in the stories that shaped the week here on r t international the developers of russia sputnik the vaccine signed an official memorandum of cooperation with astra zeneca they hope that by combining their 2 backs it. will further rise. to a new more contagious strain of covert has been detected in england causing panic worldwide with more than 40 countries banning arrivals from the u.k. . victory or defeat while the british prime minister celebrates and historic deal across the english channel the european union's chief negotiator describes it as a lose lose result. that the days of delays and leaving struggling americans running out of cash finally signs that the relief and government funding bill narrowly

averted another government shutdown. are broadcasting live from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories with our weekly program this is our team international. from a giant astra zeneca and russia's institute have started clinical trials of a joint coronavirus vaccine it combines elements of jabs developed individually by the 2 science astra zeneca as c.e.o. explained why they decided to join forces with the russian team. we have 2 main goals the 1st one is to allow headscarf official notice doctors and nurses to use 11 vaccine all the although for the for the 1st injection and the 2nd to make the

alex simpler and the 2nd go on is to hope pretty get better he just when you combine 2 different vaccines i don't think companies are competing against each other everybody is racing against the virus we would need many many vaccines because there is no one single company. can call you a cent of x. until the entire world and some of these vaccines have to be easy to use and they have to be cheap because the low income countries can't afford the expensive accident we waited on a myriad of the diseases when the old world and it's got rid of it so we're on the safety for good it's safe around the world orations australia that america and the other producers but it's equally important because we just need to work together and it's our national operation can be just. or all i was thinking about a call that we spoke more on this with a 2 experts from the u.k. paul hunter is a professor of medicine and peter smith an epidemiologist they explained why the

scientific cooperation between britain and russia is significant. one of the problems with the. i don't know virus the vaccines like this book nick 5 in the oxford is that there's always a risk that you can develop immunity to the carrier rather than to the target which is what you are wanting for now if you actually makes these 2 that seem so you maybe give one vaccine to start and then the other 134 weeks later then you get over this problem of developing impunity to the carrier direst and i think there's quite a lot of evidence that actually does work like that but and people have shown this works in other areas so to me the compound a nation of the sputnik and the oxo that's presented vaccine could well improve its efficacy

a lot greater than the individual vaccines apart now the problem with. via technique scenes is that they are caught of a street which is going to make it very difficult to deliver in many parts of the world where it is both the oxford and the the russian vaccine have a much more except of all cold chain in terms of being delivering being able to very many parts of the world we also sat down with this particular v. vaccine developer he told us how their job differs from others on the global market . we developed a vaccine from the start of receiving funding to registration really quite quickly in 5 months the main reason is that for 25 years or more we have been developing at the gum alay institute a technological platform on which this vaccine preparation can be made we already had a wealth of experience not only the technology of how to do it but before that we

had even worked out possible concentrations when you all the dosages needed to obtain an optimal immune response with minimal side effects. the safety of the vaccine has been fully proven on a very similar vaccine though not identical against not only ebola viruses but also the mers coronavirus so when we were working against covered 19 we were able to use around 70 percent of an existing element one of the indicators by which the effectiveness of a vaccine is most easily measured is the presence of and to bodies in the blood if we proceed from that's experimental data in a similar vaccine against the bowl or this protective immunity lasted for 2 years we simply didn't have a long observation period the pfizer vaccine needs to be transported at minus 70 degrees and yours at minus $23.00 rate. minus 18 for now some months down the line i hope that we'll be able to amend the registration certificates that this vaccine

can be stored not at minus 18 but the household refrigerator temperature of plus 2 . the side effects don't force you out of action there may be a rash headache muscle discomfort and i think the most noticeable effects may be your temperature going up to 38 degrees for 2 days to take the vaccine yourself yes on march 30th along with all my employees and you're still alive not just alive but pretty active i vaccinated my 14 year old granddaughter so you violated your own instructions against vaccinating children that's outrageous you were ready to kill your entire family for the sake of a new vaccine i wasn't going to kill them but prove that the vaccine is completely safe. what is the difference between the oxford vaccine that is astra zeneca and the gamma lanes to do vaccines there are a lot of differences but they're not significant oxford and us to seneca went from my point of view along the classic path of working against airborne pathogens our

colleagues applied all the rules for creating influenza vaccines to the creation of a vaccine against covered 19 and it seems to me that the epidemiological features of this disease this pathogen were not quite accurately calculated the people at pfizer also understand this and have made great efforts to modify the r.n.a. so that it would not be recognized as far as i understand by protective proteins but i'm not sure where the my colleagues most to solve all the problems on a large scale are g.'s and asking the questions there for us now meanwhile on wednesday argentina officially approved this putting the job for emergency use. you know. 300000 doses of the vaccine are on argentinian territory these will be distributed in all the provinces and we will work side by side with the leadership of buenos aires to start mass vaccination. we are helping argentina

which is one of the 1st countries in latin america to receive the russian drug as we say in russia a friend in need is a friend indeed we held that our vaccine helps to save the lives of millions of argentine a plane carrying argentina's 1st batch arrived in buenos aires on thursday moscow has said it will provide enough doses for up to 10000000 people earlier this month the argentinean president himself expressed confidence in the russian vaccine and promised that he would be the 1st to take it. and when a similar in argentina some raised 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 president trump has finally signed off on the massive coronavirus relief and government funding bill freeing up much needed cash to get to struggling citizens and businesses and averting an imminent

government shutdown trump had been threatening to veto the bill which would have left millions out of pocket and would have the railed an agreement which took months of talks in congress i am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits stop evictions provide rental assistance at money for p.p.p. return line workers back to work at substantially more money for vaccine distribution and much more. traumas procrastination during a christmas golfing break in florida has still done damage though millions of jobless americans have seen their welfare benefits expire and it could take several weeks before their next payment comes through the 2.3 trillion dollars package includes $900000000000.00 in pandemic aid and a one off $600.00 payment for all americans who qualify trump says that's not enough and wants it to be raised to $2000.00 by cutting foreign aid elsewhere in the spending plan the house of representatives will vote on that on monday but it

is up against stiff opposition from trump's own republicans in the senate elsewhere the european union has launched a cross border vaccination program here you can see the 1st jobs are being administered under the roll out it comes after the e.u. authorized pfizer's vaccine according to the head of the european commission it has been delivered to all 27 member states contracts have been secured with several drug companies for shipments of more than 2000000000 doses that's actually double what is needed for the entire blocks population to get not kill it also this week the world health organization raised the alarm over a new highly contagious strain of covert.

16 countries have now confirmed their 1st cases of the new corona virus a variant it is believed to have 1st emerged in the u.k. and spread to europe then the middle east asia and australia on sunday it was detected across the atlantic as well with canada reporting its 1st case the discovery of the new strain prompted many countries to adopt stricter measures. more than 50 countries have imposed some level of restriction on arrivals from the u.k. euro tunnel services from england to the continent have also been suspended hundreds of people stranded in airports and train stations over christmas now the travel ban also saw more than $4000.00 trucks stranded for days at the british port of dover things only got moving again on christmas eve but hundreds of drivers are still waiting to cross the border at one point the tensions threatened to turn violent

with police. a lot of people on the full just to get in and say usenet facilities that toilets. with unfair status quo decide to close this movie zone and close it down to anybody using the toilets now when you're talking. thousands of people in the town is going be a problem. station side every day i am here and that shower head knocking on i can't cook and clean blanco to me and i have to change i mean i was i mean i did it i guess i'm going down to ground but i don't think that.

tougher covered restrictions have been imposed within the u.k. to combat a surge in infections and while the british government has said that stricter measures are necessary they have been accused of not reacting quickly enough here's the take of journalist and broadcaster neil clark the fact of the matter is that this great was known about in september we had scientists writing about it discussing it in september. and yet the health secretary only in says this just a few days before christmas why didn't he make an announcement about this in september why didn't he get up in september no speak it up now so it could get double what was going to happen and it's also to link up with the other main street will ever get to where the british government is trying to terrify is in iraqi w m d style about this terrible strain but of course the closest trading partners are going to say wow you're sorry we're going to block flights going to stop people coming in from britain if what you say through british government said it why

should we have british people coming over to our countries and of course we got the chaos of the whole issue about the about the french blockade etcetera coming in so it really is a total disaster really and the disaster is the responsibility of the british government germany remains one of the country's worst affected by the pandemic the state of saxony has registered a disproportionately high share of germany's deaths linked to the coronavirus with the crematoria in the region struggling with a body backlog our video agency ruptly filmed the situation.

on thursday the u.k. and the european union reached a landmark trade deal after 4 years of will they won't they however the chief negotiator described the divorce as a lose lose prime minister johnson though was upbeat about the situation the 1st is the feast full of fish by the way and i believe it will be the basis of a happy and successful and stable partnership with our friends in the e.u. for years to come yet but getting you all a dollar to play there is no winner and bracks it's a lose lose situation to separate especially in the world as it is today england the united kingdom has chosen to be solitary rather than stand together let's look

at how london and the e.u. will cooperate from january 1st there will be no tariffs on each other's goods and no limit on trading u.k. will now control its own borders though and has pulled out of the long running arrest miss student exchange scheme between universities opting for a smaller swap program politicians will return to westminster to vote on the agreement on wednesday. shortly after the deal was announced scottish 1st minister nicolas sturgeon said that britain has lost more than it has gained from bragg's it she added scotland now has to decide on its future as quote an independent european nation meanwhile the pact has triggered mixed feelings among the scots and other britons i think it makes a few of these because of a past couple weeks so should be just so much hype and misinformation and media fatigue because it's been going for so long i hate breaks and i think it's a completely retrograde step i think that the feeling of being part of

a multinational international. i word looking community i think has been thompson fantastic i didn't support bret so i didn't pull pranks a i have really guides to not be part of you know penny more it does make me nervous to think how am i going to get to visit the european cities and you know friends i have to live in spain and in france and other parts of europe it would have been a disaster if there had been a do so very case but there is a to this is i suppose some people a big christmas present it's just i think it's all the relief aid to them to see it i think we will see a return to the troubles that it was st louis. extremely disappointing. and naivety short saudi government has a for their own short sighted aims as a such a terrible practice of the so you know this country is dreadful and they have a very very sort of i think it's really. funny going on also these years but it

sort of begs the question as to whether this arrangement is going to be better than the regime behind him before we left the european union while boris johnson's christmas wish may have come true it has been overshadowed by a tough year of coded closed borders and economic woes archie saw scott taylor looks now at a past 12 months like no other. it was almost as if he wanted to become a me we have so much to look forward to in 2020 it's hard to pin down which one of 2020 stretches he meant the end as negotiations food shortages coronavirus close borders economic collapse like. sending. sending a president who home printers don't christmas. yet i feel like christmas has been and history you might be like remember it is the prime minister. best so while it's about a man who wanted to be remembered as the one who got brecht's it done 4 years of

preparation for a course he believed in thompson was set up for trial and he even promised back in january that it was up and ready all but done we had ended a debate has run for 3 and a half years some would say 47 years i would even mention the name of the can probably see except to say that it begins with billions receding the past behind us well be rose from the past and a haunted chorus for 11 months that's how long it took to negotiate a deal a deal that has followed praxedis claimed could be resolved over a cup of tea 11 months the brink of no deal a nation of disappointed impatient angry people but boris still gave himself a pat on the back we've taken back control of our laws and we've taken back control of every jot and tittle of regulation in a way that is complete and unfettered who's going to tell him then that this

celebration might be a party for one. it sounds like the british team have dropped the ball before the line no wonder they want a christmas eve announcement to hide the fisheries sell out today amidst all the debates and details of the trade deal one fundamental truth remains that at a time of global insecurity we're no longer part of one of history's greatest and most noble projects bringing nations together to build peace out of the ruins of war. this is a disastrous bragg's it outcome for scottish farmer it's and like all other aspects of bracks it for students cortlandt against our will it wasn't just brussels that proved to be bogus on doing fresh from a caribbean holiday and still on a post-election high in the new year boris johnson didn't seem too concerned about a never heard of before virus his message was clear don't exaggerate when barry is going 'd up. and when there is

a risk that new diseases such as corona virus will trigger a panic while it was a pretty quick descent from facts to this. but it's hard not to panic when the person who's supposed to be meeting you flip flops and utahns his way through a crisis to the point his own ministers don't know the rules so make it absolutely clear. distinction. let me i will absolutely get back to christmas would be cancelled actually christmas is off schools are reopening actually you know they're not we're lifting the knocked out actually stay at home little wonder then that confusion on exhaust

peroration grew a bit confused because you don't like things occurring creek and we don't get that much information about what's going on and suddenly boom the new school down we don't know what to do so nobody can use and they say to you cannot who's devoted 48 hours so it's so confusing i don't even know my parents live. there with the kids so i am allowed to go to do but i don't know if i'm really about to be going through. q you did do was it a case of bad timing for bojo was 2020 year you just couldn't shine no matter what or was it the man himself who failed to need one thing's for sure for boris johnson it's been not a hell of a year but rather a year from how. members of the united states space force have finally been given a name one year after the elite branch was created you might think that after so

long the u.s. top brass would have come up with something truly original. soldiers sailors airmen marines and guardians will be depending on me. i will be back what i just said.

here's something interesting for you jogging machines for lizards just one of the strange projects the u.s. government has spent money on this year according to a report that states over $50000000000.00 went the way of such initiatives dimitry has been doing the sums. 2020 has been a year to forget for many reasons but it's that time of year so let's reflect imagine you just blown $54000000000.00 in 12 months it is more important than ever

for congress to find its fiscal backbone our debts puts at risk the long term solvency of major programs such as social security and why to pay for test use for covert tests that turn out to be soda bottles to see if hot tubbing a few times a week eases stress yeah those don't seem like good investments but u.s. senator rand paul has published a whole list of all the things you can blow your hard earned money on and what washington apparently did spend it on like $1500000.00 to give a couple of reptiles some cardio researches spent a 1000000 and a half taxpayer dollars to get 6 lizards walk them on a treadmill what taking x. rays with 3 d. imaging technology and then figure out how their joints moved sure it's fascinating stuff maybe for some but come on $1500000.00 place your bets on how much it costs to spray drunk rats with bobcat you're just

a tidy sum of $4500000.00 in all seriousness here's exactly what the researchers did in layman's terms they spent 5 weeks giving rats intermittent access to alcohol to get them hooked then they put the rats in a cage and literally sprayed them with book can't urine a predator to simulate trauma then they tested where the males and females responded differently why that's probably something you're wondering right now the answer research into p.t.s.d. and alcoholism among war veterans of barely someone has concluded that surviving a gruesome war is comparable to being sprayed with europe so we've gone from paying people to sit in hearts of trying to get adults to watch less t.v. and box all of this money wasted. and none of that was initially washington's this is $54000000000.00 of taxpayer money but look on the bright side at least we can sleep well now we know that a coke bottle is not a good substitute for

a test tube. the way that the united states government has managed its finances throughout this entire thing is absolutely overall completely abysmal it's been nothing short of criminal what the united states government has done throughout this entire pandemic there were a few ok things but overall the bad outweighed the good by a whole lot and it's really made the united states government out for exactly what it is which it is a corporate coup no one ever asked the question how are you going to pay for it when it comes to giving money to the pentagon or giving money to weapons contractors or given money to the oil and gas industry no $1.00 ever asked how you're going to pay for it but they ask how are you going to pay for it when it comes to giving direct relief to people then all the sudden they're worried about their pocketbook it doesn't for me this hour i'll be back with one more look at your weekly in about 32 minutes this is our to international glad to have you with

us. oh look forward to talking to you all that technology should work for people. must obey the orders given by human beings except where such orders that conflict with the 1st law should your identification should be very careful about official intelligence to the point obesity is too great trust our government shia. inflict on theories chumps and with artificial intelligence will summon the demons . must protect its own existence was a mix of. the.

6 guys just by the natural survival. when customers go by your supplies. didn't help well reduce some lower. that's undercutting but what's good for markets is not good for the global economy. but on welcome to world the part of george bernard show once said that science never solves a problem without creating 10 more fast forward. that we takes on a rather grim meaning considering that according to our guest today there is not

a single contaminated square sound to me to a left on this planet happy where you point when signs does more harm than good in progress it was so well to discuss that i'm now joined by a francophone hippo. professor all he could talks ecology at northern arizona university and author of the chemical age how can best for the salmon and disease killed millions and change their relationship with the earth frank it's good to talk to you thank you very much for your time and congratulations on your magnificent book nature of sun appreciate now i think your book provides for a very interesting read that is at the time of a global pandemic very encouraging and very unnerving at the same time encouraging because our chances of survival i gather are much better than 3 to one it was during the time of the yellow fever outbreak philadelphia that you describe in such a colorful do.