holding the legendary next fire sign, author of the planet ponzi match. nice to see. happy holidays. with ah, top headlines of the week here one r t and on there, kong continues to hit european countries. daily record numbers are being recorded as medical professionals say this variant pause is common cold like symptoms with whole find that over half of adult in griffin, the 2 scared to express their real opinions openly for fear of falling victim to that of counsel, culture. living in a coach now of bullying, we used to have a good healthy democracy. good. have we device and country where you could say

things and then you'd have to all of your case and people are frightened to always say what they fail in cases. come vladimir putin demands nato, give assurances to not move faces closer to russia, to the artists. questions on global politics during his annual media briefing that lasted over 4 hours with . all right, so the top stories of the week, the main headlines today. welcome to the weekly here, the sunday program on out to you. as alma kron strain, the omar constraint of cobra now continues to spread a number of countries in europe. offsetting records, france, italy, in the u. k. registering new highs and terms of infections. a corresponding paula sla has details. we have a huge surge ours cause it cases new cases happening in a number of european countries. if we start off with france on saturday,

france recorded a record high new number of cases for the 3rd consecutive day reporting, a 104611 cases. now, despite those people took to the streets and protest primarily against than a set of necessity of carrying a health pass, which is needed to enter all public spaces and also for children to be vaccinated. on monday, the french president emmanuel mcqueen, will discuss with a few members of his cabinet, new measures to counter the coven. 19 pandemic, particularly in light of the new variant army con, which we know is very contagious. it is expected that the president will announce that in order to get a health pass people in france one, i'll have to agree in principle, to accepting a booster 3 months after their initial vaccination. if we move across to italy, here to we have record numbers for the 2nd consecutive day on friday,

italy reporting 50599 new cases. italy is also reporting the 2nd highest number of deaths because of covered in europe after the united kingdom, with some 141 new depths reported now. and then if we move across to the united kingdom here on friday, we had a another record. hi, a 122186 new cases being reported. largely because of this highly contagious on recon variant. now the local government in the u. k, is losing political points with boris johnson's popularity rating. it has taken a snow dive and has hit record, learn december of some 23 percent. and that is largely because of his poor dealings with the co. 19 pandemic, and a number of scandals here in germany. the health authorities have come forward and

admitted that they are no longer tracing contexts of people who have court covered . in other words, there's no comprehensive follow up regarding people infected and who they are coming into contact with. take less than many germans believe that they do not have to be quarantined as a contact person because they are vaccinated. but that is not true. now the society here in germany is divided on christmas day. you had thousands of people who turned out to protest against vaccinations and that was in the gym and city of duster. but then again, on the same day, you had people waiting in long queues in potsdam waiting to receive a vaccination. so the covert 19 pandemic remaining as controversial and as alarming as ever. meantime, are you ready for a micro chip to be implanted under your skin? it's something conspiracy theorists have been screaming about for years. a swedish company has invented a so called cove it past isn't planted under your skin,

we talk to the people behind it. i are there in verse opposed to ignore the that can be used for many different things . and right now it's very convenient to have a passport for ways success to build on your plan. so in case your phone runs out about 3, it's always accessible to ah, the implant is readable by and the smartphone that has and if the function. so i can go to a restaurant or a movie theater. i just show them my arm and swipe me with a smartphone. and then that pops up the covert passport that i have on my chin. so you don't need a special ed for this kind of similar to a q r code. just up of course i don't want the cure code on my skin right.

i could have with us today for the weekly. so more than half the people in the u. k. are apparently too scared to say what they really think. well, it's sort of, according to our brand, new poll found out they're worried about being canceled by friends, colleagues, even in their own family. that shot it was dusty picks up the story council culture is silencing academics, a gagging public figures and wiping celebrity off the face of the planet. wait, can i really say that? who knows? but i'm not the only one biting my tongue according to you got poll, majority of praise, living in fear of well being, canceled. the majority of britons 57 percent, say they have at least sometimes found themselves stopping themselves from expressing their political or social views for fear of judgment or negative responses from others. the idea or apartment can be cancelled, or in other words,

blocked from having a platform is happening to hundreds with a very similar cycle. you say something offensive receive a public backlash, and suddenly you're gone done a finish cancelled by by. but it's only happening to big names and faces, but people like you and me work online on dates and even at home. i think we're living in a coach now of bullying, bullying in workplaces the government actually. so i think people are frightened to always say what they feel in cases come back on. so the main she made you seem to have one. so a point of view of everything. and so if you say in different you get what you get caught or has to think there's a lot of things for the climate change code age or whatever. there is no discussion that is the narrative and you of the group or wish cause you, dan has a lot of issues where you fear fred,

very careful about what you say and that's not right. well, have a good debate, and we used to have a good healthy democracy. could have a debate in this country where you could say things and then you'd have to all your case and some people just don't want to argue. i want to hear the argument. i just want to shut you down. so i know you can't tell you that you don't allowed to say that i thought device. okay. prior to the apology, atonement forgiveness is no longer enough to warrant if they weren't accountability, social justice going caught. and the more controversial the view on any topic like race, immigration breck, that the more you should keep your thoughts and your mouth shop most with less progressive views on device of social topics. feel more reluctant to voice their opinion. some say rather than being politically correct, the whole thing has been spun out of control into a social media merciless mob rule, but having some from taking the risk of being cancelled. like for instance, j. k. rowling and her anti trust public position. worse bees. freedom of slavery,

ignorance is trans. the biggest thing to vigil. hurrah! too is a woman. well, that wasn't her only comment. there's been plenty more. and as a result, she's been wiped off the face of the earth even by the world. she created the, bought the community and the movie production team deleted her from scripts. meanwhile. * r h b yos. 20th anniversary. she was bought. not only that, a number of couldn't leaks just they really do exist, announced their rebranding to distance themselves away from j. k. rowling, the tough. that's a trans exclusionary radical feminist. but there are others in her potty school of thought. jackie rally wrote all the harry potter books by herself, and they canceled her because she said gender was a fact. and then the trans community got mad and they started calling her turf trans, exclusionary radical feminist onto turf, gender as a fact. well, trans employees and allies at netflix stage to walk out forcing the c e o to

publicly apologize. when you meanwhile, team tough relished in the drama. if this is what being cancels is like i love it. the song continues as monty python star terry gilliam got canceled for endorsing chapels, netflix special. shortly after the old vic right here in london, announcer pulling his shirt into the woods for miss november schedule. it is very said that a great cultural institution like the old, vague, allowed itself to be intimidated into cancelling our production of into the woods by small group of closed minded humor, averse i. d. o. x on their stuff. my unspeakable crime was recommending my facebook

followers to watch netflix special by brilliant and provoked if american committed they lead and civilization didn't collapse. ok, so that's on the most extreme end of the scale. but at the end of the day, how hard is it not to say something that's obviously donning turns out really hard indeed. cancel culture. this cancelling this punishment, it's everywhere. punishment. and i for and i, you said that therefore you must never work again. sooner or later the counselors will win. oh, british actors of prime time telling more and let been thinks even comedy is now on the verge of being canceled. it's a bit like laughter in church. something has to be forbidden to make you really laugh, to make you belly laugh. it's when you shouldn't be laughing. and so therefore all the things that are being canceled out, or i'm afraid the things that i've always made people laugh. so is it time to cancel or cancel culture because pretending somebody doesn't exist because they've

touched enough. it's a separate slope as let's face it. we've all upset someone somewhere, haven't we? so today does month. so he years since the u. s. s r officially cease to be. the union was replaced by 15 independent states among them. of course, russia. the arts either senior correspondent, but i guess via now takes a look back and what's changed since the soviet flag over the kremlin was dropped. 30 years ago. humanity witnessed the spectacle, the dramatically changed the course of history. the spectacular overnight collapse of the ussr cielo sla router is here. as a result of a newly formed situation creation of the commonwealth of independent states. i seize my activities in the post of the ussr president. so uniqueness, ah,

here enough, 300000000 people woke up with a new nationality. their homeland gone race that the stroke of a pen. and it began with the perestroika, a radical rethinking of soviet mentality, identity and ideology. we must begin 1st by restructuring our thinking on psychology, organizationally in the style and ways working. i will say frankly though we do not restructure ourselves and i'm deeply convinced of this, that we will not rebuild economy or social life. but perestroika proved too much too sudden, too intense to unpredictable where the intent was evolution. the result was revolution, nationalism reared up with frightful speed across the u. s. sr. a leads, and opportunities and various republics clamored for power and independence. a

result was climactic. the ussr a season, his existence as a subject of international law and a geopolitical reality. it was the dawn of a new age. that was pessimism, but there was also optimism what marvels could peace bring. a great empire nicholas superpower, was split into independent countries, which got the chance to cooperate with each other as closely as they wanted, without any bloodshed. and so began a flood of cultural exchange as western ideas rolled and roiled across the former ussr. ah . ringback ringback ringback ringback ringback ringback ringback ringback ringback hundreds of millions of people have thrown off communism dictatorship or apartheid former adversaries. now cooperate with us in diplomacy in global problem solving.

we ality, however, turned out to be far uglier than the propaganda post as will mainstream media promised. the guiding hand of the communist party, god, old and buried hatreds, re ignited, and neighbors turned on each other. ah . it wasn't just void and uncountable debts. i'd was misery, pure and simple economic social health care collapse. the rise of transnational

matthews and we'll get eyes crime fraud and corruption sisted across the former soviet union. ah . ringback ringback ringback ah, a traumatized, the people undoubtedly the misery and the hopelessness of the 90s, they yearned for stability. not for communism, no, nor the ussr, but for a semblance of order. and whatever his, the tractors might have to say about putin, he gave the russians stability. agatha. unfortunately, our common fatherland, the soviet union, dissolved. as you know, the core of this common states is historical russia, the russian federation, which is, you know, lost almost half of its industrial potential, half of its economy, the same share of its population and

a substantial cause for his territory. what can we do about this? now, i've already said that we're storing the soviet union would be pointless and impossible for many reasons and not even desirable because on the sienna, which make sense, you want the u. s. a saw communists back. elections have made that very clear, but to build a new state, a new russia, one which provides for the people, rather than uses them and at the same time, evoked the sort of respect that the soviet union did. while that scares russia's opponents, hooton's plan scares them. you know, i think the concern is that president putin's public lamentations and private lamentations about the demise of the soviet union have gotten a noisier and stronger over the years. so the concern is that he's actually as a legacy project seeking to reconstitute the soviet union. and then, you know,

would his appetite be fulfilled with that eating or what he seek? the soviet union has been gone for 30 years, but had spirited lives on it lives on in the hearts of former citizens who now remember only the glory days, the good pots. they forget the empty shelves, the food lines, the k g b at lives on the minds of russia's rivals who still think in terms of blocks and super bowers stuck as they are in the past. who believe that russia last did say forever when the ussr collapsed? regardless of the fact that 30 years have passed since i rodnick, isn't it even in death? the soviet union still shapes off. futures. i let's learn more about that fateful day and joined geoffrey roberts or british historian of soviet history. joining us

here on this sunday, boxing day on our, to international great to see you today. thanks for joining us on the program. good to have you with us. do you, do you recall the fateful day when the u. s. as our collapse and at where were you? what, what when the news hit year? i don't recall the day specifically all the time. interesting thing about your guy and my with class in december 1991 is actually the class. the union is more shocking in retrospect than it was at the time. or at least to me because of course, is that the collapse of the soviet union and a much, much, much was, you know, just one of a series of really shocking events that occurred in the previous several years. i mean, there's nothing to compare with shocking for will and a full of companies for easter eastern eastern europe. so it wasn't shopkins,

it appears in retrospect. what you also have to remember is that there was kind of a lease for the collab, so it wasn't clear that it was a, it was kind of profound collapse actually because because of this place, they became the commonwealth independence, nice to coast exist. so there are some hopes that you would continue in some form in the form of this kind of independence. now that effectively, that didn't happen. it was not until 1992, it became clear just how radical and kind of stuff goes. the collapse or something was, what did you think you think for a moment there is some, some professional partners in the west breathe, a sigh of relief to see the i guess at the time the main geopolitical photo was on the rocks because they welcomed the collapse of you lease on western politicians, we're kind of concerned about what the consequences will be. but because the

predominant weston was that, you know, one school which of a come along and choose perestroika glass doors, freedom, democracy, and not just collapse of communism was it never took the class to the saw, the motor multinational types them. so from that kind of positive, it was kind of natural, inevitable development. so the nothing to regret it was always going to happen happened. and the question was, what? well, how do you pick up the pieces that that was most of the most to politicians that this one? now mr. roberts, i've been here in russia for most of the 2 thousands now. and i've spoken to some of these like the elder generations, especially some of the bible goes and they've actually described that the soviet days. i some of the best times that the people would not hungry everything was provided for. they actually talk about it as the glory days. and then recently vladimir putin, he called the collapse of the soviet union, a tragedy for historical russia. how would you weigh out that comment?

well, boutique richard also said once that you know, anyone who doesn't regret the passing of the ussr has no, no, but he want to fix it, can be recreated. has not, right. yeah. a lot of people in present day russia were better off is probably at times then they offer that 50 years later. there's also a result of the place and you know, why i have a certain sympathy for this, this nostalgia and this year for the past incense, i consider myself to be an international i you know, a certain aspects of the so bit multi site. i still find a p, i certainly find some packages are much, much more of a kind of ethnic nationalism that predominates in all the countries of don't fall

holmstock. so it's a spice at the present time. so, so it is very understandable that many people to feel generations, you know, look back on the soviet talks with affection because the street people say beauty says set up many different occasions. that doesn't mean that there's any possibility. most of us are being resurrected. you know why i don't think there's any interest in that whatsoever these days anymore. but i wanted to ask you, mr. roberts, you know, some people say that today we live in a bit of a homogenized society. we always, i'm close, we eat the same food, a lot of us watch the same tv programs and all that. but, but it seems that there's still, there's still a big history with russia and that of the u. s. s. r. if i could just from a take us back what, what point is you said to me that was, it was almost like a snow boarding avalanche effect. he said it wasn't one definitive moment that defined the end of the u. s. as all but there were a number of things leading up to it. was there a significant point of no return? as far as you recall? the interesting question that i think probably i'd have to say to the point of no

return was when boris yeltsin was elected. the president of the republic june 1991 . and by that time you see it was committed to break up usaa to an independent russia party because, you know, he, he kind of reinvented himself as a russian nationalist also, partly because he saw as a way to power as a way of talk topic go, which of course what happened in december 19 to break up your side so not too much fun. it's basically a type of deal with the leaders of the ukrainian or russian republics. and together they sign the steel constructed. ussr replace this commonwealth a c r. yes. ok. and then subsequently, y'all seem to complete control of also institutions down forces secured security service. ready financial institutions and,

and the foreign ministry and everything. so, yeah, so, so it was the empowerment of you'll see crew is popular election. remember, it's a popular election as russian president during lunch, not one. that seems to me to be the case. of course, we have a big time period was the attempted code in august 1991 occur, which was intended to stop the break up of usaa. but because of this failure actually empowered, yeltsin rushing not even will really fascinating inside their geoffrey roberts or british historian of soviet history, really enjoyed that. thanks very much for your time. we appreciate it. thank you. thank you. thank you for joining us as well. so we're doing the weekly program, the funded program, here on our end to national nato expansion, record gas prices, a wide range of other issues on topics. these were the hot headlines addressed by president vladimir putin on thursday during his marathon end of the year q and a with the media over $500.00 journalists gather in moscow for the event. it was

a well over 4 hours. have a look. ah, no shaggy streubal directions, you not depend on negotiations. they will depend on unconditional compliance with russia's security today. and in the future, we medi clear native further movement to the east is unacceptable. was not clear about it. are we the ones who deploy missiles next? the united states know that the united states who brought their missiles next to our home, already on our doorstep, is it an excessive demand? no more attack systems near our home. is there something unusual about this yet? no, we're doing. we're not an inch towards the east we were told in 1990 than what they fooled us. the outrageously deceived us 5 ways of nato expansion. and now they say, we'll have ukraine as wow

yeah, usually if i take the traditional approach, that is a woman is a woman, a man is a man, a mother is a mother, a father is a father. he is not all the peoples of the russian federation have a certain internal moral protection against such obscurity. them let them in the west do whatever they want, but also fit. and while this must be fought, not my direct instructions and shouts, but by the support of the traditional values of them. so it is necessary 1st of all, to rely on the data of the investigation. 17 criminal cases have been initiated under, under investigation. over a 1000 people dismissed and there are criminal cases opened against the law. i assure you there's not a single investigator interested in any case. this is why we have divided the investigative committee and the prosecutors off. is there problem? yes, there is a problem. we need to work with it and rely on a conscientious, fully fledged investigation of those crimes. and these clearly the crimes that have been committed, we need to bring it to an end so that everyone understands the punishments for these offences is inevitable. lu?

yeah, i have no way. long time ago i spoke with one the form you as president guess, with whom. and he told me the boy goes to the olympics in los angeles in moscow with big mistakes, including on the side of the united states. and united states keeps on making them again, why the diplomatic and political boycotts of china? they tried to hold back the elements of china there in though on the motives ah, movies for you, city alley. we need to be realistic. the forces that appear at the helm of afghanistan are trying to have different ethnic groups in the countries leadership . and this alone can create conditions for hope for stabilization in afghanistan, po should do now to help the people of afghanistan. and 1st of all, it should be done by the countries that created such severe damage to the afghan economy and people. those were there for 20 years, destroying the economy should be the 1st to help on our side. we'll do everything depending on us. as i said,

he went talk model more than 4 hours during that. so europe, so wreck or gas prices this week. now they have dipped a little bit now they're still pretty high. or the west is largely pointing the finger of blame at moscow saying it's holding the gas back. however, president putin did give his own explanation for the crisis. the rule to him, it with both of them with they are lying to us the confusing. every one does promise shipping the entire volume requested by counter agents. in accordance with the existing contract, we were saying we must not destroy long term contracts, but know that the european commission, we must use market terms. the market will regulated. well, here's how it regulates it. we have 2000 dollars, 1000 cubic meters. you'll welcome the issue of gas. it's pretty clear that you know, russia has nothing to do with that. a he said that gas from one is one of the few companies in the world that has increased its supplies to europe. whereas, for example, the american suppliers have diverted gas from the liquefied natural gas from the

european market. toys the markets where they can make more money. russia hasn't done that. it increased its supplies to germany, for example, by 10 percent. but that's not enough. i'm in and the russia is always whenever there is any issue, any contentious issue or even a domestic problem. it seems that in europe and the west in general, i, in the habit of sort of resurrecting russia as the scarecrow to, you know, hang all the possible problems on them. the, you know, you can be, are irritated by that. but after a certain amount of time, you still looking attention and i think this is with isn't the moment. it's just simply boring. you know? like to narrow down every problem in the world onto the rushes. plotting are evil doing well. yeah, no surprise has been a busy week for you. both headlines are naughty international thanks for joining us for the sunday program of the weekly. your top highlights will return when we return the top.