Hello they are watching r. T. International armor is on a lock would welcome to the program. But this baghdad says it is someone in the Us Ambassador over the latest airstrikes on iraq and syria that killed 25 people iraq Officials Say they were not able to prevent the attack with their objections being ignored by washington. I said this was a very dangerous matter and asked to discuss it face to face with the responsible parties not only by phone he said the decision has been made and i am informing you of this. After the attack hundreds of protesters gathered on the streets of the iraqi capital they condemned the u. S. s try some expressed support for the militia who were bombed u. S. Special representative for iraq brian hoke has defended the operation system it was meant to tell reign and aggression on. The u. S. State department has defended the decision to conduct air strikes in iraq and syria saying that this was done to deter the influence of iran in the region now 25 people were killed in the raids and dozens were injured one of the things we want to emphasize is that this was a defensive action that was designed to protect American Forces and american citizens in iraq. The mission of restoring deterrence against in rimi integration now its important to point out that the target of these strikes was an iranian backed militia and according to washington the patience of donald trump regarding tehran and its activities in the region is starting to run out what we did was take a decisive response that makes clear what the president has said for months and months and months which is that we will stand for this long. Because the put american men in jeopardy i would add that in our discussion today with the president we discussed with him other options that are available and i would note also that we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own selfdefense and we deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from iran now the air strikes according to u. S. Officials are retaliation for a rocket attack incur a cook iraq against a u. S. Base that killed an american contractor. Now no one has claimed responsibility for that attack however the pentagon has specifically singled out an iranian backed militia and blamed them for the incident and the death of this u. S. Contractor now the group that was attacked is one of the main shia forces in iraq that was key in the fight against Islamic State and essentially now we have iraq coming forward and saying that these airstrikes are a direct violation of their sovereignty as a country furthermore iran has referred to these recent air strikes which killed 25 people and injured dozens as an act of terrorism now the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary guard corps has actually said that they reserve the right to take revenge and carry out attacks in response to these actions by the United States so this is quite an intensification of the situation in the region all eyes are waiting to see what happens next quite a tense moment. Well staying with developments affecting the middle East Washington has slammed joint navy drills between iran russia and china the u. S. State Department Said its time for sanctions not military games the 3 nations 1st ever joint naval drills that ended on monday took place in the northern part of the indian ocean as well as the gulf of oman and included antiterrorism and antipiracy training key shipping and Energy Supply routes run through the region sparking tension between tehran and washington amid the exercises irans foreign minister jeffords a refitted of moscow for talks as a lover of the top diplomats touched on bilateral relations with irans foreign minister saying theyre at a historic high point but the main focus was the Iran Nuclear Deal officially known as the joint comprehensive plan of action or way that was abandoned by the u. S. Back in 2016 lavrov stated the west must return to compliance with the deal. Sitting on the start because nature the u. S. Is forcing of the countries not to fulfill their obligations despite irans compliance with the reached agreements we demanded that the us and the e. U. Both return to full implementation with the obligations voluntarily and then iran would do the same but if our western partners do not want to confirm their respect for International Law then the g. C. Pioli must be recognized as dead so to be United States is trying to impose its will on other countries and make them violate International Norms and standards as for the european position on the g c p o a politically they supported party in practice they do not do enough to counter the us sanction because we think the europeans should stick to their commitment. Professor said Mohammad Marandi from the university of tehran believes the drills are a message to washington that it can no longer dictate global terms unilaterally. The United States c. Still sees itself as the head of a uniform of world and or wants to see itself as the head of the uniform of world and the europeans of course are. Will abide by the United States no matter whos in charge of the country whether its trump who they most european leaders dislike or anyone else but the reality is that weve moved beyond that stage the United States is on the relative decline countries like iran russia and china are on the rise and the United States is going to have to accept and recognize the new situation and i think that the fact that these 3 countries actually carried out these maneuvers together jointly all 3 together is of major significance and it sends a message to the United States that they can no longer dictate terms well there has indeed been a turban year for iran in that region as a whole walked by tough sanctions and the seizure of tank is looking back his remand with. For terror on the year 29 clicked with the United States got hammered by new stifling sanctions to port in a socalled oil tanker crisis and had to deal with the worst domestic protest in 40 years lets go through it one step at a time. Following its withdrawal from the Iranian Nuclear deal the us continued its sanctions against the Islamic Republic the countrys uncompromising stance swiftly led to an American Military buildup in the region the United States is deploying the u. S. S. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike group and boma task force to the u. S. Central command region sent a clear and unmistakable message to the arabian regime in may and june of 2019 some oil tankers were damaged and some caught fire in the gulf of oman washington immediately blamed to iran in may the rebels in yemen carried out multiple drone strikes on a Saudi Oil Pipeline the u. S. Again stated that it believes iran was behind the attack and continued deploying a different troops over the next 2 months tensions reached a new high when a u. S. Surveillance drone was shot down by the Iranian Military trump had ordered out is very military strike on iran but withdrew his decision minutes before the operation began so avoid the loss of life. Pressure on terror on continued in early july when British Royal marines seize its super tanker off the coast of gibraltar iran responded by capturing british flag tanker as it passed through the strait of hormuz following mutual accusations of piracy threats by iran to close the strait of hormuz and the ensuing panic in the oil markets all ended well as both tankers were eventually released. Despite irans resilience to the u. S. Sanctions their effect has taken its toll the last months of 2019 or more by protests across the country when gasoline prices. Skyrocketed due to the governments decision to cut fuel subsidies so the plan was to direct the additional funds to supporting over 60000000. 00 people in need crowds it still took to the streets it was initially at peaceful rally but it quickly turned violent in some places and resulted in several deaths including Law Enforcement officers now that story its easy even put the country on its old so its a good shutdown to prevent the protests from spreading now lets guess who was the 1st to capitalize on irans civil unrest people enjoy a Better Future when their government begins to respect basic human rights abandons its revolutionary. Posture and its destabilizing Foreign Policy in the region and behave simply like a normal nation hes arabian can a poor jobs or eve dismiss that kind of support saying that it was the us sanctions that caused so much suffering to his people a regime that binds food and medicine for ordinary people including elderly and sick iranians by economic terrorism can never show its disgraceful support for the iranian people despise and the other year under serious pressure life here in tehran continues the internet is back online with all Major Social Networks available and i checked out myself but hardly anyone in iran has any ads out with an adversary Like Washington theyre in for still more thrilling moments in the coming year Ramon Koester of r. T. Terror on. Another Headline News we critics found a genie in a song claims he slowly dying in a u. K. Jail at these regularly tranquilized and is kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day and a phone call to his friend once made on Christmas Eve the jailed publisher made the disturbing revelations. Do you rang me because he spent christmas with me and my family in 2010 while on bail what time ago i think he simply wanted a few minutes of skate around to talk to us because of the memories he had about happy memories he was a slur his speech was slurred he was speaking slowly now julian is a highly articulate very clear person when he speaks and he sounded all full and it was very upsetting to head the idea of him being sedated has come from several people who visited him who clearly need and the British Government have been asked about it and they refuse to address that matter what they say is theyre not mistreating him but clearly hes being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day he sounded awful and he said to me that im slowly dying here and he said that almost from my own why not of course my children his father keeps telling us that his father is telling us this do you know we must stop this what i find so depressing as a country is clearly we harbor Political Prisoners we have Political Prisoners because thats exactly what he is i didnt think that we were the sort of country that mistreated them in this way. A son who was arrested in april and since then medics and u. N. Observers have warned about his declining physical or Mental Health hearing in february will decide on his extradition to the u. S. Where hes accused of publishing classified documents and could face 175 year sentence one smith again thinks the u. K. Government has to explain why a soldier is being treated so badly. Because remember he served the time for the bail charged and he served his time so that hes now on remand its highly unusual to put a remand prisoner in belmarsh when theyre not a threat of a physical violence threat to society i think we need some answers from from the British Government why are they treating him like this why cant we have some independent assessment 100 International Doctors have asked to arrange a visit at least to send some representatives to check on him but that hasnt been allowed nils meltzer the un rocketeer on torture has been very clear about asylum just mistreatment and describes it in the most healing terms and yet his claims very recently in november that the British Government are completely ignored he is request to see julian probably his health properly assess. Now with 2020 just around the corner lets continue our look back at some of the key news events of the year that was. Well lets see what todays topics have in store for us what streets of rage and the mysteriously named mind to games lets see what streets of rage has for Us Latin America hong kong yellow vests protests violent protests were prevalent the world over this year from the yellow vests in paris to the anti beijing riots in hong kong and of course in latin america so lets focus on those shell were picture here depicting exactly what it looked like in one of those cities because the cauldron had more than its fair share of turmoil in 29000 protests rage from venezuela and bolivia to chile in ecuador aunties down a quarter breaks it all down for us. It started as a spark the next thing you know the inferno of revolution is all around you and cant be extinguished that is the south america of 2019. Whats crucial if thats your aim is to find just the right moment to stir up the scent. Venezuelas chaos was the epicenter right after the country reelected president Nicolas Maduro washington pounced challenging the governments legitimacy and trying to provoke a coup. By mike pence Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power and it gracefully and doubt the legitimacy to run venezuela upon the leader of the opposition i think me i swear to formally seen the duties of the National Executive as president of venezuela President Trump officially recognize the president of the Venezuelan National assembly one goh i do is the interim president of venezuela the time is now to support the venezuelan people to recognize the new democratic government led by interim president gore though the safety and security of president and his family are of great importance to the American People so i dont try to hard to win over the military but when it became clear it stood behind a majority washington rolled out some empty threats are you hearing very well that is what i consider getting thing but all options are on the table all of these are open to all options are on the table all options are on the table because. Not to do this as a result of the United States and steamrolled the country with sanctions adding to the suffering of ordinary people already living through economic collapse but is it really democracy that washington and its allies were interested in or perhaps this has something more to do with black gold not at all what is Donald Trumps cases against venezuela the cases bella is the only live in his way now the riches of venezuela its go gas diamonds are in a material riches resource grabbing hasnt only been confined to venezuela in the region. Bolivia seen its own share of unrest this year but there are right wing coup was successful the elected president abel morales forced to step down and flee the country this is why am i resigning so that my opponents cannot continue to myself. Brothers its my duty as an indigenous president and the president of all believe in this to see peace after morale has got the boot senator janine anya is proclaimed herself interim president not exactly a household name before that but whats more important is who had her back and he guesses we pledge our support to the believe in people and to the Transitional Government led by president janine and yes as they prepare for these elections. We support you need 9 years in bolivia as she would to ensure a peaceful democratic transition through free elections and just like in venezuela its ordinary people who are paying the price for regime change. And seeing the parallels heres another one lithium is in high demand in the United States and that valuable resource also happens to be in abundance in bolivia. Chile has also been no stranger to disorder where clashes have been deadly at times thousands have rallied since mid october demanding the president resign and the constitution be revised there have already been widespread reports of torture and unlawful killings following the militarys deployment. But on these protests the u. S. Has been silent maybe its because the president is Sebastian Pinera a harvard graduate whos free market policies have shown hes happy to do business with the u. S. The case is not so different from this next country. At last we have ecuador a country that became engulfed in protests after the government carried out i. M. F. Backed severe austerity policies. Yet again silence from the us and the reason is pretty much the same as with chile the us supported the governments newfound allegiance with the i. M. F. Washington might pick and choose the battles that benefit its interests the most but at the end of the day fire is fire it doesnt care who it burns and when a whole continent is set ablaze it becomes extremely difficult to extinguish and in 2900. 00 latin america wasnt the only continent that went through to malta as period well bring you another recap of this years protests on tuesday d d. For now though lets move on to one of our other topics you remember we had streets of rage a mine gives lets take a look at the mind games were delving into the issue of controlling the way people think and the role of social media in that and particularly facebook for this. Takes a look at how the tech behemoths has become the censor in chief when it comes to what we can and cannot say. Ill tell you what having this job for 6 years has made me report on censorship quite a few times look at this freshman giorno patrolling co asking about facebook censorship at a press briefing hey man you have no idea what awaits you and 29. By the end of the decade look at it the evolution of Online Platforms has gone all the way towards 0 tolerance for offenders even though it all one started down there with pretty much 0 regulation but who decides what exactly makes someone an offender all right lets dig into the 2900 stage of evolution look at these one by one and check out their censorship record. You true work hard on reading their platform of harassment see the latest update to their harassment policy came out in december go on read into it youll find words like veiled threats and ply threats right there warning that whatever thats supposed to mean will be punished and youll find 0 examples and no proper details. Because it was in force these policies seemingly random its tools so one should not trust them to do it now im skeptical one of the late night hosts allowed to gross people and pick on peoples physical appearance but of the you tube is kind so you should use new guidelines they dont set lines and they dont go right. The latest in a series of policy updates after the previous ones you tube didnt hesitate to take action the result record breaking numbers of accounts and videos taken down. 29 facebook really took us all by surprise by showing what it takes to put on a new face not that it looked like they were keen to do it but someone just happened to notice that while trying to dodge a defamation lawsuit facebook prefer to itself as a publisher look at this mature c. E. O. Telling congress his network is a tech company not a media one well that happened before 2019 and the new f. B. I. Gave itself the green light to censor just about anything which theyve been up to quite strenuously although in march when the new zealand shooter live streamed a massacre of 50 people everyone was like where the hell were the moderators or censors or anyone to stop this one other thing i wont call anyone out for consistency but in a recent interview Mr Zuckerberg said no to censoring political ads even if they contain lies what i believe is that in a democracy its really important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying its that they can make their own judgments and i dont think that a private company should be censoring politicians or news however have been blamed for a screwing up a bit of campaigning like when gabbert for instance challenged google for taking down her ads this alarming trend has been growing with tech giants continuing to silence voices and restrict access to information this concentration of power and influence is a direct threat to our democracy by the way did you know about this side to it 29000 saw the list. Facebook moderators claiming to have p. T. S. D. Growing with a former employee suing the social media giant even though the company said it was offering all the required support. Well no point in digging too deep if the storys repeating itself twitter has mastered the art of new era suspensions and bans to the vagueness of the rules probably isnt so much to worry about so you can get in trouble for it can be many things from supporting doing massage to pulling a prank on the fans of the cats movie but just keep in mind what kind of folks you may find among twitters Staff British Army psyops soldier war saudi arabia is tasked with digging into the accounts of the kingdoms critics. Well well keep using all of them anyway right lets wish the industry pioneers well in wherever the volution takes them in the new year. Well that is your news update for now im rose on the low could not be back here in 30 minutes time with a round up of the headlines see if. Theres. A our gildan 2020 should be a whopper. Seemed wrong. Just dont all. Get to shape out just the article and in detroit equals betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. This is boom bust broadcasting around the globe and covering the world of business and finance and the impact upon us all im christiane washington and heres a look at what we have in store for you today should the u. S. And china ease tensions this week to ring in the new year professor richard wolf is on hand today to break down the developments that could be on the horizon for the worlds top 2 economies in another trade development the e. U. As i quote in trade relations with the United States according to the unions new trade commissioner hillary for which the British AmericanBusiness Association lends a 2nd hand to break down this and other major developments in the euro zone and later 2019 has been a shining year for gold as the price has jumped on economic turmoil David Mckelvey any of the National Media financial help us dig into the sector and how its been competing against other asset we have so much to get to today lets go. Stocks are falling across the board from their all time highs monday the penultimate trading day of the year equities have enjoyed a strong December Santa rally and Oil Prices Continue to trade higher on china u. S. Optimism the pullback today is most likely due to the fact markets are in the midst of a liquidity and news desert during those final few days of the year chinese vice premier and top negotiator leo will visit washington this week where he is expected to sign phase one of the agreement however a political concerns continue to bubble in the background as neither side has released any specific details of the trade agreement and no text has been released while the u. S. T. R. Has released a mere fact sheet outlining what it claimed to be in the deal which included 80 dollars 1000000000 dollars in ad purchases over 2 years analysts consensus is that these figures do not add up and remain. Impossible benchmarks to fulfill it looks like the best we can hope for in the space one of the d. A trade deal is merely a point of truce in the bitter trade war rather than any real substantial changes which really begs the question of why even start a trade war if at the end nothing changed and youve wasted an entire year of economic productivity to help us answer this question and more we bring in professor Richard Wolfe host of economic update so richard this entire thing has been political theater from the start and you called it and now theyve been dragging this phase one out for a long time a signing ceremony translations legal scrubs more and more fluff trickling little bits of information every single day to give the markets an illusion of progress but is this thing actually going to get signed i mean multiple analysts have already came out and said that the benchmark exports set by the u. S. Are simply unfeasible as they have exceeded that of 2017 why would china agree to Something Like that. Well i think for the chinese its a question of gaining time for them this entire stuff started with the initiative of mr trump its political theater weve said for a long designed to make mr trump appear for his reelection bid as the protector of the United States making the charlie knees and for that matter everybody else in the world give the United States a better deal beating up on the foreigners for cheating us thats as old as methuselah in the world of