hunter is no longer an officially endangered species in china. the ecology and environment ministry is confirmed. there are now more than 800100. giant pines is living in the wild. meaning status has been upgraded from endangered to vulnerable . china has increased protected habitats for pandas and other animals in recent years. ah, main stories. now, a taliban delegation has visited the russian capital. moscow they insist are open to a cease fire with the gun government though with conditions and now claims to be in control of 85 percent of the country that includes important trade route with iran . 2 thirds of the border with 2 g kissed on and they also came to capture the key town near the crossing with took menaced on. meanwhile,

the humanitarian situation is deteriorating. with the world health organization morning that continued fighting has made it difficult to reach at least 18400000 afghans in need of aid. the un security council is extending a mandate for a deliveries to northern syria. by 12 months the program was due to expire on saturday, nearly a 1000 trucks from turkey bring supplies and millions of syrians every month. russia had wanted the a to go through damascus, but they did agree to a compromise in last minute talks with the u. s. in order to get the resolution past, the french president trying to reassure 5 african leaders after last month, surprise announcement that he'll be reducing military support, manual macro, and has been hosting a summit with molly chad. the quino faster and more attain. yes, they face a common threat from all groups across the whole region. no. as long as you say,

we remain committed to this house because the nations of the region have asked that of us. but it is clear that france does not have a mission or even less a wish to stay here in the house forever. where there, because we have been invited and we will not day beyond our welcome. and international land on is on the way for a remaining suspects and the fascination of the haitian president of an moneys heavily armed his court monday. president moiz at his home on wednesday, asian police is saying it was made up of mostly foreign lesson raised by the united states and columbia have offered to help with the investigation. and the drug company, pfizer is expected to seek approval in the united states for boost a shot of its cause at 19 vaccine. its research is showing a 3rd dose generates anti bullying levels of $5.00 to $10.00 times higher than those produced after the 2nd dose. those, the headlines counting the cost is coming up next to yeah,

one of the world's most famous film festivals is back with love mandatory and doors . the social distance thing in place in some countries unable to attend, and like 2 or 3 pieces that recreate the magic of my self or the council festival. now who's hello, i'm sam is a, than this is counting the cost an hour to go look at the world of business and economics this week. china ban bitcoin mining and trading. while l. salvador welcomes it will be crypto county provide an economic bonanza, become a gangsters paradigm. in the shadow of the silicon valley's tech giants and wall street money can europe deliver more multi $1000000000.00 companies? we talked to the ceo of one of germany's rising star. can gas counseling,

super cost, reinvent themselves for a green future? we talked to the chief executive of $1.00 of the world's most desirable. com. the news, as el salvador became the 1st country to make bitcoin legal tender. china was clamping down on trading and mining the crypto currency that took huge chunks out of its price. and valuation paging says, bitcoin disrupts economic order and facilitates illegal asset transfers in money laundering. but china is also concerned, it would undermine the role of its own digital currency. so why is el salvador 39 year old baseball wearing president nie a bouquet, pushing the use of the crypto currency. well, here are 3 big reasons of salvatore is a dollar eyes country. it doesn't have its own currency interest rates and monetary decisions by the u. s. federal reserve have a huge impact on el salvador economy. what does that mean?

take the pandemic. many governments have been able to print money to fund support for poor families, but a country without its own currency can get its own. busy central bank to bytes debts. it has to resort to international investors all the world bank and i m f bit con, enables it to diversify its reserves. remittances may come almost a quarter of el salvador, g d p. but traditional transfer companies charge fees, which means is losing out on money. what about the downsides? why wouldn't you consider it for daily use, for example? well, the huge fluctuations in the price of bitcoin is one reason. if your conflict can lose so much value in a day, people will lose confidence when they see the value of their savings evaporating. it's not easy to cash out of bitcoin to, although salvador is creating its own wallet and offering $30.00 to anyone who signs up to the financial institutions will need to hold more cash. just in case

there's a run on banks because of the volatility of bitcoin will. that means there's less cash in the economy to fund growth. there are many other concerns, credit rating agency fits said bitcoin would increase regulatory risks. there's the potential for violations of anti money laundering and terrorist financing standards . so how did this idea gain traction? manual report reports from the small salvador and beach town where crypto has been part of daily life since 2019. the this is a soon to know locally as bitcoin beach. this small salvador and tours town is home to a variety of small businesses whose owners all have one thing in common. is crypto currency. to do this, i think and i think they were a tourist who didn't bring cash, would come and say they wanted to eat something and they asked if they could pain bitcoin. i said to myself, this is a good strategy. i'm going to use and i'm going to start collecting,

i downloaded the app, and i started selling a lot more. the success of the bitcoin beach project has boosted the popularity of crypto currency. salvador, the government, and males bit point would become legal tender. therefore, the law of bitcoin is approved supporters of the measure, see the new law represents a vote of confidence in using block chain technology to bring in formal sector workers into a 21st century economy. you know, certainly somebody and a banks are not necessarily, well, this is another important thing. there are many salvadorans in this country that cannot use a bank because they have thousands of requirements. el salvador now becomes the 1st country in the world to formerly legalize the digital currency. the initiative was led by l. salvatore's president. now you buccheri on twitter, he called the passing of the big coin law historic. in the short term, this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands. i said

the formal economy and in the medium and long term, we hope that this is small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction. there are also critics who, one of the risks of bitcoin price fluctuation, momento, the moment bitcoin becomes a legal currency problems appear, including in its most basic use, which is a form of exchange. and this is related to the volatility of the price of coin. while some also ward that legalizing and decentralize digital currency could be wielded as a tool for corruption. bitcoin believers in uncertainty and across of salvatore, say the new law will only increase financial inclusion and has the potential to spur economic development. well, joining me now via skype from london is 9 i slam 9 is the chief market analyst with as a trade good to have you with us. so, do you think the move towards bitcoin is good for salvador, good fritz economy?

thanks for having me. i think there are pros and cons money comes with this particular view because if you look at the dollar info and the daughter expert in the countries experts, you can see that the there isn't much of a reserve and the country is, is, is in the country because it doesn't have its own currency for live on the daughter as in terms of its currency. so i think in terms of pros, better, yes, you know, we could see as the economy growing, especially the mining sector really kind of taking off. but at the same time, you also have to think and factory and the enormous amount of a while until letty and right now the government is saying that it is great. just a fund of 150, with a 1000000 in our in around property. their mom say you will, you will see you will think that

a k given they want to let you that we have seen around bitcoin. how quickly can that really sh range? i mean, if you are thinking of providing iniquity to bank with pleasure, such shows such a reserve that can shrink pretty quickly, or at the same time it can. so who are massively as well, if it tends to bitcoin for admittance, is might that threaten to dry off its pool of dollars? yes, exactly. so this is the main issue with respect to coin because the higher quality as of is discuss i was discussing. so if we see another round of 2018 crash with respective bitcoin, we could easily see our liquidity pools, which are being created by the country to running into some serious sort of trouble . and remember the debt to g d p ratio is already running at 90 percent. and china

at the same time course is banning mining of bitcoin. could we end up saying, do you think those chinese mining machines end up in el salvador recruit certainly see that becomes an issue of fish and sea. and then of course we do have evidence of chinese mining machines. i'm moving to are going to taxes as well. so, you know, we are seeing that outflow from trying them in terms of mining to various possible well, but outside of adobe, the respective of energy. i think that is the major guess among the bitcoin community. and if you look at the energy of issues currently being used from fossil fuel and from the renewable sources, you could clearly see from, according to several different ripples that have gone and sort of past that 51 percent mark, meaning 51 percent of the energy which has been used is coming from renewable

sources, not from the fossil fuel sources. so what would that do then to a country like l alvarado when it comes to its energy, consumption? patton, i think obviously big climate is very energy into a high energy consumption from the, from, from day one in terms of it's mining. but currently there isn't any strong evidence of the kind of the country chrissy or could face any of the black out issues. so that there isn't that there is no very clear evidence in relation to that. so we don't really anticipate that can really happen to help us through the countries a economy, our country, good faith. and he said those trouble the future we're talking about el salvador. you know, the 1st country that makes this move, can it be a model for other countries though, especially when you keep in mind what i think 80 percent of the coins already been mind. the very intriguing question,

and i'm going to go back to my opening statement because that countries in any position because it doesn't have it has his own sovereignty, but he doesn't have his own currency relies on daughter. so i think that kind of very much answered the question, know how many other countries can really adopt that? do you think it'll open up the economy that to money laundering and other issues? i think that particular aspect has always been very much associated bitcoin from day one by remember, dollar change money really comes to money is andre issues or anything like that. i think that given the fact that we have many regulators jumping into this space, we have an enormous amount of changes coming under the regulation. so that money laundering aspect isn't the really fast concern for any any, any, any investors re, a final line. would you make of the i m s concerns about this move towards bitcoin?

like i am, i isn't really going to say like, that's great. let's go ahead and then you start using your reserves in, in moving away from my daughter and i start using bitcoin because if i matthews the green light and then that goes back to your earlier question. a lot of other countries by my say that okay, let's start doing that. but you know what? that particular question by the, comes to us core press, whether it comes to countries, whether it comes to portfolios, institutions, hedge funds, find the offices that is coming now. and there are again, once again, theresa sufficient evidence right now, given where the big one qualifies are. now a lot of that supply is being sucked up by these situations. and by, by some, some other sources of major other other players are really 2nd that supply. why, again, because of diversification. so if i am going back to the original one,

what if i mean i m f isn't ready when i get the green light from, from day one. yeah. okay, go ahead and then do your recess in big point. but i think the left of the machine because of the intriguing element and the upside that been really produces for a tab and they specially that it is being dumped as a digital gold. so i think every single math is the docket, tickler lens or i name is a good talking to thanks so much for the silicon valley has long overshadowed europe with its tech titans, but last year europe registered. it's $281000000000.00 tech company that some achievement, but continental europe continues to lag behind the u. k for funding and in some cases it cities are being pushed out of the top 10 funding rankings. according to take nation, the u. k. is catching up to china on the tech investment front. venture capital

investments reached a record $15000000000.00 in 2023 c investment into london tank was more than paris . berlin and stock home combined at 10600000000 in 2020 u. k. cities made up 20 percent of the top 20 european tech cities. now that could change with the u. k. exit of the european union starting with investments like this. berlin based, we fox re $650000000.00 from investors and what it called a record breaking round for us, so called insure attack. so let's find out more about we folks with its chief executive julian tyco. good to have you with us. so if you're looking usually for car insurance, home insurance, you'd go to a recognized insurance company, maybe a website, but you're actually now selling insurance through agents, right? i thought we've done away with that. what's happening? well, it's quite the opposite to be honest. many people say insurance agents are depth, we say opposite is true, and still today, 9 out of 10 insurance policies globally,

a sold by human agents. and instead of focusing on the one out of 10 policies and make it easier and better, what we say is the big potential isn't digitizing the 9 out of 10 policies and investors understandable the much bigger potential. i think our fundraising of 650000000 just recently announced as a signal for this approach being a very good approach to disrupt insurance on a global, on the global dimension. interesting. some of the biggest ensure is munich already allianz the german right is that helpful when raising money to be part of the specialist hub? there is a big tradition of european insurance companies making a global. and if we look at we, fox, we have started off in germany, and we are now in more european countries. our ambitions essentially are global. they are the same and that's also in the u. s. 9 out of 10

policy. so sold via human agents. also in asia, 9 out of 10 policy, the sold via human agents. we want to continue the tradition of european insurance company really shaping insurance on a global scale. but generally speaking, european capitals have lag behind when it comes to raising money from venture capital. right. why is that the time is over? so the last 20 years and the u. s. and asia were clearly in front of your but what we see recently was amazing fundraising rounds from germany, but also from europe. the time is over, the capital is pouring into europe. europe is going to be the winner of the next 20 years. and with insurance, we have one of the biggest areas to disrupt, and we believe that the disruption globally will come from europe. we have at the right point of time, we have the right talent, we have the right to skills,

and we now have the capital to really make an impact globally. do you think britain's exit from the european union might change any of that forecast? absolutely not. so britain, of course, has made a decision and that slows down essentially the development in the u. k. we, for example off, have the difficulty off and not having the advantage of selling our insurance policies under a single european license. now, also to britain, we will focus on for the european countries in the u. u. first before going to britain. of course, britain is an interesting market for us as well, but it makes things a lot more difficult capital. it's pouring into the u less so to britain, the u. k. has kind of temporarily lost its crown is the biggest share trading hub. do you think momentum will suggest that the money will follow?

i do think that that's going to be the case for us. we well finance at this point and we really focus essentially on how can we disrupt insurance and take the customer experience that has made us successful in europe and globally . what we're going to invest our capital in is essentially further geographic expansion. 8th and be we are going to offer not only a pnc insurance property casualty, we are today in motor household and liability insurance. we're also going to offer and life insurance and health insurance and create a single policy, a single coverage for all of our customers. and the 3rd piece i think is most important, it's really innovation of the core of insurance. and so we're going to invest into turning insurance from what it is today. and pretty boring product that we today made a little bit better by digitizing everything and making everything real time. but

it still insurance. it's still a product. and what we're turning insurance into essentially is a pro active product that is going to help you prevent bad things from happening. and this is possible through the rise of i o t data. and we want to say, how can you do that? that's, you know, that's quite an ambitious target. absolutely. our target to 30 percent of all risks happening from our customers. if you look at the history of insurance and you see the same development and commercial insurance. so in factories, for example, ensure us have already taken a lot of preventive measures in the last decades and the same development now through the i o t data revolution. and by 2025, every human on earth is going to own around 15 devices that are connected to the internet. and this prevention will also come to personal lines insurance. so we

have a i team and that's working on what we call. we focus prevent, and that works on increasing your awareness about your general, but also your immediate risk so that you have an increased awareness about your risk situation and you reduce your risk and this is a win win situation. insurance is going to become cheaper because of reduced risk. customers are going to be happier. they're going to live longer, and they're going to live healthier. and insurance is going to become more profitable. it's a win win situation for customer and insurance. and we want to be spearheading that development when we fox. the only thing you left out there is we will all live happily ever after. thank you for that positive outlook. let's hope it comes through. thanks so much for your time. thank you very much. and finally, here's something we can all aspire to. soper cause or hyper cars,

but these manufacturers recognize they need to change as the world moves towards reducing emissions. a little known creation electric hyper car stop re mike will take control of one of the world's most story brands. fox foggins bull gotti remark began life in a garage in 2009. it is growing to become one of the industries leading technology providers. its electric and battery systems can be found in aston martin and john g u a cars, it's upcoming remark. navarro is expected to be the fastest car ever built a title previously held by the book on tissue on. well my next guest is the chief executive of lam beginning, which is owned, of course, by volkswagen. stefan winkleman joins us now from santa got about a navy in italy. good to have you with us. so you're launching what's being described as the last of untied or is that an acknowledgement that the world is changing that the future is for electric pallet cars?

first of all, we are celebrating allow them to lower because it's the last of a kind. we will have 600 units, only 250 groups and 250 rhodes. and then there will be the phase of hybridization and 23 and 24 for the entire lineup of won't be working. so 1st the event for why would be hybridized will be plug in hybrid, but it will maintain our famous ve 12th engine. so there will be a new engine also in the hybridized chart. and that's the problem is we are making to our customers is that the new generation of cars is always to be better than the one before. and especially when we speak about performance. this is a math. will they still found us? good? yes, they would sound very good because they will keep our famous engine, as i said, with the v 12. that will be this incredible sound and also the feeling of

a real lumber. i. so it sounds like you're saying, when you, you keep saying, i'm going to keep the v 12 that there's going to continue then to be a niche market for the petro purists like me. right? we're not a dying breed then. now because we are putting 2 things together because at the end of this hybridization phase, so when we launch the also there would i can at the end of $24.00, we will cut the 2 emissions by at least 50 percent. and this is quite something and then you generations, they want performance on one hand side, but they also demand for sustainability. and i think that this is a good step that we have the words match together and we will have guides which are still fulfilling the dreams of their customers. as you probably know in on last test, lays introducing more and more autonomous features. is this something that hyper can super cars are going to have to go down that road as well? right as 3 mega range?

no, there is a electrification. there's digitalization and then there's one on the driving. the 1st 2 are already on our table and they are very important for us in the future. if it comes to driving it, if it helps and traffic if it helps for active and passive safety. but we will always have a steering wheel, and we will have always feature that you can shut off those helps because it's important when you step into a lumber again, if you sit in alarm or you need to do it because you want to enjoy the drive but the situation where it may be this in the future is going to be boring and dropped it. so we will have a level of i don't know me. all of them was driving, which is not influencing the joy and the fun of driving a car like this. so how will lam beginning evolve then given what you said in the future, how will you retain some of your, your key ingredients, especially as restrictions green measures become tighter and tighter. uncommon factors may, as i said,

the 1st step is now hybridization. we are going to have a 1st full electric vehicle in the 2nd half of this decade. we think about 2027, which will be the 4th model of lumber gaining. we will continue to look into what is feasible with the combustion engine to look if synthetic fuel can be turned off the 2030. but the new line up, which is going to be launched in 23 and 24th, is going to fulfill the regulations and did the end of this decade. and then as i said in the 2nd part of this, they can, we are launching of 1st of all electric, or do you think your brand will be independent within the v w stable going forward? but inside the, the folks one group, every brand has its own positioning and the value of number getting growth immensely in the last decade. and i think that the business is very

good. we have an order bank of 10 months of production covered with customer orders . so also the outlook for this year and the beginning of next year is a very positive one. we investing the highest amount of invested in the future of this company. it's 1500000 euro until the end of 2024. and then we are looking into electrification and i think that this is a good match for the folks our group because we are covering for the old, the segments with the brands we have in the, in the group. i'm sure many young boys out, they'll be happy to hear that lum beginning will be around in the coming green the decade to thanks very much, stephan vehicle, man, you're welcome. thank you. and that's our show for you. this waco is more for you online at al jazeera dot com slash p p. c. that'll take you straight to our page,

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killed and re unite? it's common africa. no, not for me. also, my kid, last warrior witness documentary on a i hate he's elections minister says they've asked us to send troops to protect key infrastructure after the assassination of president german all more you ah, hello there, i'm just on the pay and this is algebra live from ha, also coming in the un security council extends the mandate for a deliveries from turkey. it's a rebel held syria for another year after russia agrees to deal.