it used to headline. germany imposes yet. the health minister is caught up in a. very lucrative supply deal. frustrated boil over in france. over the relentless pandemic restrictions with many people saying enough is enough. we no longer know wish for just a little lost. the fingers on the streets life so much we are here in castle today because all the measures that are being taken here in germany no longer serve the people. and russia's foreign minister says moscow is no longer able to maintain meaningful relations with the. organization after

a series of snubs from brussels. welcome to. international. pressure if you spend to get. the german chancellor. yet a round of tough nationwide restrictions running into mid april describing the situation as very serious the measures include gatherings in the closure of shops meaning ultimately an effective shutdown of public activity over easter. even use it we are in a situation which is very serious the number of cases is rising exponentially and intensive care of bad safin up again. well that comes after a german research institute confirmed the country has entered a 3rd wave of infections last week or so the highest number of daily coronavirus

cases in 2 months and a massive corruption scandal of a faceless mosques has now reached the very top with the health minister himself facing questions our europe correspondent has details. the federal government here in berlin has extended kovac 19 restrictions across the whole country but that is amid a mask crisis which is in snit 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 spawns husband himself down your phone care the company insists mr had nothing to do with this transaction that no commission was paid and denies any wrongdoing whatsoever 1st on to but what a media that the board of hooper birds and media over the health ministry to assist with mask procurement when the german government wants an urgent need for this is

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. i can only repeat that according to bird 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 opposition parties are circling and can smell blood. the bird a publishing house owns papers leg 110 bird house and deals nascar half a 1000000 went to spawn's health ministry burgess beilin of representatives spawn's husband birth like to attend bird 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 have to be done quickly during the crisis but the wording of $4600000000.00 euro suave out of call for tenders is under considerable suspicion in view of the corruption scandals to ruling coalition politicians of already fall in juta 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. early. we discussed the situation in germany with a member of the ruling party which is embroiled in this mosque's scandal he told us the country is more divided than ever and to make things worse people are quite fed up with contradictory lockdowns rooms germany has never been as polarized as this

in the post-war history we have a gap between rich and rich and poor country and city young and old left and right nationalists and patriotic people are fed up with see a lockdowns 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 too but 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 state 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 us not only germany's saying tempers flare after

more than a year of tough restrictions our correspondent in paris gauge the mood in europe after a weekend of wide spread anti lock down protests. on the streets of europe these are all the scenes that have been playing out this country is what's again are announcing a fresh wave of restrictions as the 3rd wave hits rallies protesting against what they branded health dictatorships were held from austria to sweden serbia to switzerland from poland to france demonstrators say they simply have enough

we don't know we are fed up we no longer know which food 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 in law we can go out like we want as long as we have our certificate 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 is to cry to recent reversal on the easing the post-structuralist threat to freedoms. we are here in castle today because all the measures that are being taken here in germany no longer serve the people. i consider coronavirus 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. when water cannons and pepper spray we used

to disperse protest as the tactic was also used in the netherlands protesters were left wet but they remain. undeterred across in the u.k. in the capital of london protesters to fight a current baron on public demonstrations they demanded the rules change a cool echoed by more than 60 and he's they've written to the home secretary's saying criminalizing people for protesting was not acceptable at all q. believe was north ruefully dozens were arrested as tempers freight. in must different turku was taken in defiance of health regulations thousands

packed the streets for the underclass callable a party atmosphere shut down by officials as it descended into destruction. nothing justifies destroying collective halfords to contain the virus nothing justifies desecrating the side of the root of bind building collapse nothing justifies attacking children's games and public facilities while the e.u. is trying to tackle vaccine shortages it's admitted to making mistakes during the pandemic but have lessons been learned and i think this is still being made on the go ahead no a 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 lens and very sick of it but i think that. is the most important thing is that 0 is consent to said european little i think we have learned some and we took action . the thing is you can restrict life so much easier citizens oh once again feeling the pain of tightening restrictions but often more than a year of living by the rules it seems now that more and more people believe that they are if they do damned if they don't. see paris europeans down the hatches the picture elsewhere believe it or not is very very different so our team has launched a covert 19 freedom index ranking the restriction levels by country and territory has plenty of surprises among the data go look for yourself.

russia's foreign minister has said relations with the e.u. as an institution have essentially ground to a hold speaking at a news conference with his chinese counterpart sergey lavrov said in brussels has killed off all cooperation so you want to show you some good we don't have any relations with the european union as an organization the infrastructure for the relations was destroyed by unilateral decisions from brussels. well it certainly isn't business as usual business as usual has been dead since 2044 minutes. specified because that's when all these meetings annual consultations summits between senior our 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 the 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 it in some cases very healthy but sergey lavrov did say there are there is hope because if the european union changes its outlook changes its approach decides that it wants to improve mend 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. against china and russia but they know it's a lie under invented pretenses an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of china russia a long gone result to uphold international justice remains undiminished. 'd 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 to 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 sanctioned everything that they feasibly could it was to try and contain russia to coerce. is it into doing into behaving in a way that europe wants suits european or american interest and hours of work 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 eclipse 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 wee good people for violating apparently their rights the chinese have protested this they have summoned the european ambassador told him in writing in word but nevertheless there is little or hope that europe will change its attitude in the immediate future and to say lavrov commenting on russian sino russian relations he says there's a whole lot more chance an 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 spark 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 blew 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 when 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 this moment when it sanctioned both countries and drew them together. kevin owen speaking just a bit earlier in the program for the meantime though israelis are now costing their balance this will be the country's 4th parliamentary election in just 2 years a correspondent paula sillier reports from tel aviv. once again israelis are hitting to the polls to on so one simple question bibi or no bibi and if there's no

straight on such just like they wasn't in the last 3 elections they'll be another round of 50 election in short succession yeah most definitely definitely there will be you know maybe we'll win again for sadly i think. he's too many years we have been prime minister and he's it's affecting him or not sell like him or dislike him i just i want a different on the peace recent track record has been patchy at best he might be counting on israel's high vaccination rate pushing him over the line but the prime minister's overall handling of the covert crisis has been hugely unpopular so response one of the world's worst infection rates per capita and measures that have been questioned by locals for a long time. what

small and noble allies all the work he had full memory can president donald trump do for the so-called good of israel could soon be slipping through his fingers biden calling bibi almost one month off his inauguration prompting lumas of sniping israel's leader he's likely to be forced to make a coalition with as many as 12 posties making the incoming government if there is one unstable and short term in the last 1520 years there are more and more little more qualities. be very big the political map so the leader. must be there it is possible to take you to your nation the fact that the little people. isn't good either good to go to stations. this one's ability to build

a coalition on the everybody. should or should be should be able to make compromise this is the 1st israeli election in the throes of corona watching from the sidelines of the palestinians who despite the oversupply effects of nations in israel have seen precious little of it themselves. and usually. the occupying forces should be responsible for their heads in spite of the fact that we have. but. the is under occupation and even if we are going to buy our own a vaccine we need to consider through the israeli airports or through. borders anyway and they are going to check it and. even now it we know that they have more than $1000000.00. over. there should be. pressure on this to. the palestinians. joining me

live here on the program as donny died on the former israeli ambassador to the united nations thank you for joining us here not see you today we appreciate you spending time with us do you would you expect the election to deliver a clear result and perhaps i guess some stability for israel. definitely i hope so i pray for that you know fall elections within 2 years it's crazy and i think anybody today will have to make a can do these things you know about the future who they want to lead them in the near future oh by the way to looks now it seems that there would be a maturity for the prime minister the class votes for him look very good but he would have absolute majority in the parliament once it is for sure we can tell you already before we got the vote that the majority of the powder meant would be concerned with the public if you get it shifted to the right by the within the conservative movement you have an adult it's more about events that are not willing

to cooperate with the prime minister so the question is what they will do right after the election when they put their person on thought aside and join the government or that we stay in a position of the left where you raise a very good point because according to the latest polls likud has a slight lead in the polls and it's not going to be enough and netanyahu to form a coalition you're saying it could be problematic. and you know i'm biased i'm a member of the polity and i hope that you would have the majority to form a coalition but i know i was in the parliament for many years with really how to govern with a majority you are depended on every member of knesset. open to blackmail from difference mortality is. almost impossible i hope that the ballot in for the right mention that you know this thing the same like this on issues of importance the economy but the only thing that don't tend to be is about the leadership of the fine minister of maybe that would overcome the issue and would join forces with

that because obviously netanyahu has already been in power longer than any other leader in israeli history and italy so some would say he has been a polarizing figure we have seen 38 weeks of protests against him so is it perhaps a time for change would another leader perhaps have a better chance of i don't know striking a deal with the other parties to form a coalition that's an amazing question and that's exactly what the citing to date going to the polls more than 70 percent of it very. good and they would decide about that whether they want the prime minister to continue after the 50 youths in office or they want to see a change and i think we should accept that the earth and even those who don't like the prime minister and demonstrated if they lose their thoughts and not allowed to continue. in the next few years some people look at the globe experience as a great advantage should go forward in policy dealing with iran you have been

a good experience that's why many there is fast to continue in force let's bring in the issue now this affecting so many countries all around the world this of the ongoing a pandemic israel has the world's highest vaccination rates now to what extent will this boost netanyahu his chances for reelection do you think. absolutely we start with that not from corbett you know we had 6000 casualties you know a lot of the stiction of the economy started and we are still suffering by the fact today everybody can get the vaccine and more than 50 percent of the guys vaccinated already number one in the world speaks for itself it gives a lot of credit to the prime minister but you know that on top of this should we say that the way he handled the crisis well not good enough. i think the majority we've heard is the fact that the words very consistent over the books with one of the 1st leaders to get their books. and people appreciated well there certainly

have been some people saying that whether or not israel but around the world there been politicians getting involved in the issue of politicking the pandemic do you think let's bring the issue to electoral reform do you think israel needs electoral reform to prevent the stalemate that we've really been seeing for the past 2 years are there simply too many parties competing for seats in the knesset absolutely when i was in parliament i tried to do. them but it was very difficult because the smaller parties were not allowed to do it and once you are dependent on them for your coalition you cannot change the world of the game the only way to do it if you have a unity government between the may. be able to do it and to raise the special to eliminate this more about these and also if you should give more with variants more power to the elected leaders you don't want to have a prime minister well to struggle if we are to maintain the quality she's going to

know about forming the quotation you have to keep it together and only if we spent hours and hours during the collision if mission impossible what do you think about benyamin netanyahu corruption trial the issues surrounding this jeanne's think the trial could in some way affect the election result with the people going to the polls today. so by now we're only very than aware of the allegations that we've seen documents and i think people will be taking it into consideration of those that for the prime minister would say it's nothing. if you mustn't call and i'll do a little so you could have stayed off the indictment they legally can stay in office well who would buy that simply gold and i think that's one of the see that they're devoted to barry taking into consideration obviously over the years there's always been a lot of tension between the israelis and of course neighboring palestinians as well which you would you comment on the situation with the palestinian foreign

minister al maliki while he basically on sunday israeli authorities they seized his v.i.p. permit effectively preventing him from traveling abroad why was a step taken do you think it could be connected to this election happening now you know it's not it's connected to the diplomatic terrorism that is conducting against israel instead of a negotiated without. the human rights council and that now trying to terrorize us in the diplomatic arena this is unacceptable it basically can travel with them out of it but they will have to do it for jordan and not for me. though i am asking him why he wants to talk about the state of the. if the blaming on every scene there vaccines on the hair situation instead of moving forward and we proved it we couldn't find it it's only recently with the u.a.e. . we demoed done we are eager to have an agreement with both but

would somebody come in negotiated with after directly we used the word terrorizing regarding riad al maliki is not a fair use of the terrorizing israel with his actions going to the international criminal court. yes i said it very clearly. i think. that's what the palestinian have been doing in the last few years i so that the un almost every day still taking care of the of the needs of the palestinians. believe me it's very low in every state and we looked out into the ice you see going to the u.n. is one of them anyway so i'm telling them enough with the games now if we that their way is the game to provide because we now let's sit down let's negotiate that's little sheep that's what we expect from you and i think the public and the palestinians would have a little it would actually ringback take care of the needs of the fund instead of blaming you. i've got friends little time has suffered give me for that but the the

international criminal probe will be focusing partly on the fatal shot shooting of palestinians by israeli forces is it possible that israel is trying to prevent an investigation from happening so we know we do not have the jurisdiction of the call it like other countries the us and others we know inspire us to. we out capable do it without any basis to get all incidents by i will settle wherever we speak to the judicial system and we don't need a political decision if there are any allegations to investigate them i will serve but when you see the political investigation and then. we will not take part of the tiny dot on the former israeli ambassador to the united nations joining us live here on our international on this tuesday thank you for your time today we appreciate it very much thank you. i thank you for joining us as well here on the program we are back in 31 minutes with more of your tuesday welcome sir.

is your media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation full community. are you going the right way or are you being so. direct. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. for

a mate in the shallowest. united states economy it never did that it has created highest standard of living for a country. a. kind of mind that never had a supply house prices and a nation wide basis. maybe she an ebb and flow and price but you're not going to see the collapse let it is she when people talk about a bubble. if there is a bubble. that. people like. i do think that the thing isn't. set up to.