the u.s. department of health admits to pressuring brazil to use this. over a few years of increasing russian influence in the region. while major. causes blood clots creating yet another headache for the blog. also coming up in the program the u.k. russia. the. full spectrum of threats emerging from moscow. and europe struggles to contain a 3rd wave with many countries choosing.

action rates. very warm welcome to our to international. 30 minutes of news story. the u.s. department of health augmented diplomatic ties to pressure brazil into not approving russia v. washington says it's over fears the increasing russian influence in the region could threaten u.s. security the revelation came in and you will report my colleagues. earlier talked through development 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 a touchy 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 with threats to their safety and security are unclear how there's no reasoning no logic to it that is explained by the book let me put this in perspective for you brazil is a country that has been ravaged by covert so we all know the deaths of 6 that 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 covert sue so the situation is catastrophic it is desperate and here 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 chad beat itself. as a crusader for vaccines and for vaccine back to nation 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 difference is of course the. back then they couldn't show you

what it is that russia disinform anyone with in this case he you go we have clear evidence their own admission that they had denied people the chance to get vaccinated with the vailable 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 against 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 but than when they

accepted the help from russia aid from russian jets carrying ventilators to new york it 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 at night that's dangerous for america and you know lavrov predicted this last year he predicted that there would be that scene 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 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. yeah among the reaction i got to this story was from done your show

a lot in america a study scholar who believes vaccine diplomacy is another front line where the u.s. can confront its perceived enemies this is deeply unsettling to use vaccines as a little further. to look for russia this is part of this new cold war against russia now it's articulating it so a vaccine war there's already a diplomatic war you know you logical war and an economic war on china are russia on any country that opposes us you know larry i think we have to analyze it within that this context that they want to keep reserving in their part in the sphere of influence and now they're even using vaccines to do that to the great detriment of the brazilian people serious concerns over the safety of the astra zeneca vaccine have prompted major e.u. players to temporarily stop using the l.t. coba jubb including spain germany france and italy it comes after reports last week

of blood clots developing people on one death mungo's who receive the inoculation in denmark the european medicines agency says an investigation is on going on 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. 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 it 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 e.u. allows it the question on. the cases that have been flagged that are outside the normal average frequent but if 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 will 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 may 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 these 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're justified or unjustified but they make this whole vaccination campaign so bureaucratic. without it is not that easy but when there is so much criticism then it should be considered too when it's about new vaccines you. always have to be very careful and that's why 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 e.u.'s vaccination program has moved to the glade seal 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 is seen at 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 as 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 alas 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 each one anyone gets a vaccination there's always risk to that always a 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 what the new factors are and then we can let's take a step back is are we on the right track and then we negotiate. the u.k.'s branded russia it's number one danger london has been to deter and defend against the full spectrum of supposed had threats emerging from the country russia's ambassador to the u.k. shot back saying london is trying to justify plans to shower money on the british military. yes lou sort of knew you were going to go in with you 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 reads

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 the crisis and to justify these 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 breck's that breach says 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 pay over the next decade which countries it wants to be friendly with which $1.00 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 india round 110 page report russia is painted as a hostile confrontational state on many an occasion london has alleged that russia frequently and cause into ukase 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 and 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 this range 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 destructive russian behavior irresponsible activity disinform ation russia must desist through its entire show in the u.k. russia poses but immediate an urgent threat to our national security for its part moscow 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 all guess secondly perhaps more disconcertingly the limit of stockpiled nucular out warheads will be increased by more than 40 percent from $180.00 to $2.00. 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 are certain voices within the u.k. who are asking 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 pandemic 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. talking about being more active brought about a greater global presence and increased capability is it really russia that one needs to keep an eye on. taylor well as well as the clearing russia's the u.k.'s main thread london also laid out plans to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal we

discussed the issue with political analyst chris bambery on the campaign for nuclear disarmament skater hudson both are concerned what impact the move could have on efforts to deescalate the global arms trade. it's interesting that he's chosen to make this increasing nuclear arsenal at the same time as president biden and putin have recently signed up again favorite new the new start treaty which is a by the actual nuclear weapons reduction treaty so it's not johnson is going against the flow we've had 30 years of gradual dissolve month that's biggest down across the world russia or the us still continuing with that constructive development and boris johnson certainly saying right that some 40 percent increase in britain's nuclear weapons i mean people have a right to say why he can or thought of what the leader of the opposition says but he's asking the right question what is the point of this to announce that you're going to spend billions so you chris you know nuclear weapons nuclear warheads at

a time when we're having our talk of a stereotype measures here of your panel nazis who are dealing with the cooler though and derek i'm not the one percent pay rise this is just madness major question should be asked about domestically about what this is is happening here given that we're always told there's no money because of the academic impact of the pandemic and secondly why do you want to go back into that alliance the united states was led as it's our rock which where there isn't afghanistan and thirdly wired up we position ourselves as if we're sending to launch a new you quote war. the united states has kept its place as the world's top weapons exporter it's has a market share roughly equal to the next 4 largest arms selling nations that's according to a report by the turn national peace research institute now over the past 5 years the us has accounted for over

a 3rd of the world's arms exports saw almost twice that of russia which comes in 2nd around half of all arms exports to the middle east with saudi arabia counting for about a quarter while the volume of exports hasn't increased over all the u.s. share of the market has grown we discussed the findings with a senior researcher at the institute. so what the u.s. . and many other countries also. exports as a tool for foreign policy actually grow as imported the middle east has grown. standing for a quarter of all total of all global. reach and there are lots of conflicts going on and poor equipment into it to make it safer if you don't have to make it to otherwise deal with potential. solutions

and if you are major supplier you can. watch. this international still and it's a return. sweeping restrictions are in play across parts of europe. their defenses against the. virus. join me every thursday on the alex salmond's show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics. i'm showbusiness i'll see that.

alone again local officials are warning about a new surge of migrants of america's southern border who are testing positive for

crowd virus and are being released into the united states we are completely in the dark they can tell us what their health issues are have got a lot of seniors and elders here that are very susceptible to the biden administration is recklessly release and hundreds of illegal immigrants who have cove it into texas communities the biden administration must immediately end this cow was acts that expose these texans and americans to cohabit. the recent poll suggests there is widespread concern that the government can tunnel the buildup of migrants on the us mexico border wall and seeing coronavirus health protocols fema by the way which normally deals with disasters major emergencies is now expanding its remit or has been forced to to give shelter to migrant children up the border about 8500 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 being held for longer than the 3 day limit about $500.00 children reportedly arrive every day and as politicians busily point the finger of blame each other house speaker democrat nancy pelosi sees the problem one way purely team 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 since becoming president joe biden has been reversing some of donald trump's immigration policies he's ordered the reunification of migrants children with their families and has voiced support for easing citizenship requirements a growing amount of republicans that have blamed the new administration for the situation at the border stating that democrats have all but invited people to the front here i spoke to conservative commentator who who believes president biden sees more migrants as more votes. 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 the 11000000 illegal residents in the united states a past way 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 the border wall they were trying to are you know shift funding to issues like you know ice and border patrol more border patrol agents these are policies that president tom had long been pushing for and we've eased up at the wall basically and that's what the closing deserved and more people coming into the country now so they can be part of that $11000000.00 you 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 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 4th quarantine and then moved out of the country and go through the process of trying to legalize legally and correctly. a 3rd coronavirus way of sweeps through europe governments again see the solution a further tightening restrictions sean toobin scale looks at how the continent is shipping elop for yet another rice and co but 19 cases. 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 point we 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. the beaches 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. 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 in 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 so really like being behind the u.k. for example so much so that the germans have even admitted that they are a movie is the e.u. $300.00 of the vaccine program is also the only in the farming line cools a growing from block states for the body which approves stock seems the may 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 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 the art 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 out see paris. is our lot for an hour from the new studio but before we go to some more great programs let's take a look at what else is on offer few over the next week or so stay close. is your media a reflection of reality. in

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