armenia's prime minister faces pushback from the country's president over his demand to fire the country's top general that's as crowds continue to demand that the pm step down. and donald trump makes his 1st public speech since leaving the white house saying he has no plans to create a new political party but hasn't ruled out running for president again in 2024 either. plus in our look at some of the top stories of the week stockpiles of the astra zeneca covert vaccine go unused in europe made questions over its effectiveness but it comes as the world health organization warns of a lack of shots in poor nations.

it's 3 am here in russia's capital and you're watching the weekly international i'm donald quarter taking you through the past week's top stories welcome to the program. a constitutional showdown is underway in armenia after the president rejected an order by the prime minister to give the country's top general the boot it comes as crowds in the capital continue to demand the p.m.'s resignation thousands took to the streets of year of on for a 3rd day calling for the resignation of nichol pasha and yon they're angry at his handling of last year's war with thousands by john which many view as a humiliating defeat although protests have been on and off since the war ended in november new demonstrations erupted on thursday when posh and yon defied a call 'd by the military to resign and accuse the army of a coup attempt here's how the situation has unfolded. the prime minister and the

government of i'm no longer able to make adequate decisions in this fateful and critical situation for the armenian people given the current situation the own forces of. the received nation of the prime minister and the government. you. might want to also. generals do your job god borders and the territorial integrity of armenia this is my order and no one can disobey to do it without holding this rally and will finish all actions will sit down at the negotiating table with the opposition for consultations on elections both were are. are ready for consistency and to both of them. and asked people in to square to go on the stand being the only the scientific community top politicians

parties everyone is against nickel. we've made significant progress it has to create he has betrayed the nation has to leave we've never had such a vile leader who treated us so badly we came to the square in the cool from our prime minister we stand with him to. in the end he must put an end to all this of course faith that this form of governmental transition is definitely not acceptable to me we came to see our prime minister of the republic square so the whole world knows that the people support him. or her or. her. right in the streets of the old position was teaching the p.m.'s to make a sham. because we should is to stand still 24 seventh's and

all souls they are preparing for that night drinking firewood for the camp fire their. anger has been brewing since november about a peace deal struck with azerbaijan over the disputed nagorno-karabakh region armenia saw the agreement as an embarrassing defeat stormed the parliament building in your avani in response in this town of reported from there at the height of the crisis and outlined the troubled path that's led to what's happening now. this whole process it has been brewing for months because it all stems from mean years and one of the war on terror backs defeat in last year's war with the armenian government the promise their people that they would come out victorious out of this clash with their by john over the issue of this disputed region of nagorno-karabakh so when i was there by john and i mean it signed

a peace deal which russia effectively brokered it came poor mean eons for ordinary people as an absolute shock because according to that deal they had to concede 2 thirds of the go and care about to azerbaijan and that when it's part that's when people started to come to the streets passion and he tried to just push the blame on something else and at a certain point it was almost like he was trying to blame the military to blame the saudis for not doing enough he obviously he retracted that he later he said that he did mean that but that's when the bad blood between him and the military started because i've been there and soldiers they did all they could they just they were overpowered militarily they were overpowered they had no response they had no answer to the drone problem because the drones they were just obliterating their positions which were absolutely not ready for you know their defense systems were not ready for that so that defeat having to concede to. the territories which are

overwhelmingly populated by the ethnically armenian people that was absolutely devastating and through the course of all these months it seems and while it is obvious now passion and hasn't done enough to to do so back together the divisions in the armenian society just so back together to heal this woman this massive wall and cleared it does have a fair amount of support doesn't it i mean he called for supporters to come on to the streets and they did how much support does he have exactly and why is that support there given what you've just said judging from what i see right now it. very much reminds me as to what was happening there back in october in november basically i did see thousands of people turn out against nicol passion and even back then but again every single taxi driver that i would talk to back when he would tell me something along the lines well i don't know i don't know why people are so angry like a lot of people do support the prime minister after all remember he came into power

as the man of the streets so to speak he would. go with the crowd he came as part of a revolution himself so really the streets and the public support is all that he has to legitimize him as as as the country's leader that's why the his knee jerk reaction to this statement by the military was to call in his supporters to gather in the in the city center because this is what legitimizes him call passion and he's saying that it's an attempted military coup but again we haven't seen any military in the streets the general chief of staff he signed a letter along with some 40 other top officers generals they have called on him to resign but again they called in everybody to refrain from violence so to me it looks like the last word really the last warning literally the last warning to passion and it came as a complete surprise to passion and so he's trying to find this balance as to he

doesn't want to be more who are than he needs to be and he's trying to and it is clear that he did not have a plan for this he's just he just reacting on the girl like something happens he reacts well it's not like he had a he had a contingency plan for that at least it doesn't look like he had one to me we discussed developments with the vice president of the country's national assembly along with an armenian lieutenant general who's a veteran of previous wars and to go in a car a block. but presume you through it for 30 years the military has been poorly managed in terms of equipment and maintenance this led to the army becoming weak and punching and came to power without a team experience 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 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 we all have a show of the blame. for us back to be he was bound to be back in the spotlight before long donald trump says he will not launch a new political party in his 1st public speech since leaving the white house at this year's conservative political action conference. we have the republican party

it's going to. go out however for i am not starting a new party. how we speak to do. this now would that be very a good start a new cardio let's divide our vote so that you can never win no we're not interested in that. well to get more details on that we're joined live now by our new york correspondent caleb mop and caleb thanks for joining us what else to trump say and what does it mean for u.s. politics indeed well this speech was highly anticipated due to the fact that donald trump is not on social media giving us a piece of his mind any longer now he started off by making clear he would not be starting his own political party he would remain with the republicans now that's an interesting decision from trump because wholes among his supporters indicated that if trump were to start his own party many of his supporters and the majority would support him in doing so however donald trump said the stakes are getting higher so

he will remain fighting alongside the republicans here's what he said we're in the middle of a historic struggle for america's future america's culture and america's institutions borders and most cherished principles our security our prosperity had our very identity as americans is at stake like perhaps at no other time so no matter how much the washington establishment and the powerful special interests may want to silence us let there be no doubt. we will be victorious and america will be stronger and greater than ever before. now donald trump indicated that basically he plans to participate in the 2024 presidential election and he did not rule out running himself he predicted that in 2024 the democrats

will lose now he didn't say whether or not he himself will run however he did make a point of taking his successor joe biden to task criticizing the biden administration in rather harsh terms let's take a listen joe biden has had the most disastrous 1st month of any president in modern history that's true in just one short month we have gone from america 1st to america last year think about it right america last so donald trump at this point remains quite popular among republicans there was a poll taken among attendees of the conservative political action conference and among the attendees a very clear majority said they would vote for him if he ran for president once again in 2024 so donald trump seems to remain pretty securely in the front of the republican party there are many neo conservative elements within the party that

don't approve of him however he remains wildly popular among rank and by a republicans and it appears that even though donald trump has left office and even though the trump presidency is over the division and partisanship in the united states which gave birth to donald trump and certainly intensified over the last 4 years is not going away trump is out of office but divisions remain in the united states the country is still pretty polarized. artie's new york correspondent caleb maupin thank you for those updates. now to get more details on that story we go live now to our been for a former vice chair of the libertarian party and former us presidential candidate arvin thank you very much for joining us on the program now. trump has addressed c pac every year since he became president so that's not nothing really out of the ordinary but this is the 1st time since he gave a speech since leaving office so do you think he's suddenly things surprising noteworthy. i think that what he said is pretty much what most people who are

keeping track of politics expected everyone expects that he's going to run in 2024 everyone expects that he's going to bring builded up with a lot of dramatic dramatic tension everyone expects that he's going to keep on fighting against the the progressive base of the goods by his progressive base so i don't think anything there was a particularly shocking surprise in any way. well we did hear the message from trump basically being there's not going to be a new party but it looks like there is perhaps some sort of emerging split in the republican party between the old guard and trump supporters do you think that they're going to reconcile at the end of the day or do you think something more is going on here. i mean that's a split that really can't be reconciled because the values the policies and all of that those those are different things for the 2 parts the republican party so eventually what's going to happen is there there's going to be a nominee in 2020 for some kind and if that nominee is either trump or trump

republican i believe the moderate republicans will get behind that person but i don't think it's going to go the other way i don't think the trouble publicans are going to get past a get behind for example mitt romney style republican well if trump does decide he wants to run up in 2024 do you think that the party will even want him or do you think that they're going to still be interested for your son now or will they be. no i don't think there's any question if you chooses to run he's getting the nomination in 2024 the huge base of supporters is is it's young it's growing i mean it's just a larger and a more growing baze than the old guard that's kind of fading out so if he wants the nomination he's going to get the nomination would you say if that if that did occur do you think trump's nomination 2024 would be uniting force for the party.

i can't see how that could possibly happen i mean trump has not really been the uniting figure in the republican party and the country as a whole he has been a highly divisive figure i mean you have republicans you know established republicans establishment republicans who voted to impeach him who who fought to it to to indict him a you have this huge group and the and these are established republicans right and then on the other side you have the trump republicans that are just full of like you know fire and passion i can't imagine that those 2 sides are going to reconcile i think the trump the trump republicans will simply overwhelm the moderates. bring the discussion more to the democratic party now trump dedicated most of his speech to attacks on the biden administration do you think he's to be a constant thorn in the side of biden throughout his presidency. if he's planning to run in 2024 i think most people agree that he is dead if that's the only logical thing to do i mean he he will and in my just from

a politically strategic position my opinion that he should run a full court press he's going to just be after him attacking him you know making it clear to his base that yes they still have a leader yes that they still are able to fight these political and social ways and the thing is biden i believe is going to inadvertently feed that the bite in the administration itself and the progressive culture in general which includes you know the silencing culture the safe space culture a candle culture all of bad behavior is just going to feed that because all the people who are being you know silent through say face spaces or cancelled or whatever all of those people are going to want a social group and a political group that speaks of their to their values and tribes going to be giving in that so i absolutely think that prog trump is going to be a constant attack he's consul going to be on the tack between now and 2024. or even just one more quick question for you joe biden. has tried to downplay what

a lot of people are calling how divided the united states has been over the past year specifically would you say that the united states is deeply divided and if so what do you think the future is going to be more division or unity or unification. the united states is as it has been a divided culture since the beginning that bed often can be a strength but it can also often be a weakness right now the united states has become a divided culture where political disagreements have shifted into the social sphere into the entertainment feared cetera and now if you're a public figure of any kind or in many cases even if you're just a private citizen and your political views put you at risk to all kinds of nonpolitical attacks to being socially attacked to be socially silence to be fired from a job to be have your t.v. shows or whatever cancel all that stuff is coming out so because the political sphere has shifted out of the political arena we're seeing it as being more problematic division rather the kind of the good and the healthy political debate

that has saved american culture since the beginning. a former vice chair of the libertarian party and former us presidential candidate thank you very much for joining us on the program thanks for having me on now everything from brand names to work relations and even family ties are showing signs of breakdown as u.s. political divides begin to affect practically every section of society earlier in the week i took a deeper look at what's have been happening. if you take joe biden's words at face value you might think political polarization in america is no big deal the nation is not divided it's not nearly as divided as we make it out to be but if you take a look at what's actually going on in the streets well a different picture begins to appear.

and according to the statistics your eyes are not deceiving you i think we're all aware of how political polarization has affected our elections and system of government but the impacts go far beyond the political arena it seems the facts contradict biden's feel good speeches about unity take the family the core structure of american society it's a real example of unity and something more important than political bickering with that in mind check out what one republican senators family had to say about his decision to support trump's impeachment we all thought really just gusted with you it is now most embarrassing to us that we're related to you you've been bearish the king's family name ok he's a politician his family cannot get around political talk at the dinner table but

divorces parents disowning their children this is happening in ordinary american families it's tough my husband is a trump has caused such strife they feel like i want to divorce i'm a registered republican who is now an independent who voted democrat my republican family however has dug in they think i'm the crazy one they were more shocked to find out i hate to d.t. than they were to hear i was also known as none of my family members talk to me i'm so sorry for anyone who's lost family over politics it has. you could see it in the workplace where playing politics can get you fired and the spotlight of national news like the former what a burger employee who wore a black lives matter mask to the job i would say but that's the test that i made in the present because it's out of there and i think it related. to his that is that. you probably shouldn't buy the wrong item either unless you want to incur the wrath of those who don't agree with you go a foods for example is now being boycotted just because the boss praised donald

trump so fora also under boycott because the company dropped its contract with a conservative beauty blogger who claims she was targeted for her political views and the head of my pillow is taking flak since he publicly supports the idea that the last presidential election was fraudulent the keyboard warriors have drawn their swords and retailers have even cut ties with the companies because of it so next time you think about buying a pillow think twice unless of course you want your family to fall apart. in other news the german chancellor's refusal to take the astra zeneca covert vaccine has created many headlines this week angela merkel said it was due to her old age and 66 years old and i do not belong to the group recommended for us to. the astra zeneca has vaccines only approved for a juror in germany for people under 65 but the chancellor statement is fueling more questions about the effectiveness of the shot it's led to reports of stockpiles of

unused shots and comes as the world health organization warns that for poorer countries are being left empty handed when it comes to any vaccines with more details here as peter over. germany is facing a touch of cognitive dissonance when it comes to covert 19 vaccinations on the one hand politicians on the population are outraged at how slow the process of giving a vaccine to everyone in germany has been on the other hand vaccination centers like this one here in berlin at the old airport which only gives out the astra zeneca job well they've been struggling to get people to take up the offer that some sorts a line unused because not enough people enrolling or just not turning up for their appointment this is an absurd and unbearable situation as of last friday only 10 percent of the vaccines available had been administered the astra zeneca job is only approved for use in under 60 five's in germany due to

a lack of data on its effectiveness and older people it's being made available to health care staff but tales of reactions to the vaccine have seen some german states suspend its use. astra zeneca has been criticized because on the one hand it seems to be less effective than the messenger r.n.a. vaccines from beyond tech and moderna and on the other hand there have been reports of vaccine reactions both must continue to be well monitored is something quieter share there how can we do it to vaccine and then find out a couple weeks months later that it's maybe not as efficient it was as it was promised i think this shows that the way the european union has been managing this whole vaccine campaign it was not only by the professionals that were supposed to be making decisions in the 1st place i think this is something which is not normal and now it's backfiring of course we see a very small percentage of western europeans getting the vaccine it angela merkel

spokes person even had to put out a post on social media encouraging people to take the astra zeneca vaccine because there's a worry that the doses germany has could end up going. the waste. astra zeneca succeed in c. and that it prevents many infections and protects against serious illnesses vaccination can see. france has found itself in a similar position to germany when it comes to its citizens being unsure about the astra zeneca jab a general lack of vaccines across the european union added to growing fears about their safety i mean the 2 biggest eurozone economies germany and france vaccinated just 6 percent of their populations but the head of the world health organization wants rich countries to check before ordering more shots and made diet shortages in developing nations if there are no vaccines to buy moneys irrelevant

currently some high income countries on into contracts with vaccine manufacturers that undermine the deals that call vioxx ours in place and reduce the number of those combine now that we've got these vaccines people don't want them so what do we do with that and there's no better be oh of course if some kind of cheese feel safe with these that soon they want them in their family that you should and should should have them or sell them orally or get it to the countries who can't have vaccines staying in it in. some or as some calls. refrigerated areas around the yours while a you nations that did the ring over whether or not to get one of the main vaccines that are on offer poorer nations are running the risk of having no doses of any vaccine at all peter all of r.t. early in. the world should prepare for a new post pandemic reality that's what they world health organization special colbert envoy has told our team and also warned of other dangerous strain spreading

. as some who say we should be striving towards eliminating the virus completely others and i'm in this 2nd group to say that we must strive to wards being able to live with the virus as a constant threat but putting in place a mix of defenses in our societies that mean that we hold the virus at play at the center of that is vaccination which can protect people from getting seriously ill and dying but there's also how we behave and there's also help governments create the conditions in which we can behave in a really helpful way but we're going to avoiding the virus and as international cooperation. i want to be clear you always need to have traction nations to goods that it's good practice or even just

for many years i've carried a little yellow book next to my passport which 'd indicates that i've had yellow fever vaccinations it includes getting to those of the data i've received the vaccination who vaccinated me and very importantly will bacha number of vaccine i received i think i really think that's good practice now how the significance it used as possible as for being able to get on a plane or get into a hotel or go into a building or go to a festival that's a different story and right now i don't think anybody is in a position to start saying to our vaccinations that it's will be used in practice it's early days on that. de spain as as most of your viewers will know a recent investigation into how this virus appeared through an independent scientific group that was sent up under the auspices of the world health

organization a joint independent group together with the chinese authorities and they are in the process of producing a report looking for live policies about the origins and their report will get a trial where they've got to in relation to each of these hypotheses finding out the origins of any kind of pathogen whether it's the one causing this corona virus pandemic or other pathogens for example like it or particular kinds of influenza these investigations that are difficult to do and as far as i'm concerned this is a process it's on track. it's very political and a lot of people are watching it and we have to wait until the report appears but already for the judgments could be made more details on the events on rivaling in armenia make sure to check out our website r.t.

dot com and follow us on twitter i'll be back with more of the weekly in just about 30 minutes and i hope to see you then. her.

alone.