this hour's headlines story from. giving it a shot western countries changed russia. for a leading medical journal publishes a study. away involved criticism the president of the european commission refuses to apologize for. russia the u.s. officially extend a major nuclear arms reduction treaty for another fall he. thinks it's a positive step towards international.

around the clock across the world this is our team my names you know me welcome to the news hour on art. mexico are among the latest countries to the russian covert vaccine it comes out on the heels of a new study in the lancet medical journal which found sputnik v to be more than 90 percent effective meanwhile in europe hungary which was the 1st the u. country to approve sputnik has already received its 1st. part of a $2000000.00 to other key states in the block including from germany waiting for the e.u. regulator to approve the child. anyone who applies to the european medical agency for approval is welcome i talked with the russian president exactly about this we noted the good data today about the russian vaccine any vaccine is welcome in the european union but only once that give the necessary data to the european medicines agency will be proved. several weeks ago i sent

a scientific mission to russia in order to exchange data with the teams there we saw today data indicating a very strong efficiency of the sputnik vaccine but we can't distribute it in france until the russian producers submit a request to all thora to use its normal it's a matter of health care responsibility well following extensive trials russian scientists repeatedly said results showed that sputnik he was safe and effective but that didn't stop a wave of criticism from the west however some of the skeptics are now having a change of heart or up against the of explains. barely a few months ago the cure was sold to us is worse than the disease they mocked sputnik we they don't ride that they tried to turn it into a joke but with out of these 3 mass trial completed it sounds like the process hasn't run its course here america's top researchers say russia's cutting corners

to develop its corona virus vaccine they're still trying to figure out safety and there they've approved it the irony is of course that these same people the same people who accused russia of spreading vaccine conspiracies and of discouraging people to get the job the irony is often lost on these sorts this is c.n.n. in a tube so you know that they're trying to trash talk it when they start by calling it putin's vaccine which was apparently dangerous and unreliable reading between the lines this is c.n.n. now and somehow sputnik has become safe and potent one of only 3 vaccines with an efficacy of over 90 percent that's cheaper it's easier to produce and to transport and side effects don't include catatonic allergic sieges what the trials showed this 91.6 percent episodes of exceeding 91.8 percent efficacy for

actually people older than 60 years old and also in ma the important part of the vaccine is it's affordable and it's easy to distribute around the world to call it human kind of big scene because it can be stored at plus 2 plus 8 versus minus 70 degree celsius required by the u.s. but scenes and of course half a one 3rd of the u.s. we've seen so when you combine safety ethic is see price and logistics you really have what i believe is a best of acute in the world and many scientists in the world agree the lancet medical journal has published preliminary results for things 3. trials of spruit it and there are good side effects if any doesn't require a deep freeze so more widely available to poorer nations when russian scientists said all of this it was met with our roles and mockery but when other scientists say the same thing they all gnawed sagely in agreement this is clearly good news

as these jewel formulation vaccine is comparatively easy to manufacture and to deploy i mean they anticipated global shortage of vaccines and logistical problems in vaccination rollout it's interesting timing too now that. the vaccines are experiencing shortages and disruptions sputnik isn't so bad after all it never was but politics is politics and a vaccine isn't immune to political trash talk as sad as that is around 50 nations have already preordered sputnik jabs and europe hungry was the 1st european nation to greenlight it and now the czech republic is looking to follow and its footsteps i know that sputnik is already i suspect being used in hungary and i have no objection to this vaccine being used in our country if the experts so decide he's still better than people dying here just because of

a lack of vaccines so after months of denial and derision the pundits too are coming around it was easy to mock russian scientists it's harder to mock international studies hard science and that was enough of a jolt to convince even pundits to give sputnik we a shot. sputnik v. was waiting for me at my neighborhood clinic the job was quick and almost painless 3 weeks later i had my 2nd injection in late january i took a test for coffee 1080 bodies the results according to interpretive scale provided by the clinic indicated that my antibody levels were probably sufficient to prevent illness struck me as high that's my own personal pun demick was nearing its and if you are the average person before this pandemic how they thought the world would react to this this huge global health crisis they would probably have said by united we now know that that would have been the wrong answer for anything the past

year was a chaotic free for all rat race where everyone is for themselves it's nice to see that at last good sense and reason are starting to prevail over propaganda and politics morocco's day of taking us through meanwhile there are over vaccines between britain and the european union is continuing the u.k. cabinet office minister michael gove now saying the blocks recent actions of undermine trust between the 2 sides because issues move has provoked and and concern across all parties and throughout civil society in northern ireland as well as international condemnation trust has been rooted damage has been done and urged action is therefore needed. it comes after the european union threat interest stricter exports of vaccines the countries outside the block you to a shortage including northern ireland but subsequently. in the meantime european commission chief ursula vulgar lion has the fended the block sluggish rollout

saying brussels would not compromise on safety but even her predecessor john claude younker has done. i believe it all went too slow it hasn't all been done with the maximum transparency even though that would have been a difficult task the e.u. vaccination program is widely perceived to have moved at a glacial pace we heard john claude younker there saying that he thinks it could have gone faster the person it seems that doesn't think it's moved far too slow is the current incumbent of the job of e.u. commission president on the line she says that it's being purposeful that it's moving in the right direction she certainly doesn't think that it's being slowed that any delays have been because the e.u. didn't want to compromise on safety some country stary to vaccinate a little before europe it is true but they resorted to emergency 24 hour marketing authorization procedures the commission in member states agreed not to compromise

with the c 50 an advocacy requirement linked to the authorization of the vaccine well that comment is being seen as a bit of a dig at the united kingdom which approved with the urgency measures both pfizer and astra zeneca vaccines in record time the prime minister's spokes person in london has said that at no point were more safety compromised in all of the corrective measures were followed. nuku nuku cook a new students were left unturned and the come in was based on an extremely thorough evaluation of all the data from the clinical trials the european medicines agency the a.m.a. greenlit the astra zeneca vaccine for use for everyone over the age of 18 in the e.u. just last friday however some member states of raised questions over it being given to those age 65 and over that's based on the data all the the lack of data for that

demographic that was provided to the e m a germany was the 1st to suggest that they didn't want to give it to that age group poland have now followed and perhaps the most shocking comments have come out of france where the french president emmanuel might call in as described the vaccine is quasi in affective against the corona virus in those age 65 and a both well that those claims of being rubbished by scientists questioning where mr micron is getting not from and suggesting that the french president may be engaging in a bit of demand management with those type of statements meanwhile world leaders including the french president european commission head to have published a joint article calling for a quarter natan approach in fighting the pandemic in the pandemic making sure a global recovery reaches everybody in need the pandemic calls for a strong international response that rapidly expands access to tests treatments and

vaccines recognizing extensive immunization as a global public good that must be available and affordable for all or my colleague under former discuss the statement with independent journalist look at rivervale he said before talking about international solidarity e.u. leaders should 1st learn how to handle the situation inside the blog. the thing is that one news you hear my point is that i am on french channels or vandal am saying and speaking about it i mean the suspect list are not the ones to talk they should get to work and facts innate 1st their own population then they can talk about the other internationally this is incredibly bad management on the side of the e.u. i think even the subsidised press you know the good press is salient now about mr micawber formulae and others that it was very badly managed simply they didn't

signed a contract right contracts. you know dick they were completely wrong in every count now about 2 percent of the european population as being vaccinated with 1st those so it's it's not functionally sort of the defense that we're hearing daily because look safety 1st we want to make sure that these vaccines are safe before we approve them including sputnik they know it was contracts 1st they wanted to get a rebate and that's what they said in the press that said all week the great argument was that together we could obtain a better price the problem is that the loss incurred every day lost is is so high that it was best to do like these trailers to bait the high price 40 percent more to get it in time and to vaccinate as they do as they did 55 percent of their population yet. the british not giving priests or been

a local park has found himself in hot water after being arrested by police apparently on the grounds that he was violating covert no restrictions. it's an abuse of power mike something. that was actually. nick smith been serving soup to vulnerable people of a makeshift kitchen he'd set up in his local skate park but the sussex police force then stepped in saying that he was encouraging 2 or more people to gather breaking current coronavirus measures mr smith blames people doing charity or volunteer work are exempt from the rule the police however beg to differ offices with the parties involved explain the restrictions in relation to the lock them and encourage compliance with the government guidelines re walford is the author of food bank

britain now he believes in this case the u.k. place where overzealous. there is a clear guidance in the restrictions and that means the voluntary sector those of us that involved with feeding people in a crisis all reeks exempt from the regulations that the most of the public have to adhere to people arriving for soup catching kitchen is acceptable as long as they get the soup and then they move on this was in an open environment a safe environment it was within the guidelines of full the voluntary sector and frontline services i work with another organization called street kitchen and street kitchen operates across 7 different districts in on done on the streets feeding people in crisis in exactly the same way that this man was helping his neighbors in his local community what's really happening here is that the

police in different areas do not seem to be 1 aware all 'd what's happening in other areas so that misunderstanding the regulations. the head of u.s. strategic command claims america better get ready for a new congress souls from china and russia we'll have expert opinion on the warning after the short break. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest on the world of politics school business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then.

the new york times says the wall street was one of the last bastions of power to be hope to run by the populist movement because of the high barriers to entry yes and that's right those barriers to entry have been a limitation because of free online trading because of all the stimulus tax that made a lot of people lots of free cash to have available to do something like this there's something currently 65000000000 dollars in the war cost of the biggest health plan in the world which is right and wall street so they've got a lot of clout and energy and expertise to go after targets out there that they perceived to have stolen their money in 2008. a lot in the new start nuclear arms reduction treaty between russia and the u.s.

has been officially extended for 5 more years moscow praised the deal as a step in the right direction towards international stability with more on the story here sorties from one culture of. the treaty is considered to be the only remaining arms control agreement between the world's sue greatest nuclear powers and importance of this extension is the paramount of the already received phrase both in moscow and in washington and the agreement itself was implemented back in one c. 11 and it's called the new strategic arms reduction treaty or the new start if you want to keep it short now the agreement itself it limits the number of nuclear warheads and their delivery methods as well that's both the u.s. and russia are allowed to have now the extension went into effect this wednesday and it will last for 5 years until february 5th 2026 not russian foreign ministry

according to them the treaty was signed without any amendments and cold is a cornerstone of international security. with a new storage extension this quarter mechanism for maintaining strategic stability is preserved on a strictly reciprocal basis limiting the 2 country's nuclear arsenals considering the special responsibilities the trosch and the us carry as the world's largest nuclear nations the decision guarantees a necessary level of predictability and transparency in this area while strictly maintaining a balance of interests who live near putin signed a bill extending the agreement just last week following talks with his united states counterparts joe biden now the new start treaty was indeed at risk of expiring after former u.s. president donald trump refused to extended without making amendments that were unacceptable to moscow now u.s.

state secretary anthony blinken described this signing as the 1st step toward restoring u.s. leadership on arms control and nonproliferation and a he also said that the treaty will make the u.s. its allies and the whole world safer. the u.s. is on the brink of a nuclear war with russia and china is the stark warning from 4 star admiral charles richard america's strategic command chief the u.s. military must shift its principle assumption from nuclear employments is not possible to nuclear employment is a very real possibility and act to meet and deter that reality. i spoke to former u.n. weapons inspector scott ritter about the issue he believes the cold hard dangerous . if the united states dare uses nuclear weapons against russian forces or on russian soil the russians will have no choice but to respond this is what makes the

admiral's statements about preparing for nuclear war so dangerous because there is no way of containing it if there is a nuclear war between the united states and russia it will be a general nuclear war which means not only will both nations be a mile of it but the world well also be destroyed as we currently know it the united states identified russia and china as clear adversaries requiring the buildup of conventional military power to adequately contain the threat they pose both in europe in terms of the russians and in the pacific in terms of the chinese as things currently stand the united states does not have the conventional military force necessary to successfully engage with the guarantee of conventional victory either russia or china which means that should there be a conflict nuclear weapons would probably have to be employed on the part of the united states it will take some time but you know we have ventured to get through

the cold war and i'm hopeful we will eventually get through this. the kremlin has hit back at western governments criticism of a moscow course the signal to jail russian opposition activists alexina already accusing them of foreign interference and holly was sentenced this week to just under 3 years for parole violations are tasing course adama spoke to saskia taylor about the verdict and the subsequent reaction. well it certainly gain some traction internationally it has been covered in russia for sure but the amount of attention it's getting from international sources it is almost like they are the russian media within minutes after the ruling we started to receive statements from all over the world from the u.k. from the u.s. from germany france the council of europe really you name it all of them almost following the same the very same time template all of them calling putting alexina value on a pedestal and calling for his release we reiterate our call for the russian

government to immediately and unconditionally release mr no vonnie as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly today's verdict against jealousy in a violent is a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in russia alexina valley must be released immediately the u.k. calls for the immediate and unconditional release of alexina vali and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last 2 weeks when it comes to international support really this hearing it has been like no what no other one in russia has been unprecedented not because only because of its magnitude but also because the international community they got to witness the hearing itself right before it started we saw

a motorcade of embassy cars taking foreign diplomats to the to to witness the hearing just imagine for instance a russian embassy car going to witness a julian assange hearing in london so that would that would raise quite a number of eyebrows in the west but this it was not one embassy guy was a whole motorcade from all over europe. you must. remember that one person at the press office and i hear you. right now you have the speaker here and i'll read this. when it comes to the reaction from the russian foreign ministry well it was it was quite expected i should say the spokeswoman marie is a horrible as she called the essential foreign meddling in russia's internal affairs it was in the process of mischa this is no longer just interference in the

internal affairs of a 7 state it is the south exposure of the west in its attempts to contain russia in an unappealing being world being sued under russian law in russia and for the international community it's almost like a like a lever to be pulled against russia and like to be used against russia and to get some political gain on the diplomatic arena however say this is an internal issue so why is it that western nations have come out and it been so quick to condemn the verdict of sovereign country well it was quite expected because for them alexina vollies a hero the the are hailing him as of the opposition leader if you are a supporter then of course you will view it as unjust yeah you will you will hear his arguments and you will disagree with the court but the court sided with the prosecution completely and here's an important detail the court didn't really give

a new sentence or just reverse the previous ones the federal prison service in russia the relist their own statistics showcasing that election of ali it's not he's not getting special treatment here of course he stands out of the crowd of other thousands of people who have their suspended sentences reversed because he strives to be a politician he is an outspoken critic of the kremlin so there's also that there's always. that but at the same time again thousands of people yearly if we get this is planted sentences reversed for various violations it's important to stress that we're not talking about just the period of time when he was receiving treatment and berlin and upon his return to russia up until his return to russia it goes way before that apparently he was violating his parole conditions for 4 years and the government the government they treated him well they kind of got away with a slap on the wrist while not this time and while the judge decided to side with

the prosecution. team from the world health organization have finally visited averil a-g. laboratory in the chinese city of homs which has been at the forefront of speculation about the origins of. cars carrying the team members were escorted by chinese security forces and made their way to the research center the w.h.o. mission to the city where the 1st cluster of the role of virus emerged is aiming to identify what led to the pandemic. let's bring you to istanbul where police have clashed with students scenes were sparked by a decision by president to appoint a new director or a top university a move students seize on democratic tear gas was reportedly used by police with numerous arrests. dramatic footage here captures the moment a space x. prototype gets into trouble above texas and eventually comes back down to earth

before exploding into a ball of flames. company hopes that the vehicle will one day take people to mars still a little way off dream though it's the 2nd time in as many attempts. and finally if you're looking for an inside line on america's biggest sporting event the super bowl this weekend look no further. dolphin has offered his winning tip when faced with turmeric and 4 bolts with the name of each finalist on them he plumped for the kansas city chiefs. and bay buccaneers. nick scott for correctly predicted the last 6 super bowl. a reminder to have your say in any all this horror stories why not leave a comment or 2 on our facebook page always 'd likely. you know neal this is.

the pandemic no certainly no borders just flying to nationalities. as america. we took a backseat. to. judging . commentary classes with this system things. we can do better we should be. everyone is contributing. but we also know that this crisis will not go on forever the challenges created the response has been so many good people are helping us. it makes us feel very proud that we're in it together.

is your media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation or community. are you going the right way or are you being led so. direct. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or remain in the shallows. a dark industry comes to life in los angeles every night. dozens of women sells

their bodies on the streets many of them under age. los angeles police reveal a taste of their daily challenge no if you're going to exploit a child here in los angeles there we're going to come out to see officers going undercover as 6 workers and customers to fight the 6 trades. you'll see because that would normally least you to see your news or stats on my just get out this was that the new music with the.