A palestinian reconciliation deal brokered by egypt to cambodian journalists have been charged with espionage in the latest government crackdown Prime Minister hussein and his allies in the judiciary have been cracking down on critics right there is the latest headlines for us here at aljazeera coming up next is counting the cost. Aljazeera. Swear and thank you its. A law and has some secret this is counting the cost on aljazeera your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week venezuela and defocus the oil rich country fails to pay its debt it will look at what happens next and what it means for its people. Also this week or two in the middle of a bitter saudi iran rivalry lebanons economy getting squeezed why that matters for the region. A military intervention in zimbabwe but will anything really change for the countrys ailing economy. So Oil Rich Venezuela always pays its debts even at the expense of its citizens thats been the mantra for so long in this latin American Country that lenders have just kept lending but this week everything changed venezuela is now officially in default for the first time its past the grace period to pay up on two government bonds and one bond issued by the state owned oil company now as more payments are due it is facing what could be a messy financial unraveling and that spells bad news for a starving population john hendren reports. Then israel is in default the declaration by the Ratings Agency standard and poors comes after venezuela with sixty billion dollars in debt in just nine point six billion in its Bank Accounts missed a second deadline on a debt payment the red carpet was rolled out for a few Foreign Investors who might be willing to keep the country afloat at a price that as well as Vice President tariq ali a seamy said the country is the victim of an economic war being waged by the us in foreign lenders and. This is salt of the Us Government is made jointly with the venezuelan opposition today venezuela is limited to seek financing find and also is faced with the need to consider new formulas to get out of this complexity critics say then as well as leaders have prioritized clearing debt over a growing humanitarian crisis that has left many of its people hungry and children dying in hospitals with medical shortages venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro blames the u. S. For his countrys crisis so hes turning to his traditional rivals the compromise front that im not sure not like all that i pointed up the International Agreements with the peoples republic of china are working perfectly and will continue to go that way so i could announce that we have reached a renegotiation refinancing agreement with the russian federation. In spite of president we do are those plans u. S. Firms still own much of venezuelas debt and the trumpet ministration wary of providing an economic lifeline to his administration has blocked americans from preaches a paid in any debt restructuring talks with diminishing cash revenues then as well as financial problems are likely to get even worse but joining us now from london is Edward Glossop an emerging markets economist at Capital Economics specializing in latin america good to have you with us so what do you think is going to go with venezuela whats likely to happen next. Well thats thats the Million Dollar question i mean the government has announced that they want to restructure all of their external debt that includes bond and debts to countries such as china and russia where we go from here is anyones guess really restart in talks in our opinion look doomed to fail and it seems only a matter of time before the government and the state owned oil company outright defaults on on all of this external debt yes so what does this mean for the oil markets then i mean given that oil is is fundamental to venezuelas economy is that going to be one of the state owned assets thats in focus here that could be up for grabs if there is a wider default absolutely yes so thats a key risk that this is whats prevented the government from default and so far is that creditors can now see or once the government of us to default on their bond their. Creditors can see oil exports or attempt to seize oil exports and really cut off venezuelas access to dollar oil revenues completely which would in in our view trigger trigger complete meltdown and a political political crisis and how much room do they have to maneuver with the continued u. S. Sanctions on venezuela how is that hampering them. Very little exact exactly this is one of the key reasons the key hurdles for the restructuring so the u. S. Financial sanctions prevent u. S. Investors from participate in any restructuring or refinancing deal so thats one of the the huge hurdles facing the current restructure and bust thats one of the key reasons why we think the restructure and refinance it is is likely to fail in the current environment but just take taking a step back for a moment how how did things get so bad in venezuela that there were there were were talking about the country defaulting now i mean obviously oil prices the fall in oil prices had an effect but is is this also down to bad government policy as well absolutely yes this crisis is the proximate cause of the crisis was the fall in oil prices but this crisis has been brewing for for decades now even in the chavez where there were huge nationalizations huge underinvestment in the oil sector over a number of decades of course it has the biggest oil reserves in the world huge underinvestment in the sector has caused oil output to be in a long term decline and so its oil revenues have been fall in sharply for a number of years now and of course the oil the drop in oil prices in mid twentys fourteen has caused exacerbated the crisis and this is ultimately why we are now in a default scenario were now in the end game but what about what about venezuelans themselves i mean theyre already suffering greatly under this with all of the shortages and the surge in prices and so on whats the effect on them going to be as the longer this goes on and the implications of the of the default absolutely i think the key question here is what happens to Oil Export Revenues if oil if oil exports. If a default triggers seizures of oil exports then that causes a huge drop off in oil exports export Oil Export Revenues are completely collapsed and then that means that the government cant afford to import the goods that it needs in order to stave off an even deeper humanitarian crisis so the key issue is whether the government can keep control of export revenues so far this looks like it looks like the government is trying to keep hold of these export revenues by trying to negotiate some sort of deal with bondholders so as to keep control of the export revenues because that ultimately key to avoiding an even more dramatic humanitarian crisis and ultimately a political a political transition in power good to speak with you edward glass of joining us there from london thank you now the dire state of finances in venezuela and zimbabwe is making it point more attractive for many people in both countries the price of the cryptocurrency jumped as much as ten percent on zimbabwes golic six change on wednesday after the countrys army seized power zimbabweans just like venezuelans are buying things they think might retain value lets take a look at how bad things have gotten in zimbabwe after nearly forty years of robert mugabe. In november two thousand and eight zimbabwe had the second highest recorded inflation rate in history prices were doubling every twenty four hours with the official rate at one point hitting seventy nine billion percent following years and bobby was forced to abandon its currency zimbabweans mainly use the u. S. Dollar now but things havent been improving mismanagement has hit farming and mining production unemployment is near ninety percent so without enough exports to earn foreign currency theres a cash crunch sleeping outside the bank is the only way some zimbabweans can make sure they get their money and now fears are growing the system doesnt have enough cash money stored elektra mccleon Bank Accounts is nicknamed solace in the absence of hard currency people are trying to convert zolas into assets that can retain value cars property and even Digital Currencies the economy is broken despite the factors in bob we was once known as the breadbasket of africa and its still rich in resources like platinum Gold Diamonds a nickel joining us via skype from cape town is Alisa Strobel senior economist at i. H. S. Market thanks for being with us so if this is the end of the mugabe ear in zimbabwe what potential is there for the next leader to turn things around because as we said this is a country that is still rich in Natural Resources years poor governance controversial Economic Policy corruption fusion and lack of political direction and unity within the governing party in our commitment towards interests are never masters have devastated the countrys economy experience incurred the severe liquidity crisis where does big corn fit into all of this i mean how bad have things gotten the people and now turning to bitcoin as an investment demand for bitcoin searched immense this morning like i mentioned at the garlics the local big Crime Exchange the elevated bitcoins rethink the prices weve seen barbarous their evidence of the countrys broken economy. I just estimated that the bitcoin traded above. Eighty five percent premium yesterday. Critically kirti demand for bitcoin in zimbabwe exceeds supply as the khan mining according to garlics. The Exchange Platform requires a large amount of electricity a challenge in a country that has a very thick to cities supply shortages however we need not to forget that the majority of population works in the Informal Sector locals who want to pay electronically still face some challenges when buying items from those working in the most sectors of the crisis and the need for hard cash as there were many into the black market where dealers are trading the dollar all electronic dollars s as mentioned as a very high rate and premium and i do believe that there are some there are massive potential of corporate kind not just in zimbabwe but in africa what kind of leverage does the outside world have here i mean can it potentially help with zimbabwes defaulted International Debts firstly with the shift in policy which is quite necessary. For investment and support by the International Community is necessary for the broken economy its very important to establish confidence in the countrys Banking System to deal with operational challenges and attracting investment first Alisa Strobel thanks very much for being with us took pleasure thank you very much all right still to come on counting the cost would you eat a big burger grown from cells in a lab or take a look at what could make it on to your plates in the future. Now its been called the worlds First Digital medicine and analysts say it could open up a new frontier in the internet of things the u. S. Food and Drug Administration just approved a digital pill basically its a sensor the size of a grain of sand one swallowed it will send data to a Smartphone App on when patients have taken their medication but having your insides talk to the internet could prove a little in the just simple for some this christmas so let me. Patients who dont take their medicine as directed not only risk their health they cost about one hundred billion dollars a year according to one study about avoidable costs in medicine thats because the patients often end up sicker or needing additional treatment enter a new digital pill just approved for use by the u. S. Food and Drug Administration in people with schizophrenia bipolar disorder and other forms of Mental Illness it actually lets your doctor know if youve taken it the problem of not adhering to treatment when its administered on a regular basis daily multiple times a day and. The way that that compromises the effectiveness of the treatment is a huge problem in medicine and particularly in treatment of mental disorders the pill sensor is made of copper magnesium and silicon ingredients already found in foods it generates an electrical signal when it comes into contact with stomach fluids that signal is that picked up by a wearable patch on the patients rib cage the patch sends the date time and patient activity level via bluetooth to an app on the patients mobile phone and a database to which researchers have access through the app the patient can have a record send of every time he or she takes the pill to up to four people family members or caregivers but the Technology Raises questions about privacy medical ethics experts find the fact that the pill is prescribed for Mental Illness especially troubling if you give someone a pill thats going to record for someone else whether theyve taken the medication not it poses problems these are people who may not understand all the issues because they have involved because it was like a condition many people with psychiatric condition can understand all the issues their problems because this be feed into their paranoia they may think oh my god people want to spy on my and now the doctor saying hes going to give me a drug thats going to spy on me the cost of the drug is another concern prompting experts to say more study will be necessary to weigh the risks versus the benefits and make this pill easier to swallow. Now lebanons economy is hurting growth has slowed to just over two percent a year from an average of eight percent before the war in syria and now regional rivalries between saudi arabia and iran have raised fears of a qatar star blockade the resignation of Prime Minister sad how do you see in riyadh under mysterious circumstances has not been resolved just before he quit the government had managed to pass a budget after years of political stalemate were joining us now from beirut is sami our talat director of the Lebanese Center for policy studies good to have you with us so first off how bad could all of this before lebanons economy right now particularly at a time when it looked like things were finally starting to pick up well indeed this is actually might be very bad in fact just because lebanon has been through many crises some short and some long term but this crisis comes at the back of a protracted crisis that lebanon has been facing since two thousand and eleven with the war in syria and now were hosting one point five million to refugees and we have a major sort of economic problem in terms of jobs and infrastructure the challenges so this a crisis in fact actually comes at a time where and were hoping and trying to get actually get out of one that were already and and how how important is the fact to saudi arabia that this is coming from saudi arabia how important is is that country to the lebanese economy because of course youve got of the thousands of lebanese expat workers in who work in saudi arabia sending money back to saudi investments inside lebanon how important all of that to the country. Oh this is very important and very significant this is and five the first time probably since or in the last twenty five years that we actually face Something Like that where an ally of lebanon saudi arabia sort of may in fact impose either sanctions or a fact the lebanese expats who are actually working there this is very significant on many levels in terms of sending them into this is to lebanons economy which are deeply needed which are important for the macroeconomic situation there are also important for people actually well being here people who actually received. And in fact theres a big significant expect community in saudi arabia who work very hard and contribute to the saudi economy sol if this actually escalates this is going to be a lose lose lose situation lose for these people who are losing their jobs its going to be a loss for lebanon because theyre going to have to deal with more people in fact that are looking for jobs and its going to be actually also a loss for saudi arabia because theyre actually going to be losing an important Human Capital a lot of people who actually have nothing to do with the crisis in the first place but you talk there about this possibility of this escalating how how real is that possibility is do you think that the that it could happen that there could be arab sanctions on lebanon. Its very hard to predict were not so sure to what extent this is going to escalate you know i think were the events are unfolding on daily basis were actually monitoring them to actually see if this is going to be if there are going to be certain measures economic measures that actually could try to in fact or influence the lebanese government but the big question is these if theyre actually going to be any sanctions this is going to affect lebanon as a whole its going to affect the whole country these sections would like to be able to distinguish between those who support hezbollah and those who are not and most people would be hurt by this if not all theyll be a major Collateral Damage and i honestly think this is going to be bad for lebanon for the lebanese people as a whole and for the region as well because in fact impacting level is economy right now in fact that any time but particularly at a very sensitive period in our region this is really not good frankly policy for for lebanon or for the region so were really really watching this very carefully were really hope it doesnt escalate were going to hope its actually dealt with in a very different way and in fact lebanon here right now is sort of stuck between sort of. Between two powers that have actually have other objectives that theyre actually trying to deal with but is there a way of lebanon to get out of this by themselves i mean how can how can they take action to grow their economy. When you know if lebanon can take certain actions of course and in terms of improving its economic policies i think weve been sort of at the center weve been advocating for changes in industrial policy and job creation improving infrastructure but the government does need capital and it does have internal copy of the from the Banking Sector and i think it actually could extract and it does attract capital from abroad so if left to its own devices in the sense are no economic sanctions on lebanon i think one can and see that. That there would be changes in the governments policy is to actually do that and were hoping that the new government that was that came into force almost or exactly a year ago to do that and this is what weve been advocating and pushing to do so now with the crisis looming this actually adds another layer of challenges that are very very significant and then mere fact the macroeconomic situation because as you know lebanon does depend for a significant capital inflow coming from all over the world but tickler lead eleven is x. Box and protected those that are actually living in the g. C. C. Including saudi arabia so thats actually affected if the reminiscences are actually with that on or are no longer actually coming in this is a very serious issue on the Macro Economic situation it could escalate i dont want to sort of predict and i dont want to sort of scared sort of people about this but lebanon has been able to deal with that in the short term in fact the short term effect has been quite minimal given the gravity of the political situation but if this ends up to be a protracted crisis where in fact sanctions are imposed or lebanese exports are actually forced to leave the country and this ends up to be a two to three or four year problem then this is a very serious issue for lebanons Macro Economic situation good to speak with you sami are joining us from lebanon thank you and finally Research Shows that the global Meat Industry produces more Greenhouse Gas emissions than all cars planes trains and ships combined but scientists in the netherlands say they are close to bringing the bark tree grown meat to the market flown on special reports. Indeed future this is what making a beef burger might look like taking cells from a piece of and letting them multiply into cultured meats this University Professor says he can grow ten thousand grams of maize from just one piece of muscle and he says we better get used to it that in effect means that we can reduce the number of cars worldwide from one and a half billion to maybe ten thousand. And then we wont have the methane emissions we wont have all the resources that go into a car because of how is a terribly inefficient animal so this process is going to be more efficient. So that it reduces less resources and its not as polluted and you can let the cow live as the worlds population increases the demand on Food Supplies will also grow dramatically meat production takes up eight percent of the worlds water huge amount of land and contributes almost a fifth of the worlds Greenhouse Gas emissions average european its about eighty who knows if you need a year thats about four hundred of these characters but what is in a few years from now observer will taste exactly the same and be the exact same price as the ones here which one when the consumer kills this woman is one of the worlds leading food scientist she believes that what we might find palatable today might be normal for the next generation and there are many things people have learned to eat. That their grandmothers didnt eat certain for to vegetables but also certain types of fish that people didnt know about her or snails for example that many people did not eat apart from the french. I think its a its a fallacy to think that food habits are. More vile in time in fact we eat quite Different Things from our grandparents parents generation that at a burger restaurant the manager has mixed emotions he worries about the damage too much meat does student planets but hes also suspicious of the idea of eating meat so there are the fish over like eating plastic or something even though you say that they do you have the exact same taste but well for now its a one step before i cannot think of meeting it yet. Science means that the cells of just one cow. Could prefight enough meat for the whole of europe to first lab burgers are expected to be on the market within three years but even if science could solve the massive issues caused by our Meat Industry the question remains will we eat. And that is our show for this remember you can get in touch with us by tweeting me at has him seeker and do you use the hash tag a j c t c when you do or drop us an email to the cost that aljazeera dot net is our address and theres more for you online at www dot com slash c. T. C. That will take you straight to our page which has individual reports links and entire episodes for you to catch up on. That is it for this edition of counting the cost on has a secret from the whole team here thanks for joining us the news. Is next. With. Short films of hope. And inspiration. A series of short stories that highlight the human triumph against the odds. At this time. This is al jazeera