penalty last fight. over 4 years in the making a landmark trade deal between the u.k. and the e.u. is finally struck bringing an end to the brics it's great britain's membership within the european union. the plane carrying the sputnik vaccine from moscow arrives in argentina after the south american country officially registers the russian over 9000 jobs. and clemency for killers but not for whistleblowers. list includes mercenaries imprisoned for the deaths of civilians in iraq but leaves off those who spilled the beans on america. today we hear they've been released on the personal orders of president trump it's like the

u.s. doesn't care for spilled the rocky blood it seems political considerations prevailed over legal and judicial watch and this decision. from moscow thanks for joining us here on our teams about hawkins welcome to the program and historic moment today the u.k. and the european union to have sealed trade deal just days before the new year deadline is not all fully signed off yet it still needs to be ratified by both sides but that's expected to go much smoother than the negotiations that all the e.u. commission chief hinted at plenty of concessions and relief at preventing a possible no deal outcome. that would bring on the british sides prime minister boris johnson seemed to think it was essentially a win win for westminster. it is up to us all together and

a newly and truly independent nation to realize the i'm in city of this moment and to make the most of it as we knew in any case if there would have been a heartbreaks it it would not have been good for both sides but it would have hit the united kingdom harder than the european union with all its might of 450000000 citizens therefore from a position of strength we were able to come forward with the most comprehensive agreement with ever had let's take a look now at how the u.k. and e.u. will cooperate from generally 1st there'll be no tariffs on each other's goods are no limit on trading new border checks have been agreed on to you while the u.k. has pulled out of the long running or us mistreated exchange scheme which we knew nurseries politicians will return to westminster to vote on the deal on december 30th gives them just 48 hours to pore over the details or earlier today are joined

by colleague you know neil in the studio to discuss whether the brics venture is now fully done and dusted this is been such a long road britain's voted to leave the european bloc back in 2016 ever since and they've been patiently waiting to see what kind of break that they've got a sigh of relief for many they got one with a deal of course we all know it's been a rollercoaster to get here campaign for bracks that said it's going to be plain sailing as a piece of cake one politician said this is something that gets resolved over a cup of afternoon tea that was just one of many overly optimistic statements i think on the matter no deal would be better than a vast deal i believe it will be. negotiate these terms will be negotiate a trade deal and of course you know it is in the european union's interest just as much as it is our. there is no plan to do because we are going to get a great. the free trade agreement that we will have to do with the european union

should be one of the easiest in human history while easy i think we can say it was not we've seen in the past locked horns with brussels parliament gridlocked david cameron resigned to resign may gave up boris johnson came in but it did take him a love and months to wrangle this deal so it really i mean it did seem a bit doomed from the start just to clarify i want to just put it out there on the record is the brig's it's been put to bed can we forget all about it while brussels says that now finally everyone can move on from it's in the past let's bury it johnson celebrating but maybe a bit prematurely because they're all still huddles 1st off it does have to get ratified by the british parliament westminster is on christmas holiday but it will be recalled on the 30th of december to debate that. but you know what considering that johnson's own m.p.'s in the past have voted against him on his breakfast plans i'm sure there's some nervousness and then of course it also needs to be approved

across the channel by both the e.u. council and the parliament time is against them 27 nation states need to agree to this they need to scrutinise 500 pages it needs to be translated into 23 languages so really there is still a considerable ahead would usually take months as a process then of course there's the question mark on how bumpy the ride will be once the rules are in place from january to fuss i think it's fair to say that there will be teething problems more than anyone i'd love to say goodbye i'm putting you on the shelf but i think it might be too early to say that boris johnson's very optimistic but he has to be this is essentially what got him elected so it would be about bracks it would be career destroying for him it would certainly be humiliating for x. it has always been polarizing there was never going to be a deal that everyone was happy about but while boris is quite right as you said

celebrating others have already hit out at him over this. it sounds like the british team have dropped the ball before the line no wonder they want a christmas eve announcement to hide the fishery sell out today amidst all the debate and details of the trade deal one fundamental truth remains that at the time of global insecurity we're no longer part of one of history's greatest and most noble project bringing nations together to build peace out of the ruins of war this is a disastrous bragg's it scorches forwards and like all other aspects of bragg's it for students cortlandt against their will so may be a political victory for johnson but certainly does not a huge fan club around him at the moment a deal might have been reached spot it's just the 1st stop toward sort of bidding adieu to breakfast if i can mix my european british metaphors and i still think we will see that us rise up a few surprises. from germany's left party says e.u.

leaders would have gone to great lengths to punish britain over bricks or. even if . they got themselves as markers of the euro it is surely the capitalist interest in the european union and the end of the day it is that in which direction this goes they don't want to go as they try or stops to make it bloody. and they want to destroy the u.k. economy just to set an example or so that other nations not accept the terrible arrangement that is your day but they have not succeeded because the economic interests within europe the german car probably for example they have a strong interest and. this trade relationship not. argentina has officially registered russia's sport mcvie vaccine has been approved

for emergency use by the country's regulator based on results of the nickel trials in russia a plane carrying argentina's 1st batch has arrived in buenos aires under the supply agreement to moscow will provide enough doses for up to 10000000 people earlier this month the argentine president expressed confidence in the russian vaccine saying he will be the 1st to take it and will. in argentina some raise doubts about the quality of russian science to clear everyone's doubts when sputnik v. is here in argentina i will be the 1st one to take that vaccine because i have no doubt about the quality of the vaccine as well as sputnik very argentina's also signed up vaccine supplies from astra zeneca and the united nations' kovacs program the country's regulator has approved the use of the fire as a biotech vaccine as well despite ongoing talks the argentine health minister has criticized his approach to the negotiations. they asked us for a little giving them immunity and the congress gave them that law but then phases

negotiate is not the local ones but those in the u.s. started asking for more conditions they want to sponsor a new law they want to the president to sign the contract instead of me the conditions started getting somewhat unacceptable the government of argentina is thinking that this is going to be perhaps the most efficient way to bring an effective vaccine to its citizens so looks like they're essentially. betting on or putting their money on on the russian vaccine the fact that pfizer had those kinds of conditions and that the government of argentina was not pleased with those conditions i think there's going to be a lot of that kind of thing i think that there is going to be an awful lot of questions about liability and about potential long term side effects and the long term efficacy of the vaccines i would sounds to me like argentina didn't like the deal that pfizer was giving them and was was looking elsewhere and i think that's why they turned toward the russian vaccine more grim milestone 7 passed as russia

grapples with the pandemic however front line workers are the most vulnerable are now getting vaccinated and rafal about more on the latest developments from auntie's calls and. almost 30000 new coronavirus cases have been registered in russia and it's a new record put in a 3rd globally in terms of the new daily infections this thursday russia is now says just behind the u.k. and u.s. just in moscow russia skeptical had over 8000 new corona virus in the past 24 hours again this is a new record in terms of deaths there were 635 linked to the virus across the whole of russia and yet this is another all time high ground is keen to avoid a stricter look down. on the hospitality industry in p.p.t. measures will remain in place while all companies have to have at least

a 3rd of their employees to work remotely no mass gatherings are allowed of course and universities into russia's biggest cities have gone online only until february however a mass vaccination is under way already $52000.00 russians have taken the job it is expected that wider vaccination will take place next february and according to a russia's health care ministry over at half of russia's population are keen or willing to get inoculated you are among those willing to get vaccinated just talk us through you experience that sure i got my job this tobar and it wasn't that bad i mean i had a few mild side effects my temperature were elevated a bit and i was feeling a little bit the teat the next day but then the next day they all were off so now here i am safe and sound then i'm enjoying the fact that i have antibodies. the

u.k. has recorded its 2nd highest daily number of covert infections as officials that is there a surge in cases right before parts of the u.k. went into lockdown this month over 600000 people were infected in the week beginning december 12th actively one in every 85 people across england and london is the leading coronavirus hotspot there the capital now has the highest percentage of residents who have tested positive for cobra 19 with travel and holiday plans already may increase the measures against the virus prompted a mad rush to get out of the city similar emergency measures have also been applied across the southeast of england new locks are restrictions prevent households mixing for means having no friends or family over for the holidays the british health secretary defended the lockdowns saying it's necessary to stop the spread of a new mutated version of covert 19 just as we've got a system in place that was able to control this virus we've discovered

a new more contagious virus variant that is spreading at a dangerous rate cases have risen 57 percent in the last week the average cost of the admissions are 1909 a day that's the highest figure since mid april all the senior clinical lecturer at exeter medical school says people's behavior has played a decisive role in britain's rising infections. i think there more case numbers is a reflection of human behaviors we have been very slow and lax and not enforcing a public health measure with strictness and if you don't enforce a public health measure with with sincerity and strict ness and information for people people will break the law the narrative is we have a new age of the sars could lead to loris a variant

a mutation whichever expression you want to use it is a new variant that he hasn't found new ways of infecting you it may be more infectious but you only get infected if you do things like get into crowded places the crowded transports go shopping carts and shopping centers those sort of things get you infected where that is the original strain all of the new version of the strain. the sortie still dealing out pardons like there's no tomorrow donald trump shows mercy for some form of private military contractors but it's those who didn't make the u.s. president's list which is arguably the beginning of that story and more after the break.

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

back to the program must see but not whistleblowers trump has issued 2 lists of pardons but this one calls from rights activist defenders of freedom of speech. and with snowden imprisoned at the same time the outgoing u.s. president has raised concerns at the united nations by giving clemency to 44 contractors of the blackwater private military company that was jailed for their involvement in the mass killing of civilians in iraq people in that country have condemned the decision as has the government. the ministry believes that this decision did not take into account the seriousness of the crime committed and was inconsistent with the u.s. administration's declared commitment to the values of human rights justice and the

rule of law and regrettably ignores the dignity of the victims and the feelings and rights of their relatives because the courts of the infamous blackwater company killed citizens a nice to a square today we hear they've been released on the personal orders of president trump it's like the u.s. doesn't care for spilled iraqi blood we call on the united nations the international community and human rights organizations to intervene immediately and condemn these killers. it seems political considerations prevailed over a legal and judicial once and this decision president trump should have taken into account the relationship with iraq especially since iraq has a strategic cooperation agreement with the united states in all fields this will affect trump's political situation and his legacy there has been widespread outrage about the trump administration's decision to grant clemency to some members of the blackwater military 'd contracting company these were guards who were employed by

blackwater who killed civilians in iraq but i never heard of a person that. there were dead bodies everywhere missing arguments going to anyone with 2 people in authority among the dead bodies lying on the street those who are child was in the middle of no 7 years old. paul slow evan liberty and dust. unheard were convicted for manslaughter and the individual nicholas slotting who opened fire and 1st started shooting into the crowd of iraqi civilians he was convicted of 1st degree murder but now the white

house is letting all of them off they will no longer be in prison serving their sentences they have been pardoned and this is the feeling of the white house about why they made this decision when the convoy attempted to establish a blockade outside the green zone the situation turned violent which resulted in the unfortunate deaths and injuries of iraqi civilians further prosecutors recently disclosed more than 10 years after the incidents that the lead iraqi investigates who prosecutors relied heavily on so very far that there were no exigent victims and to collect evidence may have had sonny's to insurgent groups himself now at this point there is widespread outrage this seems like the trump administration is almost approving of the killing of iraqi civilians 2 children were among the 14 people in the crowd who died as a result of their gun fire but at this point people are also looking at the fact that trumps education secretary betsy to vos is the sister of the founder of

blackwater erik prince now there's also been a lot of outrage about who is not on the list of trump's pardons among the 15 people pardon and 5 sentence commute meant the names that were missing that many were optimistic and hopeful about were julian a son gen edward snowden these prominent whistleblowers had many people calling for the trump white house to grant them clemency among those who called for them were not just activists and advocates of civil liberties and for the protection of whistleblowers but also representatives of the united nations take a listen if president trump is true as well you think the least thing to could do is to end the suffering the beauty the songs to pardon him this man has for be enough for. the interest of the public will donald trump since you're given pardons to people please consider pardoning those who at great personal sacrifice expose the deception and criminality of those in the deep state now trump still has time

to grant a pardon to edward snowden and to julian a son she can grant clemency up until the moment he leaves office he could do it at the very very last minute however the number of people that were pardoned today and the information about who they are seems to have many pessimistic many of the activists supporting the whistleblowers feel like this indicates the trumpet ministration is moving in a very different direction with its climate. of benjamin netanyahu has quit the cabinet and vowed to join your position after accusing the prominence the of corruption this comes as the ruling coalition fell on tuesday with the country now set to go to the polls for a 4th time in 2 years if a trend goes because thing his eye over the photo. did you know that the man devastated the most by donald trump missing out on a 2nd term as someone who lives thousands of kilometers away from u.s. borders he's long been in charge of a different government and no his name is not lattimer his name is

bin human and i'm not saying that because i work for a russian t.v. station to stay cool look at all the political gifts that these raid leader has trumped and his administration to thank for. one of the more use to. my vision presents a win win opportunity for both sides a realistic 2 state solution that resolves the risks of palestinian statehood to

israel's security. you run deal is defective and in school. you think sleepy joe kind of made this feel maybe sleepy to. reduce froome zoom. in the white house. but with trump on his way out netanyahu is going to have to find other ways to get a political boost and right now he really needs one of course of trump's middle east peace deals still proves a winner these really pm might get mad. it's to weather the storm but here is what israel's streets now regularly look like.

the protesters biggest problem with benjamin netanyahu is his alleged corruption crimes he denies any wrongdoing he's calling the trials politically motivated but the opposition got a new weapon this year cove it or rather the nation's fury at the way into the always been dealing with me failing to deal with the pandemic the perception is one of mismanaged log downs with businesses and the unemployed left in the lurch the corruption has so many people involved 3 and they just start on a blank slate i need a constitution we need to limit the terms of the prime minister to 2 terms the us we need to stop the corruption here in israel and open it and you know we need to

know mainly but on the government the spend it doesn't want any mall. is corrupted and walking for one person trying to escape from his day trial demonstrations picked up pace in the spring when it's and ya'll managed to cling on to power as prime minister but only thanks to a kolisch in between his likud party and benny gantz as blue and white alliance the election rivals try to get along to get the country through the pandemic but now the cole as soon as fall apart and israel goes back to the polls in march it will be the country's 4th knesset elections in under 2 years and election is not the right thing for the country but it's much better than a paralyzed government and having politics dictate the management of one of the most severe health and economic crises wherever no. it's a yahoo like the rest of us will no doubt be glad to be done with 2020 but come

early next year he could well be looking back in the style gigli at the years when mr here comes your golan heights president was still in the white house christmas special of the arctic salmon show features again a sea of guests coming up next the back in 30 minutes with the latest join us again that. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy people in front let it be an arms race off and spearing dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical

time to sit down and talk. today the industry prefers to spend millions of euros in you know being. a regulations i will be sniffing all about making money making profits in some of the big corporations international markets import export do you imagine the number of currently diseases that are in every community today it is not due to new viruses all new microbes that just not true so it is due to environment. and say you know that moment all discipline the. muscles are really just accumulate could only come into use even though to me just the. legacy of the sky if the so food industry is successful it will create more jobs it will create more value added it will create more growth so i don't see why we shouldn't also fight for the

interest something into street not accept that we are british and we want regulation has an interest in the freedom behave as any aspinall too must find. sure. welcome to our christmas special edition of the alex savage show today we interview everyone from the president of the united states to the judges of stickley come dancing thanks to the impressionist magic of louis macleod and kate robins we will talk to everyone you ever wanted to see a list sure and quite

a few of the people you haven't wanted to see yes we call in to the white house to see the last trump's idol. had a loser but we also look at in brussels well in the waves are less informed farewell to europe or as are all of war angry in my country as some want but 1st your messages on the last week sure europe featuring a dream of color i can speculate i might say this but member of the this assembly we've had lots of messages in about an auld lang syne to europe but 1st we want to say a huge congratulations to a friend of the shoe talia johnson who last week recently finds there isn't time for the charity buses for homeless plus delivered $100.00 christmas sags to homeless people on london streets buses for homeless joints many charities like shelter in crisis doing their utmost to ensure some festive cheer to the most vulnerable in our society well done talia. well 1st we hear from women finland's

and who says great sure blacks it will really help scottish independence the sooner the better donald gillis says i'm still chuckling at how did we know is trending stay safe or think donald for failing to something that wasn't in the show but something else controversial that we know was tweeting and i bet dad says it doesn't really blacks that going to benefit the u.k. time will tell but how many years to wait for the valuation of blacks that benefit for the britons evidence sagna says i agree we should be able to trade freely with each other perhaps the e.u. can relax the laws it's about coming and going with each other john hughes says race to the bottom they have go all the standards especially workers' rights and modeling to melville says we've already agreed what they are and the only high glee about the place there is no such place as you look up double clues says it makes the case for scottish independence so obvious of price didn't occur and i.