it is going to. wash. time just because nature. when we get to choose. our headline stories this hour the astringent government facebook for. its platform in the country has accused the tech giant of abusing its. program texas and mississippi and. the struggle to cope with a deadly winter storm sweeping the southern states. this is this is. the 1st tooth. vaccine has arrived in.

israel lifted its blockade ship. from casting life from moscow this my names you know to me alone 30 minutes of news on. government accused facebook abuse of power after the social media john blocked people publishers in the country from sharing news posts my colleagues jack. taylor earlier talked through the story. rough start to the day if you are a news junkie or a millennial and facebook is the open in the morning because on thursday all of a stray a wake up to find that it's go to news platform how to pull the plug on any and all roekel and international stories not obviously sparked shock but also outrage now this is all because mogs are not

a fan of proposed legislation in the country which would force attack and social media companies to pay news publishers to repose that content facebook says this is unfair i'm not willing to negotiate and so on this really bold blanket ban a move which has infuriated the australian government for facebook. sections were unnecessary they're way heavy handed and they will damage it's reputation here in australia their decision to block the strains access to government sites were completely unrelated to the media code which is yet to pass through the senate facebook's actions to unfriend australia today cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services. as they were disappointing i am in regular contact with the leaders of other nations on these issues we will not be intimidated by big seeking to pressure our parliaments as he votes on our important

news media bargaining code so what we just heard that and this is what's really got people tugging on facebook now the proposed legislation is about news but facebook has gone beyond the media and it's blocked pages that really can and do affect people's lives so the bureau of meteorology blocked far and much and the services which post updates about deadly bushfires they've been taken down to charities including women's shelters or legal services for aboriginal people as well as very crucially state health departments which pay a really big role of course in the ongoing pandemic now some of those pages have been restored but it's too little too late straight to like all this is preparing it's code that 19 facts in roll out and now hospitals are worried that they will not be able to get out information to the people extremely concerning to find this morning that since vincent's melbourne's facebook page has been blocked these during the pandemic and on the eve of crucial covert vaccine distribution we hope

this situation can be rectified very shortly now a facebook spokesperson said that the banning of no news organizations was a mistake but some would argue that the reputational damage has been done already this is just one example we've seen recently over the past few months governments and big tech facing off again and again but is this just sort. adding fuel to the fire well absolutely particularly stateside how many times have we seen mark zuckerberg being pulled into those endless hearings and facing accusations that his platform doesn't tackle harmful content enough that it's engaged in censorship that it doesn't react quickly to allegations of abuse facebook in these circumstances often raises its hands and says you know what it's easier said than done it's a very difficult almost impossible task while the astray and situation now shows that actually it is that easy whereas apparently removing the live stream of the christ church massacre in new zealand wasn't for many this was the icing on top of

the cake for a long time big tech face says allegations that it wields too much power at the banning of course of the democratically elected president of the united states donald trump being the latest case in point so this latest situation just another example of silicon valley overreach and these actions will only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behavior of big tech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them they may be changing the world but that doesn't mean they run it but what today's events do confirm for australians is the immense market. of these media digital giants these digital giants loom very very large. in our economy. and on the digital landscape the hash tag delete facebook trending people are

asking is it compatible with to crissy some thought that facebook was too big to fail but looking at the end for reactions it might well have triggered its own downfall here. another big story of the day and we continued deadly winter storm sweeping across the southern united states has left millions of americans without its electricity texas seen record seasonal freeze with temperatures dropping as there was minus 18 degree celcius for the 1st time in some 3 decades it's led to rolling blackouts extensive damage to homes. this is this is a very. very day's floaty. beat. and that is the other imbra oh it gave you good to go to regular pay and be right

here for birds and. meanwhile photos circulating online claim to show texas senator ted cruz flying to the mexican resort city of cancun jury in the disaster cruise hasn't commented on the pictures yet but they've caused a massive backlash on social media and he's not the only politician in hot water a local mera was forced to step down after his response to pleas for help from residents no one knows you or your family anything nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you trying times like this sink or swim it's your choice the city and county along with power providers or any other service owes you nothing it's pretty bad that you know us texans just came here for a whole other part of the country this would have been an issue you need we'd see much more on the search. for 60. 2 cold. water

got all the blankets out would try to all sleep together to keep us warm and then today when we got up there was no water we have no real update of when it's going to come on our phones bear we were. while authorities in texas struggled to keep power grids up and running some are blaming wind turbines for the disaster they're frozen on unable to operate others however laying the blame squarely on the local government's doorstep killer up and takes all the story. without electricity texas residents are resorting to some rather desperate measures in the hopes of staying warm they're firing up the grill and the generators and some of the even tried to use their cars to heat their homes resulting in several deaths and over 300 cases of carbon monoxide poisoning people are dying from carbon monoxide poisoning we have had so many calls in so many incidents that we can't even track them all the major oil refineries of the state has shut down due to freezing weather that bright new future of green energy isn't working out so well in the

present the wind turbines that accounted for almost a quarter of texas' energy last year have frozen to a standstill every source of power the state of texas has has been compromised whether it be renewable power such as wind or solar but also as i mentioned today. access to coal generated power access to gas generator power also have been compromised alternative energy sources have been a key aspect of the democrats' push for ecofriendly policies a key plank of our build back better recovery plan is building a modern resilient climate infrastructure and clean energy future that will create millions of good paid union jobs critics are blaming joe biden and the democrats saying that they pushed climate friendly policies a bit too hard and branding the outcome catastrophic shows how the green new deal would be

a deadly deal for the united states of america in the last few days if proven and the thing that we need oil and gas relying solely on renewable energy would be catastrophic many of these sources have proven to be unreliable the united states may be a global superpower but at home it's a lacking power quite literally all of this critics say are symptoms of america in decline caleb are seeing new york another suggested indication of a decline the. truck to military presence on capitol hill around $5000.00 national guard troops are expected to remain in washington d.c. until the middle of next month the decision was reportedly made over the lingering concerns of violence here starting america's foreign friends uk with more. one of the places that i actually lived in was a news anchor was an el paso texas where you had fort bliss that is the 2nd largest army post in the country when we pulled up to the gates here this morning it looks like i was walking into fort bliss there is a there's

a whole street that's blocked off here that goes right into a checkpoint you'll see that these cars they go in they get check point by police by national guard and you see this is all happening literally just you know maybe 2 football fields away from our u.s. capitol you can also see to the left of the capitol here in our life we have almost like these little trailers that have been put on we have a lot of these members where they're actually staying there was 26000 troops here during the inauguration the numbers starting to go down but they want to have 5000 troops here scheduled again like you said till march 4th because you have a lot of cuban members talking underground and sub read it in you know you have a lot of these different you know social media other outlets and they're going to talking about possibly coming back again on march 4th believing that trump will be reinstated as the president again the fence looks like it goes down for miles now it goes all the way to the reflection pool in front of the capitol you know this is the people's house kids come here on their snow days to slide down the hill and now

it's completely occupied by the national guard here i want you to look at the fencing right now normally you'd have barbed wire fencing you have barbed wire fencing outside of federal prisons this is razor wire this will kill you if you try to breach this fence here ok that fence that goes all the way around the perimeter of the capital $50000000.00 now again there's talks of having the national guard stay here until the early fall it's it's going to cost american taxpayers 2650000 per day to have 5000 troops here. the 1st batch of russia's sputnik coronavirus vaccine has arrived in gaza israel earlier stopped the shipment from getting to medical facilities there are both blockade since being lifted the initial 2000 shelter intended for people in poor health medical personnel working in tents of care units the emergency services now the following is a translated report from r.t.r. a brick. after coming under international criticism israel has allowed the shipment

of the 1st batch of the russian vaccine sputnik v into the gaza strip through the qur'an border crossing it almost a. day the 1st batch of the russian maxine has arrived it will be great help for all citizens certainly all of us will take the shot we hope other battles will arrive in gaza as well otherwise the street will simply crack under the pressure of the going down. according to the health ministry the 2000 doses which have been shipped are intended for individuals in poor health and medical personnel dealing with coronavirus infected patients in intensive care units and emergency services staff but they have had a lot of work the program will get underway on sunday morning in 2 centers in order to cover all the provinces of gaza the vaccination campaign will go on until we run out of jobs the health ministry affirms that the russian vaccine is one of the best and most effective among international analogs the russian vaccine will help cope

with the consequences of the pandemic affecting medical facilities due to a lack of capacity. to see further batches of the vaccine in the near future which will allow us to inoculate the whole population express our deepest gratitude to russia to its president government and people what they did for palestine the shipment comes after israel prohibited vaccine supplies to medical facilities in gaza the reversal of the ban opens up the prospect for future shipments of the facts into gaza yes or for more. people in gaza call israel's decision to hamper the delivery of sputnik vivax into gaza blackmail that's amid thousands of sick people including children who need to be vaccinated urgently. goldman sachs banker richard sharp officially been confirmed as the new chairman of the b.b.c. he's known as the man with an impressive list of contacts sharp has

a background in finance has worked for some notable institutions in the sector he's also known for backing the conservatives donating hefty sums to the ruling party decides that he's also been an unpaid adviser to the u.k. finance minister during the pandemic and worked for current prime minister boris johnson when he was mayor of london the chairman of the b.b.c. is the position appointed by the queen on the recommendation of the government mr sharp will take home $160000.00 pounds a year that's around 220 $1000.00 for 3 or 4 working days per week journalist the north of france is beckett gave us his thoughts on the appointment. the position of the b.b.c. is that long. long it tries to maintain its independence and planes and crisis in. it has 2 elements of its relationship with governments that continually compromise its independence and that it tries to pretend on no new

former prime minister has used the power of control of control of the gentleman in quite sleep over the political way that boris johnson has got just used to the trouble with the appointments i think it's not that it is a panta but that it is a banker with close ties to the conservative party i'm the banker who can at least the acute sense of having of having a political agenda that is in line with the governments that appointed him. still on the way billy times for italy's purpose pandemic and leaving a stark choice to eat or to trade war and us up to the shore.

join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see that. what we've got to do is identify the. crazy. dramatic development the only. time to sit down and talk. we are now at a point where we. literally

taken ourselves out of the game by throwing the. private equity groups. and money. too. it's 8 minutes into the program welcome back let's begin back in spain where large protests are continuing over the arrest of cattle rapper a pub loha cell and has been jailed for slandering the crown and glorifying terrorism problem was arrested on tuesday at university of later where he and his supporters have barricaded themselves hundreds of public figures have spoken out in support of this well as the international described his detention as an excessive restriction on his freedom of expression protests in his support been taking place

across the country today as well every salting in riots and clashes with police. yes. let's offer some background into those scenes in 2018 public hospital was convicted by a smallish court over tweets calling former king juan carlos the 1st the mafia boss he's also accused police of torturing and killing demonstrators in migrants are still fell foul of legislation covering spaniards right to freedom of expression dubbed the gaggle all by critics the court ruled that spanish law prohibited such expressions of opinion with

a member of the council on national assembly told us suppressing free speech is inexcusable. spanish over many years it creating the fundamental rights artists have their right to free speech and free free creation through government is they call themselves the most progressive government in the history for spain and so for them the case of the high salary is a big problem because is a clear sign that this is not true or not this is one of the reasons why we want the independence not because we want to build a new a new contract with a more open and free loaders we want one more open system no system which accept. the killed your creation like the one i sell or others like. so of course we need this

this change so we are fighting for this for a more free. 3. d. coronavirus pandemic has passed italy's most vulnerable to the brink and many face a daily dilemma of whether to feed themselves or take care of their medical needs in 2020 the number of people on the breadline grew by 173000 well just under a 3rd of a talent or not risk of poverty according to the organization for economic cooperation and development we asked people there how they're coping right now. on several troll boy picture articles on the my situation has worsened due to the pandemic i'm a small cross man who worked in fairs and since everything is now closed due to the curve it i don't know how to go on i have to pay for some medicines but without anyone's help i often can't afford them between eaten in treating myself i choose the former you don't know what you have to pay for 1st between pain the house bills

and medicines you don't really know what to prioritize so i decide not to treat myself. i'm also finding it difficult to purchase drugs that always cost a lot i can't buy medicines the price of which is increasing more and more we're now talking about different covert variants they're saying there could be a new look down so we don't have a better future to look forward so there is no hope. the new italian government is facing growing calls to change its strategy for dealing with the leading health experts insist the current system of regional restrictions is ineffective the government scientific committee this week ministers to follow other european countries in implementing stricter measures here's what local pharmacist told us about the situation. that was done this year has definitely been a strange one the global pandemic has brought a number of sectors to their knees and among these is certainly the poorest people

who are having the greatest difficulties finding drugs and buying medicine many people can't even afford to buy drugs at a reduced price donating medicines brings a smile to the faces of people who can be treated the crisis is devastating and there are people who even have to make a choice between eating and treating themselves. the pandemic has increased poverty and in palermo it's quite high in the year before the pandemic were open 3 days a week but now due to comit we have to open 5 days a week people don't work and can't even pay for meds since we collect medicines and then we give them to people who can't afford them people can't pay for them so we do what we want. and distribute food for children too we are missing many things and we're also struggling with. following the defeats of nazi germany in 1945 it was hope deadly nationalistic extremism would be consigned to the pages of history but with far right movements gaining ground in firstly every european country in recent years there are fears it's back with

a vengeance artie's redfish project has been focusing on its rise in germany the documentary is now showing a new trip you can watch it throughout the day on r.t. international as well here's a preview. there are. also . going to. france until it's finished it. at. the. under for. the premier. avoided probably because of the. we also spoke to reiner rough 1st rounders chairman of the populist alternative for

germany party in lynn daro he sees the f.t. has been demonized by political rivals on the media. it has become quite common to misuse the term of not citizen to fight against political enemies and it's not only the f.t. which has become the whip him of this we have a very long and complete list of all right extremist parties and also organizations n.g.o.s etc of which it you cannot come and enter the a.f.d. as a member as to now really concerted campaign of the political parties and the media is running to demonize the a.f.d. for things they are not really responsible for if you look at the programmatic.

aims of the party it is the conservative party which even has a strong elements of a left wing party it is quite obvious that the other parties at tak the a.f.d. as a real opposition and opposition which is feared by everyone because also the other opposition parties of course see that the a.f.d. comes in with a totally new concept the democratic system it will only be complete if you allow also citizens to decide in. a referendum on basic issues concerning the government and the country and this was for many years the basic point in the programme off the green party for example which is to consider to be a left wing party or have programmes get their start in moments here on our table

and back at the top with all the stories making headlines across the globe to catch you and. measures human beings to change nature so i think you know the rules yes i think is what is lost there is that there's going to make people uneasy but really why should we why should we be forced by scientists because nature sizing them to supposedly new brain why don't we just choose that. the british and american governments have often been accused of destroying lives in their own interests while you see in this these techniques is the state devising methods to end the essentially destroy the personality of an individual. by scientific means this is how one doctor his theories were allegedly used in psychological warfare against prisoners deemed

a danger to the state that was the foundation for the method of psychological interrogation psychological torture of the cia disseminated within the us intelligence community and worldwide among our allies for the next 30 years and other victims say they still live with the consequences today. seemed wrong but all. just all. well yet to stamp out. the conflicts of hope and engagement because betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart. just on the common ground.

ryan max kaiser this is the kaiser report it appears as though things are falling apart as well certainly remember that those supplies shortages that we're 1st seeing at that early days of the lockdown well we're seeing some significant law some significant shortages now and on the high tech and rather than on the basics the food and right but before i get to that i want to tell you that on the next episode of kaiser report we are going to talk to you about that morgan stanley report that everybody is talking about the morgan stanley report about bitcoin as a replacement for the u.s. dollar and how it's succeeding in doing that oh that's great i can hardly wait i've got my flame throwers ready to go right because we are talking to dan collins who's

an expert on the china u.s. trade relationship this is a perfect time to discuss what we're going to be discussing here and that is the shortages and those crucial chip shortages a semiconductor is right us to explore immediate actions to address chip shortage says the nikkei and this was 1st squawk tweeting about it and they were talking about well you know there's loads of production shutting down for automobiles and things like that because there's an actual shortage of semiconductors i guess partly because of the supply shortages that are emerging due to covert restrictions at many manufacturers and on top of that we have a lot of demand because if you think about it t s m c is the biggest one of these that taiwan semiconductor manufacturing corporation and they are almost the sole provider to a 6 for the chips so there's a lot of demand from the between sector for these chips there's

a lot of demand from the gaming sector which are all these kids locked down at home .