so i'm marino becomes the latest european country to start vaccinating its citizens with russia. after supply delays of the e.u. approved jobs the labor minister explains why they look to moscow for help. only an independent even within the territory of the european union we have the right to make independent decisions the french government faces flak over its covert inoculation program after it's revealed hundreds of millions of euros were handed to controversial foreign consultants. divisions deep in armenia as the president rejects the prime minister's controversial order to sack the armed forces chief as crowds continue to demand the pm quit. drawing up plans to get children watching

more british culture the b.b.c. outlined targets to reverse the dominance of american cartoons. global stories and international insight this is our team from moscow my name's colleen bright welcome to the program 1st for you european microstates san marino has begun vaccinating its population with russia jab after deliveries of alternatives from the e.u. failed to arrive the country which lies totally within its ellie isn't any member so it was excluded from the blocks deals with pharmaceutical giants however negotiated getting a tiny part of each delivery to italy but there have been delays to those the summer you know state hospital medical director says there have been no concerns about using the russian vaccine. yeah well fuck we chose the sputnik vaccine because there is an agreement between us and italy through the european union for

the supply of madonna 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 rebbetzin faster we saw some excellent reviews from renowned international medical journals like the land set or the spawn sanny in rome that have already tested the quality of this vaccine summary no hopes to use the russian vaccine on around 15 percent of its population the labor minister has been explaining why they turn to moscow for help. 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 e.u. members and countries outside e.u. 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. markets 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 this is 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. sam merinos move comes as a huge states also step up talks to get the job the austrian chancellor has spoken with president clinton about arranging supplies as soon as the european medicines agency approved the vaccine we spoke to an austrian virologist about how the scientific community is approaching use of the russian jap. it. is i think that the lancet publication shows that sputnik the is a high quality vaccine we have promising data that 91 percent effectiveness which

is high demonstrates this this is a vector based vaccine which means it is injected using a virus into our immune system to form immunity the difference between the other vector vaccine since sputnik v is that it uses 2 different viral vectors and this is important as in some cases the immune system can create antibodies to the vector making the 2nd jab less effective whilst with the has 2 different safe viruses it makes the back seem more effective. fronts and suffered its worst week in the pandemic since november reporting more than 25000 new cases on friday and then pays want to know why foreign consultants with deep ties to president book wrong pocketing huge contracts for a vaccine rollout that's plagued by delays and failure as a shell of 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 food and the kings see 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 ineffective nisson helplessness and our whole state operator 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. mackenzie 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 bursting with sales of oxycontin a painkiller not a squeaky clean reputation for a firm helping the vaccine. 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 it can mean nothing but in another country it's

a scandal what can we do here in front of no 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 accounts of big business to be there for around 10 percent of their overall profits so how do people feel. especially since there was a call for tenders all of that was it for the french firms to will not because i don't understand why would it be a group that would benefit from things that's a bad story you just told me something actually i trust the government listen listen. i think these are things to deserve to be thought about 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 don't for example he doesn't give enough to front we give the impression that mccrone is no longer the president he does nothing french government has played down 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 a strategic or logistical support and advice from what's really got people angry here is just how close the consultancy firms like mckinsey are to president macro and with toys going back many years and with such sons 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 see.

the armenian president has rejected a controversial order to sack the armed forces chief and send the document back to the embattled prime minister becomes a huge opposition rallies were held and they are baited capital with crowds calling for the pm to quit. has been following the protest to. the fact that the president of armenia hasn't signed the order to dismiss army's top commander is deemed as a small victory for the opposition in the ongoing standoff between the prime minister he called and the top military command that news was greeted with the allowed round of applause from the crowd and you know let's hear from the people on the streets who we asked what they think of passion on. today in accordance with the armenian constitution prime minister passion yama and his government not legitimate there are lots of constitutional acts he violated and therefore violated

the legitimacy of his rule the only power that has remained untainted so far relation to law is the president and the fact that our president is making his moves in accordance with the constitution. it gives us a chance to solve major problems this is a step forward that will lead to victory because our president is a very serious person they've scrutinized the case decided there is a reason not to sign the document and to send it back to the prime minister now people understand they've been lied to we will stand until the end right next to our army you told washington has also reacted to the news saying that the army needs to remain neutral as per our meaning law prime minister can still try to fire the had of the general staff again in 5 days and he has already said that the as he has intention to do so now the ball is in his court at the moment protesters are marching around the town and as you can see there are starting to come back to this area around the national parliament some of the people are going to camp here

they're going to stay here overnight similar demonstrations are happening in other cities in the border city of components to particular to nagorno-karabakh so it seems like the. protest against the prime minister partially known is widening this is definitely not over and the opposition has vowed that they're going to pile on ever more pressure on the call question and demanding him to step down as when the pressure from the public will rice and we will eventually make 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. let me remind you that the latest round of power struggle in armenia has started after a top army generals accuse nicole partin out of being incompetent and called for his resignation he then accuse the army generals and the opposition of an attempted coup and things began to spiral out of control all in all it's currently a dire situation in the country are meeting in military and political elites as well as thousands of people on the streets are revealing whose side they are on an anticipation of a fierce battle for power. independent journalist martin some as believe some media needs to do a lot of soul searching to figure out the direction it wants to head. when the losing the war the air in the west it was obviously in many circumstances you would expect the political leadership to resign i mean at the beginning will take for

example the chain with the result enough to the british who defeated it no it can norway you can imagine that there will be somebody else to take the blame but it isn't going to be the old this is this going to have to be the political leadership the presidents under normal circumstances will accept the put the prime minister's recommendation decide in general this is all the season although not as though that suggests that the within the political class as it were his is all sorts he has been diminished of clinical interest rates on the streets who are not happy with what's going on and the results of the war. in iraq whatever changes take place there's going to have to be a big soul searching it'll mean you're a by the general direction of the country the. course of the general population but i should imagine the outcome is likely to be any building 'd built plus or. joe biden ordered his 1st major military act as u.s.

president this week with a strike on iranian backed militia groups in syria his administration defended the move saying it was both legal and a proportionate military response the strike was authorized in response to recent attacks against american and coalition personnel in iraq and i think the president by his order he made clear that the united states will act to protect american and coalition personnel and our security interests in the region. a number of senior democrats in congress condemned biden's move they claimed the strikes were made without the authorization of lawmakers and what therefore were a breach of the constitution but the president won the support of some opposition republicans biden said the strike sent a clear warning to iran the washington is going to be tough in protecting its own interests but iran claims of wiping out what it called anti terror forces would i we now encourage more violence in the region former u.n. weapons inspector scott reza police biden's golf no interest in diplomacy is an

illegal act i mean his administration did not cite any current congressional authorization for use of military force instead relying on the inherent powers of article 2 of the constitution. but when you take a look at the the intelligence to break it down he bombed a foreign country syria that had nothing to do with an attack on american forces in iraq there will be no consequence because congress doesn't want to get involved in the difficult you know decisions of you know the surrounding the use of force because it requires them to ask very tough questions about policies that are indefensible what are we doing in iraq what are we doing in syria when joe biden says america's back he's talking about america's back asserting its global 40 through the use of military force this is not about diplomacy i mean joe biden

didn't attempt any meaningful diplomacy to resolve this issue we went straight to the guns. is aussie on the way and that's all folks for america's cultural dominance as the b.b.c. draws up plans to win over young brits with more homegrown costumes get the full picture after this. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. is your media a reflection of reality. in

a world transformed. what will make you feel safe from. isolation or community. are you going the right way or are you being led. direct. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. for a mate in the shallows. hello again now when it comes to cartoons the b.b.c. wants children in the u.k. to plump for home grown creations wroth of an american import the broadcasters outlined ambitious plans to reverse the dominance of shows like the simpsons the shaadi edwards daschle reports. let's face it cartoons shaped 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 they've been pretty skilled so that they need to be understand which coaching isn't have that retail for a young age sometimes kids like to hear something that's immediate towards them that's the way it's times and i think that if it really makes a difference it's good to keep it to them to see the cultures but i don't think it's very depends on what the country comes around they can watch it every couple of it's pretty extraordinary really 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 seams as for children and families in the u.k. it would be amazing. but it's not even possible 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 quite like mr best new story to tell i think

we've been through enough this year tonight as news stories that can 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 do you see climate change seems to be pretty well maybe the b.b.c. is on to something here after all there's 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 birth accusing of having a more sinister side being wait for it a propaganda tool. trying to. see what it really is something here the cartoons are really used to indoctrinate

children's minds and promote interests early start the better i guess. the family doctors reportedly deny treatment to a german m.p. because of her political views that according to the politician herself is a member of the nationalist anti immigrant alternative for germany party she told. the doctor said she was taking a moral stand. you know they have. 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. party 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 phase in now what would you do he replied that 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's clinic hasn't responded to our request for comment however the insurance company involved in the case says it expects patients to get the best possible treatment regardless of their beliefs the incidence far from the only case of alleged discrimination against a f.t. members in 2019 and a half the pay was beaten unconscious on the street here later the party leaders car was taught a study found that alternative for germany suffers the most attacks of any national party clinton physical or verbal the m.p. who has refused treatment claims the media's been ignoring her case. it was you know i represent the position of the air of d. and i do not adhere to right wing radical views in the f.d.a. 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 aborigine 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 feel 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 under a health insurance policy so i decided to fight it and my fight continues. some other stories for you this saturday in moscow crowds gathered in tributes to opposition politician boris nemtsov the 6th anniversary of his death. west germany the u.k. where among those it's ending themself was shot on a bridge right outside the kremlin sparking international outrage as killers were laid to cause and jailed. for.

yet another round of anti-government protests in chile have turned violent protesters were seen friend projectiles of police who responded with water cannon a number of arrests were made the rallies have been going on for the country for the past promoter they give a fact demonstrators are demanding economic reforms the eradication of poverty. and a huge iceberg nearly twice the size of new york city has broken free from antarctica it follows the 3rd major crack in a decade. across the ice shelf however scientists say it's a natural occurrence there's no evidence that it's linked to climate change ringback. startling stuff this saturday from moscow back to you again in 35 minutes from now i have to see that.

since that other day when. i was about the. rock. i'm just the type to use a pen in. the next. moment on. you when you get in though it is. close. is good in getting those on those on the left. seem wrong. just don't hold. any belief yet to shake out this day to come out to it and engagement equals betrayal.

when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. we're more politicized than ever we're more polarized than ever the 21st century when speed is measured in megabytes per 2nd. he'd seen him at a tronic mail electronic money electronic media infinite possibilities for exchanging information i mean. freedom of speech and social media bends censorship of double standards who should judge what can be said on the line. the internet audience know totals almost 4500000000 almost all of them are effective social network users but one wrong move and their 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 if he from heads of state face the threat of being banned is there any limits to hold that virtual. nudist but i was reading one way. during the vietnam war u.s. forces also bombed neighboring laos it was a secret war. and for years the american people did not know. until our found my son is a mouth carry back country per capita. human history millions of unexploded bombs still in danger lives in this small agricultural country jordyn wieber thing going to happen at there even today kids in laos full victims of bombs dropped

decades ago is the us making amends for that tragedy in laos what help do the people need in that little land of mines.

business boom bust that one business show you can't afford to miss i'm rachel levin then washington coming out rising bond yields are impacting markets and commodities all around the world this week so what does that mean for the future of oil and gold prices will discuss what china is calling on president biden to lift trade restrictions put in place by the last administration but the u.s. has yet to back away from the ongoing trade war. which at 1st sight and sound from mars being revealed this week we're taking a look at the role of private companies in space exploration we have a lot to get to so let's get started. the house of representatives is finally set

to passed out wong a weighted $1.00 trillion dollars stimulus package labeled by democrats as the american rescue plan and a virtual meeting with the nation's governors president biden said the goal for the package is to provide some much needed relief the economic toll this pandemic continues to tear through our country as brutally as the virus itself. and so we need to come for the economic you know we we just have to step up the economic toll we have to address with the same aggressiveness and seriousness of purpose as we do the virus and that's what the american rescue plan does you said chasing covert 19 allows us to get ahead of it. the current package includes $1400.00 stimulus checks $400.00 per week and unemployment insurance $20000000000.00 for a national code 19 vaccination program and $350000000000.00 for state.