so join us in the depths. hungary's foreign minister becomes the 1st senior official from any e.u. country to receive. along with. patriots on the program we'll hear from the. next scene is not a question of ideology. is a matter of saving lives. for. the old clear from the european medicines agency. blood but. something appointments for the injection. of health admits. this was a highly infectious. virus is that detected for the 1st time in new york. when

i was a child and we had all seen the coolio we would see me and sticks to. him something that u.s. president despite his diplomacy is back. the day of the week welcome to the weekly. several leaders are urging the block's medical agency to foster sputnik the vaccine approval as a possible way for the virus. consenting sputnik v. and other vaccines i strongly insist that the relevant e.u. bodies issue now with the rise asian for safe vaccines as soon as possible the more vaccines we have the better. for us and also some stuff in the long as far as the

russian vaccine is concerned have held the view for some time that we should use each vaccine that is approved by the european magistrate's agence singh but if a new such european order were mate and i have seen no indication that it will be germany would have to go it alone that is a possibility and this would do well companies across europe look like they might break ranks with the european regulator earlier this month in a number of e.u. countries deals to produce russia's sputnik of the job but they're all still waiting on the blocks regulated to approve the drug spotting he has already been authorized now by 46 nations and europe's slovakia hungary are already rolling out the job. so in the meantime hungary's foreign minister has become the 1st top official from an e.q. member state to receive the russian sputnik vaccine peter see it out though says his country is expecting to receive an additional 680000 doses of the russian shot

over the next 2 weeks and green was the 1st e.u. nation to approve sputnik me and more than 1400000 hungary and have since received a 1st dose of the medicine earlier we spoke to peter out of though he told us that politics should not play a role when it comes to saving lives. exene is not a question of ideology for us is a matter of saving lives and if we had not contracted the chinese and russian vaccine we could have saved the health care and the health and the lives of many hungry and the hungry our national regulator has approved the emergency use authorization for use so i have no concern i was the one. that asked by our government to negotiate with the russians on the ration of our purchasing. i have started going to going to be minister

a month when we used to hold back at the end of october before i got to don't actually and after a long series of negotiations and we were able to sign our contract we share a lot in accelerating the vaccination in hungary you said it's rightly more don't want point 4000000 now today this morning even more than 1500000 have already been vaccinated but the scandinavian countries are extending a freeze on the use of the astra zeneca covert vaccine that's despite the european medicines agency concluding on thursday that the drug was safe and effective that's through the developments now with r.t. is shot to ski. several scandinavian countries still unsure about losing this vaccine that start with finland which has now suspended the use of the astra zeneca jab why they think best against shoe cases of potential blood clots on top of that we know the norway denmark and sweden they're all holding back from restarting

their programs all of them still have concerns about issues surrounding astra zeneca and say that they going to carry out 6 their own investigations now due to several serious cases and no way would want to thoroughly review the situation before make a conclusion while blood clots eye is the issue that's been discussed over and over nots initially will think e.m. a was investigating over the last week o. say but there have been of the 'd much more serious effects that some say to astra zeneca let's have a look now at some of those cases. now

the a.m.a. of course did carry out extensive investigations into these possible side effects and what they said at the press conference on thursday is that the vaccines benefit in protecting people from coronavirus related deaths or hospitalisations continued to outweigh the possible links as a result of taking the astra zeneca vaccine and that's why. they reapproved to rubber stamp it once again for use but it's not just countries nordic countries who are still querying the use of astra zeneca here in france the country's health authority has now given new advice about the job saying that can only be used for those over the age of 55 now you might wonder why that seems so odd

but if i go back just a couple weeks ago you being told by authorities here in france that astra zeneca shouldn't be used with those in older age groups so it does feel for many is if the new advice is a complete u. turn and it is leaving many people questioning why well the reason is because the may also on thursday suggested that they were a possible increased risk of blood clots for those under the age of 55 if they had the astra zeneca job. i don't trust the spanx an adult i don't know that's really true what they say with the media would no longer know what to think that. the vaccine is brand new i mean we don't know the side effects. those who died but i don't want to take the risk so i'm waiting a little longer. you know know how they made it there is

a nurse she died and on top of that the people who died because of it so i don't really know if it really works or not but there's also now the question as to what this means for the ear may itself we now have countries across the european union who are deciding that it's rubber stamping of us just isn't quite good enough let's not forget that the e.u. may is the scientific body for the whole of the european union this is the party that looks at medicines and decides if it's to approve them so the idea that countries and now questioning want to double check the figures the investigations over this issue the vaccines. really does raise that question of trust and at a time when we're now being told there are not enough vaccines to prevent a 3rd 19 wave here in europe and many people may now be saying you know actually i don't want that rock scene i want to have one they really are big issues that need

to be resolved. new york has reported its 1st case of a highly contagious brazilian strain of covert that's after the u.s. health department publicly boasted that it tried to dissuade brazil from using russia as a sputnik the vaccine a move branded by the kremlin as unprecedented and harsh more details here with r.t. what i guess do you know we've all heard the bat deals to secure the shipment countries trampling each other to get those precious jabs these seas the 1st star we've heard of back door deals to deny people a vaccine the u.s. department of health health and human services boosting that it had denied hundreds of millions of brazilians a jab. 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 and this what is essentially a grand perversion of simple human decency and moral values they argue that brazilians vaccinating themselves with a russian vaccine is apparently a threat to u.s. security they are explaining how they just say that it is let me put that in perspective for you we will see and hear of the daily death tallies right so one in 5 of those deaths are happening right now in brazil 20 percent of all couvade deaths worldwide are in brazil and needs people a boosting that they help prevent inoculations in brazil with one of the objectives

the and scientifically proven most efficient vaccines in the world these are the same people who claim that lives in vaccines are above politics and accused russia of undermining inoculation efforts 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. u.s. department of health and human services who feel safe and your organization behind sputnik the has come out and said what any reasonable person already knows this is a pandemic that is threatening and killing people equally this is. the threat to mankind it is above politics saving and we're talking here about millions of lives

is paramount but the degree of cynicism and double standards here is astonishing see when it's about saving american lives they'll take all the help that they can get remember the russian planes carrying aid to new york last year oh they accepted that new threats and national security there apparently but brazilians vaccinating themselves with sputnik god forbid no no no america current allow brazilians to do that 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 i'm not sure i entirely agree with the russian foreign minister yes they are politicizing vaccination politicising lives that's obvious but i'm not entirely sure that the countries that

the us doesn't like that it's them that are being punished it's the people that they're friends with brazilians who will potentially not receive a lifesaving job so we're fishelson washington can go to sleep at night feeling good and safe well despite its admission in the report the us health department says it cannot comment on vaccines not approved by the f.d.a. but also it cannot prevent countries from using the drugs they have authorized themselves. on tuesday joe biden gave an interview in which he was asked whether russia's president was a killer he answered yes and valve that vladimir putin would pay the price for alleged interference in u.s. elections well moscow responded by calling its u.s. envoy back to the russian capital for crisis talks on the state of relations with washington more details here with our daniel hawkins. the lowest point since the

cold war that sol russia u.s. relations have been described across the board over the last few years but every new u.s. administration has a chance to take a fresh look at things build some bridges at least try not to add to the tension and certain joe biden you know vladimir putin you think is a killer. and do so what price must he pay but pray she's going to pay well you'll see shortly if there was a book on the presidential diplomacy one o one the very 1st page may well say don't call your counterpart a soulless murderer in your 1st couple of months in office that could make talks over the next 4 years slightly awkward for the kremlin saying they're now hoping for the best but preparing for the worst in terms of relations but international diplomacy can be like a game of poker biden went all chips in no regrets the present by regret calling. you. know the president gave a direct answer to

a direct question that's aside from threats through paying a price and announcing new sanctions hailed as a new approach to dealing with moscow the president's relationship and this administration is relationship with the russians will be very different from what we've seen over the last 3 years and we've already seen evidence of that the boy administration took around 2 months to allow this new sanctions targeting russia what old front took around the same time when he came to office back in 2017 to announce his sanctions against russian companies in connection with iran north korea syria nonproliferation act the 1st of many so hardly a new approach there anyway the target of biden's killer comments took them surprisingly well sidestepping the attacks with a restrained response. because only i would wish him good health i'm not joking i mean it secondly i want to say that in the history of every country there are many tragic and dramatic events but. when we judge people or other nations we look into

a mirror and we see ourselves we impose on others what we see in ourselves when i was a child and we had arguments in the courtyard we would say bounces off me and sticks to you and it's not just the children saying the meaning is very deep tit for tat accusations or 3 moscow and washington go back decades but with biden making it personal who made it clear he wouldn't stand for his counterpart being a moral judge. regarding the american establishment the ruling class its identity was formed in difficult circumstances that are well known the colonization of the american continent by europeans involved the extermination of the local population it was a genocide in modern terms a genocide of the indian tribes this was followed by a long brutal period of slavery slave holding it was extremely cruel and all of this is endured through history and affects the development of the united states to

this day otherwise well with the black lives mass movement have come from. could have cited any number of events u.s. global military interventions political meddling support for dubious armed groups and regimes through illustrators wider point look at yourselves and your actions before criticizing others the white house acknowledged nobody's perfect. the president believes that one of the greatest attributes of the united states is now on the south reflection and the constant striving for progress and there's always more work to do in this round putting the shows to up the ante making a brave offer to boyd and to continue the discussion in parson in an uncensored law of online broadcast something that may be unprecedented in such high level talks which would lose weight but i want to invite president biden to continue our discussion on the condition that it's in the form of lifeboat cost online so far

the white house has avoided rising to the challenge of making history refusing to commit or comment on the offer i don't have anything to report to you in terms of a future meeting the president of course be in georgia tomorrow and quite busy travel in the said will take further silence as a no and while we can't know what goes on behind the scenes of international diplomacy if biden's early days in office were a game of poker it seems this hand would go to his perceived adverse story probably not the effect he wanted to make with his initial comments. still to come here on the program authorities along america's southern border are raising the it's over a record number of amassing like we hear a local mayors concerns that's in the mix of your weekly stories and just of.

the world is driven by dream shaped by. the day or thinks. we. ask. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. period dramatic. only. exists i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical. to sit. in.

here in the russian capital monday 10 years since the outbreak of war in syria hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict millions displaced not by 2015 almost half the country was occupied by the islamic state terror group and that was when the russian military decided to put the full weight of its forces behind the syrian government now since that russia has become an integral part of the whole peace process helping to broker a truce ceasefire agreement as well including supplying humanitarian aid for the syrian people. and also now reports from syria about russia's crucial role in the country. let

me i mean russian air base here and fear is northern province of what track it takes up a relatively small piece of lens but it helped win the whole country back how i'll show you follow me. taking my ship let me take out our forces went further and the fates predicted it was a very important moment then russian abby ation played a very important role might see one of the name changed was among the 1st pilots to come here back in 2015 with wildstorm global of 2015 and things were close to the

point of no return for the country could have ceased to exist our forces played a crucial role in the conflict. to give you an understanding of how intensive to mission has been since the start in the 1st 24 hours with the help of russian navy ation the syrian army managed to take back 8 villages and push the enemy back 70 kilometers. from a mame air base thought it was several tense in the middle of nowhere headed grew to a real town with streets and boulevards a church and a dream cafes and restaurants bakeries and beauty saloon it is a symbol health peaceful syria and the reason sense of real kong here.

the base is unique in its location climatic conditions speed of deployments and the missions it carries out. but ending the war is just the 1st step in bringing live in syria back to normal had a decade of crisis has left too many scars and russian support goes far beyond military victories in the last 5 years russia has helped 2000000 syrian refugees return home main roads were finally cleared and reopened russian medics have also treated around 130000 syrian citizens the defense ministry says nearly 3000 humanitarian operations delivered tons of food water medicine and basic supplies for series civilian population. it's going slowly but life is beginning to fill the streets of syria's cities once again.

the suburbs are no i have spent half of my life and war we've been through a lot we have become patient i feel old even though i look young people have to work harder to cover their expenses and support their families life has become more difficult when we are stronger and ready for any outcome we have to keep on living despite all the difficulties. they cannot exceed to ation is there are difficult we cannot provide our children with the most basic necessities clubs not books for study i want things to see read the way they used to be. given that war has affected everything life has gotten worse the russians played the biggest role in the crisis they helped us greatly made our lives easier during the economic blockade helpful. territories and supplied us with wheat and rice i remember the

streets in the old city of the capital damascus empty we show up some galleries shut down and fear in the air that it could be shelled at any moment and it was the same gloomy mood basically all over the country 10 years on locals still spend hours queuing for fuel of bread so many of them i jobless but they say please the skies above are now clear brief an ocean an ati from damascus in syria. it is on the international local authorities along america's southern border a calling on the government to step in as the region faces a wreck or influx of migrants u.s. border patrol is struggling to provide secure shelter for thousands of people and

the mayor of one town an hour's owner says the crisis is unprecedented this is really opening up a pandora's box in our community we did not see the covert crisis nowhere near what some of the other cities have seen. we were hoping to keep it that way unfortunately it doesn't look with them dropping these migrants in our community untested southern states including our zone and texas have ultimately borne the brunt of the migrant influx a recent poll suggests there's growing doubt about the ability of authorities to cope with the situation on the us mexico border amid the pandemic abide administration has deployed the disaster agency fema to help deal with the situation chris riggs again believes the federal government simply wasn't prepared for such a surge in migrant numbers. yeah there is definitely the concern of coven and how that it's going to impact my community i have

a large number of seniors and elders that. this could really affect so we're hoping that border patrol will start testing and before they release people were wanting to see what their health records are so that we can ensure our our citizens are protected if this is a crisis the simple as that and i'm putting none of this on border patrol i put this strictly on the federal government as far as the current administration needs to step up and 3rd going to offer this they need to do their job they need to have a plan in place obviously there was no plan i think the program for this hour here on our international of the top headlines of the day on the week return of the top of the hour.

the welcome to worlds apart is very roughly a year since comet 19 irish the running roughshod over all aspects of our lives when it's like breaking and in fact everything we used to take for granted but is that since milly but shirley and mabel are released from long downs the question is what is the needle post pandemic normal going to be one of the boundaries of personal social an international responsibility on the matters of how well to discuss that i'm now joined by luke annealed professor of biochemistry at trinity college dublin professor neal it's great to talk to you thank you very much for your time now are you happy to be here now i know that you're i be vaccine if he

asked you've been arguing that government should be banging down doris to get access to proven back scenes regard less of their source regardless of political considerations do you think though that the vaccination campaign the global vaccination campaign the way it has been playing out so far is really free from politics no certainly not i mean it's a bit of a shame and so on why is 'd because science has delivered these vaccines around we're all scientists we did our job you know well i wasn't directly involved in it but i know lots of the scientists who were and they did a tremendous job out there we've got we've got probably 11 highly efficacious and so you've back so use available you know in the mission now is vaccinate the whole world as quickly as we can and you see 'd i wasn't with most things in life humans get involved you see and then we see the various issues there are well let's take the research and the. assist surrounding the astra zeneca baxley which much of europe including your own nature of our land the use of which was the senate in

much of europe gz you clotting issue which share according add to it well how her going to zation is nil its expansion by day get out i don't think there is any reason to suspect that the german know if they enjoy the irish and how bitter it is would be if. more negligent or more ignorant about science than w h l colleagues how then do you owe explain the decision to hold the the japs well again it's complicated i guess you know maybe e.m.e.a. remember the european medicines agency they are on record as saying the risk for blood clotting is extremely narrow and in no way should stop people using this vaccine w.h.o. said the same thing now the international society for thrombosis the mistakes of the world governing body said keep using the vaccine so there's muscle consensus among the experts the should keep even the axiom while they examine the data remember it's very important because events how be.