massive pro and anti-government rallies are being held in the armenian capital with police attempting to keep the crowds apart as political unrest in the country intensified it's. also in the headlines this hour joe biden is slammed for going soft on the saudis after failing to deliver on his promise to punish the kingdom's crown prince for his allegedly role in the murder of a prominent journalist. lashing out at the locked out violence erupts in several countries around europe as people fight back against coronavirus measures. un human rights experts demanded an international investigation into the alleged poisoning of kremlin critic alex a no ball me although russia says it's still waiting to be shown any actual proof.

in the world you're watching r.t. international broadcasting live from moscow i'm donald quarter with you here in the studio welcome. now tensions are running high in armenia protests both for and against the prime minister has been playing out in the nation's capital of europe just hours ago the pm nicole paasschen jaan addressed supporters and pledged to hold early elections with more on the day's developments here's artie's constantine or us call for on the ground in armenia. a lot has been going on in your of on lately and the 2 major rallies that were held both by the opposition and the supporters of the prime minister they are officially over but people are still outside on this race and we're now let's actually follow with these supporters of the prime minister because after the rally it was over they started to march around

the city they were shouting slogans in support of the prime minister there were no major clashes reported that was one of the greatest concerns of that day the police they blocked off the cordon off the area and they didn't let this procession to go to the national parliament that's where the position. is held in its own rally now let me tell you that. he used his rally to make several major political statements and now instruments and for example he said that he offered to hold a referendum a constitutional referendum to amend the constitution and change the country's political system and to give more power to the president and another another take away from his speech was that he said that he still insists that the head of the general staff of the armenian armed forces on a guest or on needs to wait and let me give you some back story here you see. along

with other top generals he accused me called parchin on lately in a basically him being incompetent and of poor handling of the last war with his service john and he called for the rest of nation of the prime minister and so for that he was accused of staging a military coup and that's when the ricin crisis the recent political political crisis starts to unfold it seems like a lot lies ahead in front of the country in terms of political changes and in terms of you know over common in general the. major political crisis of the last couple of years. let's take a look at why the recent turmoil in the country is taking place the prime minister faced calls by the country's military last week to step down following months of unrest it all stems from last year's conflict with neighboring azerbaijan which resulted in a peace deal that many armenians view as a humiliating defeat and in turn accuse the military of attempting

a coup and fired the country's top general that sparked mass rallies from both supporters and opponents of the prime minister later the president stepped in and over rules the p.m.'s order to fire the armed forces chief of staff little relations analyst marco gastric believes paasschen jaan will need to scale and will need to cling on to power until the election to give him any hope of winning it. but it works going on here is that after the defeat in the going to come about. relations is looking for a strong leader and pressure to shine and can only look strong if he stays in power otherwise easy if he is a lame duck who is weak on able to control the situations are setting in power until the elections is key to his chance of actually winning them i think that is the population is probably a little bit divided between the kind of pragmatists who feel that he could have done much better against the bijani forces and those who feel that he's generally

not coast that territory to armenia because of perhaps he is a pro washington or inflation because only he is worth much essentially chuckie's drones out to destroy the medium's defenses in the going to cut a back but i was saying to his drones would be shot down extremely successfully in syria i would live by the same kind of russian technology that he tried to blame only oh so the question is why didn't he usual why didn't he procul the correct technology that would have. depended on media the mediums are all that in the going to come out against those drone. that would depend again in syria. just president joe biden is being accused of failing to deliver on his promise to take a tough line with saudi arabia american intelligence concluded that the kingdom's crown prince masterminded the group the gruesome murder of journalist jamal khashoggi but the biden ministration left behind had been solman off the latest

sanctions list and continues to ship arms to riyadh and as the story you were is will recall how joe biden promised to hold saudi arabia accountable come down hard on them over the murder of jamal khashoggi. i said it at the time because sure he was in fact murdered and dismembered and i believe in the order of the crown prince and i would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them we were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are now these words came before joe biden became president but it seems things have certainly changed since he's taken office the kingdom of saudi arabia will continue to receive what joe biden refers to as defensive arms from the united states now it's not exactly clear who saudi arabia is defending itself as the war it is currently engaged in is taking place in yemen a foreign country as far as punishing the crown prince even though the f.b.i.

has come forward and said that they have no doubt that mohamed bin solomon did order the killing of jamal khashoggi at this point the biden ministration is saying the answer is more diplomacy diplomacy seems to be a key word of course we reserve the right to take any action at a time and manner of our choosing i will note steve that historically the united states through democratic and republican presidents has not typically sanctioned government leaders of countries where we have diplomatic relations now nobody seems happy with these actions we've got u.s. mainstream media and even fellow democrats speaking up and criticizing joe biden saying that saudi arabia needs to be held accountable for these actions and the moves he's taken are simply not enough leaders around the world who use violence to crush dissent really don't see any material punishment coming out of sanctioning 76 people who are not the crown prince generally when it comes to diplomacy the goal

is to make everyone happy but here we have a situation where nobody seems happy when it comes to saudi arabia they're angry they denied that the crown prince was involved and say that it is time to move on however the fact that there have been a number of saudis that have been denied visas to the. ited states and hit with some sanctions that's being seen as a source of outrage in the kingdom meanwhile many of joe biden supporters are angry that it seems like saudi arabia is getting almost a slap on the wrist and not being fully held accountable so at this point nobody seems to be happy this is the new style of diplomacy from the biden white house saudi arabia's ambassador to the united nations told us how he sees relations between washington and riyadh playing out from here but also excess every against saudi arabia sanctions have been put in against certain individuals for whatever reason is that i think states may have and you know we're we understand that and hopefully it will be as individuals and if they can't give in to names i'm sure

they would have their names lifted from those sanctioned lists but for the time being. not all new sanctions against saudi arabia such ties with between saudi arabia and i to say still don't depend on individuals neither by the north from there are built on a historical record all 7 decades overliteral interests and common values and i expect those that are dishes releases to strengthen and to transport in the future that will be some misunderstanding it's now and then its own joy of the sponsibility to clear them up and to look for the it is it which we can work together there are many robert naiman a forum in foreign policy analyst says this won't be the end of the story. i guess i'm jaded enough the in the context of us politics the charge of apocrypha the is a weak one we see it all the time he's definitely behaving differently from what he

promised not 100 percent differently perhaps because there has been some shift but this is definitely not the poor one so that was promised but the story's not over yet because congress has a say in this you have this government that basically exists because of the united states and yet the united states is so far parent lee powerless to hold him accountable so the tail is wagging the dog as we say the government is and then the states but it's basically controlling us policy more than the other way around. simmering anger at tightening covert restrictions has boiled over in ireland and denmark thousands have taken to the streets demanding their freedoms back.

feel. all those protests in several e.u. countries as there is an increasing transmission rate over 19 hearing from the health minister has described the situation as. the epidemic with tens of thousands of new cases being registered every day now as a result of that over the weekend several times in france went into new weekend lockdowns and it does look as if that is going to be expanded further across the country here in paris the various discussing a mini 3 week lockdown it seems to many that the policy that's being in place for several months now is more working but that's not the case according to the

country's director general of health the situation is obviously very tense the government has taken strong braking measures particularly with the curfew the latter works very well well the e.u. of course is still having problems with its vaccine rollout it's been slow from the start only around 8 percent of adults have be inoculated across the book fall behind say their counterparts in the u.k. we're almost at 30 percent there are still questions particularly over the astra zeneca vaccine the efficacy of which older people have been questions not just by phones but also by germany and as a result of thoughts many people are refusing in those countries that have not particular vaccine. so much so that something to suggest up to 85 percent in germany have been used and possibly around 90 percent of doses haven't been used in france so much so that there are pools now to give those extra time since teen

younger individuals who might accept the fact see. we cannot afford the vaccine sitting around and not being used because some of those entitled to it reject it well as the e.u. is struggling to get the doses of the vaccines that people actually want to take some countries are now taking matters into their own hands let's take the czech republic for example which is declared a new nationwide state of emergency the number of could be daunting cases why is there so much so that they've decided that they might reach out and obtain the make the vaccine from russia there's a huge interest in the russian vaccine we cannot wait for the european medicines agencies approval the state institute for drug control must examine the documentation and if they approve it the health ministry has to issue an exemption well the czech republic is not the only country that is already doing that hungry has been inoculated people with the sputnik the vaccine for the last month that

said to happen efficacy rates over around 92 percent for the house and yet being given regulatory approval he in europe but it seems as the continues to hold across the bloc countries now are deciding to make their own way. a fraternity and loss of liberty a former french president nicolas sarkozy lands himself a jail sentence for corruption or on his fall from grace after the short break. chose seemed wrong. but old rules just don't call. me. yet to shape out these days to come to educate and in gains from it equals betrayal

. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. the banks are supposed to be distributing the money that's their job but instead they hold onto and say we're just going to buy more houses for ourselves and we don't care that we're not distributing it you know all these relief programs they go to the banks 1st and they don't distribute the whole lot to other jamie diamond become a billionaire he didn't actually produce anything he just keeps all the money that the government prints.

welcome back to the program the pandemic has left a trail of devastation in its wake over the past 12 months 2 and a half 1000000 people dead and around 115000000 infected but despite that little is known about the longer term effects of the virus known as long cove it artie's anton christophe ski has been seeking answers in a special covert documentary series. political show good issue for more than a year now humanity has been dealing with cove it he just understands what symptoms have been identified but only now do we start to understand that there is also a long covert use names way between 5 and 50 percent of people struggle with this disease for much longer than expected people who have been treated at our hospital and they are coming back and these situations are becoming even more common than simple i got sick this is very worrying.

just like how same date precisely comprehensible symptoms everything is just like in that seriousness of. the other will i thought that i was cured and everything would return to normal but unfortunately this was not the case i started choking of the felt bad and had to call a doctor again and i realized that i couldn't walk more than 100 to 150 meters i was getting tired immediately and i would get a burning feeling in my chest it would be logical if complications off the coast but it could in the most severe cases have patients who lie like this in intensive care on ventilators but in fact this is not the case the majority of people with the so-called covert tale. a young people who have never been in intensive care and

moreover have not even consulted doctors about. manufactured not have any fever a cough at all. then i start to cough up blood and i got a very severe pain in my leg some of the country has some symptoms were ending other was starting headaches and even congestion in my chest despite non damage to my launce. it was just analysts. it is if you are sick with something but of what exactly a nominee can. definitely hits the nervous system this is its main target then which way the. small from both these occur in the vessels of the brain little haemorrhages all this becomes evident via very different symptoms sometimes rather obvious and sometimes not a headache is something understandable and this is not due to intoxication covert micro bleeding and swelling. massive weakness is also what everyone describes and

what is completely unusual for other diseases visual and hearing impairment dreams become weird you know even hallucinogenic. cardia can be terrible and completely inexplicable even young people can have it but the even young people who do not have any heart pathologies or they go through an e.c.g. an echo the doctors find nothing. all this made us realize that this is damage to the central nervous system so the brain sends you some kind of a signal by stay sick yes something like this. every day we see more and more patients for whom kovi did not end with them leaving the hospital sometimes the consequences last for months and how long it will last is completely incomprehensible the most important thing here is not to miss the moment and see a doctor in time. human rights officials at the united nations are demanding an international investigation into the alleged poisoning of kremlin critic alex

a no ball while at the same time concluding that russia was responsible something moscow has repeatedly denied our europe correspondent peter oliver was at the u.n. conference in geneva. this report by the united nations special ramp on to put forward a number of conclave about what happened to alexina valmy last summer from the investigation that they carried out the u.n. special operators say that 5 laboratories of unequivocal improvement in their eyes that missing a volley was poisoned with a novel talking nerve agent of a type that was only available in the russian federation and could only have been administered by somebody with expert abilities namely a state actor russia denies any involvement in his poisoning this report wasn't just a look at what had happened to mr novelli that would also serve as a tacit statement of support for the opposition figure as a politician and as

a man something i question the un are up and toes upon when put alongside statements that have been made by. amnesty international have said that they will no longer consider alexina vilely a prisoner of conscience after it became clear that he advocated violence and discrimination against ethnic minorities and migrants in russia human rights belong to all of us the best of us into the worst us and there is no excuse no justification. for the violations that mr neville only has suffered for it is his language that is used in the past it's all just a final this support that real giving him is because it's like right tonight was being violated we've also had reaction to this report from the russian foreign ministry spokeswoman who said that she hoped the u.n. would put pressure on lynn to release documents moscow says it still hasn't been

given despite requesting them from germany we hope that after the call of the special rep ters beilin will stop hiding secret material from the international community and stop editing at the formulas of the discovery steps in. says from the reports perhaps today statements by the special that protests will encourage our partners to end their descent from ation campaign and start join us which should be carried out transparently and legally last week the e.u. high representative for foreign affairs announced that there would be further sanctions against individuals in russia in relation to the alexei navalny case we yet to find out exactly what those sanctions will entail and who exactly will be targeted but we have heard from the deputy foreign minister in russia who said that he's not expecting too much from these sanctions this is not a surprise for us the continues to move in an absolutely normal legal way this is an absolutely dead end path which destructively effects bilateral relations and he

no way meets the interests of the european countries themselves like saying of ali took ill on a flight from siberia to moscow last summer his plane out to make an emergency landing in the city of he was eventually airlifted to berlin where he received intensive medical treatment and was subsequently diagnosed as having been poisoned with a novacek nerve agent in russia denies any involvement in his poisoning but it's a case that continues to put increasing strain on russia's relations with the european union and the wider world. former french president nicolas sarkozy has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to a year in prison he's the 1st former president of the country ever to have been given a jail term sarkozy's lawyer says they will lodge an appeal and he can also ask to serve the sentence at home or to francis mood l or reports from outside the paris court room. the former french president nicolas sarkozy has been found guilty of

trying to bribe a judge and of influence peddling he has been sentenced to 3 years in jail with 2 years a suspended. will lead friends from 2007 to 2012 had to deny any wrongdoing he said he was the victim of a witch hunt by financial prosecutors. and his lawyer were found guilty of seeking to bribe judge as you bear for information on an inquiry into claims the former leader hadn't received and this of payments from. school there was also found guilty according to the judge the former president was said to have forged a corruption facts with the 2 man judges also said there was a serious evidence of collaboration between the 3 men to break the law and have access to confidential information the state's case was based on wire tapes of conversations between. with prosecutors accusing him of using secret telephone

lines to cover up his attempts to and full trade the courts is expected to appeal against the conviction it's not over for and he could as he will have to face later in a few weeks another trial with charges of illegal financing of his 2012 presidential campaign journalist on political commentator on elizabeth moved table leaves that despite the sentencing the matter is far from over. the 1st president to be condemned to jail this is a condition that he could have nation that he's already going to email so i don't think he's jailed yet. but it's the see also has the interesting although i mean the 1st president to be the object of 17 different court cases 16 of which were dismissed without merit and he expects that his appeals sort of will get his luck will hold and appeal but a student it's a strong setback something that in some jurisdictions would have been thrown out of

school because it was based on the almost continuous hour phone tapping by magistrates without a specific mandate of the specific object which in french is illegal so it's a really interesting case and that really demonstrates that french justice has become quite as has become quite politicized in recent. that's all for this hour for more world news stories make sure to check out our website r.t. dot com and follow us on twitter i'll be back with more in just about 30 minutes and i hope to see you then. during the vietnam war u.s. forces also bombed to neighboring laos there was a secret war. and for years the american people did not know. how much anticipation carry back to the country per capita paula human history millions of unexploded

bombs still in danger lives in this small agricultural country. we have been going to continue to happen. even today kids in laos fall victim to bombs dropped decades ago because the u.s. making amends for the tragedy in laos won't help to the people needed in that little land on mine. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest in the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. since it other than. about the human. right.

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