has her exams coming up but for her and many others the real is finding a way to keep their people alive shallop ballasts. and you can find out much more on this story and others on our website al-jazeera dot com to check it out. this is out there these are the top stories the former minneapolis police officer derek shaven is asking for a new trial sizing multiple grounds including jury misconduct last month 7 was convicted of 2nd and 3rd degree murder as well as manslaughter for the killing of george floyd mike hanna has the latest from washington d.c. this motion was not at all unexpected in fact it had been predicted that there would be an attempt by the defense to declare a mistrial in this particular case the 4 page protest from the defense team

basically hones in on 3 important issues one it criticizes the judge for failing to change the venue of the trial saying that it led to a tainted jury pool secondly it complains about the public around the case and thirdly in the main points that the defense makes the judge fail to sequester the jury for the entirety of the trial making them open to public comment or public issues on the better that they were adjudicating on. india's official count of corona virus infections since the start of make half the past 20000000 with more than 220000 deaths a surge in cases has been blamed on government mismanagement and more contagious covert 19 variance. israeli forces have attacked demonstrators in occupied east jerusalem and stopped all the protesters from entering the area as of a court ruling forcing several palestinian families to leave the shaikh jara

neighborhood. meanwhile israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is mandated to form a government has expired putting his political future in question and in yahoo's been meeting opposition party leaders in an attempt to secure enough votes to form a coalition. mexico's president is demanding answers after one of the country's worst transport disasters at least $24.00 people killed when an elevated metro line collapsed sending a train crashing down onto the cause below. well leaders are calling for calm in colombia after another day of violent protests against president even do case economic policies the u.n. and the u.s. have when the government against the use of excessive force as he headlines he's continued and officer up inside story.

solving an international crisis through global diplomacy face to face meetings used to be considered and last that's kovi 19 stop that digital diplomacy through online platforms is now key but can it be a successful alternative this is inside story. hello welcome to the program. face to face meetings to be the best way to bring

together conflicting parties but during the past year and a bit the global economy has been demick changed all of that social distancing measures and health and travel restrictions forced world leaders to switch to virtual talks on diplomats how to negotiate and persuade while adapting to the roots of lee new technological advances the diplomatic calendar was completely disrupted by covert 19 but wind up to date some talks are now taking place in person the g 7 foreign ministers have met face to face for the 1st time in 2 years a covert 1000 pulls its shuns for the wells leading economies to hold you for discussions missing during video conferences the ministers avoided handshakes and took health safety precautions. but the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken did not fly to kenya or nigeria for his 1st africa tour last month the secretary of state met with leaders of both countries

virtually he also engaged with young african people and went online to visit local renewable energy companies and president joe biden has wished to virtual diplomacy in his climate change talks with world leaders he has attempted to get a consensus from countries on cutting greenhouse emissions through an online summit hosted from the white house but leaders of the southeast asian nations association and have met face to face to discuss myanmar's crisis the talks held and strict social distancing and health measures the un general assembly annual meeting is one of the main events of the global diplomatic calendar but this year it was held virtually for the 1st time the podium was empty and there was no hustling and bustling of diplomats so there were no physical gas or cord handshakes or unexpected laughter by delegates as was the case in reaction to remarks from former

u.s. president donald trump in 2018. let's bring in our guests in oxford tom fletcher has been simple of how to 1st college at oxford university on foreign policy advisor to 3 u.k. prime ministers in brussels there is her fall and she is the director of the center for russia europe asia studies from pretoria use of armani morocco's ambassador to south africa welcome to the program tom we're all trying to adapt to the new realities following the spread of covert 9000 how has it affected global diplomacy . well i mean massive worries as with every other industry most diplomacy has been happening online just like this by skype of the last year and a half and coverage knocked out

a number of big international conferences that would normally have taken place in 2020 you have to remember that diplomacy is one of the last crafts that depends on the handshake. and of a peace deal and so the last 3 feet that human contact is incredibly important and that's what diplomats have been lacking in the last year. as tom has just said the hand shakes the photo opportunities the gatherings those were landmark events particularly in places like brussels with nato and european union how has that changed now with cove in 1000. i think it's changed dramatically because so much information has not been leaked you can't imagine how much information is exchange on the sidelines of major events and all of that has been sanitized and it's very very difficult frustrating for many people to get that needed information but now that cope it is slowly being lifted these sanctions and how people can move i even

had a meeting this last week in a park with a diplomat and we walked for over an hour we didn't even feel the time pass or were just so relieved as tom mentioned to have that human contact to talk in person i've had many introductions be e-mailed to talk to someone and the exchanges are never very were actually very informative i find that the person to person contact is far more helpful so i think that this is a big change for everybody you serve the person to person contact and now to finding refuse in virtual reality to your tears could you give us a sense of how it has affected your work as an as an ambassador. a world in global conflict 19 pandemic has imposed a new reality to which we all have to adapt and diplomats and masters make not exception the pandemic has challenged the

way we do and perform our work at challenge also the way we interact with one another and the way also the world can see it corporations kids and promising so this thread has led us to question what we used to take for granted and the many quints consequence for us as people in the ground is that it has highlighted the need to secure and strengthen the resilience of the international rule based or so combating developed virus became very struggle of and international community in. it amazes or engage in a deadlock against a city other boldest ambition was global and collective action that we had to take unfortunately. had not reached the

compressive and concerted approach all right tom diplomacy is in a way or another the art of negotiation why do you need to be face to face with the one you're talking to to try to get to a common ground could it be an indication of that now with covert 19 that traditional diplomacy or diplomacy as we've known it is part of history. so it's important but history but it's also important part of the future because of all of these challenges which you've heard about just that you know the answer to all of them involved the clumsy in some points now perhaps what we've learned is that the answer to every 21st challenge isn't always an international conference but we have a little you do need that national corporation that ambassador and ronnie just described that you do need that human contact that arrays are described in order to find the solutions to these challenges so i think diplomacy will evolve again diplomacy is darwinian it is always changed it changed when ships came along when

this terror came along you could ride horses it changed the telephone came along harnessed and the british foreign secretary said at the time my god it's the end of diplomacy and of course diplomacy so vibe so it will evolve and it will change and and it will improve but it will be a crucial part of actually finding the answers to these challenges that we described terrorists are back in march april and may last year paris were grappling all over the world about whether hybrid learning was going to be efficient and i'm going to ask you the same question by this time about about hybrid diplomacy do you think it has been efficient so find places like brussels. i think it's something that will be here to state of course nothing will replace the human to human contact but the economics of it you could have many events and invite people from all over the world which people weren't able to do in the past so i think that we'll see a hybrid of this in the future because of the pure economics of it and you know you don't need to have transport costs and you know putting up someone in

a hotel and also we can see for example with president biden he was able to attend events that no u.s. president had attended in the past for example example at this year's munich security conference he was the 1st u.s. president to speak at it because it was virtual he was able to appear and everyone took that as a very promising sign so i think there is some positive points about this as well i've even spoken at the u.s. congress i wouldn't have been asked before because i'm based in brussels and they even said we would just pay for a relative good for someone maybe based in new york or on the east coast of the u.s. so i was able to speak there and so i think people are able to source more expertise from around the world so that is the upside but i think the expansion of digital diplomacy is also another key development it was already in existence before covered 90 but we've seen it really as a catalyst it's really expanded much more dramatically of the use of do you see. a benefit here in the sense that the 1st time you don't have to really think about

traveling all over the globe. dealing with jetset realities time differences or the hassle of a comes with traveling now you are confined to a place you're talking to people as long as it takes to come up to a certain sense of agreement let it be let's be clear we had to adapt. as far as tools as far as approaches and in the tent of endemic digital technology has a lot as a diplomat to stay connected to the world and to our partners which is essential for the 1st time i have 40 years of foreign policy of diplomacy before a forethought for the 1st time in 40 years we experience diplomacy through digital technology that is today accessible and and

the diplomatic as different we had to come out of our bubble and create directly with the us old war with overt partners with our foreign ministers and to negotiate and i had to mix our democracy on a very important issues by this technology but this been sick and i am happy to to agree with my friend who i did not that it was just in this bundle this been saved nothing can replace ok direct contact fair enough in it was asians you where one can find the best possible compromise through direct human interaction let me say one word digital technology cannot replace human contact i much it must be a vector of rubbish meant not replaced all right tom there is an issue here arises in the past where all the time looking for the right moment to cups or the that gaffe which was making headlines today there are concerns about technology to

secure safety and also glitches and particularly the case of the social media post by the china's lawyer for cement buddy which was just opposing the country's loss of a module into space with the commission pies in india which was deleted later could this be something that world leaders diplomats of the world have to be really careful about in the future. yeah so there's an assumption of positives and as you've heard we're not collectively as diplomats leaving such a huge carbon footprint behind us and so that is a positive in itself but there are risks there are risks from hostile groups which can try to exploit the technology there are tech there are basic admin and technological risks that can impede the conversation that can get in the way of the frankness of the conversation that that human contact that you just heard about but always saying to ambassadors and from ministers who are cautious of getting involved in social media that to me the smartphone was both the opportunity and the

threat it was the way i could connect with young people across the middle east but also the way the means by which terrorists were tracking my movements it was a real opportunity and a real threat so there are real risks using this technology but the biggest risk is not to be out there trying to leave that space to our opponents terrorists or there is a hope that 520232024 is going to be back to normal but doctors will tell you the same time that we have to grapple with this new reality that viruses will be with us forever in the meantime what does it mean for global diplomatic centers like brussels geneva new york will be saying the same. i think i agree with tom on this because it really is a double edged sword i think that. this type of digital diplomacy can actually backfire very badly we saw with china in ireland for example they they tweeted out

a message about fables about the wolf and it just backfired so badly they had to pull the tweet from the internet so i think that a more advanced digital diplomacy will be important but i think also you know for example angela merkel is as her when she was president of the european council she had envisioned this massive leipsic summit with the $27.00 even member states plus china of course it was replaced with a video meeting but it doesn't have the same type of punch and so you know these these photo opportunities these abilities these opportunities for some information that exchange on the sidelines is invaluable so i am glad that the world has muddled through during this very difficult period of coping 1000 but i think there will be a lot of catching up to do in person and even now i'm seeing diplomats meeting in brussels in open spaces so i think that that's already taking place use of do you see the need for adopting new methods changing realities as far as foreign services

ministers or foreign affairs diplomats have to deal in the near future i'll give you an idea as far as you are concerned you're operating in south africa you have the ideas of about where you meet for the african union some of those things are changing with covert of these things that you're putting into consideration as a diplomat you know it's a very. very. we have to move fast. think fast and communicate in the very in the moment the risk and i think fletcher pointed out the risk is to lose track too quickly different music is a long process deep and long term so digital technology must not be an instrument that favors the moment over to future we must use digital technology but with control and caution otherwise we risk losing relevance in trying to get it i'll

give an example as far as morocco is concerned out of all of this has taken the initiative to fully integrate digital diplomacy as a subject lectured to our young diplomats we want to make sure that our diplomats gain skills be able to interact with think down to civil society and also control over the digital world and of us we have to accept that we need to adapt to this new situation of course of course that the diplomatic work is all about impact that influence and we need we need how to use these tools to fulfill our job and our task tom. what i'm a little bit concerned particular when it comes to conflict resolution you send a united nations own boy to a place like syria or yemen he would have to meet with tribesman with war morse with government officials with n.g.o.s warring factions convince them conduct

subtle diplomacy bring them to different places of the world build confidence measures and after years you hope you would be able to set aside those differences are going to be the case in a more with this is not diplomacy. well you're exactly right the plan is he takes huge amounts of patient george mitchell to the northern ireland agreement said that peacemaking was $799.00 days in days of failure and one day of success and much diplomacy is that patient work their best ambassador and running just described of building up trust and rapport between different groups until you can get to the point where people can imagine making the sacrifices making his commitments making these compromises and and tradeoffs and so a lot of that hasn't been happening over the last year the other thing of course as been happening is of course there hasn't been as much resource and time for diplomacy the attention of government has been elsewhere we've been thinking about vaccinating our own populations we've been thinking about just getting through the

lockdowns and so a lot of the normal essential diplomacy that would have happened in 20202021 you think of a number of peace process as you mentioned syria you know simply the attention hasn't been there and so there's a very very full to do list now for the prime ministers of the world that's why it's great that they're getting together in london today the g. 7 reminisces to actually get a gender again terrorists i mean world leaders it's no secret that world leaders missiles are fine affairs when the trouble it's costly it cost the a lot for the budget of their own government this time with digital diplomacy is very cost effective in a way or another by then how to conduct most of his meetings virtually without having to target to get out of the u.s. could this be something that would be taken seriously by governments in the near future and save that money for something else like they are a public diplomacy. well i think it could really be that beneficial in the early stages or in signaling but i think for clinching final deals nothing will replace

that person to person meetings but i think that as president biden has really shown you know he's an older man this can really work to his benefit if he doesn't have to travel president trump was often exhausted after these very long trips so he mightn't have performed as well as if someone had been very well rested so i i suspect that this will continue and we've also seen digital diplomacy in unexpected ways for example before the badan administration came to power. because of rules inside the united states of course there's only one president at a time and they were not allowed to communicate with other world leaders so jake sullivan sent out a tweet telling the europeans please wait we're coming into office in 3 weeks please wait about signed this agreement with china so we've seen kind of an evolution in digital diplomacy that we haven't seen in the past that's the 1st time i can think of that twitter was used as a way to signal from the incoming presidential administration because they're not really allowed to talk to world leaders so that it was transparent everyone could

see it and it was just addressed to you know the twitter verse so i think that people are getting more creative in using these these tools as well and that our money when it comes to diplomacy one of the key components of diplomacy is talks behind closed doors and i bet nothing will compensate for that the moment you go on zome you will be carefully crafting the language you will be using your concerns about a backlash and how to deal with this in the near future in 30 is necessary in the context of diplomatic actually in line with the challenges of today and tomorrow and. i would like to see you once diplomats are called upon to do or would you have been janitors and sustained globalization. of course it covered $900.00 has been the crosses of rupture the diplomatic response must be the one that we please and solid foundation or the

international or no and you would talk it out as african on the management of conflict and i will give you 2 examples that and it earth libya one we agreed in spirit on the package on libya few years ago we cannot do with through assume it's impossible because the different parties to the gulf like india want to see to each other they deal with they didn't want to talk to each other and thanks to this classic diplomacy we were able to to to to put them together to work to talk together to have dinner together and you can opt in or through to be able to move and this is thanks to the role that has been. driving by special involved that are there only the 2nd example only a few weeks ago we had difficulties in the african union. through zoom. to

negotiate it was a recent to make the amendments to pay to work law stores to get together in small groups we need this human because diplomacy is something human we need this contact if and summarized we were able to. face the challenges doing the closet with with with the technology i think the future will resume and i'm really very very. happy to see that we are not going through this and they are right tom another of binoculars a question is about the financial aspect of the whole thing but i would like just to go back to one thing with you which is basically a clear swift scene something positive coming out of here which is basically you don't really need to have the same laws bettin you a number of stuff operating in places like new york geneva and brussels you can

work with a minimal stuff and you can deal with it extremely well with digital diplomacy. absolutely and actually this predated the pandemic and the lockdowns you know i've been arguing for some time that we need to strip away a lot of the paraphernalia from diplomacy which i think actually slows diplomacy down a lot of the the protocol of the pageantry in the gryphon graydon's in the brushfires all of that something i think can often get in the way of real human contact the essentials of that of diplomacy that we've described i do hope as well that as a result of the pandemic it will accelerate the trend towards communicating more effectively why diplomacy matters and i've always protested against the kind of platitudes the sort of diplomatic statements what we say you know britain and france have warmed by let's relations and we discussed issues of mutual concern missile meaningless descriptions of meetings i'd much rather we communicate more

honestly and openly with the public about what we do and i think then they would better understand why it actually makes a difference to their lives and i think then we would find there was more support for the business of diplomacy how to divvy that by was good talking to. alan. and by so the use of a bunny i really appreciate your insight thank you. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website l.z. another article for further discussion got our facebook page that's facebook dot com all for was last a.j. incised body can also join the conversation on twitter and there is a j s i started for me. and the entire team here in doha i think.

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for most storage facilities what is also known as the cloud i'm in no way to see how one center is harnessing the energy of these fields to stow our digital information without a heavy cop in footprints and i'm also beautiful north coast of the u.k. where the global green energy revolution is taking on a new element. tries on al-jazeera. the health of humanity is at stake a global pandemic requires a global response. w.h.o. is the guardian of global health delivering lifesaving to lose supplies and training to help the world's most vulnerable people uniting across borders to speed up the development of test treatments and of. acceded keeping you up to date with what's happening on the ground in the wooed and in the land now more than ever the

world needs w.h.o. making healthy a world for you. to everyone. i money insight in doha your top stories on al-jazeera the former minneapolis police officer derek 7 is asking for a new trial citing multiple grounds including jury misconduct last month shaven was convicted of 2nd degree murder as well as manslaughter for the killing of george floyd mike hanna has the latest from washington this motion was not at all unexpected in fact it had been predicted that there would be an attempt by the defense to declare

a mistrial in this particular case and the 4 page protest from the defense team basically hones in on 3 imp.