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 stop stockpiles of astra zeneca covert vaccine go on used in europe and the questions over its effectiveness but it comes as the world health organization warns of

a lack of shots and coordination. it's 4 am here in russia's capital and you're watching the weekly on our team international 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 i was a by john which many of us a humiliating defeat although protests have been on and off since the war ended in november new demonstrations erupted on thursday when passion yog defied a call by the military to resign and accuse the army of

a coed temped here's how the situation has unfolded. the prime minister and the government of all me 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 says 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 ask people in to

square to go on the stand being the only of the scientific community top politicians parties everyone is against nichols. 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 we came to the square in the cool from our prime minister we stand with. in to the end he must put an end to all this there of course failing 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. her. right in the streets the office the teaching of the p.m.'s to make.

because. to stand $24.00 seventh's and also they are preparing for that and i. firewood for him. was because of that. anger has been brewing since november about a peace deal struck with azerbaijan over the disputed nagorno-karabakh region armenia's armenians saw the agreement as an embarrassing defeat and stormed the parliament parliament building in your of on in response to your start 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 that has been brewing for months because it all stems from meaning as and we're going to tax defeat in last year's war 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 over to

go in a cab out so when i was there by john and i mean you 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 going to come back to azerbaijan and that's when that's when people started to come out 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 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 the 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 without was absolutely devastating and through the cause 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 clearly it does have a fair amount of support doesn't it i mean the call 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 on a given back then but again every single taxi driver that i would talk to back then 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 was like he came 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 he's. kneejerk reaction to the statement by the military was to call on 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 on everybody to refrain from violence so to me it looks like the last war really the last warning like literally the last warning to passion on 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 hardcore 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'll react it 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 in the guard acorah bark the persian new year for 30 years the military has been poorly managed in terms of equipment and maintenance this led to the army becoming weak and fashion 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 took a community. it's post-war turbulence when the military makes political statements it can only be called a military coup the military must carry out its immediate task of protecting the ball. as 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 their minions understand we all have a show of the blame it's. fully was bound to be back in the spotlight before long donald trump says you 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. have 4 i have got to start a new hard rock was fake i do. pray to god would that be very a good start a new party of let's divide our vote so that you can never win no we're not interested in that 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 polls among his supporters indicated that if trump were to start his own party 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 trump did not say whether or not he would run for president in 2024 but he certainly left open the possibility not ruling it out he did predict that democrats will lose the upcoming presidential election in 4 years now a poll taken among attendees of the conservative political action conference indicated that a very solid majority said they would vote for him and wow the republican party has

many elements within it that do not accrue with donald trump among rank and file republican vote. voters trump remains wildly popular donald trump also made a point of taking to task the democrats and the new biden administration joe biden has had the most disastrous 1st month of any president in modern history that's true in just one short months we have gone from america 1st to america last year think about it right america last he also spoke about the issue of immigration he criticized the handling of the pandemic and gave a very harsh critique of the new administration so it is point people are looking on and saying that while democrats and others are saying that the country is healing and reunifying that doesn't really seem to be the case donald trump remains the center of republican party politics and the partisanship and division that gave birth to donald trump remains intact the last 4 years things have become more and more intense and even though donald trump is out of office the polarization of the

country but certainly ask elated during his presidency is not going away the country remains intensely divided. to get more details on what trump had to say we go live now to jeff charles contributor for conservative sites red state dot com and liberty nation dot com jeff thank you very much for joining us on the program so trump has addressed the pack every year since he became president right nothing really out of the ordinary vera but this was his 1st speech since leaving office so would you say he said anything surprising. no i mean this was a very highly anticipated speech i don't think that anything he said really shocked anyone i mean especially when he when you talk about not starting a 3rd party people close to him and already kind of indicated to the media that he was going to do that but i think trump nothing that trump said was it was was a surprise it was pretty much expected and what the what the exception of whether

or not he would announce whether he's going to run in our kind of he used to that tours that direct but he didn't pull out say that he was running or not running so i think he's keeping people on their toes but you know overall it was pretty much expected let's focus a bit on what you said about trump saying that there's not going to be a new party it does still look though right that there's an emerging split in the republican party between the old guard and trump supporters do you think that these 2 sides are going to reconcile in your opinion. no and i predicted before even last year that regardless of whether or not trump won reelection there is going to be a civil war on the right and it is going to be between the establishment elites like your mitt romney's your list cheney 0 and kinsey years and the more more of the rank and file of people that follow tromping or you know more of the more trump the lawmakers like like say my gates josh harley people like that so yeah and really i think that that really made a 3rd party unnecessary because we already kind of have this blip on the right

anyway and i think that while the 2 may not fully reconcile i think it's going to create a brand new g.o.p. it and it'll be interesting to see what it looks like what you mentioned earlier about how trump had had you know said he wasn't sure whether he's going to run in 2024 yet but he did hint at the hospice that possibility. if he does end up wanting to run in 2024 do you think that the party would go for it. you know i'm not sure that does very hard to say i've been thinking about that i know the cording to a poll today that if you if the election were held today he would still get the nomination but 4 years is not a short amount of time i think a lot can change between now and then maybe he'll decide that he doesn't want to run and that he'd rather support somebody to succeed him and maybe become more of the kingmaker role but i do think that even if in 2024 if he does decide to run he does stand a very good chance securing the nomination as long as he has still has the same energy that he yesterday so say so say he does get the nomination do you think this

would be something that would unite these 2 perhaps rival factions you could say in the republican party or would it be more divisive. you know i think it really depends on how this conflict between the establishment and on and on establishment goes i mean that's going to shake up the whole political landscape on the right it could have it could have either depending on who emerges victorious i mean if the status men still has its position and still hold sway it's going to divide things more if the more populous wing or the more conservative wing ends up on top then there could be more and more about reconciliation. jeff charles contributor for red state dot com and liberty nation dot com thank you very much for joining us yes thanks for having me 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 been happening. if you take joe biden's word 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 are related to you you've been bearish the kings and family name ok as 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. 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 it went ahead but that's an easy to say i met the president because it's out of there and i think everything you think you say it is the things you probably shouldn't buy the wrong item either unless you want to incur the wrath of those who don't agree with you going to foods for example is now being boycotted just because the boss praised donald trump for a 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. still to

come as stockpiles of the astra zeneca covert vaccine sit unused in europe due to rising concerns over its effectiveness the world health organization warns poor nations are being left empty handed that story when we return after a short break. 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 clearly a dramatic development that only really i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk. the world is driven by a dream shaped by. the

day or thinks. we fear to ask. welcome back to the program the german chancellor's refusal to take the astra zeneca covert vaccine has created many headlines this week angola merkel said it was due to her age and 66 years old and i do not belong to the group recommended

for us doesn't make up the astra zeneca vaccines only approved 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 on used shots and comes as the world health organization warns that poorer countries are being left empty handed when it comes to vaccines at all with more details here's peter all 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 shots aligned unused because not enough people enrolling or just not turning

up for their point meant 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 tank and moderna and on the other hand you have been reports of vaccine reactions both must continue to be well monitored is something quiet for share there how can we give to a vaccine and then find out a couple weeks months later that it's maybe not as efficient as 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 angle of merkel spokes person even how 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 to 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 job 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 are 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 hours in place and reduce the number of those come by 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 vaccines and they want them then definitely you should and should should have them or sell them or i don't know a good sense of that to the countries who can't have vaccines staying in it in. some or as some call spots to call there is refrigerated areas around the earth while e.u. nations the 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 over r.t. berlin the director of health and care at the red cross says the consequences of doses going on use could be dire. it leaves a nasty cold that we have hundreds of thousands of those it is effective and safe vaccine the line go unused in the european countries when we have but many else workers in the developing countries that are not getting any vaccine these are not only unethically is extremely sad because every vaccine that is not injected in the arm of a person is a potential death due to. the 19 so we really need to accelerate the distribution of vaccines and to do that one of the critical point in europe as being information and mistrust in not only in europe but we have a lot of vaccine is around the world and i think there is

a lot of work to be done to make sure that people understand that getting a vaccine that has a 60 percent efficacy rate ease a great deal everybody should be going for that vaccine as long as the vaccine is safe i think doesn't mean demonstrated that it will actually so there's no reason why those people should be at the clearing and not taking a vaccine they're putting themselves and their communities at risk besides creating problems for the rest of the world the world should prepare for a new post pandemic reality that's what the world health organization special covert envoy has told r.t. and also warned of other dangerous strain spreading. as some who say we should be striving towards eliminating the virus completely others when i'm in this 2nd group say that we must strive to wards being able to live with the virus as a constant threat but are putting in place a mix of defenses in our societies that may 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 how governments create the conditions in which we can behave in a really helpful way with regard to avoiding the virus and as international cooperation. i want to be clear you always need to have traction nations to get so that's good practice or even just for many years i've carried a little yellow book next to my passport which indicates that i've had yellow fever vaccinations it includes tito's of the daytime received the vaccination who vaccinated me and very importantly will bacha number of vaccine i received 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 if it gets will be used in practice it's early days on that. as as most of your viewers will know a recent investigation into how this virus appeared through an independent scientific group that was set up under the auspices of the world gopher organization a joint independent group together with the chinese authorities and they are in the process of producing a report looking for hypotheses about the origins and their report will show where they 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 and

damage or other pathogens for example like it or particular kinds of influenza these investigations that difficult to do and as far as i'm concerned this is a process it's on track i would say very political and a lot of people are watching it we have to wait until the report appears but authority for the judgments could be made for more details on the events unraveling in armenia make sure to watch our 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. make no certainly no borders just block number twos.

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