they still have very much power and much very good. the positive energies, people like present many coming back to the, to the origin and to the, to the identity. actually the old city is always been the heart of nazareth. now a growing group of residence wants to get it beating again. are full, said al jazeera nazareth. ah, and let's take you through some of the headlines now. strangely, i was planning to go ahead with reopening the economy, despite the new variance of coven 19 spreading in the country. mass demonstrations melvena underway against vaccine mandates to the world health organization says only crohn has been confirmed in 38 countries so far. it's calling on countries to focus on preparing health systems. we need to be prepared and cautious. something

we've been saying from the beginning of the mac, not panic, because we're in a different situation today than we were at the beginning of 2022. what do we know what works? and so this is something that we had expected that nobody should be rounds about the variance. and so it's just something to worry about. certainly didn't want to see another barrier damage and better around the world at this stage. it's certainly not working wanted, but we're not entirely surprised. and i think we're much up to 200 polls of opened in the gambia as tightly contested presidential election. a rec hold thanks. can the running for the post. i'm going to dream is more from bun jewel. this is the opening of the vote in by july and what we hear from across the country, the turn out is massive and it's no surprise. this is the 1st election in nearly 30

years for gambia and why a voter will go and cast his balance without having to worry about being observed, being intimidated after voting or being arrested after boarding. i remember 5 years ago there was an election in this country keenly contested where the opposition united against my long time ruler, jeremy, and eventually they voted him out. but those not election was really, really chance. now the u. s. president joe biden says he's developing initiatives to prevent russia from invading ukraine. he's expected to hold talks with the russian president vladimir putin in the coming days. those were headlines. the news continues on al jazeera. after the listening post talk to al jazeera, we, how would you this like relationship with the us?

we listen coffee, 900 is not over. coffee 19 has been terrible demonstration of the failure of human . we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that imagine on how to sierra there's always likely compose a very high risk. some readers will say severe, consequently, deeper discipline like this efficient policies. several countries want insurance on the alarm. richard ginsberg you are at the listening posts where we don't cover the news. we cover the way the news is covered. here are the media stories we're examining this week. uncertainty makes a comeback. what audiences need to know about the new cove at 1900 variance and what they've been getting from their new sources are rushing state funded news network threatens to sue an independent media outlet in a branding dispute over

a t shirt. it's called tell you the so korean soft power push that's producing one blockbuster after another, and from east jerusalem to the united nations. i do not care home disturbing. ology, offend a journalist on why terminology matters in the coverage of the middle east conflict . and it has been 10 days now since the latest variant of covert 19 was 1st reported by scientists in south africa. the world health organization instantly labeled the strain it caused alma crohn, a variant of concern due to questions over its transmit civility, and whether it could render vaccines ineffective. the initial reporting had many scientists accusing journalists of jumping the gun, creating panic in audiences that required information. instead, there have also been complaints over the term ology. the early use of the term south african varied, implying that alma kron originated there. when there is simply no evidence of that

yet the south african angle has provided one useful side effect. it is turned attention to the issue of global vaccine in equity. a story that scientists say needs considerably more attention than news outlets have been giving it. our starting point this week is the covered 1900 variant, now known as new recruit variance is rona virus is likely to pose a very high global risk news. consumers operate on a need to know basis. there's growing global alarm over the do corona repair that 1st emerged in south africa. sometimes news outlets tell them what they need to fear. instead who they need to fear. the new mutations were 1st discovered in south africa from the us. you went out rather restrictions from that country and 7 other what audiences need to know about the variance. we now call alma crime,

starts with 3 questions. the basics. what we need to know about a variance is if it's more transmissible, we're not even sure yet that it's more transmissible or the pieces are rising exponentially in south africa joined by that by dr. edge. yeah, 2nd, is it more very south africa medical health officer doctor. he has been on the news now steadily for several days saying that she does not think that this is a more variable experience. but the majority of watch be off to prime, a health care practitioners are extreme tomorrow. and then number 3 is easy. but there isn't evidence of that either. that won't be that much to stay for days and weeks because it just takes time to get really good answer. so i think news organizations are in the really difficult situation. yes. the expectation that if it is, bo transmissible, it will spread globally, but it's too early to say at this point, it must. and so for instance,

i was on the edge of end of the last 4 days every day to find out how concerned exactly we should be. we really have to, to wait, we are, and every day i gave him the same answer. you're gonna have to wait the next days and weeks to find out don't. which of these tiers are actually going to be true? i've seen quite a lot of criticism, but from journalists and scientists that dr. story has been oh, the blue. oh john, his is scary. it really is, that is the scan of coverage essentially causing panic. is no hard to imagine how medium boxes will react in a couple of weeks. this was a scenario with this area is not match. it says, while i'm bringing about the, the sort of volume, the early a route south, african scientists 1st reported the detection of the new variant to the world health organization on wednesday, november 24th. it took 2 days to 24 hour news cycles for the

w h o to label the variance hallmark right. during that initial period news organizations have to decide what to call it. the variant 1st detected in south africa would have been precise, but try fitting that into a headline. so some called it the south african very and then came the travel restrictions imposed on south africa and some of its sub saharan neighbors. by more than 50 countries, it was only after that that we learned that alma cron turned up in the netherlands in tests taken before the ones in south africa. samples that just took longer to process. so it could have been called the dutch very it, it never was about frequent this came is no surprise because we've been through this or if that added to varying it's very concerning right now with the it's a $1000000000.00. oh, certainly booked a southern can variant to any is now to talk more about the south african variant

if the south african strain and will land at a time how to dispose of pushing back against outcome, legal, and then conscious in the global last that it, you know it detected this, i mean you variance away and not be subjected to this bands and the question was raised, why is it that they're not introducing trunk or bands? the coverage was so high that was so panic was so all over the place and western scientists were hyping is that this is that most transmissible variant we've ever seen. this is exponential growth prior to analytically looking at the situation and an south african scientist and leaders right now. so essentially they did their job, they did careful surveillance work, and what they got in return was an immediate traveler. it's been a huge backlash against south africa. the scientists, they have taken to heart the, the lessons of his pandemic, which is we need to act really early. i was talking to one of the researchers submit this work. and he says that because the planes have been stopped,

he's having trouble now to get the re, agents that he needs to do the lab work that the whole world is waiting for. now to understand how dangerous despairing really is. so these travel bands have a really, really dangerous effect that accounts for over 70 percent of the emergence of alma kron has put the issue of vaccine inequity where it belongs on the news agenda. this 60 percent of people across the european union are vaccinated. compare that to a mere 3.4 percent across the african continent. scientists have long warned low vaccination rates, create conditions in which new variance can develop and throng. there was no evidence and there may never be that south africa's vaccination rate, just 24 percent at the time, alma crohn was 1st reported helped create the very it, but here of unvaccinated south africans travelling will have factored into the restrictions. sub saharan africa is part of

a global south that has struggled to get enough doses outbid by richer countries that have also allowed pharmaceutical companies to keep their vaccines patent, protected, preserving their profits, rather than waving those patents and allowing other companies to produce their vaccines during a world wide emergency hasn't been got a letter in march 2021, some major pharmaceutical companies. same don't do. this is not helpful for our office. and then after that, the trade commissioner, united states said that they're interested in working on weight and patterns. and then nothing. i think the media has a huge role to play, to not just allow statements on the surface, but to keep on digging. and to ask world leaders, why they haven't substantially moved with a w t o to change the situation or are active. the virus will mutate a slice,

it's got the opportunity to spread from one person to the next, which is why it's critical that we get vaccines across the world. because in those regions, we are create an opportune tease for the virus to continue to spray. the story is not complete when you just looking on the chrome without putting it in the context of vaccine in the kitchen. the job of organizations is to put global vaccine and expertise on to be agenda. politicians tend to really respond to the story that rise to the top of the new cycle and really competing public interest. and they're kind of become unavoidable story and you off petitions about and being carried to states, they're not doing something about that. that's the role that use organizations in play. alma crohn has also reintroduced elements of uncertainty into the coverage of a pandemic. that reporters appeared to be getting a handle on their news outlets did not make their reputations by telling audiences

what they do not know. it still does not come naturally to and the variant has provided another opening for conspiracy theories many of the made in america. now making the rounds in south africa, they are theories that travel and they have proved to be much harder to ban than people. the thing that shocks me, the most is how mainstream media and has become an outlet for conspiracy theories from really wild and inaccurate statements in a way that i hadn't received before. they created a problem that can never actually be sol, so they can justify whatever it is they want to do. i wonder whether i can stay, being an infectious disease reporter without also becoming a misinformation report a report on the information ecosystem in the past. information needs to be localized, not there of pollution, a lot of people that are driving this information in. so i using videos and

recordings of people from all sorts of places in the world. i will not be reduced to mere guinea pick by getting vaccinated with an experimental drug. people drive agend doesn't come things. i actually question and some people need to pay a price for it. as long as there's no contract, it's not going to stop or they can continue to cause harm and lives to be lost because looking at other media stories on our radar. this week with flor phillips returning to russia, where the news network funded by the kremlin russia today is threatening to sue another news organization over a t shirt. not just any t shirt, richard the stories all about who made it and what they put on it. it's a collaboration between the russian language, online newspaper, medusa, based in latvia, and moscow based clothing brand. you'll see that they've printed the phrase in

again, and that's for an agent in russian. it's basically, and i want to reference to medusa official status in russia. foreign agent imposed on them by the government 6 months ago. there were lots of headlines in the run up to the september elections about president putin, his close allies and corruption allegations. medusa reporting on those stories resulted in it being slapped with the foreign agent label. they've left it much more open to prosecution by the state, limiting the way that it can publish and advertise. and of course, scaring off potential sources. it's really hurt that revenues, so they've been looking for other ways to keep afloat, transportation. but how do we get from there to our t threatening to sue? it's about branding richard on the flag, back in 2017 r t, the russian state a news channel with forced by the trump administration to register the foreign agent in the us. that's when they came up with their own line of much t shirt hudy's caps,

all saying foreign agent. but when medusa did the same thing all t somehow failed to find it. very funny. it hit medusa on the clothing company with cease and desist letters demanded that they be fined and threatened to sue over trademark infringement. so where does the story go from here into the hands of the lawyers. while medusa was already under a lot of pressure from the russian state, the 4 r t started piling on. that's why they're not feel safe, a working conditions. so they stopped selling the t shirt. but the clothing company, they're not backing down, but still selling the shot, and they're promising a 30 percent cut to medusa. and it's proving popular on russians christmas lists. the company says it's struggling to keep up with demand. ok, thanks. go back a few years, had you asked a typical, millennial, what they knew about south korea. the answer would have been not much that has changed, not through news coverage or geo politics through entertainment. start with k drama series that you can stream like squid game and how about benjamin formats?

flick, production techniques, romantic story lines, whatever the secret formula is, south korea is now producing some of the world's most watched content. and k drama is just one sector within the k entertainment industry. it also takes the music and turns out cape hot baths and teen idols with huge followings overseas. about 20 years ago, coming out of life under military rule, the south korean government placed a bet on the entertainment industry pumping money into it as a means of improving the countries global image and boosting its economy. the plot twist that no one saw coming, that a soft power push would transform. so korea into a cultural superpower. but listening posts joanna, who's now from soul on what they call the korean wave. i mean spot in moscow,

tokyo abu dhabi. but if you've never what squid game you may of all yourself, what are those foods and those guards that keep popping up and walked with a mask? the giant character sprinkled around the world reflect the global reach of netflix is big. it's more than a 110000000 viewers. it's a story that follows contestants playing a game for money with deadly consequences. and it's the latest south korean creation to find a huge international audience. they call it k drama and it's part of an export industry story that even korean didn't see how to want to. she did a hob. what else in there is it palm sheet? is it a cool market? this is welcoming trina, pendergrast korean. you was wondering how this will do it. ok and killed one time, which is where she will. you don't know how you owns it because it is and we'll get

him on our product. as a part of the studio dragon is south korea's largest production house and the force behind many of k drama's biggest global hits the cars. and one of the reasons that k drama became so popular worldwide as it's diversity of genres like thrillers, action and comedy. that's i think the biggest factor is our attention to storytelling. there is an element of korean and most of nest embedded and stories. and this may appeal to audience is abroad. for example, in a trauma crashed landing on you a south korean women accidentally lans have power shoot in north korea and then falls in love. that story portrayed korea's uniqueness and became a global success. so my kid up and she got me on how go. if you look at korean productions over the years, the content is always very distinctly korean. it reflects our society and history.

i mean, in other words, the, for example, squid game combine, game shows, honor that is familiar to a global audience with a mix of authentic korean elements. even more fascinating is a drama, like hometown cha cha, tongue. this series has all the cliches of a korean drama and wasn't intended to be distributed globally. nevertheless, it's not only loved in asia, but all over the world. whether it's the mode of plot lines, select production style or formats tailor paid for binge watching k drama. his audiences around the globe in the millions shows like stranger crush lending on you, or descendants of the sun, a foot south korea on the entertainment map. and their success is rubbing off on other industries. homes like parasites which one the 2020 academy award for

best picture and the music 2nd boy bench like b t. s are all part of the so called hollywood phenomenon. the spread of korean pop culture from asia to the rest of the world. the tom how you emerge in the chinese press in 1997 to describe the search of korean pop music and key t v dramas. in china. the tongue literally means the korean wave in chinese. and of course more recently, the higher you has been increasingly adopted. and used by rasp media, to refer to the rise of tape pop in 10 drama. ah, no coincidence that the hell you 1st had china assures in the 990. in that decade, following nearly 25 years of military rule and hit hard by the asian financial

crisis. a democratizing south korea will set and reinventing its global image and diversifying its economy. the government in tools recognize the potential of entertain it's crap censorship laws that have been in place for decades. instead it sites on developing the culture sector that will turn into an export industry. oh, go. you tell me, i was a military dictatorship from 1961 to 1987 during which people were oppressed and there was a thirst for freedom of speech. so when the democratic government replaced the military regime and censorship laws were removed, audience flocked to the cinema to watch films from america like drastic park the president at the time famously said, one spectacular film like jurassic park can be more profitable than selling 1500000 his day cars. let us also cultivate little hannibal data and you get

a handle in there. the ministrations since the $900.00 ninety's offered several measures to develop code sure, industries, subsidies, tax benefits the regulation for private kept her to invest. so it is undeniable that government played an important role in developing countries, coaching the trees, you know, where to really short period of time. however hired is far more than the top down process inspect the initial rise of how you use very much unpredicted. even korean government, very surprise, surprised or not, since the 19 ninety's, the south green authorities have capitalized on the popularity of it's booming entertainment sector. over the past few decades tell you has grown into want to

south korea's most notable exports and very productive parts of the country's economy. with the entertainment sector is paying political dividends to the government here. and so has recognized the potential of how you as a diplomatic tool, part of a soft power push to increase south korea's influence in south east asia and beyond . hungary, target or south korea has never had any hard power with which to threaten the world . but we do have a certain cultural charm for a long time. south korea's image was mostly just about war, poverty or confrontation between north and south korea. however, now the south korea as being acknowledged for its popular culture, it is quite natural for the korean government to utilize it as a soft power tools. and the other country would want to do the same point. but when you get up early and celebrities have been invited to the government. diplomatic, you bank one of the latest examples, the members of

a pop group company, the korean president to session of the united nations general assembly in new york on other exam for fake be to to china in 2017. when k drama has had your health counseling is the president, edgar korea, china events, the government, and it's a pity that the appearance of home who is exceptionally popular in china, can contribute to reducing the political tension between the 2 countries. it has been carts of national branding and cultural diplomacy. the brand korea would not be where it is today without a helping hand from the entertainment industry. new players streaming services like netflix and audiences around the world have turned you from a regional phenomenon to a global turn into our local radio. in the beginning,

we have studio dr. and did not aim for our content to go global. in fact, for a long time, most production houses were based in house, merely creating content for local korean broadcast is, however, streaming platforms like netflix allowed us to prevents our theory to the world and to become well known. and a good game show is there is clearly quite a crave the korean content. can you tell us that the lesson and the korean entertainment industry is riding the wave of popularity would be eligible to be series award winning film. and blockbuster, the quick game is just the latest soft power conquest for korea. k drama fans around the world are staying tuned for what comes next. and finally, from making your name by reporting over instagram, to telling you like it is at the united nations mohammed l quoted is

a palestinian whose journalism we featured before on our program. his instagram was one of the must follow feeds during israel's ethnic cleansing, about could have neighborhood in jerusalem shakes, shut off earlier this year. having used a social media to tell stories. many other reporters failed to tell, using terminology others shy away from l cord broke. some on written rules has since been made, the palestine correspondent for the nation, the american magazine that focuses on politics and culture. and he's done it all by h 23. this week the u. n. brought our current to new york to speak part of the ceremonies mark in the us international day of solidarity with the palestinian people from the podium. he touched on the issue of terminology and why it matters in the reporting of what is happening in palestine. was the next time here at the listening post. hello, international community. thank you for it. is groundbreaking speed says i'm sure

the occupation authorities are really concerned right now. my name's from out of the card. i am here to deliver speeds. i am tired of reporting on the same brutality every day. of thinking of new ways to describe the obvious. the situation in my neighborhood cells are not hard to understand. it is a perfect microcosm of settler colonialism. you know, when we reflect on histories, most horrible, most and humane atrocities today, we think of them with so much moral clarity so much moral clarity that we tend to forget that when these atrocities were happening, they were perfectly legal. not only perfectly legal, but at the time that they were happening, they were all once controversial contested to complex people talked with neutral language like we do today. we all think that had been us there back then at that point of time, we would have been at the right side of history. and we have the opportunity today

to be on the right side of history. ah, the stage is said, and it's time for a different approach. one that is going to challenge the way you think we're ditching the sound bites and we're digging into the issue from international politics to the global pandemic. and everything in between join me as i take on the lars dismantle the misconceptions and debate the contradictions upfront with me, mark lamond hill on out 0, killing the debates. 90 percent of the world's refugees have come from a common impacted country. the climate emergency is putting more pressure on services across the world and amplify your voice. it's not really the future 8 now . it's not our responsibility to people lock can get this completed. we cannot lose

hope. we know what to do, and we have the tools to do to get back with patient this to you are now to sierra, ah, polls open in the gambia and a tightly contested presidential vote will be live from the capital ban jewel. ah, hello, i'm sammy's a dan. this is al jazeera alive from dell hall, so coming out straight is plans to reopen the economy of being tested by a rise in the army, chrome various u. s. president joe biden says he's crafting a plan to.