in the headlines this hour thousands of demonstrators turn out in baghdad exactly one year after the u.s. assassinated iran's top general there growing tension else is seeing terror and again vowed to avenge his death while american strategic bombers are flown over the gulf. plus in the stories that shape the week the u.s. suffers a post-holiday coronavirus surge with cities like los angeles already out of intensive care beds one nurse tells us that's not the only thing in short supply. we're stuck now we were running low on oxygen on supplies on you know all the respiratory drugs definitely beds definitely staff. also the argentine president warns of

a smear campaign and trade war against the sputnik the covert vaccine is hampering its global distribution as the country starts using the russian shot and. i remember our colleagues who died because they worked in the health sector i'm happy because this should be the end and i'm internally grateful on behalf of all of the nurses. coming to you live from moscow this is the weekly on archie international i'm donald quarter taking you through the past week's top stories welcome. tens of thousands turned out in their rocky capital this weekend marking exactly one year since a rainy and military commander qassam solo money was killed by a u.s. air strike at baghdad airport on the anniversary angry crowds demanded foreign troops to get out of iraq they've been on the streets since saturday night having.

lit candles at the site of the attack and set up a memorial solmonese murder not only ignited fury in the middle east and also escalated tensions around the world. so. let's go to. the.

just ahead of the anniversary iran asked the u.n. security council to stop what it's called washington's quote military adventurism as the pentagon flew strategic bombers over the region then on friday a top or any official valid revenge for solmonese death. the resistance will make life for the enemy tougher and tough on one of the forms of post vengeance for a month to sell him on his blood will be different expulsion of americans from the region and though the message of horse vengeance would be punishing the perpetrators of this crime and those who did it. so money is daughter recently told artie's going underground is that her father's killing had fueled iranian anger. turbot night. before a few hours that this happened for my father i hear and i spoke with him on the

phone and i knew it that the situation in iraq was so dangerous so i added chattels for the new is in iraq and my telegram a boat one am i see every deal is sharing on that china telegram about explosion in the airport i had a phone call after that i hear from one of our friend who was asking for my father at various he is he ok or no because i hear any news that there is explosion in airport. and your father was in the car and they hit it i got so shocked unfold stress like my heart was going from my chest when i turned on the t.v. and i saw his picture. i understand what happened and from that they tell not i'm still shocked a lot of what happened it's so hard to believe how is the death of the off road iran together what happened in iran and iraq was something

something so special in the history you see how people come to the street and they are crying and they are sad and they are angry and they wonder bench and they are waiting for an answer because they know. what generals really money did for them america thought that everything will be stopped because they killed general soleimani departure of the middle east but they are so wrong they didn't see the anger off the ah in the eyes of iranian people they didn't see their tears they didn't see their sadness and i have to say that generously money has a military from people. that they will take revenge from trump and they are so wrong they are thinking this war will be end the end of general silly money this is the beginning our people are united and they will stand in front of such

a they just powers why would donald trump say that your father was a monster he is the monster not my father my father did his job so well and make them so angry you are seeing every plan they are making them and the list is destroyed everywhere they are trying to enter and hurt iran they are failed why of course for them my father is a big monster but my father is a savior he saves people not just his own country he did this for all countries he did this for people not just middle east he destroyed i says because he don't want people people innocent in europe got killed by such a dangerous virus how my father can be a person who wants to kill an american people and people in europe how he was

saving them from the ices he was saving them so don't let anyone to hurt them he was fighting for them how he can be a terrorist to kill people do you think it means anything that joe biden will be in the white house there is no difference between biden trump they are the same guy and they are following the same policy there is no difference between them trump or dare killing my father but biden support us so there is no different the problem we have with our it is with their policy this will not change they are the same people the same mind the same way. and each one of them is a warthen the other one. to some of the stories from the past week the u.s. registered a grim milestone over the holidays passing 20000000 confirmed covert cases since

the pandemic began the number of daily deaths also set new records while the state of california is reporting that its intensive care units are at full capacity los angeles county is one of the worst affected regions overwhelmed hospitals there are setting up makeshift wards and beds outside and the authorities have even reportedly sent out rationing guidelines for clinics to give quote less care to those less likely to survive although it's still unclear whether those guidelines have been implemented one nurse in l.a. told us just how bad the situation has become so we're stuck now we were running low on oxygen on supplies on you know all the respiratory drugs definitely bad definitely staff we don't have enough staff we are beyond stretched we have patients in overflow overflow overflow areas that were never intended to have patients other hospitals are setting out makeshift units outside of the

hospital our government they blew it all so they could have released to the defense production act and ramped up the production of p.p. and all the other supplies that we need and they didn't do that so the whole the whole nations in a big big predicament of how we're going to be able to treat patients safely and give them the care that they need l.a. officials issued a safer at home order to try and scale curb the spread of the virus scatterings for anything other than emergencies and political or religious purposes have been banned most non-essential companies have been forced to shut down in the city's mayor urged people to think twice about their plans over the festive period. there's no celebrating this year for our health care workers who are facing the toughest times they've ever seen for them we're staying home for them we're skipping holiday parties every sacrifice makes

a difference to stopping the covert 1000 surge from r.c.f. santini its public recklessness that is to blame for the rapid spread of the virus . i can't even imagine what it be like to be a governor right now the state. especially california california is a powerhouse right it's got the 6th largest economy in the world and. the fact that you know businesses are shutting down you have a lot of very vocal californians and and they were giving him a tremendous amount of pressure to open up and i understand that but you could open up safely and people just were saving why i would drive by bars and people would have their masks off and there'd be it be densely densely crowded and then you hear people like running out homes and having parties where there's 1000 people there so it's the public it's us it's the ignorance of the human being we continue to.

defy the recommendations of the c.d.c. we continue to gather and i understand how important holidays are there just as important for me i haven't seen my family in mines it's terribly serious and people need to understand that you have to be careful and it doesn't matter your age it doesn't matter yes it does it does it matters your agent your cum or didn't but there's plenty of younger people that have died from this. over on the east coast new york state has been now registered more than a 1000000 covert cases since the pandemic began and the daily number of deaths is also at near record levels despite that the mayor of new york city's being heavily criticized after telling residents to stay home but then being seen dancing with his wife on times square on new year's eve takes a closer look at the controversy which finishes out an especially tough year for the city. as the new year rolls around many in new york city are hoping that 2021

will be completely different the incoming administration of joe biden is promising that they will turn things around with covert 19 with very swift measures and a local government is reassuring everyone that soon things will be back to normal. this jar of them over here in new york city all over the country we're getting a shot of hope. we now know that we will ultimately defeat the coronavirus but what will this new normal be a lot of things won't be like that old pre lockdown world before the masks and temperature checks are one of many small businesses will be gone over 30 different retail and restaurant chains filed for bankruptcy in 2021 and many more are downsizing with stores and restaurants shutting down during the pandemic big tech is now moving in amazon facebook and google have moved thousands of their employees to the big apple the 3 tech giants now have over 22000 employees in new york city and more are expected these silicon valley giants are buying up iconic office

buildings another aspect of new york city life public transportation is also not doing so well the jobs of thousands of transit workers are on the brink as the trains shut down each night in order to be clean and comply with health regulations new york city is going to enter 2021 with a significant loss at this point this city has actually dropped off the list of america's top 10 zip codes many rich folks have packed up and moved on the cost of rent has decreased by 30 percent so how normal will this new normal be once restrictions are finally lifted it looks like many things have changed in a way that is not easily reversed. r.t. new york veteran american broadcaster larry king is being treated in the hospital after being diagnosed with covert 19 he's the host of larry king now and also political thing here on our t.v. king is 87 and is said to be in stable condition but remains under medical watch because of his age and

a number of health issues his news career stretches back 6 decades including a lengthy spell at c.n.n. during which he was he had interviewed many of the world's leading figures we wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. still to come on the weekly russia's coronavirus vaccine makes headway internationally as argentina starts a mass vaccination campaign with sporting feet story and more after the break.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond shill and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics small business i'm show business i'll see you then. welcome back to the program despite the turmoil of the past year

a surprising number of businesses actually made record profits in fact dozens of people in the u.s. became billionaires that's according to a report by the u.s. based institute for political for policy studies but it's also against the backdrop of rising unemployment and hardship across the country as taylor explains. 2020 the years that won't be missed coronavirus could a virus a covert 19 entire health care system that is on the very brink of collapse lockdown shut down major health crisis hospitals and health care workers are bracing for an onslaught of coronavirus patients storing unemployment numbers so many workers are still hurting very badly as the economy starts to tank hunger. unemployment collapsed businesses whole industries brought to that knees stupid it's the security of choice just wiped out. we're hearing the same refrain all around the world families are very worried as they are forced to make impossible

decisions do they risk the disease as they go out to earn money to buy food was to home and watch their children go hungry but as some plunged into dire financial straits others soared to unimaginable heights how well it turns out that a pandemic is just the thing to help take the video conferencing up didn't even exist before 2020 no one knows will it exist after 2020 no one knows and given its c.e.o. pocketed 17000000000 dollars this year i doubt he's having sleepless nights also sleeping soundly jeff bezos with people border home amazon had a blockbuster year but according to the richest man or not who made $75000000000.00 as the global economy just crashed in pa and apparently it wasn't all fun and games . there is no instruction manual for how to feel at a time like this i know this causes stress for everyone my list of worries right

now like yours i'm sure is long for my own children parents friends to the safety of you my colleagues to those who are already very sick and to the brutal home that will be caused by the economic fallout across our communities well that might not be a manual but that is math and it shows that baz also could give $105000.00 bonus to every single amazon waka and still be as rich as he was at the start of the pandemic but he didn't what did happen was a grueling lockdown shifts like safety protocols and no moscow and firing people who spoke out. was army the problem with the birds that you have agreed on that you don't you just let you trust the virus it's like what you think if they want you to get sick you

know here you know what happened afterwards is not enough to even. believe one this about protection well he was the body that workers will college of business and other c.e.o.'s as pandemic profiteers who have made billions while putting workers and their families friends and neighbors at risk do you think you couldn't be making 75000000000 a year but you can just ask your own musk he might have been broken 2008 but he'll raked in 123000000000 in 2020 and when the cash is flowing you know wanted to stop. all of it. forcibly imprisoning people in their homes. all across to. my. breaking people's freedoms and ordering. people. to america country.

and. so instead of forcibly imprisoning people in their homes musk courage people to get back to walk all face starvation and get addicted on no pay once that lethal virus off to roll you know you're talking about saving humanity but these are humans that die in the process everybody dies 2020 the a one man could afford to just blow up his rocket while hundreds of millions are left picking up the pieces of that lives argentina has begun a mass covert 19 vaccination program with russia sputnik the shot health workers are among the 1st to receive it the country follows russia and belarus and improving the shot in argentina's health ministry says so far it's seen only minimal side effects like a headache and a fever in one percent of people who've taken it in while president alberto fernandez has dismissed fears of using sputnik the saying it's fallen victim to

a politically driven international smear campaign. there is a very vicious dispute going on very cruel dispute and it's shameful when my son is quoted now this and i think the 1st thing to bear in mind is that a trade war has been unleashed also since the whole world is eager for the vaccine there's a geo political dispute who will be the one to distribute the vaccine correspondent ricardo romero from r.t. spanish channel reports from outside a vaccination center in the capital. we'll be remembered in argentina as the start of the biggest vaccination 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 the

delivery of the vaccines cause for dismissal. 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 the pandemic. it seems to me today is the beginning of a new stage for us the largest vaccination campaign in the history of the province of when a serious begin this morning and this is a vaccine that not only prevents disease. but also represents

a real triumph of aleutian in the fight against coronavirus the campaign will involve around 7800 vaccinations centers as a whole 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. latin american commentator francisco demand has told us washington is leading the propaganda campaign against sputnik the in an effort to save face and eases up the. effort to create a whole wall other most. deeply by the united states but also some of the european . and d.c. they. are russia and china and i think the reason needs. to come to the conclusion that there is such a massive. you need to go and then because these countries china russia

and a few others actually have them if you have a sense if you people before if you actually cared about the population rather. than the results and you know the most good. if you were to compare foreman's all european countries the united kingdom but also the united states you have something close to prevent that's the reason why it is that huge complaint unfortunately she's bored by it with the media and the occasional riots in order to consider the forces of her own mackie and my prison who created the must be going to be the country controllers here there were jobs. meanwhile in russia more than 26000 new covert cases were recorded on saturday infections are among older people with almost half of those catching the virus in moscow being over 46 years old over one pensioner is proving there is hope no matter how old you are.

i don't know what the secret of my recovery ends but i know that we need to keep calm and preserve our nerves but a lot of them. say she was hospitalized in a relatively severe condition she was upbeat and responded well to the treatment she recovered quickly she felt we'd be precious to us and we wanted to stay around . to see because. we're grateful to the doctors she's an optimist and radiates positivity that's why she's made us happy for so long.

so more old news in brief there have been multiple arrests in the u.s. state of oregon as hundreds of anti lockdown protesters marched to the governor's mansion and capitol building demonstrators called on people to deliberately spread covidien in order to gain herd immunity and use guns to defend restaurants that violate shutdown orders. in northeast spain catalan police have broken up a 2nd mass new year's rave and made arrests the multi-day illegal party was attended by hundreds in an abandoned warehouse in barcelona it's organizers now face 860-0000 euro fine. and europe's most active volcano is still putting on a pirate plastic performance with smoke and ash rising from its snowy peaks dozens of earthquakes hit cicely's mountain and over the new year preceded by flying rocks and flowing lava only

a few weeks earlier. thanks for joining us for the weekly i'll be back with more in just about half an hour and i hope to see that. seemed wrong but i'll quote just don't call. me. yet to say proud just a comic as a kid and in detroit equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

the way of life the reindeer herding is leading a traditionally nomadic lifestyle in the tundra is similar to a parallel reality. i know. a lot of them in drive the hoods women carry the weight of the household look on their shoulders to show them which craft one also lets see man. is think this has nothing however in the vast expanse of russia there is a spot where a housewife could secure a regular employment status it's in the final 2 nights to make an issue out of this to my kids. in usually she's filled with. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy on sunday shouldn't let it be an arms race is often spearing dramatic development only mostly

i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk.

how bad. are the goons of the school and what they look to the left on the top of my. plans. with. my. let's not. lose. that. but should be looking. down the long.