the ruling party sidestepping bashir and bringing someone else in his place but one thing we can be sure of is that saddam before the nineteenth of december is not the same saddam post nineteen december when the protests started. bashir has promised economic reforms but as protests continue into a second month some sudanese see they are ready to sacrifice their lives to see change changes which president bashir doesn't appear ready to meet people morgan al-jazeera caught on still ahead on al-jazeera this is a sad day for america and the american justice system the family of a black teenager shot dead by a policeman in chicago say the officers present sentence is far too lenient class. i'm andrew thomas in the pacific island country of vanda walty where trials are underway to deliver life saving vaccines. by drug.

hello the last couple of days a clump of thunderstorms has been trying to turn into a circulation doesn't get a little chief that goal but it's certainly a clump of thunderstorms as is this one here so those two areas are ones that will produce increased rainfall which for the philippines is a bit novel after a couple dry weeks effectively but not so here this is been a pretty wet area for a while now and the rain is edging into was singapore then cooling down towards western java places that are most likely to be wet i think in the next couple of days and increasingly so the philippines but there have been sparky showers around in australia and they will be generated by what is still described in many places as a heat wave temperatures aren't hot everywhere and this certainly hint of cloud that might suggest a frontal system for a change in type and around the coast from melbourne up through sydney temperatures are not heatwaves down to really twenty four because of that influence of the water

inland though it is hot for example the person we're up to forty now that might generate a few showers it seems like unlikely in western australia however in south australia and down to abuse south wales that possibility exists dish on monday is very similar except in perth it's no longer forty it's near a sensible thirty one. this week's count of the cost of prime minister's briggs's deal is rejected as the polls towards exit points of ball boys but wants people to buy less fuel. models can't make those worries about the trade. terms of the cost zero.

all over again the top stories on al-jazeera a leading u.s. senator says america's relationship with saudi arabia to move forward until the murder of journalist she is dealt with on a two day visit to turkey republican senator lindsey graham also said he hopes donald trump will slow the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria until i saw is the steroid. while the u.s. president of north korea's leader have agreed to a second summit next month for more denuclearization talks the white house announcement came after the north's lead nuclear negotiator met donald trump in washington. more protests are being held in sudan the latest in

a month of growing demands for the president to go villagers of the northern region of the haass chanted for the end of this year's thirty year rule. the mexican army has been ordered to guard pipelines after an explosion killed and injured dozens of people at least twenty were burnt to death as they filled their containers with leaking fuel john heilemann has more from mexico city. it looks like a village set of. dozens gathered under a fountain guy. salie it had erupted from what mexico's state oil company said was an illegally tapped pipeline. they took their fill the soldiers sent to guard the pipeline looks on seemingly powerless then this happened. dozens of people were taken to hospital with burns many less food were burnt to death the tragedy comes just as the government is trying to crack down on oil was

the point that the most important thing now is to look after the injured to save lives that is the most important thing the fight against the illegal theft of fuel will be strengthened. gangs and corrupt officials have been siphoning off petrol from the country's pipelines few years in two thousand and eighteen the army found more than six thousand illegal taps vulnerable pipelines have been shut down while the secured it's left many communities with shortages. the government's trying to make up those shortfalls by delivering petrol in heavily guarded tankers in the capital the system is beginning to work but elsewhere emits crew second city guadalajara and several states there are still queues operations costing serious money not just the tankers but the four thousand troops deployed to guard them pipelines and fuel death pose experts say it can't go on indefinitely the president essentially made this a game of chicken let's see who gets tired first she said though stealing the

country's oil for his government with its mounting cost of pipeline security and. the polls have shown the majority of mit's can support the president stand. by that but if it's to fire people who are stealing the fuel it's good we just have to put up with it for a bit if it's to make the country better that's fine friday ended with another pipeline explosion in create this time with no casualties but the clock's running for the president to come up with a long term solution to fuel theft and all that comes with it john home and now does it or mexico city. colombia's president has ask you both to hand over ten members of a leftist armed group accused of a car bomb attack in bogota. has renewed arrest orders against leaders involved in previous peace talks with the government twenty one people were killed after a car packed with explosives detonated at

a police academy on thursday the group has not claimed responsibility for the attack leaders and peace talks with former president juan manuel santos and twenty seventeen but they were put on hold by his successor. right as well as economic crisis has taken a severe toll on children many have been left by their families who've traveled to neighboring countries to escape a financial hardship a growing number of children are living on the streets and orphanages are running out of space and money to house them from terrorism reports. is. going to holly's eleven years old he's mother left him in this orphanage two years ago she went to colombia to escape the ongoing crisis in venezuela a missing in the it we were received here with open arms we are taught many things and i don't want to leave my dreams behind this is the orphanage a place that provides a home to at least fourteen children and gives an education to dozens of others.

they were legal is in charge he says that what's been happening here is yet another consequence of the crisis i mean. we receive children from other places that we try to keep because there is a process for abandoned children one woman came with a three month old baby that she couldn't feed we were going to the level of undernourishment has increased among children because families colonel. but the situation is not easy for the managers of the. finding resources to support the kids is becoming more challenging every day both handling this orphanage are struggling to make ends meet they have to feed the children and you can see right behind me and educate them these are the latest donations then they have received you can see all of this bill and with all of this money they can barely bag one pack of bags the other problem are the medicines nearest is fifteen and has a neurological problem we're told he needs all these medicines to control the

condition they're almost impossible to find and when they're located they're expensive president has announced new measures to end the economic crisis in venezuela but most economists say that they're unlikely to improve the situation anytime soon hyperinflation makes life here extremely difficult for most people. daughter was one of those who left she left her five year old son santiago in her mother's care but in this case it's difficult i miss my daughter very much i really need her the situation here is harder and harder every day prices go up and up you work and work and is not enough for anything there is no official data on how many children were left behind and in which conditions in the past years almost three million venezuelans have left the country it is an issue that wars lawyers like a lot that by any a move to what we are seeing now is

a new phenomenon of children that are left behind but some are cared for by their families and others are not so there is no control over who is responsible for that child legally whether they are studying or living on the street family thing venezuela are struggling to deal with the impact of the country's crisis leaving their country and children behind is for some parents the only option they see to survive the day several of us. in the us a former police officer has been sentenced to eighty one months in prison for murdering a black teenager in a case what sparked protests against police brutality police dash cam video revealed how jason van dyke shot donald sixteen times four years ago one hundred reports from chicago this video has spawned global outrage and now a prison sentence for a chicago police officer i thought of my findings are inappropriate with the eighty one months and the illinois are two years minutes or so it's jason vandyke was

sentenced to six years and nine months the cost of gunning down a seventeen year old black man here this man has clearly committed murder. and in the murder in which he has asked committed have been shown all over the world everyone up any civil and conscious mind knows that this is murder and the reality of it is we have to do something legislatively to change this this sentence caps the trial of a half century in chicago where a police officer has not been convicted of murder on duty and more than fifty years van dyke's wife pleaded for mercy i would like to ask the court to please take into consideration. that my husband is a man he's a human being he's a vicki was a very good dedicated officer please please he has paid the price already

my heart and soul are broken they will not be mended until he comes home prosecutors on the other hand had brought in a series of african-americans who said vandyke physically abused and harassed them he was. sound obscenities it's nice to slur have you. specifically what were you when you. can recall because i was quite nervous cuz he had his gun drawn. this sentence was far more than the defendant had hoped for but it was also far less than the family of look on mcdonnell it wanted police and authorities in chicago hope it is enough to keep peace in the streets it took a year for the police dash cam video of the two thousand and fourteen shooting to surface when it did the images of a police officer shooting look one mcdonald sixteen times as he walked away knife

in hand but apparently not a threat black lives matter and other protesters to erupt into demonstrations across the u.s. . now perhaps setting a new precedent here it is the officer who finds himself on the wrong side of the law john hendren chicago indonesia's president says the muslim cleric who is the alleged mastermind of the two thousand and two bali bombings will be granted early release from prison on humanitarian grounds eighty one year old a bucket of ice year was convicted in two thousand and ten under anti-terrorism laws for links to military training camps in a province and sentenced to fifteen years in prison more than two hundred people were killed in the two thousand and two bombings of bali nightclubs israeli forces have fired bullets at palestinian protesters in ambulances on the gaza border at least thirty palestinians including three medics were injured on friday it was the forty third consecutive friday protest as part of the great march of return

movements protesters are demanding the right of return for refugees worldwide and then and if israel and egypt decade long blockade of gaza. was at the demonstrations in gaza. we've seen a lot of gas fired today yet again this is the pulte week of the friday protests along the gaza border a lot of i'm going to she's taking the way now there's a lot of anger here in gaza specifically at the moment over the withholding by israel of millions of dollars donated by cots a lot of which is going to go towards buying fuel for gaza there is a serious fuel crisis on the strip at the moment hospitals a saying that some of the may have to close down the big issue certainly pulled the israeli government is that a lot more of this money is going to go to will be paying the mouse employees in the next you know him government under pressure. by of what he described as right we're going to see in that government that accuse him of basically paying hamas to

keep the situation calm and in the street understand it thousands of people have been protesting in other areas along the border since. the very states are saying they will continue protesting until israel's twelve year line day when sea blockade is there to call stop al jazeera gaza lifesaving vaccines could soon be delivered by drones tests are under way on a remote pacific islands which could revolutionize health care for some of the world's poorest nations and to thomas reports from ivana watts who's a remand go islands. delivering vaccines to people on air or mango audience used to take hours or even days but now a drone can reach them in minutes soaring over the sea over rugged landscapes which don't have roads or parts until recently this a long rough boat ride was the only way anything got to the village of south river

to get things to other places to go about and the trek of many hours for vaccines which need to be kept cool that's expensive and impractical boats need lots of fuel backpacks don't have for generation and in remote villages there isn't reliable power needed for fridges to store vaccines long term drones mean vaccines can be delivered on demand i've been with the minister of health ten to five years and this is the most innovative and ambitious and exciting project that i've been involved in two companies commissioned by that i want to use government and backed by australia unicef and the global fund are investigating the viability of new services across from the aussies are. it takes twenty minutes for a drone to reach south river from ever mangoes main settlement dillon's by but the battery on board can fly it for well over an hour the drone reaches one hundred ten kilometers an hour and can carry two point five kilograms on board this child is

one of the lucky ones being vaccinated during the trial period otherwise it looks like and a lot longer we've had many conversations with with unicef at the global level and they're definitely looking at what's happening in vanuatu other countries are interested to learn from what's haven't happening in vanuatu and to able to replicate but also use drones just minutes on the ground before making their return trip what are being tested hair about the practical technicalities of delivering vaccines by drugs and economics is it financially viable to deliver primary health care by driving the company behind. this says yes largely using parts made by three d. printer their manufacturing cost is less than ten thousand dollars per drug and pulling the drones so tonelessly so there's no need to expertise locally the only marginal operating cost is electricity about bulldoze appliance about a mile to but even that is removed when solar energy is used it is made to be

robust and cost effective in a solution that we can we can talk to a country that can afford one hundred thousand all of a coal but we can bring the same level of technical competence with all of us having. this trial is a world first if successful it has big implications the potential to fly out to primary health care on demand to remote spots worldwide and to thomas al-jazeera and. a rare earth type of fraud has been without a mate for ten years has finally found his match thanks in part to the internet romeo as he's called was described as the world's loneliest water frog and online campaign raised enough money to find a mate for romeo the national history museum where he lives is confidence he will hit it off with his juliet when they meet on valentine's day.

hello again the headlines on al-jazeera a leading u.s. senator says america's relationship with saudi arabia consul forward until the murder of journalists is dealt with republican senator lindsey graham is on a two day visit to turkey where he's met president. graham says he hopes president trump will slow the withdrawal of american troops from syria until i sell is destroyed well that's in contrast to trump who said american troops are going because i saw has been defeat it. the u.s. president of north korea's leader has agreed to meet for a second time next month for more. talks the white house announcement came after the north lead nuclear negotiator met donald trump in washington. more protests are being held in sudan the latest in a month of growing demands for the president to go villagers in the northern region of chancet for the end of president thirty year rule activists say at least fifty people have been killed and hundreds injured or arrested since the civil unrest began over the rising price of bread the government says the number of dead is much

lower the mexican army has been ordered to guard pipelines after an explosion killed and injured dozens of people at least twenty were burnt to death and he states the state oil company says they were illegally tapping a pipeline and filling containers with fuel when the explosion. colombia's president is to hand over ten members of a less just armed group accused of a car bomb attack in bogota. has renewed arrests orders against leaders involved in previous peace talks with the government twenty one people were killed after a car packed with explosives detonated at a police academy on thursday the group has not claimed responsibility for the attack. indonesia's president says the muslim cleric who was the alleged mastermind of the two thousand and two bali bombings will be granted early release from prison on humanitarian grounds eighty one year old she it was convicted in twenty ten more

than two hundred people were killed in the two thousand and two bombings of clubs those are the headlines counting the cost is coming up next on al-jazeera. we understand the differences. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring in the news and current affairs that matter to. al-jazeera. hello i'm adrian for the game this is counting the cost of al-jazeera a weekly look at the world of business and economics this week to resume a hangs on the chair while her brags that deal is overwhelmingly rejected by parliament avoid crashing out of the european union without a deal. also this week currency to buy essential goods is hard to find in zimbabwe

as anger after the government doubles fuel prices to curb demand. and snazzy new cars can't hide a trail of gloom for automakers at the detroit auto show as the u.s. china trade war eats into their profits. it's a confusing paradox that's keeping all sides in the brig's it drama on edge britain's prime minister's reason they narrowly survived a no confidence motion while her plan to navigate brigs it was massively rejected by parliament the deadline of march twenty ninth twenty nineteen is marching ever closer and european leaders are warning that the prospect of britain crashing out of the union without a deal has increased this could lead to huge economic disruption on both sides of the channel joining us now from london is james smith james is an economist at global markets research team good to have you with us james so the prime minister's

deal was voted down in parliament does that mean the brig's it is now more or less likely or a no deal scenario is more likely off for now that the four remains that were leaving the e.u. on the twenty ninth of march but the big question now is will the treason may reach across party devise to seek a further consensus on bracks it while for now at least it seems like plan b. is going to look pretty similar to plan a no immediate sign of mays going to walk back on her red line snot that some of the opposition parties the labor party. shift in direction i that so for the time being no major clarity but one thing is getting more and more likely we're running out of time and in our view an extension to article fifty is getting more and more likely what message are the financial markets and investors giving us on all of this at the moment do they see perhaps a softer brigs of this being more likely or a no brainer to the top. or

a hard briggs's well i think markets are trying to take the silver lining from things at the moment the pounds remain pretty calm and i think investors are looking at t. things i think they think. some kind of cross party agreement is getting more and more likely to is an extension of the article fifty period so that's the two main themes in the markets the moment but importantly is going to be a bumpy ride to get our don't think any immediate resolution to this is is forthcoming and it could be at least a few more weeks before we get clarity so i think this colleen markets it could get a bit bumpy a before it gets better i mean what is the outlook for the for the british pound which i mean ever since the referendum back in twenty sixteen has been trading what at least twenty percent lower than it was i mean is that growth ever going to be recovered or you think in the long run it probably will be although of course that's premised on the idea that we either get a mole market friendly soft or breaks the outcome all we get

a second referendum that would result in. potentially results and remain i guess that's at least the base case according to the polls as things stand so in the long run prospects of the pound look a bit better but as a say for now it could be several months before we know for sure whether or not no deal has been extended has been avoided sorry article fifty could be extended it's going to be a choppy ride for markets before things get better and that's not good for business is it it's the uncertainty which is bothering the business community at the moment making everybody very jittery well exactly so while the markets can kind of george little bit of comfort from this cross party support idea for businesses they have to deal in facts on the cold hard fact as things stands remains that way leaving me with or without it deal on march the twenty ninth so for businesses they have to prepare for that then we're likely to a business is getting more and more vocal about preparations they're making we were talking last week's program about the amount of money that's moved out of the u.k.

into the euro. opinion in this business is prepare for the breaks of whatever it is even if the u.k. ends up with a with a much softer briggs's or even remaining in the u.s. far as the money moving out of the economy is concerned it's too late isn't that we have potentially i mean clearly the u.k. economy has already been hit very hard by the brics it process investment was really sluggish through last year so yeah it may never be fully recovered but i think should we get a deal or if in the end there's a second referendum in the u.k. very sure main and the prospects should get a little bit better in the short run but it all really depends what that final pricing model is and it could potentially be quite a few years before we get there because of course we still have this transition fair period to come some kind of deal comes in ok james really good to talk to you i'm counting the cost thanks for being with us china's trade dispute with the united states is taking a toll on its economy exports of foreign to their lowest point in two years while

imports are also down katrina you reports now from beijing the world's largest trading country has been trading a little less according to chinese customs administration exports fell by four point four percent in december while imports were at the lowest level since twenty six. concerns for the year ahead underlined at a news conference in beijing arlin eat you in two thousand and nineteen one of the biggest he the worry for china's foreign trade is to the complex and grim external environment uncertain and unstable factors a stew numerous protectionism and unilateralism from certain countries are rare in their heads. a slowdown in global demand and the continuing trade dispute with the united states are being blamed for the current predicament china finds itself in china and the us are midway through a ninety day truce in the tit for tat trade bill which started last april analysts say john is shrinking trade figures could be used by washington to increase

pressure on beijing i think beijing clearly has the pressure there on the votes restore. the best of their leadership and to restore bester confidence just nationally so i think a.j. clearly does that and i think the u.s. . agent. will hear us and they will put pressure on beijing because despite the lower figures china posted a record surplus in its trade with the united states last year with more than three hundred twenty billion dollars the largest in more than a decade that's a sore point for the u.s. and according to the trumpet ministration a major justification for its trade with china but the apparent good news there's little to distract from china's cooling economy december's low trade figures follow a disappointing november when consumer spending also fell contributing to a gloomy economic stuff to twenty nine thousand and the trade wars cast its shadow

over the north american international auto show in detroit high powered sports cars and s.u.v.s took center stage but car makers say the industry is in turmoil as tariffs push up still an early many in prices and eat into profits john hendren reports. the most renowned auto show in north america opened with the drama glamour. and muscle cars descending from above auto makers ruled out those were the new models including cadillacs x t six utility key is telluride and ford shelby mustang g.t. five hundred the fast is street legal for down the road there were concept cars that might one day hit the road like the infinity q x inspiration in the lexus convertible. but the mood among the automakers at the twenty one thousand north american international auto show in detroit is somewhat somber global auto sales

which boomed from two thousand and ten to twenty sixteen have slowed g.m. is closing plants ford is partnering with to make its cars in europe and sales in china have plummeted amid a u.s. trade war perhaps a contraction in the overall number of vehicles that they sell but they're shifting their production process toward producing more trucks and less of that and while some automakers broccoli drama there are fewer of them here this year b.m.w. mercedes volvo porsche jaguar and land rover are all skipping the event this year opting to reveal new models online or at their own events instead their exodus has left room for other lights to shine and the winner digits ah that's just maybe known as the year when korean cars really came into their own . hyundai is kono one utility of the year and this is the car of the year in

the g seventy by genesis price between thirty and fifty thousand dollars this car competes with entry level b.m.w.'s and mercedes showing that korea is now in the sports car market. the north american truck of the year is. the ram fifteen hundred. and sit in sales slow when u.s. manufacturers retool to make electric going to tournaments cars sport utility and truck sales remain strong including chrysler's massive ram fifteen hundred the truck of the year we're very happy with the performance that we had in two thousand and eight and now with this new pickup truck here this new heavy duty we're looking for even better things in two thousand and ninety but amid the celebration in the motor city automakers here are fretting over forecasts that consumers will hit the brakes on new car sales in twenty nineteen with china importing fewer goods europe's economic powerhouse germany is feeling the pinch its economic growth

slowed in twenty eight team to the weakest race in five years g.d.p. grew by one point five percent last year dropping from two point two percent in twenty seventeen china is germany's largest trade partner and the source of much of its auto industry's profits china's slowdown is just one of the foreign risks facing germany's export oriented economy that has the potential messy brigs it antigovernment protests in neighboring france and america's protectionist threats still to come on counting the cost venezuela's president raises the minimum wage by three hundred percent we'll tell you why the additional money though won't help people buy any more goods. but first fuel prices in zimbabwe have more than doubled sparking strikes and violent protests the government says it was the only way to make people buy less fuel as it struggles to tackle a currency crisis foreign exchange is now hard to find in

a country that scrapped its own currency a decade ago that's led to long lines for fuel bread and has pushed up prices fall chad reports. frustration over zimbabwe's worst economic crisis in a decade ignited rights and prompted a strike by unions protesters tried to shut down the capital harare and the southern city of bull away oh by erecting barricades and burning tires police responded by shooting live rounds trying to disperse rioters with water cannons and tear gas the uproar began when zimbabwe's president emerson and gaga announced that fuel prices would more than double digit someone just wakes up and decides to increase the fuel price we have demanding that the price be reduced to its proper price the information minister tweeted clever people know what to do avoid fuel guzzlers cancel unnecessary trips and use bicycles do not protest in the streets you can lose

a limb in skirmishes that unprecedented increase is seen by qana missed as a way for the government to control an economy that is once again in danger of freefall not only is there a shortage of cash and fuel but eighty percent of the population is unemployed or not is good you know has a career as a date anyone above eighteen years of age is standing at home without a job the government should do something because we've farted for them. lack of fuel barricaded roads and burning tires have prevented people from going to work and school protesters are demanding the government meet with opposition leaders to figure out how to end the economy's downward spiral others are resorting to looting for overpriced basic goods and drivers are queuing for hours to try to get fuel at petrol stations that have mostly run dry but i wonder that we can't say we are a country when we are paying five dollars for public transportation and spending more than five days in a fuel queue and when the president appears on t.v.

not saying anything useful inflation rose to thirty one percent two months ago that's the highest it's been since two thousand and eight when the international monetary fund report. that at more than five hundred billion percent the president at the time robert mugabe abandoned the currency his government adopting the dollar and the crisis wiped out people's savings and pensions ten years on president emerson man on dog was touring russia europe in asia hoping to lure investments into his mineral rich country and avert an economic disaster and joining us now from london richard siegel richard is seen the emerging markets analyst with many life asset management good to have you with us once again richard why hasn't the government of zimbabwe been able to get a handle on the economy over the past ten years if we analyze conditions it's actually done much better than it had been doing before the currents reform stopped

the hyperinflation the economy began to grow although not that much the government changed a little more than a year ago it had a plan to put into action but it never did this and rather than finance its budget deficit by effectively cutting costs namely salaries it decided to raise taxes and that was the worst combination because it led to poverty and confidence and therefore further economic stagnation so it was a moment when i got was government is is not tackling this in a way that would satisfy economists like you the plant that they have put on paper to some extent well in some respects it is fairly comprehensive and it suggests that the reform elements will turn things around however the good parts it hasn't implemented and the bad parts it has it won't take that much

fitter and things around but it needs the political will for that and it doesn't have that yet why does it not have the political will reach its. it's difficult to say eat and understand that with the change of president towards the end of two thousand and seventeen there was a lot of optimism then some were skeptical they said they only change the person at the top but not the governing out apparatus they then had elections last july they needed some breathing space they needed to put together a plan which they did around october they started having meetings with the i.m.f. and the i.m.f. gave a fairly positive response last month these things take time but the tendency is to delay and delay and procrastinate and just never get around to it but i think that those would be natural lethargy of the old party being in power still were there a new party and fresh blood i think that would be that incentive to move things forward under robert mugabe the economy was shattered by corruption the botched

land reforms the unemployment rate rose to unsustainable levels i mean isn't the progress being made in the will of that a the other any bright spots here. i think within the gloom we have to recognize that there is a lot of evidence of improvement the economy is after all growing again and before the currency reform it was declining by five to seven percent per year there is a lot of potential in mining and and agriculture in addition the telecoms company liquid telecom which is a home grown company is one of the most impressive t.m.t. companies across africa although there are many shortages of fuel and especially hard currency we also have to recognize that this is not a necessarily a shortage of hard currency in the economy just hard currency in circulation

there's a lot of dollar hoarding work often is to return in those hard currency stocks would quickly flow back into the economy so i think it really just is a question of confidence and trust in the government to what extent is is foreign investment going to be a lifeline to zimbabwe president when a guy who has been on a charm offensive to a number of european countries trying to drum up foreign investments who who put their money into a country like zimbabwe as with any crisis economies such as symbolically aside from having. economic policies which are stable and coherent and has the support of an independent arbiter such as the i.m.f. the main driver of growth will be generating employment and investment whether it's domestic whether it's money which has left the country which will

return or whether it's foreign investors in order to do that you need to have something to invest in which the country does but you also need to have stable policies and the expectations that they will be stable however the types of foreign trips that the president is making either to russia china or to davos aren't going to track the type of longer term investment that the company needs it needs to focus on the types of investors that were active in the economy and the one nine hundred seventy s. and the nine hundred eighty s. the ones that have been sex excess will in other emerging markets as opposed to the types of investors which will. by into opportunities on a very selective basis and also very opportunistically seeing what they can do and get out of this situation for themselves and maybe the government as opposed to for the broader economy richard always good to talk to your cause in the course of many

thanks indeed for being with us. over in latin america venezuela is offering a grim reminder of what happened to zimbabwe in two thousand the days the international monetary fund estimates that it's inflation rate will reach ten million percent in twenty nine team president nicolas maduro has increased the minimum wage by three hundred percent but hyperinflation is expected to swallow up any immediate benefits al-jazeera stories about reports now from caracas where public health services a crumbling. the hospital of the university of us was once one of the best not just in venezuela but in latin america but matters have deteriorated dramatically in the recent years as institutions and people deal with the impact of the ongoing economic crisis. eighty years old and fell in the subway she says she's barely getting any food. there is nothing here nothing look at what we are being fed it's cold and i don't want to eat it but what am i going to do also in the room

there are patients who have suffered heart attacks and strokes others being treated for gunshot wounds employees from the hospital allowed us to come here to this emergency room to see the situation on the ground they see that they need many things food for the patients but you can see here. last weekend electricity in the hospital went out for several hours at least two patients died during that time staff say the toll may be in fact higher so these think it's on the think it's on scene caucus they said there were five and then seven who died there are twelve bodies in the morgue and we are trying to find out when they died we have been telling the government. that the generators were broken for months and nobody heard us. venezuela's president. blamed the blackout on the opposition describing it as a terrorist act with infrastructure feeling empty shelves and shortages of even the

most basic drugs president maduro announced his latest economic recovery plan he told the country's constituent assembly that it was aimed at ending what he's described as an economic war gets a lot of your meaning. the national minimum wage is going to be in half a petro an eighteen thousand bolivars for the working class a three hundred percent increase he also pledged to distribute food supplies every fifteen days and said the country had now enough money to cultivate at least three million hectares of crops but many believe he's being unrealistic here isn't important it was no matter what you do two thousand and nineteen is going to be a year with brutal hyperinflation and the government's response is primitive because they are right of the potential costs of reducing public spending in hospitals and on the street it's the people of venezuela who are paying the price of an economic crisis which has left the country virtually bankrupt and unable to help those in desperate need construction will soon begin on china's biggest

investment project in sri lanka after chinese state owned company completed reclaiming two hundred sixty nine hectares of land from the sea the sri lankan government says the one point four billion dollar port city will be a technological marvel but critics say that it's part of a crippling debt trap when a friend has reports from colombo. this better expensive landreth claim from the season around colombo is where she lanka is building a port city that it hopes to become the financial hub of south asia china is helping pay for and build this new project its ambassador was on hand to check on progress. the colombo port city project is an important project of the one belt one road initiative in sri lanka which is one of the key countries along the maritime silk route it is also an important project to implement the consensus

of china and sri lanka and is an important project for the benefit of lankan society and its people for its part china will own a little less than half the land for ninety nine years yet the government is confident that the new development will help sri lanka's economic prospects are going to be the center of change in the next. and be the catalyst in getting us. china's dominance in sri lanka cannot be ignored this its latest project sri lanka's largest single foreign direct investment a project to build a two hundred sixty nine ahead financial city on land reclaimed from the sea and now china is back again offering sri lanka more million dollar loans the government will likely use that money to pay some of its staggering debt which stands at around thirty billion dollars and chinese loans account for some of that far in

debt this bought in the southern region of humber was built with loans from china but the government couldn't make its payments and had to give up control of the facility to be using for ninety nine years china has been criticised for pulling sri lanka into what some have called a death trap but others see it differently any investor. china will go where it's needed. opportunities and you know if your long has been not as stellar as we would like you know our whole work and our preparedness we may pay the price so as it builds this new port city near colombo again with chinese money analysts say issue lanka's government needs to do better to manage its debts and ensure that it keeps control of make up projects like these and that's our show for this week if you'd like to comment on anything that you've seen you can get in touch with me directly i'm a finnigan on twitter please use the hash tag a.j.c.

to see when you do or you can drop us a line counting the cost of al-jazeera dot net is our e-mail address as always there's plenty more few online at al-jazeera dot com slash c.t.c. that takes you straight to our page and there you'll find individual reports links even entire episodes for you to catch up but that's it for this edition of counting the cost i'm adrian finnigan from the whole team here in doha thanks for being with us the news on al-jazeera is next. in search of a safer neighborhood. making a house into our stuff can't put my family in the hole they deserve and that's a problem for me struggling to secure a home really quite a bubble to the long. haul we don't we could potentially lose the house and living paycheck to paycheck there's nobody to blame and live with the consequences every day of the choices that have been hard. on al-jazeera.

this is al jazeera. alonzo raman welcome to the al-jazeera news our lives my headquarters here in doha coming up in the next sixty minutes senior u.s.

senator who's spoken out about jamal khashoggi murder says a saudi american relations can move on until the crown prince is dealt with. also chanting step down that's it protesters keep up the pressure on sudan's president a month after the demonstrations began. also a mexican oil pipeline explodes killing more than twenty people after being ruptured by suspected thieves plus. i'm andrew thomas in the pacific island country of trials are underway to deliver a lifesaving vaccines. by ron. paul race with all your sport and the teenage challenger who was very unhappy with herself after losing to one of the greatest of all time the awestruck you know.

welcome to the news hour a prominent u.s. senator who's close to donald trump has declared that america's relationship with saudi arabia cannot move forward until the crown prince is dealt with lindsey graham made the remarks an anchor of where he's been meeting turkish president recipe graeme's been physically critical of mohammad been sold accusing him of being complicit in the murder of saudi journalist. what has transpired over the last couple of years has been unnerving to say the least the leadership coming from india is not what i envision imprisoning the lebanese prime minister. taking all of your critics and throwing them in prison. the brutal murder of mr shogi in turkey. every norm of.

international behavior has can have included the relationship between saudi arabia and the united states cannot move forward until in the us has been dealt with well senator graham also discussed the planned withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria saying he hopes it doesn't happen until i still is destroyed once and for all that's mcgurk the former u.s. envoy to the coalition says there's no chance of warning that pullout will only give the group new life well let's join our correspondent sabra binge a bit who's with the same problem the turkey syrian border really lindsey graham not mincing his words either with president trump or with turkey when it comes to the issue of the saudi prince mohammed bin salon. well lindsey graham has a reputation of seeing what he feels right and he has come out to turkey and said

exactly what he felt like when it comes to the murder of journalist american shockey it is interesting to see that it isn't quite contrast to what his own president has been saying where he's mr trump has not just negated the conclusion of the cia or that the decision to kill journalist jamal for shockey inside the consulate in turkey could not have come from a law level operative or nor level agents it had to come from the top and pointing fingers to words to count prince mohammed bin salam and that is something that has been very different to hear from the into into the investigative agencies as well as the intelligence community inside the u.s. in turkey where the president of the united states had been taken a very different line to all door that lindsey graham is very close to u.s. president dollars from p.-six on three very powerful committees of the senate including foreign affairs budget as well as appropriations but he's been taking the

line which is very closer to his allies in turkey rather than his own president and saying that it needs to be dealt with now that is the strongest words that we've heard coming from the very important two engine u.s. senator from from somebody who's very close with are from and obviously this one is expected to have far reaching impact on the decision making circles inside the united states when it comes to forming policy as well as staking their relations forward with saudi arabia and of course you talk about sort of forming policy and part of the trunk policy is the withdrawal of troops which also concerns graham and he sort of weary of turkey's position when it comes to who the u.s. supports in the region and wants to try and you might say sort this out as well. well you have to look into the background background of this as well instagram has not just criticized the decision off the u.s. president to pull out from syria roughly he's also been critical of turkey's role

against the kurds as vents so now he had to balance both when he came to ankara and he met turkish president rather are the one who had just a few weeks ago given a very cold shoulder to the national security advisor john bolton when he came to turkey so lindsey graham in his meeting with. the president of turkey has reiterated that the united states would want to have a phased withdrawal he's urging his president to slow down the va draw on until i see this completely defeated which is again in contrast to what president trump has been saying because his statement was that we are pulling out of syria because i said has been defeated and it is been very clever this latest incident inside the city of miami beach to the sticking point between the united states the kurdish it's kurdish allies turkish government as well as the syrian government where there was an attack and four americans were killed including two servicemen off the u.s. military so lindsey graham has come to this message that he believes in the safe zone on the turkish syrian border he believes that there is

a policy that is being drawn up by the u.s. military where is there a b.k. case related by p.g. fighters of the kurdish forces are separated from the border areas and the border about towards the city of bam b.g. this is a very important and critical area where not just kurdish fighters operate but on the south the syrian government is present as well and if the kurdish fighters as they've indicated would try to go towards the syrian government that is something which will not be acceptable to both turkey and the united states believing that some of in japan. well love for more on this let's speak with bill law he's the middle east analyst for the gulf matters a website that analyzes the region and its politics joins me now from london good to have you with us mr a law lindsey graham's words as direct as they are are going to reverberate obviously in ankara where he is right now but also in d.c. . yes i think it is worthwhile noting that he is saying as an anchor and there is

now a concerted effort by the americans to try and patch up relations with turkey and with the president of the one i think also it's it's worthwhile saying that lindsey graham is a rather falstaff and sort of character any and he can blow quite quite hot and bombastic at times then cool off at other times he said a little more than a month ago the mob in some mom was a wrecking ball and it was very clear that he was responsible for the murder of her mouth how she now he's talking about handling the situation i think it's a bit of a bit of a walk back and also i think it's worth pointing out that this is actually useful for donald trump because to have someone who is an ally of trouble very close ally and a very powerful senator coming out and in effect demanding something be done with them all and it's all mine to take some of the pressure off donald trump a bear in mind that might pump air was in riyadh and put very little pressure on

mahmoud some on we saw the pictures of the two of them smiling together i think that this is really we shouldn't get too carried away with with what lindsey graham has said in ankara my sense of that is that the intention of certainly don't trump up the white house is to create an environment where and how good someone will be able to ride out the killing i was your mother how should she told tonight she creates an environment when just want a few days ago john bolton was also in and for a short shrift in the. lindsey graham really was initially tried to go make shells but he said quite a woman section from ankara. yeah i think that the turks do want to work with the americans because they see an advantage in terms of the kurds and pushing back the white b.g. which is predominately led by the kurdish militias pushing them back on the border

of turkey trumps announcing that he was going to pull out american troops very quickly as embolden the turks to to make this this push and to suggest a buffer zone twenty miles inside inside syria as as a solution to their concern about the kurds is it also a case that lindsey graham is directly asking the turks to sort of hold fire until he can make sure that the drawdown that trump hopes he can do as a big draw all of those american troops is a little bit slower rather than as quickly as turkey but want it. oh yes absolutely i mean if again a little a little more than a month ago general dunford do you know the u.s. military commander was saying it's going to take a long time to do remove american troops we're going to move slowly and then all of a sudden he's blown out of the water by as president announcing we're going to lift

the troops are going to do it now. you know what. what both sides want i think is a sensible movement one that doesn't happen too pretty because it happens very very quickly it's going to create a vacuum that's dangerous i mean i think we're we're at a point where the common sense elements within the trumpet ministrations want to slow walk back pulling the troops out gradually and of course dioecious is not defeated said they were defeated everyone knows that's not the case and i think that the intention now certainly with pompei o and indeed even with john bolton is is to say hang on a minute we've got it we've got to slow this down we've got to move back gradually within that context and then there is room for negotiation with the turks over the situation to be the kurds see what does what for the moment the law thanks for joining us from london thank you. we'll have another summit with kim jong il next

month as he tries to get the north korean leader to give up his nuclear program critics say little is really changed since their last meeting which some have dismissed as a little bit unity lane has more from washington d.c. . they smiled for the cameras quickly and then got back to the top u.s. secretary of state mike palm pale and north korean negotiator kim young then went off to the white house behind closed doors a ninety minute meeting with president donald trump the white house claimed progress the united states is going to continue to keep pressure and sanctions on north korea until we see fully and verified denuclearization we've had very good steps in good faith from the north koreans in releasing the hostages and other moves and so we're going to continue those conversations and the president looks forward to next his next debate at the white house says that will be a to get to be disclosed location at the end of february the state department announced the discussions continued for hours after secretary pompei o treated the

nor.