find themselves worlds apart. she's to look for common ground. the u.s. department of health pressuring brazil. over fears of increasing russian influence in the region. from spain italy suspending the use of britain's. creating yet another headache for the. u.k. . it's number one danger. in europe struggles to contain a 3rd. with many countries choosing the. faction.

you're counting the program from today welcome to. your company. the u.s. department of health said it used diplomatic pressure brazil into approving. washington says' it's over fears that increasing russian influence in the region could threaten u.s. security the revelation came in. my colleague's. talk through developments earlier this is the united states department of health health and human services that is boosting that it is managed to deny potentially hundreds of millions of brazilians a vaccine. the office of global affairs used diplomatic relations in the americas

region to mitigate efforts by states including cuba venezuela and russia who are working to increase their influence in the region to the detriment of u.s. safety and security examples include using the office of global affairs health atari office to persuade brazil to reject the russian copied 19 vaccine see brazilians vaccinating themselves with a russian vaccine apparently keeps u.s. officials awake at night this is they argue or threats to their safety and security are unclear how there's no reasoning no logic to it that is explained by them but let me put this in perspective for you brazil is a country that has been ravaged by covert so we all know the death certificate we hear every day from all over the world one in 5 deaths taking place right now all

over the world is in brazil from cuba suso the situation is catastrophic it is desperate and there are these people who profess to care about people's health and well being arguing that denying brazilians or russian vaccine is beneficial is beneficial for both brazil and for the united states of america the degree of double standards here is also a start issue because the united states is wrong championed itself. as a crusader for vaccines and for vaccine vaccination efforts all around the world and they had previously accused russia of undermining global vaccination it is very clear that russia is up to its all tricks. and in doing so is potentially putting people at risk by spreading disinformation about vaccines the different is of course the. back then they couldn't show you

what it is that russia disinform anyone with in this case he here you go we have clear evidence their own admission that they had denied people the chance to get vaccinated with an available already in production vaccine especially in these times of global shortages this is story is particularly relating to the united states but even before this we saw a lot of western countries quite happy to dismiss the sputnik vaccine particularly in the early days we will remember the unprecedented smear campaign that they launched again against bootlick last year it was too quick russia couldn't possibly develop a vaccine before anyone else it was unsafe ever since then we've seen this effort to undermine sputnik to undermine any russian assistance to to anyone which is especially astounding given that when it was the united states when it was american lives that needed to be saved back when the pandemic 1st began when they accepted

the help from russia aid from russia jets carrying ventilators to new york that was fun that wasn't seen as a threat to national security but when it's brazilians choosing to get a job of sputnik that apparently keeps u.s. officials awake and not that's dangerous for america and you know lavrov predicted this last he predicted that there would be vaccine was taking place in 2021 some western states are trying not only to politicize the humanitarian aspect of the fight against corona virus but also to take advantage of the pandemic to punish governments they don't like and we've all heard about backdoor deals to secure vaccines in europe and the americas this is the 1st time i think that we've heard about backdoor deals to deny people millions of people a vaccine. well daniel shaw a latin america studies scholar say it's boxing diplomacy is another front line

where the u.s. can confront its perceived enemies this is deeply unsettling to use vaccines is a little further. russia this is part of this new cold war against russia now it's articulating it so through a vaccine war there's already a diplomatic war an ideological war and an economic war on china on russia on any country that opposes u.s. unipolarity i think we have to analyze within that this context that they want to keep resilient in their part in their sphere of influence and now they're even using vaccines to do that to the great detriment of the brazilian people are serious concerns over the safety of the us trizin like a vaccine have prompted major e.u. players to temporarily stop using the antico big job including spain germany france and italy and it comes after reports last week

a blood clots developing and one death among those who received the inoculation in denmark the european medicines agency ses an investigation is ongoing the 1st findings are expected on thursday here's our europe correspondent peter all over health officials and senior politicians from across europe said that the astra zeneca vaccine is going to be suspended in the country this is while an investigation is carried out to determine whether there's any link between those who've had the vaccine and the development of blood clots inside and what the decision is a purely precautionary measure astra zeneca is used as a vaccine by millions of people in many countries around the world we're very aware of the significance of this decision and have not taken lightly. the decision which was also taken in accordance with our european policy is to suspend vaccinations with astra zeneca as

a precaution hoping to resume it quickly if the opinion of the a.m.a. allows it the question on. the cases that have been flagged that are outside the normal are very infrequent but of importance this is why spain has joined other countries that have decided to make this temporary and precautionary suspension for the next 2 weeks we will wait for the european medicines agency. these suspensions haven't just been happening in europe we've also seen them in central america in asia and in africa as well we'll be hoping to find out more information on where this investigation into any potential link is going on thursday there's going to be a meeting then between the world health organization and the european medicines agency it was the a.m.a. that 1st gave astra zeneca its vaccine the green light for use in europe and they've been carrying out an investigation since last week when suggestions of a potential link between the the vaccine and blood clots 1st emerged astra zeneca

themselves say that there's no evidence of an increased risk while the world health organization says that vaccination outweighs any potential risk that could be there but public perception of the vaccine is crucial to convincing people to well to take the vaccine in the 1st place we took the temperature of people here in germany and how they feel about the recent issues. and toys and he seems to be the right decision to pause it spurts maybe it's the 1st step to getting rid of astra zeneca completely it is disappointing i don't know what the reasons are if they are justified or unjustified but they make this whole vaccination campaign so bureaucratic. now without it is not that easy when there is so much criticism now and should be considered too when it's about new vaccines you always have to be very careful and this was surely when it comes to vaccines you should be very cautious and if there is a slightest suspicion then it has to be stopped the use vaccination program is

moved at a glacial pace and being beset by problems the e.u. commission vice president even admitted that there had been failures when it came to europe's vaccine rollout which has seen it lag behind many other countries including the united kingdom and the united states you know we're starting to see. now patients have these tremendous reactions i mean sometimes people just get a little bit sick flu like symptoms now we're starting to see an aflac reaction like allergic reactions we see platelet problems and now we see even debts so maybe we need to take a step back and realize is us the right medication or back station for these 'd patients and we also need to ask the questions as physicians does every person need to be vaccinated and vaccines just create herd immunity there are a lot of people who maybe already had the virus like i'm pat and i have antibodies so why would i need a vaccine last if you want to do is put this under the rug so everything is fine because clearly it's not fine and we need to look at the numbers and the 21 gets

a vaccination there's always risk to that always and we need to look at are these numbers an acceptable risk or at least number of exceptionally high risk that we should look at this vaccine in medicine we always see with with the new factors are and then we get let's take a step back is are we on the right track and then really gaucherie. the u.k. has branded russia as its number one danger london has fallen to terror and defend against the full spectrum of suppose and threats emerging from that country rushes and busser to the u.k. shot back saying london is trying to justify plans to shower money on the british military. usually you sort of knew you were going to do in the future if you look at the you case 2015 strategy you can find the same aggressive rhetoric towards russia alongside calls for cop aeration on global issues but this year the version

rates only about russia's threat status and doesn't say a word about dialogue between the 2 countries if you ask why well in my view the u.k. government is going to spend immense sums of money to modernize its military despite also trying to overcome the financial hardships triggered by the cold crisis and to justify this british authorities are seeking for a solid excuse so the menace of russia is speak as an excuse for why you think that britain would have its hands full of dealing with covert 19 the countries still in lockdown the economy has taken a huge hit as doctors are furious off to a tiny one percent pay rise and it's astra zeneca job is in the midst of a p.r. storm on top of all of that the e.u. has just taken legal action against the u.k. over alleged bricks that breach has in short the u.k. has got a lot on its plate but it's made room apparently for one more thing and what appears to be a post breck's it show of strength london has come out with

a foreign policy report that sets out what role it will play over the next decade which countries it wants to be friendly with which one it needs to be where we all of and it's a throwback to the cold war because russia has resumed its pace as public enemy number one russia is the most acute threats in the region and we will work with nato allies to ensure a united western response combining military intelligence and diplomatic efforts we will continue to support close a practical cooperation between nato and the e.u. in pursuit of this goal in the around 110 page report russia is painted as a hostile confrontational state on many an occasion london has alleged that russia frequently in ca's into u.k.'s asp a. on waters that it's responsible for chemical weapons attacks on u.k. soil and that the kremlin generally pursues a very aggressive foreign policy something that moscow denies in short in london's eyes russia needs to be managed and contained now while the report claims to be

something brand new the biggest overhaul of u.k. policy in decades the 1st one since it left the european bloc this russia has a bad narrative fails to deliver any novelty because after all we've seen how presenting russia as the bad guy has been rampant in the u.k. of the past few years the stretch from russia is one that respects no borders it is seeking to sow discord in the west and undermine institutions there is scarcely a country that has not been affected in recent years by some kind of. or disruptive russian behavior irresponsible activity disinflation russia must desist through this entire show in the u.k. russia poses but immediate an urgent threat to curate it for its part moscow always said that was willing to engage in dialogue when hard evidence was provided but for

as long as phrases such as highly likely almost certainly were used these were nothing but unfounded accusations well apart from the perhaps expected russian element to this report there were a few out that no sections of the u.k. clearly showing an ambition to promote its idea of democracy abroad this will take the form of sanctions international activism and other tools to shape quote a more open international order how that will be received by those sovereign countries that london is presumably going to promote democracy and i think we can probably guess secondly perhaps more disconcertingly the limit of stockpiled need warheads will be increased by more than 40 percent from 180 to 2. 160 so quite a demonstrative show force here new threats new weapons this comes just at the back of the biggest defense increase in defense spending since the cold war 16 and a half 1000000000 pounds over the next 4 years so london really coming out all guns

blazing here and there all sets and forces within the u.k. who are also going is this really the time to send this kind of message it speaks volumes of the tory government spending priorities that is intent on increasing its collection of weapons of mass destruction which will sit and gather dust unless the u.k. has plans to indiscriminately wipe out entire populations rather than address the serious challenges and inequalities in our society that have been further exposed by the pun demick so those are just a few of the key takeaways from this fresh report which might leave some asking the question with it being the u.k. are you talking about being more active brought about a great to global presence and increased capability is it really russia that one needs to keep an eye on. the united states has kept its place as the world's top weapons exporter it tells a market share roughly equal to that of the next 4 largest arms selling nations

that is according to a report by the stockholm international peace research institute where the past 5 years the us has accounted for over a 3rd of the world's arms exports almost twice that out of russia which comes in 2nd or and half of all arms export it went to the middle east with saudi arabia counting for about a quarter well the volume of exports hasn't increased overall the u.s. share of the market has grown we discuss the findings with a senior researcher at the institute. so what the u.s. aims at and many other countries also use whip and exports as a tool of foreign policy reach and scan oxy growers imported the middle east has grown very rapidly and it's no standing for a quarter of all total of all global. imports of. a volatile region there are lots of tensions there actually conflicts going on and pouring weapons into it to make it safer if you don't have to mechanisms to otherwise deal with the tensions

and the conflicts did negotiate solutions and if you are to major supplier you can also policy watch. could be blocked in russia within a month the nation's communications watchdog the social network will no longer be available to users if it continues to refuse to delete thousands of posts with illegal content. tell us more. this doesn't come completely out of the blue because russia's communication regulators sent over 28000 requests for the removal of harmful content to twitter since 2017 and unfortunately many of these requests have gone a nord now we're talking about the sort of content that relates to suicide to self harm including hundreds of posts relating to child pornography and hundreds more relating to drugs so it's the sort of content which would raise alarm bells within

many countries and in some cases already has in the u.k. for example the recent investigation by the internet watch foundation found that twitter was it was responsible for a startling amount of child pornography content we're talking about one $1400.00 instance out of $2800.00 also in the us in the state of california a federal lawsuit was filed against twitter in january this year that was also relating to the spread of child pornography upon the twitter platform now does far twitter has failed to comment the s but a spin given a month by the russian regulator to comply and remove all of this content in the past a regulator has also warns that twitter could face a hefty fine if it doesn't comply with talking about one 5th of its annual revenue so as it stands the ball is very much in twitter's court. yet another headline stories of a 3rd trial of virus wave sweeps through europe some governments are again using

the option of further tightening restrictions short of looks at how a big consonant is shaping up for yet another new buds of corporate. european countries were hoping that by this spring it would be the beginning of the year and for the coronavirus crisis there was a promise that a year of lock downs and curfews would be sufficient in that we would be starting to return to normal instead of 3rd wave is rising as variants of the virus are once more forcing difficult decisions italy is taking a step back with most of the country returning to look down. on the basis of scientific evidence the government has today adopted restrictive measures that we have judged to be appropriate and proportionate in germany that's a question that's also on people's lips too from the data we currently have and with the spread of the british mutation we would argue strongly for returning

immediately to a lock down to avoid a strong 3rd wave here in front the english variant has become mainstream accounting for more than 60 percent of all cases as infection rates the prime minister has described the situation as being on a razor edge in paris intensive care unit so overwhelmed with patients having to be transferred elsewhere in the country either france is clearly on borrowed time as you know the english variant is now in the majority this variant is not only more contagious it is also more deadly our resuscitation capacities are such rated the head of the french national health agency who had repeatedly said that the curfew was working is now backtracking admitting it hasn't been enough to let interest complexity the situation is complex stance and is

worsening and the paris region vaccines are seen as being the only hope but instead the rollout program has been more issues. the e.u. is still severely lacking behind the u.k. for example so much so that the germans have even admitted that they a movie is the e.u. $600.00 of the vaccine program is also the only in the farming line cools a growing from block states for the body which approved stock seems the a.m.a. to speed things up crystal we would all be very happy if you would change your working i was in the european medical agency and the coming months to 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and not approve new vaccines in 3 months but in 3 weeks and there's no surprise europeans feel lost and eager to vent their anger despite all of the restrictions.

the 3rd wave of the covert crisis and more lock down isn't what everyone was expecting after a year that's already seen so many restrictions and losses and so much grief the idea that european countries could continuously now find themselves in a knot 1 of lockdowns for some time to come is something that will certainly hit a nerve and test everyone's patience so let's even ski paris. local officials are warning about a new surge of migrants on america's southern border who are testing positive for

corona virus under being released into the united states. we are completely in the dark they can tell us what their health issues are i've got a lot of seniors and elders here that are very susceptible to covert the biden administration is recklessly release and hundreds of illegal immigrants who have come of it into texas communities the biden administration must immediately end this cow was acts that exposes texans and americans coated meanwhile a recent poll suggests there is widespread concern that the government can tunnel the buildup of migrants on the us mexico border while meeting coronavirus health protocols while female which normally deals with natural disasters and major emergencies is no expanding its remit to give shelter to migrant children of the border about 80 $500.00 youngsters are now living in temporary accommodation for migrants thousands more are stuck in overcrowded border patrol stations many of

them have been placed in prison cells designed for adults and have been held for longer than the maximum 3 day limits around $500.00 children reported they arrive every day as politicians are busy pointing the finger of blame at each other high speaker democrats nancy pelosi sees the problem purely teen trumps legacy what the administration has inherited is a broken system at the border and they are working to correct that in the children's interests. well since becoming president joe biden has been reversing some of donald trump's immigration policies he's ordered the reunification of migrant children with their families and voiced his support for easing citizen ship requirements for migrants a growing amount of republicans have blamed the new administration for the situation though the border. let's cross live now to who you are referring to you is editorial director of the reactionary times dot com sites pleasure to have you with us joe biden eased immigration policies pretty dramatically from the previous

administration i put it to you surely this is not the right time given the pandemic death toll in the united states oh absolutely it's almost like the democrats are sol hell bent on adding 11000000 new voters to their roles i mean let's be honest joe biden has put it out there his intention to try to give $11000000.00 illegal residents in the united states a pathway to citizenship even if it's to the detriment of the safety of the american people listen the reason we're having this problem right now has nothing to do with the previous administration they were building border war they were trying to are you don't shift funding to issues like you know our border patrol more border patrol agents do your policies there president trump had long been pushing for and we've eased up war basically and that's what you causing this 3rd and more people coming into the country now so they can be part of that

11000000 even if they are sick and yet released that's really been the big issue catch and release people are not afraid to come here and think that they're going to be detained they're going to get. is that such a huge surge though in migrants that that would really make a difference to the overall situation is it not really a drop in the ocean when you consider the 350000000 population. well i mean listen i think whenever you get that many people coming into a country that's already dealing with its own economic issues there's other problems associated with it we get the bill of you know the cartels in their drugs and their gangs and their violence coming into america in addition to that with the coronavirus issue right now you know if that's going to make sexists our governor great abbot to our coronavirus the to 6 look worth when we bring in people we don't really check these people for corona virus or if we determine that they're sick we still release them out into the general public i mean again this is

a public health crisis this is tantamount to what's been happening all along with chagga disease you know we have people bringing in that bug because the blood travels the eggs travel you know with these people after coming up from central america and through mexico and we every year we have 200000 people that get infected which i guess that could lead to congestive heart failure of varying degrees of sickness so you know we have to deal with that on top of coronavirus so far though that by the ministration seems not healthy but pretty content for what's happening to keep up and if this continues the swarm of more and more people in car vans going to the border can you foresee a time when the democrats are going to have to put in more hard line policies. you know what a lot of they have control of the media this will always get blown into an issue that the republicans for you see nancy pelosi doing that and you played that into the lead into the interview you know they're going to pretend that this is president trump's problem well meanwhile the more and the more the american culture

changes because of all these migrants coming into the country the more they can legalize and the surer that their future prospects in elections because as eventual the a lot of these people become citizens and you get voting rights we've got 20 seconds here lou but just the point testing of the border that seems to be becoming a bigger issue with republicans saying that's not really being done to the level it has to be where's democrats are saying yes it is what how do you see the situation there and. i think it's a top priority issue we need to make sure that all of these people there we are you know held in american custody are detained and tested and if they're sick they need to be placed into a forced warranty and then move the god of the country and go through the process of trying to legalize legally and correctly ok thanks as always to refer to editorial director of reactionary times dot com check and i thank you thank you so

much for having me. on is it for another from moscow but scouting l. is back on your screen in moments from washington with another news if you stay close for the. thanks guys it's financial survival guide. when customers go buy your new sometimes . didn't help well reducible our. best undercutting but what's good for the market is not good for the global economy. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then. if week one year ago our lives changed.