there are other elements if you go back to started in 2006 that we are going to and that are popular in this country. breaking news on our t.v. iran launches a revenge operation for the death of its top general bombarding us bases in iraq the pentagon has confirmed that at least 2 bases have been hit. and early classified the u.s. military as a terrorist organization and huge crowds are gathering now for the funeral of major general salomone these are live pictures we're showing you. the syrian president in damascus the middle east braces for further instability. and the new gangster film the gentleman plans up debate over racism and censorship. discuss the racist language this was in a movie

a boat in stores guess what believe gangsters don't speak in politically correct. you're watching r t international i'm ours on a lot of thank you for joining us and we do start with this breaking news iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles a basis housing u.s. forces in iraq the iranian military is calling it a revenge operation for the death of major general kasem saw the man who was killed in a u.s. air strike last week well for more on this we can now across like to live in new york and paula slee here in tel aviv paula let's come to you 1st could you talk us through what's been happening and how is this all being viewed in israel where you currently are. well there's been 2 'd waves of a strikes target. 2 major iraqi bases where american troops are concentrated one of

the bases is just outside baghdad the capital of iraq and the other one is in the north of the country in a deal the question that still needs to be answered is whether or not there were any injuries on those bases and initial reports suggest yes although we've just heard from an american official say that there are very few casualties if any the question of course is whether the casualties are on the iraqi side or the americans it seems as if it's on the iraqi side but of course we're still waiting to receive confirmation of that now as i mentioned more than a dozen ballistic missiles were fired in iraq and the radio revolutionary guards were very quick to take responsibility for this saying it was in revenge to the friday morning assassination by the united states of the ukrainian general the money we're starting to hear we actually now we've received a tweet by the iranian communications minister in which he says get the hell out of my country at the same time we rein in the foreign minister zarif has said that

iran does not want war with the united states. iran to get concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under article $51.00 a few and charter targets in base from which coldly attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched we do not seek escalation or war but will defend ourselves against any aggression. now the reagan revolutionary guards have issued a statement in which they say it is time to the full they promise they calling this operation revenge a martyr and they've acknowledged that tens of missiles have been fired they calling the united states the great satan and in the same statement they say that should the united states respond or should any of its allies in the middle east respond it will immediately take further action. in response to the terrorist operations of the american invaders and the vicious assassination of the

heroic commander of the could force the islamic revolutionary guard corps the run successfully carried out operation martyrs to the money. we warned the great satan our good american regime that any further malice or mobilization will result in a more painful response hours of the us government which have given their bases to the terrorist army of the country are warned that any territory used for hostile acts against iran will be targeted we do not consider the zionist regime of israel to be in any way separate from the american regime in these crimes. now that's the way it about israel not being separated from the united states or something of course the israelis are taking very seriously since last friday the israeli army has been in a state of high alert on the country's northern and southern borders nar there is an intercept patient that iran could activate its proxies and thus in gaza and

hizbollah in lebanon and in fact we've actually heard from and from from iran that should israel respond in any kind it will activate hizbullah with some kind of retaliate reaction we haven't had any official comment from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu he's no doubt meeting with his defense minister and top security officials and we are expecting to hear some kind of response at least an official statement being made in the coming hours paula thanks for that context in terms of if i want to come to you know in new york because so far the u.s. response has been you could say somewhat muted we're actually expecting an address from president on the truck after there were reports that he might could you tell us what's been said so far in washington. well we have a tweet from donald trump it begins with the phrase all is well followed by a statement that there is an assessment going on of the casualties and the damage done to u.s. bases as a result of the attack by the iranian missiles furthermore we do have the white

house saying that trump has been briefed on the situation and this point it's expected that down trump will speak to the media regarding the events tomorrow this is what we heard from the white house. we are aware of the reports of attacks on u.s. facilities in the rock the president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team now the response from members of the u.s. congress has been quite different depending on which party they are in we have nancy pelosi the leader of the democrats in the house of representatives speaking about the events and saying that trumps unnecessary escalation seems to have something to do with these events though you have marco rubio a republican and a conservative speaking in support of donald trump and criticizing nancy pelosi for her criticisms of the president and the moment in which these missiles have been

fired this is the exchange we saw on social media. closely monitoring the situation phone bombings targeting u.s. troops in iraq we must ensure the safety of all assume its members including that in the in his provocations from the administration and demanded that iran sees its violence and the world cannot afford war iran is now officially calling for americans to turn on each of the the time will come to debate u.s. policy tonight's american anomaly troops have come into direct attack by a nation state and americans must come together to support and protect them and respond appropriately. among trump supporters the decision to kill qassam solomonic is being celebrated as a heroic act an act against terrorism however among many democrats though they have not much good to say about qassam solomonic they seem to however argue that this was an unnecessary ask elation that put american lives at risk so many democratic

voices seem to be speaking up and saying that donald trump could possibly be asking lading to a war with iran and didn't consult the u.s. congress on that matter so there seems to be some pretty solid divisions about how to assess the recent events between the usa and iran at this time people are waiting to hear what trump will say when he does speak to the media as the new day comes in the united states certainly there's going to be some more interesting develops and will likely be coming to you both for those in new york thanks so much for the context there. where we can now and show you these live pictures from the state funeral of major general kasim sultan money is happening in his hometown of command he was assassinated in a u.s. drone strike in baghdad on january 3rd in that strike was all did by president trump and has been branded as an act of war by iran for 2 decades money served as the commander of iran's forces which is the external wing of the islamic

revolutionary guard he played a crucial role in iran's military decision making process and helped expand iran's role in the middle east he was also a leading figure in the fight against islamic state terrorists. well for a bit more analysis on this we can now bring in live political scientist dr kevin f.s.e. abhi don't cover thanks for joining us luke iran is threatening to launch strikes inside america if the u.s. retaliates and yet donald trump has just tweeted quote all is well missiles launched from iraq that 2 military bases located in iraq assessment of casualties and damage is taking place now so far so good does it have got to ask you what do you make of that. well i'm not really sure because the casualty assessment needs to be done and we need to see the nature of the u.s. a response to iran's retaliatory strike so you know we dealing with

a crisis that has been deliberately sparked by the united states that has brought us to the point of and i don't watch of choice in the middle east the ball is in the u.s.'s lap right now he can lick its wand and you know end this or you can retaliate in which case there would be. spiraling out of control into an all out war which is not in interest of the iran or do united states or anyone else in the region so i think that we are at a very critical threshold when very important decisions need to be made by a president trump and he caves into his warmongering side and listens to those voices are arrogance and ignorance to what. foreign minister said about secretary for him to warn others then we will see you know the tragic results in terms of all art was also to die when it happened i will see the closure of this

very tragic chapter that it started with this unlawful terror and iranian uppish are together with some other iraq your vision was on the you are getting to violating their sovereignty so you know we have iraq president in the white house that does not care about international law or other countries rights and interests and now he's on the stage. you know if there was or peace with iran and the decision is entirely to let as you said yourself i thought cabaye nobody really wants surely for tat escalation into an all out war but if we do see more conflict unfolding between the u.s. and iran that's about what positions you might expect other. western powers to take because we actually have my pompei are saying just the other day that he was disappointed at the sort of lack of support in the response from european leaders in places like france and the u.k. where you felt he got much firmer support from leaders in for example saudi arabia

what's position do you think western powers are going to take if this does continue to escalate. well hopefully the pm powers over will do whatever they can to deescalate the situation and bring calm and tranquility to the persian gulf region which is of critical importance to world economy because if this is jewish and get out of hand we're going to see all prices a spike $250.00 to $200.00 a barrel and you know this will hit the european chinese and other net importers united states is of course an export at all you will not be that much affected but 'd europe has a very important role to play to rein in on donald trump otherwise you know this man is out of control and and you know he did this impulsive crazy act

on iraqi soil and has not shown any sign of remorse and his race of congress really to hear about it and if he takes disproportionate action as he has promised to do then the iranians will respond to our cause crisis will will will grow and and most likely involve conscious such as israel and you know will see a regional conflagration and with an unwanted long term dire consequences so i think that you know at this very critical juncture the europeans must do whatever they can as well as the leaders of china russia india whatever to convince president trump that he should refrain himself from. taking this to the next level which would be an all out war let's talk about some of those middle east regional players you brought up israel there obviously any any sort of

conflict between iran and the u.s. as we've seen play out somewhat from my there in iraq is going to have a major effect on the surrounding countries we've had. threats made against territories in israel we heard there from our correspondent in tel aviv that people are some on higher alert there how do you expect countries in the region to independently sort of. take a position with this ask you to take all of them but for example do you expect any response formal response from israel in the next couple of days. well 1st of all israel has been complicit in this you know israel has the habit of triggering crisis and you know then being. happy obs iran the sideline cheering the american worriers but this band that's not going to happen and israel that most 'd likely gave the coordinates for general

saleman is travels to the americans and has been threatening soleimani for a long time is not going to be you know escaping the. repercussions of. a protracted war where. god forbid if that happens and so with his will and his tens of thousands of rockets is the likelihood of iran resorting to its influence with the his will to attack israel if the united states extends its warfare against iran. you know refraining from doing so so i think that israel is also threatening this is in this scenario other countries such as call wait where they do us move this commander structure from iraq to kuwait just very recently and the iranians have threatened that is an

attack on them emanating from any of these countries such as qatar or you need then they will behave as well so you know all these countries need to calculate very serious harm to their interests if they bandwagon with the us against iran and i doubt many of them will do so well as you yourself said the political scientists not cover africa g.l.b. let's hope this doesn't escalate further and it's probably the last thing most people want. our earlier president trump has backed down on a threat to destroy iran's cultural sites u.s. leader caused global alarm with a series of tweets on saturday in which he said key iranian landmarks could be targeted if the country were to seek revenge for the assassination of major general salim monica but on tuesday trump said washington would obey international law. we are according to various laws supposed to be very careful with their

cultural heritage and you know what if that's what the law is i like to obey the law well to stay the arabian polman unanimously passed a bill designating the u.s. armed forces as a terrorist organization ah . well those who did this is well as the perpetrators of this crime the killing of general kasim salumi who with the pentagon and then military counted as terrorists and. staying in the middle east lied to me a patient has paid an unexpected visit to syria talks with president bashar al assad they discussed the volatile situation now unfolding in the middle east. reports this is let him have putin's 1st to visit says syria since the year it's wednesday 17 and his arrival is there comes amid tensions in the middle east

following the killing off the top iranian military official in iraq after arrival according to vladimir putin's spokesperson he visited the russian command center in damascus where he held a meeting with president bashar assad and also received a state of affairs reports from the military about what's going on in the rest of the country now in a meeting with bashar assad lot of mir putin says that's a long way in significances steps have been made to establish in the country's territorial integrity as well as a statehood meanwhile president of syria bashar assad thanked their russian military for establishing in his country and of course for their fight against terrorism. well on wednesday vladimir putin will be holding another top level meeting this time with president early on in turkey they'll be formally launching the new turks stream pipeline and also discussing the fallout from major general

saddam on his death well of course be following these developments closely right here on r.t. . now the latest movie by the british director guy ritchie has been getting some less than stellar reviews with critics branding the picture as racist and out of touch the gentleman has so far only been released in 4 countries with the rest the world getting to see it in 2 months time but here's a look at what is already getting people angry this really will be no yeah. every imaginable demographic gets their moment to be targeted and denigrated the only thing the gentleman finds worth celebrating is the bravado masculinity. a last forgivable blast from the past however it is a discomforting strain of racially based humor running through out reaches original

script making flat punch lines of multiple asian characters. it's just a shame that guy ritchie falls back on his bad habits casual racism i don't know him and lack of female characters problematic but still very entertaining. would and i am being absolutely sincere much rather watch cats than the angry racist mass that is the gentle. while we put this on for debate with political commentator david vance and social activist lee jasper. this is a sort of bygone break movie a sort of muscular reassertion of the we can say what we like it's our country and we don't give a damn what anybody thinks it can tell us about our most foul and disgusting racist language this was a movie gangsters and hey guess what really gangsters don't speak in politically

correct balanced ways that's not what gangsters do when we see movies like this is the following day when those racial epithets are repeated on the should treat give cause for concern that. movie makers like guy should have a broader social conscience and responsibility is producing the arjan they do if you want to see a margin to reassess them then that's fine you go and see it if we go to see a gangster movie you know we're not expecting to. find high philosophy we're not expecting to experienced walk culture that's just reality i think is outdated he's outmoded and he's not reflecting the kind of future which is of a more inclusive sense of britishness nationalism you know here we are in 2020 and what we're experiencing over this movie is just an early flutter of walk culture of

the perpetually offended black panthers one of the most successful movies in the world and it's successful economically for a reason i think i'm not in favor of any artistic ban or any law i do think there should be greater diversity in the production and creative rooms quite amusing that you just referenced black panther and you went on then to talk about diversity if i recall the black panther movie successfully there wasn't a huge amount of diversity in not so if you want equality and i do then i think we have to have the fundamental right to have all opinions of all sorts heard saying and understood. now let's continue our look back at 2019 and more of the events that marked those last 12 months.

we have divided this review of the year into a few different categories so let's take a look at this 1st one disruptor in chief donald trump a dominating the headlines near that was stirring up politics both at home and abroad and he also found himself as the butt of many jokes in the mainstream media and on late night shows but as well as being on the receiving end the president also dished out his own barbs takes a look at who got the last laugh. what should be the golden rule of anyone who wants to sound or look funny i don't mind a bit of comedy in my work so why is it repeats the same joint teutonic. ok so what then happened to the gods of comedy in 2019 because they joked about or mocked the same person 102 times as you can see most of america is good.

for the. lakes. orange picked out of refrigerator is actually the most accurate way trump has ever described himself. you know like sometimes like you know the way we try to get our steps and he's trying to reach a certain number of lies on his fitbit every single day you know he's like oh i haven't had my 10000 yet my dad was from germany yes and 1000 i'm not really have 10000 i'm not on. you know what i actually just bumped into a blog post titled 6 ways to handle trump's impeachment during holiday dinners hasn't gone that bad time for another comedy extract. the everyone flew here for the holidays and i mean even more happy that they did it their impeaching try well they did it pitching trump can we please talk about politics instead oh you mean how trump is definitely get impeached and then definitely getting reelected i'm good. yes it has well while some americans

will probably be happy to mock or go on about donald trump till the end of time there are others who are sick of it and these folks gotta love a new feature on netflix a button that allows you to skip donald trump jokes now that's what i call innovation although seth meyers who came up with the idea didn't think people would use it. anyway what about the president he couldn't just sit in the corner and cry right well jokes by trump's previous essers never really crossed the line causing exactly the right amount of modest giggling but the differences between bush and mccain may be just to vest. i mean mccain is bush's running mate hasn't the man suffered enough and with that i just have 2 more words to say. obama. was the and $29.00 taking though

donald trump took it to a whole new level the ha ha's from his jokes were meant to slap his opponents hard bread and butter have been. specially raised by the jacksons to remain calm under any condition which will be very important because they've already received subpoenas to appear in adam shifts basement on thursday debbie dingell that's a real beauty she calls me up since this thing that's ever happened thank you so much jill it would be so thrilled he's looking to. thank you so much. so that's ok don't worry about the. baby's looking. and as a true twitter troll he began to make good use of means. so what then everyone happy happy new year t.v.

shows can save plenty of time on planning just fill up air time with have that fall in the white house be like for at least another year the president can keep on taking aim at rivals by fully mastering mean making and be proud of his razor sharp humor and just in case the public's now got a butt to skip jokes about the maggot man. bring it on. well now let's take a look at this 2nd category warning the world $29000.00 was also a year of hostility from the trade war between washington and beijing to a wave of terror attacks around the world and last year did see a spike in the number of places of worship being targeted as nicky aaron reports while 2019 saw fewer terror attacks the year so are more worrying trend with acts of terror inciting a tit for tat so a couple of hate 3 months into the year we saw one of the most peaceful countries

in the world raise its terror threat level to high for the 1st time in its history . people around the world were left stunned when a 28 year old man unleashed carnage on 2 mosques in christchurch new zealand. this is one of new zealand's darkest days the appalling attack set the tone for the remainder of the year the question was what could have motivated this surge in olds right leanings the obvious songs that to many was donald trump the u.s. president who had taken what some perceived as an anti immigrant stance also

a man who had the misfortune to be named in the christ church attack as manifesto making him the perfect target for education mr trump your awards not. your policies matter i think the public discourse from the president is a factor in some of these actions while politicians play to the blame game a much darker reality was unfolding 9 days off to christ church the 1st copycat attack. this time on a synagogue in california police later found graffiti on the driveway leaving little doubt over whether the attacker had been inspired by the new zealand massacre the po way synagogue shooting took the life of one person and injured 3 others in a chilling echo of the new zealand attack the perpetrator also released a manifesto in which he praised the christchurch terror months later copycat attack number 2. on the 3rd of august 22 people

were killed and 24 others injured in a mass shooting at a wal-mart in el paso texas again the attacker released a manifesto revealing how he was inspired by the christ church mosque shootings. days later another one this time on a mosque in norway one person was injured the attacker also attempted to live stream the crime on facebook in a sinister twist the attacker not only praised to the christchurch killer as a saint but also depicted his fellow copycat attackers as heroes amidst the space of copycat attacks and i asked inspired attack in sri lanka.