several countries prepared to lift the lockdown split the world health organization says restrictions have to stay in place warning but premature steps could be disastrous. european leaders failed to strike a deal on a massive new financial stimulus which would have included joining to e.u. debt for the worst hit nations. and in may dies of covert 19 of the prison where wiki leaks founder julian assange is being held for the u.k. court rules that his extradition trial will go ahead despite the ongoing shutdown.

the global headlines this is r.t. international thanks for joining us. we'll begin as usual with the latest figures on the covert 1000 pound make the number of cases worldwide has now surpassed 1400000 802000 people have lost their lives the united states has the largest number of infections followed by spain and italy and worldwide 303000 people have now recovered from the disease. ok let's start in france where the death toll from covert 19 has passed and thousands the health ministers warn that the peak hasn't yet arrived and that the nationwide lockdown will have to continue and the world health organization has supported that view saying any countries that lift restrictions too early could trigger a new wave of the pandemic charlotte reports for us from paris 4 weeks

into lockdown in france and the country's economy is being brought to its knees will probably be more than the minus 2.2 percent in 2009 versus the magnitude of the economic shock. as the pandemics taken a stranglehold on the country's health it's been tightening the noose around its economy too with suggestions that taking a news dive of more than a 3rd or normal and annual g.d.p. is predicted to drop by 3 percent for every month the locked down this is a crisis like no other. never in the history of the i.m.f. we have witnessed the world economy coming to a stand still. we are now in recession

eat these where you were 6. then the global financial crisis that stark warning has whipped up a frenzy amongst global leaders with calls for an immediate and coo warton ated international action to stage the fight back in 2008 to $10.00 the immediate economic crisis could be surmounted when the economic fault line and the capitalization of the global banking system was tackled now however the economic emergency will not be resolved until the health emergency is effectively addressed the health emergency will not end simply by conquering the disease in one country alone but by ensuring recovery from code 19 countries the world's economy has come to a judge to ring halt the question is how does it power up again in china with the virus 1st hit the lockdown has lifted with business is going back to work but how to return to some semblance of normality is also being asked here in europe austria

is set to become the 1st country to ease restrictions but the government there is warning there are still months of restrictions ahead keep to the measures avoid social contacts keep your distance and public spaces germany is also drawing up a war next plan it includes mandatory masks in public and a limit on gatherings but some schools are in shops are expected to reopen in france there have been rumblings about the end of the lockdown which is tentatively scheduled for next week but the health minister has already warned that confinement remains necessary we can see that the worsening of the epidemic is being curbed by containment and the measures put in place but it is continuing so we are not at the end of our efforts for now rules in france are still being tightened with some

cities and towns set to make masks come. poll story while outdoor exercise in paris between 10 am and 7 pm is now banned a return to normality is clearly far from here and the world health organization is also urging not to end measures too soon it's like when you're sick if you get out of bed too soon and start running too soon you risk a relapse and complications governments face tough choices ahead between an attempt to try and keep people safe but not kill off their economies the only thing that is perhaps clear is that 2020 is the door of a very different model nehra the whole economy of the world is it's hard for some and it's only gradually that we've got a pickup and i think it's going to be much worse than people expect it's not going to last for another month probably 3 or 4 months minimum before things pick up

gradually for the economy there is definitely a possibility you're saying the same scenario of having a double peak because people get out quickly because it's spring time and people love to go out and go too close to their friends so governments need to be tough and they should stick to confinement at least for big groups like the senior citizens for a much longer time but for the younger people people who work or schools for example they could probably be reopened but they should be tested regionally the forest for example that's what they're thinking about i'm sure the governments are very careful they're afraid that this double dip and there will be very careful trying to do anything. you can trace of photo reach an agreement on a large scale stimulus to keep their economies afloat during the pandemic on tuesday finance minister spent several hours trying to strike

a compromise several nations refused to support a plan for e.u. debt our correspondent in berlin peter oliver has details. initially there was huge upset among citizens of spain italy over what they saw as a slow response to the coronavirus from the european union now what we're seeing is the bloc struggling to come to a consensus over what of being called a bombs these would allow the debts that are being racked up to be sprayed even between member states spain italy and france are in favor germany austria and the netherlands very much against speaking on monday german chancellor angela merkel said that germany's economic future was tied to that of europe it's good. germany it will only do well in the long run if europe is doing well if you just look at how we could reason to wind we're now experiencing what happens when the

free movement of goods is not guaranteed therefore the answer can only be more europe and the strongly europe and that europe works well all of its parts that is all its member states. angle of merkel favors using the 2012 european stability mechanism that was used during the previous financial crisis but that has left a brutal demand the french finance minister pulling his hair out saying that some countries will recover quicker than others using that route nothing would be worse for europe them for richard states to get off to a quick starts while those who cannot afford it start slowly we all need to recover at the same speed in order to guarantee the k. he's in solidarity and unity of the eurozone and our common currency to go back to that idea of more europe that anglo merkel was talking about well the european commission president is also a big fan of on the line putting forward

a big european fiscal plan to try and tackle the fallout from covert one thing many are calling. right now for something which is called as marshall plan well i think the european budget should be the marshall plan we're laying out together as a european union for the european people also getting on side with the wartime metaphor it's been the spanish prime minister better sanches europe has to establish a wartime economy and put in place measures for the defense reconstruction and economic recovery in europe we can turn this crisis into not put unity to rebuild a much stronger european union european politicians are under a lot of pressure right now not only looking after the health of their citizens but knowing that if they fail to deal with this virus or perhaps even worse they're perceived to a failed to have dealt with this it could well lead to the rise of more extremist

politics mccrone believes that nothing will be quite the same again when it ends there will be a great sober mood for populist war says on both the far and the left the for in the european the global but he also believes there will be a desire for proven leaders and in the version to further disruption there's a lot of people focused right now on what will happen after the battle with the virus will we end up with a more powerful more unified european union or one that specific by extremists at both ends of the political spectrum be troll ferrante belin. italian historian pilar bernadino believes that the tragedy unfolding in this country has revealed deep problems with the way the european union operates. go america we need a stronger. stronger bigger national and within the

russia of the we need to be. in the regions we need a stronger. local council because you can act against. all of the our name look it's very difficult to direct that the former barber so i understand in the centralised boy more the real. me that would be i think that they are taking advantage of. an obvious point. at least one inmate has died of covert 19 at belmarsh prison in the u.k. where julian assange she's being held the wiki leaks founder has been behind bars since last may after he was evicted from the ecuadorian embassy in london and arrested for skipping bail we spoke to kristen her office and the current editor in chief of wiki leaks is alone by the conditions in belmarsh. well 2 weeks ago when he decided to not grant him bail the size of the fact that there was no cases of

corvids to inside the prison in bel mars and she had full faith in the prison authorities in controlling the situation. only a few hours later the same afternoon the 1st instances were confirmed in belmont and they've been growing ever since and might i am absolutely certain that their cases are much more than are reported he has not been tested as most prisoners are now spending their time most of the day most of the entire day. in the cells but in some instances they have to share cells of course. they tried to move us a little and are forced not to move wild in the prisons where they are stripped of all our to vittie food is brought to the souls but the prison guards common go and they are the real danger of reading the call that inside the prison and that is probably what will happen and has already happened. british court has ruled that an

extradition hearing for julian assange is will go ahead in may despite the current lockdown his lawyer had asked for a postponement he argued that he's been unable to communicate with his client for 3 weeks during the and make and it will be impossible he says to hold a fair trial in may he made the request for a telephone conference call with westminster magistrates court but the judge refused saying it's too early to tell whether the court will be operational in may we can exhaust question the court's decision 2 weeks ago judge refused bail to julian a sandwich saying that he and all other prisoners would be cif in belmarsh prison today the b.b.c. is reporting 1st deaths in belmarsh with many other prisoners infected. it is absolutely absurd to not take into account the situation and not to move for the hearing which is planned for may 18th further down the road

it's not just the situation probably will be still very bad and there's a lot of witnesses that have to fly it's not possible to to continue without their presence in the courtroom also keep in mind that now for 3 weeks the lawyers have not been able to see julian ourselves they have not been able to meet him documents on and actually discuss the case how on earth can you continue as nothing has happened when the lawyers have not been able to confer with with a client he was not not even able to take part in the hearing the video link because it's simply not safe to move around inside the prison if you go to a holding cells and then into the booth where other prisoners are using to appear the video only. the u.s. has the world's fastest growing fatality rate because of covert 19 and african-americans are being disproportionately affected we'll bring you the full

story after this break. join me every thursday on the alex salmond short and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see you then.

welcome back the united states has suffered by far its worst day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic $1800.00 deaths were registered bringing the total now to almost $13000.00 and the latest findings suggest that black americans are the worst affected demographic due to

a range of factors well i'm open explains. someone rich and famous referred to the pandemic as being a great equalizer. doesn't care about. the great. well the queen of pop was dead wrong as the united states tops the world in terms of coronavirus cases and voices compare it to $911.00 or pearl harbor it's anything but equal and who's being affected we are seeing the disparity because right now slightly more than 70 percent of all of our deaths are among african-americans and that's a state where less than a 3rd of the population is black these kinds of disproportionate results are playing out throughout the country in michigan african-americans are only 14 percent of the overall population but they are 40 percent of coronavirus deaths you

know illinois 15 percent of the population is black but so far african-americans account for 29 percent of coronavirus cases and 42 percent of deaths the mayor of chicago a major city where african-americans represent over half of coronavirus cases and more than 70 percent of deaths did her best to explain the situation this is not just about racial and ethnic disparities in the outcomes the distribution of this disease is tells a story about resources in any quality a story about unequal health care access job access and community investment it would be naive and in fact scandals to ignore the point that the virus there is a disproportionately negative impact of one of the low income and the low income washington university and the low income poor rican community and latino community and bit of american women to boast of all you oftentimes of afraid to say so. 8

people in a native american whole living it sort of the rewards so yes this is a question of a book quiet us and rates but it's not only in terms of direct introspection the unemployment rate is expected to go as high as possibly a vote of 30 percent and for many african americans losing a job doesn't only represent loss of income it also represents a loss of health care this is a post from a nurse in new york city that went viral who's going to pay for it last words i'll never forget the response my patient goss' doubt between labored breaths to me and my team have to explain that he needs to be intubated and placed on a ventilator. if you test positive for coated 19 and require treatment you could be financially devastated hospital bills for coronavirus patients usually add up to between 42074004 those who are uninsured or for those who get treatment that is

deemed out of network by their insurance company and even for those with insurance using in network providers out of pocket expenses can add up to $21000.00 or even 38000 dollars that's not a bill most americans can afford and because of our of for profit health system. hospitals have been closed clinics have been eliminated oh and you have a disproportionate number of core people who like those basic health services and so what we are seeing with this pandemic is that so most of the fact that is the pandemic itself but the pandemic has exposed the structural contradictions of economic system this is a big issue that goes across communities it is manifest though in their dramatic ways in the black and brown and the digital communities because of the historic

oppression of those communities but it also impacts of for whites in the white working class their real serious class contradictions in the u.s. that this pandemic is is exposing in a very graphic ways growing numbers of observers are saying that the u.s. mishandling of this crisis isn't simply about a shortage of masks and ventilators it's about the long standing inequalities and the irrationality of a profit based health care system up and artsy new york. they want all time claims that the crisis in the us a spot that the fault of the world health organization on pace threatened to cut funding the. w.h.o. that's the world health organization. receives their surveillance of money from the united states to be very china centric they missed a call they could have called it months earlier they would have known. they should

have known and they probably didn't and so we'll be looking into that very carefully and we're going to put a hold on money spent to the w h o we're going to put a very powerful hold on it and we're going to see last year the had a budget of $5600000000.00 the u.s. contribution to most a 10th of the sum back in january the organization declared covert $900.00 a global health emergency and has been coordinating global efforts but it took trump until mid march to declare an emergency on u.s. soil financial analyst wang when the soaring death toll in the u.s. is down to policy failures at the national level. if you're comparing china and the unity of being a company should be passed to tool of the month you can feel very difference of early obviously an early china for us to find. these are both regions grown you

want wow this and early on if you are going to china prove that we need an african community community including not going to the states and 20 days later china. once the china clear and after your emergency and dad in the end of the affair or in china basically you can fool the spreading of the virus but harder than anything else you have you sleep at the end of the generally the 1st case has been found in the united states but white house did nothing except save the stock market and you are done me no much so i'm just a wall of very water american people because there. deed to let us. in terms of minority a new york if we came in your yard to see you know. 2 miles

girl you can no more theory 100 miles that got you your a lot of people you didn't know where. masks china now donate or not of a mask. because you saw fit to not use these i feel. even if you are thinking china we will cooperate to fight against. in the meantime china has lifted the lockdown of the city of where the 1st cases of kurva 19 were recorded the region was closed off in january and people are finally able to leave and to the city freely coronavirus fatalities in china have slowed to almost 0. the pandemic continues we here at r.t. are here for you with all the wasted formation coverage on our website r.t. dot com all forms of social media we've got that covered as well of course as our

round the clock live broadcasts from our studios here in moscow plus in london and washington d.c. stay with us that informs day with r.t. . the world is driven by shaped by those. who dares thinks. weak dear to ask.

i don't trust medical authority at all never and the reason for that is i had this horrible autoimmune disorder growing up and it turns out it was completely alleviated with very drastic dietary measures and i went to a number of doctors to discuss what happened to me and i was basically laughed at like diet has nothing to do with autoimmune disorders so my suggestion to people who have health issues they can't figure out if they're going to see a medical professional and they've been going for 10 years and they're still in the same place they should probably take it upon themselves to start testing things out testing out diet testing out exercise and try and figure out things on their own to . try to.

i mention are times when you're watching the season finale of going underground before our return after easter coming up in this special edition the fallout of the dirty war on the n.h.s. with disease striking at the heart of government and as u.k. health service staff die from corona virus without protective equipment or adequate testing going underground speaks a legend rejoin the filmmaker john pilger about new liberal destruction in a time of you in the plate plus what does the coronavirus pandemic mean for imprisoned wiki leaks founder julian assange and major nation imperialism using coronavirus as a cover for covert and overt was all around the world all this more coming up in today's going underground but let's go straight to jump ilja his film the dirty war

in the n.h.s. arguably predicted the kind of crisis today at the heart of britain's response to the cove in 1000 pandemic he joins me from sydney in australia john thanks so much for coming on before we get even just specifics millions of people watching this will know that your films your work costs doubt on nato nation governments and other governments can we trust our governments in what they say to us about coronavirus no we can't absolutely not but this virus has managed to spread through. modern developed societies especially britain is a crime you know in 2016. a drill cold exercise sickness and that was a drill to practice for a pandemic happened in london and. the whole the

whole drill was was laid out to be the result of but was but the health service was overwhelmed there weren't enough beds. there weren't enough i.c.u. beds there weren't enough ventilators. there there weren't enough clinicians in the right place the whole system which had been the health service which had been battered by cuts and privatized sation for years failed and the chief medical officer then in 2016 asked the government to heed the warning of what played demonstrated very clearly and yet the department of health in london suppressed the documents which had the conclusions of this drill they kept them from going public now that is only 4 years ago. so they knew the

whole preparedness for this short of being in place but of course they knew they couldn't put in place because the government had devastated the national health service since the 2012 health and social care act privatized sation had subverted the health service to the point where it couldn't possibly respond as a short of to the pandemic we've seen what's happened not enough ventilators the whole why the whole concept of mass testing which has been so successful in other countries especially germany and should have been right across britain. didn't happen in britain. so that's that's where that's where the skates more than the scan.