the e.u. strikes a milestone deal with china removing barriers to investment this comes after years of talks and in spite of resistance from washington. the british government puts most of england under the current toughest level of cold restrictions as case numbers spiral following of the discovery of a highly contagious new strain. that new variant of covert has now been detected in the u.s. we chronicle a challenging year for the country worst hit by the pandemic. broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is our international i'm sean thomas certainly glad to have you with us and now the e.u.

and china have struck a landmark deal after years of talks it opens up the chinese market to european investment while giving beijing and inroad to some strategic european projects dubinsky picks up the story for us. steel is almost being 70 is in the making between the e.u. in china and they've really pushed the boat to get it done before the end of 2020 essentially it means that there is the opportunity for the e.u. for investment in certain industries this is companies within the e.u. to be able to invest in areas of china that before it had barry is around them such as the financial sector and the health sector for china it means that there is this possibility of investing in renewable energies so this is something on the table for each side in this and this deal has been described by many as being the most ambitious deal that china has ever struck with a nation country tomorrow spoof. covered world needs a strong e.u.

china relationship to build forward better but this requires cooperation reciprocity and trust especially in our trade and investment relationship but this deal comes with a huge amount of criticism many have said that the e.u. is far too soft on china on issues such as labor rights aren't human rights in fact some e.u. countries said they were unhappy with the fact that the e.u. hasn't done enough to secure those issues these countries were countries such as the netherlands and belgium and the was also criticism from some e.u. parliament ariens who said you know essentially this didn't tackle issues such as hong kong and that of the weaker muslims in china e.u. china investment agreements we gained access to the documents and it's extremely light and human rights and slavery as i feared the french declarations on putting an end to forced labor as a condition for a deal which just empty words hate from the land the european commission president

told us dombrowski joins a brill you should raise recent human rights issues when you talk to see what they steal is also to likely to rub up the wrong way the new incoming president of the united states joe biden just a few weeks ago that you said he wanted to coordinate its interaction its issues with china with the boy did a demonstration in yet just weeks before he takes office it's decided to push ahead with this deal some of those who have suggested that china was going soft on the e.u. in a way of perhaps ramping up those tensions the main deliverable from the genes point of view was to drive a wedge in transfers line to coalitions and brussels appears to have complied it's just mind boggling that the you would even consider rushing to a green investment pact with beijing weeks before biden takes office after claiming for several years that they wanted transatlantic cooperation on china. well the

e.u. has rejected that criticism saying that washington has done its own deals of trade and investment with china under the trumpet of ministration so that's boy the boy but regardless of the geopolitics surrounding this deal what is clear is that. to get it done before the e.u. presidency transfers another country next year and it seems for her because she believes that this gives the e.u. a more level playing field the gates china that trumps everything else. we spoke earlier with joseph gregory mahoney professor of politics at eastern china normal university he thinks both europe and china are trying to put ideology behind them and secure their economic interests. this is something that really appears to indicate a major shift in the aging concessions that got this you know to really came from the chinese side you know it's the postcode it reality where you know we all have to get things done deal with difficult times that are here and there and the need

to step away from i think ideal ideology and ideological standards that are putting food on the table or products on people's shelves and i've seen a couple of negative comments from providing the incoming by the ministration where they say that it looking forward to talking to europe about about china's unfair competition practices but i don't think that's the ministration pushing europe over this if i think it may encourage by them to take a softer position towards the e.u. particular i think brussels is probably calculating that as well so we might see the us actually competing with concessions of its own. millions of people across england have now come under the case toughest level of code restrictions known as tear for the measure entered into force from midnight thursday case numbers have soared since a new highly infectious strain of the virus was detected the country's health

secretary perhaps predicting a national uproar said that there was no other choice. the new variant means that 3 quarters of the population are now going to be 4 and almost all of the country into 3 and you and i know that 3 in 4 measures place a significant burden on people and especially on businesses affected but i'm afraid it's absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we've see more regions entering turf or that includes the north east of england north west the south east the rules in that area is to stay at home now experts are warning there that to 4 is not even going far enough and many say that what's needed is a full scale national lockdown to try and take control of this virus nothing on that bow from westminster nor was there any talk of a to 5 of course we've heard some rumors circulating over the past few days that potentially there could even be a tear 5 coming out of all of this nothing on that either but this latest set of

tight a set of restrictions as much to do with today being the 3rd day the 3rd consecutive day that we've seen the daily cases absolutely at a peak has not really basically means that the 2nd wave of 19 is much harsher and much worse than the 1st wave and of course we've just been seeing in the last few weeks these 2 new strands of 191 seemingly even originating here in the u.k. one apparently every connecting in south africa all of this so is placing a huge amount of pressure on the n.h.s. many say that the n.h.s. the ta it and frustrated but it's also coming being quite apparent in the hospitals within themselves we're seeing a shortage of styles but also a shortage of bed spaces as well gosh we're. going to. control you start having to make it incredibly difficult decision to

decide who gets an ambulance and. quite often with huge numbers of people where. if you from going to susan i know you have nobody left to send while working behind the scenes is the medical and science professionals and some good news coming from them because the latest vaccination has just been approved in the united kingdom by the u.k.'s medicines regulator that's the oxford university astra zeneca vaccination being the 2nd one here in the united kingdom following of course the pfizer biotech vaccine just a few weeks ago so studies show so far that the full 2 doses provides around 62 to 90 percent efficacy the biotech there was much further ahead and much further advanced when it comes to the effectivity of it because after a top up that's around 95 percent even so the united kingdom has ordered $100000000.00 doses the 1st batch could be rolled out as soon as next week a huge improvement though on the biotech vaccination is that this latest one only

needs to be stored in a room temperature and normal fridge temperature as opposed to minus 70 degrees so this one is much more easily transported as with the 1st vaccination this one also is going to be abiding by a priority list at the top of the list of courses the over 80 is the elderly but also staff on the frontline as well much like the where the united kingdom 1st approved the bio on tech vaccination the e.u. said actually the u.k. is really rushing things through and the e.u. will be taking their time with things we need additional data about the quality of the vaccine and after that the company has to formally apply but even with this vaccination is really difficult to be quite positive here in the united kingdom of course britain has been dubbed play by the end after the last few weeks it's easy to see why remember just a few months ago boris johnson promised the u.k. that it would be normality by christmas and really we've already done christmas and it couldn't be. you're ologist xabi ahmed told us that the latest surgeon

infections couldn't have come at a more challenging time for hospitals in the u.k. you know it's a very challenging situation in. the u.s. but. in brenda's tremendous stress at this moment it is much worse than what he was seeing in march you can dine in minute these are the crunch window months and it is always in pressure in these critical months and look to go get going and all of their you can go to bend them and so putting the 2 together it's highly challenging it's very very difficult to manage by the situation we've looked at the latest innovation to be we're going constraints or any. situation in which you have to make a decision between life and dead but it priority gayman fortunately and you have to be ignored because you have to still run a so this and of the population at large. the new covered strain has now spread

from the u.k. to the u.s. it has been detected in colorado while across the country the state of new york is bracing for a new surgeon cases we have been talking about potential for spread during christmas as america struggles to deal with the effects of the pandemic are u.s. correspondents kaleb mop and has been looking back at an especially grim year for the city dubbed the epicenter of the crisis new york. they call it the big apple and in 2020 that apple got a giant one minute and that worm is known as ovid when a national emergency was 1st declared in the city back in march many panicked. stores soon had empty shelves.

the hospital soon had capacity and emergency tents were set up in central park. there was a shortage of protective equipment like masks and hand sanitizer health care workers took to the streets to protest they're told to you wouldn't ask only old boy. so if you want to talk about the row. it's part of that i mean if you send if you send over a percent it's really it's been tough it's been one of the hardest moments in my life it's been really challenging and we were burnt out we're we come in every day and are not getting support from our managers are you know our government is

telling us we can wear a simple bandana we don't have many noted that in circumstances like this we had local officials blaming everyone but themselves we was the whole international health community we was the whole national shows of experts the w.h.o. d.n.i. to see these the then all of that soup of agencies we were reasonably when we were you. where was the intelligence community with the brief. videos of trucks used as temporary morgue studio an overflow of dead bodies became a horrifying emblem of the era. new york city's hard island became

a graveyard amid the overflow of dead bodies. one of the ugliest scandals involve nursing homes at the end of march andrew cuomo the new york state governor ordered coated patients to be sent to nursing homes for the elderly now this order was revised on the 11th of may but it was far too late the death toll in new york's nursing homes was approximately 4800 people remember that the elderly are the most vulnerable such a poorly calculated move is pretty hard to forgive this thing is not going away sir 6300 people died in new york nursing homes that is the most in this country really needs to be able to challenge this wish to leave you would do if you're in a little bit of criticism of your very much like there was a glimmer of hope over the summer but then a 2nd wave came when it got cold the new lock downs have had

a devastating effect on the economy restaurant owners and workers have taken to the streets. while the state was crashing and burning with the rising body count andrew cuomo took the opportunity to write a book about his personal achievements. and . 2021 doesn't look like it's bringing any relief either national health officials are warning us that january could be devastating without substantial mitigation the middle of january can be

a really dark time for us some say that the lockdown was imposed too late others are saying that cuts in health care facilities and the closing of hospitals over the past decade have played a role regardless of why there's no question the 2020 will go down as one of the worst years in the history of new york city jail up and r.t. new york the chaos has ramped up in yemen with blasts and gunfire killing over 20 people the details are coming up after a short break stay with us. join me every thursday on the elec simon short and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics school business i'm show business.

is you'll be a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation whole community. are you going the right way or are you being led so. tightly. what is true what's his face. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a mate in the shallows. at

least 20 people are dead and scores injured after a wave of explosions and gunfire in the yemeni port city of aden the red cross says one of its staff is among those lost and 3 others are wounded. the 1st attack happened in 8 in the airport just after a plane carrying a newly appointed yemeni government officials flew in from saudi arabia a local t.v. channel called the explosion on camera when people were disembarking from the aircraft it was followed up by gunfire and several smaller blasts local reporters say the airport was hit by mortar and drone strikes in the passengers were driven straight to the presidential palace where another explosion took place so far no group has claimed responsibility but officials are blaming the rebels former pentagon analyst michael maloof believes there are other possible call. in terms of

that attack it was intriguing because again it is goofy's denied it and people point even though people have pointed fingers there's a possibility that it was also. isis isis was rolling back in yemen as it was almost decimated a few years ago and their concentration seems now to be in the 18 area and they would love to create disruption and create power vacuums in those areas and. create the kind of the turmoil that we continue to see in them. the latest tragedy in yemen comes right after washington gave the green light for a $290000000.00 arms deal with saudi arabia the state department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale to the kingdom of saudi arabia of $39.00 small diameter bomb one munitions and related equipment for an estimated cost of $290000000.00 the trumpet ministration approved that agreement less than

a month before the next president is slated to enter the white house and it follows billions of dollars worth of weapons exports from the us to saudi arabia in recent years it is happening despite repeated warnings over this spiraling civilian deaths in the saudi led bombing of yemen which has been ongoing since march 2015. the saudi led coalition and the hoofy own troops fighting since march 25th seen are responsible for laws of war violations and human rights abuses the conflict has killed and injured thousands of civilians there are several other arab nations sealing last minute deals with in the outgoing u.s. administration kuwait is about to buy attack helicopters worth $4000000000.00 and egypt is set to receive defense and targeting gear worth around $170000000.00 michael maloof again thinks the flow of u.s. weapons to the saudis could be short lived. this is part of trump's effort to keep the arabia. well armed and to try and use its influence to

offset iran so biden administration may actually quit the combustion biden himself as issues with saudi arabia and in addition the congress does as well and the congress has 30 days in which to disapprove and this is the period in which that would happen so and it would come and the 30 day period would be up during the new biden administration should he be sworn in and that will be and he could biden could put a hold on it at that point. in syria terrorists have attacked a passenger bus and theirs or province killing at least 25 people according to state media it happened near the iraqi border on a highway leading to palmira formerly an islamic state stronghold the jihadi group no longer occupies any significant territory in syria but they have their

reportedly been attempting to regroup in the desert. on the lebanon where riot police have clashed with students at a top university in beirut protesters try to storm the main campus angry that despite a coded link economic crisis permission fees are being doubled also. tens of thousands of pro-choice activists erupted into cheers as argentina's senate voted to legalize abortion a deeply divisive issue in the catholic majority country people celebrated the decision by throwing green smoke bombs that's the color of the pro-choice movement argentina becomes the 1st major latin american state to make that move. meanwhile health workers in argentina have received the 1st doses of russia's v. as a mask vaccination campaign gets underway it is the 3rd country after russia and belarus to approve the shots argentinean president alberto fernandez has dismissed western

doubts over the russian jab saying what he called a politically driven smear campaign he also said international trade wars over vaccines are holding back efforts to get the drugs to where they are most needed. in fact there is a very vicious dispute going on very cruel dispute and a shameful one where by some discredit now this and i think the 1st thing to bear in mind is that a trade war has been unleashed also says the whole world is eager for the vaccine there's a geo political dispute who will be the want to distribute the vaccine our sister channel spanish has been reporting from outside a vaccination center in the capital buenos aires. be remembered in argentina as the start of the biggest effects a nation ever carried out in the country has received 300000 doses of v. now the focus is on monitoring the vaccination of medical workers and hospital staff caring for people infected with coded 19 they were the 1st to receive the

vaccine across medical centers they worked hard to tackle the virus but it's been difficult not least because some of even seeing colleagues lose their lives to delivery of the vaccines course. this is a ray of hope for us it's like we've crossed the line of fire and are now moving forward against this damned virus we had a very difficult year there was a lot of fear this is a great hope for us and i'm eternally grateful on behalf of all of the nurses. i am satisfied i am very happy these are the emotions that come to my mind now i remember our colleagues who died because they worked in the health sector and happy because this should end. in the province more than 300000 people signed up for voluntary vaccination with the provincial governor who was the 1st to be vaccinated in the region detail the significance of this new step in the fight against that. basic it seems to me today is the beginning of

a new stage for us largest vaccination campaign in the history of the province of when osiris begin this morning and this is a vaccine that not only prevents disease. but also represents a real triumph as supergroup aleutian in the fight against the virus the campaign will involve around $7800.00 vaccination centers as a whole of distributing doses brought from russia everyone vaccinated will be supervised for possible side effects as well as to inform when a 2nd round of vaccines arrives more than 20000000 doses are expected to be delivered by february of a major positive effect against the virus. we heard from a latin america analyst to francisco guess he thinks some countries are waging an information campaign against the russian vaccine and he says of the. effort to create a cold war almost. de by the united states but also by some of the you could be on call. and d.c.'s day deeply in russia and china i think the reason he

that they have to come to the conclusion that they suffered a massive baby goes with the. then because these countries china russia and a few others actually have them if you have a sense if you put people before profits if you actually cared about the population rather than anything you then the results of you know the mostly good where if you were to compare we. all european countries the united kingdom but also the united states where you have something close to a catastrophe then that's the reason why that is the future come back unfortunately she's bored by it was the media. all of that i consider the forces around madly and my reason who created them asked the question we're going to be the country controllers here that is where the jobs. i felt as a for me this hour in about 33 minutes i'll be back with another full and fresh

look at the news this is our 2 international. and then as that happens the delusion will. but you have australian visual they go this route you know there are people. who are. these give me time to jump to the nearest. study to go to the polluted introduces the chief. needs us of but it seems to me

i'm. equally finished with this new look at a lot of these i will get a title to put it you'll do good because there will be a choice to be on your boat it will show you such today with a massive show in the us talk it over out of this girl through with don't be fooled the koku are full of can churn you. point of their beautiful and hear them more to see what we're going. to put so that the new. black. radish did their share for. gas to jenny. you'll. be asleep when you're in the water which you're the last of the city to be able i just stuck i don't know if you just want to also let the speech into your pride you will know when you are going in there still usually does.

it will be very difficult to get. during 2020 change was the norm. many years reflected on what is being. returned. when else so it seems wrong. wrong just don't. let me. get to see. just because that's ok. and in detroit because the trail. when something you find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground .

you said it entertaining interviews from guests all from the year that was 2020 and one a year it has been my friends 2020 brought us everything from pandemics to plan demick sperm tiger kings to karen queens to uncheck police violence to righteous protests in the streets we got to witness both the best and the worst of humanity here in the 1st 20 years of the 21st century i mean not only not only did we get a front row seat to the epic spoiled. meltdown of our brand name and cheap one us president donald trump but as an added bonus we as a bungle we were also able to witness the epic failure of the united states congress as well.