♪ >> welcome to live from paris. these are the headlines. from london to st. petersburg, measures against the delta variant of covid-19 ross the world pick cases are growing. insiders say the strikes follow five drone attacks on u.s. forces in iraq since april. strikes already being reported. more that two more. italy wants a special international task force to

tackle the issue of islamic terrorism across africa. a special summit of room. the u.s. secretary of state says the u.s. is in favor. we will analyze the implications of this coming up. this is live from paris. ♪ thank you very much for being with us on "france 24." let's bring you our first story this evening. covid-19 deaths across moscow and st. petersburg in russia hitting new highs. the figures, mids russia's third wave of infections. medical staff blaming it on the country's sluggish inoculation campaign. a poll show that 60% of russians did not plan on getting

inoculated. >> as russia battles a third wave of covid-19 the death tolls in the country to hotspots moscow and st. petersburg reached record highs. moscow recorded 124 deaths and 24 hours. medics are blaming russia's slow-moving vaccination plan which has seen 23 million people in russia receive at least one dose out of a population of 144 million, despite vaccines having been available since december last year. only 14%% of moscow's residents have been inoculated. >> we saw a drop in the numbers in march and april, we all believed everything was over. although at that time it was clear that unfortunately we weren't keeping up with our plans for mass vaccination. it was alarming. i think that what we are expressing now, this third wave, is the result of our

sluggishness. >> moscow mayor said on monday the highly infectious delta variant represents 90% of new cases and introduce new restrictions in the capital. businesses have been ordered to send nonvaccinated employees home and restaurants are only permitted to provide indoor services to vaccinator customers or once and who have been infected in the previous six months. st. petersburg reported a record 110 covid-19 deaths on monday. organizers insist the match will go ahead with some restrictions tightened including the banning of food sales. russia's nationwide infections grew o n monday bringing the total caseload since the beginning of the pandemic to 5.5 million, the fifth highest in the world. >> the situation in russia. let's go to the u.k. there has been an increase of 70% in covid cases over the past

seven days. in spite of the news, the new health secretary in the u.k. said the final lifting of restrictions will still take place on july 19. he says the aim is for two third s of adults to of had a double jab by then. northern ireland makes their own independent decisions . the situation in france, there has been 509 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours. reporting 44 coronavirus deaths in hospitals over the last 24 hours. france is reporting 1,304 people in intensive care units, suffering with covid-19. that's down on that number that register the previous day. in france, concern grows over potential wave of infections of the delta variant. delta first discovered in india.

several clusters have been detected. experts believe the highly contagious can vary -- variant could be the dominant strain by the end of august at health authorities are calling for mass vaccination campaigns in affected areas. brian quin with this. brian: two peopleged 42 and 60 dead at this hospital as the department in southwest france is hit by the delta variant of covid-19. both victims had underlying conditions, neither was vaccinated. speeding up vaccination programs is at the heart of france's strategy against new variants, with a push restaurant -- push recommended as soon as cases are detected in the region. [speaking french] it is anb uphill battle. the number of first doses atr ministered is averagingian: 210,000 per day. the effect clearly visible at

this vaccination centered. >> what is now the race to vaccination must be won according to this epidemiologist. >> the government is now considering vaccination drives and vacation destinations this summer. >> australia's reimposed anti- covid measures, total lockdown in sydney, perth, and darwin. figures are low compared to other parts of the world such as france but the low levels of vaccination has contributed to the problem -- just 5% of

the population is fully vaccinated. cases of the delta variant continue to grow. let's bring in ta professor of for allergy. we appreciate your time -- a professor of virology. we appreciate your time. as a layman, this sounds alarming. what is your take? >> you have to be very careful of tripping new properties to the delta variant. the fact is that all of the variants so far have increased the transmissibility of the virus. that io -- that is, they make it a bit easier for people to become infected but they do not fundamentally change the disease. and they do not fundamentally change the ability of the vaccine to prevent disease. and so, i think, although it is concerning. it is something that needs to be washed. -- be watched. what we should not forget is that a variant is a variant of the same virus. it is essentially the sars2-cov

virus that is still circulating and that circulation is in naïve populations people not immune either by prior infection or by vaccination, and that remains the take-home message. get vaccinated. raise the immunity in the population, and you will control all variants, just as you did the original strain. >> that is a very clear message. we thank you for that. also, we thank you for your calm analysis. from where we are sitting, it seems very alarming. why is infection spreading? te can you tell us more about that? >> if you remember the history of the variants, we had the brazilian, south africa and now the delta variant. each of these has essentially the same types of mutation in the virus which makes it a little bit easier to transmit among people. it is in fact evolution in

action. this is the virus gaining a little bit of ability to spread in the population as time goes on. but it is still a variant of the same thing. as i say, the important thing to remember is that the key two factors involved are the presence of the virus and the presence of a naïve population. the current spread of the delta is undoubtedly because of the transfer of individuals between clusters of current infections. in the u.k., for example, we have a large diaspora of people from the indian subcontinent. that's clearly where the virus came from. while travel was allowed. and then it spread out from the u.k., and directly from the subcontinent to the other areas that are currently seeing infection. it is natural that the best rus aund will be the one that spreads when it finds naïve individuals, but that is the key point. these iividuals are naïve and the way to get over this

problem is to raise the vaccination rate and raise the immunity in the population. >> can you qualify what naïve in this sense means? i take it is it is about people who are not vaccinated. >> exactly, so. naïve means that you do not have any immune response that can protect you against the virus. you have no antibodies. that is the definition of a pandemic. a pandemic strain is something that has emerged from a reservoir and got into the human population where it has never seen that virus before. so, there is no immunity, and the virus can spread without any hindrance t. the way to stop it is to get that immunity in place. >> thank you, sir, very much for joining us. and taking the time to give us that explanation for how and why

and what needs to be done. we at "france 24" continue to respect all social measures that we can as people but also as journalists who report what happens and bring you the best information. thank you once again for joining us. next here at live from paris, pro-iran militia. a rocket from the u.s. military base in syria. this is breaking news. it seems to be the promised revenge for the weekends airstrikes by the u.s. on iran aligned militia in iraq and syria. the u.s. is strongly defending those strikes. iraq and syria has condemned them as violations of their sovereignty. inside sources in washington said that they came after five drone strikes on u.s. personnel in iraq since april. >> aerial footage shows the moment when u.s. airstrikes destroyed annumber of buildings, including weapons

storage facilities, in a syrian village along the border with iraq. another location was hit along the border, and a third on the syrian side. the u.s. had the -- said the attacked the groups linked to iran. the biden administration says the military action was in response to drone strikes against american troops saturday in the kurdish region. >> necessary, appropriate, deliberate action that is designed to limit the risk of escalation, but also to send a clear deterrent message. >> while the u.s. describes the strikes as defensive, iraq said it should not be what it called an. arena for settling scores in a statement, the prime minister said, "we condemn the u.s. air attack that targeted a site on the iraqi-syrian

border which represents a violation of iraqi sovereignty." iran delivered a rebuke of the u.s. through its foreign ministry spokesman. >> what the u.s. is doing is disrupting the security of the region. and one victim of this instability will be the u.s. itself. >> this is the second time that u.s. president joe biden has ordered such attacks against iran-backed militia groups since taking office five months ago. >> alarmed by the spread of islamic state across africa, italy's prime minister said this monday. he wanted to set up an international task force to counter the threat. the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken -- speaking at renewing efforts to renew combat against extremists. >> there is a need for countries

to take action to repatriate foreign fighters that come for this country, -- those countries, to rehabilitate and reintegrate where appropriate. and there is some urgency to this. i noted in the meeting a number of countries that have taken very concrete steps, including italy as well as the united states, but also a number of other countries. , for example, in central asia as well as in the balkans, that have taken important steps, but more work clearly needs to be done. >> antony blinken speaking in rome. all coming after emmanuel macron announced a winding down of operation -- the operation against islamist terrorists. it can also signal a sea change in u.s. foreign policy, a commitment to this plan. >> think what the u.s. secretary of state was referring to is these some 10,000 or so isis

fighters that are now imprisoned by the syrian defense forces, and they include women and their children. and mr. blinken was very clear that the situation of them being imprisoned is simply untenable . it can't persist indefinitely. he wants to see these people retriated. then each country can decide whether they should be rehabilitated or prosecuted. now, countries such as france, as well as britain have been reluctant to repatriate these prisoners, because they are concerned about domestic terrorism issues. perhaps bringing these people back may result in more attacks on foreign soil, and ao because it is a very unpopular move. their voters, their domestic situation. their voters are concerned about their own safety in about bringing terrorists onto their soil. we will have to see how much uptake there will be on this

request, but clearly, the u.s. sec. state making it very clear he wants -- the u.s. secretary state that he wants allies to do their part with the fighters and those jails and syria. >> the analysis in rome. before we go to business, let me remind you france -- in the european football championships. it is now 1-1 in this -- what a knockout game. more on this later in this program. time to turn our eye to business. who better than "france 24"s cole? >> great to see. >> i the president's inner circle is talking more more about putting major reform on the table. >> we're talking about pension form. very controversial. set aside at the beginning of the covid crisis. whether it should be revived has

been debated for months. according to a french paper, the talks reaching a fever pitch. one proposal was a hike in the earliest possible age in which most workers can retired from 62 to 64. among others, it is backed by the economy minister. >> after being shelved for a year, emmanuel macron's'pension reform i back on the table. the idea of increasing the retirement age from 60 to to 64 is gaining traction. public opinion remains mixed. >> i like my job. so working until i am 64 is not an issue. >> i 'm retiring as soon as i can. >> i'm prepared to protest to avoid reaching a point where we're still working at 70. >> according to french newspapers, the government wants to move fast and put its proposal up for a vote in the coming months.

the plan was he a transitional phase over the next three years. people born in 1961 would work for six months longer, while those born in 1964 would see the retirement age shoot up by two years, a move which could see people back on the streets protesting like the end of 2020. under a year to go until the presidential election. many trade unions are against the idea of reviving pension reform. >> the president needs to explain to people born in 1961 who should be retiring in two years, that they will work six months longer. for everyone else who is less than five years away from retirement, they might be working year or even two years longer. >> the government reportedly hopes the reform could save the state 14 billion euros by 2026. it could be proposed as early as this autumn. >> staying in france where president macron held the fourth

virtues france summit, a gathering with foreign executives to show off the country's business credentials. also to encourage firms to announce new investments. this year, they feature 22 new projects worth 3.35 billion euros. one of the highlights, chinese firm planning to build a plant -- to supply batteries for electric cars. and a logistics center that it says will create more than 2000 jobs. some of monday's trading action. wall street with a muted start to the week. the s&p with modest gains, shares on the dow finishing in red. the nasdaq in positive territory. that is where facebook listed shares. soaring to new highs after a federal judge dismissed a complaint of antitrust regulators. the tech giants shares up 4%, hitting $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time ever. staying on the topic, according

to politico, the biden administration plans to roll out an executive order forcing -- focused on ensuring fair competition. it could be filed this weekend and aimed at weakening the power of dominant firms in the country's biggest sectors and banking to air travel amid growing interest in strengthening antitrust laws. the white house has said no plans have been finalized. finally to greece where authorities have rolled out a new incentive to boost vaccinations. according to a plan by the prime minister, greeks under the age of 26 will receive 150 euros of credit that will be -- that will go on a digital wallet. it is also designed to lift the struggling tourism sector. you will have to submit an application first.

>> all kinds of incentives with the u.s. to get vaccinated. doughnuts, beer. >> cannabis in new york, too, wasn't it? a joint for a jab. >i'm wondering there will be soe enterprising greek who gets 10 jabs and gets a grant of credit. there must be a process put in place to stop that. i hope. thank you very much. great to see you, sir. think very much, indeed. time for focus. alternative medicines have their place. many are integrating such -- into treatment plan. but in india has become a hindu nationalist agenda. many medicines have been sold without any scientific basis. this from "france 24's" natalie

-- >> this shop in the heart of delhi sells alternative medicines. their top-selling product is something they claim fights covid-19. >> it definitely provides very good protection against coronavirus. if anyone has symptoms, they take this and it works. i've used it myself. it is 100% effective. >> priced at six euros it contains tablets and a nasal spray. he sells 25 of these everyday. >> we know the third wave is coming. people are scared and worried about another way. that is why people are buying it. >> no scientific studies have proved the efficacy of this treatment.. the product is sold by a brand owened a self acclaimed yoga guru turned businessman.

his annual turnover is over one billion euros. the influential yoga entrepreneur is frequently seen on indian television. his cure has been endorsed by the indian health minister, who is also the chair of the w.h.o.'s executive board. the message is clear -- india's hindu nationalist government is aggressively pushing ayurveda, a 5000 year old alternative medicine, as an alternate to modern medicine. > >> we're working hard to reestablish ayurveda as modern science throughout the world. and when w do, it will be a moment of pride and glory for india. >> he has made several controversial. claims about modern medicine the latest being that science-based treatments have caused cod deaths.

>> mainstream medicine is a bankrupt science. thousands of people died from taking medicines. >> his remarks drew outrage from the medical community. our request for interviews with the health minister remain unanswered. doctors are concerned about the government support for pseudoscience. >> you keep quiet. this is a business that is doing it. and you are making -- poor patients, uneducated patients. they say this is the best medicine. >> since coming to power, prime minister modi has been promoting alternative medicines, especially medicines made from cow products. hindus consider cows sacred, and believe in the therapeutic value of their milk and dung. modi has even formed a new

commissioner with a budget of 130 million euros for research and development of cow products. on of the beneficiaries is a company that owns a cow -- with 500 cows. >> here we keep the cows in the open. >> he believes cows' milk, dung, aand urine fueling benefits. >> if you have diabetes -- pain, this will be beneficial for all of these diseases. >> here produces soaps and tablets. he sells it through his youtube channel, even though none of these treatment have been scientifically verified.

>> with the previous governments , we weren't able to put for the issues of natural medicines. but the vast with some of our indian civilization. but now people have become very knowledgeable. people watch youtube. they go on facebook, google. with that, people get connected within seconds. >> with the onset of the pandemic, alternative remedies have been flooding social media, and there's a wsite dedicated to fact checking -- they are trying to debunk fake information. for her, the aim of the government's agenda is clear. >> scientists used to promotion so many old meds that are actually debunk -- old myths that are actually debunked. they claimed we had surgery 5000 years ago, but anesthesia was not even there. it was also used to give

emphasis on nationalism and all these political ideologies. >> more and more indian scientists fearing ming science with religion and politics could turn into a dangerous concoction. >> our special focus in delhi. in india. stay with us. more to come. live from paris. ♪

democracynow.org 06/28/21 06/28/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! one of the main witnesses in the extradition casegainst wikileaks founder julian assange has admitted he made false claims against assange in exchange from a -- for immunity. then former presidential candidate and alaskan senator mike gravel has died at the age of 91. he was fiercely