and nato membership to start this so called membership action plan and it was germany that stop that and then said, no, no, we don't want to do that because these countries will not add to the stability nato, which is one of the react with the name to treaty a headlines for you here were not international european nations recording daily cove id numbers as the alma chronic strain take hold while street protests re john against you restrictions. also in the stories that shape the week carolyn, i think you must give us the guarantees it is to you and you must do it immediately . vladimir putin demand nato give assurances, but not to move the military base as close to the russia, as he answers questions on global politics during his annual media. marathon.

also in the program, a poll find that over half of adults in britain, the to schedule express their real opinions openly for fear of falling victim to that of counsel culture living in a coach now. and we used to have a good healthy democracy. good. how are we debating 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 that come on today marks the years since the collapse of the soviet union. we look back at those historic events and how they shape modem, russia, with welcome to the weekly here, what are the international highlighting the top stories of the week and all that day? at the american strain of cove, it continues to spread a number of countries in europe, a setting records, france, italy, the u. k. all registering new highs and daily infections. now short time ago,

i discussed all of this with our correspondent policy. we have a huge surge ours cove cases, new cases happening in a number of european countries. if we start off with france on saturday, fronds 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 protests 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 another record high, 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,

learned december of some 23 percent. and that is largely because of his poor dealings with the co, 900 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 cove. it . in other words, there is no comprehensive follow up regarding people infected and who they are coming into contact with. take a listen. 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 dust off. but then again, on the same day, you had people waiting in long queues in puts them wake him to receive a vaccination. so the coven 19 pandemic remaining as controversial and as alarming

as ever. an awful lot of headlines still to come here on the weekly anaki international. apparently there is a new form of coven pos that could really get under your skin, will give you details on that and just give but for now the program nato has also the whole talks with russia on the 12th of january. it's after months of tension between the 2 sides. the kremlin has responded saying it's considering that proposal. a russia top priority is to stop nato's eastern expansion non western military involvement in ukraine. and those issues were addressed by president putin this week during his end of the year q and a marathon with the media. ah, no, she needs to will. directions will not depend on negotiations. they will depend on unconditional compliance with russia's security today and in the future. we medi

clear nato as 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 the 19 nineties and what they fooled us. the outrageously deceived us 5 ways of nato expansion. and now they say, will have ukraine as well. 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 or she 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 borrowed for faith. and while this must be fought, not my direct instructions and shouts, but by the support of our traditional values of them.

so it is necessary 1st of all, to rely on the theatre of the investigation. 17 criminal cases have been initiated under under investigation. over a 1000 people dismissed and their criminal cases opened against the i assure you, there is not a single investigator interested in any case. this is why we have divided the investigative committee and the prosecutor's office. there problem. yes, there is a problem. we need to work with it's umbrella and conscientious, fully fledged investigation of those crimes. and these are clearly the crimes that have been committed. we need to bring it to an end so that everyone understands the punishment for these offences is inevitable. ah, of no ill, long time ago i spoke with one the form you as president guess was whom he told me the boy caused the olympics in. los angeles in moscow were 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 are no other motives nobody is very city id. when it to be realistic. the forces that appeared 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. bullshit 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. so as you probably know, europe, so record gas prices this week, and although they have dipped a little bit that's still very high and the west continues to point the blame at moscow saying it's holding the gas back. the president putin gave his own explanation for the crisis. the will to him it with both of them with they are lying to us there confusing every one. yes. 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 mob termed the market will regulate it. well, here's how it regulates it. we have 2000 dollars, 1000 cubic meters. you're welcome. the issue of gas. it's pretty clear that you know, russia has nothing to do with that. a. he said that gas brown 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 towards 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 the, you know, you can be irritated by that. but after a certain amount of time, you were still looking at attention and i think this is with, this isn't the moment, is it you simply boring, you know, like to narrow down every problem in the world onto the rushes, plotting our evils, lane. that's good to have you with us today for the sunday program. so more than half of people in the u. k. believe it or not, a too scared to say what they really think. our new poll is found they're worried about being canceled by friends, colleagues, even their own family. a correspondence shut, it was dusty takes a closer look. council culture is silencing academics, a gagging public figures and wiping celebrities off the face of the planet. wait, can i really say that? who knows? but i'm not the only one biting my tongue as according to you got paul. majority of brits are living in fear of will 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 who no 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 case there's a come back home. and 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 cove age or whatever. there's no discussion

that is the narrative and you're the group or we should cause you down 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. we have a debate and country where you could say things and then you'd have to all of your case and some people just don't want to argue, i want to hear the argument. i just want to shut you down. say no, you can't tell you that you don't allowed to say that i thought device. traditional apartments of 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 hot topic like race, immigration breck, that the more you should keep your thoughts yourself 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 spelled 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 meanest individual. hurrah! too is a woman. oh, that wasn't her only comment. there's been plenty more. and as a result, she's been wiped off the face of the up even by the world. she created the pot to community and the movie production team deleted have from scripts. meanwhile. * hb yos, 20th anniversary, she was baud. not only that, a number of quidditch leaks tasks they really do exist, announced their rebranding to distance themselves away from j. k. rowling that tough. that's a trans exclusionary radical feminist. but there are others in her potty school of thought. jackie raleigh 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. on tune, turf, gender as a fact. well trans employ ees, an alloy at netflix stage to walk out forcing the c e o to publicly apologize when you ah ah. 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 did, 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 dumbing, turns out really hard, indeed, cancel culture, this canceling 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 actress of prime time tele more in 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 cancelled out are, i'm afraid, the things that have always made people laugh. so is it time to cancel, cancel culture, because pretending somebody doesn't exist because they've touched a nerve, is a simply slope as let's face it. we've all upset someone somewhere haven't really. you might think the idea of implanting micro chips under your skin to show coven immunity is just a conspiracy theory. apparently, a swedish company has actually developed such a device. we spoke to the people behind it. ah. are a very versatile technology that can be used for many different things. and right now it's very convenient to have a cobit passport or waste accessible on your even plant. so in case your phone wrong shuttle battery, it's always accessible to the

implant. so is readable. busy by and the smartphone, that house and up see function. so i can go to restaurants or a movie theater. i just show them my arm and swipe me with the smartphone and then that pops up the co passport that i have on my chip. so you don't need a special app for this kind of similar to a q r code, just out of course i don't want the q r code on my skin right here. i love to story still to come here on the weekly or not you international for example, it's been exactly for 30 years and the ussr officially cease to exist just to buy one will be reliving that historical turning point ought to the bank ah

ah, join me every thursday on the alex simon, sure. and i'll be speaking to guess in the world of politics, sport, business, i'm show business. i'll see you then. ah ah ah

ah, are special yes. today. the only in the legendary midst fire stein, author of the planet pontine match. nice to see happy holidays. ah, welcome to the weekly here are naughty international, just heading to the 2nd half of the program. now maybe you find a surprising or not to day box. 30 years since the u. s. s, i was formally dissolved. the union was replaced by 15 independent states, of course, among them, russia. so ortiz, senior correspondent, murat gas df. now taking a look back at what's changed since the soviet flag over the kremlin, was dropped. 30 years ago humanity witness the spectacle. the dramatically changed the course of history. the spectacular overnight collapse of the ussr see lu

luxury to 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, show, so uniqueness, ah, near enough 300000000 people, woke up with a new nationality, their home and gone race that the stroke of the pen and it began with a perestroika, a radical rethinking of soviet mentality, identity and ideology. we must begin 1st by restructuring our thinking on psychology, organizationally and the style and ways of 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 republic clamored for power and independence. the result was climactic. the usa, sorry, 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 piece 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. the 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 war 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 part of its 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 scenario which make sense, few want the you as 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 on 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 parts, they forget the empty shelves, the food lines, the k g b, at lives on the minds of rush has rivals who still think in terms of blocks and superpower stuff because they are in the past. who believe that russia last did say for river,

when the u. s. a saw collapsed. regardless of the fact that 30 years have passed since i run it, isn't it? even in death, the soviet union still shapes our futures. the collapse suffer not long after a failed coo in august 1991, a group of communist hotline has attempted to seize power to stop. then president mikhail gorbachev de centralization methods. they isolated the leader in his residence in crimea and tried to occupy moscow's white house. the tanks were stopped by the public and future russian president boris yeltsin. famously mounting one and giving a speech. the crew bid fizzled out in just 3 days, but had huge consequences for the fate of the country. now, hans will hammerstein fell the norwegian. john, listen, federal and foreign correspondent, moscow. a couple of those dramatic events. he shut his memories with us. for me, this puts, it was very dramatic. i was inside the white house bill it all together with what

his yeltsin and his closest of from the night of the 19th august 1991. i was sitting in the hospital, lots of the chairman of the supreme soviets office as the military detachment, sir, and swore the legends too. but his henson, 12 o'clock. but as the clouds was speaking from the balcony, that was 1000000 moskowitz assa living shield around the white house. we were only 2 journalists inside a lot of people, pension ass. poor people are they are missing the social security that they had. and the former is european society under communist through a they had to subsidize flats, kindergartens, holidays,

education medicine. i do agree with me high. got too much of that. glasnost openness was the oxygen that needed for a free discussion in the soviet society. not only there, but here in eastern europe as well, either starting up in used cars for this our here for the weekly, and that of the top stories of the week and of the day. any things you might have missed. just check out our t dot com or even our youtube channel as well. and your weekly program returns the top of the hour. ah, join me every 1st a on the alex simon show. and i'll be speaking to guess in the world, the politics sport. business. i'm show business, i'll see you then me

ah ah. mm hm. mm. mm. hello and welcome to world support. from the earliest days of nation space security, it has been the most critical and the most controversial issue in europe. and while ensuring it provided both prosperity and development, it has also condemned millions to that death with russia now openly rejecting the post cold war security arrangement is another round of confrontation on the

continent. a safe bet we'll discuss it. i'm now joined by christophe. hoist can a long time advisor to german chancellor, anglo merkel, and like the chairman of the munich security conference and best it's great to see you. great to talk to you. thank you very much for your time. thank you very much. i. it's a pleasure to meet them to be with you. the minute security conference is one of the top platforms for discussing difficult security and dilemmas at your chairmanship. com's, at a time of the most accurate disagreements, good. been russia and the west over ukraine and a host of other issues. i wonder why would you even want this job? what are your aspirations? no, my aspirations are exactly for the reason that the unique security conference was.