the while celebrations are under way following the successful launch of the james web space telescope. it'll still be a nail biting 30 days before it reaches its orbit. now on its way to its orbit at a location known as lagrano point to some one and a half 1000000 kilometers from earth, weathers on course to redefine astronomy and begin to unfold the mysteries of our universe. monroe ended up a little al jazeera peru, french kiana. ah, there at lisa hill, rama, reminder of all top stories, south african nobel peace prize. when a desmond to, to has died to the age of 90. he was appointed the 1st black college bishop of cape town and became known it's vocal opposition to the countries apartheid system. human rights groups are accusing me of miles military of committing a massacre. the child remains of 38 people have been found and can state the save

the children. charity says target staff are missing in the area. penny chang has more from bangkok in neighboring thailand. it seems that the military is pushing into these areas which over the last 6 months, have seen a lot of people fleeing from the cities unwilling to accept the queue. but they've also believed to be sheltering a lot of the members of the new g, the national unity government, which is effective, the government in excel, which has been established for the point when the military coup can be overturned. as we approached the anniversary, the one year anniversary of that, it seems the military of very keen to stamp down their authority in these areas along the board with time. and they traditionally don't have a lot of control. there are ethnic groups that operate relatively freely the in these areas. the palestinian red crescent says, israeli forces of india 240 protest as near nablus security forces 5,

tig live ammunition in rubber coated steel, bullets of the crowds. tensions been escalating since 2 palestinians killed and israeli settler on december, the 16th in northern iraq. the bodies of 16 migrants have been returned from france . family members gathered herbal apples to receive their remains. the victims drowned last month trying to reach the united kingdom. at least 7 people have been killed in a suicide bomb blast and the democratic republic of congo, the government says he attacked to talk to a popular restaurant in the town of benny in the east. the group has claimed responsibility, but the area is often targeted by the allied democratic forces. a volcanic eruption on the spanish island of le palmer is officially over after 3 months of daily explosions. the declaration was made after 10 days as low level activity, contravir destroyed around $3000.00 buildings and damaged farm irrigation systems. those were the headlines about more news and half and here on our desert. next,

it's inside story to say with i was going to have on child less working in asia and africa. there'd be days where i'd be choosing and editing my own stories and a refugee camp with no electricity. and right now where confronting some of the greatest challenges that humanity has ever faced. and i really believe the only way we can do that is with compassion and generosity and compromise. because that's the only way we can try to solve any of these problems is together. well, there are so important, we make those connections how an attempt to rival china's belt mood initiative be you unveiled the major global infrastructure plan. the goal to invest in developing countries and boost trade links with the rest of the world. but why the interest? no. and can the book compete with b jane? this is in science story. ah,

ah. hello and welcome to the program. i am, how am i have been? it's been described as a roadmap for major investments and infrastructure worldwide. the european union's global gateway strategy is seen as a challenge to china's belt and broads initiatives the plan to raise $340000000000.00 to finance infrastructure. it will focus on transport, health, education, and digital and climate projects. in asia, africa, the middle east and latin america. they, you is china's biggest trading partner and the project was allow it to promote its geopolitical influence. aging has extended its own reach during the 8 years since it launched its own initiative. while the belts ruined program a force in 2013 its president,

cd and kings signature project to connect china to the rest of the world. beijing is investing more than $800000000000.00 over $13000.00 projects. 165 countries in return, china gets access to the wrong materials. it needs to few its growth. but critic say the initiative has pushed many countries deeply into debt. well, the european commission president, since the book will be a trusted partner and will provide high quality projects, we want to take a different approach. we want to show that a democratic value driven approach can deliver on the most pressing challenges. we want to show that it can on one hand, meet not local needs, but also on the other hand, to tackle the global challenges we have. and thus, in

a way also of course benefit the european union. ah, well let's bring in our guests vena bozeman is the director of the africa program at the carnegie endowment for international peace. in washington d. c. in brussels, we're joined by luis desantos, the deputy director general at business europe. that's a lobbying group representing businesses in europe. and victor gao is the vice president of the center for china and globalization, and he joins us from b jing our warm welcome to all of you on this edition of inside story at. let's start in europe at louise the sun so. so was your reaction to the, the launch of the global gait? we, what are your initial impressions? good afternoon, everyone. well, i impression is positive. we see this as a strategic approach from europe, and you weigh

a relationship with this main trading partners. but also we did neighbors developing countries. it's also a way of your show that it as a model, an economic model, but also to political moto deaths. it's an alternative to all those that exist that including about and we can issue. it's also very important for us because it includes, apart from the public finance and the public sector, an important role for the private sector. i mean, the money that we are talking about will come a lot from companies. so companies need also to be leaving this projects. and from our perspective, it is a very good initiative. and wanda was long overdue. let's not forget your piece already. the largest donor in the world, the largest investor. what we are doing now is trying to have

a more strategic approach, a more team europe approach, trying to prioritize different initiatives and putting them on their common umbrella, the global gateway. well, that's the perspective then from team europe, st. bisman. what are your thoughts about this proposal? it seems that from the business community in europe, it seems to be warm the received. how do you think developing nations are likely to view this potential extra sources of investments? so i think it's a generally a welcome initiatives that finally there can you get in europe more broadly, is now thinking about infrastructure invested in public services in developing countries. as is from the perspective of africa, because for a long time, this has been a major priority for african countries that they were in need. and still,

i need all investment in infrastructure and public services to be able to power the economic transformation to convert to the rest of the world to be able to diversify their economies, which are in africa. 8, it has 8 of the walls 15 these to diversified economies, and that of all gas minerals and i, the culture goes in the incomes of people. so this is, this is a certainly welcome. but i think there's also a lot of a lot of african countries are kind of a in a weighted mood because i know there are 3 things that perhaps a lot of law i'm looking out for number one, whether this initiative is going to try to respond to african priorities as defined by africans themselves around johnson infrastructure. i will also around very, very, very recently around with nightenback scenes around pharmaceuticals. you know,

the european union and, and maybe you can countries have not supported the initiative other wanted organization to have a temporary i p waiver on technology around x equals 90 bucks in production. but also iraq elicit financial flows, which actually drain resources from africa up to $90000000.00 per adult. what are the continent receives and development assistance? and what i, you know, this new initiative is going to actually build on the competitive advantage that europe pass around as measured pharmaceuticals and vaccines little's around technology and knowledge transfer. and perhaps the final thing is that a lot of african countries are waiting to see is whether this initiatives response to african priorities in a way that doesn't force africa to engage in this new world war phenomenon that we see plain out in the rest of the world and but the effect verve,

the alternative to, to the industry as proposed by the european union. and also by the us. the main alternative would be the chinese belton rude initiative. do you think that's response a to african priorities? so what is it, what is the very interesting with chinese engagement in africa? ah, we know which kind of accelerates ed for were on the year 2000 and which eventually became subsumed under the builder good initiative of 2013 is that, you know, the way china has a, a new approach. this engagement is that they come way then explicit transaction that they once resources and, and he's at the beginning, it was really around obtaining a natural resources, oil, minerals, or tim by agriculture products to power after china's double digit economic growth

at the time. right? so it was usually at the time a very explicit transaction that they wanted. what chinese entities anyways, wanted these resources and an exchange they were willing to invest in, ah, at least some of the priorities that african countries that identified around infrastructure. and i'll give you some, a striking statistics you know, which were published at just about a week ago before the start of the, for on china, africa corporation. we just did 2 days ago. so from the year 2000, 22020, over this 20 year period, china helped african countries build more than 30000 kilometers of roads and railway, with an 80 large scale. our facilities funded over 130 medical facilities, et cetera, et cetera. but at the same time, at, sorry to jump in there, but at the same time and, and i do want to stay on this too long. at the same time,

africa is still getting quite a lot in terms of aids, in terms of treats from europe and the united states. and so it is, the figures think cut both ways, but i do want to bring in victor, go who is joining us from beijing this evening. victor with her that european business is very keen to just to get involved in the a, the game of for bridging this infrastructure gap. this is something that china has been doing with the belt and root initiative since 2013 the china welcome this. a competition shall we say, or is china is somewhat intimidated that they're no longer the for the lens or that that countries will go to get to get these big infrastructure projects done. well 1st of all, if the global gateway is truly meant for building up connectivity and infrastructure

in developing countries, including african countries, then the more the better is not only are come, it's not competition. it is very much welcomed, not only by china, but by all the receiving countries. however, if you listen to president earth of on the layers, speech about the global gateway there, you need to worry about it because i hope global gateway is not going to be part of your size and used for ideological agenda. and the, if competition does happen, we all welcome ads and we hope it will be competition are equal trance rather then on political agenda or by politicizing such infrastructure and connectivity. we all know all african centers in particular suffer from colonialism for several 100 years. and when the british colonists left africa infrastructure was in shamble, and many african cultures are not connected with each other. and they need to fly

to european capitals for transit back to african capitals. so it is a shame and everyone you do pitching to build up connectivity in africa as well as in other parts of the world. so from the chinese perspective, we're woke up generally investments infrastructure and connectivity. louisa santa us, a from business, a europe that we have heard there that about china. welcome to the competition, but is weary of the that the political under tunes of this d. c political undertones and the global gateway initiative? no, i think it's clear that the model is different from the chinese model. a global gateway is based on inclusiveness is based on transparency is based on reciprocity, but definitely maybe these principles are not totally in line with china once,

but i mean, i think that and we always been very clear also as, as, as business. we have already infrastructure in place that will be on the under the belt and go the initiative. i think it doesn't make sense to create a parallel initiative when we have already infrastructure there, it makes sense that we create connections. but of course, if we do this and if we do this under the global gateway with european money, we need to do it with european rules. and i think these are a p and rules based, for instance, on sustainable development. the respect of social rights, the respect of our environmental rights of climate change. if we do, under these conditions, i don't see why we should not cooperate. but he's very clear that these conditions have to be met to make sure that we can call greg. and let me come back to the african question. i mean, europe and i repeat,

europe is the largest owner and investor in africa and around the world. so we're just trying to use and you to a new instrument to gather all the resources that are already being invested by europe, european companies, and european governments. and try to bring in and a one umbrella with a common objective. and these objective, these to be when, when we don't want these to be only something that sort of european industries interests or own european companies, we want also to cooperate with local governments and local business of post effects . i was calling to see what you said. there is a luisa son. so we're bringing together existing trade and existing projects. how much just this is going to be new money, the headline figure, of course the $3.00 hundreds 1000000000 euros and investments over the next 6 years

or so. but how much of this is actually new? well we have new facilities now and most of what will be new will be money brought by actually the private sector and some of the financial institutions that will be in that will be also associated to, to, to that, to they should. and there's also an important component in the idea will be also to bring very a lot of national projects because we have also development banks at national level that are quite important in some countries. and the idea is also to bring these together. so this is going to be the new part or what we seen tons of resources. but i think the final financial envelope will depend a lot on also the viability of the projects. and if the project

viable and they make sense from a business point of view, of course, much more money will be gathered from the private sector as well. say not boost. and we've heard the ethos behinds the awarding of money for projects and someone will be very much based on europe's rules, rules of transparency and so on and so forth. where's the incentive for countries to support for the european funding model? rather than say, the chinese model which may not have such stringent requirements. so, so this is, this is a very interesting point. and this is why i said, i think a lot of african countries, policy makers and scholars alike they, i know we didn't seem to right now because, i mean, my, my colleague,

the spinal mentions that europe, europe, is the largest do not i forget which is actually true, i think the thing though is that, you know, this is why the, the issue of african practices quite important because for a long time, some african leaders and scholars have been saying that were african needs not just donor funding. it's not just development assistance that is good and that is needed, particularly in parts of the continent that i, or in serious, severe crisis. what african countries need is actually meaningful economic engagement. so it is a welcome initiative, european google gateway. and if we can try to make that development assistance that provides even better respond to these priorities around jobs creation around the provision of infrastructure, then i think that is really, really going to work. and then the final thing i'll mention on this point is that you know, this, this issue of trying to crowd in private investments with

a private sector. i think, i think a lot of work will have to go into that. because traditionally we find is that the private sector, particularly in europe, tends to be quite hesitant to engage or invest in africa because of this perception of risk. so whether this initiative, the euro, european global gateway initiative can help the risk african market can help prepare a pipeline or bankable projects for the private sector to invest in. i think that might be a key determinant. so i think a lot of us are kind of in a week and see how this is actually going to happen. and the speaking of risk, victor in beijing over the last last 8 years or so that the belt and roads initiative has been underway. china has taken on a significance level of risk because it not with the investments. it's maids. does

china see that risk is paying off? because there are countries who have struggled to pay back the debts and the sums of money that they have they've taken on in terms the chinese finance says i just trying to view that. thank you very much. i think you are reason a very important question from the chinese perspective. we have several conclusions . one is that cooperation with african countries should not be just based on donor assistance because that will not really help to build up national capacity in many african countries. secondly, if you're sure to use commercial terms and commercial structure, then it will not work to because many of the company is, will find the investment times too long to do because the profit, the ability to so for example, and they probably will not be committed to many of these projects,

especially infrastructure projects. so you need to really innovate to come up with a model that will suit the set was as is a different african countries, but also to make sure that you really contribute to connectivity and infrastructure . absolutely, i'm not just thinking of africa here. victor guy, well also thinking of the railway projects and low the, the ports in sri lanka where china has had some of those significant that's paid off by 100 year long leases and the country is selling off the family jewels in order to service those debts. that china recognize that it's lensing practices, perhaps needs to change somewhat. well, 1st of all, loans are always a very important part of the financing package for most of the infrastructure and connectivity projects. so don't single out as long as if debt itself is evil. if

you're talking about debt, do know who borrows most of the money from china? it is not any country africa or even at the america or usa is the united states government? yes. why? and i think as a sale, i don't if it's cool in line to the chinese, the therapist that you need to come up with the vibe, all commercial structure to make sure that the infrastructure projects will be done . well, let's take that risk and, and see how it applies a back to that, the global gateway initiative, luis desantos and the we've highlighted the fact that private companies certainly in europe are going to be a big part of this project id. think being under this umbrella is going to incentivize more countries to, to start reinvesting, if you like, in developing nations. i think his important part of me to get him risky is important,

especially if you want to convince them more small and medium sized companies also to be part of these projects. and we know that in certain regions of what i'm including in europe, they f a nice are an important partner and even important peeler from an economic point of view. so the projects of the global gateway foresees the export credit system. so all fully that we'll be mitigation of the race and also the fact that we are and that is one of the objectives that for business is very important that we really prioritize projects. and that we really look at projects for the have a strategic interests in terms of development and economic development. and this way we can kind of like the resources for the most viable and will strategic projects. i think this will be ways and tools to, to mitigate,

to mitigate the risk and coming back again to, to, to the importance of having it can now make development. i think the you recognizes that development ad is not enough and it's not really leading to sustainable grow. so we need to change the priority. and i think this is one of the reasons why the us come up now. we logo gateway structure. ok. zayna is that we're on the side of time, so i'll leave the last words to you. i understand it's very much a wait and see how this project is going to unfold. but if you think at this stage is likely to benefit most from the, this new global gateway. so i, i think nothing is cost. and so a lot depends on what approach and how, how, how european countries actually make this make this work on the

ground. in reality, i locked it ends on the extent to which others gateway initiative is actually informed by the needs of parties. all these developing countries around, in the case of africa, created jobs for the $1315000000.00 people joined the labor market every single year. around i plug in the infrastructure financing gap around a $100000000.00 a year around. and there wasn't, li, are providing financing for adaptation to climate change to that, you know, around $50000000000.00. will this respond to these needs set and identify the paradise by african countries? i think that is very much something that will determine how this goes and the ability of african countries themselves to kind of put their own needs on the

agenda. and i'm afraid we are out of time. but thank you to all our guests. they now bozeman luis desantos, and of course, joining us and paging victor go and thank you to for watching. remember, you can see the program again any time by visiting our websites, al jazeera dot com. and for further discussion just heads or facebook page at facebook dot com forward slash ha inside story. you can also join the conversation on twitter. handle is ha, insights story. so for me and the whole team is by tonight january and i just 20 years ago the euro was brought into circulation. we investigate, have a year ago and benefited from having an official currency be part of the st. enjoy

mouse social media community as sierra leone recovery from civil war continues. we must see decade since the end of one of africa's most brutal complex, the bottom line, steve herman's dives headlong into the u. s. issues that shape the rest of the world. as we enter the 3rd year cove at 19, we go back to hand where it all began and investigate how far we've come. since the pandemic january on a jesse route code 19 is a public health crisis that has been compounded by capitalism. alley raid navigates the big questions raised by the global pandemic power system based on private ownership in the state of profit. so the world in a ton of capitalism is the pandemic cause of so much of the suffering exploited protected people or the profit episode. one of all hail the look down on al jazeera,

it's the political debris show that's challenging the way you think is a military man, some it going to stop the family to guy who's under a company city right now, people are very children are very up front with me, markham, on hill on al jazeera, ah renowned human rights activist, archbishop desmond, to, to has died. he was awarded the nobel prize for his fight against apartheid. ah, roman watching. i was just there, like my headquarters here in doha also of the program. human rights groups, the keys me amount military of

a massacre at the dozens of bodies found in k health state under the palestinian protested or injured in the west bank as tension as.