us finds itself at the center of the covert $900.00. cases that any other country new york accounts for half of the national total of the 40 percent surge in hospital admissions in just a single day. is nothing compared to this we were open waiting for patients to carpool never. they just get. by dealing with a health crisis on home soil the u.s. is also ramped up pressure on venezuela president nicolas maduro of terrorism and offering a $15000000.00 reward for his capture. pile up. with hospitals. struggle to cope with the impact of the coronavirus plan that.

french police unions voiced their anger against the government over the lack of protective equipment for offices threatening to stop them forcing the nationwide. global news update this is. well let's start with an update on the scale of the covert 900 pandemic more than half a 1000000 cases have now been registered worldwide 24000 lives have been lost so far 126000 people have recovered from the virus the u.s. now has the largest number of confirmed infections which outstrips even china and italy. a growing number of countries and forced the partial or complete lockdown to control the spread of the virus an estimated 3. 1000000000 people as more than

a 3rd of the world's population are under various forms of restriction. and while the u.s. battles to contain the spread of covert 19 the state department is turning its focus elsewhere offering a multimillion dollar bounty for the capture of venezuela's president supposedly for narco terrorism and discuss the story with our senior correspondent. they have done so much to try to get rid of madeira they have condemned him they have sanctioned him and his entire circle they have sanctioned the state and then there's a hope was that by shooting that israel and by depriving them of that billions in their funds and their foreign assets and their trade by depriving them of imports of food and medicine that they would get the people to turn in much. and do the

americans job for them eat his it is all failed they have funded the opposition why do ease running funded by the united states they've provided them with a world platform they've got a bunch of countries 60 countries to. recognize the venezuelan government and nothing has worked so they came up with with this you know this is something you might find in a in a hollywood movie a wanted poster plastered on a saloon in the wild west and the united states says you know what it is doing it isn't protecting venezuelans or trying to change the regime in venezuela it is protecting americans in america from venezuelans in venezuela we're not acting as the world's policeman we're acting as policeman for ourselves and people are obligated to protect the american people the underlying charges that they've

managed to come up with is that nicolas maduro organized who helped organize with colombian drug cartels with colombian guerrillas to traffic be involved cooking into the united states clearly with their already had a full plate he's got a battle coronavirus in his country there was already a political target on his back that target just got a lot bigger now with this bounty how is he reacted i mean let's macdougall believes that what the united states is doing their behavior is. they've really magine themselves on the international stage as some sort of cowboys this is an extreme vulgar and miserable action from donald trump's administration they've released a set of false accusations and slander acting like cowboys racists of the 19th century they put a price on the head of revolutionaries but we are ready to fight them wherever they are if the u.s. imperialist all agog he dares to touch a single one of us prepare yourselves for the bolivarian fury of our people which

will devastate all of you. god forbid it comes to a military conflict this isn't a conflict that is going to be over easily quickly all without much bloodshed there there is the economic war that is being waged the livelihoods and the lives of ordinary venezuelans they're there at this point wolf sanctions have been turned into a weapon of mass suffering these people are deprived of in the midst of an epidemic a deprived of the most basic medical goods must anything nothing is allowed and the venezuela without u.s. sanctions or without u.s. approval so so you know people they're there and few illusions they understand that life in the foreseeable future is going to be difficult. it is ascension they have always had what more sanctions have they given to venezuela look at what is happening here in venezuela the epidemic affects everyone and

everyone is suffering now they come with more sections look how this country is more sanctions for what enough of the saying that they're giving to venezuela and then in there where donald trump is not the judge nor is he the world's prosecutor all the americans who voted for him lost lost so much because they have lost the friendship of the entire world because of the crazy man they have there but they're not getting any better whatever has to happen happens really because already i say we can't stand this much longer now enough of so much corruption look for yourself because the truth is that things are hard. with regards to me i can't recall of the top of my head seeing this kind of situation before like you said a kind of a wanted dead or alive type. how we seen anything similar in the path 30 years ago the head the head of state of panama stood before us judge the seeing nearly

identical to. as to what nicolas maduro is now being accused of and that is enabling colombian cartels to run drugs through his country up into the united states. that he apparently took a $4600000.00 bribe according to the u.s. nevertheless the situation edis almost if it wasn't so sad it would be comically similar because he was as a head of state he was also indicted by the united states accused of the same thing as nicolas maduro as and then unfortunately it ended with the u.s. invasion and them capturing him but the point man that was behind that operation and that is behind this operation accusing the special envoy to venezuela of the united states now is the same person and the abrams i mean even american

media all over t.v. on the internet they're drawing parallels because it is impossible not to ignore the fact that these are almost identical cases and the united states is trying to get rid of. its tried everything it is trying to get rid of in the uni way that succeeded in the past and that is by indicting him on drug charges made up or otherwise we heard from venezuela historian miguel tinker silas who thinks that the latest threats against caracas during a global health crisis are in his opinion pointlessly cruel it's obvious that this administration feels that it can do whatever it wants the fact that billboard has to start his conference by say we are not the policeman of the world in fact speaks of the fact that this action is highly political and really reinforces the notion of the us as an imperial power able to dictate policy able to order the arrest of world leaders heads of states as it wishes so this is very much

a clearly the pope. littlemore moment a cruel inhuman action at a time in which the country is reeling not only from the pen demick but also from the low prices for oil and also dramatic shortages created in part by the sanctions imposed by both the obama administration and now the trump administration . the united states is now at the center of the cove in 1000 pandemic with the largest number of cases globally almost 86000 americans have tested positive for the virus more than 1300 have died new york city has been by far the worst hit with nearly 40000 cases that surround half of the national total of 466 people have died in new york state there was a 40 percent surge in hospital admissions on thursday according to governor cuomo and there's a severe shortage of hospital beds and ventilators more details from new york is

chabris. today hospitals in new york struggling under the weight of the pandemic people come in to get into bed if they die the cycle repeats elmhurst hospital in queens the bureau with the most coronavirus cases in the city in the center of the outbreak the hospital confirming at least 13 patient deaths within 24 hours right now it's every day it's nonstop literally and. unfortunately it's my get to suggestion you have to pick and choose what you're going to do how you're going to do it. as the doctors say a lot of people call the doctor the survivor to expire and you put the same machine in the not the 1st shot as medical staff operates out their limit hundreds of more people wait lining up outside to get tested for kovan 19 but officials say the 545 bed hospital is overrun and in desperate need of medical supplies yeah those are the systems overwhelmed all over the place the shortage of safety gear out one new

york hospital so dire nurses have resorted to wearing trash bags the situation in new york worsening by the hour the state accounting for roughly half the cases across the country this grim video shows teams setting up a makeshift morgue outside of bellevue hospital something that was done during hurricane sandy and 911911 was nothing compared to this we were open waiting for patients to come will never come. ok now they just keep coming however a small sign of hope governor cuomo announcing that for the past few days the rate of hospitalizations is slowing although he cautions that the peak of the crisis could still be about 20 days away the governor adds that while only about 15 percent of cases have required hospitalisation the state intice a pizza 140000 people will need to be hospitalized warning that he does not have enough beds or lifesaving ventilators and as medical personnel remain on the front lines we are learning that

a member of mt sinai is nursing staff who has been treating coronavirus patients. has passed away from colvin 19 the hospital saying in a statement today we lost another hero a compassionate colleague friend and selfless caregiver meantime the hospital system initiating a procedure called plasmapheresis where they transfer antibodies from patients who have recovered from cold the 19 to those who are critically ill from the virus the procedure could be life saving reporting in new york trinity chavez r.t. . of the containment measures in place across america forced businesses to close their doors and the layoffs the jobless claims at 3300000 this week smashed previous records and the number is 5 times higher than during the peak of the $992.00 recession meanwhile the service is posted 2 trillion dollars stimulus plan to keep businesses afloat. elsewhere for the largest loss of life of any country because of the pandemic more than 8000 people

have died and there are 80000 confirmed cases the north of the country is the hardest hit this video shows a local crime a tourism that has been completely overwhelmed by the outbreak it is simply overloaded with coffins additional refrigeration devices are being brought in as workers are unable to clear away the dead in time hospitals have been swamped with doctors and nurses in lombardy under immense pressure. me. into.

great divide ice you. know you. would almost. all 3. think. this is. the. most. meanwhile is different countries come to italy voices there are questioning the solidarity of e.u. members this video shows an italian entrepreneur replacing the union's flag with a russian flag at the entrance to his factory it's a video that went viral and spoke to the owner about his gesture. we do shave. for a mission to russia people say you need to really. airplane

full of montreal. and the doctor all ok instead of you gloss everything. and i don't want to intrude in political questions i'd prefer to change it. to we for sure why explain very lovely to each of you only question i want only to give birth to rush or for that. is the question why change this remark i want to choose to work for a very firm direction we need. in france police are threatening to stop and forcing the nationwide lock down that has been in place for almost 2 weeks needs they're accusing the government of failing to provide protective equipment after an officer died from covert 900 on wednesday i think it's cool that the story. during force when agencies have been particularly hard hit of this latest news that one of their

own has lost their lives to cozied 19 what we know about that individual is that they were young dom 51 years old and as soon as they felt ill they were placed into self confinement but unfortunately the condition worsened on wednesday before the gendarme who's only been named as patrick g. in the french media it could reach the hospital he had passed away you know that latest development has ratcheted up the threats from police unions that unless they are given the protective gear that they need that they will stop enforcing the law down this is what the unions had to say in a joint statement to the ministry of interior the eater union is issuing a solemn warning to the minister who the means of protection are lacking police officers who carry out urgent missions and will no longer and force the lockdown where the lockdown in francois has been going on since march 17th and since that around 800000 finds have been given out by the police officers and john dams across

the country there are around a $100000.00 have been deployed to do just that but they have been angry now since the beginning of that lockdown over fears of the lack of protective mosques that they've had many police unions have talked about the fact not just that they fear because they coming into contact with so many people to issue these fines to check the permission slips that we need to be out in the streets in france that they could be liable to catch the virus but also then could be a vector of transmission so this is something that's really been consuming the union since the start now the ministry of interior has infuriated the police officers and the unions even further in the last few days after it requisition the f f p 2 mosques these the highly protected mosques took them away and said the police officers had to give them to the health workers now we've been talking to one police union in the last. week about some of the fee is that they have for their members. security offices police and other people who are. in the

country need to be protected this farce does not distinguish between police medics and of the citizens we're not even sure that we police officers not potentially in fact some people when we do our checks so we need mosques and other pretext for equipment to keep us safe and others well nora nunez who is the junior interior minister says that the government is policy is to pass those highly protective mosques to the health workers and that they are working to provide the police with other mosques and a working on alternatives for the situation but this is a lack of mosques isn't just a problem for the police it's been described by one nursing union here in france is akin to a state scandal and that's because france doesn't have enough mosques for its emergency workers and this is just the latest headache for the french government in the last few days we also know that a group of medics filed

a complaint of negligence against top officials here in france that includes the prime minister edward felipe saying that they didn't do enough to avert the pandemic of the virus pandemic here in france and this comes of course as france is trying to battle against kovi 19 as the numbers of infected and the numbers of those who have apparently died from cope at 19 continue to rise. the space agency has some tips on how to cope with a long period of isolation we'll bring you that story after the break.

as the election cycle rages on the media highlights or even invents what they deem to be important even radical what they don't tell you is how the political center is collapsing in today's campaign is what voters think about the status quo. seems wrong. roles just don't call. me old yet to shape out these days to come out ahead and in again try to be close to trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. join me every thursday on the elec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics spoke this list i'm show business i'll see you then.

and. welcome back some breaking news just coming in just the last few seconds u.k. prime minister boris johnson has said that he has himself tested positive for covert 90 in a tweet that has just been written he said over the last 24 hours have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for corona virus i am now self isolating but i will continue to lead the government's response via video conference as we fight this fire is the prime minister is now in self isolation but will continue to lead the government's response just to remind you that story just breaking in the last few seconds it is of boris johnson's personal twitter release.

the european space agency is offering its help to millions of people who are now confined to their homes due to the ongoing pandemic agency held a free online conference aimed at connecting people across the globe with space explorers and scientists one of the participants was samantha christopher that he holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a european astronaut we had r.t. had the chance to speak to. you on the international space station we have a big space stations they have a lot of space so that it's not that difficult but i can imagine people nowadays right now families having to live in a small apartment all day 24 hours but we also have to think of people who maybe live alone and so they're they're really isolated there are some strategies that people maybe can use to cope and to help each other the number one thing the really most important one is to communicate

a lot we really try to stay connected to our families to our friends to our loved ones on earth but i think it's really important also for people who right now are in isolation you know we really have to pick up the phone sky e-mail whatever we need whatever works to make sure that we keep those human connections going the other thing is that our space station we are very very busy and very day and so that helps us i think to keep psychologically healthy because you know every day we get up and we have a lot of things to do. a listed among possible impacts of self isolation or post-traumatic stress as well as anxiety anger and health complications that could even lead to prevent your death to mash shown ok medical doctor and social commentator believes the just once will be a huge challenge for people. people back for a 3rd of the world we now it's estimated that one 3rd of the world is are sleeping

for many people this is a new think the it just meant just that from litle before to now is going to be a challenge for me all the adults do it it's the friends or families and their immediate forward of that can be an excellent television. so i think these people the problem's going to come exacerbated by another topic specialisation i think for young people as well i mean for them to log a place to go to school to college to university that's a start you young people young adults who suddenly find cut off from their friends their contacts there or the social lives they hit maybe maybe harder to speak the pandemic has caused a global drop in pollution levels of flights grounded in factories closed but there's also an environmental downside peter a live report from berlin on how plastic bags are making a comeback. make no mistake about it the coronavirus is changing the way we live our lives not just when it comes to things like social distancing and hand washing

but also when it comes to single use plastics recycling even when we usable shopping bags and coffee cups by banning harmful single use plastic says early is 2021 and by making companies responsible for recycling their plastic waste we're protecting our wildlife and giving our kids and grandkids a cleaner and healthier future. plastic bags are really bad today. makes this virus is territory and with playing by its rules until we have a functioning vaccine or more knowledge about immunity in the united states that seeing some places move away for more usable shopping bags and back towards plastics from no one reusable bags are prohibited in all regulations on plastic bag

beers will be left it is now considering delaying a new law to ban plastic bags as the corona virus spreads across maine with identified community transmission it is important that shoppers keep their reusable bags at home given the potential risk to baggers grocers and customers this emergency order directs all grocers and retail stores in the state to temporarily transition to only use new or plastic grocery bags provided by stores as soon as feasibly possible coffeeshops of also returned to their old ways at star books you'll be served in a throwaway culp even if you bring your own. we're posing the use of personal cups and for here where in our stores environmental groups say the virus is being used as an excuse to undo much. hard work in changing attitudes the plastics industry standards are trying to exploit this health crisis but those claims have also come

in for criticism with some scientists and experts saying that reusable bags and coffee cups might not of being the panacea for climate change they were being sold as and that right now stopping the spread of this virus is the number one priority i think that's the necessary sacrifices of be made you know people who've been. given using reusable coffee cups and usually taking them in for refills and i'm finding that coffee shops refuse to refill them because those coffee cups would provide a possible means of transmission of the virus that's unfortunate but people are dying. and so it's probably a reasonable thing to do certainly there is a problem with reusable cups so if you're only going to use your reusable cup once or twice in then actually you're better off using a disposable one because it will have a much lower environmental impact some of these measures supposedly to reduce

pollution aren't necessarily bring you the changes that we need in people's behavior in the real world with so many unknowns out there about the corona virus protection against infection may well trump concern about the climate for the forseeable future peter oliver our team building. let's go back to that breaking news story coming out of the u.k. where the prime minister has tested positive for 19 boris johnson is 55 posted a video announcement on twitter. i've developed modeled symptoms of the corona virus that's to say a temperature and a persistent cough and on the advice of the chief medical officer i've taken a test that has come out positive so i am working from home i'm so for isolating and that's entirely the right thing to do but be in no doubt that i can

continue thanks to the with the reborn technology to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fight back against corona. ok i'll be back with the news updates for you on that story and plenty more at the top of the hour. is you'll be via reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. heis a nation full community. are you going the right way or are you being led

so. direct. what is true what is faith. in a world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a maid in the shallows. this . out in 2016 millions of europeans are taking to the streets while the union has refused to sign the free trade agreement with canada triggering a crisis across europe. that. the treaty negotiation.