and couldn't date of effect of scientific program going forward. with so much anticipation, there was still the risk that scientists, that son may not uncover any new findings in the next round of experiments. even so it may be too early to lose heart. so far, only a 10th of the total data they plan to uncover has been found in a universe that has yet to reveal itself. so i'll go, i'll just, sarah, ah, run for top storage and i was 0. ukraine's defense ministry as accused russia of imperialism. after a russian general told state media of plans to seize all of southern and eastern ukraine, the premium military says russia is stepping up attacks along the entire eastern front line for also trying to mount and offensive in the hockey region. russian general munich, i f says most to seize the bus as well as the south,

which will let them connect the crumb in peninsula to a russian back to break away region of moldova. that would mean pushing hundreds of kilometers beyond current frontline, the mayor of the besieged city very full, has called for the evacuation of around 100000 civilians who remain trapped. the european council president is also calling on let me pretend to allow access to the city of the several humanitarian corridors cooled off due to potential dangers. russian forces have continued to surround steelworks and are you ho with out of ukrainian troops and civilians hold off the you and human rights officers described the war in ukraine as a horror story of violations against civilians. spokespersons as ukrainian forces seem to have used. russian force you seem to have used weapons indiscriminately and the vast majority of violations appear to be by russian troops. there is evidence

mounting of war crimes being committed. ringback and these include indiscriminate shedding and bombing of populated areas. summary execution up to the indians. as i said, the vast majority of nations by far are attribute to the russian forces. so if you just look at the civilian casual, figure, 92.3 percent of what we've managed to record were recorded in government control territories. so attribute to the russian forces last as ripped through mosque can reach a school enough kind of songs northern, conduce province. the taliban is at least 33 people were killed including children, 43 others winded. it's not clear who carried out friday, attack. the headlines to stay with us counting the cost is next looking at shall anchors, economic crisis, $1.00 use view from recording to go straight off to that. i'm watching bye for now . the race to succeed rodrigo. the 3rd to as president of the

philippines is heading into its final stretch, struggling with its worst recess. and in years the country is desperate for solutions. but what are the candidates offering and what direction will the philippines stay under you? leadership, special coverage on al 0. i flew, i'm fully back to bo, this is counting the cost on al jazeera, your weekly look at the world of business and economics. this week is to lancaster, worst economic crisis in decades and is to pushing people to the brink. so what's gone wrong for the islands nation, and can it secure the cache? it needs to buy basic supplies, old. so this week, china's g d p growth for the 1st quarter beats forecast,

but the countries way down by lockdown. so can be gene, keep the economy growing, or will the world's manufacture a grind to a halt? and as fuel prices rise, electric comic as i an increase in sales, but his demand for the vehicles really increasing among drivers. and if so, is there enough to supply them? ah, thank you very much for joining us to lancoste coffers have old but dried up and it cannot afford to pay for import millions of its people a bearing the brunt of the country's economic crisis. basic goods are in short supply power cuts. a frequent price is a soaring, and the value of incomes is eroding. many people blame the president for the worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. and they've taken to the streets demanding, he stepped down, go to buy a roger pox, a has admitted making mistakes and promises he will correct them. now roger oxer has appointed a new cabinet by the opposition,

has threatened to bring it down farther. countries economic crisis is caused by a lack of foreign currency. should. anchors finance minister has started talks with the international monetary fund seeking a rapid financing instrument or r f i. the island nation has also turned to india and china for debt relief. but both countries have offered more credit lines. to buy commodities, sri lanka has suspended payments on its international debt of more than $51000000000.00 effectively putting the country. in default, the island nation's foreign reserve stood at at less than $2000000000.00 at the end of march. while the countries foreign debt obligations were this year exceed $7000000000.00. a sank exchange was also suspended for 5 days last week. now, should anchors inflation rate climb to almost 19 percent last month up from more than 15 percent in february is highest level since october 2008. and the fastest raised in asia has an idea of how much basic necessities now cost white rise. a

common sri lankan staple increased by 93 percent since 2019 chicken and lentils have gone up by at least 55 and 100. 17 per cent, respectively. the state own sale on petroleum corporation raised the price of fuel by more than a 130 percent last week. and a standard household cylinder of cooking gas increase from almost $5.00 in 2021 last year to 9 dollars this year. and the countries, ruby has plunged to record lows, becoming the world's worst performing currency. the government has the value, the v. p place curbs on non essential imports and almost doubled interest rates in a bit to tackle the economic crisis shrunk as economy has lost much of its tourism revenues. because of the pandemic and remittance is dried up. but critics say government decisions to cut taxes and shift to or farming are among the main reasons behind the crisis. well, joining us now from sure longest capital,

colombo is, will mation, where i'm with dolly, who is an economics lecturer at the university of colombo. thank you so much for being with us on counting the costs. this is by far the worst crisis to lanka, face in independence in 1948. how do we get to this point? what went wrong to start read, this going made a cds or bad choices that starting from x indeed elected to the his in 2019 and subsequent reports. benjamin, he did law better than adverse impact on how we would the decision said the government made some sequence to defend me, particularly to, to hold that will be following up exchange a pigeon, particularly the decision not to restructure date. and going to make that is what has actually led to disgrace because been me when we intend to because i'm going to one, it was quite clear that there was no way sheila guys going to continue with the whole

industry payments because the con case for the in the so as a law and we law, significant amount of revenue to worrisome because of depend making back. and on the other hand, we didn't have the ability to go to the international capital markets and borrow, but you're issuing euro bonds was hovering bugs. that is because we depend to make an ass be less likely to text but right. so you didn't, you didn't have the luxury or refinance again. the, the ideal option was the, the fee structure and the government decision to not to take that option was what caused this whole crisis to the prison mind. a roger pack for has admitted making mistakes. is it just download to his policy decisions that have made sure lank as economy so so vulnerable to the stocks or the other factors that play the will the economy was one little bit because sheila because export hasn't gone probably over last couple of decades or more and at the same time, the tax revenue was very, very low, probably one of the lowest among the world. so when you are innocent,

your position, you have to be very cautious when you make it a policy, and they will not cautious, particularly when you have a very low text and you need doesn't make sense to give tax cuts. right? but dave, in to he then gave it as an election promise, and soon after they left the good the public even to the next class, which was absolutely unnecessary for a country that has made it excellent. so it, and also their decision to strictly, you know, not going to, i mean, because they were insisting that they are not going to him if you're not seeking him. if, as he says and debated the last moment, people are dying, auction or ages to make that decision. so it was the wrong policy that pursued, ignoring the economics database that has led to these shortages and the daily suffering of the experience today. what the government has now officially requested, you know, the i m f help, which you know has been criticized because as yourself, many people have said, it's taken too long for them to go to the i m f. they've requested an r f i,

which is usually granted to countries with urgent funding needs because of a shop commodity price rise. for example, national disasters. we will be get this and will be i am f bailout work this time around. let's talk about the bailout in into parts, mostly the odd if i but the major, that'd be fine as engine. and then you will have something like be called extended fun facility, which is the normal beta package that you may be treated in 2016. but for, for the finance the in too much to be received. sheila cost debt has to be discussed in a liver, which is not the recent stock report, but i am if clearly stipulates that the free long class need these on sustainable. and unless the government easing the odd to me that it's i stay in the boat, i miss you may not be in a position to give, provide, lending at this point so. so it's a bit of

a tricky situation. it's quite difficult at this point to get an eye on it if i, because the level of the, the fuzzy has. but we'll have to see what, what is the actions that i would like to look at this point. and if that policy action is to get an idea of what about china and india, they have offered credit lines. does that offer a lifeline or will it mean more debt for sure long? well, i mean, definitely going to be more that because that's the only way out of it will have to borrow what you need to be cautious. this at this point you will have to borrow but, but you have to borrow for sure. lease, or that you don't overburden date and also to get a more of a transition, a formal state, you know, the date that you have to pay across large long number of years. and also we can low interest rate because we can't really take the burden of a commercial anymore at this point in right now. and also be dictated. nice, very nice. my tell in the short term, particularly in terms of was

a play which might be running on these days that was poor credit line provided by india. that's another credit man coming from india, or maybe seen essentially with an intermediate good chinese embassy in a press conference few weeks ago. mentioned that they're also willing to provide a credit line and another loan. so someone would that be received to the credit nice but, but that's how quickly that those things comes is so important. i speak with less digit painters. okay, now speaking of, of the debt the, the moody ratings agency has one that's your lanka, with a series of defaults on it foreign debts after the government said it would stop repayment. of course, what are the implications of that? what would that mean for sure? lanka and speak for the vein which we de paul did did was not the worst case. the reason being in imperial, they've treated me, made an announcement for what we call the unit. i try to before though, informing all the creditors that we are not able to be routed in and drop will be

stored in the 4th. so that's one good thing. so which means the tailor could just that look here we have building 2 east up to date, and the point i may have negotiations. so 2 things wouldn't be bad as you know, disorderly before. and so that's one good thing that was done but, but that was to the question was that it was truly through too late. saw the stall depends on how quickly the restructuring process goes. that has to go along. the dynamic sions smith saw the sequence of feet. i wouldn't say would be betty severe . it wouldn't be bad. s and disorderly before. and i don't think that the imports below kicked due to the default. but the courts, how old are the affected? because that is, those are the most and that's the key concern to address no fine for the injury. so strong tom bell. 20 need to get the lines to ensure that the basic layer who made the scene oil and i was going to ask you about the fact that the choice is the bed

. best options now for sure, lank as government of a waste for the government to improve the country's fiscal position while also protecting those who might face poverty as a result of policies that that might lean towards self charity. there has to be a corporate social safety net program, giving cash transfers to those who are particularly affected by the high food prices and shortages and make it a priority. allow me to good. otherwise, d, c forms will not be politically easy, but been because nice people come to that. all it's and start writing, ingest most of the so, so the 80 quickly at the medication energy to communicate to the vulnerable groups . and this is what we're doing. and this is how we are going to protect you and do the need to protect them. thank you so much for talking to us about this. ensuring light on the situation in formation, roman valley lecturing, economics at the university of colombo. thank you very much for your time. michelle . they should be here. thank you. ah. china's economy has

beaten all expectations for the 1st 3 months of the year. gross domestic product screwed by 4.8 percent compared to a year earlier. but consumer spending fell and unemployment rose suggesting tougher months ahead. that says the country is expected to feel the full blown impact of crone of iris locked downs and the war in ukraine. many economists say beijing growth target of around 5.5 percent for 2022 appears to be out of reach. katrina, you report somebody. jane. china's economy beat most expert forecasts and expanded by 4.8 percent in the 1st 3 months of 2022 strong manufacturing activity and a boost in infrastructure. spending early in the year drove much of that growth. but major challenges threatened the outlook of the world's 2nd largest economy, should you should. the global situation has been complex on the fluid. domestic,

we're covering 19 continues to have an impact. that's why some major indicators were slowed down and there's a pressure i can amik performance other china is battling, it's worse corin of iris outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic. and tens of millions of people nationwide has been confined to their homes, look downs and pers march across major industrial and commercial hubs, including shanghai and sion, gen have crippled supply chains and assembly lines. analysts say the damage caused by shutdowns will be further felt in future economic data. but retail spending has already contracted by 3.5 percent. unemployment has also risen. foreign business leaders say badging 0 tolerance approach to corporate 19 is harming both the domestic and global economy. the western and japan, korea, all the big economies have strong interest. the china changes to one because it said to percent of all goods and china manufacture could have some sort of china in

there. so of china actually sneezer, you know, the world catches a cold. we need child to succeed. we need china to open up in order to actually maintain also good the global economy at a certain speech speech and a global economy needs china now to succeed because we have a war and ukraine which as a rebel on effect. and this is like a perfect storm coming altogether. unfortunately, rising inflation and a cash crunch in the property sector are also dragging on growth. the government has set a g d p target of around 5.5 percent this year. it's the lowest in decades, but many believe this figure will be tough to achieve without the rolling out of more aggressive stimulus measures. still, china's leaders insist on maintaining the most heavy handed pandemic measures in the world. the cities of she ad pseudo and john jo have joined shanghai in imposing restrictions, followed local outbreaks over the weekend. on joining us now is robin monday high

professor of asian, initially at the i. e. s. e business call and president of the asian studies association of hong kong. thank you very much, miss them on behalf of being with us on counting the cost. let's start with the good news. a positive news. first, the chinese economy making a solid start at to the year. what are the main factors driving this growth? well, as you know, they are still benefiting from the success of the, the wound or experience. so while the world was starting to cromwell down they actually were actually, china was recovering. so they continued being the world. so factory. so they were exporting and they were making the goods that the world demanded. so this is a result of that but, but the 1st quarter a g d p does not tell the whole story, does it? i mean, what's the reality of the situation right now on the ground?

ok, they said 515 percent is the target. so the whole year i personally, i've, i'm doubtful about that. it depends on several things. i would, i would mention 3 things. the 1st one is the revival of the domestic consumption. ah, in, within china. the 2nd one is the resumption of international trade, which was disrupted by the ukraine ukraine war sauce. imports of china has gone down. and also, you know, the china imports an array of goods which are later are re exported. so both are done because the ports are also begun to be close flights of also been reduced. so oh, and contributes to down flow of international 3. and the 3rd one is the supply and demand factors. first of all is the your grain war. second is the prizes and

commodities driven by the, by the war. so you have all called natural gas and other commodities. food also, 3rd is inflation. and china's way to talk it is different from the other countries . it works and then production capacity is down because of the lack dollars and armors factories are kind of silly still don't. right. well let's talk about those locked down since the beginning of march. china has struggled to, to contain it's worth over 19, not breaks into the start of the pandemic. as you yourself said, when the world was dealing with china was actually doing much better than most countries. but now it's in the grapes of this crisis. we've seen important ports like shanghai shut down. how does the government make economic stability at top priority, while also maintaining the 0 coven 19 policy strategies?

one solution to china already had was to use infrastructure investment. what if, if things are down, they will double down and on, on making more infrastructure, that's the preserve employment to give the economy going because external will be difficult. so they will use internal tools in order to, to keep the economy going. but, you know, that's not very easy to do because there are other, other issues that they have to, to contend with. for example, the aging of the population, the factor in the lying down attitude of the population. the positive side is innovation and technology improvement goes up. but those are the things that they have to, you know, make sure that they interact property. so the right economy is able to do briefly miss that one to her. let me ask you about that. the global impact on this,

you know, especially for those countries who rely on chinese production and on demand for chinese investment. how, how difficult do you see the situation being for them in the coming months for me. oh, consider this a very difficult issue because they have, ah, a play playbook rule to follow because a vague this year is special for china. they have this, they have this special meeting in ridge. ah, president c is expected to have another another term, another 5 year term. so that cannot be disturb. so in, in the past once these things happen. so it is very difficult to move because as we have seen already in the past beginning though, on crisis, with verse a china way of doing things. and that's why in the 1st stage of the one crisis, it was like disaster. but bits they quickly changed. but that change has to be

decided by the cup. ok so and that is the problem here. thank you so much for your time. thank you for talking to us will been one day hi. with petrol prices storing the preferences of ca, shop is, are shifting drive is increasingly choosing cars that plug into sockets over those that burn fossil fuels. global sales of electric vehicles are estimated to have jumped nearly a 120 percent in the 1st quarter of the year. despite the high cost of the vehicles and batteries. the average cost of lithium ion battery sales increased to at least $160.00 per kilowatt hour in the 1st quarter of this year. as compared to 105 dollars last year. the high battery cost added almost $1500.00 for the best selling electric vehicle in china. for example, supply chain disruption been sanctions on russian. metals are among the main factors driving up cost and the market share of electric vehicles around the world increased $41.00 times in the last 10 years,

reaching 8.3 percent and sales broke records globally last year. global e v purchases reached more than $6000000.00 units in 202108 percent more than the previous year. 130000 electric vehicles were sold throughout the year in 2012. that figure was reached in a week in 2021. china recorded the high sales at 3400000 . 2.3000000 electric vehicles were sold in europe. this figure was by 66 percent compared to 2020. the us rank deferred with 735000 electric vehicle sales. well, joining us now from london is casper rose, who's a chief data officer at benchmark mineral intelligence. an agency specialize in electric vehicles and battery supply chain casper. thank you so much for being with us on counting the cost. so what is driving this demand for electric vehicles? our environmental concerns, motivating buys always it more about gas prices,

a combination of factors driving. it's driving electric vehicles, amount of the moment in some regions. it's, it's subsidies, so you're things from quite generally subsidies available and electric vehicles, particularly in china and in europe in the kind of policy world as well as some big drivers. so again, in europe, fleet emission standards that need to be met by over time make is across the whole fleet. so one way to achieve guys is to move to more and more electric baker sales . and then just to kind of longer term as a consumer, looking at the planning to end internal combustion engine, becto sales, various different dates globally, but between 2030 and let's say 2050, generally speaking, people thinking now more and more about electric vehicles. and i guess just finally kind of a consumer preference to move to more and more environmentally friendly technology . speaking of the longer term, let's talk about the cost, the price of these vehicles because there's been a continuous search in prices,

right. for electric vehicles. costs rose because, you know, of supply chain destruction to sanctions on russia. for example. do you expect this rise to be temporary, or will battery costs for example, stay elevated? or are we going to see at some point, some sort of stabilization, you know, the major component that's driving the rising cost. the battery is leaky mind battery critical rule material. so the cathode, which is captured and i did a battery cafe, represent they've a hard because the battery them, i mean that's what you find the lithium, the nickels manganese and those price prices are very high. as you know, high prices will incentivize more investment in production of federal materials, everything, cash flowing, opperation, new nickel, opperation, etc. but it takes a long time for that to come to market. take many years and you mind to be built, we typically say around 7 years, so we will say those investments that are happening now and,

and commence last year coming to play in the coming year. that will, that will balance costs. now the ultimate cost of the b, i guess, is really what matters in the compensation today. and they still economies the scouts to be made in terms of via the vehicle production level of the production level. but we do expect these material markets to go in and out deficit over the next decade. so for right now, the main problem is lithium, lithium, and deficit and very tight. and that's why we see price. it's really him, benchmark, publishes, there is different grades, but the price is on a global basis. the average is up 465 percent year one year. and since the start, the panoramic recover recovery is closer to $800.00. and i was gonna ask you how manufacturers are getting around the supply chain disruptions? i mean, it's very challenging at the moment. i mean, we have the earnings, korea from tesla who specifically, you know, mosque and it seems specifically mentioned, lithium is a major concern and could be a limiting factor in the right of which if you,

my batteries can be produced and they are exposed to cost at the moment so by that what i mean is that no heavy mechanism like you would having something like other larger commodity markets, these speciality chemicals, lithium in particular is no a commodity. you can't just use any kind of a theme in your process. you have to qualify that product, so it's very, very challenging. so at the moment what we're seeing is largely speaking, those additional real material costs are being added to the vehicle in some way. all margins are being casserole. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you very much and that is our show for this week. get in touch with us by tweeting me at fully bought a g e and do use the hash tag acdc when we do or drop us an email. counting the cost that al jazeera dot net is our address. but there is more for you online on al jazeera dot com slash ctc that will take you straight to our page, which has individual reports, link setting, tie episodes for you to catch up on that is it for this edition of counting the

cost? i'm fully back table from me and the whole team here in doha. thanks. we're watching . the news on al jazeera is next. ah, the latest news as it breaks to turn estimated $20000.00 li gold miners just in the younger mom, the reservation with detailed coverage and the government says it's taking action, but doctors are desperate. lives are being put in danger from around the world. president zalinski says the coming days will be crucial for ukraine with the expected renew defensive in the east in the vietnam war. the u. s. army used to heidi talks to kind of the side with catastrophic consequences. agent orange was the most destructive instance for chemical warfare a decade later on the same happened in the us state of oregon. these helicopters

flying over the ridge brain, something they didn't even see the foot 2 women are still fighting for justice against some of the most powerful forces in the world. the people versus agent orange on al jazeera. ah, ukraine's president says russia is planning to invade more countries after general decline intentions to take all of sudden ukraine. ah, blood. so robin watching over there a long while. headquarters here and also coming up ukrainian medics. the over well does fighting intensifies in the east. we have exclusive report from a front blind field hospital also why so claims responsible.