Transcripts For ALJAZ Counting The Cost 20240711

Committed in ethiopia, is no integrity region. A Government Forces a battling local leaders. Its when the fighting could spiral out of control, leading to heavy casualties and more destruction. The conflict has already killed hundreds and sent thousands of refugees fleeing across the border to sudan. Promised abby ahmed is accuse the to great Peoples Liberation front of treason and terrorism and says the offensive wont end until theyre removed. Amnesty International Says scores of civilians have been massacred during the fighting. Mama does is near take grey in the city of gone down. Were told this is talked to about 9 days ago, called to under 3000000 herschel, in some parts of the region, i will give you any comfort to the people there already. 100000 people who were already internally displaced within the region, even before the conflict. How it did, and what must parka happened . Just about a 100 kilometers from where we are. I know, you know, small cone hold my cobra. More than 40 people have been killed and 20 others. Im missing after typhoon vanco battered the philippines, extensive flooding as destroyed thousands of homes and emergency workers is still trying to rescue trapped residents. Its the 3rd typhoon to hit the country in just 3 weeks. And one of the most powerful officials in south africas Ruling African National Congress Party has appeared in court on fraud and corruption charges. Prosecutors say millions of dollars of Government Funds were misused when it was a provincial leader. He has denied wrongdoing. Thats it for myself. In the team here in london for now, counting the cost is coming up. Next we understand the different cities and cultures across the land, sentimental and current affairs. As im adrian figured, this is counting the cost on aljazeera. A look at the world of business and economics this week. The once mighty financial capitals of the world been refused to ghost towns by the pandemic. Can they reinvent themselves . As more people work from home . Were in brazil where millions of lost jobs to the coronavirus, but some are found new ways to feed themselves that could also help in the fight against deforestation. But after sinking to record lows, the turkish lira reaches for Higher Ground earlier one file. As the Central Bank Governor and his son in law, resigns as finance minister for more than a century, cities have been magnets for millions of people with the promise of a better life and work. But the pandemic is realising the way we live and work. City centers have been turned into ghost towns as people work from home that could potentially leave lasting, scars with shops, restaurants, and services that case the commuters being decimated by some estimates. The economic damage to the worlds top 2 Financial Centers supposes the wreckage of the financial crisis of 2008. New york and london are also facing a huge drop in tax and transport revenues. New york is expecting a 2000000000. 00 for all in personal taxes this year, and unemployment is at 16 percent. Thats twice as high as other cities in the country. Only 10 percent of Manhattan Office employees have returned to the workplace as of late october, thats up from 8 percent. As of mid august londons transport system, which includes tube trains and buses was bailed out by the government. The 2400000000. 00 loan for short of the 4800000000. 00 needed over the next 18 months, passenger numbers and revenue a down 70 percent. Because of the pandemic, we have 2 reports for you in a moment. Gabriel is on the looks at the opening of americas biggest mall at a time that most of us a spending more on line. But 1st aljazeera as john hendren takes a look at chicagos downward financial spiral. As the economy feels the impact of the pandemic. The pandemic has scarred chicagos historic landscape plywood replaces neighborhood haunts. Sports bar, the rainforest. Cafe all gone. The citys famed willis tower is mostly empty. At shuttered navy pier, the ferris wheel is indefinitely stalled 40 percent of restaurants nationwide expect to close in the next 6 months. According to the National Restaurant association, its going to be fixed the maybe even 80 percent, because right now a lot in the warmer days we can sort of hit a break even if people, if the business goes down, people are going to run out of money pretty soon you have to be creaming your house. After 3 decades in chicago, celebrity chef rick bayless, whose trim staff, it is numerous, chicago be strohs. It is bracing for worse to come. And his pockets are deeper than most restaurants, especially independent own restaurants, are sort of the fabric of the neighborhoods come next spring. If we dont get some sort of Financial Assistance from the government, those neighborhoods are downtown area. Theyre going to look very different and its going to take a few years to rebuild. Restaurants are getting creative with street closures, an outdoor seating and heat lamps. Theyre trying to keep people coming as long as they can, but in cold weather climates like chicago, nobody really knows how long they can go on. Chicagos once bustling magnificent mile shopping district is a shadow of its former self with even open shops, boarded against recurring social unrest. Their protests chants echoing in one American City after another, violence is up and it is causing some minor flight out of the major cities. Were seeing more and more people moving to suburbs outside urban landscapes. And i think that is a real concern on the other side. Of this virus, this spiraling economy spans across the u. S. As once for low jobs are gone for good. Each day, the pandemics losses mount in lives and livelihoods. The latest here is central camera. The Chicago Institution opened it 899 closed in 2020, and hoping to reopen again. John hendren, aljazeera, chicago. Its a Shopping Mall like no other in america. Its got the shops more than 350. 00 Retail Stores under one roof. But it also has slides, a full water park feeding in a giant pools and also slopes the ski and snowboard type. Its all part of more than 20 entertainment at tractions. At the newly opened American Dream Shopping Mall near new york, the Largest Shopping Center in the united states, 20 years and 5000000000 dollars after its inception. He was supposed to open in march, but couldnt do covert lockdowns as crews put on final touches for the grand opening that happened in october mall executives promise it will be successful despite new obstacles and changing consumer behavior. More people buying online rather than in person. And fewer people wanting to flock to Shopping Malls, or Retail Stores during an ongoing pandemic. When you think about, its that millions of people down no experience feeling supplicated going crazy. Looking for something to do, looking for something that they can really reenergize in reignite the family unit and we believe that thats going to be American Dream, but not too far from the mega ball here in new york city. The struggles in the Retail Industry are obvious. Everywhere you look, shops are boarded up, victims of covert lockdowns in an economic recession, unemployment in new york city alone during the height of the pandemic reach nearly 20 percent. And its still around 15 percent today. And an estimated 80000 of new york Small Businesses may never reopen. Weve been talking a shakeout happening in retail for a long time now. And the pandemic, i think has accelerated the shakeout that had been coming. And you have a number of stores that just arent going to make it because they dont have enough cash on hand, or they werent able to raise enough capital. That leaves odd in Uncertain Times in the Retail Industry. As businesses close, while a mega mall calling itself, the American Dream tries to lure customers with attractions. At a time when retail in america is much like a nightmare. Gabriels andu counting the cost. Now the city of london corporations been working on a plan to revive the financial district post pandemic. John romeo, chief, executive of consultants. All of the wyman forum has been involved in that process. He joins us now live via skype from london. John, you face a pretty uphill challenge, a number of firms have already started looking for small offices as they adjust their Office Requirements to cater to the number of people who are working from home right now. How do you counter that . Thank you, adrian. I mean, this is youre right when it comes to infectious diseases, the advantages of cities that density of talent, the global connectedness actually become vulnerabilities. And in the case of london, a whole series of challenges that predated cove it. d the rising cost of living. d some of the infrastructure, the inequalities where. d we just became that much more pressing and that workplaces are a great example. We saw pretty much overnight with the emergence of the. d 10 demick, most of financial and professional services, switched to remote working, something we thought would take 5 years. And now as we look forward, some of those changes are, are looking more and more permanent. Certainly theres a different demand for the mix of public transport options and how you use commercial space. Now its uncertain what those long term trends will be. But certainly some of the takeaways i think are, are becoming clear that were. d in a more permanent, Flexible Working more businesses are expecting to have teleworking. d options Going Forward but that said in our mind certainly the office. d is not dead, its just changing. And whether its a university model, a club model that face to face interaction needed for collaboration in co creation. And a lot of the things that drove success of, of london in particular, professional services, Financial Services and, and technology are still going to be. d required so we see it rather than being that stench of threat. We think its much more an opportunity to reimagine and reinvent some of that space. Ok, so whats the plan . Office space in london . Notoriously expensive. I mean thats not going to attract stops. What do you need from the man of london from, from the government . Are we going to see Office Prices coming down . I think its a much broader question. London is much more than just a physical space. And if you, you mention, start ups, london has the 2nd highest rated ecosystem startup in the world, and behind only silicon valley, the good number of tech unicorns, the advanced Technology Companies that exist there are 2001 to the focus on ai, over box on quantum computing. Weve got an ecosystem across some of the regulatory environment. The business is the education system, but london is london because of its people and its ability to attract that talent. And so, certainly the pandemic has highlighted some of the shortcomings within that impose new challenges and whether thats working in silos or other areas. And so what were looking for and hoping the mayor does is use this is an opportunity to identify the strengths that london. d has the hubs for. d experts in innovation, but using that to connect across some of these silos to thinking about the diverse population that we have and making it not just about diversity, but also inclusion. And thinking about for those high potential business is helping them to survive. Helping to connect them to advice, to funding, to, to pick chairman and bring that all together. And you talk about talent. Some of that talent, a big chunk of it, is going to be what is going to find life a lot more difficult from january the 1st when, when workers from the continent for example, wont find it that easy to come and work in london anymore. It makes you, it puts you to a competitive disadvantage on to it. Im not, im not sure. I mean, the u. K. Is changing its trading relationship with the world where thats being redefined. And again, it becomes an opportunity to, to rethink some of its so on the one hand youve got digitalisation. d equality, climate change, those are all now global priorities that countries and cities need to react to, to stay attractive in and competitive. There is a global trend towards putting more in big the opportunity for. d london is to continue to fly that flag for a global. d outward looking britain that that is built on a reputation for. d its Global Financial center that hub for professional services and technology. Weve got those capabilities. d at scale, the Retail Sector was already on the going fundamental change before the pandemic. And because of peoples changing habits, you look at john lewis think that the big 6 Successful Department store chain, which is, which is now reducing its footprint. Its changing the use of some of its properties, some of the flaws in its big stores to office space, even Affordable Housing as well. Now were talking about one of the main competitors in which is the west end of london, not the city of london, which were talking about here. You concerned that theres going to be a flood of office space Affordable Office space across the the, the capital which is going to put you again in the city of london at a disadvantage. The report was commissioned by the city of london corporation. We were looking at this as recommendations an opportunity for. d monday in indeed the u. K. More broadly. So rather than viewing it as competition between parts of london, i think this is much more an opportunity of thinking how london as a major city as a hub for. d the whole of the u. K. And indeed other beta cities around the world can reinvent themselves at, i guess, in terms of your specific question on the, the, this space, what we, what we see is a need across the city. The city of london broadly defined as it is the requirement to adapt and design the space in a different way to meet these changing needs. A new density of, of work, places across sectors and how to use that, that space to be transformed. Thats going to have to happen everywhere. We dont think that that goes away. Its just, its going, its certainly going to look different really going to talk here many thanks again for being with us and counting the cost. Thank you. Presell slums, the coronavirus pandemic, has forced more people out of work, has left them struggling to afford lifes basic beings. But some people are now growing the own food and that could be helping to slow deforestation. As monica explains, rio de janeiro, a city surrounded by mountains of lush, the g. T. A. , sion which is rapidly disappearing. Sprawling slums have been devouring the forest for decades. Theyre still growing invading protected areas like this one. But now environmentalists like donna, some dos have founded the coronavirus, an unlikely ally to fight deforestation. When the pin demick began and has started knocking on her neighbors doors to distribute organic vegetables along with seeds, sprouts, and instructions on how to grow them. For the idea was to convince people to build less and turned to mother nature. At a time when the economy had shut down, and 10000000 brazilians were going hungry, all the hooked up to the idea of the pandemic helped anup prove her point. When she moved cheerily. U. G. Had dreams of a bigger house, but coated 19 left her husband unemployed with the family discovered that nature could feed them if only theyd let it live. You knew her eyes buying food for everyone. Costs us at least 1000 ryall. But by planting our own organic food, were not only aiding healthier, but saving at least 300 reale, a 3rd of what we spent in the supermarket. A lot of what, in the heart of religion, it or not one of the pretty violent Strong Family of 12. You have a plant corn, avocado, and also herb the family lives in what is called the promised land. An extension of the being a complex slum home 250000 people. Its controlled by the red command, one of brazils largest drug cartels. Theyre responsible for occupying New Territory and distributing it. And it was selling. It took a lot of negotiation with the drug traffickers and the neighbors to convince them that destroying the forest is not the best way out. Paper made roofs over their heads and as families grow, they build marmol. But with a pandemic, they realized that cement bricks cant feed them. And that is no building the cistern to store rainwater in the promised land. While need maida, who spent 6 years in jail for drug trafficking, is helping very clear the land season. I was in prison when the pandemic began. Unable to help my wife and 3 children, i was lucky to be given this new opportunity. Its not only a job, but a new way of looking at life my that and she used to be a Street Vendor until the pandemic with no job and time on her hands. She started raising chickens. She plans to transform this whole area into a fruit and vegetable garden, an urban slum, still surrounded by poverty and violence, but where mango trees are now allowed to flourish, and children and animals roam free, as if they lived on a farm. Monica and i give all just sirrah rio de janeiro. Now. You fire central bank of about one day the next day. Your son in law steps down as finance, but his investors held their breath as turkeys president ended, what appears to be his unconventional economic policy. You see, Interest Rates have been held as low as possible in the hope that it would revive the turkish economy when your currency sinks more than 30 percent in a year. At inflation saws you need to increase Interest Rates, the central bank has spent a staggering 100000000000. 00 trying to prop up the currency. But whats driven other want a more conventional economic policies may have more to do with the u. S. Election. Joe bidens victory could mean turkeys hit with sanctions for its purchase of a Russian Missile system, something the President Trump was unwilling to push. Right, lets get down to the nitty gritty here and name as lamb is the chief market analyst of eva trade. He joins us now via skype from london, so fast the Central Bank Governor was fired then early on, son in law, stepped down as finance minister was a bit of a shock. What do you make of it all . I think the key word thats your views, that is shock best. How it came across in the 4 x. Mark as well because knew it was really expecting this particular move. However, the important and the key element to put this is that yes i do go on if given a freehold to center banks. And that means Central Banks can be, can play with the Interest Rates in order to increase the inflation. That is the key. I mean, and because of that, anticipation in the market is that perhaps in the coming days they will need an event at 98. 00. We could see an Interest Rate increase in turkey by good basis point and big kids at that particular reason. Weve seen this massive need against it. Is this an admission that the spending 100000000000. 00 to support them . The lira was was a costly mistake and has it got anything to do with joe bidens victory in the us president ial election . I think joe bidens victory is a completely separate factor over here as well. And that is more by reading, building bridges than walls with other countries. Because i think that is the rare mantra with respect to Bidens Administration of the president elect Bidens Administration. So Going Forward, what we see in terms of Foreign Policy from by did 2 ways. Turkey is going to be more moving towards a new manager level and that means more businesses and more economy. All right, so you say that the took, his Interest Rate is going to go up, are you, you said what 300 basis points . Thats not is what the market is pretty much anticipated. So right. So that life is going to become a heck of a lot more expensive for people in turkey, very soon like what you increase the tress rate. He do that because you want to control. d place your money, inflation comes down. That means things will become less cheaper on one hand. But at the same time, if you are already money, if you have burned in the higher to 1st rate means you are obviously going to get more hate. At the same time. If you are already in money for replacement, that your cost will increase. We are back to what extent is the, is the turkish lira a busted flush and no matter what you do with it its, its not looking good at the moment, basically because of the underlying turkish economy. Yes, that is true. But in 1st rate, it is a double edged, because if you increase in 1st rate, yes, it is great, but it is great to show up a client to ask for any country. But at the same forbearance, i mean it is a great business because obviously we hire in charge more money. And that is why we need massive priming the banks. But on the other side, as a consumer, as a business, higher Interest Rates are generally not that good. And then i think this is pretty much gone. Has been saying over the last number of years, that is the reason that it doesnt really like the conventional monetary policies which under ratio use Interest Rate to conclude this question. Really good to talk to and i am many thanks again for being with us. Thank you very. While the pandemic has devastated many industries, its given a huge boost to the videogame sector, tech companies, microsoft and sony. Launching new consoles, a sharp rise in the number of players worldwide. South korea, with some of the Fastest Internet speeds in the world as a major targets. A game developer has a fantasy of his robot bride reports now from seoul, its one business sector that has been thriving in the pandemic. And has the makers of the most popular gaming consoles rushing their latest offerings to market . Globally, the gaming industry was stagnant last year, but the outbreak of corona virus means the industry in south korea and the rest of the world has seen big growth. From sony, theres the new playstation 5 we have the power, branded playstation, all of the worlds biggest gaming ecosystems, and an established user community. Going head to head with microsofts latest x. Box system. Its like all Gaming Systems here benefiting from south koreas super fast 5 g. Mobile Internet Network enabling, ever more immersive play. The meet in the past, people had to download install and then play a game Going Forward. We will be playing games by streaming them. Align the professional gaming of the sports has also grown during the pandemic helping confirm south koreas position as a world leader. There are bigger sponsorship deals and developing Technology Offers the expanding online audience, a richer experience for south korea, its all much more than just video games. It represents a part of its Economic Future as it charts, a path focused on digital content. Gaming joins k. , pop dramas, and movies as the countrys growing export of soft power. If for the last half a century manufacturing has helped our economy to flourish, cultural content will be the countrys power of development. For the next 100 years, south korea has seemingly embarked on a quest for digital supremacy now with the new devices to help it. Rob mcbride, aljazeera soul, and thats our show for this week. If youd like to tell us what you think, get in touch with us, you can tweet me a finnigan on twitter. Please use the hash tag a j c, c. C. When you do or you can drop us a line counting the cost of aljazeera dot net is our address. As always, theres plenty more for you online at aljazeera dot com slash c t c. That address takes you straight to our page there. Youll find individual reports, links, even entire episodes fuse catch up on. But that is it for this edition of counting the cost. Im Adrian Finighan from the whole team. Thanks for being with us. The news on aljazeera is next 20 years of chinas transformational. Told through one young girls journey from birth to adult, but thanks to you. 2 decades following the development of her life. And make sure, rewind returns to the story of k. K. , the girl from quango on the challenges iraq. This is life on the streets of alto. For me, the discovery of theater is an opportunity to school and become some amends for the tuition of a place on the promise of a lifetime. Little princess, part of the viewfinder of latin american series announces the last oh yeah. Whatever happens in the future, who knows which administrator will be, i guess time will tell in the 1st public Briefing Since the president ial election, donald trump knowledge is that he may not be leading the countrys next administration. The whole romany watching aljazeera life while headquarters here in doha also coming up the u. N. War and civilian deaths in northern ethiopia could be war crimes as thousands flee the region after a government offensive. Also morocco launched a military