victory or a defeat while the u.k.'s leadership celebrates a historic break. the european union chief negotiator describes it as a loss for both sides. and so merry christmas countries in europe see cases it's just people are placed under strict measures during the festive period. to want to waste their money claims the government thrown away more than $50000000000.00 worth of projects this year including jogging machines for.

from moscow to the world this is your artsy international my name's you know neil pleasure to have your company this hour on a very happy christmas our top story. after more than 4 years of frankly the e.u. the u.k. finally reached the brakes a trade deal it was agreed just days before the new year deadline however the mood in brussels london was very different following the. this is i believe a good deal for the whole of europe. for us for our friends and partners as well yeah. but there is no winner and brax it's a lose lose situation to separate especially in the world as it is today england the united kingdom has chosen to be solitary rather than stand together. well the nations and indeed those who govern the nations are that make up the british isles are divided on the scottish 1st minister nicola sturgeon sais britain has lost more than its gain from a break said stressing that scotland must now decide on its future as an

independent european nations she ses we got the views of scots and other persons on the. fatigue because it's been going on for so long it's happening now the balls rolling i think we should just finish it i think it makes it feel to be because of a past couple weeks so should be just so much hype and misinformation and media i hate breaks and i think it's a completely retrograde step i think that the feeling of being part of a multinational international. i word looking community i think has been thompson fantastic i didn't support brakes i didn't pull pranks a i have really guides to not be part of you know a penny more it does make me nervous to think how am i going to get to visit the european cities and you know friends i have to live in spain and in france and other parts of europe it would have been a disaster if there had been no deal so very pleased but there is a to this is i suppose some people a big christmas present it's just i think if i was really feed to them to see it

the idea of a devious a good one. but i think the idea that it has to go through 49 different parliaments in europe is a bit crazy i think it's really even funny going on all these years but it sort of begs the question as to whether this arrangement is going to be better than the regime behind him before we left the european union we're looking at how the u.k. and the you will cooperate from january 1st there will be no tarrasch solemn each other's goods no limit on trading new border checks have been agreed on while the u.k.'s pulled out of the long running a rosmah student exchange scheme between universities politicians will now return to westminster to vote on the deal on december the 30 so bars johnson may have ended the year in a much needed high but the last 12 months have been overshadowed by covert close borders and economic woes saskia taylor's been taking a look back for us. it was almost as if he wanted to become

a me we have so much to look forward to in 2020 it's hard to pin down which one of 2020 stretches he meant the end as negotiations food shortages coronavirus close borders economic collapse felt like. sending. sending a president who home printer on christmas. yet i feel like christmas has been so far and history he might be like remembered as the prime minister. best so was about a man who wanted to be remembered as the one who got brecht's it done 4 years of preparation for a course he believed in thompson was set up for trial and he even promised back in january that it was often ready all but done we had ended a debate has run for 3 and a half years some would say 47 years i would even mention the name of the can

probably see except to say that it begins with billions receding the past behind us well be rose from the past and haunted porus for 11 months that's how long it took to negotiate a deal a deal that has followed praxedis claimed could be resolved over a cup of tea 11 months the brink of no deal a nation of disappointed impatient angry people but boris still gave himself a pat on the back we've taken back control of our laws and we've taken back control of every jot and tittle of regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered who's going to tell him then that this celebration might be a party for one. it sounds like the british team have dropped the ball before the line no wonder they want a christmas eve announcement to hide the fisheries sell out today amidst all the debates and details of the trade deal one fundamental truth remains that at

a time of global insecurity we're no longer part of one of history's greatest and most noble projects bring nations together to build peace out of the ruins of war. this is a disastrous bragg's it outcome for scottish farmer it's and like all other aspects of bracks it for students cortlandt against our will it wasn't just brussels that proved to be bogus on doing fresh from a caribbean holiday and still on a post-election high in the new year boris johnson didn't seem too concerned about a never heard of before virus his message was clear don't exaggerate when barry is going 'd up. and when there is a risk that new diseases such as corona virus will trigger a panic while it was a pretty quick descent from facts to this.

but it's hard not to panic when the parson who's supposed to be meeting you flip flops and utahns his way through a crisis to the point his own ministers don't know the rules so make it absolutely clear which is that it is. the guy who let me i will absolutely get back to christmas won't be cancelled actually christmas is off schools are reopening actually no they're not we're lifting the knocked out actually stay at home little wonder then that confusion on exhaust peroration grew i'm a bit confused because you don't like things agree creek and we don't get that much information about what's going on and then suddenly boom the new school down we don't know what to do so nobody can use initiated on you cannot who's devoted 48 hours so it's so confusing i don't even remember my parents live. there we've

been here so i am allowed to go to you tube but i don't know if i'm really about to be going through. what you did was it a case of bad timing. was 2020 year you just couldn't shine no matter what or was it the man himself who failed to meet one thing's for sure for bars johnson it's been not a hell of a year but rather a year from how. to another european nation germany remains one of the country's worst affected by the pandemic and the state of saxony is one of the region's hardest hit with the crime of turiya struggling to cope that sure some footage now for a video agency ruptly. germany

as a whole was bombed the affected this year with many lockdown restrictions put in place peter all over texas through how it's impacted the festive season in the country. across in europe christmas festivities are subdued this year because of the coronavirus pandemic here and this gentleman marked it's usually the scene over one of the german capitals local bustling busy christmas markets not this year though like carnival in the spring time the markets of being counseled there being

a loosening of covert restrictions to allow people to gather with loved ones over christmas itself friedrich merits the man who will be going with the chancellor angela merkel's job next year wasn't happy with covert restrictions having an impact on a family christmas personally i would see it's none of the government's business how i celebrate christmas with my family he's not alone germany has seen at times launched demonstrations against covert 1000 restrictions. while christmas is very different this year new year's may be totally on recognizable in germany being mocked without its traditional.

green policy politicians of launched a campaign against fireworks this year while thousands upon thousands usually throw in the approach to the brandenburg gate for the annual new year's eve bash this year 'd that is a victim of corona and the policy will be held with elder revelers and shown on television there will be no joint posses a family reunions otherwise we could be threatened by another wave of infection in february there will be no party in berlin at the brandenburg gate either it will disappoint sold to be sure but a merchant c. and medical. this is going to be among no lamenting the lack of fireworks after new year's eve we evaluate only how many people come to us or brought to the rescue center during the night how old they are and why they need to be treated it clearly shows the dangers of fireworks it's a festive period with a difference but at least italian prime minister just epic commentary has some

reassurances for people concerned about one particular elderly man traveling at christmas father christmas assured me he's already got an international travel certificate so he can travel everywhere and distribute gifts to all the world's children. quite the relief i'm sure you'll agree peter all over r.t. . the big man did well last night let's take a look. christmas celebrations from other parts of the world despite various restrictions in france the naacp. formed a christmas eve concert it is the 1st event of its kind since the cathedral was ravaged by a huge fire last year hard hats overalls replace traditional guns with reconstruction of the building still underway just go back to germany to show you this a local priest organized a drive in christmas mass in the car park of a hardware store. because traditional church services are being suspended across

the country to slow the spread of. jogging machines for lizards just one of the strange projects the u.s. government has spent money on this year according to a report that states over $50000000000.00 went the way of such initiatives dimitry polk's been doing this. 2020 has been a year to forget for many reasons but it's that time of year so let's reflect imagine you just blown $54000000000.00 in 12 months it is more important than ever for congress to find its fiscal backbone our debts puts at risk the long term solvency of major programs such as social security and why to pay for test use for covert tests that turn out to be soda bottles to see if hot tubbing a few times a week eases stress yeah those don't seem like good investments but u.s. senator rand paul has published a whole list of all the things you can blow your hard earned money on and what

washington apparently did spend it on like $1500000.00 to give a couple of reptiles some cardio researches spent a 1000000 and a half taxpayer dollars to get 6 lizards walk them on a treadmill what taking x. rays with 3 d. imaging technology and then figure out how their joints moved sure it's fascinating stuff maybe for some but come on $1500000.00 place your bets on how much it costs to spray drunk rats with. just a tidy sum of $4500000.00 in all seriousness here's exactly what the researchers did in layman's terms they spent 5 weeks giving rats intermittent access to alcohol to get them hooked then they put the rats in a cage and literally sprayed them with both can't urine predators odor to simulate trauma then they tested where the males and females responded differently why

that's probably something you're wondering right now the answer research into p.t.s.d. and alcoholism among war veterans have barely someone has concluded that surviving a gruesome war is comparable to being sprayed with europe so we've gone from paying people to sit in hearts of trying to get adults to watch less t.v. and box all of this money wasted. and none of that was initially washington's this is $54000000000.00 of taxpayer money but look on the bright side at least we can sleep well now we know that a cold bottle is not a good substitute for a test to. the way that the united states government has managed its finances throughout this entire thing is absolutely overall completely abysmal it's been nothing short of criminal what the united states government has done throughout this entire pandemic there were a few ok things but overall the bad outweighed the good by a whole lot and it's really made the united states government out for exactly what

it is which it is a corporate coup no one ever asked the question how are you going to pay for it when it comes to giving money to the pentagon or giving money to weapons contractors or given money to the oil and gas industry no $1.00 ever asked how you're going to pay for it but they ask how are you going to pay for it when it comes to giving direct relief to people then all the sudden they're worried about their pocketbook. 16 minutes into the program still ahead the culture war is truly here this year society's battle over gender and dented say that some of the stories we help you hear on our team after the break. is you'll be a reflection of reality. in

the world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation little community. are you going the wrong way or are you being led. by. what is true what is. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a maybe in the shallows. in the movie version the scientists all they understand everything before they even begin to look at it that's not what really happens what really happens is most of the time scientists are very confused about most things and they're not sure they spend most of their time trying to be less confused try to become

a little more sure. a lot in science has been at the forefront of our attention this year in the bottle against the virus but it does help it's from lighter side r.t. sophie shevardnadze has been speaking to the funder of the eeg nobel prize which rewards some of the year's walk us findings so you can watch the show at any time. dot com but here's a preview. you get something like 10000 new nominations every year and about 10 or 20 percent of those are people who nominate themselves the ones who nominate themselves almost always lose if you're trying to these prizes are strange. ignore it nobel prize are not for the best something they're also not for the worst something they're there only for things that make people laugh and then think if

that's what you're trying to do you're trying to win an ignoble prize you're trying to think of something that will make everybody laugh and then think you're going to fail well there is uncertainty and stress this year i'm having an impression that i think in science is becoming a little bit more shaky among the general public do you feel that. yeah i think that's true for a few reasons part of it is that it around the world there are now some people who are. just automatically reacting to everything that happens by saying that's wrong don't trust it. another thing though that's happening is that for the 1st time in a long long time everybody is paying attention to scientists so now people are looking at what scientists actually do rather than what the movie version of scientists do in the movie version the scientists all they understand everything

before they even begin to look at it that's not what really happens what really happens is most of the time scientists are very confused about most things and they're not sure and they spend most of their time trying to be less confused trying to become a little more sure they never no scientist ever reaches the point where they completely understand everything. but if you just grow up and you watch the movies and all your picture is the scientists do understand everything so i think what's happening right now is everybody now every day you read the news and you think about scientists for at least a minute which you normally don't do and you see that what they're doing well they're not sure yet they think they have a vaccine that works but they're not quite sure well why aren't they sure you know the scientists are always sure about that well no that's not that's never what this and scientists did so what's really happened i think is scientists are now becoming real rather than fictional characters for people and real characters have some

confusion and. yeah it is a fascinating discussion it's on our website let's bring you know to the u.s. city of nashville where 3 people been injured in a huge car explosion on christmas morning pretty astonishing pictures let's take a look at the area it was shut in an investigation is now under way by multiple agencies including the f.b.i. local authorities believe the incident was intentional police say a house a response team were already on their way to the scene to follow up on reports of a suspicious vehicle when the car. it happened in a area run 6 30 in the morning nearby buildings have been badly damaged with debris scattered across the road president trumps office the responders.

2020 some odd gender identity generate a huge wave on the scotian from liberation to celebration for a bit of confusion in between pauly boy looks at how the year has left more than a few people in a personal pronoun predicament but i don't know if. that culture was to get. paid to take the what care is. all the base. yeah i didn't know what base man i just didn't dismiss the work arrows as why i need to eat is reveling in victimization no they're here to save people from things that they didn't even know they needed saving from like. gender through all the facts

whether you're own or you are a massive racist right yet all the based look just all right trump apologists looking for a fight no these are brave souls trying to express opinions that 5 years ago you and rand would have. been t. but now could get hot and you lived was canceled. so let's delve in and see who was on the front line of the culture wars in 2020 this is like being in the battle of the sexes is no longer binary and no one represents the crazy state of affairs best then the j.k. rowling nor is it weird that the author of that inflicted harry potter on the wall

is now lilith by to suggest saying that they're all women on their own then. get out and yes that was cool to be counselled to saying that there is such a thing as. the trans rights people when not. well the bollywood film festival was in no mood to be roland so it just dumped its gendered awards for best actor or and best actor a dozen not just mean less prizes for everyone why not bring in more prizes for more gender is a man like $32.00 and the national judge of iceland went another way and depicted jesus with boobs on a dress to quote reflect society as it is today by which i assume they mean confusing. tripling down all the confusion with. the current director of the matrix series. she said that the matrix trilogy wasn't about

saluting karate different colored pills being plugged into play station no apparently the whole thing was an allegory for the struggles of the transgender community i'm going to come out and i don't. you know that was the original intention in the world wasn't quite ready of. the corporate world. and on a serious note i would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate the actor . any. formal. grade over the coming hour. good luck. boyko taking us through 247 news live from the russian capital this is our 2 international stay close for more great programs kicking off in mere moments and i'll see you all again soon bye from a.

boxing day special. boxing day is a holiday celebrated the day after christmas thus being the 2nd day of curse miss todd. joins me every thursday on the all excitement and i'll be speaking to just a little bit politics. i'm sure i'll see you then.

visionaries maybe. one time was there once the phrase that her old snows discover is not here but that's funny my guest today knows all about the humor of science the founder of the ig nobel prize and the editor of angels of improbable research magazine marc abrahams joins me now. marc abrahams to founder of the ig nobel price editor of the angels of improbable research magazine hi great to see you again strange times these are with me today tell me they are quite our love your hat. i've heard you say that the problem with signs in general is that it takes itself too seriously and i agree that science shouldn't be all about cancer or atomic research but you're saying strange times but seriously

looking at how things turned out this year don't you think that there is another problem which is we haven't taken science seriously enough. yes i agree with you on both counts the problem with science and everything else is people take it too seriously not seriously enough problem is that every day we hear about things that seem completely foolish and crazy and many of them are foolish and crazy but some of those will turn out to be real and important and it's difficult to tell when you 1st hear about something what it means. you know scientists talented humor is our way to deal with something that is really have eaten alternately with our mortality but also with circumstances that politicians pandemics etc but when a bunch of really smart people gather to celebrate they can nobel do you thing that they laugh or could actually deep inside be some kind of

a defense mechanism and if so against what. i suppose. it has another you know laughter is a strange thing it's a funny thing and we're most interested in laughter that comes because you have seen something that's a big surprise you don't know what to make of it but it's such a surprise it's so far outside your experience that you laugh and now you're paying attention to it and now that you're paying attention to it you can start to try to figure out what it means and what it is so that's what we're playing with mostly. things are easier to digest when there are spiced up with humor in any in any field great teams or things are easier to do just when they're interesting if something's dolly you're not going to just that if it's funny it's interesting at least for the moment but do you feel like humor can make science easier to comprehend is while.

you are can open the door. but when the door is closed you're not going to understand because you don't want to understand why should you think back to when you were a kid there are a lot of kids who really are scared about science they're scared they're going to get a bad grade they're scared that they won't understand things if you're scared of something you're not going to understand. but if you're interested or you think it's funny well if it's funny you're not scared of it so now you'll start maybe thinking about it was it a year experience here or scared as a kid of science and no no i loved it because i thought it was funny it could it so much of it just seemed crazy to me it didn't make sense and so i wanted to know how do you make sense of this and that turned out to make science an easy thing to get more and more involved with and i saw a lot of kids i grew up with were not like that they were scared of it and that was the end of it now the.