belgium's worst piece time at sack, 32 people were killed in twin bombings at brussels airport and the cities metro system in 2016. the trial is taking place and a purpose built court in the former nato headquarters, north of the belgian capital. frances former president nichols sock was he has appeared in court over a bit to overturn a corruption conviction. socrates is facing a series of trials and investigations is been sentenced, but try to bribe a judge. the court also finally tried to use his influence to obtain confidential information about a prob, into his 2007 campaign finances. sa causes denied any wrong doing. ah, this is, are the 0. these are the top stories, sedans, military, rulers, and opposition. forces of freedom and change of sand, a deal to and a political stand off the agreement will pave the way the establishment of civilian rule and elections. leaders of south africa that governing parties say they want to

adopt the report on the scandal implicating president settle grandma poser in misconduct. that's because he's challenging the report in the countries constitutional court the any see resolve that the any c will vote against the adoption of the a port of section 89 panel given the fact that the report has now been taken on review by the president according chad has sent his 262 people to jail for taking part and protests. in october, demonstrators had rallied against the president for extending his term without elections. more than 50 people died after government forces opened fire. nearly 600 had been arrested. lawyers have boycotted the trials which are taking place behind closed doors. explosions have had to military bases in russia,

state media report. several people had been killed on the airfields near the cities of roseanne and sat at off close to moscow. it's not on what caused the blasts. there have been a series of explosions across ukraine. people and keep have taken shelter in a metro station. president vladimir landscape says air defenses shot down most of the russian missiles. a price cap and russian oil has come into fact g 7 nations, the european union and australia. i've set the price at $60.00 a barrel for russian crude, shipped by c caps designed to limit moscow's ability to fund its war in ukraine. bushes rejected the move. those are the headlines coming up next and al jazeera. it's kind of the cost good by. ah

ah, [000:00:00;00] with hello, i'm adrian said again, and this is counting the cost on al jazeera, your weekly look at the world of business and economics. this week, the growing number of strikes of labor protested threatening industries all over the world. but is the cost of living crisis, causing the pay crisis, or a government's failing to tackle inflation. also this week china has been battling a record number of corona virus infections, but fury is growing over its strict virus cubs. so will the 0 covet policy continue

at, at what cost to china's economy? plus we take a ride to pull the transport of the future. flying taxes are expected to be zipping through the skies and the not too distant future. ah, energy food and mortgage costs are at the highest in decades in many countries. and the rising cost of living is eating into work as wages. this means that many people are forced to cut spending or run down their savings. others who are less privileged, a going without food, rapidly rising prices of already pushed more than $70000000.00 people into poverty . mainly in the developing world, one, at least $1.00 and $4.00 people is struggling financially in the developed world. employees across the globe downing tools at a demonte better pay deals that keep up with inflation. among them, a work is an amazon was 40 countries who walked off the job during the black friday sales, one of the busiest days of the year for online shopping. the strike included employees

in britain, which is seen a series of protests disrupting train travel, mail deliveries, at aviation services, a more strikes of planned. it went up to the christmas holiday period, including nurses for the 1st time. workers squeezed by the soaring cost of energy, have protested across europe. trades unions representing more than $800000.00 public servants, protested over pay outside hospitals, ports, and at government buildings in south africa, peruvian truck drivers and farmers blocked roads as part of ongoing process of the high gas prices. and a shortage of fertilizer and truck drivers in south korea have gone on strike to their 2nd. it's less than 6 months, and it's disrupted supply chains across the country. now let's hear what some of the workers who went on strike had to say, gib ringing by truck with the small amount of money. it was celery that you earn. you can't live in this time. like i have 3 children and we both work and we have

a huge problem because the costs have risen so enormously that you can't live with what you earn muscle. i believe i cannot have bought anything. i cannot afford to take, make you to horn any more so much. we haven't had a descent pay for over a decade now. and nurses what really hard not just nurses, dna chess, and we're all under pressure aren't more men of ones. we're kinda hands off. and really, really difficult, so it's not just about clapping forester independence make and i think we need to be respected and appreciated for what we do. joining us now from london is him an blanco research director and head of america's risk insights at various maple cross could have you with us again at him in a, from a truck drivers to teachers, nurses to train drivers. there seems to be a lot of industrial action around of the moment. are we seeing

a revival in labor activism and in unions? well, i think what we're seeing right now is the reaction to the cost of living crisis. and uh, you know, people taking what would be more extreme measures in demand for pay raises. and of course, you know, we're, we're noticing now is in developed economies in emerging markets. labor activism never went away. if you look at countries that have been struggling with inflation for many years, but we're now seeing is in western europe in the united states that workers are facing double digit inflation. and this is something that hasn't happened for decades. and this, you know, the strikes you're talking about is just a symptom of the economic situation that families are dealing with day in and day out. but all strikes affective, they come at a cost, not only for the workers were striking, but customers,

consumers to the tend to have an impact on goodwill day. yes, absolutely. they have an impact on the economy and overall, i mean, of course, we also have to take into account that certain parts of the economy can continue operating despite strikes. because we of course have a very digital economies the in, in parts of the activities. but that, of course, you know, doesn't apply to areas like you were mentioning, say, for example, healthcare, where, you know, people need to physically be present to treat patients. now, a key thing to keep in mind is that the legislation in developed economies are incentive. ice is dialogue, but it does some force dialogue and it doesn't force conciliatory solutions as it does in some emerging markets. and so i think we're, we're going to continue seeing is this discussion where workers are demanding for something. but industry chambers are not necessarily responding or sitting down at the table in the same way that we would see an emerging markets where legislation

forces consensus to be reached in order to resolve a labor disputes. we're in the midst of a cost of living crisis. there's no end of sight in sight, just how much worse can things get. i mean, there in london in particular where you all the talking about the nation suffering another winter of discontent likes which haven't been seen and since fighting seventies. of course. and, you know, i think the crucial thing to look out for the sign post we'll need to watch is energy costs and what happens not just in the u. k, but in europe over all in terms of energy security during this winter. the u. k. of course is suffering a lot of strikes, but you know, this week i was traveling for business. i was traveling on an air line that was striking in spain. i was on a rail strike in belgium. there were, you know, there postal strikes in the u. k. at the moment,

so this is not something affecting just one nation or one sec turn. and the cost of fuel is feeding into all of this. what happens in with the war of russia's invasion of ukraine and the impact that that has on the cost of living will be crucial a rest solution to the conflict which at the moment we consider unlikely. in the short term, we assign a 16 percent probability to that happening by march. that would be something that removes a pressure from the inflationary cycle that we're in. but unfortunately, we have not seen the peak of inflation in europe quite yet. and things could get slightly worse before they begin to improve. people are understandably angry with the governments. but to some extent, governments are stuck between a rock but a whole place on pay. right now, whatever they do, it's going to upset someone with the cost of living as you say. so high, do 2 things that are out of their control. yes, well, i mean,

one thing that governments can look into is segmented policy decisions. because one of the biggest mistakes governments can make and we have seen it in different countries around the world, is for example, blanket measure, say blanket tax increases or blanket subsidies to specific items like fuel. and if the hardest part is not necessarily designing the policy to address the cost of living crisis for the most vulnerable, the hardest part is implementing it in a way that makes it a temporary solution. that one that's easy to lift one's economies begin recovering because of course, we're now facing the potential for recession across western europe as well in conjunction with inflation. and that is quite a concerning picture for people who are not being able to make ends meet. but these are extraordinary times of people right demand that their salaries should rise

along with the cost of living alone along with inflation. well, i think there is center one answer fits all kind of response from the private sector from governments. the 1st thing that we need to look at is the people on the lower end of the income spectrum, the vulnerable incomes, who are feeling the head of inflation most. and i think, you know, of low salaries, basic salaries, minimum wage will need to be adjusted for inflation because those are the households that are in working poverty. and more and more households are entering that category right now. whereas it's a different situation when we're looking at, you know, the middle class or high income wages that are less likely to rise at the same rate . and again, you know, if we were to apply a blanket approach to inc, comes across the board. that in itself is an inflationary pressure that could keep prices rising faster as companies need to adjust for the price of the goods and

services that they sell in the economy. but generally, we've been talking about the impact this is having on people living in richer developed countries. what about countries and people in the, in the developing world? well, the, the hit double hit. the double whammy of the pandemic, followed by the cost of living crisis, is increasing poverty and inequality across emerging markets. or we have seen it across latin american, sub saharan africa as well. households are struggling and the most vulnerable are not just in terms of income, but also minority groups are those suffering the most with women across many of these countries are taking an additional burden or additional head are in terms of having to care for relatives or take a digit, additional jobs or being able not to get help that they would need in order to progress in the workforce. and so this, you know, the,

the double impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis is going to be in those generations for some years to come here with that. it's always great to have you on counting the cost. thank you very much for being with us again. thank you. we're watching through prices and record high inflation or making life more difficult for people and in baldwin. the countries facing a hunger crisis and poor harvests have left more than 3000000 people in need of help. international agencies have started to deliver food to vulnerable families. there has had him a tougher reports from butera. it hasn't rained much in this part of zimbabwe for several months. this food from international agencies is appreciated. people here in bullhead, i say they sometimes have to borrow money to feed their families. and what it often means is that people will as a few amused, they will eat less food. they will prioritize within the family who gets meals, who,

who doesn't get meals. and they may also resort to other other coping strategies. so it's not an easy time when you are among those vulnerable households. who areas in lovely this time of the year is always challenging in some bobby's drought prone regents a report from the countries on the pretty assessment committee estimate some $3800000.00 people will not have enough to eat during this lean season. involves experience or the lean fees in every year is a dr. period before the rain starts from october. when many poor households sometimes run out of who's talked to mot when harvesting begins. and as if there isn't another drunk, it started raining in some parts of the country, but not out here. saturday when nancy is worried, if it doesn't rain, life or her family will get tougher, we'll go to tour, you print the day. well, hope the donors will keep helping us because if they stop coming, people put to day international agencies or

working with them. bobby's government to feed millions of families, climate change, rising food prices and inflation rate of more than 260 percent. make things worse. families will try to make their rations last at least 2 months, but with many mouths to feed. that may not be possible. harm a tougher al jazeera bladder, zimbabwe. ah, there were rare protests in china too, but for very different reasons. people took to the streets to vent their frustration over almost 3 years of strict coven controls. infections of recently risen to a record high in the country fronting more locked downs nets. despite a 20 point plan that was announced by the government early this month to try to ease corona virus rules. the renewed curbs highlight once again the delicate balance that beijing is trying to strike between easing its 0 cove. it policy to revive the economy and curb new outbreaks. while the potential,

the economic consequences were felt after angry protests broke at the world's biggest i phone. assembly plant in the city of jang joe. thousands of workers left the site of the chronic food shortages. while a mass quarantining of employees depleted capacity on assembly lines, apple warned at shipments of high and i phones would be lower than expected because of those disruptions will around a quarter of china as total g. d. p has been affected by lock downs. after the recent rise and infections, the measures are expected to be a further drag on an already slowing economy. g. d p grew by 3 percent in the 3rd quarter, and that's far below the official target of around 5.5 percent. factory activity fell for the 2nd straight month in november, hitting a 7 month low. many sectors saw overall profits decline in the 1st 10 months of the year. exports and imports both unexpectedly declined in october. that's the 1st

civil tenea slump since may 2020 home sales. in the top 4 cities fell more than 30 percent in the 1st 3 weeks of november and car sales, which have been a bright spot for china's economy due to government subsidies are also struggling. while there are now fears that problems caused by locked downs and widening cove infections could spill into globe markets, to unpack all of this with joins out from hong kong. bye call us casanova, senior economist at asia union bank, pre k, will you be call us? it's good to have you with us. once again, china is 0 coded policy, has not been sufficient to curb infections. china seems intent on persisting with it while the rest of the world opens up. just how costly has it been to china's economy. can china afford to keep on with it 0 cobit policy? the policy is costly or multiple front in terms of g d p, we estimate that it could have boss china about 3 to 5 percent of g d p growth in

2022. so that is a significant amount, but by that i mean that in the absence of dynamic 0, cobit, the chinese economy could have grown at a pace of around 8 percent this year. so definitely something to consider. but of course, it's also cost be in terms of social stability and the protests over the weekend with tensions around some lock downs. in a few cities boiling over, it shows just how frustrated the population is with not being able to resume their normal lives and go back to work. and lastly, it's very cost the also at the local government level because local governments are taxed with shouldering the cost of all of these regular p c r test. and of course for tier one cities or rich provinces. this is an issue, but in smaller parts of the country, it is starting to become unsustainable. given that we have dwindling revenues from

the housing, select the sub and an increase in, in expenditures as a result of requirement to do testing. so it's definitely not something that is sustainable going to 2023. now the government has introduced a series of measures to try to prop up. it's slowing economy, including lowering the, the amount of cash that the banks have to hold in reserve. these measures going to be enough to assure up the household and business confidence there in china. well, the market seems to be pricing in some form of recovery, so they are definitely quite instrumental in at least signaling that the direction is correct. on the housing front, we saw 16 measures to support housing demand. they're quite broad base. so they include everything from ensuring that developers of access to working capital to complete the you know, pre sold units that are currently delayed, to allowing local governments to lower down payment requirements. first time home

owner says whole array of policies that have been put in place on the covert front . of course, there are 20 measures to try to reduce the impact of 0 corporate on the economy. so we are not yet talking about full reopening. we're talking about restricting the impact of 0 covered on the economy. and so, although both sets of measures constitute a step in the right direction, in our opinion, they will fall short because, you know, this reopening is a process and it will require, it requires for the economy to be reopen for people to be able to move around by houses and regain sentiment. so unfortunately, we are not quite there yet, but the measures announced in the last few weeks. so at any point in the right direction, in the short term, we think they will have to lean on monitoring to try to wedge like what impact is all of this having on china's international reputation. and i'm talking in business terms here rather than political times. a lot of multinational companies rely on

china for their supply chains. and this spells pens, potential disruption for them, doesn't it? well there's, there's a long term trend around supply chain relocation out of china for a myriad of reasons, including higher costs you know, and other advantages in other manufacturing centers. the disruptions that many international companies have enjoyed as a result of the record. it only accelerates this tendency, and we have seen that very clearly, for example, the joe with the disruptions to the i phone assembly plant run by fox con there. so it is a factor that the industrial companies will have to consider, and i think it is going to weigh heavily on those board meetings when they discuss their china response strategies going forward. and what about the chinese economic slowdowns impact upon other economies in the rest of the world, global a markets?

and is there anyone who would see a slow down in china economically as a positive, could it, could it help other nations? or do you think it's something that could spark a general malays across the world? i think the latter, we really need china to reopen and pick up. or we will be in the global recession scenario in 2023. so currently our base line is that you, we will experience the region and many other exporters around the world will experience a declining demand from europe, north america, as rising risks, pre sessions, right starts crystallizing these regions. and so there's this hope that economic reopening in china will be able to pick up some slack from that decline and external demand from develop markets. so we really do hope that china can regain some momentum into next year. of course, judging by the performance of some of the economic indicators this week, q 4 is still going to be very weak. so we are still in the midst of a recession,

per se in china. and that is going to continue to add on exports of countries that have exposure to demand. in particular, in asia, we see some downside risks in case it takes longer to reboot the chinese economy. but given the direction that things are taken with authority to be more keen on easing and also reducing some of the restrictions around koby 0. we do think that it's possible that that demand from china next year is going to help you say, how long it will take to reboot the china chinese economy. what's the timescale we're talking about here? the reopening process is not a point in time. there is no one date and after that, things are going to go back to normal. the reopening process is going to be a gradual theme for the entirety of 2023. and that in there is going to be to a validity both in terms of economic performance and of course for market. our understanding

is that between now or, or the communist party congress in october until march, which is the national pupils congress. it's a critical period in which they will try to reduce the economic impact and shift narrative around covert they will start to reopen in march. hopefully if vaccination rates amongst the elderly reach their threshold of 80 percent recovery at 60 percent. so still a little bit of a while ago, and also remember that there's 3 months between the 1st and the 2nd dose in many cases, given the lower efficacy of the sex scenes any more than 2 doses to achieve immunity . so we are looking at a protracted process that will take the whole of next year to, to be completed. so it is going to be a gradual affair. always good to talk to you on counting the cost, call us when he, thanks. indeed for being with us not just a few years ago, flying cars for the stuff of science fiction to data, a number of companies of building electrically powered aircraft that promised to

make journeys faster and cleaner. by rising above the traffic plans are underway to launch an air taxi service in paris. it's hope that the campus will be in the skies in time for the 2024 olympics. the tasha butler when for test flight at a purpose built air terminal on the outskirts of paris, a glimpse at what could be the future of taxi services. the german build follow copters of vertical takeoff and landing drone the speak enough to carry passengers either as it will be open to at the full community. any one that wants to take an over to day out. there's no reason why they shouldn't contemplate taking am a velocity across the cross and urban urban landscape or across a city forum to, to get from a to be a lot quicker. paras transport officials plan to have 2 operational follow up to routes for the 2024 olympics as the air craft a fully electric and quieter than

a helicopter. they say that then ecological alternative to fuel powered vehicles. pool is certainly very comfortable and spacious air at the moment. there is room for a passenger and a pilot, but the manufacturer. but follicle de says that in the future this service could be pilot. really several cities in the world are testing. similar aircraft has competition steps up in a potentially multi $1000000000.00 market. once we have started a mass production, it will be definitely available for everyone are so also, the affairs will go down over time and we will definitely see it all over the world . for now, affairs are expected to be around a 100 u. s. dollars for a short ride. a price few ordinary people could afford. yes, i would say it. so intronis market, of course you always have some rich people wanting to saving some time. but i think it won't be the over of for morrow there. taxi. definitely. it's for

a target like this of customers. it's unlikely that flight taxes will replace regular cabs any time soon. but in a city where heavy traffic is common, some will certainly welcome the chance to skip the bottle next on the ground to gain precious time in the air. time for us to fly, that's our show for this week. if you'd like to comment on anything that you've seen, you can tweet me. i'm at a finnegan on twitter. try to remember the hash tag a j c t c. when you do treat us, you can drop us a line counting the cost of al jazeera dot net is our email address, as always, as plenty more few online at al jazeera dot com slash ctc. that takes you straight to our page and then you'll find individual reports links at in time episodes to catch up on. but that's it for this edition of counting the cost. i'm adrian finnegan for the whole team here. thanks for being with us. but he is on al jazeera

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because they must award winning voices telling groundbreaking stories. witness on images it. ah . sedans, military rulers, reach a deal with civilian leaders to end the political crisis there. but some groups stay away ah, i'm about to send and this is all 0 alive from dope. also coming up south africa running pod, he says it won't take action against president civil from oppose