profiting from the pandemic 2 senior german politicians are quitting in a major scandal for allegedly earning hundreds of thousands of euros after brokering deals for face masks. meanwhile the u.k. government faces claims of financial mismanagement during the pandemic after offering frontline health workers a pay rise of just one percent what it spends millions on a new media briefing room we gauge reaction in london. to the story here is about these i mean trick people save it. for the public is. going to hospital table. president biden's long awaited covert relief bill finally passes through think u.s. senate people face getting less money than they did under donald trump.

global stories international reaction. from moscow on calling bright welcome to news this monday evening 1st german m.p.'s are standing down over claims they've made hundreds of thousands of euros from brokering deals for face masks with more on the scandal here's our europe correspondent peter all of us. make no bones about it this is a big scandal here in germany pandemic profiteering isn't a look any party wants to be tarnished with in this is part of the ruling coalition here including angela merkel's christian democratic union party the representative of the party nicolas lobel has said he's going to step down at the next election this is after his company allegedly made around a quarter of

a 1000000 euro from being the middleman in deals when it came to pee pee and masks during this pandemic may not be good enough for some sort of said he needs to go right now and no wait until the election in the autumn however he said he is sorry for what he's done so far but he isn't the only one that's been involved in this scandal we've also heard that. from the very insistent party the c s u is facing a corruption probe after he's understood to have taken away a 6 figure sum for being the middle man again in deals involving masks he's already said he's not going to run in september he has stood down from his position as the deputy leader of the union parliamentary group but he's denied any wrongdoing what this is prompted is well senior figures including members of angela merkel's cabinet coming out and saying there's no way this can be tolerated in condemning

those 2 politicians to collect a commission that is to gain money through mediation in emergency situations is not possible that destroys trust in our democracy those who fill their own pockets with essential goods such as masks do not represent the people but the lowest interests it's understandable why the center right block is circling the wagons there's obviously a bundestag election coming up in september but before that just next sunday there's 2. regional elections as well and they want the candidates involved not to be as distant from this particular scandal as possible there's also a want to know more fuel to a fire a frustration of the same people demonstrate against the way the government has handled the pandemic here in germany and it's not just a german issue we've also seen those protests taking place across europe.

or go. to. a level of hope it will surely only be added to when it starts coming out that m.p.'s that politicians were enriching themselves personally during this pandemic german journalist thomas fassbender says public anger over the issue will damage the ruling party. i think that definitely the christian democrats as a party at the forthcoming for coming elections will take a hit there's no question there is anger about this the interesting thing here is that mr lube it just last year was the subject of a completely unrelated correctional misbehavior 'd commercial misbehavior case within his own party the man has been known for

a sort of potentially shady behavior is there where allegations and nevertheless the party sort of shut their eyes and that is of course the dangerous thing it's not just a matter of the law as such of the letter of the law but also. 'd about the way it is applied. downing street being criticized for spending millions of pounds on refer patients to hold white house style media briefings and in another echo from across the pond british prime minister boris johnson is setting up a charity so that donors can fund renovations to the premier's official residence but for many in the u.k. all this money will be better spent on health care staff working on the covert frontline. should forces interest sort of curious about this i mean trick could be a poll for us to still be a poll looking after all nurses and doctors and everybody that works. people save.

for the problem did. you answer peter spoke about us from the people with. the benefit from health workers. who can often be free. i'm not sure we do to be frugal 2600000 people a lot of other food so i could remove all the local ation so making sure the whole population is properly covered but what can you do if they say this is going to ask us of course but you know when you when i'm going to hospital table i think the nurse is an essay for me then you know that's what would be necessary for me to make sure you can have your pay and they've got enough motivation to work on lies are important decoration. the u.k. government insists difficult economic circumstances means that it can only afford one percent pay hike the national health service staff but with inflation predicts a reach $1.00 and a half percent this year that would likely mean

a pay cut in real terms and he says union says they deserve more and are preparing for strikes political commentator anthony weber says the government's priorities are completely wrong. but the media companies don't actually need these. facilities one of those assured of a fine or. witnesses shortage of finance money should go in a suit. you know more sensible directions logical direct she was like. giving the nation a start but it does. rather a pool message that the government's prepared to spend money on promoting its own interests were not prepared to spend money on people who'd been looking after people who are paid in a hospital in unsuitable people who like the n.h.s. would respect the nurses and so on that said the government has extended its

furlough scheme until september which pays 80 percent of people wages for hours they can't work during the pandemic with leaders predicting the cash will get the economy back on track but talking to our teams going underground british economic historian robert skidelsky questions the numbers. they think there's a lot of pent up demand that there are a lot of savings that people haven't been able to spend and that as the shops and entertainment places reopened people will flock to these places with their extra spending power and that'll make the whole thing revived but if you look at it realistically i'm very skeptical about this because national income has fall it's fallen by 10 percent cent in 2020 that means savings of all their own you know some people will have extra savings but what about all those whose incomes have fall they're not going to have extra spending power we're talking about people who are

being made unemployed because small businesses are closing going bankrupt and or cutting down on their staff and rather than keeping that population on 1st. then i would try and provide work for them and especially young people. it leaves a lot to go region which includes the capital rome there is calling on the government to start producing the russian sputnik very covert vaccine as the country's health minister says he is in favor of the russian japanese in my opinion if the vaccine works in the safe i do not recant about the nationality of the scientists who developed it therefore i am open to sputnik v. as well as to other vaccines should the european medicines agency in the italian medicines agency give their approval we are ready to cooperate with russia even very soon. but they've already been approved in 2 e.u.

countries hungary and slovakia a couple of the blockage criticized for the slow pace of coronavirus inoculation and member state that's your region health chief told us about the approval process for sputnik. it's necessary to produce vaccines in house in order to be self-reliant and avoid the problems we've recently faced including the difficulties with job supplies and on time deliveries autonomy will benefit everyone in this case we always treated the sputnik vaccine with great respect paying particular attention to the scientific evidence behind it therefore we had no reservations about it after we saw the in that explanations of its validity in the medical journal the lancet and by the last there are spoilers only national institute for infectious diseases in row we've always said that the efficacy and safety of vaccines are the main thing whereas their origin doesn't matter to us.

unfortunately we can't say decisions absolutely independently and always have to wait for the approval by regulators will so hope for a fast track process so that it doesn't get bogged down in excessive red tape because we're in emergency and in great need of doses in italy we don't expect to see any disputes around the sputnik vaccine because we believe it will contribute to the common good and protect the health of our citizens. joe biden's code relief bill has finally passed through the u.s. senate after last minute negotiations but while $1.00 trillion dollars sounds like a lot of money people may actually get less than they did under donald trump saskia taylor explains why. bunker in america especially for children has soared to historic levels unexpected medical bills have created a surge of families desperate for in america the richest country in all the world

we have incredible hunger what ours is possible as the u.s. continues its brutal battle with one invisible enemy an old one house of ram just poverty but for those one in 10 americans who lost that job and same bell never recovered all those 3 in 10 low income families who worry while the next meal is coming from good news joe biden promised you a helping hand no one should work 40 hours a week to live in poverty and it wasn't just higher wages no buy jim was also going to rip open the government's want it and hand out those support checks the american rescue plan is going to keep the commitment of $2000.60. $1400.00 checks to people who need it. this is money directly in people's pockets and with control of the house of representatives the senate and the white house the only trinity nothing could stop the democrats puffing that kind of bill no out of

touch little greedy republicans not even trump no it was a done deal right we obviously are now alternately sending. money to less people in the administration this is not the promise that we need. conservative democrats have thoughtful divide in the admin sense fewer and less generous relief checks than the trans admin did so not a done deal biden promised one thing with his $1.00 trillion dollars aid package the house then took a stab at it and the senate's now taken a not the stab at it in its wounded form almost $12000000.00 fewer adults will get the relief and pledged unemployment benefits are finishing a month earlier than planned and as for raising minimum wage to $15.00 well to see of some democrat senators who vetoed it that won't be happening and if you're

wondering what an elected official offering in the face of the people they saw it looks like well hey you go. cinema. no i'm sure though it's a big thumbs up from have for $174000.00 annual salary but if you thought biden himself brain child this bill was as devastated by all this well think again he is comfortable with where the negotiations stand he is controversial and knows there will be tweaks at the margin so if these tweaks mean that americans struggling to stay afloat amid the biggest recession in the u.s. in decades aren't getting the money who it is what national democrats particularly nancy pelosi and chuck schumer have chosen to do is crimes through a 1.9 trillion package that includes things like funding on the national endowment for the arts and national endowment of humanities and the subway in silicon valley

to help nancy pelosi constituents and while the washington elite did eventually realize that splashing $100000000.00 on a subway in the richest town in america what is fit well with those people standing in line to food banks when will it realize that it works for we the people and not me myself and i the mainstream media were delighted by the bill with the washington post initially branding it a defining move by biden but it was they were forced to change its headline after a backlash online showers money on americans could washington post exaggerate biden situations in the more quest desk way probably not shameful. will who make it rain with a check that still doesn't cover a whole month's rent soak up all of the money show us my fellow pows the amounts are being paid or just a drop of the bucket the payments are proof that their faith and they buy the

ministries was well founded and the reality is of course that much more of the covert relief bill is going to other causes no other interest groups in the us you know we have a constitution and the government has grown by leaps and bounds beyond what the original intentions were at this point the number of the duties of the american federal government have. the number of tourists arguments over laughable you know the last coded stimulus package had billions and billions being sent to foreign countries this one has everything from money for amtrak which is a perennial loser of public money. 3000000000 in aid to aircraft manufacturers almost 300000000 for the national government for the arts and all while people are suffering and i would add while there are clear signs that the global appetite for u.s. treasuries which is the us debt seems to be waning this is a heck of a time to be incurring a lot more debt. a story of inspiration and determination for you next hour he's been following a russian paralympic athlete and member of the national sailing team he lost his

leg in an accident while serving in the army but despite the accident dimitri not off stays active in the gym the pole and filming his video back in 2019 he became the 1st russian paralympian to cross the bosphorus strait between europe and asia he's also won the national sailing up the different be able to athletes his story as here after this bulleted in around 15 minutes. of which nearly a foot intellectually up and then i married him and then i. learned through are the result. will. be those of when i was at the hospital i asked my dad to bring the weights on this build is expanded and one i was training. i've watched the olympic games and i was like i want to be like them. and i'd like to see the perception of people with disabilities change i want all this to see our personality not just our disability pain or suffering but if we ask anyone here to name 5 famous people but

no one will remember a disabled person. if we narrow it down in essence a name paralympic athletes for example no one will remember any specific names even though we're supposed to be proud of them the championship is in 2 days and we're getting ready to go i mean up there on. the shelf at us but if you notice way we see in the ground. that are sure a lot of pictures but we have the another pair of shoes of go up to them and they're huge in this neighborhood everyone knows us in summer when i go outside with my prosthetic leg to walk the dog all the children go nuts when they see me sometimes i feel a bit awkward when i walk by myself without my dog lawson and some kid runs along with his mom or dad the kid says hello calling me by name they know me as that's a guy without a leg he walks around with a funny looking pooch see here on this page it says military service exemption surgical floor number so and so and that's it they brought me to some military

hospital took me upstairs on a stretcher this typical surgeon guy came in he laughed about something gave me a shots and i was out when i woke up my leg was gone. but i mean you know if people with disabilities want to be viewed differently they need to stop feeling sorry for themselves. or the thing is i am an athlete and i don't like just to lift weights at the gym it doesn't excite me it's boring yes dear you are the idea. of a lot with the idea why do i do that dance i'm going to need with gabriel oracle now granted. by the year. and i get that i want to list it as a bama. and i want to go on the. world on the boats. and i want. i want to live on a boat. with 3 other women who could use one. i sometimes feel like i'm living in

a reality show and that's all this is not happening to me really it's i'm just having a dream and when i wake up i'll just get up and go to work on 2 legs to some factory . next face coverings in public is said to be banned in switzerland a referendum at the weekend promoted by the right wing swiss peoples party so voters now really support the initiative that include the burqa or niqab worn by muslim women there are several exemptions to the new rule it allows face covering for security climate and health reasons the proposal for the ban didn't mention islam directly saying it was aimed at stopping violent street protestors from wearing masks but the leading swiss islamic group has already called the vote a dark day for muslims. this is my in. my reader so i would like to someone to 1st we. will take it put on this way that obviously i. know we have religious freedom we have freedom of

expression you can say we have freedom and then not give it but it being free he's been able to show our face respect in women's dignity heaven our own identity and therefore i do not understand the discourse of people who want to imprison women behind this veil. i said no to this initiative because feminist ideas are being used for something which on the contrary obstructs liberty of choice this is also borderline center for big so this goes against my will years also i think of switzerland. or some other european countries have already in full or partial bans on veils in public places including belgium and austria the 1st of course to introduce the move 10 years ago was france which has since repeatedly fallen under a wave of criticism for violating personal liberties we put the issue up for debate . i think that the majority of the of the swiss people who have voted for

the ban of face coverings has decided so not specially trying to hurt muslim people living in their country but rather thinking of their own cultural identity and preserving it in the long run it is always the same it's always this threat of this extremist party you lost muslims and islam behind you know several laws but when we're not at that it's very very bad for us why they are continuing to use this strategy to put outside of the society and to divide the citizens between the 2 but it is wonderful if we imagine that we had a similar referendum in and i slam a country like in pakistan or like in saudi arabia the question would be would you allow would you like to allow people or women wearing

a bikini in public beaches for example i'm pretty sure that 95 percent or even 1009 percent of the people would vote against it we know what is democracy and we're not using emotion on rhetoric i don't know that. a lot of people vote against but there is a lot of chits where people have never seen a woman. and not with. that don't exist. they've called for this a lot of people also in the villages of switzerland they are actually they read the news and they know what is going on in other parts of the world and so they have just decided to set those limits to the cultural development off immigrants from muslim background and this is not hostile and also i think you should even consider

it as something which sets a useful limits to radical islamists and there are some who force their women behind veils who we are at least here in this city. very very close to russia. that. it's not a load to get fuel those people or to lose their. freedom which is that country all of the deal that you have 3 and. and they feel very wary in this country but they don't like to be. a stage of the people who are extrem whatever radicalized from provision already get it from. where you can live your religion freely and the question also is why have you chosen to come to switzerland knowing very well that it's a christian country which even wears the cross in its flag in its national flag so

i think you were quite clear about that 3 when you came to switzerland. but i want to switch to more and more. it's good for diversity is a richness you out. making the money but that is the of the race but. brazilian president has called on people to quote stop whining about the country's code catastrophe that's despite brazil registering its highest daily covert death rate last week it also has the 2nd highest number of deaths in the world with more than 260000 victims sure to do for this quarter do you mean enough with the pretentiousness enough with the whining how long are people going to carry on crying for we have to confront the problems obviously we need to respect the elderly those with conditions but where is brazil heading to if we live in fear. and while health authorities there say just over $7000000.00 have so far received

at least one vaccine dose that is brazilian hospitals are struggling to find room for the sick and the health systems overloaded to highlight the point this is a container that's been placed outside a clinic in the north of the country to help victims of the disease residents give their reaction to the move. but i think people are panicking and this container shouldn't be out in the open this doesn't help. that it has a huge impact i think it makes you more careful and more inclined to protect yourself it's only when you actually see it that it has any impact when you realize that our people in their lost loved ones where all to blame the people but also the government because they should set the example of the editor of a brazilian news site told us the president must take the blame for the worsening situation. i think it's. strategy both all the time trying to prove to brazilian book relations that he has this

situation the control over the situation is completely out of control i don't presume he's going to have the situation before may or june because we're very. nation we don't have any more. stay at home 'd i think the next 30. days i'm going to be even wharves the situation. through at this moment. in the lebanese capital beirut for a 7th consecutive day desperation and anger sparked by an economic downturn pushes more people to the brink protesters barricaded 3 main roads leading into the capital last week the country's currency had. becoming the last straw for many have

seen the prices of consumer goods and any triple since the crisis erupted in 2019 it's driven nearly half the population of 6000000 into poverty and wiped out jobs and savings reporting from the capital that his local journalist linda. and downtown they returned to spears have blocked their roads they blocked them with burning tires trash and trash bins they set trash bins unfired basically everybody is angry at the further collapse of the lebanese lira to the dollar the lebanese pound reached $10800.00 lebanese the rest to a dollar which is very much under president that the protesters are very angry at the government for being so inefficient for not being able to form a cabinet that would unlock the billions. promised by the i.m.f. should the reforms be finally implemented it's been close to 7 months now that lebanon has been without

a proper functioning government the economy has to ations that is very very. very low. we close this road because this is our land our country and we have become poor we have endured so much that's why we are closing the roads again and won't let anyone pass. on we are starving we are here at martyrs' square setting tires on fire because the price of a loaf of bread has risen to $3000.00 lebanese pounds and that's a kilogram of rice to $7000.00 all while the dollar keeps rising there seems to be no end in sight a lot of people a lot of lebanese people are thrown deeper into poverty and a lot of people are desperate they're fleeing the country they're now jobless they're left with absolutely no hope and this is why they're expressing their anger and frustration out on the streets of beirut. and that's good news for now next as promised the russian former soldier who saved a life changing injury turned into

a global medal winning success. there are tactics that can be used to get innocent people to confess to crimes they didn't commit i don't even think people in the u.s. really get that the police are allowed to lie to the person who falsely confessed actually came to believe the lie that they were told about their own behavior once a false confession is taken the case is closed and nobody really can tell the difference between a good confession and one that isn't. nearly of the benoit sure you know that if i did i deny them and i think i could honestly was more that if you look back now are there your.