mac, either financial survival guide, liquid assets are those that you can convert into cash quite easily. but keep in mind, no, as it's, i mean to inflation better watch guys report with nations. i hit my record daily tobin numbers while protest continue against new restrictions and other stories that shake the weak. you must give us the guarantees it is up to you and you must do it immediately. plenty of both and demands assurances from nato that it won't move. face is closer to russia as president feels questions on global affairs that his annual media briefing a poll finds

more than half about else in the u. k. think cancel, culture has gone too far. i no longer able to speak their minds by living in a culture. now, bullying, we used to have a good healthy democracy. good. have with you or you could say things and then you'd have to all your case. people are frightened to say what they feeling cases are coming today. march 30 years since the official break up of the soviet union. we look back at those historic events and how they shape modern russia with like from oscar, thanks to joining us. and i don't all the international, i'm daniel hawkins. wherever you are this hour. welcome to the program. and the christmas season's been overshadowed by record cope with surgeon europe with france, italy and the u. k. registering new highs in daily infections. ortiz policy layer

has more details. 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, 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, the kron 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 is he 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 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 kobe. 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 city of dr. dorothy. but then again, on the same day, you had people waiting in long queues in puts them waiting to see the vaccination. so the coven 19 pandemic remaining as controversial. and as alarming as ever

to come out there is a new form of carbon pump that really get under your skin more in just a few minutes later has offered the whole talks with russia on january, the 12th, after months of tensions between the 2 sides, criminal responded saying, as considering the proposal, moscow's top priority is to stop nato's ethan expansion and western military involvement in ukraine. and those issues were addressed by president putin this week showing its traditional end of year q and a 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 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 the 19 nineties and what they fooled us. they outrageously deceived us. 5 ways of nato expansion. and now they say we have ukraine as whoa here. 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. 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, but also fit and well this must be fought, not my direct instructions and shouts the by the support of our 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 their criminal cases opened against the law. 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, yeah, i have no way long time ago. i spoke with one the form you as president guess with whom he told me the boy cause 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 boy of china, they tried to hold back the development of china. there are no other motives ah, you know, these very city, i mean,

we need 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, concrete 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. now the topic was a race was natural gas, europe was hit by record prices this week, meaning high bills for millions of households. a some on the west, the point of the finger at moscow saying it's withholding gas. so president brewton know, gave a different explanation for the crust. the little to him, it with boy them with they are lying to us there confusing everyone has promised shipping the entire volume requested by counselor agents. in accordance with the existing contracts, we were saying we must not destroy long term contracts, but know that the european commission, we must use market terms. 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 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 europe and the west in general, i, in the habit of sort of resurrecting russia as the scarecrow to hang all the possible problems on land. you know, you can be irritated by that, but after a certain amount of time, you are still looking at 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 more than half about out in the u. k. are too scared to say what they really think. a new poll found a board about being counselled by friends, colleagues, or even though it families naughty, shut it, it was. dusty, has a story. council culture is silencing academics, a gagging public figures and wiping celebrities of 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. 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 a government that actually. so i think people are frightened to always say what they feel in case there's a 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 quite a has to think there's a lot of things for the climate, change, covey or whatever. there's no discussion that is the narrative. and you of the group or wish cause you dance has a lot of issues where you fear fred, very careful about what you say and that's not right. doesn't 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 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 and say, no, you can't tell you that you don't allow to say that i thought device or traditional a private 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 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 his 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. war is peace, 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 up even by the world. she created the pot to community and the movie production team deleted her from scripts. meanwhile, h b o is 20th anniversary. she was baud. not only that, a number of quidditch leaks tasks they really do exist announced that they're 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 riley 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 is a fact well, trans employees and allies 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 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 cancelled out, or i'm afraid the things that i've 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 slippery slope. as let's face it. we've all upset someone somewhere haven't we know you might think the idea of employee who microchips under your skin to show cobra community is just the conspiracy theory. but a swedish company has actually developed such a device. we spoke to the people behind the invention. 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 implant. 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 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 passport that i have on my chip. 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 still to come this hour. it's exactly 30 years is to give us a saw officially sees. it will be living that i start turning points off of the break. the join me every 1st day on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guess in the world, the politics, small business and show business. i'll see you then in

ah ah ah, our special yes. today. the old in the legendary midst fire stein, author of the planet ponzi match. nice to see happy holidays.

ah oh, come back to the program that that a mock 30 years since the u. s. a saw was formerly dissolved. the heating was replaced by 15 independent states among them. russia are these mod garcia takes a look back at what's changed since the soviet flag over the kremlin was lowered. for the last time. 30 years ago, humanity witnessed a spectacle. the dramatically changed the course of history, the spectacular overnight collapse of the ussr cielo sla, router 2. 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 the 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. the result was climactic. the ussr 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 all 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. reality, however, turned out. 7 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 mafias and organized 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, are 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 restoring the soviet union would be pointless and impossible for many reasons and not even desirable because i'm the senior, which makes 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 to 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 russia's 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 usaa 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 shaped our futures. and gorbachev roll out a number of liberalizing reforms in a period and his perestroika. censorship was abolished than the 1st competitive election since the $917.00 revolution was allowed with international human rights

conventions enshrined in soviet law law. the little stabilize the country. a veteran, german diplomat and former ambassador, russia and york one students told us that russia would immediately turn into democracy with an illusion. there was a necessity for change in russia and get us the last precondition for peaceful change in russia. i know from my personal experience of many years work in russia, how much russians were afraid and afraid of any kind of repetition of revolutionary movement as happened in 1917, 2932. i think the historic greatness of got much of is that he understood that change was absolutely necessary in russia said that the soviet union could not

go on like this, as it has done for many decades. i think there were a lot of many lose. there were a news that russia would become democratic immediately, like turning over the switch and then it's from the data back over to democracy. as i said before, it couldn't work and it didn't. so i think the illusions that we would have in new rochelle would be western european. what had a she need not come through any kind of change in the political thinking takes a long time. and we the weston is. i don't shoot myself. i don't exclude my german government. we were just too impatient. we thought this was all happening overnight and the content over and i was appalled, turning away and just a few minutes time. we're back in half an hour with the very latest headline to

join us again. there and all the international ah l look forward to talking to you all. that technology should work for people. a robot must obey the orders given by human beings, except where such order is a conflict with the 1st law show your identification. we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. the point obviously is to great trust, rather than fear i would like to take on various job with artificial intelligence, real summoning with a robot must protect its own existence with

what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have. it's crazy confrontation, let it be an arms race is on, often very dramatic development. only personally and getting to resist. i don't see how that strategy will be successfully, very critical time. time to sit down and talk with me. hello and welcome to world support from the earliest days of nations space security

. it has been the most critical and the most controversial issues in europe. and while ensuring it provided both prosperity and development, it has also condemned millions to that death with russia now openly rejecting post cold war security arrangement is another round of confrontation on the continent. a safe bet. we'll discuss it now and join by krista hoist can a long time advisor to german chancellor angle america and like the chairman of the munich security conference. 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 dilemmas. and your chairmanship comes 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.