donald trump refused to approve a stimulus package negotiated from congress the president's spending. on foreign aid and. support. congress found plenty of money from foreign countries lobbyists and special to. the bare minimum to the american people . for u.s. military contractors who were jailed for their involvement in the massacre of iraqi civilians in 2007 given presidential pardons there in trump's latest clemency list which notably excludes prominent whistleblowers. coming up on the program this hour

the french government bucks a controversial bill on so-called green passports allowing travel and other activities to be simplified for people vaccinated against it critics say the move will turn everyone else into 2nd class citizens. and israel is heading for a 4th election in 2 years after the coalition government fails to break a deadlock over. 247 years live from moscow this is r.t. international my name's you know me hello and welcome to the program our top story donald trump wants congress to make changes to the much for 2 over 900 $1000000000.00 bill he's called it a disgrace for including provisions not related to the pandemic such as foreign aid

funding the us president is also demanding a one off payment to eligible citizens to be increased from 600 to $2000.00. congress found plenty of money for far john trees lobbyists and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the american people who need it it wasn't their fault i am asking congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculous lelo $600.00 to $2000.00 or $4000.00 for a couple. speaker nancy pelosi was quick to react blaming republicans for not providing information on what's the president himself expected to be written down in the package she said democrats are ready to discuss the matter as soon as lawmakers gather again this week while there are other things in the bill but the trump teams on helping a budget since its combine the cobra relief package and the government spending plan in one document it features

a lot of proposals including military spending and foreign aid as well as more obscure issues to the outgoing president has threatened not to sign it if and aren't made to me to poke takes a closer look. hollo lou it the warring sides in congress have finally set aside some of their differences and agreed to dish out $900000000000.00 in covert 19 relief for families and businesses but the $600.00 stimulus checks which are half of what people got back in april have left many underwhelmed one time payment of $600.00. isn't joe and jobless no health insurance this isn't going to cut it congress. some senators even took offense at people questioning their life saving bill oh it's real help it's a trillion dollars for god's sakes what is that $1000000.00 and. there is no money faery

we don't have this money we don't have 5 percent of it sandra we had to borrow it is real help will it be enough but i think it will be but we're just going to have to wait and see but the covert relief package didn't come alone the absence of the money fairy didn't stop congress from slapping on a $1.00 trillion dollar spending bill which combined with the covert bill made the overall document over 5 and a half 1000 pages long the behemoths took so long to upload to the internet that congressmen only received it on the day of the vote and it's kind of hard to believe they managed to read the whole thing before passing it. for congressional leaders refused to put any legislation on the floor to be considered and scrutinized and amended now they release a $5593.00 page bill with no opportunity to read it let alone amend it no responsible legislators should vote for such a thing this is going to goes over 3 hours just to prove that it is. impossible.

you need one without the opportunity to read between now and the time we will vote if you take a closer look at the bill you can see there's a lot more than covert relief in there military spending for example. it was more of a talking point than the pandemic and words like missile aircrafts and munition appeared far more times than anything related to health care masks weren't even mentioned once in the documents foreign aid also proved to be a high priority billions of dollars are said to be poured into countries like ukraine israel and cambodia funds that could have been spent on domestic needs and then there's a whole bunch of other issues that were deemed very crucial like ensuring the integrity and fairness of the election sorry horse racing how could that sport survive without money from the government also investing in general programs is something the u.s. just can't do without be it programs in pakistan or commissions on determining gender equality in statues and even the dialogue as reincarnation gets mentioned in

the bill because in case you forgot he can't get reincarnated without u.s. taxpayer dollars this jumbled mess of spending proposals caused even some senators to trash the bill. tonight i voted no against the suppose that covert relief bill because it sells out billions of dollars to foreign governments the sudan gypsum military and not more important than the american citizens and now many are calling on trump to veto the bill don't trump you must veto of this farce relieve bill this isn't a stimulus package this is a message for and. every american left and right should be calling for a veto on the stimulus deal which provides more funding to foreign governments and term merican arts centers than to their merican people covert relief might be badly needed but while 600 bucks why do some good for americans in a tough spot senators are obviously willing to put

a lot more money behind their own agendas if you look where the expenditures went look we know what this is this is nothing but a con it's a ruse it's a chance to to provide special interest in special issues the money that normally wouldn't be able to be earmarked this is guaranteed to provide monies that would normally not be able to be available but now they are which is a christmas tree the idea is that you take something you slap on benefits and expenditures and bills but america needs something so we hold the american public hostage in the meantime they get a pittance of what they would normally gotten before but maybe rather than giving all this money for covert relief why don't we just remove the lockdowns wonder we remove the dish shackles because businesses are under these more draconian measures why don't you do that instead as just give money here's your 600 bucks maybe 1200

bucks now leave me alone be happy and shut up. donald trump sparked outrage with his latest list of presidential pardons it includes military contractors jailed for war crimes in iraq but no whistleblowers despite repeated calls from rights activists let's get more on this story from kill him up in new york good to see you new rowand of pardons from president trump looking just weeks away from when he departs office who's on the list indeed so it's just a couple days before the christmas holiday here in the united states and in the spirit of the holiday season we have the outgoing president naming pardons and commutations of people that are in federal custody and serving federal prison sentences 15 pardons were handed down by the white house along with 5 commute months now there was a wave of anger in criticism one of the individuals who was pardoned was george

papadopoulos and he was caught up in the f.b.i. russia collusion alledge lee investigation that investigation took place he was accused of lying the f.b.i. well he will now walk free but in addition to the wave of anger that is coming around the fact that george papadopoulos was pardoned in addition to that we've got the pardoning of the blackwater contractors who were serving prison sentences for murdering civilians in iraq take a listen to this. but i never heard of an american aircraft or. there were dead bodies everywhere in the city are humans going to be on the way to people and it's going to be among the dead bodies ministry with us and with child

who is in the next 7 years old. paul slow dustin heard evan liberty and nicholas slaton they were part of a convoy that opened fire on a crowd of civilians in iraq and killed 14 people as well and 2 of the people that were killed were children now the 3 guards were convicted these were guards working for the american blackwater military contractor company 3 of those guards were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and then nicholas slaton who started the firing into the crowd of civilians he was charged and convicted with 1st degree murder but now at this point they are going to be released they have received

a presidential pardon now the white house gave this just of cation for setting free these individuals who were charged and convicted for killing civilians. when the convoy attempted to establish a blockade outside the green zone the situation turned violent which resulted in the unfortunate deaths and injuries of iraqi civilians further prosecutors recently disclosed more than 10 years after the incident that the lead iraqi investigates who prosecutors relied heavily on so very far that there were no exigent victims and to collect evidence may have helped tunnies to insurgent groups himself. now many have called these pardons by u.s. president donald trump described will argue that this sets a precedent that seems to be the administration approving of the killing of iraqi civilians others have pointed out that betsy divonne secretary of education is actually the brother of erik prince the founder of blackwater many people are not

happy with this but other people are looking into the fact not of who was on trump's pardon list but who was not on trump's pardon list there was a whole lot of folks calling for the pardoning of julian assan as well as edward snowden who revealed many aspects of u.s. government activity and killing of civilians and and and war crimes etc and there was a call for donald trump to drop to drop the charges against them to issue a pardon to edward snowden and julian a sign now many activists have spoken up there been voices from the united nations that have called for that here's some of the voices 'd that have spoken up about the ongoing situation facing julian a songe on hoping that he will julian assange it's the right thing to do donald trump since you're given pardons to people please consider pardoning those who at great personal sacrifice expose the deception and criminality of those in

the deep state if president trump is true as its values i think the least you could do is to end the suffering the purity the songs to pardon him this man has for be enough for the interest of the public and the walls. now at this point donald trump still has time to pardon julian assan john edward snowden he can hand out presidential pardons up until the moment when he leaves office but many look at the fact that these military contractors who were convicted of killing civilians in iraq have just received a pardon and looked at the 15 pardons and 5 commutations that were handed down today and are a little bit past a mystic many of the activists in support of edward snowden and julian a songe are thinking that the trumpet ministration has indicated it is moving in another direction with its last minute decisions thinking this through that story today from new york killa blog. postings stateside where u.s. lawmakers have been given early access to cope with vaccines some are helping to

accept others a politician should not be given priority were frontline medics. if enough of us take kids we'll get back to normal help is on the way. it isn't appropriate for me it was only gotten the virus has immunity to get in front of elderly health care workers same goes for any young healthy person they should be among the last not 1st. come. first. i'm so confident that they covered 1000 vaccine is safe and effective but i

decided to take it myself it is disturbing to send them the sick us to get that sense while most from time walk his algebra and into a noun districts wait. we need to distinguish 2 different things handful of leaders or prime minister or president leading members of the senate of the senate you know the public the little political figures and celebrities get the vaccine to show the public that it's safe and that is necessary that's one thing it's another thing to say that in general politicians just simply be prioritised because they have political power

being politicians these are 2 separate matters they can't be conflated any humane principle for who gets the vaccine 1st should be those that are most vulnerable and that is. specially is front line workers essential workers the elderly and the infirm so it's true that probably some some politicians might be infirm some politicians might be front line workers but they're not there's no reason why publishers politicians should be pushed to the top of the list simply because they're overseas. across the atlantic the french government is pushing for the introduction of so called green passports allowing greater freedom of movement to covert emunah people about is the spike the latest polls which attest some 6 in 10 people in france don't want to be vaccinated against the virus artie's paula slayer has more in the. frances preparing to end its health emergency by april the so says the french prime minister john kass takes he's presented a bill in the national assembly ended establishing

a so-called long health emergency management regime since look to it is vaccination and those opposed to it might just find themselves in trouble even if they just planning a trip around the city. the prime minister made on to the plan measures make the movement of people and their access to transport subject to presenting test results showing that the person is not infected is falling vaccination or remedial treatment to some politicians the may still believe i'm vaccinated people feeling as though they say capacitors and if this bill has really been tabled it must be fought but all elected officials and citizens committed to democracy and freedom in the face of this senseless deviation it is up to us to bring the government back to a semblance of reason this is the bill establishing a long term health emergency management regime which has just been introduced by cast x read the following and this law the prime minister can make you a 2nd class citizen if you refuse the vaccine we must wake up it flies in the face

of a promise made by french president emanuel not quantities of amends they should skeptics their feet and covered vaccination which begins on sunday would be purely voluntary . i want to be clear i will not make the vaccination mandatory. but the idea of a stick to a certain suite of missile vaccinated people has been mentioned several times in public debates since this presidential announcement for example a member of the union of democrats and independent party valerie 6 has proposed the issuing of green pos votes to people who have been immunized with we could take the example of israel which grants each vaccinated person a green passport allowing them to go to places of culture and to restaurants and to get back to normal living the french an occupation program will target the most vulnerable members of society 1st such as the elderly and only asked to

a medical examination and come since he has been it's a great start but it's what comes next that has people here worried policia out see paris some reaction to this response to a member of the french national party who believes the government has gone a step too far. you know a manual marker on the prime minister the health minister leave iraq and promised us there would be no compulsory vaccination and that they would leave the freedom to choose to the french and fact thanks in particular to marine le pen we see that the draw floor speaks of a measure completely very old aimed at limiting subjecting the french people the certain rules in their public lives thereby deciding for them whether they will be vaccinated or not i think that it is shameful and fact it is a restriction of freedom which moreover contradicts the constitution this is a manifestation of dictatorship it seems to me that the government does not

understand that today the patience of the french has run out. they agreed to strict discipline for many months they said yes to the introduction of quarantine said yes to the imposition of a curfew said yes to the imposition of sanitary rules they agreed to everything that was imposed on them the next day the government came up with nothing better than to further could tail their personal freedom this is called segregation if the government wants the french to get vaccinated they must restore an atmosphere of trust that's the voice of wisdom. for the neighboring spain it's ready to start vaccinating people with the following vaccine after it was given the green light by e.u. regulators the country's health ministry is saying a record will be kept of anyone who turns down the child. it is considered important to record cases of rejection of the vaccination in the vaccination registry in order to understand the possible reasons for a locked in syndrome from population groups. according to the latest figures just

steroid 40 percent or so of spanish citizens are ready to be inoculated against covert 916 percent need more proof that it's actually affective and almost a 3rd will refuse to take the job of together you know where i'm going to bed i'm not going to get vaccinated i don't support it i don't want to be registered anywhere neither the government the city council nor anyone else has to know what i do. i believe it violates our privacy and they should not interfere at the moment now i'm not going to vaccinate. it doesn't seem right or wrong to me i think people should get vaccinated but without forcing anyone ever i should do as they choose. i'm one of those who doesn't want to be vaccinated it seems wrong to me i don't want any government to have to tell me whether or not i must be vaccinated because it's my decision. you know the story getting quite

a bit of attention to various really government has collapsed after months of parliamentary wrangling feel to secure a new budget the country is now heading for its 4th election in 2 years. really seems like tuesday's budget roadblock was the last straw for israel's 7 month long ruling government coalition now benjamin netanyahu party and benny gantz is blue and white party or both blaming one another for the impasse and with these new elections scheduled for march i think we could possibly be seeing the end to 11 years of the premiership of benjamin netanyahu but netanyahu doesn't seem very worried and that's. why i'm not afraid of elections we are prepared for that we will win the public and israel knows who's bringing in 1000000 to vaccines for peace agreement who's blocking iran who is bringing security and who will restore the economy here with great impetus well netanyahu is ratings are actually at an all time low but he's still projected to do better than dance in these new snap

elections but he polls are actually saying these not projected to win a majority like in these previous instances i mean after all his political career has been followed by a corruption case which he's denied any wrongdoing in and and also people aren't very happy in israel about the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic we've seen protests gripped the country for the past 6 months and they're not really showing any sign of letting out. with. israeli politics have been deadlocked for a long time now a lot of people are saying that another election isn't isn't going to fix the situation it's just going to lead to

a 5th election down the road but i'm happy that we have to fulfill it. because i will live through it good that we will never have an election again. we are afraid that the dictatorship will take over. i think now the situation is quitting cold and we don't have the money and the time for the elections on the house and. i think that the election is completely unnecessary it will cost us more than 2000000000 new israeli shekels if not more and we're in the middle of coronavirus people can't make ends meet why spend 2000000000 new israeli shekels now what form. the united kingdom. may be finally about to announce a post brigs it for a deal there are reports that ambassadors are preparing to meet. tomorrow christmas eve to start the ratification process so let's cross live now to show. in

london for a little more on this hi there is nothing confirmed yet of course the time is fast running out as well if a deal is going to be delivered before the end of the year but is there no significant movement. what it seems is that this is the moment every person in the united kingdom has been waiting for the moment where a prospect that trade deal is no longer on the horizon but could be at very fingertips and that becomes apparent because boris johnson and his european counterparts have been working tirelessly and they say they're closer than ever before to getting a trade deal of course they would be closer than ever to getting a trade deal considering the amount of time left the deadline is obviously the 31st of december but today is widely seen as a deadline day the final day for any provisional agreement as both sides are quite keen to get a deal in place by christmas all that said fisheries is still one of the main

stumbling blocks it's still one of the key obstacles it has been throughout all of the talks throughout the year and it is still today in fact the loss what we heard from banja the chief negotiator just last night he said that the u.k. is latest offer is absolutely unacceptable for the european union so it is quite hard to see that we're really getting to a breakthrough moment but it seems as it has and it's all to do with haggling now the amount of percentages in the waters that the e.u. and the u.k. are now negotiating the shelf barnea though he did say that he was quite keen to even have to. this time to get a deal and was suggesting even pushing it into january if need be but many other people within both sides of the channel on the official terms they really want to get it done by christmas they want to secure that deal and just leave that time between christmas and new year's eve to allow the process to then be ratified if we

look back across 2020 the a year has been completely fraught with what tourist trade talks we've seen endless crunch talks meeting after meeting dinner off to dinner rulebooks. last hitsville song. which was the breaking of the international law or allegedly the stumbling block over the playing field but still it all boils down at this point to the matter of fisheries but when we look at the wider context of threats we know that has almost been the political death of david cameron and indeed theresa may 2 prime ministers prime ministers boris johnson and could also be the death of boris johnson himself we know 6 that he has predicated much of his political correctness that aside on a breakfast it in the u.k. is general election much of it all boiled down to breakfast so this really is going to be a very tense moment for boris johnson he'll be very eager to get the best deal in

place for britain and in fact many m.p.'s within his own party are holding to ransom on that very fact saying if he doesn't get a good deal for britain that affect essential he should quit. if mr johnson fails to reach an acceptable trade agreement with the e.u. the prime minister will also have failed the people of the united kingdom as a lifelong member of the conservative party i believe that mr johnson's position as prime minister would be untenable. well in terms of ratification then that could all be done and dusted here in the united kingdom within a day or so the day that has been pencilled into diaries for m.p.'s here in the united kingdom is the 30th of december over across the channel then for the e.u. 27 member states a little bit more complicated they could all agree though on video link but either parliament would have to ratify it to their suggesting that they would then ratify it potentially alter the event that's also not quite ideal because if anybody

objects to anything well it's already been provisionally applied so it is a little bit technical and it is a little bit difficult but all of that being said that's quite forward thinking that because still the e.u. and the u.k. need to sign on that down to the line they need to get that deal in place so still we're waiting and waiting and waiting it seems like that hasn't captivated this whole brett 6 saga it all seems to happen at the 11th hour but now it really does feel like it's the 11th minute of the 11th hour to go through that live from london this hour show you thank you when i was your of our news opiates there close as we're back watching the hawks in a moment see you again at the top of the hour by floor. a lot of questions for just that reason to be conservative it is coming from the

conservative and the change which is means to be conservative put it down to you sure you can find it just for conservatives to believe. that she should be lame kiddo's it was just that it just means that i. don't mind it just. goes to show that most all. i mean you know fuck alone today my country not an established at the map. about the economy to have more than a last step is that. going to be will slow down the muscle to get in the holes i mean that i'm still going to. miss home i'm almost there i don't know whether i want to use the term obama i don't know what i'm going to.