here in mexico it's one reason upolu al-jazeera mexico city the messaging platform whatsapp passed postponed plan changes to its terms because of a backlash from uses it had given customers until next month to accept an update about the data it shares with its owner of facebook but it's now scraps the deadline what has more than 2000000000 users but concerns about the changes have led to a surge in demand for rivals signal and telegram. again i'm fully back to go with the headlines on al-jazeera india has begun its coronavirus vaccination campaign one of the largest and most challenging in the world it aims to vaccinate 300000000 people by august such nearly the size of the entire us population health care workers are 1st in line to receive jobs and if the illicit quantum has more from new delhi. it is a mammoth task but india does have

a lot of experience with nascar has the largest and i think more and where the $2000000.00 and for instance pregnant women are not related every year because of the sheer increase in scale from 6000000 to hundreds of 1000000 every year the fact that this is a new virus new vaccine and vaccinating adults is vaccinating. us president elect joe biden has outlined his plan to provide 100000000 vaccine shots within his 1st 100 days in office he says it invoke a cold war law to help pull support action on vaccines uganda's electoral commission is announcing provisional results some thursday's elections early results show incumbent president yoweri must 70 in the lead with at least 58 percent of the vote is main challenger bobby wine has just over 34 percent the death toll from indonesia's powerful earthquake on snow a.c.i.m. and has risen to 46 and is expected to increase rescue teams are continuing to

search for survivors after the 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck on friday dozens of people are trapped in collapsed buildings. german chancellor angela merkel's warning party this city you has kicked off a conference where the whole devote a new leader 3 men vying for the job just 9 months before general elections are held americal is planning to stand down after 16 years at the helm. and dates have been announced for the palestinian elections the 1st ones in more than 15 years president mahmoud abbas says the legislative and presidential votes will be held in may and july they've been delayed because of negotiations between abbas his party fatah and its rival hamas those are the headlines on al-jazeera coming up next it's counting the cost. he started as a modest man a. career soldier who'd never imagined he might one day become president of egypt.

he had an ambitious wife. and son he became an autocrat and was imprisoned for the unlawful killing of protesters. the story of the rise and fall of hosni mubarak the family of a short one. hello i'm sam is a than this is counted the cost of al-jazeera your look at the world of business and economics this week on track to become the world's biggest economy this decade president she sets another more ambitious target and china become a 30 trillion dollar economy by 2035 more than 100000000 people lose their jobs in india as modis government forces a lockdown millions migrating back to their villages will they return. and with

supply chains temporarily broken due to the pandemic is a vertical farming the answer to our ever increasing demand for food. president she has ambition to double the size of china's economy by the middle of the next decade after mismanaging the pandemic the united states could relinquish its title to being the world's biggest economy by 2028 attempts by the trump administration to restrict access to technology may just be a bump on the road to china's relentless rise but it doesn't come without its challenges in the form of demographics massive debts and geopolitical entanglements so can she hit his ambitious target or right now the world's 2nd largest economy is worth an estimated $14.00 trillion dollars according to the world bank china's economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace since the maoi era despite that

china is actually expected to register growth of 2 percent for 2020 it's the only g. 20 nations to do so but to double wide 2035 the economy would need to expand about 4.7 percent a year just a little context and $29000.00 the economy grew at the slowest pace in almost 3 decades 6 point one percent so some think the target could be easily reached. well it was easy to attain double digit growth as china has with the trillions spent on building roads rail and housing across the country not a problem as the economy doubled in value 4 times between 19802010 but as it moves its economy towards a more consumer reliant model its debt tripled to a staggering $43.00 trillion dollars that's almost 3 times the size of its economy but that consumer orientation is yielding results retail sales rose to $6.00

trillion dollars last year according to the national bureau of statistics which puts it around $200000000000.00 shy of consumer spending in the american market in 2019. so how does it make the next leap and has ambitions to become a high income country that's defined as gross national product per capita income of $12375.00 u.s. dollars or more it also has the challenges though of geopolitical tensions with the united states india and countries around the south china sea joining me now from london then is douglas mcwilliams douglas is the founder of the center for economics and business research good to have you with us so what gives you the confidence that china's economy will overtake the u.s. by 2028 china's got thought times the population of the united states so when

the g.d.p. per capita in china reaches a quarter of that in the united states the total g.d.p. will be bigger and the other thing that gives us confidence is although we can't be precise about the individual year we've got a pretty decent track record in forecasting the world economy and say we're better than anyone else at it it doesn't mean we're all that good but it means that if we say something it certainly incorporating the best knowledge that's available what is it got to do though to get to the next milestone which is through 30 trillion dollars well getting to 30 trillion dollars is not that difficult and we're assuming that chinese growth will slow down very considerably we're expecting rapid growth in the abstract here because growth last year was pretty close to 0 but still just slightly positive we're expecting a rapid bounce back to something like 9 percent growth this year but we're expecting by the 2030 years that growth will be well below 4 percent and we think

that china can do that it's based on technology china's got a good record in technology and it's based on the fact that the world is increasingly investing in technological solutions so we think that there's reasonable confidence that it can get there but at what cost in terms of debt right because death has soared to i think $43.00 trillion dollars will that have to double again in order to reach a 30 trillion dollar economy. we'll continue to grow in china i think some of the debt isn't a manageable some of the debt will have to be sorted in various different ways but i think the whole world at the moment is awash with debt we had debt even before the pandemic hits us. hang on let me jump in when you say it's going to be have to be sorted in different ways how and what will it mean for the world because china

is not me you know a small country as we well obviously talking about it china is a managed economy i mean the idea that it's complete free markets is i think a sort of western illusion that china is a much more managed economy subtlety didn't escapes means that some of it will have to be written off some of it will have to be swapped for equity some of it will have to be managed people will have to take a haircut there's a whole range of different things that happen when you start dealing with debt problems the point is that you don't have to collapse an economy just saw some of the debt problems and of course china is not the only country to have a debt problem most western economy is not particularly post and have got debt problems and we're going to have to do similar things can china move towards a more consumer led economy and consumer led growth where its working population is like thing to the climb for the rest of the century is there the working population is probably at its peak right now and certainly you would be

expected to be small and through example by the end of the century the expectation is that the working population in india will be one and a half times bigger than that in china so yes you are seeing changes of that kind but out the chinese at the moment save a very high proportion of what they are and it is possible as they reconsider go up. for them to become a more consumer led economy and indeed that's what president z. is talking about when he talks about growth being based on a dual circulation economy which means that a lot of the growth will be based on domestic demand as well as on export demand which is of been the traditional leading source of growth when you talk about exports we're going to talk about the u.s. where you see the relationship with the u.s. going yes there is a transition going on in the white house but on the other hand the seems to be

bipartisan support for the idea of containing china right i think you and i must be talking to the same people in the incoming administration because certainly the messages that i've got are exactly the same as the ones that you've identified it does look to me as if the incoming by the administration won't be that different on economic growth. but i think there will be 2 changes of chosen and both could be significant the 1st is i don't think that the biden administration will be need this to provoke a change the trumpet realist rationing had a particular style which tended to be to be quite aggressive in language and that kind of thing and say things that on the whole in china were treated quite offensively that they felt that they won't be treated with proper respect i think the biden administration even if it's tough will use language there's more i'm

audience and it is not designed to offend and i think that could help a working relationship i think the 2nd thing is that it's clear to me that one of the sayings of the by the administration wants to do is create greater unity amongst the other countries in the world not just talking about the west one talking about middle east i'm talking about asia. and i think that the the aim of the buying of ministration is to create a more cohesive group of countries that can negotiate with china and i think probably we're in a situation where there is a good opportunity for our approach not between the u.s. and china. which there was not under the trump ministration whether it happens or not i don't know and it could be that we go in for a period where. that administrations test each other but it could just be that we

get lucky and that the 2 superpowers and we're going to be living in a 2 superpower our world for many years the 2 superpowers realize that working together will be more successful than trying at least metaphorically to make war and great talking to you thanks so much great talking to you thank you very much. last march a sudden nationwide lockdown in india prompted internal migration on a massive scale tens of millions of workers returned to their villages after losing their jobs in cities it's estimated more than 120000000 people lost their jobs and there were real fears many of the unemployed would return to work in the cities where the government has announced billions of dollars in aid but he hasn't reached everyone elizabeth purana reports from new delhi. riots one of the 5 bicycles she was given after her journey home to the state of bihar made national

headlines during india's lockdown. in may the 17 year old cycled 1200 kilometers with her injured father sitting behind her she gone to take care of him after he was injured in a void accident and was unable to carry on working as a top took driver that the lockdown was imposed with no money they were forced to leave the city of good girl love all good ad does god allow a besa landlord was asking for a new or lot of money so we thought what can we do then i said let's go home and pop us or we will make it but i said we'll do it. but all public transport suspended. for $15.00 with the last of their money and they joined a group of people travelling in the same direction despite sleeping on the road at night for $7.00 days a father mohan says they were the lucky ones. the people who were in more

distress were. the people with young children women carrying big young boys with blisters and this horror does more because i thought these people before us. it was a lockdown which laid bare the quality of the government asked people to stay at home more than 10000000 who worked in cities and states away from their homes to go back hundreds died on the journey. but warnings that workers might not come back to their jobs didn't come to fruition despite feeling abandoned by the government or their employers when the lockdown was announced many migrant workers have returned to the city and to construction sites like this one and that's because there isn't enough work for them in the rural areas. they've decided to leave his home in west bengal and travel the 1400 kilometers back from where he'd come he managed to find

work again as a laborer. everyone was sitting idle at home and there were too many mouths to feed so i thought it's better if i leave because i'll get whatever work is going food and save some money too. but economists warn that with the government loosening labor laws this year those workers who have returned are often in a worse situation than they were in before so i would say as far as systemic changes. they're actually steps back in. providing protection even. if measures being provided. the government announced billions of dollars in aid to help those without work and the past say they haven't received any the attention and money josie received as gifts have also dried up now she says she just wants to finish school but can't afford to a landmark free trade agreement between african nations came into effect on january

the 1st its implementation has been delayed because of the pandemic 55 nations signed up after it was finalized the african union summit last july well under the deal tariffs on 90 percent of goods will be eliminated the world bank says it will increase the continent's income by $450000000000.00 by 2035 the agency also says africa's exports will get a $560000000000.00 boost and the free trade agreement promises to lift $30000000.00 africans out of extreme poverty al-jazeera has more from the. workers at this garment factory rushed to deliver selfies masks the owner says more than 2 and a half 1000000. to control the spread of. but as the africa free trade agreement comes into effect he foresees trouble ahead for the continent's poor

countries. small and poor economies will always be at a disadvantage hopefully as time goes on we can get special considerations otherwise it will be difficult to compete. businesses in poor countries may have their concerns but overall experts say the agreement will eventually benefit them they believe the cheap cost of labor in these countries will attract more industries. into african trade. development the level of industrialisation. some will have an advantage over others but african countries need to. unfinished among themselves. currently imports most of its needs from water to food and machinery from big retail. flooded with imported products because.

the country will continue to depend on him. to grow. experts say it's hard to see european and asian multinational companies giving up the trade advantage they've held in africa for centuries. africa's largest economies lined the shelves at the emmys biggest retail monopoly. prefer these brands traders say they won't be many local goods on store shelves and government steps in. we should be given support the government should facilitate easy acquisition of land and loans from banks. but it's hard to see how governments on the continent can do that without breaching the protectionism rules of africa trade agreement and the world trade organization. now the pandemic disrupted some of the world's well oiled global supply chains the spotlight has been thrown on to food security and the environmental cost of flying in food from thousands of miles away

but land within city limits can be expensive the solution maybe grow vertical al-jazeera as paul reese reports from stockholm. it's harvest time but not as we know it these very modern farm hands are bringing in the crops from a vertical farm plants growing from the walls instead of the ground no tractors required just a pair of scissors and artificial intelligence senses that feed information on factors like speed of growth and nutrition content into a central database so that on this farm the computer is in charge. the farm that you're seeing here everything is basically connected so all the parmeet there is that we have an influence on the growth of a plan for controlling that we are building our basically food brain to control everything by help of artificial intelligence and recreate the perth or. the mint

basil kale and rocket to get everything they could ever desire light water humidity temperature tailored to their individual needs and without the risky business of growing out in nature anyone inside the farm has to wear a protective suit like this to stop bacteria coming in from outside it also means they don't need pesticides so you can eat the produce straight off the wall. they taste better than the average supermarket salads and they're already being sold in local stores and restaurants in stockholm. and local means local the sweet green farm hidden under this building in an old newspaper archive is part of a program called the neighbor food it aims to give all urban swedes access to produce grown within yards of the door the global movement in urban farming could play a vital role in preventing food crises. as covert 19 exposes weaknesses in the supply chain that have left people hungry everywhere from zimbabwe to the u.s.

the climate crisis the epidemic ongoing right now has shown us how vulnerable we are in the cities we become very passive consumers we want to turn that around and where people start producing in the spaces that are otherwise empty those spaces below our buildings can be used for food production this farms so-called food brain is available on subscription so any start ups can have their own environment controlled from here it could make vertical farming a growth industry that puts more food within easy reach at a time when it's most needed. now i just want to show you this before we start our discussion on whether vertical farming has a future this is a silicon valley startup called plenty it's backed by soft bank the former chairman of google and amazon is jeff bezos collectively ploughed $400000000.00 into the ag tech company to claims its vertical farm can produce the same quantity of fruits

and vegetable as a $720.00 acre flat farm but only 2 acres how well by using artificial intelligence and robots it's able to use 95 percent less water and 9009 percent less land. well let's bring in our guest from vatican university in the netherlands leo marsalis leo is head of the whole to culture and product physiology group good to have you with us so is it possible to feed the world through vertical farming well what we have to consider in vertical farming we can in fact grow every crop i would say technically we can grow just any crop any crop will do very well can we grow enough of it oh yes we could if we had of course you would need to build them and then we could grow definitely sufficient the question is if it is for every crop economically feasible and i think is in particular very well

economically feasible for fresh vegetables what about the projects though does it end up with the same nutrients as those grown in the natural environment if there is still such a thing as a natural environment this day and age. yes so dish nutritional value of the crops are very much depends on how we grow them and in d.c. systems we can grow or we can choose the conditions that we need so i would say in the end we can grow with a better nutritional value and a better quality of course you have to make the right choices are we grow them we can choose to do it better all right so explain the process to us how can you grow things using less chemicals not using genetically modified seeds and yet still keep the yields high so it is we grow in it inside everything and control if no best's or diseases get in you also don't need to destroy it so that

is because there's a close system we keep depressed in diseases out if you keep them out you don't need a society to destroy them this respect to water we grow them for water newton did a lot of plans are actually in the water with the nutrients or we might need to use . substrate like what rule the idea is that all the water that we supply too much is being really used to collect it and reuse of it makes no more of warmer and no loss of nutrients then there is still a lot of water behind transpiration that ends up as one of labor but in these closed indoor systems you can also collect the water vapor too and that makes if you hardly use any water well and how do we dan get so high yield notes because we can control the temperature we can control the light intensities who how

much light but also the color of the light we can control the air you minutely because you can control all those factors we can get them higher rate although i should say we still need electricity because we'd use lamps. inland need a lot of electricity to we have to realize that the system needs electricity well i'm glad you mentioned that because i was just about to jump in and say well it might be water efficient but it does use a lot of electricity is that still a challenge it's got to become more energy efficient right i would say at this moment the electricity use is one of the major challenges and that's also in our research that we have decided well this is what we need to improve that is by using more efficient and i think that effect in particular or how can we further improve . the efficiency of the land to grow so although it is already very efficient we

see there are still a lot of opportunities to make it more efficient so we have to grow still have a higher growth rate is less light if there is less likely use less electricity then it is about further improving the whole land with control systems and and that is definitely a challenge and a challenge we are working on at this moment to add 2 to drastically improve data that's not all right now what i'm wondering is there was an approach by some resource poor nations to go and buy land in developing countries sovereign wealth funds with doing that does vertical farming mean that approach is now a thing of the past yeah probably this is more on. a political issue and how it is doubtful if i would say of a vertical farmer we can probably you can get a lot of production on a very small and there really hardly need any land area that has

a indicated i think is in particular suitable for fresh vegetables and this not so much or not economic freedom go where the grain crops are right it's been good to get your thoughts fascinating discussion thank you so much again in the hope. and that's our show for this week there's more for you online though at al-jazeera dot com slash see things see that'll take you straight to our page which has the entire episode for you to catch up on. that set for this edition of counting the cost i'm sammy's a ban from the whole team here thanks for joining us the news an al-jazeera is next . frank assessments colleagues on the ground in the canaries what is the situation there is only one doctor and one nurse or $2200.00 people informed opinions how big does foreign policy figure in the early stages of

a bi ministration he comes into office with a huge amount of foreign policy experience in-depth analysis of the day's global headlines how will a place like you live get the vaccine when there's no money all the rest of rich countries are fighting for it inside story on al-jazeera when the news breaks the next few days crucial security forces have been deployed to hit me in hot water like this one when people need to be. our demands have to be fulfilled by the government and then if all the families leave the other 2 but the other promised the other stays al-jazeera has teams on the ground this is the insurrection that president trump is accused of fueling to bring blue documentaries and lightening. as the perseverance space rover stu to land on mars we ask mrs lead engineer how her journey as an immigrant has influenced her work creatively and resourceful is incredibly important perseverance as well like don't give up aerospace engineer.

talks to al-jazeera. al-jazeera. they're watching the news our life from a headquarters and i'm telling you navigator coming up in the next 60 minutes the incumbent president 70 looks set to win uganda's tightly contested general election but the main opposition candidate is accusing the government of. india launches the world's largest coronavirus vaccination campaign but there are concerns over the safety of a locally developed drug. a search for survivors.