repatriations look at the 70. military treasury worth. hundreds of millions of euros to controversial foreign consultants present micron's government comes under heavy fire for its vaccine distribution campaign. also this hour microstates san marino turns to russia's covert shock after an e.u. approved vaccines failed to arrive. on the b.b.c. reveals plans to reverse the dominance of american cartoons extremely ambitions targets to get children watching a more british based culture. you're watching our 2 international coming to you live from the russian capital this and every hour welcome to the program. france has suffered its worst week in the

pandemic since november reporting more than 25000 new cases on friday and m.p.'s want to know why foreign consultants with deep ties to present mccrone are pocketing huge contracts for a vaccine plagued by delays and failures charlotte devinsky reports. as the vaccine rollout in france gains ground questions being asked about the role of private companies and consulting firms involved they said to be playing a major role in the strategy which to many has been a major disaster several companies were hired by the french government between them they have signed contracts worth millions and millions of euros the lion's share went to american for kinsey the lucrative contracts signed with mckinsey and not initially disclosed to the public was supposed to help ensure vaccine duces could be transported across france work you might think is perfectly suited to france's

loss network of civil servants so the fact that it's been contracted out to us firm is that many with a bitter taste in their mouths. in government as in our hospitals consulting firm serve policing public administration that astronomical cost why such contempt for civil servants was an admission of an effectiveness and helplessness and our whole state apparatus what is it for absolutely amazing what is mckinsey doing there we have a ministry of health a ministry of the interior and a ministry of defense that know how to manage crises if we know how to mobilize them this is decay of the state. because it appears to be a particularly poisoned chalice the firm recently agreed to pay more than half a $1000000000.00 to settle lawsuits brought by u.s. states it was accused of fueling the opioid epidemic for its work boosting the sales of oxycontin a painkiller not a squeaky clean reputation for

a firm helping the vaccine wasn't i know it's a big scam yes for me it's a scam i don't have much to say personally but it's a scam and i'm not really surprised after all it's the government so it is bizarre it's not spoken about in the newspapers here you've spoken about it and we don't talk about it on television or in the newspapers the things that are said in our country but it can mean nothing but in another country it's a scandal what can we do here in front of you know government toying consultancy firms. uncommon these days but what has surprised me is just how quickly this appears to be accelerating calls government to sign some 575 contracts with consultancy firm since october 28th covering everything from economic recovery took. public sector apparels of big

business to be there for around 10 percent of their overall profits so how do people feel about. this is there was a call for tenders all of that was it for the french firms to the north because i don't understand why would it be a group that would benefit. you just told me something actually i'm sure the government listen listen. i think these are things to deserve to be thought about and we do need a private company to think about how we do transportation we still have the french railways. on getting business. i think we could use the move wisely more courage to do more fronts 1st you know for example if he doesn't give enough to give the impression that micron is no longer the president he does not french government has played the role played by groups like mckinsey consultancy firms have been used for

several years by multiple governments when the elaborate and implement big projects require or logistical support and advice from what really got people angry is just how close the consultancy firms like mckinsey are to president with toys going back many years and with such songs lining the pockets of a private american consultancy firm at the same time when the economy here is being laid low by the pandemic many are now asking questions so much even ati. so marino's began vaccinating with russia. vaccine after deliveries of e.u. approved alternatives failed to arrive the microstate surrounded by italy isn't in member so it was excluded from block deals with pharmaceutical giants overshot supplies but it had negotiated getting a tiny part of the liberty to italy but they're saying the latest medical director

at san marino state hospital said there were no doubts about russian vaccine quality. which it was the sputnik that scene because there was an agreement between us and italy through the european union for the supply of money and pfizer vaccines that unfortunately are delayed at the moment therefore given the excellent diplomatic relations with russia we have chosen to get the sputnik the vaccine faster we saw some excellent reviews from renowned international medical journals like the lancet or the spell on sunday in rome that have already tested the quality of this vaccine. officials say the russian made job can eventually back snaith some 13 percent of its population of around $34000.00 so marino's labor minister told us more about why they made the choice. in independence day even within the territory of italy and the european union we have the right to make independent decisions and have excellent relations both with members and countries

outside borders at the moment europe showing an increased interest in the sputnik vaccine and we've reached out instead of staying only inside the e.u. market we acted in the interests of our own citizens and i'm sure that over time more states will draw conclusions and make similar decisions for a part we have complete confidence in the russian vaccine we can see that technical administrative and bureaucratic decisions taken with regard to the production and distribution of certain products significantly slow down the approval process in different countries so we think these processes should be accelerated due to the critical circumstances in the e.u. we simply did not have a vaccine and we had to make a choice. that comes as certain e.u. states also step up talks to get sputnik we asked her and chancellor has spoken by phone with lattimer putin about supplies as soon as the european medicines agency approves russia's jab we spoke to one top austrian biologist about how the scientific community is responding to rush of development. dahlberg it's good i

think that the lancet publication shows that scrutiny can be is a high quality vaccine that we have promising data of 91 percent effectiveness which is high demonstrates this respect this is a vector based vaccine which means it is injected using a virus into our immune system to form immunity in the difference between the other vector vaccine since it would be is that it uses 2 different viral vectors will and this is important as in some cases the immune system can create antibodies to the vector making the 2nd jab less effective whilst putting the has 2 different safe viruses in it makes the back seem more effective mark is. a german doctor has refused to treat a female politician because of her political views the m.p. for the alternative for germany party the country's 3rd largest told us the shock she felt when the family doctor told her he was taking a quote moral stand. you know they can. due to chronic illness had to visit my

family doctor i had been seen for the past 2 years the conversation went relatively well and then my doctor told me that he would like to terminate the health care contract i was horrified and asked him why he replied that he had learned from the media that i was a member of the a.v. polity and that i had been elected to the bundestag from the electoral district so for moral reasons he could no longer continue my treatment then i asked if i fainted now what would you do he was lied to then he would have to help me has a medical emergency case and then i said that if he was alone in the room he could just close the door and you're in there sussed ation press only every 10 seconds. the doctor in questions clinic has not yet responded to our requests for comment but the insurance company in the case told us that it expects patients to get the best possible treatment regardless of their beliefs and that the legal ramifications should be looked into it's far from the 1st alleged discrimination

against a team members and 2019 and a half the m.p. was beaten unconscious in the street and the year later the party's leaders car was set on fire a study found alternative for germany suffers the most attacks of any national party including physical verbal and property assaults m.p. refused treatment by her doctor again says mainstream media ignored her case but she is fighting for justice. you know i represent the position of the air of d. and i do not adhere to right wing radical views in the area of d. i feel a liberal conservative need so there was no reason to attack me personally or to deny further medical attention i consider this to be absolutely average free and cannot understand it my case was covered by the media unfortunately not local but only alternative media were covering the story i actually sent a statement to the police with my lawyer who filled the complaint with the physicians chambre and i sent

a copy to aoki budden rutenberg because this doctor works on the contract with that insurance company according to their rules such actions are prohibited since he's providing services on the health insurance policy so i decided to fight it and my fight continues. the b.b.c. is pumping extra cash to reverse dependence on american cartoons like the simpsons the broadcaster some extraordinary target of 90 percent of its cartoons being british and just the latest salvo of a very adult battle for children's minds are to shoddy aboard stuff looks interesting. let's face it cartoon say it all of our childhood the simpsons tom and jerry rug rats the looney tunes you name it we've probably spent far too many hours glued to the t.v. . am. actually

doomed according to the director of the b.b.c.'s children's department too many cartoons watched here in britain all while not british what i think we can do to set our characters in the british setting or at least european when i'm talking now i'm saying what about roast beef instead of turkey we should be thinking about these things children grow up with these cultures why not infuse more of our culture the drive as a developed homegrown animation series aimed at young says a 7 to 12 but should children be told what to watch in favor of promoting british culture or should kids be left to be kids just kind of shift focus i don't think the british people lack identity because they don't have any culture to speak like that in texas running around london right they can step outside make things worse and still chat that they need to be understand which coaching isn't have that reach it for a young age sometimes kids like to hear something that so many have told them at school we waste time listening to somebody theory makes

a difference it's good to keep it to them to say the culture is better because this series depends on where the check comes from they can't watch it every couple of its critics are american trained obviously as broad as possible it's got to be the best answer to anything the b.b.c. is even toying with the idea of recreating british versions of the world's most popular cartoon imagine if we could have a version of the seem since for children and families in the u.k. it would be amazing. but is that even possible how it's come up with new things i think i'm kind of the age of remakes deceived on a lot and i've had enough of. so i got my new stuff and best news stories to taiwan i think we've been through enough to see it tonight as news stories that could probably come up but i would say that yeah would be great to see that like medium come to the u.k. and be more like british and that type of humor i don't know if that would go abroad a sequel to the simpsons. well maybe the b.b.c. is on to something here off to rule the been huge successes like peppa pig in fact

it was so popular that kids across the atlantic were hit with the pepper effect and began imitating british accents it's all the 1st time the foreign cartoons have come under fire a few years ago critics lashed out at a russian cartoon musher in the bag accusing you of having a most sinister side being wait for it a propaganda tool. kinds of. things . but it really is something here the cartoons are really used to indoctrinate children's minds and promote interests you start the better i guess. still heard armenia holds another mass rally in the capital what you're seeing now are live pictures from their report from our correspondent on the demonstrations after the short break.

the world is driven by a dream shaped by one person and those with. the dares thinks. we dare to ask. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy going foundation let it be an arms race is often spearing dramatic development only i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time

to sit down and talk. welcome back when i turn to the latest in the south caucasus where the armenian president has discussed the national on rests with parliamentary group leaders as the capital braces for another day of mass opposition protests calling on prime min start to quit after his controversial efforts to sack the armed forces chief we cannot cross live to artist constantine rushkoff who's right at the heart of the protests today it's saturday are we expecting a higher turnout more than we saw even yesterday. i know. well pretty much so you know many protesters old already here and more and more are

arriving over the standoff between prime minister. and military chiefs opposition leaders are given a. passion is fischer's right as we speak right as we speak i'm probably going to hear that there are galvanize in that crowd over here and you know this area has become the center of a straight uprising against a passion and people have been camping here overnight for his 2nd night lighting fires inside metal barrel barrels they are getting drinking water and supplies and they are adamant they will stay here until their key demand is meant that pasha now on stands down. we've made significant progress it has to create he who betrayed the nation has to leave we've never had such a vile leader who treated us so badly. the only the scientific community top politicians policies everyone is against nicole pushing. this you know i think today's a crucial day so many things have already happened and so many things have been

disclosed so everyone who's been following pressure now they realize they were misled and will turn away from him he's a liar. after the demonstration is over and people are going to march him down the cd and as you can see tensions are running high after the army's top commander told prime minister to resign the that accuse the has of the armed forces of attempting to end since them the situation has begun to spiral out of control the opposition which backs the military has vowed to pirate has vowed to pile ever even more pressure on the call by sharon and remove him from power no matter what. with the. pressure from the public will rice and we will eventually make a question yawn resign we have an unprecedented situation in our country a government that has lost cannot continue to be the government they need to have the courage to think like statesman enough like adventurous from the streets and to

resign. at the time of the 28000 protests people were in a good state and now everyone is depressed everyone is shocked we've lost the war we've lost thousands of people we've lost territories our prisoners haven't returned so far they're still searching for thousands of people who have gone missing in such a climate it's very hard to do something for a healthy society. so far hasn't shown signs of backing down either confronting the armenian military and demanding they can debate these orders he wants to put out the had of the military general staff who accuse him of being incompetent but the immediate president still hasn't signed off on that order and you know has met the opposition leaders who are actually rallying behind the army as fermion in law the president has till today to make his goal but even if the top military commander who defied caution on is dismissed will he agree to go dats what

a lot of people in armenia are wondering all in all pretty dire situation in the country or i mean in military and political elites as well as thousands of people on the streets are revealing whose side they are on in anticipation of a fierce battle for power. r.t.s. constantine rushkoff reporting from the armenian capital live thank you. now the country has been on edge since november of last year over a peace deal with azerbaijan on the disputed region of newborn a car bomb the government had vowed victory and not more but armenians saw the agreement as a humiliating defeat and protesters reacted to the truce by storming government buildings and. much of the current volatility has been filled by a top level dispute over army weaponry the prime minister earlier claims that russian made iskhandar missile systems had failed in the war but they russian defense ministry says armenia didn't even use that weapon in the conflict. because

. chalk it up to make rockets on a. why the iskenderun that fired did not explode or only exploded 10 percent off. the tank. the prime minister and the governments of all me no longer able to make adequate decisions in this example i'm critical situation for the armenian people given the current situation the home team says of the rizzi commission of the prime minister and the government. that the. outcome.

we discussed the latest with the vice president of the country's national assembly on an armenian lieutenant general a veteran a previous wars in the gotten a kind of. the regime knew that for 30 years the military has been poorly managed in terms of equipment and maintenance this led to the army becoming weak it isn't the army used to be and punching and came to power without a team all experienced the prime minister was an absolute 0 in military affairs as well as in economics and politics and this management disorganization noncompliance with the mobilization plan the destruction of command and control systems and the dismissal of military officers all this led to the fact that the general staff lost

all patience and demanded the supreme commanders resignation as he was destroying the army this destruction resulted in the loss of 5000 soldiers and tens of thousands of wounded. to communion. its post-war turbulence when the military makes political statements it can only be called a military coup in the military must carry out its immediate task of protecting the borders of the republic politics is not a military matter our colleagues from other countries are emphasizing that this is unacceptable the prime minister has problems with a few military officials following the war and i must say the authorities and the prime minister are in control of the situation putting the blame on one person is wrong it's not fair and there are millions understand that and we all have our share of the blame for what's. dozens of us democrats have signed a letter asking president joe biden to give up his sole authority for nuclear launch as well a quarter explains why donald trump is nuts for the democrats that's just an

undisputed fact but it seems like they feel he isn't the only head of state who's lost a few of his marbles. you alone possess the authority to order the use of nuclear weapons this thing one person with this authority entails real risks past presidents threaten to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that caused other officials to express concern about the president's judgment nearly 30 democrats signed that letter which outlined 4 different ways to reduce presidential power over the nuclear button congressional oversight creating a special counsel consulting the speaker of the house why the need for all these new rules if the guy they say is bonkers isn't in the white house anymore the dems say they just don't want to repeat of the past 4 years but some republicans think the reason is a bit more senile i mean cynical sleepy joe wasn't just a political nickname it appears to be a governing strategy a growing number of democrats who are not concerned about giving joe biden the

codes for the nuclear system it's not just republicans though back in election season one poll said most voters in a number of pivotal swing states felt they had to choose between 2 old guys who were both mentally unfit for the presidency and judging by biden's campaign trail it was making things easy for him self when they should resign. i don't want to create it by the cold you know this you know thing no man has a right to raise a hand tool and. i believe in self defense and that's really good workers and so we have to just change the culture and keep the punching out of time she had a point she. sure valerie and i'm ok. so the democrats might be scared with that guy behind the nuclear button but it's not much different than having biden at the head of their expanding war agenda the very same democrats for example are saying america's longest war in afghanistan

should be even longer. to pull out within several months now is a very challenging and destabilizing if it's we're going to be able to assure the world and the american public that afghanistan will not be a source of planning plotting to project terrorist attacks around the globe there's the minimum i'm not sure we can do that without some presence there and there's this year's national defense authorization act which the democrats put forward to the military budget to a total of around 740000000000 dollars today the house and a strong bipartisan message to the american people are service members and our national security are more important than politics they're clearly not trying to put forward some kind of pacifist agenda so why should biden be at the head of military operations but not have his finger on the nuclear button it could be because mutually assured destruction isn't fun for anyone but when the killing is going on far away anything goes. now for some global news end brief starting

angry. protesters have again clash with greek riot police at rallies backing a jailed far left terror group member on hunger strike our officers fired tear gas and water cannon on the demonstrators the convicted man serving 11 life sentences for murder and is reportedly in a critical condition after a month. here we bring you live pictures from moscow where a group of people has gathered to pay tribute to opposition politician boris and themselves on the 6th anniversary of his murder and buster's of the u.s. germany at lafayette and the u.k. were among those attending the software shop on the bridge in the center of the russian capital and that's where this tribute is taking place his killers were caught and sentenced. hundreds in israel have defied

a government curfew on large public gatherings and come together for the jewish holiday for a police disperse the crowds but dozens were turned to continue the celebrations after officers left. lastly we can share with you stunning footage of flamingoes as they rest kazakhstan's lake oracle on their annual migration south the birds defied the snow to arrive earlier than usual normally flying through the area only in the spring. that's our wrap up of the day's top news for now but don't forget you can always find us on many of your favorite social media platforms like twitter and instagram perhaps the net reports. were more politicized than ever or more polarized than ever the 21st century when

speed is measured in megabytes per 2nd. just on their views in your local shelters and of course he's in him at a tronic mail electronic money electronic media infinite possibilities for exchanging information i mean me and misquoting ish my misery nationalized freedom of speech of social media bent censorship a double standards who should judge what can be said on line something i already planned but i want to point out some time to the internet audience now totals almost 4500000000 almost all of them are active social network users but one wrong move from the pages deleted digital annihilation don't exist anymore. not who runs the show on the web how can anyone stand up to the tech giants a fee from the heads of state face the threat of being banned is there any limits to hold that virtual power of the postal before i look reasonable flying because i

knew this guy was reasonable way. i am x. kaiser this is the kaiser report i just read somewhere there will be fear well what this means stacy what does this mean there will be sheer well we've been of course talking about this for a while saying that the said the signs were there that it was coming and now kathy would the c.e.o. of arc invest is saying the same thing she said this on c n b c but you know she's talking about the fear coming as rates rise that the rates are going to start rising and fear will descend and you know as human beings are

organisms.