of more than $600.00 songs. the us singer songwriter is a winner of the nobel prize for literature its body of work spend 6 decades and he sold 125000000 records globally universal music described the deal as the most significant music publishing agreement this century. this is al jazeera and these are the top stories u.s. health experts are warning of dark times ahead in the fight against profit 19 it's reported its deadliest week since april and their affairs the worst is yet to come as people celebrate the upcoming holiday season. the u.k. is gearing up for a mass coronavirus vaccination program which begins in a few hours the 1st doses of the files a biotech vaccine will be administered in england wales and scotland elderly people

and national health staff will be among the 1st to be inoculated an inquiry into last year's mass shooting in new zealand has found failings by the police and intelligence there's nothing could have stopped the attack australian gunman brenton talent is serving life in prison without parole. ultimately this roughly 800 page report came be distilled into one simple premise with some new zealanders should be safe anyone who calls new zealand harm regardless of race religion sexual orientation gender should be safe new zealanders deserve a system that does its best to keep you safe and made it's what we are committed to building south korea says it secured millions of coronavirus vaccines amid a growing surge of infections it's enough to cover 84 percent of the population but the inoculation program will only begin after monitoring other countries rollouts for a few months. at least 8 opposition activists have been arrested in hong kong it's

because they joined an annual protest march on july 1st this year it was deemed an illegal assembly a number of those arrested which included several former politicians announced it on their social media pages. one day a nationwide shutdown has been merged in india as farmers ramp up protests against new agriculture laws transport workers and teachers are among the other unions supposed to strike tens of thousands of farmers have been camped outside india's capital for more than a week say the law will hurt their livelihoods and to calling on the government to repeal it. but as the headlines don't go away the news continues here on al jazeera right after counting the cost was he said. we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter what you see

al-jazeera will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you. al-jazeera. i there i'm give it al this is counted because on al jazeera you look at the world of business and economics this week the end of austerity the ideology of collective punishment decimating the weakest in society for the economic mismanagement and crimes of the rich and powerful to be consigned to history. and while the international monetary fund warns of a rise in inequality due to the pandemic one leading charity says the lender of last resort is still dishing out loans that require countries to hack back at public services. commerce before politics despite u.s.

and european opposition germany pushes ahead with a gas pipeline that cements its dependence on russia but also increases germany's dominance of the rest of europe. on a country's finances are in a mess and the lender of last resort needs to step in a bailout comes with conditions mostly draconian austerity measures but governments have also been known to implement them for ideological reasons the international monetary fund has recognized that maybe austerity is not the best course of action and it can in fact make matters worse with pandemic the i.m.f. now says governments should spend spend spend and not worry about the finances until a recovery is embedded some would say the death of austerity should not be mourned why well let's take a look at a few case studies from recent history under the i.m.f. european central bank and european union bail out greece had to take an axe to public spending the people of greece paid

a heavy price seeing an increase in child mortality is health care spending was slashed from almost 10 percent to 2008 to 8 percent in 2017 the troika had wanted spending to fall to 6 percent the unemployment rate remains shockingly high of 17 percent last year and the country has yet to pay off its debts. 21 i.m.f. administered bailouts have done little to spark team is economy into life for the past 3 years the economy has been in recession and the pandemic will take another huge bite out of the country economy minister martin boozman has blamed the i.m.f. austerity measures for the credit crisis but argentina has managed to convince creditors to restructure $65000000000.00 of debt and is now in talks with the i.m.f. about its 44000000000 dollar loan and after a $141000000000.00 pound bailout of the banks in 20082 years later persons then finance minister george osborne introduced austerity measures to reduce the budget

deficit the result was debt almost doubled to $1.00 trillion dollars growth was anemic and the economy was $130000000000.00 smaller a decade later more than $4000000.00 children that's one in 4 lived in poverty and more than 1000000 people were forced to use food banks now there is a caveat the end of austerity is mainly for advanced economies for a control of their own currencies and can raise money and the i.m.f. believe such countries should be able to stabilize their finances by the middle of the decade well joining me now via skype from london is phillip blond a political thing can and you can theologian and director of think tank reza publica thank you for your time great to talk to you this is interesting advice isn't it from the i.m.f. the advice to spend to save lives and to keep the economy going but that is a huge change in contrast from the financial crisis in 2000 knight isn't it yeah it

reminds me of john ruskin's who's very framus english critic. of the monsoon so and he said there is no where out launce. i think that's true. the fundamental right of all the economy if you will is to allow life to flourish but if there is no there is no way out then what is the last hurrah your father's. choice is really saying the calling the old saying lies have the balls the country. banks protect our economy all those that have best protected human life so when they need to come to asia bold it's not just a bill or a factory and countries like china japan south korea i well come from. and fro. with. their economies and grow this brand but i will

find the good side what i'm striking from the i.m.f. is already to understand. the. 5 whole developing. that should this you austerity as a response to the carotid artery that seems like a nice sensible is. the say and really what i think they should be doing and i suspect they all. be creating problems to allow them to call if we need to spend as well because. investing is how construct creating this integration for the people to stay not down which is the idea frank approach. to preventing viral spread that we say. save the economy is something we're going to talk to the interim director of oxfam

international about a little later in the program but i want to come back to this advice for advanced economies at least to spend spend spend this is just mean that we're going to see an increase in debt and deficits which just 12 months ago would have been think about. well you know there are different ways you i think create stat mole if you are you a card a prop so along the supply chain so you can just contract economists. call the fish if that truck thinking that so you buy the fuel you'll back. creasing if you're the fabless to. confirm that i'm driving the birds ringback spending route is a good instruction so essentially things are made because essentially the color made already the states of gravity of how i think about branding by. destroying the

dome and the experiences. ization to supply chains because essentially men stefansson probably means have safety that so and that's they support people in jobs through expending that have to support people and to freeze well the system we know from over the mountains of data that. people find it very very hard the longer they are in welfare system the farms back into the labor market back evaporating called life support so that there's enough business cooperatives to bounce back as quickly as you found and i think i think back really imperative but if you offend your population should the laboratory are employed with sobriety that's essentially diminishes the possibility for recovery further down the road so we think in that sense i think you are actually

spending money to prevent race assassinates let's talk about the u.k. for a minute it was also introduced austerity for what critics to made with purely ideological reasons. to sort of shrink the state and cut public services now a decade on you know the number of people using food banks has risen to 1200000 according to the trussell trust i mean so what does that say is it just the vulnerable then who suffer what's interesting in developed this reference rate it's the only popular trunk shall we say is. this prevents them instead of in the west and well for the past sort of. a saintly penalizes the working in the developed world. how the rising cost in the developing world so if you do a distribution. whose benefits of marriage from the last it's it's

there is in the way i think lasted about i think they settle on the same people from actually the working classes in the west and haven't really benefited from global brands that's all and be branded to be money during times of stacking and so forth so what they send me is we introduce a stare and see a into a system where these people are highly vulnerable anyway after the only thing security is done with a team of lawyers and you know you can tell the americans are and i'm not as a this people are not stable the poor that all i'm back create the the conditions for puppets and i think george osborne you my all in the show actually it was very attractive because a price in the british that. very lives so

that we didn't pass anything like princes they have to be paid on this that or so on a simple but it went on too long it was articulate on the academic idea that all schools have any data states in the local state so all councils and all. public services are essentially become defined by and they didn't have to be bassman in them to enable them which i think is the shame by the bring the virus crisis out of state to attenuate that we'll have to leave it there thank you so much for your time there for that don't we preach it thank you. now while the i.m.f. says countries do not need to introduce austerity measures or any kind of belt tightening according to oxfam the majority of the loans extended by the lender during the pandemic will require some cuts to public spending and that could force some countries to cut public health care pensions and jobs such as doctors and

teaches over madrid vera joins me now via skype is the interim executive director for oxfam international we really appreciate your time this things unfair right if you're an advanced economy and you're already doing ok you can spend spend spend the i.m.f. says it will be fine but if you're already struggling belt tightening will come and things could get worse. it will not work it will not work for the people i mean obviously it has found that 84 percent of the 91 they and their colleagues 1000 loans and polish and in some cases they don't require countries to a lot talk about sarah the measures in aftermath of the health crisis is a thanks at least 767 lower middle income countries from the u.s. to 24 or 70 measures could include cuts to public services including wage freezes cast of public sector workers like doctors and nurses it includes increases in

value of the taxes which apply to every they call it seeing food household soup soup lies and fall disproportionately on women and the poorest parts of the population thinking human terms i mean just when people think they can brief us or . somebody they could be losing their access to health care for themselves or their children or using income support having over the last jobs so it doesn't work for the poor people for the most vulnerable people and for the poorest countries and the i.m.f. itself has been warning of rising inequality has been warning. of rising poverty but many countries are dependent on international investors for money right i mean how does that work now he's $2.00 sides off there of of the going not only on the one side it seems like the is the i.m.f. just 2 faces research and sometimes executive. that director are saying the right things or 2 countries doing in terms of what they should be doing today i mean the

n.f.l. is saying a standard spend spend it has been calling for an inclusive real recall sounded the alarm bells on inequality peaking and saying that it and then we were seeing it i mean the i.m.f. has a strong research about that and yours awful stary we find we we command these these sort of research and analyses but then comes the unethical practices and as you say i mean countries need money and they need even more money now because of their often their inks and the consequence and so when it comes to the county by county practices we are seeing that loans i mean is so far away from their works and the i.m.f. is very influential if they want to commission more requests into those laws and they would be how they asked soon we begin to see the end of all of that underneath it will exacerbate they now find the across the world and who as we pay that price

we have to see different ways i mean we have to honor this research on the consequences of the conclusions that you cause and we definitely countries need money now where should you call it should come from that consolation during the pandemic prime's there is still too many countries that are paying more into debt service than what for example we are spending in health care it has come from a revenge bent of a commitments to their open seat 0.7 percent of the of the g.d.p. that is 50 years now of it and it's not there except for a few countries and the i.m.f. could do more i mean they could go further and block and block these way they harvest off issuing a special drawing rights form of global currency that can be pumped into the global economy in times of of me because i don't need now. i'm equally sure even 33 trillion of the special rights which all i.m.f.

member countries will be able to access without having to repay so there are ways of all doing it that are not long's we conditions ok so that is what you think the i.m.f. could do what about the international community what about the private sector and what should it be doing you know seeing in that signing if if you think about generally speaking about the international community they should be agreeing and going further in debt cancellation that is aeschines they have done something but he's not close to what should be should be done because they should include also there from or buying control from other movie that there are creditors and they should include also private sector i mean it's really outrageous that now precisely in. times i am but i did lenders have not been brought into any kind of these g. 20 deals for that cancellation as most of the governments have done so who are

countries are continuing to repay their debts to reach banks and hedge funds you know now. so you have this situation where some of the world's richest and biggest creditors and fortunes on their shareholders are cashing checks when people in their distressed countries are lacking the basic public services health care right now is seriously ill should mean counseling all that pavement all rich countries would level institutions but also for private creditors like ok i've got time for one more i just want to bring this back to the reality of what this all means for people who are already struggling for naive and fanaa of lee hoods right because people are going to be impacted by this. i mean all of our research also also shows how you got to anyone 64 countries countries including kenya or pakistan or some where they were already spending more of on repayments

than in health care because the before of a pandemic get them or a part of our research to finds how far it's only 22 for her stand of the global war it for us who has any kind of social protection in such as sick leave or unemployment. protection even if it doesn't change the full. economic system and the writing it's now taxed wages what we will be seeing is that vidis we are thinking that even $500000000.00 people could go into poverty because of the pandemic and its consequences it will even be worse so it has. a foolish if if we are thinking about the most. of our most impact that by the pandemic that such those that are not only using lives but their livelihoods to ok

will have lived there thank you so much for your time that instead of there there the interim executive director for oxfam international we appreciate it thanks to you. now can you dealing commercial deals from politics well that's what germany is hoping to do with the controversial nord stream pipeline that will bring in gas from russia to europe's biggest economy that's despite the latest sanctions from the united states that take aim at russian pipe playing vessel academic skate which is attempting to complete the last 147 kilometers of construction but the net has already said it won't bow to u.s. pressure not to go ahead with the project despite making it more dependent on russia for the supply of energy which washington believes is a security threat even the poisoning of russian opposition leader alexina valley which many thought may be a reason for berlin to give up on the project has been brushed aside some of

germany's own neighbors have imposed their own sanctions poland find russia's state controlled gas giant gazprom 6500000000 euros for going ahead with the construction of the nord stream to pipeline without securing its approval. we're joining me now via skype from berlin is europe for big york is a senior fellow and director for central and eastern europe at the german marshall fund of the united states really good to talk to you so the u.s. keeps imposing sanctions poland has issued its own penalties i mean is there anything that would make then change its mind when it comes to russia being such a great energy. i think we have to step back a little bit on this question because if you see the situation from germany. from the perspective of the german government and also german business then russia and previously soviet union have always been very reliable and that in part going back

almost half a century or so from that since germany is proceeding very rationally and pursuing a very strong energy partnership with with russia what the german debate's tends to fade out however is that russia also moves this energy as a political weapon against its neighbors accounts other partners and this is a point that simply underestimated here in germany for as long as. the country and its debates decouples economic and energy questions from those political and security questions relating to russia. this this decision to go for a strong partnership with russia is not going to be not going to be a rigorous unfortunately what today and this is what i struggle to understand is that the pipeline will be on the used to mean the existing pipeline has huge capacity which is already on the you so what's this about is this about

geopolitical troop well this is really in the 1st place geo political tool that russia voice you know the pipeline capacity that is in place is fully sufficient to provide europe with russian actual gas supplies to. from russia over the last years have been relatively flat and there's no expectation that there would be a massive growth in all humans so what we really have here is a diversification by russia off its pipeline network the creation of redundancies that would then make it possible to shift volumes from one pipeline to another wherever russia wants to put pressure on specific transport transit countries such as ukraine so this is really a strategy of they were supplying and expanding pipeline capacity in order to be able to use it for political pressure in the future there were some outside of germany who thought that the poisoning of opposition leader lexy novelli may 4th

the chancellor angela merkel to change her thinking on this what is her calculation head do you think. there really was debates that started. in the summer here in germany whether or not in response to the poisoning of alec saying that our new best should be a priest a poor perhaps even a council asian or north stream to pipeline project there seem to be quite some momentum there were many senior policymakers including from chancellor merkel's party who demand that this would be the appropriate response and even the chancellor at some stage herself seemed to indicate that this is not only a commercial project as she has maintained for many years but also one that has a strong pull its for that and now unfortunately this concession has not gone and gone the any further the momentum seems to have seems to fade in the meantime and there's no indication at this stage that's. the chancellor and her government.

would take measures against those projects what i can really only do is speculate here why this is why this is the case in my opinion germany is acting responsibly unilaterally in this context that basically rhetorical always stresses has to be a european approach to energy policy to energy security but when it comes to this particular project germany is clearly acting unilaterally and very selfishly selfishly in my opinion unfortunately bats impression is not has not gone away and it's not being biased by and by the german government any time soon 18 countries 18 european countries have opposed this project it's only going as far as saying this increases germany's power in europe doesn't it well it does in the way because it shows that

a large and influential country like germany does get away with unilateral decisions even though gallants a overwhelming majority of the partners who are opposed to this project. plus a number of countries like ukraine that point themselves outside of the bar but are very close european partners at the same time i think that this project is also one that words obviously put germany into a much stronger position as an energy hard in europe. would put that in a different and. competitive position than europeans energy market so there are there are a number of aspects that will increase german german power and influence here at the same time what is popular in the minds of. amongst europeans this project has a very stark divide between germany and especially central and eastern european partners in the european union and beyond and it will be very hard to mend the.

divide in the years to come if germany does not change its. on this controversial project ok thank you so much for your perspective your analysis from berlin europe for a quick thank you. and that is that show for this week to get in touch with us by tweeting me at camperdown and do you use the hash tag a j c d c when you do or drop us an email counter because al-jazeera dot net is an hour and dress but there's more for you online at all to 0 dot com slash c.t.c. that will take you straight to a page which has individual reports links and entire episodes for you catch up. and that is it this edition of counting because some came down from home team thanks for joining us news on al-jazeera is next. from mother to daughter an ancient craft kept alive by

a bustling matriarch. from start to finish. all traditions intertwined with new designs making this family's place unique in tunisia has a rich tapestry. the threads are not just 0. i was raised in france. these are my grandparents. these are my parents and this is mean. fighting both isis and us on. the 1st of a 2 part epic tale of a remarkable family. the father the son and the jihad. one on al-jazeera.

al-jazeera where every 'd. i'm can but alan doha the top stories on al-jazeera u.s. health experts are warning of dog times ahead in the fight against covert 19 it's reported its deadliest week since april and their affairs the worst is yet to come as people celebrate the upcoming holiday season. and what we have now is a challenge ahead of us of the bleak months of december and january where we have a baseline of inspections that literally is breaking records every day with the ghauts a number of infections number of hospitalizations and.