it. can be a. pretty sort of march in the headlines that germany imposes yet another round of harsh and covert restrictions as a huge scandal over political profiteering from face marcell top now with the health minister himself in the firing. hit the streets across europe meantime against painful new measures people tell us why they just can't take anymore. we are fed up we no longer know we should just stand a little lost it's all of the big things you can restrict life so much we are here in castle today because all the measures that i've been taking here in germany no longer serve the people. in other news moscow says it no longer has any relations

with the e.u. as an organization russia's top diplomat making that stunning revelation in the wake of repeated snubs by brussels got live comment from our correspondent coming up. and. until now the u.s. versus journalists haven't needed to stand in another country to 1st off what's happening in the united states. journalists warmed by administration stopping them from filming the migrant crisis there right now as the u.s. grapples with the biggest surge of refugees in decades. or good afternoon to support it or talk about that it's one in the afternoon here moscow time my name's kevin though in this is r.t. international 1st german chancellor angela merkel has that warns that the covert

situation in her country is very serious as she's announced a new round of harsh nationwide restrictions till mid april it includes a ban on gatherings and the closure of shops it's affectively shutting down public activity than over easter. even you that when we are in a situation which is very serious the number of cases is rising exponentially and intensive care beds are filling up again it comes after a german research institute confirmed the country had entered a 3rd wave of infections last week saw the highest number of daily coronavirus cases in 2 months and a massive corruption scandal too over facemasks is no reach the top with the health minister himself facing questions our europe correspondent wraps it all up with the latest for you. the federal government here in berlin has extended covert 19 restrictions across the whole country but that is amid a mask crisis which is ensnared a new face the german health minister

a report over the weekend in the online version of news magazine dish bagle claimed that again spawn authorized the purchase of more than half a 1000000 masks from a company called bird bird as berlin boss mr spawn's husband himself down your phone care the company insists mr frewen care had nothing to do with this transaction that no commission was paid and denies any wrongdoing whatsoever and 1st on to work toward a media that the board of hooper birds and media over the health ministry to assist with mask perhaps you are meant when the german government wants an urgent need for this the c.e.o. of the minister directing that kind of act and the minister defends it all but that means that the board a representative in berlin mr phone was not informed about the mask business neither by his company nor his husband who had been the direct contact person that contradicts common sense. and i can only repeat that according to bird there mr

spawn's husband was not informed or involved in the transaction at any time but earlier version of the article had claimed the bird it was owned by the health ministers husband that was later corrected to reflect mr frewen his role as an employee but that hasn't stopped lawmakers from seeking clarification from the health minister this salami tactic with the bit by bit information from the ministry of health about the procurement of masks undermines the trust in the institutions of our democracy it has to stop we now need an independent transparency officer to shed light on what is going on the health minister himself is biased mr spawn's allies have dismissed the article as thin soup but opus. parties are circling and can smell blood the birds are publishing house owns papers like the dow also dealers unmasks half a 1000000 went to spawn's health ministry does belin representative this spawns

husband both like to attend buddha parties because somehow the villar has to be paid what does one actually have to do in the merkel cabinet to be dismissed of course procurement had to be done quickly during the crisis but the wording of 4600000000 euro suave out a call for tenders is under considerable suspicion in view of the corruption scandal to a ruling coalition politicians of already fallen jew to personal business dealings in mosques for profit scandals but what started out as a probe into a pandemic profiteering now morphed into a wider investigation into what money german politicians have been making aside from their ministerial salaries the scandal has caused real damage to the ruling conservative union's reputation they suffered for huge historic losses in recent local elections with the green party taking up the slack in one of those areas and

nationally when it comes to polling they were emerging as a real potential challenger in this september's bundestag elections in what's being called the super election year here in germany there couldn't be a worse time to have the whiff of corruption surrounding you peter all over r.t. berlin you will discuss the situation in germany with a member of the ruling party embroiled in the moscow and will he told me the country's in his view war divided than ever and to make things worse people are fed up too with contradictory locked rules have been introduced by the government. germany has never been as polarized as this in this post-war history we have a gap between rich and rich and poor country and city young and old left and right nationalists and patriots people are fed up or see a lockdown as i've just heard reports from from a different source from russia that pretty much life is back to normal it's it's tough it's one of the toughest countries in germany some of the european countries

germany politicians are basically toppling over each other to raise the bar to make it even more difficult for people plus the vaccination council germans if they used to one thing are used to an orderly state orderly administrative procedures and we don't see any of this and we see contradictory. administered orders we see contradictory and failing policies so germans are fed up but they don't or all of the requisite and appropriate conclusions in the right numbers that this government has failed. but germans are the only ones in the even crease and frustrated with the handling of the pandemic next them from paris for you our correspondent shelob inzaghi gauging the mood of other europeans is they to warn they'll no longer take economically damaging restrictions the following images from the weekend maybe reflecting that anger.

on the streets of europe these are all the scenes that have been playing out those countries what's again are announcing a fresh wave of restrictions as the 3rd wave hit rallies protesting against what they've branded health dictatorships were held from the street to sweden serbia to switzerland from poland to france demonstrators say they simply have. we don't know we are fed up we no longer know which flew to stand on a little lost the soul of blur we have the impression of being muzzled we're not free. we no longer have a social life this restrictions are totally useless i don't feel like i'm a dog we can go out like you want as long as we have our sophistication so should

we change the restrictions maybe. in germany more than 20000 troops to the streets in the city of care so one must protest just to cloyd the recent reversal will be easing the destruction was a threat to freedom. here in ca we are here in castle today because all the measures that are being taken here in germany no longer serve the people but i consider corona virus to be a serious disease just like the flu which can also be very serious but to make a pandemic out of it as we are experiencing now with many restrictions on our basic rights i don't think that is justified. we want to cameron said pepper spray we used to disperse protest is the tactic was also used in the netherlands protesters were left wet but they were made. undeterred across in the u.k. in the capital of london protesters defied

a current ban on public demonstrations days and demanded the rules can change a cool echoed by more than 60 at peace they've recruited to whom some truly say malloy singing people protesting was no to acceptable or if you believe it was no proof who dozens were arrested as tempers for 8. years you. are going to get to be in must see a different term cool was taken in deploying just health regulations the house to stop the streets for the underclass political party atmosphere shut down by officials as it descended into destruction.

nothing justifies destroying collective efforts to contain the virus nothing justifies desecrating the side of the route by and building collapse nothing justifies attacking children's games and public facilities. while the evil is trying to tackle vaccine shortages it's admitted to making mistakes during the pandemic but have lessons been learnt and i think this is a still being made on the go and not very thought free. i think they're not doing a very good job at it even if it's working but by luck not really by design i think that. in some extent is a land of very sick of it but i think that. is the most important thing to ease as that 0 is a new consent to say it's there you're out there little i think we have learned some and we took action. the thing is you can't restrict life

so much easier citizens are once again feeling the pain of tightening restrictions but after more than a year of living by the rules it seems now that more and more people believe that they are damned if they do damned if they don't show the ati paris. with all this info coded hard to keep track isn't it well not every country is cracking down our t's launched a cove the 19 freedom index no less ranking the states the territories the countries from least the most restrictions the stuff you want to hear stuff you want to see check it out. along with everything else we're talking about today the home football the news all the analysis you'd be surprised by some of the places on the list as well look closely. russia's foreign ministers warn that relations with the e.u. as an institution are essentially dead now speaking at a news conference earlier with his chinese counterpart sergey lavrov the added that

brussels has killed off all cooperation. so you don't have any relations with the european union as an organization the infrastructure of further relations was destroyed by unilateral decisions from brussels. well there's go live again to our city. as i said when this 1st came in last hour on the face of it's a massive statement real worry for people in europe but when you pick it apart it doesn't mean does it it's business over between russia and europe what russia wants to do with individual european countries and states yes well it certainly isn't business as usual business as usual has been dead since 2014 foreign minister sergey lavrov specified because that's when all these new all meetings annual consultations summits between senior half profile russian officials and european commissioners and leaders that is when they ended ever since then it's been a steep it wasn't a gradual it's been

a steep decline but it is important to draw the distinction he said that really relations between the european union as a as a huge bureaucratic machine soulless bureaucratic machine those are dead the relations between various european states and russia there are a lot of that in some cases very healthy but sergey lavrov did say there are there is some hope because if the european union changes its outlook changes its approach decides that it wants to improve many relations russia russia will be there but that has to happen as equals on equal footing to mutual benefit so russia isn't about to bend over backwards to do something that europe wants especially not after not after everything that has happened in china shares much the same opinion. which european powers meet here china and russia but they know it's under invented

pretenses an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of china russia a long gone result to uphold international justice remains undiminished or. rob was in beijing making a statement as he was talking to his chinese counterpart let's talk for a minute then about russia chinese relations where is that going well the becoming closer and closer and they're being driven closer and closer because look at the european union's policy towards russia for the better half of a decade the united states to it was action everything that they feasibly could it was to try and contain russia to coerce it into doing into behaving in a way that europe wants that suits european or american interests it hasn't worked nothing's changed i mean they're the 1st to admit it that it hasn't worked so far but they believe it will work for some reason in the future and that is the approach they're increasingly taking towards china because we've heard multiple times in recent years that from european from american officials that it's china

not russia that's the potential big threat of the future china's g.d.p. its economy its military spending its population all in cleats that of russia and lately the biggest scandal was that the european union has now put into effect sanctions against china for its treatment of the we good people who are violating apparently their rights the chinese have protested this they have summoned the european ambassador told to. writing in word but nevertheless there is little hope that europe will change its attitude in the immediate future and say lavrov commenting on russian sino russian relations he says there's a whole lot more chance and opportunity in the east than there is in the west. the european union destroyed all mechanisms to re have been trying to build over

many years we have a sparklers individual european countries guided by their national interests and that objectively leads to the fact that our relations with china are developing faster than what is left of relations with european countries. both countries of course insist on loosening getting rid of this sanctions regime that has blowed up in europe in the united states over the last decade or so but they also said that you know looking looking into the future in the future some european commission drafts yet another report about potential threats in the future and says it's incredibly worried about russia and china growing very close politically militarily that it should look back to this moment to this moment when it sanctions both countries and drew them together while interesting to hear what the reaction is going to be a statement from brussels that'll come in throughout the day keep us up to speed

with it how we're going to. show a political commentator was there in the heart of the european union so what is your view there looking on you've heard what the say there is fairly and squarely blaming the e.u. saying they're going to deal with it as a bloc anymore when did this start on raveling and what do you think about this news that russia no longer wants to deal with the e.u. as a bloc. the eulogy used to deal with russia to start with and he's got it in them of his completely hide and i think the policy of the european union is going to do as you say they'll come up and to you you see there is a problem in the united states it's in their d.n.a. to look for enemies they always need to find enemies now as china is fresh and so for the more enemies they have the more their enemies you know as we see as the postmen between china and russia now the european union or do you look in counties of new he's and 2 for the united states the european union is full i mean the

bureaucracy in town is full of people up to the economic let's compare the political opinion and the will of the last simply need to offer you hope in gallantry in the shall do good in the sixty's the goal he can hear is china mainland china as being china because the dogma then was that the heel cheney rest a while and the mainland china did not exist the girl was here this think about that it's not that he was a fan of mao of communism other or that it's all the well you know and hate and so on we'll just clear this and we should go back to his i'm we're not going to but he's saying that you're saying that. you're saying you're it's being driven here by america but what's the goal of our correspond with just saying well by doing this a big unfriendly to russia pushing russia towards china making a big relationship that is not what europe what america wants or not. well you see they're driven by ideology when you're at least later a legend so you know you don't he's

a nationally and you don't even think of your interest in a rational way i was trying to say that the go us at least thinking in international will from the french when the view now there is no we that you can do something from a german french italian point of view you have to do it from the european you know european union says big ocracy which is blinded by a diligence she's there we're looking at it when you see things are historical meeting. these are the you know the meeting in alaska between the chinese and the americans the response of the chinese was extraordinary because the chinese are using these super super polite and they're this it to the americans you know stop interfering. in the business it was really amazing and this is a vote of a southern cal gantry from the global south again so you know i just didn't we haven't seen any talk for decades. we thought what we are going to have time for one question this is all as far as russia sees that you're ripping on friendly more

sanctions now also hearing more sanctions are going to be put on china as well from the you is this going to work is this going to come to some sort a head is going to be a change of mindset after what russia said today where relations going to go and who's going to lose most from this broken relationship the european side of the russian side. do you want me and say don't. have any interest in go be raging with hoshi and even though jane that these laws are to international. every global issue gay including dar we should not encourage terrorism as we have the cia and media of what we probably do in change and what we have done in the in the arms of the harsh . i mean there is no reason that we don't have we don't have any enemies we have manufacturing in an east but the problem is that evil in the news is just because we need to know that what is she very irritating. is also following a suicidal policy that least. we just copy that that's really.

not only a police is counter-productive to every conceivable interest given to the interest of human rights in china or russia because they just had legalized the regime by doing. so it's counter-productive number one that is not even a what this is just covering the united states and that is really too much job right mom place a comet i think 3 times i was we pray for come back here for more comments. if you haven't. the us is struggling with an unprecedented migrant crisis on the southwestern border their record 5000 unaccompanied children alone are reportedly being held in border patrol cars today investigative journalism group project veritas then this release the shocking pictures you'll see for yourself from one microcell a-t. in a place called donna texas 3000 immigrants have been kept in pods they're wrapped in space blankets there's a thin heat blanket 50 of the refugees to believe to tested positive for covert in the last few days alone the managing editor of veritas told us more. there is

a major influx of illegal immigrants and that is according to the source might you 50 of them are coded. that sexual assaults you does it will salt take place daily our sources told us that there is many as 3000 migrants in this facility and donna texas at one time they're very cramped from the photographs you can see it's very spartan living there's not a lot of mats or beds or cots they are living in a difficult very tight spot it looks like a nightmare it looks like like something out of a fiction novel you can look back as far as comments from this administration encouraging people to rush the border encouraging people to climb any barriers just any way you can over it under it get in and we will take care of you a plain and simple people are coming over sick or not legal or not and they're being processed and it's being done in an awful matter now that we've uncovered the

conditions here but it just seems like mass chaos and yes there is again other caravan it seems gearing up the democratic party lawmakers also released images from the same city in texas migrants and to youngsters are being held in what's been turned over flow facilities in cramped conditions hundreds of children of allegedly being stranded in patrol custody across the area for more than 10 days now breaking guidelines along the way border crossings from mexico face a 20 year high record at the moment presenting a difficult challenge for the by the administration but nonetheless it seems to be downplaying the emergency. children presenting at our border who are fleeing violence or fleeing prosecution who are fleeing terrible situations is not a crisis well it just points we've got washington d.c. officials going back and forth about whether or not what's happening at the border

is really a crisis we've got biden promising that he will visit the border meanwhile we've got the border officials and leaders of the democratic party in congress urging the administration to get back to reality take their share of the blame for the policies that seem to have mentioned this crisis and really get a grip on what is happening you have a breach on national security levels that have never before been seen in modern history it just blows my mind how disconnected from reality they are or maybe they do know maybe they just don't want to call a spade a spade you know because it's uncomfortable it's a slap in the face i think they just want to let you know what's going on we need to get a handle on this before against out of hand even within a week i was already calling the white house to say hey guys you've got to take a look at it when you create a system that incentivizes people to come across and they're released that immediately sends a message to central america that if you come across you can stay while there are

big calls for the administration to get things under control and start responding to what many are calling a crisis it seems like the biden administration does not want there to be media access to what is happening on the border and the u.s. facilities that have been set up one journalist was quite outraged about the fact that he had to go to another country just to take photographs of what was happening here in the united states you have to stand on one side of the border i respectfully ask u.s. customs and border protection to stop blocking media access to their border operations i have photographed c.b.p. under a bush a bomb and trump but now 0. access is granted to media these long lens images taken from the mexican site until now u.s. faces journalists have needed to stand in another country to photograph what's happening in the united states how many will recall that while donald trump was president photographs of children held in facilities detention facilities that were

set up during the obama administration were widely circulated and there was mass discussion and outrage about you know what they referred to in the media as huge as in cages and there was widespread does that ing of the facilities your recall congresswoman alexandria kazuo cortez had a well publicized visit to the detention facility and there was widespread coverage but the biden administration seems to be rather adamant that it is simply not appropriate to give the media access and to publicize what is going on at the u.s. borders i don't necessarily think that it's appropriate for a journalist to be inside out of centers that are at that aren't are not permanent places for children that children are not placed there permanently now white house spokesperson jen psaki says that the biden ministration is very committed to what she calls trans parents sick but it seems like when it comes to the situation at the border it's much better to divert people's eyes and change the subject and try

to avoid bringing attention to something that is to resolve a situation that many are referring to as a crisis. of course from the new york city that finally 2 russian businessmen who up sticks and move to africa have told r.t. about the challenges of working on that continent thing goes down a fosse that have some the stereotypes about the continent were true or false. but you know there's a russian song that goes don't go to africa for a walk children but you haven't only gone there for a war but more than that to make money well we decided with our family that there were great prospects and it turned out that we weren't mistaken we decided to reach out to 3 embassies kenyan tanzania and ugandan to get more information we'll see a turn to the russian foreign ministry it's african department to collect as much information as possible it turns out that there's an investment agency in uganda and quite a good one at the embassy got in touch with us investments agency we exchanged

information the russian foreign ministry gave us a letter of recommendation and in about $10.00 to $12.00 days received an invitation from the investment agency to travel to uganda for a business visit some russians a delusional because they think that if they come to africa someone owes them someone would take them by the hand and help them organize their business so those things on going to happen the african continent in principle has a reputation of a turbulent region it's not only dangerous to run a business there but often even to stay there at all as it's not a single country you can't speak for the whole continent these countries were colonies of different nations france portugal england so it's obvious that the states brought their culture and english law to say it's scary they're well firstly you have to understand that it's the 21st century the international community won't allow it to be that scary there obviously western investors move there the same

people bring their business practices so no baseball bats there that's just for show so is everything there really based in law yes you may insult someone at a parking lot and the person will be smiling at you but in 2 days you'll receive a lesson from the lawyer asking you to appear in court those elites that are currently in power manage business they're representatives of the old feudal aristocracy and this still getting respect and reverence is not common to raise your voice or. african countries it's also not common to make a show down any misunderstandings are handled through police lawyers correspondence if you've got disagreements then one of you disappears vanishes or insults the other instead of explaining your position in a letter then you might get in trouble what about corruption how much of that is there 0 in uganda and if you give money it will be taken but there's a 100 percent possibility that the money will just be put.