Broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our 2 International Thomas certainly glad to have you with us we start with a very important developments in the middle east this hour reuters is reporting the u. S. Has struck iranian linked targets at Baghdad International airport it is also reported that a high profile iranian general so the money was killed in that strike along with an Iraqi Militia. And as more. It appears that washington is confirming that it did indeed carry out air strikes against iran linked forces in iraq now at this point were hearing that 2 vehicles were hit outside the airport in baghdad and 5 members of the Popular Mobilisation forces were hit as well as 2 additional guests and that among those killed was qassam a solomonic the leader of the could force of the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps a very prominent figure in iran that he apparently has been killed in this strike that took place outside of the Baghdad Airport this comes its important to note in the aftermath of an announcement from mark aspart the u. S. Secretary of defense that the United States was planning action against Iranian Forces in the region and that the u. S. Say it believed that iran was planning a strike against the United States this is what we heard from mark as for hours beforehand through some indications so that they may be planning additional attacks if that happens and by the way if we get word to the taxes some type of indication will take preemptive action as will to protect American Forces to protect american lives now on tuesday a crowd of protesters stormed the u. S. Embassy in baghdad in response to the usa said it would deploy 750. 00 more u. S. Troops to the middle east furthermore 100. 00 u. S. Marines were moved from kuwait to protect the embassy in a show of force we had the United States helicopters flying over the compound firing flares as kind of a warning of protesters the embassy on rest came in the aftermath of a u. S. Strike against forces in iraq in syria they say have ties to iran 25 people were killed dozens were injured in the aftermath of this strike we had protests at the u. S. Embassy. In baghdad. However we have donald trump on twitter iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost or damaging its any of our facilities they will pay a very big price this is not a warning it is a threat happy new year as tensions escalate in the middle east the United States continues to blame iran for incidents and say that it will respond to this pattern of tension between the United States and iran tension that has been escalating seems to be continuing now that we enter the new year. Donald trump thinks that foreign interference could complicate the situation in libya he raised his concerns during a call with president to one of turkey both leaders agreed to maintain diplomatic cooperation in the conflict this comes after the Turkish Parliament voted on thursday to back the un recognized government in libya giving a green light to a Troop Deployment there in libya has been in a state of war since protests in 2011 and the ousting of the countrys leader Moammar Gadhafi in recent months the un backed government of National Accord has been losing ground to the rival administration of general. Who leads the Libyan National army general us forces currently control most of libyas territory including crucial oil and Gas Resources the un back to government meanwhile formally requested military aid from last month and the arab league believes the deployment of turkish troops will further escalate the conflict in libya neighboring egypt has also strongly condemned the decision saying it would hold turkey fully responsible for any negative repercussions artist as more. He knows at this emergency station took place to soften in and we did see opposition from the Main Opposition Party and then major concern. An israeli that it will tensions in libya and that is a concern thats been expressed here across the region that number one we could see the libyan situation becoming more and more inflated and at the same time tensions trickling over elsewhere into the region now the initial mandate we understand is that troops will be sent for a period of one year of course and chris saying that this deployment is vital for turkey for her interests in libya and also her interests in the Eastern Mediterranean last month an agreement was signed between and libya and according to the turkish president in that agreement he was requested by the tripoli Prime Minister fires to send such troops the government has been embroiled in both her fighting with the military command of tar and his libya National Army now theyve been unable to reach the city center of tripoli but there has been particularly in recent weeks a lot of fighting around the capital. Turkish political analyst use of air him and told us feel as if it has exhausted nonmilitary options. Turkey doesnt want defeat or at least turkeys not going there to combat at least not initially i expect a very immediate deployment of 200. 00 marines there to serve as a stopgap at least raise the cost of hopped hours of pensive tripoli knowing that there is a turkish presence knowing that if any of them are harmed there would be a much greater retaliation from making the pop star and his think twice before bombing bombing tripoli president add one has tried to reach out to his nato allies especially his e. U. Allies multiple times this is basically a last resort right now when diplomacy doesnt work unfortunately there comes a time where you have to flex your hard power and there is an important saying what happens on the military field heeds the diplomatic table were seeing turkey become more and more now the major player in not only libya in the north africa and the east and the middle east turkey is showing that its not going to shy away and president add one is willing to use his military muscle to get the results he wants at the diplomatic table as well. A senior u. N. Official has launched a scathing attack on the United States over its ongoing detention of whistleblower Chelsea Manning saying her treatment amounts to torture special reparatory notes are made the claim in a letter to the u. S. Government which was written in november but has just only now come to light. The practice of coercive depreciation of liberty for civil contempt involves the intentional infliction of progressively severe mental and emotional suffering for the purposes of coercion and intimidation at the order of judicial authorities such deprivation of liberty does not constitute a circumscribed sanction for a specific offense when an open ended progressively severe. Measure of coercion fulfilling all the constitutive elements of torture or other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Chelsea manning was a u. S. Military Intelligence Analyst but was arrested in 2010 for supplying classified information to wiki leaks she was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison president obama commuted her sentence just before he left office but she was arrested again last year for declining to testify against wiki leaks publisher Julian Assange lawyer and activist kevin zeese explained to us how the law is being used to to coerce manning. In a grand jury which is a secret process before someone is indicted or you before a prosecutions occurring to determine whether someone should be prosecuted this is a power of the court to coerce someone into testifying now this law can all allow a person in the United States to be held for the length of the grand jury in order to coerce them to testify before the grand jury and no longer serves the purpose it was intended to serve its now become a weapon of prosecutors it was initially designed to protect people who are being investigated the reason theyre kept secret because theyre trying to protect people they investigated before they were indicted so you dont know that theyre being investigated but no longer serves their purpose and now serves the purpose of being a tool for prosecutors thats abused and i think Chelsea Manning is a victim of that abuse the report by Niels Meltzer does give an Additional Air of legitimacy to the case of manning to really back up all of the things that mannings supporters that its own supporters have been saying now for over 6 months this is unjust this is unfair theyre trying to create something new this is the whole point of coerced trying to coerce manning to come up with something that the o. J. Mused in the u. K. As well in the case of the songes more like more resembles a Banana Republic style facade of the state judicial apparatus this is all part of the campaign refrain you can to reframe julius on and when he leaks as it is from a journalist and a publication to being a cyber criminal you know hostile foreign intelligence agencies the entire case all the indictments against dishonor are based on a frame in principle and they are trying to get Chelsea Manning to give them something to actually make that narrative work and shes not shes not volunteering anything and this is frustrating the us system tremendously and. Join us on just not very much better he is also behind bars in a british prison after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in london where he had spent the previous 7 years taylor comments. Few buildings in the walls have. As much scrutiny as this one here at the doorway and. In those 4 walls 7 years plus the most famous whistleblower who time. Until age 2019 the 48 year old was sensationally dropped out. For the wiki leaks found that this was a huge the trial by the latin American Country that had sheltered him since 2012 aquittal said the relations had soured with the songe and his bad behavior trick of them opening the door to the police and revoking his asylum but its worth noting that just a bit acquittals bank account gotten only mighty boost with a 4200000000. 00 loan from the i. M. F. What the u. S. Has huge voting rights. And prison in the capital now. If its to be sentenced for jumping bail back in 2012 but many are saying that what hes actually been handed is a death sentence because over 60 doctors wrote an open letter to the u. K. Government saying that he might well die in prison britain for its part denies any wrongdoing the allegations mr son she was subjected to torture and founded and hold false the u. K. Is committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that no one is ever bought it but loved its defense rings hollow in light of the reports by Many Organizations including the new web which claims that as a Scientist Health continues to deteriorate authorities are simply standing idly by the blatant and sustained arbitrariness shown by both the judiciary and the government in this case suggests an alarming departure from the u. K. s commitment to human rights and the rule of law unless the u. K. Urgently changes course and alleviates the inhuman situation mr sanders continued exposure to arbitrariness and abuse may soon end up costing him his life but as sanchez battle for his wellbeing is not only fight on his hands ever since wiki leaks exposed gross misconduct by the Us Government washington has been pushing for his extradition on espionage charges giving him a helping hand the British Government despite International Outcry the u. K. Home secretary signed a us extradition request putting us on that one step closer towards being charged for publishing classified information and conspiring to hack the top of my computer the 18 charges that washington has put forward could carry a maximum sentence of 175 years behind bars the reaction all over the world people are crying foul they say that this is not a case about punishing a crime but of silencing a voice. Surely honor singled out for special treatment for one reason only he is a truth teller hes such an innocent important man is because he is a Freedom Fighter however much you dislike because. His case is the most important for Media Freedom this is just. Miss rule of law and operation. Washingtons bid to get asylum stateside was also helped by not the european country sweden the scandinavian nation was investigating a Rape Allegation against the whistleblower and would have been within its rights to request his extradition to face trial since that case predated the u. S. Request london would have been obliged to send a songe to stockholm fast but sweden has now closed that investigation conveniently removing the final obstacle for the americans funny how it all wiped out a songes extradition hearing is set for factory 2020 but in light of these recent targets of the battles fears are growing that does little charts of play just goes to show up you know what and of course what the United Nations special report or tortures how corrupt and stress that the entire system in the u. K. Including the judiciary and the media has to go on when it comes to julian. You know before you call course earlier this year this sort of was a confirmation that what neil smelters said seems to be true that julian was. A lot of attention was fair trial into while one always hopes that made justice will prevail u. S. Authorities a rabs bad a point wired for a start so it might well turn out that when a country is to secrets hard risk of being exposed just as it is what the. Up top potations. Ati. China has reportedly suspended a joint shanghai London Stock Exchange project over britains position on protest in hong kong which some in beijing view as meddling and the link up in question was launched in june last year and was meant to enable british and chinese firms unprecedented access to each others markets Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson was a vague when asked about the matter but expressed hopes for further cooperation between the countries. Involved we hope the u. K. Will provide a just open and nondiscriminatory Business Environment for Chinese Enterprises and create conditions conducive to principal corp between china and the u. K. In various fields the backdrop to this has been the months of protests in hong kong antigovernment demonstrators in the former british colony have been calling on london to intervene while china has continually stressed the International Community including the u. K. That it is a purely domestic issue more than a 1000000 people reportedly turned out for a demonstration in hong kong for the new year around 400 arrests were made. Financial commentator Charlie Boyle believes that if the project has been suspended it was all about sending a message. Its certainly going to be an interesting year i dont think its particularly you know significant economically though right now but it certainly sends a signal i think the chinese have also started to realize especially in the last couple of years that we are entering a global recession whatever that whatever form that takes whether its the next month or the next couple of years and china is even quite a good position especially with with. Looking for reelection later this year and hes backtracking on all a lot of that stuff and it just makes sense for them to send a message to the u. K. That theyre on the radar as well especially at this important time for england the u. K. Rather. The sputnik a news agency has announced that it is shutting down its bureau in the estonian capital tallinn after dozens of its employees resigned saying that they fear criminal prosecution arties medina has more. This but i think agency published a statement on the 1st of january saying 35 of its staff and a star on the air had terminated their labor contracts and resigned fearing possible criminal prosecution now the Sputnik Agency in astronomy is controlled by the russian state Media Organization that i. C. C. Void unfortunately experience dictates that despite the apparent absurdity of the governments threats criminal prosecution of journalists is a reality in todays europe last month a telling a story just told. That stuff members could be prosecuted due to the european sanctions against russia and if that would have happened they would be facing up to 5 years behind bars now moscow sees this demand as an obvious attempts to silence the russian president commented on the situation he offered support to the journalists who work for the agency. You do a lot. Of its you can go unnoticed im very surprised because russia is always accused of rules including pressure on independent media. They accuse us of this is cynical measures such as restrictions cant work because you will hold those who do schooled between the countries we cant allow it you must try to work in those countries the risk of your information is stunning and government continues to insist that it is not doing anything wrong with the countrys foreign minister said that targeting sputnik was about enforcing e. U. Saying sions and. Estonian officials also froze the assets and asked ploy used to vacate the offices that they were renting by the end of february now or just on the us said that they plan to appeal to a number of International Organizations we consider their actions towards this to be boys. Such International Organizations as the un the council of europe unesco and e. C. H. Are demanding a proper sessoms of this unprecedented case a violation of freedom of speech in recent years and measures to ensure the right of journalists to carry out their professional activities and concerns about this situation have been forced by a number of european officials in particular at the o. S. C. E. Representative on freedom of the media called on in standing up to refrain from against journalist meanwhile. The website will not be completely shut down it was reported that the website will continue as work assets will be reorganized in a way that avoids permanent pressure from the Estonian Authority this. A switch our focus to sudan now where 18 people are confirmed dead as a result of a military plane crash on thursday that is according to a Sudanese Army spokesperson 4 children are reported among those killed the crash took place in the region of Western Darfur 5 minutes after takeoff the aircraft was delivering aid to the region which has been rocked by a tribal conflict recently according to the local media sudanese minister of justice narrowly escaped the disaster having left the plane just a few minutes before takeoff Officials Say the cause of the crash is yet to be determined but that investigation is in progress. To recap of our breaking news story from iraq this hour where rocket attacks were conducted near Baghdad International airport now Iraqi Militia has confirmed the death of one of its leaders and of the top iranian general soleimani in that strike it is also reported that the pentagon is awaiting d. N. A. Tests to confirm that 2 high profile targets were indeed killed by what is being reported as a u. S. Drone attack that all comes as tensions flare between iran and the u. S. In the region we will bring you all of the developments on this major story at the top of the hour you are watching our 2 international. Seem wrong. To shape out just days after. The trail. Find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. The above is the but if she will when you post the budget than i did the dishes at the bottom or in those the g. s new speech you see me leads you believe truth. About that. He has something. In the news that he that is or that instance involves. A lot of human. As it bites. As it is to me as if. The. Last. Cabinet foundation doing so. Little. Greetings and sell you taishan is welcome to 2020 hawk watchers i hope i hope you all had a beautiful state new years celebration with your favorite Family Friends and or pets i have missed you will admit ive missed you all so what so lets ask ourselves now though what has been happening since we last saw each other well it appears that just a few days before we were drinking champagne and kissing strangers in times square the wheelers and dealers inside the white house and the pentagon decided it was a good time to drop some bombs on iraq and syria once again last sunday the guardian reported that according to the pentagon the attacks were defensive strikes against the as bold Militia Group which u. S. Officials said was backed by iran 2 days after a u. S. Civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi Military base and as physic. Says taught us for every action there was a reaction and in reaction to the United States airstrikes killing at least 25. 00 of these militia fighters in response to the death of just one u. S. Contractor many unite rock took action and that actions was a massive 6000. 00 plus protest in front of the u. S. Embassy in iraq a protest that included a small siege on the embassy the Washington Post reported that members of the u. S. Trained Iraqi Security forces stood by as supporters of the cut table hezbollah militia surged into the usually heavily guarded green zone breached the main Embassy Reception area and then set it on fire naturally all this led to a tweet off between u. S. President donald trump who blamed iran for the protests and embassies and the Embassy Siege and iran simply leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who called bollox trumps theory tweeting out that guy has tweeted that we see around responsible for the events in baghdad and we will respond to iran 1st you cant do anything 2nd if you were logical which youre not youd see that your crimes in iraq afghanistan have made nations hate you who yes my friends it appears that despite our best hopes twitter will still be the diplomatic tool of the 21st century so with tensions once again rising it appears that war and conflict in the middle east may well be washingtons new years resolution as we roar into the roaring 2000 twenties and start watching the hawks. Like you that i got. Welcome everyone watching the hawks i am tyrrel ventura and joining me today for our Weekly Panel Discussion on the news of the week is the host of the world according to judge the former minnesota governor Jesse Ventura author and editor at large for salon dot com the one and only walk ins are to america correspondent Rachel Blevins and American Sports correspondent Stephen Chris tacos and weve got a full show for you we go from war to new years eve shootings to n. B. A. Commissioners weve got a whole lot to get to but 1st lets start with the recent protests and siege of the u. S. Embassy in iraq and look almost a meeting at least since the start of this the u. S. Spin machine jump led by President Trump put all of the blame on the protests on iran and iranians backed militias in iraq lets get the big huge monstrous elephant out of the room and on the ass this panel. Are we seeing happening in iraq right now a harbinger of a potential war with iran using iraq as the battlefield ill start with you jesse. Well of course it is you know you have to look at it the Congress Just appropriated 850000000000. 00 to the department of defense which should be called d the department of off friends and theyve got to have a way to spend all that money now allegedly theyre trying to get us out of afghanistan but were a war culture now so we have to stay at war so they have to develop a new war if theres not going to be one in afghanistan now all get political for a moment defy were president i would welcome that 850000000000 did the department of defense but rather than spending it out aircraft carriers and rockets and weapons of mass destruction i would go out you spend 200000000000. 00 on those machines that clean up the ocean then id spend another 50000000000. 00 on training the United States navy how to use them and we would start a war on cleaning up the ocean guess what the rest of the world might like us again but what are the chances of bad no of course were going to go to war again because the