in two thousand and seventeen smartphone sales reached nearly four hundred sixty billion dollars but the rising price tag for the better known smartphones is not just an issue in the developed world and there is heavy headwind against the high and smartphones we saw that with the i phone. the sales were not that great there's some macro issues as well china is slowing down india is ok but europe is slowing down with the release of the fall the industry leaders seem convinced that continuing innovation and the ability to access five g. data networks in the near future will be enough to keep smartphone consumers coming back for more. still to come on cars in the cost back in fashion the beauty seller was forced out of business on the i saw a make over. the first nine months later lebanon has a government but its economy is screaming for attention and it could be at risk of

collapse if some key areas aren't made into a priority economics editor a bit early as the breakdown for us thank you adrian we're talking about a zombie economy here a huge unsustainable public debt that is literally sucking the life out of lebanon's finances lebanon is the third most indebted nation in the world and most of it is owned by local banks half of the government's money goes towards servicing its debts meanwhile youth unemployment is at double digits as a result there are up to fourteen million lebanese living abroad the money they send home makes up a fifth of the overall economy then there's a war on its borders with syria but lebanon's economic problems existed before the war one third of the country is living below the poverty line while the country's debts continue to be paid back to you a.j. . well joining us now from beirut is messy good bro. chief economist and head of

the economic research and analysis department a big blast bank group good to have you with us on cutting the cost eleven billion dollars pledged by international donors last year to help lebanon's economy but to access those funds this new government has to implement pretty tough economic and financial reforms like the budget deficit fiscal reforms fighting corruption can it do it that's a very good point the government of lebanon irrespective of the eleven billion dollars in pledges by the international community to help a grade in the infrastructure in the country had to address these reforms because of the competitiveness of the lebanese economy has declined over the recent few years that the investment climate the business environment have deteriorated and that's very obvious from the global in this is like the global competitiveness index by the world economic forum and the ease of doing business survey by the

world bank saw these are the forms were overdue anyway there is an added incentive to start implementing these reforms through the jews the physical deficit to improve the business environment to upgrade existing laws to use the operating costs on the private sector with the pledges of eleven billion dollars because there are conditional on those reforms and there are specific sector orderly reforms where the funds will go and finance infrastructure projects that need to be implemented as well so these reforms have been overdue. and the priority of this government has to be reducing the borrowing needs of the lebanese state by shrinking the budget deficit and second stimulating growth story increase economic activity since economy grows has average one and a half percent since two thousand and eleven how does it do all of that though when

corruption against such a big problem there in lebanon too i mean can the government really get a get a grip on corruption. well the government has to try the government has to try one of the positive things about the new government is that its ministerial statement its action plan includes very specific points about reforms. which is the first for lebanese government one of the points included to do is the size and the structure of the public sector to stop recruiting in the public sector and that's one way of addressing political nepotism corruption has to be addressed to gradually draft flows waiting to be passed in parliament that will help develop a national strategy to fight corruption but definitely this is one of the major challenges facing the current government ok let's talk about you've mentioned it earlier the amount of debt that lebanon is seeing at the moment who actually owns

that that debt and what are its implications for the future yes the lebanese that lebanese public that reached eighty five billion dollars at the end of two thousand and eighteen sixty percent of this public that is in lebanese pounds and forty percent is in foreign currencies mainly in your as dollars the sixty percent of the lebanese pound is held by lebanese commercial banks by the central bank of lebanon by the national soak social security fund and by local insurance companies so one hundred percent of the lebanese town denominated that is held by local lebanese institutions forty percent in foreign currencies ninety four percent of it is euro bonds market euro bonds and the rest is bilateral and multilateral loans do you know bomb components are held by commercial banks and the central bank. and the rest is held by foreign asset managers so for an asset managers hold nine billion

dollars of the lebanese public which means that eighty nine percent of the lebanese public that is held by lebanese institutions whether private or public and therefore that provide stability to the public that despite being equivalent two hundred fifty percent of g.d.p. the sort highest level in the world. stability and how i heard it when when they were when that there are so many vested interests that you're talking about i mean that and that's one of the reasons why lebanon's banking sector has been so resilient yes by what i mean by public finance stability and specifically regarding the public that is with this high level of public that eighty five billion dollars equivalent two hundred fifty percent of g.d.p. it's still stable you don't see the fluctuation overall in the public that the prices of six of the bodies found in only made the treasury bills or treasury bonds

we've seen some fluctuations in the prices of euro bonds in two thousand and eighteen but overall given the high level of the public that it is stable because exactly eighty nine percent of it is being financed by local institutions who do not panic at the slightest political deadlock or security shock already general instability that does not mean that there is not urgency to reduce the size of the public that. reducing the fiscal deficit definitely this is a top priority of the current government the cib really great to talk to your cash in the course many thanks indeed for being with us thank you now there are some signs of progress on the streets of mosul a city that used to be i saw a self declared capital in iraq the armed group was defeated them more than eighteen months ago and people are now beginning to return to what's left of the city child stratford reports from mosul. a beauty salon in eastern mosul

business as usual and one of several to open in the city since i so was forced out almost two years ago before that women here cold wearing makeup or not covering their faces would be whipped seventy times we didn't have beauty salons when i sold ruled the muscle but after they were defeated the beauty business had become popular again it's a sign of overcoming eisel indoctrination. life on the surface at least may be returning to normal in the east of the city but just two kilometers away it's a very different world. this is western mosul what used to be the old city where i still fighters put up their last stand last year international donors pledged around thirty billion dollars in loans investment to help rebuild the devastated parts of iraq including mosul but the results are slow in coming. it's been more than a year and a half since victory over eisel was declared here and there is very little sign of

reconstruction having started yet there are daily reports of isis supporters and fights is trying to recruit in areas they want controlled the territorial battle against i still may be over but the ideological battle goes on. one of the reasons i still was able to take root in mosul and vost swathes of iraq's sunni heartland in the west and north of the country was because of what the sunni community said was neglect discrimination and often violence by repeated shia led government but all suffered terrible atrocities under isis rule shia christians use e.-d. and sunni alike according to iraq's national security adviser eisel is already trying to reorganize and has increased its activities in parts of north and western iraq iraqi security forces continue to arrest members of what they describe as i

sold sleeper cells in recent months i still is reported to have kidnapped and murdered dozens of people it's accused of cooperating with iraqi security forces and they have been countless attacks by i saw on iraqi soldiers and members of the various pro iran armed groups that were at the forefront of the fight against eisel the local government in mosul says they are taking measures against any attempt to spread isis message. in that call i have ordered for unified friday sermons and all mosques in the in of a province hocussed on counteracting i saw an ideology and highlighting the atrocities committed by them and how people should work together to overcome their ramadan so i sold culture at the place where baghdadi declared himself kalif of isis so cool caliphate in two thousand and fourteen officials lead plaque marking the start of

a five year project to rebuild the annuity mosque. but iraqis their leaders and governments around the world know it will take more than just reconstruction to defeat on schools or ideas and finally this week in the northern philippines a program to build a dam on a river that held sacred by a tribe has been met by fierce opposition the reservoir is supposed to secure water supply from the capital manila but as general allen duggan reports from the sierra madre mountains and turn a tribal leaders say it will destroy their way of life. they will forest is steeped in legend and with the arrival of tourists and modern living the people struggle to be heard which is why they insist on practicing their age old customs no matter how out of place they may seem. the cully war river is sacred for the dumaguete they have been praying here for centuries. a new

government project is threatening to take it away. this ecosystem is our life our livelihood this is our home and we would like to fight for it the people are coming together to speak up so that everyone will know that this land belongs to us we inherited this from our ancestors. the philippine government wants to build a seventy meter high water reservoir here this placing not only the people but also endangered species in the forests that plan threatens to obliterate the way of life here that is centuries old the multimillion dollar project partially funded by the chinese government is expected to ensure water security for the capital manila by damming the river. experts say you water sources are needed millions of filipinos don't have access to clean safe and reliable water supply is the asian

development bank among others is warning the philippines it is likely to face a water crisis within the next few years threatening not only drinking water shortages in towns and cities but in heavily dependent agricultural communities to . a program that. in the works for. over forty we have been dialogue with people in public even in the cases we will see the the whole field of the people except that there are certain things that. despite the assurances opposition remains because of the destruction of the fragile ecosystem. i think it's not worth it because we have other means to supply water to metro manila there are several in them expansion is sharing magri mountain mention that can only be seen in the philippines so the first effect of the watershed is the death of those species it is

a tough balance and as government looks for solutions there may be lessons that can be learned from indigenous tribes for centuries they were able to survive and live in harmony with nature without destroying it. and that is our show for this week if you'd like to comment on anything that you've seen you can tweet me a finnigan on twitter please use the hash tag a.g.c. to see when you do or you can drop us a live counting the cost that i was a zero dot net is our e-mail address as always there's plenty more for you 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. but that's it for this edition of counting the cost of filling in for the whole team here and thanks for being with us the news on al-jazeera is next.

al-jazeera explores prominent figures of the twentieth century and how and why bill reese influenced the course of history the salt that he did not get enough credit for and in the budget he wants to be a big historical figure but he was mandela the biggest con in the world the prisoner and the president who came together to end up apartheid in south africa nelson mandela and f.w. de klerk face to face on just. one day fidel castro arrived to the country club and they decided to play god. and certainly if you didn't castro said

to sheikh you write knowledge shape if we could put. bread sauce children so far into this magnificent nonstate a chronicle of the revolution and its aspirations through the prism of its architecture cuba's unfinished spaces on al-jazeera. the u.s. and regional allies of venezuela's opposition leader discuss how to put more pressure on president nicolas maduro. to want to al-jazeera life from a headquarters in doha i'm dating obligates also heads nigeria's main opposition

party rejects in this election results showing wins for president mohamed el bihari . the u.s. and taliban representatives arrive for more talks in cats who are washington special envoy says it could be a significant moment plus. and i ask you this to. be segregation era road trip drama is crowned best picture at the oscars we'll look at why diversity was perhaps the night's biggest winner. helo the u.s. has told fellow regional allies event as well as opposition to do more to cut off president nicolas maduro cash flow through measures like tougher sanctions so the u.s. vice president mike pence is addressing a meeting of mostly latin american countries it's called the lima group that's happening in colombia they've recognized venezuelan opposition leader why don't

know as the country's interim president he's also there as you can see what brings us together today is the recognition by all the nations gathered here that nicolas maduro is a usurper with no the jitterbug claim to power and nicolas maduro must go the struggle in venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy between oppression and freedom between the suffering of millions of venezuelans. the opportunity for the future of freedom and prosperity so u.s. backed efforts to bring food and medicine over the brazilian border have ended in violence as you can see forces loyal to maduro fired on opposition supporters up to twenty five people may have been killed and president's maduro who believes the u.s. aid is part of efforts to topple him has cut off diplomatic ties with colombia for supporting his rival let's cross over to see who's joining us from bogota to first

tell us what measures the u.s. has announced. and specifically what mike pence has been saying. yes there mike is expected to announce any minute and now a number of new sanctions in particularly against the. trio possibly for governors of border states between border states with colombia which the u.s. is accusing of being responsible for that we've seen over the weekend as the volunteers the supporters of them in a sweat and opposition that were trying to move the sent by the united states to the border of columbia to the border with brazil and they were trying to move it inside the country they haven't been able to do that because they were met with resistance on part of the. national guard and also the so-called

divas these are civilians to arm the militias in the face of the government and he could last a minute or so he's expected to announce sanctions against the governors and also to make an international call for the freezing assets of. deaths the national the minnesota national or oil company at this if this is true it would indeed complicate even further the ability for the government of president. to axxess the much needed cash to continue operating the government there and that's for the opposition what's their plan as they meet with their supporters. well. the leader of the opposition spoke right before parents he said that they will not be stopped by the violence that they had to confront over the weekend that

there is no going back that they will continue trying to devise a plan to get the aid inside the government to topple nicolas maduro to get an interim government functioning in venezuela and to reach as soon as possible a truly free elections that's what. he also the governments that have been supporting him and also he for the first time we heard them essentially the scribed been this way as a sanctuary for terrorists and this is something that we haven't heard before that the colombian. members among them those responsible for a recent being on a police academy here in colombia said that they are finding sanctuary in venezuela and that's another reason why. the world needs to get together in response to what they consider to be their ship at this point. all right. thank

you. nigeria's main opposition parties rejecting initial election results currently being announced counting is still underway following presidential elections there on saturday it's also been expected to be a tight race between the incumbent muhammadu buhari and his main rival i think. so in a hall is joining us from the capital what more can you tell us about the opposition now rejecting the results. well look this is a particularly tense period in the election process of course as results official results start being announced by the independent electoral commission in the building behind me there are a handful of states results have been announced through the course of the day both parties of course already declaring victory on social media it's

a particularly tense time now this comment comes from the chairman of the p.d.p. party the party of r.t. gravel vac are the main challenger to president speaking in a press conference a short while ago saying that all the results announced up to now were incorrect and totally unacceptable he doesn't appear to offer any evidence for that he doesn't substantiate his claim or offer any specifics he simply wholesale writing off all of the results now if the p.d.p. had evidence to substantiate their claim one avenue that might be open to them is to go to the courts and seek an injunction the whole taking the announcement process one an investigation was carried out that's an avenue that was already mooted by the party before the results even began as far as we know they haven't taken that step and there is a big significant civil society group that we've been speaking to over the last couple of days called the yard jago has carried out a parallel vote count which they've done successfully in two previous elections two

thousand and fifteen and two thousand and eleven they're watching the announcement of these results extremely closely determined that if there is any discrepancy in any of them according to their parallel vote count they will make that public immediately and i've spoken to the arguer and jaga at this point in proceedings we've only seen a handful of states announce mind you at this point in proceedings are happy with what they see and turner so far there have been at least thirty five deaths reported up until this point is there a fear of violence once the results are announced. i mean i think that's always going to be a concern there's been post-election violence in nigeria before in two thousand and eleven several hundred deaths occurred after the vote clearly tempers are high among supporters of both camps being led by the front the sort of things that are

being put down on social media indeed by party members like the chairman of the p.d.p. but the same thing happening on the other side would potentially tend to inflame opinion on the street to if there are these direct challenges so yes i think that is a deep laurie not to mention of course the circumstances that the elections were held in a week long delay before they began have offered many many potential routes for challenge so it's not unlikely it's not unexpected that that may happen it will be a concern what sort of effect that will have on the streets ok john hall with an update from the boozer thank you. britain has been told it should quickly give up control of the chain goes archipelago and that's a chain of islands in the indian ocean which are also claimed by more recess in an advisory opinion judges of the international court of justice ruled that britain had illegally split the islands from more recess before independence in the one nine hundred sixty s. thousands of islanders were then deported to make way for a huge us air base while the courts review is non-binding it carries heavy symbolic

importance as it goes to the heart of issues that persists from britain's colonial past. also britain's government is moving to ban all wings that the lebanese group has but enough for being what it describes as a terrorist organization the u.k.'s home secretary has accused it of trying to destabilize the middle east britain's already blacklisted hezbollah's external security units and its military wing but now wants to outlaw its political arm to the new ban will come into force on friday if approved by parliament craig is an assistant professor with the defense studies department at king's college london and we asked him what he thinks is behind this move. i think it's to do a lot with pressure coming from washington a realignment with british policies and the u.k. the u.s. is more countering and more aggressive move in policies towards containing iran in the region i think it has to seen it be seen within that light but the debate has

been going on for a long time in the u.k. and across the western world of how with what we're going to do with hezbollah and i think now they've taken the step of saying we're going to classify the entire organization political and military as a terrorist organization which i don't think is always a very productive way forward hezbollah is a destabilizing factor in the region and when you look at how they are exporting their operations across syria iraq and potentially also yemen and not obviously lebanon as well but on the other hand it is it is also social political play in lebanon that is part of the government that obviously if you are trying to target just the the military when you will not be able to to affect their political wing and if it comes to countering finances the issue with has ball is obviously that it has so many multiple streams of income that if you sanction it in the west and you make sure that western western money doesn't go in country from western countries and to its bolland evan on it doesn't necessarily undermine the financial situation

of the organization because it is a hybrid organization that as a social political actors controlling territory controlling people controlling infrastructure is almost a state within the state that can raise money and on the other hand obviously it has iran as a as a matter of bacca so it's a difficult situation to deal with so it's coming just a moment right here on al-jazeera cuba vote so we'll have more on the draft constitution and what it will mean for a country trying to better connect with the world. a o.e. . and i there here in the middle east we've got a lot of wet weather that's working its way towards us so already brought some very strong winds.