A very warm welcome to you youre watching r. T. International with minichiello 1st breaking news from the middle east the United States has assassinated a wrong top military commander in a drone strike in iraq because some solomonic let the revolutionary guards elite could force and was killed following a direct order from u. S. President donald trump the iranian Supreme Leader is vowing a harsh retaliation against washington while the iraqi Prime Minister has condemned the u. S. Strike as i question i got an update earlier from most Senior Correspondent lourdes garcia. This is unprecedented in how how tense things are how both countries are this is this is the abbotts this is the obvious to kill assassinate the man who is referred to as the 2nd most powerful man in iran a potential successor to the Supreme Leader he was killed after arriving at the airport in baghdad the u. S. As he was he was targeted in this operation was preplanned they knew he was coming they knew where to strike that they were targeting it and the food out has been google leaders all over the world officials come out. Against. Carmen deescalation and the reunions convening National Security council they have one message the entire iranian hierarchy that there will be consequences retaliation. The u. S. Act of International Terrorism targeting and assassinating general saloon money the most effective force fighting dies shy says al qaeda at home is extremely dangerous and foolish escalation the u. S. Bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism there is as of yet no indication how exactly the iranians will respond to it respond to this but they havent launched any missiles yet and you know the they are stupid theyre intelligent people they probably understand a war with the United States is the last thing they need but i doubt that the leave this you know without without an answer and so how is the u. S. Justifying the myth while the United States is saying that he was the ultimate bad guy this is this is from the state department this is in American Press that we just killed the worlds number one bad guy this is this is simpson in modeling he was at the forefront of the fight against isis in iraq when it seemed like isis the jihad this would go to take the whole country it was he who helped organize the p. M. S. The Popular Mobilization forces the iraqi civilians banding together to resist sizes and successfully while the army was in shambles as they got their things in order help by the coalition but they defeated isis what the United States has been saying is that he is responsible for the deaths of 517 americans over the years that he was complicit that he had a rule to play in recent in the recent spate of attacks on u. S. Bases culminated in a u. S. Led air strike against syrian and iraq he units military units that again led to this siege of the u. S. Embassy again unprecedented in the green zone a fortified embassy that was that was besieged in. By the way to reign in. Bringing it back proxies as they were being referred to the urge protesters to withdraw to the embassy a little nevertheless the United States said that the threat presented by him was continuing that he had done plenty of bad things and that this was the United States this saying defending themselves at the direction of the president the u. S. Military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u. S. Personnel abroad to by killing customs so in money this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans the United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world reaction is very polarized to this both among u. S. Public Society People are split some are saying this was a stupid escalation that you know pushed america and iran to the brink of war others saying 3 that they support president trumps decision to carry out this attack in the press theres a lot of competing messages messages that contradict each other as well american politicians likewise split youve had president ial candidates coming out and saying that was this is this is a stupid thing to do it was a needless escalation and you have others coming out and saying look the rockies some of them celebrated. Iraqis iraqis dancin in the street for freedom thanks for the general for you moneys no more. American iran should solve their problems outside iraq we do not want them to solve it here we do not celebrate the killing of so the money or anyone else because this will not service at the end of the day. And tell us more about the reaction in the us because apparently it transpires acted unilaterally hair i understand that leading democrats if serious they trump has acted without seeking permission from congress 1st that is something that they have been talking about he didnt notify anyone in congress in the house and the senate they were going to carry out this assassination so he didnt seek any authorize ation we he doesnt have to if theres a imminent threat that is you know. An attack that is going to happen theres no time but in this case there was no evidence presented of an attack and some people in congress are saying why werent we told their administrations has conducted tonight strikes in iraq targeting high level Iranian Military officials and killing Iranian Quds Force commander kasim silly money without enough there is a shoo in for use of military force against iran further action was taken without the consultation of the congress. Trumps immediate comment on this assassination was to tweet an American Flag just just an American Flag and interesting thing one of the one of the 1st responses is a real tweet of his he accused president barack obama of attempting to start a war provoking a war with iran to boost his ratings to boost his poll numbers and now were in a situation where trump is accused of doing so especially with impeachment just around the corner but ultimately well have to wait and see how this all ends whether this will continue to escalate in the lab hinges on irans reaction to this brazen assassination. The u. S. Is now urging american citizens to leave iraq immediately and to not approach the embassy in baghdad the secured green zone where the American Embassy and Iraqi Government are located is in lockdown is on lockdown right now politics professor side Mohammad Marandi from to run University Says the attack is far more than a question. Of this was an act of war the americans killed a high ranking iranian official that wasnt for a general stolen money there probably wouldnt be a syria today and there would be black flags over damascus thanks to the United States and its allies and if it wasnt for general stolen money probably there wouldnt be in iraq today and the capital over the capital we would have had the black sides of isis iraqis except for those bathurst who supported Saddam Hussein in isis supporters who are celebrating the overwhelming majority of iraqis supports general salomone and are grateful to him for helping save the country wherever the United States goes and destroys its all for its all to defend democracy and freedom and the American People which is all nonsense this is the language of a racist euro centric heritage that weve weve been seeing for the last few centuries the same language that we that existed in the 19th the 20th century to justify hate germany plunder death and destruction is being used today by the in the in the different way they disregard sovereignty to disregard the government they disregard the people of iraq they are their utter arrogant behavior is a myth has made the whole region outraged and then they wonder why people hate america. Several countries have condemned the Turkish Parliament decision to send troops to libya theres deep concern from israel greece and cyprus say of a possible escalation of the conflict in the region according to move reckless. Turkeys decision to deploy troops in libya presents a dangerous threat to regional stability the repercussions of such reckless move will be dire for the stability and peace of the entire region and a phone call with the turkish leader the us president raised concerns that foreign interference could further complicate the situation in libya but both agreed to maintain their diplomatic cooperation libya is currently in a dual power regime theres a un banks government of National Accord thats headquartered in the capital tripoli and there is the alternative socalled eastern cabinet headed by general holy for half that the 3rd region is controlled by local tribes and militias libya has been in a state of war since an uprising in 20 elevenths all the ousting and killing of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in recent months the un backed government of National Accord has been losing ground to the rival administration of general Khalifa Haftar who leads the selfstyled Libyan National army general half does forces currently control most of libyas territory including crucial oil and Gas Resources the un backed government formally requested military aid from turkey last month. Libyas neighbors also have major reservations the Egyptian Foreign Ministry is calling on the International Community to respond urgently weve been hearing analysis from turkey and beyond on anchors military plan and its possible repercussions. We see a very soft announcement by the arab league we could see that theyre unified only by name 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 turkeys showing that its not going to shy away and present add one is willing to use his military muscle to get the results he wants at the diplomatic table as well. Made a very important chess move the greeks. Says well the egyptians. Of course are very disappointed by did decision by. Turkeys strategic move will. Bring some. Advantages strategic advantages for turkey we will see the method the manner of how turkey is dealing with this problem and challenges in the coming days if turkey sends more troops then general haftar will also get more support from the governments hes already there are already backing him including and especially egypt and the United Arab Emirates they will send their own proxies or troops or more weapons so in that sense the situation could definitely escalate in a military sense. Still to come among the defining impressions from 29000. 00 in the world was left watching helplessly as not a donkey and after the break we revisit the tragedy and assess how long itll take for frank to have come. Join me every 1st day on the alex simon show and ill be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business im show business ill see you then. Welcome back now the 29000. 00 is done and dusted its time to take stock of some of the defining events of the year. And aprilaire blaze tore through not to dawn cathedral in paris nearly destroying the 850 year old long mark so it depends can reports on just how deeply that was felt in france and how the scars will remain for decades to come. Fronts was shaking to its core in april fully a ravaged the jewel of paris not to dumb. Across the world they was show too with blanket coverage over the place and harry in paris thousands came out to the streets Standing Shoulder to shoulder watching the same trees old cathedral. My heart just dropped like. Are you kidding me it was completely shocking and i was just constantly ok to help with what he would say the tears everything just complete just. Just refreshing cautiously looking for any sort of update and i thought it was gone i thought there was no way you know they were going to put it out at all with. Everyone at work we just kept refreshing the page and seeing what caused it what had happened we couldnt believe that notre dame was on fire we were at home in seattle and we had literally booked our plane tickets to france the night before and was going to be one of the highlights of course it was it was a little bit of a blow really came in the early hours that could be saved but it was. That cost was being counted with a price tag potentially reaching billions of euros money polled in from wealthy benefactors and people chipping in what they could but that provoked anger itself many frustrated that the money was so forthcoming for a building when people were struggling to make ends meet the outrage intensified when the authorities were accused of not being completely upfront about lead contamination in the area following the fire some 450 tons of lead in the roof and the steeple melted during the blaze schools were closed for decontamination but many accuse the state of pushing the reconstruction of the cathedral ahead of Peoples Health and Environmental Defense association decided to take matters into its own hands it accused the authorities of having lacked in their response and in transparency it is a question of establishing who is responsible for this miscommunication which has left the population uninformed on the dangers to which it is exposed in our opinion peoples lives have been in danger since the night of the disaster because the environmental code requires elected officials to provide precautionary information in real time on public airwaves unfortunately. We never heard this advice and people and journalists stayed around the cathedral on the forecourt and whole families stayed on the ground on the terraces with all the windows open watching this disturbing show without knowing that the plumes hitting them consisted of extremely toxic lead dust and were dangerous to health but officials claimed there was no risk and somewhat angry about the coverage of the contamination at the site saying that all Old Buildings were built using leds and there was too much fear mongering dont. You really have to lie on the ground if you want to me this story about lead has been around for a long time thats causing inundation a problem for the not to done destroy those isolated from the tourists travel agents across the world were forbidden in a certain way to come to america because of the risk of contamination which didnt exist 8 months old and this is what surrounds not a huge perimeter fence safeguarding the sites tourist numbers through here though more of a trickle than the flood that they used to be and that has hit the businesses around the cathedral halt to least we have lost we have lost the pilgrims we have problems with the restoration work and with the level of security that is because the building is still not secure and we suffer from all these houses the businesses here have seen their sales figures drop at least by 80 percent during certain periods currently let me the month of december average 70 percent trade is hey want to return to the status quo but the work to secure this so i can restore it to its former glory is expected to take years in the meantime some businesses fear that they may end up on the cheap too just like much of not in 2019. Paris. Being a vegan could be set to make the leap from dietary choice to wear litters belief under british law a courts hearing claims that a man was sacked by the charity he worked for because of his ethical veganism jordi consummate john a claims he was fired after accusing the league against cruel sports of investing in animal testing with its pension fund something it denies before challenging his dismissal he is taking legal action to try and prove that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief that would mean similar to a religion and should be protected from discrimination under the ukase equality act this case if successful will establish the belief in titles and protection from discrimination because we are prepared says how the belief in principle and how judys particular interpretations of it me the required legal test. Just to break this down an ethical vegan is defined by not just excluding animal products for males but also by choosing a particular lifestyle but avoid all things that lead to animal suffering jordi consummate john his former employer says in principle its not against a deacon as im becoming an official belief. The league again screw sports is an inclusive employer and as this is a hearing to decide whether a vegan ism should be a protected status something which the league does not contest it would be inappropriate for us to comment further. We discussed how far Legal Protection should extend with a representative from britains begun society and political commentator andre walker i would like to say my pen should be a damaged and undermined by somebody who insists that you call impacts in one all of the companies we should not be the lowest common denominator if something is ridiculous we should be allowed to call it ridiculous if you want to criticize something we should be able to criticize it as something scientists generally arent and you have a choice to invest in ethical action and hes not saying everybody is just saying he is marching for and i dont rise and are ancient i think the concern is the very real Health Dangers of a fee conducted security when you are a child. It will only just a nice status in clinic and backs children pregnant and breastfeeding women for their people as well i just want to do it because this is the future and i believe its better for the animals for the planet and for help so its something that all of us can do to help combat Climate Change and to be kinder to the animals that we should spend what they see but this is the parent who support the problem is that because obviously there is no financial motive and this is whats been going except on the support for the Climate Change are in my view effectively taken religions they have their it im jealous of people who want to demonize you for being evoked if i go and get a job and they are example require me to wear leather shoes and i have a choice to wear not what if i go into work and say that is my folly but i shouldnt look search im praying every day but by the way i meet steve the cape town fairly state lobster and champagne every day i have a moral and philosophical belief that my lifestyle will be back such things like that spoils. He says i have assignments respect your for your life sounds you have no respect for my silly state lobe stuff and champagne lifestyle and you all you want stuff you almost protect you didnt go on and you wish to observe you dont wish to play in iraq which i think is really the problem it is about trying to do your best to hold on to marks point ation you can compare it to some ridiculous thing that this is the end goal that you thought to be held and for many people that dictates how they need i genuinely do not see why just because you refuse to reach a sense you you should have the right. Sensual i think you are still killing a carrot just as youre killing a rabbit and thats all it would cost to in minds you say that if you have no gun. Then why would you have the right to kill a plant i dont know. So intense that some of the elements. Everybody knows that is not essential never something. Anyone just spectating better i know out of most of your life weve got no right to take away their lives or no reason. I would like to hear your thoughts on this story and Everything Else i do get in touch by following us on social media and even your comments that were back at the top of the hour with the latest headlines see that. Its seemed wrong but old old just told. Me to get to shape out this day you can stick out to it and engage with equals betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart. Just to look for Common Ground the. This idea as you point out the anecdotally cheney fired all the cia agents in the field because they were too sympathetic to the locals and he felt that was a liability in the major media spheres of washington d. C. They dont want those reporters those stars to rub elbows in the great unwashed of the flyover states because they may become sympathetic to the working class they may become sympathetic to the to the disenfranchised. Hello and welcome to cross talk were all Things Considered im Peter Lavelle the nato military alliance is a relic from the cold war back then it was relevant and even necessary today it is an alliance in search of a mission that search has almost completely entailed eastern expansion towards russia but a lingering question remains is the average american and western european interested in a war over the sovereignty of dystonia and montenegro. Cross talking the Atlantic Alliance im joined by my guest loop of a in brussels hes an independent journalist in paris we have emmanuelle gave she is a french lawyer and in oxford we cross to mark owen he is the director of the Crisis Research institute or across the uk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate it lets go to our guest in paris many well you have president mccrone just recently said that nato is brain dead how do you reflect upon that because a nato summit is coming up next week and its been shortened to. 2 days because a lot of people are worried that. Donald trump will start some kind of Dumpster Fire as he tends to do when it comes to nato so how is the Nato Alliance stand right now because you have Jeremy Corbyn going into election mode doubting the alliance the necessity here so i mean is mccrone right is nato brain dead go ahead. Well to be honest i am afraid that this time i find myself on the same page as mr my core which is something its something unusual for me and stopped me right time twice a day its but what we have to look at is that mr michael is saying it is a brand this is true but why because what he wants in bottom line is to make an alliance with germany and to sell our french army to the german that has been agenda since the beginning their big idea is to think europe and to kind of congregate everyone in this type of imperial europe they have as an idea a kind of napoleon type of a. And this is a very big challenge for us french because that would mean obviously losing our me losing our sovereignty so he is using this nato this nato thing which is right to have he has a hidden agenda if i could say which is to bind our army with the german army and this is something us the french have to look after because losing our army means losing our sovereignty means losing our identity so i think were probably going to come back in the 2nd part on what is the real combat today its not communism anymore well know what the civilization issue is and obviously nato is not the one up for it so thats my point of view on that i would say with a lot of market in oxford but i would make the argument that all 27 from United States being the 28 member of nato their sovereignty is compromised as well and if you look at Public Opinion polls its been pretty. Trending