overcrowding on the streets residents who live in the center even have to wear id response to enter and exit their own streets and they also have to get permits for visitors to the own homes too in the hope in a festivities but in recent years event organizers have worked with adversity council to try and make the most of the rising number of visitors the city's german think christmas market also caused upset when it was revealed that it hadn't received planning permission for the last 2 years but where to head anyway here's what people in edinburgh have been telling us. 3 has become an issue because firstly it's build up of the same people so the sort of workers service though they could see how to do this it's just going to become more difficult service i think we would have plenty and i think they need to seeing that the people also want to listen to the city need to live here and not have to be pushed

out if they're still in. the stores look this if you that didn't disagree that that means people a member of this i mean that is going to be like any other morgan city well we continue continue taking stock of 2900 now as we reflect on more of the events that mark the year just god. well we did see a fair bit of political maneuvering of what might be called we live dealer ing over weaponry the iran nuclear deal on ravelled nations boosted their defense budgets to get tooled up and a new arms race or waited in the wings well the u.s. withdrew from the i.n.f. treaty limiting ballistic missiles in 2018 russia then to what it described as a symmetrical response in 2019 it goes down of takes a look at how it all developed. an arms race cold war

a nuclear crisis it seemed all these things both sparked and faded out of historical relevance in the past millennium but 2019 saw all of them make a comeback the united states is officially withdrawing from the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty or i.n.f. treaty the us unilaterally demolished a pillar of international stability crushing its i.n.f. treaty with russia. fears of the past century resurrected immediately the u.s. is pulling out of a decades long nuclear treaty with russia sparking fears of

a new arms race we thought was confined to the cold war now there's concern a pullout could lead to a new arms race it's clear that the threat of a new arms race is real we go into a nuclear arms race like we saw in the 1960 s. only more expensive and more dangerous it seemed the 2 countries were again trying to outpace each other on the military speed track with a nuclear winter right past the finishing line washington no longer bound by the iron of shackles started the messala tests right away 2 weeks after the pullout and then again in december this in turn kicked russia's military into action too as it accused the us of premeditating their withdrawal and that's when the u.s. pounds had to be only east and street food with us. not of use trumped up accusations and allegations to unilaterally withdraw from it like they did in 2002

they violate everything and find excuses to put the blame someone russia does not pose a threat to anyone and any actions we take are retaliatory that is to say. we never seek confrontation we do not want it is specially with a global power like the us both sides have been accusing each other of violating the i never deal but more school has also insisted that it has been unprecedentedly transparent in attempts to demonstrate compliance paraded the very message washington claims violated the i.m.f. russia invited international experts to come and be judge and jury what the rocket could and couldn't do the americans didn't come despite an almost personal invitation. for many years we've proposed to some talks but our initiatives have not found the support of partners in fact they always find a pretext for dismantling the global security system which you might russia says it

still tries with the i.m.f. deal flatlined it suggests that arms control can be achieved through expanding another deal start and response washington talks at length about its gargantuan plans to include china and other nuclear powers in a new deal just some new deal even the u.s. seems to have little idea about where through the 2 you really start expires february the 5th 2021 we have until then to resolve the situation the proposals still on the table are you just heard. now it's up to washington to decide i hope that we're able to get everybody in a very 'd big and beautiful room and you are literally that would be much better all the while as nuclear parity hangs in the balance purely on the good faith of a few individuals. well $29000.00 also or so governments in many countries left in

no doubt about just how widespread public dissatisfaction against them have become from the yellow vests of paris to the political turmoil in latin america crowns turned out regularly and in low numbers in spain for instance it was the simmering independence route of the wealthy catalonia region that led to violent demonstrations protesters set roadblocks and clash with police for weeks all to 9 separatist leaders were sentenced to jail for sedition they have pushed ahead with the independence referendum in 2014 despite a bomb from madrid medina cauchon of a reported from the catalan capital balsa learned during the height of autumn's on rust 2. the streets of barcelona are again on fire we're standing right now between the very cases that were built by professors as you can see the violence is only growing on the streets of the cattle lonny and capital.

protesters have built as these barricades using garbage and appliances that were standing by the cafeterias as well as some of the furniture that they could find so they built those very case now they set them on fire and right now they're shouting slogans and happening. and as you can see tensions our only increasing here at this is happening right in the center of barcelona and these trees so far so on there are again on fire if we remember what happened just on friday a police forces responded with a rubber bullets and tear gas the only.

barcelona is protesting sense monday and this saturday just showed that people are not tired this violence to show that they're ready to take it to the streets. well that is your day for now i'm rosana lo could not be back here with the rest of the team in about 30 minutes time with more news from around the world see if. truth seems wrong. why don't we just don't all. get to shape out these days come out. and enjoy it because the trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

here's a thought experiment and a bit of a prediction for 2020 going back to saudi aramco aramco 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 now if you've got a 2 trillion dollar 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 wouldn't saudi aramco buy 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. we put themselves on the line they did accept the reject. so when you want to be president. wanted. to go on for us which it wasn't before 3 in the morning can't be good. i'm interested in the waters in the. first. time of the timecode parisian to repeat the same mantra sustainability. transition sustainable prize board sustainability space where men are more equitable and sustainable. they claim their production is completely hamas.

doesn't it do something. companies want us to feel good about buying their products while the damage is being done in far away this is 2nd all of this as he went on even as i'm looking. to do and. underscore this is going. to 6 physics is nothing but the harmony you can create on vibrating strings there is chemistry chemistry is the melody the melodies you can play on strings what is the universe the universe is a symphony of strings. the obamacare and ask if they are wishful thinking you know what seems to me. but i

feel what chance for smack by jewish. clothing that shows 70 feet a chick. 30 we heard all she goldish to to bag no look at the new only. thing i don't know and i actually see your 9 year stover stuff so let's get that the book maturing at 1st so our community. can be physical. any of those 2 blue areas are pretty much the north. sydney coach the librium when you're presuming you're picking your produce you're pretty much all the pixie dust your producer forced from your producer my lipsticks your crew coach there are too strict.