be very productive working from home at the same time we can balance our life our family in a better way from the caribbean to europe to the far east a growing number of countries are offering visas and deals to tempt remote workers the biggest risk is perhaps getting sand in your laptop bernard smith al-jazeera gran canaria. time for a quick check of the headlines here on al-jazeera senior egyptian delegates visited libya's capital tripoli for talks with the un recognized government it's believed they're pushing to normalize relations after backing the government's rivals in years of conflict from tripoli mahmoud head tells us more about what delegation came to talk about this visit was not expected given the fact that the egyptian regime was one or a major backer of the war after the delegation which included foreign

and intelligence officials met with libya's foreign minister d.p.t. prime minister the interior minister and also intelligence and defense officials here in western libya they discussed issues related to activating diplomatic ties between the 2 countries and also issues related to the opening the egyptian consulate in tripoli counting has begun after sunday's presidential and legislative elections in central african republic voters defied threats of violence to turn out in large numbers it was a tense lead up rebel groups threaten to march in the capital and stop elections they say are rigged. the votes are also being counted in after an election that can lead to the country's 1st peaceful transition of power. about 7 a half 1000000 people cast their ballots to choose

a successor to the president who is soon from. the f.b.i. and says the man suspected of setting off a bomb in the u.s. city of nashville died in the explosion officers started searching the premises of 63 year old anthony warner not long after a motorhome blew up on the nashville street on christmas day explosion injured 3 people damaged 40 buildings and knocked out phone and internet services israel's ends of its nationwide coronavirus lockdown non-essential shops will be shut for the next 2 weeks of people have been told to stay within their homes the measures are in a sponsor a recent surge in infections well those were the headlines in the news continues here on al-jazeera after upfront stage of them so much of life enough 'd. the helm for over 3 years in an egyptian prison cell denied the right to a fair trial no charges have been brought against al jazeera correspondent must

mean you're saying these crimes journalism. to demand more neutral links and voice solidarity told to tame journalists sign the petition. to say. are the rich doing enough to combat climate change i'll ask award winning environmental activist neemo bassy but 1st we debate whether their surveillance and history is out of control and how it can be kept in check. authoritarian regimes and even democracies that want to spy on citizens and clamp down on activist movements can now tap into a murky largely unregulated global surveillance market even criminal organizations

are suspected of having gotten their hands on cyber weapons the surveillance industry has grown basically unchecked the u.n. has even called for a moratorium on the global sale and transfer of private surveillance technology until new regulations are put in place to protect civil liberties and has good reason to worry the number of cameras shoes for surveillance globally it's expected to reach more than 1000000000 next year joining me to discuss this are ron deeper director of the citizen lab an academic group based in canada the documents state surveillance and the ways fernando garcia director of red that work in defense of digital rights a human rights organization in mexico thank you both for joining me in the arena ron i want to start with you so in a report published this month your lab found that a surveillance firm affiliated with the israeli cyber arms manufacturer n.s.a. group likely sold spying technology to at least 20 countries yes that includes

authoritarian governments like the united arab emirates but also democratic ones like belgium so what does that say about the reach of massive surveillance well i think we've been going through a really profound shift in how we communicate over the last couple of decades at the heart of which is the proliferation of sensors and the. accumulation of data in the ands of a number of private companies and so you have effectively our personal lives turned inside out and that leaves digital trails and breadcrumbs everywhere and of course governments are going to seek to exploit that to take advantage of it for whatever reason whether it's law enforcement investigations national security investigations or in the case of corrupt actors or autocratic actors to go after political opposition and in the in the same period of time especially within the last 5 years we've seen a proliferation of this industry that services their needs so these are

a wide range of companies most of which are based in the west but that's changing as well the technologies are sold to governments without really anyone checking to make sure there is proper due diligence in place to prevent harms and not surprisingly we're seeing widespread abuses as a result so governments are repeatedly using these technologies to go after journalist to go after human rights defenders to go after lawyers sometimes even with lethal consequences as we saw in the case most prominently the murdered washington post columnist jamal shoji we found out citizen showed you these inner circle of confidence had their phones hacked by saudi operatives using very sophisticated israeli surveillance technology i want to bring you into this now in 2017 you work with with citizen lab to reveal something really startling

about the mexican government ramos is talking about things that governments to right you reveal that the mexican government had in fact at the phones of members of civil society with spyware supplied to them by the israeli tech company n.s.o. group of which we mentioned and according to an investing. by a group of global journalists called the cartel project police forces in mexico have even sold similar tools to drug cartels they were supposed to be tracking down so i'm curious what concerns you the most obvious corruption and bad governance or the fact that companies like n.s.o. group are able to do business with countries that have a dismal track record on human rights exactly i think sometimes these the narrative from technology companies that sell these phone surveillance software is that is a really black and white world with good bison good guys and bad guys but the reality in places like mexico is that for example the line between organized crime

and the government itself it's blurry or none exist that most of the time so do end up with situations in which mouth over there is bought using as a as an excuse the securities you commission of a country is in i don't you think you can really use against society for example one of the cases you say about a human rights group that represents the families of more than 43 students disappeared in mexico in 2014 and their mouths were in instead of being used to find those responsible for disappearance of this. young students west used to target the lawyers representing the family some of the students you see also that these tools that are marketed as being sold to combat crime are actually used by criminals either directly or through the corruption and lucian that excuse between

many authorities. organized crime members so let me ask you about that given that the chance the potential for abuse that you just talked about a surveillance capabilities why haven't these technologies come under tight international legal control the same way there are protocols and conventions restricting the use of conventional weapon. well i guess because it's the same reason because the program is not ending is because it's a big business for a lot of people it's a big business for governments that get to give these contract these really huge contracts very with a lot of discretion they can choose who they purchase these 2 tools from because the companies also become barry very. well rich selling these papers tools all these contracts are on there are a lot of secrecy there is not transparency of them and there's a little impunity also even though we have uncovered things through that work

that's it's not just me yes more than $25.00 cases in mexico there's total impunity no one's in jail you know what it's even it's been tried for surveilling journalists and humorous defense so exclusive let me bring iran into this ron how can we expect there to be any accountability on surveillance abuses when it and the european union has supplied drones and wiretapping of quitman nazaire for example that's a country his government has has cracked down on activists so there are worldwide organizations that seem to be complicit in this yeah louie's are absolutely right here the financial incentives are huge this is a big and growing marketplace it's an industry that makes a lot of people money i would just add to it that traditionally the type of activities we're talking about here happen to be the most secretive of governments so so most governments especially the well resourced ones have within their

security apparatus signals intelligence agencies some of whom go back decades most of whom operated entirely in the shadows without any accountability so it's very hard to clean this up for both of those reasons you have state secrecy you have a very lucrative industry it's going to take a lot of work to turn. in this around and start mitigating would a really. proliferating yes i do want to ask you about china some of the most egregious uses of surveillance technologies happen and china the party state employs facial recognition systems to subjugate millions of muslims and the region and china has also exported its monitoring systems to at least 18 countries including ecuador and germany so what does that mean for freedom and privacy standards globally. well we do really have to worry about china

because you know it's quite daunting to think about the progression china has gone through over the last 10 years especially where they've proven. you know how being information controls and and a largely one party state authoritarian system can coexist can actually be very profitable when it's come by and with this type of surveillance so it suits both the government and it suits the private sector and so a lot of chinese companies are innovating around facial recognition artificial intelligence empowered surveillance and you're right they're beginning to exploit this which is why there's an urgency to what we're talking about here if western countries let's let's just start with don't get their own houses in order don't bring about some degree of accountability over their security agencies and over the companies that are export ing these type of technologies we won't be able to

address the looming threat of chinese technology which is already creeping into the marketplace as you mention ok so let's talk more about using safeguards on on these tools that actually could be beneficial if you have the safeguards there are some countries that were really praise for the way they handled the cove in 1000 pandemic they curb the spread of the virus in part because of really invasive surveillance tactics specifically in taiwan the government tracked quarantine residence g.p.s. locations using their phone numbers and then we get a notification that somebody had left an area that they were supposed to stay and so is it that proof some way louise that surveillance can benefit societies well i wouldn't go that far i think there is some certainty and not reluctant rico maybe this oh why certain countries not be more successful than others in combat in the code. and they're meek and we have the same way as you mentioned they want we have

a lot of examples with very basic tools that have not been producing those paper resorts or i would temper the conclusions on whether massive surveillance it's really important by the way that's a really. it's. supposed the emergency situation that it's not going to last forever so it's important to not draw the conclusion that total surveillance it's good for society definition you're saying you don't believe it's getting too much credit in situations like this you think there's been at least part of the marketing strategy of the companies that want to sell these type of tools and this all group rebranded it but it's pegasus to all to try to sell it to governments to combat 19 it's really more of a marketing gimmick that actually something that actually based on on on on an editor's secrets are important but there are also things that we even we shouldn't

be allowed in the democratic society or at least we should how are these question of whether we want to allow them a private society to exist. i believe for example i where it's it's something that it's very difficult to do to control even more now because for example it's of mexico we were able to document those cases because there britain effect it had to click on a link sent on an s.m.s. message but now we know that group and other vendors are have the capability of infecting phones without even leaving any trace without leaving any evidence of that surveillance happening so that makes it even more difficult to control so we really need to put 2 to have a really meaningful discussion on where to put red lines on which to go and yes we shouldn't allow to be used and which ones we can allow where we really strong robust safeguards that really keep meaning for counter and allow society to accept

control over the use of these technologies so ron do you think there are instances where or using surveillance technology is justified. absolutely i mean you know we live in a very dangerous world we live in a risk society we need governments to protect us and to enforce the law if if for nothing else than to protect and preserve human rights and you want governments to be well equipped to have the technologies they need to be able to do their jobs the confusion arises when people think there is some kind of tradeoff between surveillance and privacy what we need are robust restraint mechanisms safeguards exactly what you're talking about there's no one compatibility here governments and private companies for that matter need to be subjected to independent oversight by appropriate agencies that are established with significant capabilities themselves and authorities to be able to examine cross-check

independently to make sure that a technology that is extremely invasive as louise describes the latest versions of these type of spyware require no interaction on the part of a target you can simply ring up a phone and take it over track that person turn on their camera this is like atomic level surveillance capabilities in the hands of governments that are going to abuse them obviously we need to buckle down on restraint mechanisms which currently do not exist that will be the final word randeep are the ways for nanak i see it thank you both for joining me in the arena. thank you very much. public run a virus crisis grabbed headlines worldwide this year scientists and activists have been ringing the alarm on another crisis threatening our way of life climate change earlier i spoke to a pioneer in linking human rights to the environment whether of the right

livelihood award widely known as the alternative nobel prize him abassi is found in multiple environmental groups in his native nigeria a decade ago he said the richest one percent of the world had decided it was ok to sacrifice the 99 percent i started by asking him if anything has changed since then oh so it. should be was because at the time there was an element of seriousness about redeployment the mission. which gradually. ready for missions to action but rather it was. all governments looking for ways to of. this disorder but it was all about violent bands where nobody will be doing that by. going to the beautiful national league contributions initially what is suitable for

them to do what it's going to be good for them to do this is nothing nothing to respond to it's us. who get it through these communities and individuals are being exposed so to actually get worse let's talk about giving up responsibility leaders in the global south will say we are just trying to grow we are trying to keep our heads above water it's not expected it's not fair rather to expect them to cut back so much grain else gas emissions when there are other or fully industrialized countries that should be taking the lead on this what do you think about that. they do. is right for the countries in africa and the pacific. lasted that never really going to make that a significant need to global warming is not right to get money from them to cut it me shows that didn't create it in the short space this is right in the

current dynamics you find that countries who are proposing to do shop more than they need to do a desk should not bishan the culture that nima contributed to the climate problem should much more be shown to do than the rich countries the industrialized countries. are not serious about short term measures but there are other pushing everything to be looked at rates so that dickon of foyt do it and it immediately but will well if needed melanie's it needed action. is abandoning fossil fuels at a realistic target. it is realistic the problem is the kind of narratives will build a body as human beings our history our lives by economists our politics that we're driven by stories that we tell ourselves about so many years people are always said we can do without for seems to as some people said was or will be the major and i

just saw us into the foreseeable future but now scientists is saying that we just have a few more years coupled to the atmosphere that we have to ship from me so if we want humans and other living beings on the planet so by it we have no option but the ship to fall short of the question or whatever we like it or not is something that just has to be done so or something that happens in the us it is what seen as a market based solution to bury and capitalistic turmoil get to that in a minute but subsequent things like cap and trade. i don't think you're a fan of that why not why do you think that that is not the way to go to make sure doesn't work by metrics nature doesn't look on human economy may shows. measure at least not. dollars. cut. carbon offsetting an all source market mechanism so

a market that government time is. begun to take place and just base you live near to 90 so that you're doing if you're deployed group was initiated i believe if i remember correctly most countries wouldn't it but you might get. callie using market forces or market mechanisms to talk about when we got the time but there was a lot of pressure off was that that was the way to go and to do we have to get at these lead net 0 or the couple of isolation the coalition sounds very beautiful doesn't it but net 0. simply it means not a whit of. some stuff for what it means you've got to keep on polluting europe and you probably sip it you choose to not. like and keep on polluting the atmosphere because the trees are weighed out 3 countering what i'm doing in europe that is. björk fiction this is climates tradition it doesn't address the real issue which is

to stop the pollution plan that would make it more national crisis making money from other people's misery so you can you can so you dismiss you have to look up. and said that really needs to happen is the pollution needs to stop and as a result of this horrible pandemic we've been living in and a lot of ways some pollution has stopped when when cities stopped and the streams stopped at the core of this and that people say it's a return to nature there with some blue water blue skies in places that we have not seen before how does it make you feel that it took something like a deadly pandemic for us to see what can actually happen. what will really will depend big us dollar john much in that sense because it should be humans can change we are not it's not impossible for us to change.

so the prime minister or star system is 2nd place a risk to get a movement is restricted. conduction activities of pollution. signature create a little bit. worse just for a moment. we didn't have enough time to lead the lesson that ought to be let it. be climate would not could not solve the problems of global warming couldn't give us clean water for the little time i'm speaking to you from the nih did they. do with oil spills on google during the lockdown because the oil corporations were pretty they were considered to be 7 cisco you might think that so they kept on drilling. even where there were locked up in their homes so we give no with mischa quote unity of let it on the. that think rather than with to the pandemic or

to noun boy in church or the subject problem we have this problem we have to change the situation by ourselves we have to mobilize we have to work easily diety we have to join forces to make sure that we see the change that is needed so let's pivot to boko haram for a moment and i know that some people may not understand how that gets this conversation but it does because whenever you talk about boko haram we often talk about it and in a religious or security context but there is very much an environmental and also to look at when you talk about boko haram and what is happening and nigeria. why don't we see more of the connection between the 2 well you know generally the environment is no dust does not to get double wrenching news in politico compositions. is much more is talk about religion as the drive out of dollars and of course there is a question of balance also arced religion as

a reason for the balance but is a bit sooner also that little respectfully established it did not is that part of nigeria is caused by the government of the tips. which is it didn't begin as fresh water electricity or the leaking west africa is shared by nigeria. and the. mother 90 percent the size it was in the nets in sixty's this us made this mess middle she shows this basement a plaster on his displacement of well off thomas of course when they moved they moved it after it so they moved to this people who are displaced of choice easily did lose their misapply because they can easily be recruited into this kind of militia groups just migrants on a crit mccall's so we have a sinister motive ometer tradition madura with a trip. as well as. greeted by global warming i want to end on

a personal note what you do is dangerous all right eventually that when you started your activism the country was under military rule would you have been incarcerated detained harassed some activists of and paid with their lives and specifically one study found that killings of environmental defenders had doubled over the last 15 years to reach levels usually associated with war zones do you ever personally fear for your safety for your life. when you take on the kind of work that we do it is driven by commitment and passion and it's. a good lunch for some shit down on the shores of the polluted rivers i just heard much said that europe is not. we when we. do it's

kind of situations we just don't have an option where do people critical just that'll be the final word mr neavitt passing thank you very much for joining us here but you probably agree. that as our show up front i'll be back next year. if you look at the history of morphine if you look at the history of our own if you look at the cocaine these things do not enter the world as evil underworld

drugs they enter the world as medicine. a new 3 part documentary series looks at the history and geopolitics of drug trafficking and its impact on the world today drug trafficking politics and power coming soon on al-jazeera a unique perspective on nigeria we have so much more we just don't snore of money this most though we have. through the eyes of a sudden abrasive african photographer. to some of the tyrant join us live in still being us what it is to be. 3 years on how has life changed. rewind ga 30 an al-jazeera. teaching you can watch al-jazeera english streaming live on i.q. channel. plus thousands of our programs award winning documentary.

death these are folks. subscribed to you cheap pullets last al-jazeera english. libya's tripoli government is visited by a high level delegation from egypt which spent years backing its rivals in a bloody conflict. along down jordan result 0 live from doha also coming up the u.s. president hints of good news about a coronavirus relief bill which has been refusing to sign. a big turnout in central african republic cities for elections but in some places rebels opened fire trying to scare voters away.