but in europe there's a short war wherever accept some money from the superpower will become president john mccain it will go to. the chinese state has a lot of money at its disposal. and that's how the expanding and asserting its status in position in the world of. china's gateway to europe. starts feb 19th on d w. washington . a pandemic killing hundreds of thousands. an economy on the brink. a nation profoundly divided the biden era has opened set by crises at home and the rest of the world looks every bit as daunting russia is openly hostile. flexing its muscles from the middle east europe to cyprus moves

. from afghanistan to the persian gulf the us remains deeply in tangled in conflicts it doesn't know how much result. in europe it faces allies so disillusioned that they're hedging their bets on america pushing the future of the western alliance into question. but in the contest for global power and influence one challenge overshadows all of those in china a new superpower has risen. one with the military might to challenge the west. and an economy that's the envy of the world. as washington takes it on the brink and generally try to turn to one china looked on with obvious glee. who share with the phrase how in i.p.c.s. found that she may or demean. america so diminished that china can take stock

satisfaction in the stakes of its democracy think from moment just how far the tables will be turned just 30 years ago george bush sr hailed an america triumphant it had won the cold war it was in charge no substitute for american leadership in the face of tyranny no one doubts america credibility and reliability but no one doubts our staying power the us was at the pinnacle of its power this will remain forces who make a world the way it wanted to be until a series of decisions to us made it time back in on itself and start to ask. was that is america's moment of global dominance simply coming to an end states will not be the globe spanning preeminent military power in perpetuity.

empires rise empires fall great powers rise great powers joe biden insists that he has no intention of presiding over the full of an american empire america is back. is back american leadership must meet this new moment than seen authoritarianism including a growing ambitions of china to rival the united states in the term relation of russia to damage and disrupt our democracy biden can seem like a relatively minor figure a transitional leader at the end of his career holding the fort until others can take over but he will have to make some absolutely massive choices for america can't return to that position supremes strength doesn't want to. settle for a more modest role. as we'll see later european leaders don't seem sure we are scandal of merkel and demand one called. why on joe biden's biggest foreign policy

issue of all they seem to be sitting on the fence. late january 2021. for the global elite china's president xi jinping is the opening speaker at the world economic forum just over a year after the pandemic broke out on his home turf he has a supremely confident message for the world we must not return for the path of the path towards the right approach is to act on the vision. with a shared future for mankind it was just the latest sign of china's emergence as a power on a level with the united states one willing to challenge it in almost every way donald trump reacted to all this by making aggression towards china his foreign policy calling card the biden team says it will push back just as hard there were 3

telling signs just as they were getting started 1st secretary of state tony blinken at his nomination hearing in the senate shortly after the outgoing administration had accused china of committing genocide against the weak a minority in changing lincoln is asked if he agrees so on the on the on the years i think were very much in agreement the. forcing men women and children into concentration camps are trying to. in effect re educate them. to be adherence to the ideology the china's communist party. all of that speaks to to an effort to commit to commit genocide think about the weight of that accusation that what's been going on and she is an act not merely of repression but of genocide one happening not in history but

right now. a 2nd sign at biden's inauguration away from the limelight on the podium a guest is clearly making she stree i'm honored to be here today on meet the people i've never met one time on this was the official representative of taiwan to washington d.c. the 1st ever to be invited to a presidential inauguration remember like most of the world the united states doesn't recognize taiwan as an independent country in line with beijing's insistence that there is only one china this was a powerful snub to china and a major more openness to taiwan and said let's hear a little more detail of what the administration has been saying in the big picture strategic competition with china as defining feature of the 21st century china's in each and conduct of that it hurts american workers sponsor technological edge and threatens our alliances in our influence in international organizations with what

we've seen over the last few years is that china's growing more authoritarian at home and more assertive abroad and beijing is now challenging our security prosperity and values in significant ways that require a new u.s. approach so what is that new approach really going to be let's start with security in asia it's so. china has been expanding its military at an extraordinary pace in recent years especially its navy which is building new ships much faster than the u.s. these huge naval expansion is all about establishing china's dominant the region through the south china sea and the east china sea. notoriously china has been building military outposts on disputed islands throughout the region despite objections from its neighbors this is partly about staking out military might but

it also has huge implications for the world economy a really significant proportion of global trade passes through these waters the greatest fear of all is that china could one day follow through on its threat to invade taiwan something that's not just a daily concern for the people of taiwan but for u.s. allies in the whole region their power. if taiwan were to be occupied by the chinese military then it becomes almost impossible to defend our entire network. at that point. because at any time they could be invaded from taiwan if they're attacking these risks is going to take more new mental efforts from the u.s. in asia in the years to come from investing in the navy to rallying allies in the

region to stick together that process was already under way during the trumpet ministration with meetings of the quote prior to us japan and india and australia seeking in there but china is rising so fast that the us would have to shift priorities in a big way to stand a chance of keeping up but it is i think no all real world in which the united states can aspire to have a dominant position in europe a dominant position in the middle east and a dominant position in asia and that's basically where united states has really been accustomed to. the. top of the list for every think is the greater middle east but the u.s. has put enormous resources with the post 911 was distracting us strategists from what was happening in china america got so mileage in the greater middle east that is conflicts that have become known as the forever wars americans are tired of them

holding makes it clear that they want them to and joe biden has promised to do that but he's not the 1st president to do so and you can expect a lot of debate about what ending those wars actually means he did not define in and through forever work in the way that i would he talked about maintaining a course to pursue. the terrorism in afghanistan for example was pretty unspecific with respect to the rest of the greater middle east i'm flat out reject and less wars as the description of what we are doing in iraq afghanistan and other places and i think a proper parallel here americana involvement in germany japan south korea that is what was once. a a conquest becomes a friendship it becomes a partnership the middle east is

a powerful example of just how hard it is for the us to shift priorities after it sunk so many resources into long term commitments worries about israel's security and iran's nuclear program also find it to the region but there's another place where the us has been entrenched for even longer right here in your. more than 70 years off to the end to fold more to the founding of nato the us still has a massive military presence europe donald trump questioned all of this in a way no u.s. president and done before he was particularly aggressive back european military spending which is much lower than the u.s. as a proportion of their economies europe is one of the richest regions in the world and

yet it's not able to guarantee its own security if the u.s. has to shift resources towards asia europe is going to have to step up many european leaders actually agree during the trump is uncle americal often spoke of the need for europe to take more responsibility for its of curity side. and then beyond off i'm not. the only think on. your. those to fall by. the top of them in that regard nearly all those are coming out of the video oh yeah move in on the ship 3rd hercules in on top i going to hunt them but that's in theory what about in practice when lofty ambitions come with a price tag here in germany for example military spending is portion of g.d.p. has seen priests over the past couple of years but it's not expected to hit the target of 2 percent for some time to come. and in the aftermath of the running to

make government spending cuts come under massive pressure from the population i'm used to paying for its own defense and the need c.c.'s to military action may push back against big budgets or. off to decades of depending on the u.s. to such an extent really realistic for the e.u. to find it so what we can do underestimate what america has. over the decades and acting on it in europe in that we need to get a broader and shared i'm the founding of what the problems are that we are right this will put europe in the middle of a bewildering number of questions should nato remain the centerpiece of european defense who should the e.u. develop more of its own capabilities care should europe deal with growing threats beyond the battlefield like cyber warfare and 8 i as you can see europe has

a long way to go before it can really stand on its own 2 feet so while you can expect the u.s. to keep up the pressure to take on more responsibility the fundamentals are unlikely to change for years to come and in fact all signs are that the biden team wants to leverage european allies in a new way about something even bigger a coming back with the systems. remember she jinping speech at the world economic forum let's catch a little more of what he said the part which was aimed directly at the west to build small circles or start a new cold war it. to reject threatened or intimidated adverse to willfully impose decoupling supply disruption to sanctions and to create isolation or estrangement. only push the world into division and even confrontation

let's break that down for a moment this was she jumping warning the west not to rally together against china something the biden ministration says it's determined to do not just against china's growing military assertiveness as we saw earlier but also against his diplomatic and trade practices that are increasingly being seen as bullying like when it slapped tariffs on various australian imports after australia called for an investigation into the origins of the corona virus outbreak which are all found. in the. coming their short events. you may know it's one of. prove on the lead beijing gave similar treatment to sweden of trip banned chinese firms from its 5 g. mobile data network over security concerns at the same time the pandemic has

fuelled western worries about dependence on chinese supplies like pharmaceuticals adding to all this is a growing unease about china's authoritarianism the prime examples stripping hong kong of its freedoms despite treaty commitments not to do so for decades to come. and his actions in shin janke for the biden ministration has called genocide as we saw earlier take all of this together and it's clear that china's rise is about much more than its military power in asia it presents a multi fronted challenge to almost every aspect of the era that america has presided over since the end of the cold that's why there's one thing you constantly hear from the new administration when they talk about dealing with china that they want to rally america's allies to stand up to beijing together with our allies or. we were there well our world and. not just because we need to be.

in court with their drive. to steer. serves their principles and. our direction. steps. this is what she chimping was warning against when he talked about the new cold war and isolation and estrangement the biden team would not say that they want to start a new cold war but it is absolutely clear that they want to rally allies around a common approach to china the question is will the allies fall in line providing that economic heft and the chorus of voices that we just heard about flip might not be so simple. at the very end of 2020 a diplomatic bombshell during a video call between brussels linen beijing the european union and china agree to

sweeping investment treaty aimed at boosting business between the 2 sides i'm glad merkel was to try to enforce behind the deal saying it would bring fairness to european companies working in china what really stood out about this deal was the timing it was squinting. just at the end of the year and as germany's presidency of the european union was about to come to an end and crucially it was more than 3 weeks before the biden of mistress was about to come into office it was so last minute that the biden tuned in to be directly appealing in a tweet for the europeans to great and talk about a joint approach. european sides rug that often went ahead with the deal anyway seizing on chinese concessions and delivering a huge diplomatic boost to beijing in return it could hardly have been a more powerful signal from berlin and brussels that the bike ministration cannot

count on automatic support from europe in dealing with china. while the e.u. professed openness to working closely with the biden team ultimately their own interests came 1st those interests are pretty clear the european economy has become highly dependent on the chinese market particularly germany's german carmakers generate a huge proportion of their sales that depending on it for growth to compensate for stagnation in home market this is the reality shaping europe's approach to china the for all of its talk about china's human rights abuses and its aggressive behavior nothing seems to outweigh the economic imperative of having good relations with beijing and that makes european leaders highly wary of getting sucked into a long term faceoff between the u.s. and china the actual question that europe you know well need to tackle is to what

extent they want to buy with the united states that major. just on the rise of china and this is not a new one i lead your. interest at the moment no european politician would argue. in fact when she spoke after she jim payne at that meeting at the world economic forum until america made it clear that she preferred to tail fence it doesn't mention me that's beneath so i now block common. in their truth and few know. as well as. you know all the related. piece was there 1st and then we probe further at a joint press conference with machall and europe's other most powerful player emmanuel markov of france asking them why they seem so lukewarm over u.s. leadership on china as was the biden in want to delete an ardent visor shine and.

democrates. to sign while merkel said she would support biden's plan for a summit of democracies both she and mcconnell insisted that europe would be charting its own course this double food you have a piece on you understand 50. then you go. you know our political gut deny to relive some kind of meeting for anything starting from america how does the art of the minds on the other the steam off one towards them get this feel like we're not so much b.m.p. much. less we went to open our source of one of the bottle sit click or the brought this you didn't remember the show it didn't present for those interested as you did in your mavic it was this fence sitting by america's european allies has the potential to reignite the tensions of the trump years. europeans believe that they can remain neutral in any

growing rivalry between the united states and china and sort of have equally good relations with beijing and washington and at the same time expect the united states to be the 1st responder whenever anything happens in europe i think they're living in a dream world as we heard earlier donald trump scorn to europeans as freeloaders and here in europe that is shaken trust us permanently now if europeans look at the transatlantic alliance that is strong and ukraine of course and that word. and europeans need to build up their own research and their own strategies to be able to act and i want india and right to death throes of the trumpet ministration added to fears the united states has become a fundamentally unstable a power that allies can never again depend on in quite this way this brings us to

the biggest question facing america's place in the world right now how can it expect its allies to follow it wholeheartedly if they fear it could be on the brink of disaster itself ultimately that means that joe biden success or failure at home will profoundly affect what he's able to achieve of board she says that america is back the rest of the world is asking is it too broken to leave. or her with. her kissing in washington on the eve of migrants you know you can reach. thousands of national guard troops called to the capitol after an attempted insurrection the grim sign of the condition america is in america is fighting to domestic wars right now one of. the cope with 19 and we don't know how long this will. i know all the economy economy economy but i would

come. which will be the sauce runs and the isle of domestic war is really within the political system those domestic wars being fought in the background will go on for a long time to come and they don't just affect american politics as the ministration is fully aware we're all used to measuring all domestic oh yes we're all. right now are the most profound national security challenge facing spirit were the most urgent priority is getting the pandemic under control as well as the economic fallout the long term challenge of house who deal with america's divisions goes much deeper i think this idea that the u.s. was always one big happy not a country i meant there for a long time you know and so i think it's just you can see it now and while trump has left the white house the forces he unleashed have not lost power trump is and

is a more dangerous more permissions movement than anyone could have accounted for even a couple years ago and what i worry about as a forward public you know the sort of character of the party i'm worried about the more competent smart. presentable version of trump that's going to come down the pike in a few years this all feeds into a sense of instability that he's absolutely talks for america's ability to lead in the world posing the very real and fundamental question can america be relied on the last 3 presidents he supported wild swings in foreign policy he's broke obama signed the iran nuclear deal and the paris climate agreement then donald trump pulled us out of both and left the world health organization to now joe biden has taken us back into the paris agreement and the w.h.o. can the u.s. really lead the world when it exhibits sought. while changes imprecision from one

president to the next. that's the cosmic level of doubt that will hang over joe biden's every foreign policy decision. and something that china stands ready to china use essentially making the case. mark that they're. going to function in the united states take a look at their their system doesn't work our system does but there is one area where the u.s. can step up in a new way mary aware hope for the future is in short supply climate scientists agree that the world is on course for devastation if it fails to come back further on carbon pollution. for most extreme state john kerry is biden for climate policy an appointment showing this was a top priority experts say that the u.s. has a big opportunity to combine reviving its economy with cutting its emissions and helping

other countries do the same right now green recovery still a huge luxury for a majority of. the u.s. has a huge role to play in that not only in its own development aid on its own overseas internationally. but you know how they are. let me banks and i think we really i am after a country. on earth. this sort of leadership navigating international institutions doesn't grab the limelight to do something where the u.s. still has unique influence things and crucially cutting carbon emissions involves fundamental changes to economic incentives affecting how global sectors like energy work this makes any real change are far less vulnerable are we seeing american politics future presidents. stop it it sounds like a modest view of american leadership but listen to the man now from 2 in u.s.

foreign policy and his message is one of modesty i believe that. you military and confidence should be the flip sides of america's leadership coin. humility because we have a great deal of work to do at home to enhance our standing abroad and humility because most of the world's problems are not about us in the 1st instance even as they affect us and no single country acting alone even one is powerful the united states can fully and effectively address these problems it turns the question of america's role in the wild back to the rest of us do we want america to lead role we can take. every country facing choices here choices that will have consequences for decades to come.

on the career high value meal and i'm game did you know that 17000000000 land animals are killed worldwide shit so that we can eat them but it's not just the animals at all suffering it's the environment we want uninsured to find ways out in the machine if you want to know how and when clicked on the priest and the whole trust changed as we think this listening to our podcast on the screen comes. to children 2 continents. one giant problem and we're nearly in no mood to see the bits you. think i need a teacher using a full time giving. how will climate change affect us and our children.

e.w. dot com slash water. this is the end of the news life from facebook and friends australia without notice the social media heavyweight bans news content from its australian plot and arrogant move says the government just can't breath plans to make the tech giants pay for journalism also on the program police in spain face a 2nd night of rest of the jailing of a catalogue crowds call for pablo casals released after he was jailed for glorifying terrorism and insulting the royal family. nasa prepares its 1st

appearance rover for a daunting descent onto mars we'll find out why mission control is sad to see facing 7 minutes after terrorists. i'm still gale welcome to the program. facebook has blocked news content from its platform in a stray view of the latest twist in a heated dispute with the government as canberra considers legislation to force tech companies to pay for the journalism they carry facebook and google have been fighting the proposals which they say don't reflect the way the internet works but facebook's action came just hours after google reached a deal with australian news companies. many australians woke to a surprise this morning facebook could unfriended them suddenly they couldn't access local and international news through the social media site it's a dramatic escalation of a conflict over australian efforts to force tech giants to pay for journalism. i

think facebook beneath is terrible actually i do you say 43. and i can get all my needs in one spot say believe me. congress said the bama news had a huge community impact $17000000.00 australians visit facebook every month it's even being called an assault on democracy. facebook was wrong. facebook sections were unnecessary that way heavy handed and they will damage its reputation here in australia frydenberg said facebook gave no warning of the new shutdown. camber wants to table a law that would require online giants to negotiate payment for news outlets content or have fees set for them some experts have their doubts about the law and say it needs to be reevaluated the story is a bit more complicated than just saying that's right but from scott of content. and

they benefit from it it's going to them will benefit so then you probably would also toss whether. you. need to pay facebook and google. or fool them to their pages google initially also refused to pay for news content and threatened to pull all services from australia then in a surprise move the internet giant struck deals with australian media firms such as channel 9 rupert murdoch's news corp and 7 west media. australian social media users will be hoping that facebook has a similar change of heart. let's get into this with tom lever who's a professor of internet studies at curtin university in perth in western australia is also vice president of the international association of internet research as well considered a w. what do you make of facebook's actions. i think face but was trying to make

a point that if the logo is 3 and they just have to pay for news that they may indeed block news on the services but to do it in advance is one thing but when they deployed to block a story they didn't just capture traditional news they also capture the whole lot of other things as well including emergency services including health science and i think that overreach has made what was happening part of the strategy charity terribly wrong because the main thing that people noticed was that it wasn't just the news that was disappearing but things that they relied on every day through that platform including things like covert information and emergency notifications when those. that wanted to kill the country and floods of the other. facebook is a commercial company what does it say about it or us when a commercial company says yeah i'm going to remove some of my services and we get in such an uproar over it well it is it is certainly true that facebook is

a commercial platform and has every right to do what it wants with its platform but at the same time there was a reasonable expectation that users will have some idea of what facebook is doing and i think to completely withdraw portion of what facebook does without any prior notification to users was incredibly abruptly showed a lack of respect for users of that platform so i think facebook is a commercial estate but it exists because it has a relationship with uses and for many users in australia like they were abusing that relationship today why do you think google went one way and reached a deal where facebook has turned around and stopped the buton. i think google had a strong sense that they they were going to. there was no way to escape paying something fully continues conservation. was there across the country the code was basically ready to go and i think google realized that if they struck some deals themselves

they would still have a level of control over those deals that it would be more directed to adhere to news showcase product rather than all of google and that they they still would have the capacity to put some of their own clothes in and not be fully subjected to this code which i think that there was incredibly important i think facebook clearly has gone the other direction it does not want to pay and has every right to. from accessing news but of course the value of facebook as a platform for australian uses with that. portion of the service missing means that facebook is likely to start shedding users pretty quickly talking to thank you so much for joining us professor professor from curtin university thank you. let's take a look at some more news from around the world now i will start in myanmar where protests and strikes against the military government of paralyze many government offices civil servants are walked off the job and thousands again defied all

thought is to join nationwide rallies on thursday police in the capital now your toe and napier told a used water cannon against protesters demanding the release of elected leader aung san suu kyi. nigeria's president has ordered security forces to organize a hostage rescue operation after gunmen stormed a school and kidnap 42 people including teachers relatives and students who were asleep in dormitories one student was killed. 2 journalists have been jailed in bella ruse for violating public order i can't see arena. or child so were arrested in november during live coverage of a protest in minsk against or for terry in the house on the shanker the us has called for their release. at these new prime minister mario draghi has survived his 1st vote of confidence in the senate having vowed to do whatever it takes to lead italy out of the pandemic and rebuild the economy with the drug is expected to win

a 2nd vote in the lower house of parliament. that especially where police have arrested around 50 people following overnight clashes with thousands of protesters demanding the release of a jailed musician catalog rapper was convicted of glorifying terrorism and insulting the country's royal family in his songs and tweets sentences and sentenced to 9 months in prison unrest broke out in cities including madrid and barcelona. demonstrators in pavlo as those hometown of you marched to the jail where he is being held. thank you. his detention as an assault on free speech. in nearby barcelona violence flares as protesters set barricades a blaze and police fire rubber bullets.

and similar scenes in madrid as demonstrators fight against what they say amounts to censorship. norms and a lot of it's a shame because it's a significant setback for rights and freedoms within the european union and another step towards detect tauriel and fascist state. you place yourself. and others i don't mean just this the opposition has to me a blatant injustice and absolute lack of respect for fundamental rights for freedom of expression the facts speak for themselves and it. as you know was arrested after he barricaded himself in a university and along with his supporters. the rapper refused to turn himself in to serve and 9 month sentence for tweets and lyrics that prosecutors say glorify

terrorism and slander the monarchy. amnesty international says his detention is unjust and disproportionate high profile celebrities have also joined calls for his release ministers have responded to the furor by relaxing restrictions on free speech the government's junior coalition partner is pushing for the rapper to be pardoned. a 7 month journey by nasa rover comes to a climax like the one he's attempts to land on the most intense parts of the i think it's a 7 minutes after perseverance hits the martian atmosphere and slows down to la and nasa describes the 7 minutes of terror. 10 minutes to touchdown. the perseverance rover must separate from the spacecraft that has brought it to mars next it must position itself to enter the martian atmosphere the friction of which will heat up its thermal shield to temperatures as

high as 1300 degrees celsius. while the mars rover inside the shield will only reach room temperature. when perseverance and speed reaches 6500 kilometers per hour. its parachute will deploy the new range trigger technology will improve the spacecraft's ability to hit a landing target 20 seconds later the heat shield multitracks from the entry council. allowing the rover to find a safe landing site. at about 2100 meters or 7000 feet above mars surface perseverance will separate from its parachute and at night it's a jet packs 8 engines. further slowing the research laboratory on fields.

to. the sky crane maneuver will lower the rover down to the surface and nylon tethers. next perseverance must reposition its legs and wheels right after touchdown it must detach from the tethers mission control will only find out whether the mars rover landed successfully 11 minutes after the fact. and whether it will be able to explore or just 0 crater it's flora was home to an ancient lake delta system about 4000000000 years ago which left a layer of sediment a promising sign. in the hunt for microscopic fossils.

the united arab emirates we'll also explore mars its space program home enter the red planet's orbit on february 9th and is scheduled to start work this summer. hope will examine the martian atmosphere for years observing weather and seasonal changes. the chinese have big plans for their 1st mars mission they also want to land a spacecraft something only the americans have so far succeeded in doing china's tionne and when one probe has been orbiting the red planet since february 10th it will reach the surface with a landing device and research vehicle in maine and send data gathered on mars back to her. next the probe will examine the types of minerals on mars and make maps of resources such as for deposits. planetary researchers are looking forward to call them into. a couple lines of sport for you will start with tennis

an earlier soccer is served in the final of the australian open after ending serena williams' hopes of a record equalling 24th grand slam title a sock up powered past williams in straight sets in a repeat of the 28 team u.s. open final the japanese player will fight another american jennifer brady in the final as she goes for her 4th grand slam title meanwhile defending champion novak jock of riches reached the men's final here of came a spirited performance from russian qualify as one carets have to win in straight sets. on the tokyo 2020 a limp dicks to organize a committee has named japan's then pick minister as its new president psyco hashimoto will leave the government to to take up the role was actually moto is a 7 time elaine pitt who competed in speed skating and cycling she replaces you sure i'm already who resigned after making sexist comments and she'll be tasked with regaining support for the games which is settled for july but have faced

widespread public skepticism because of the pandemic. as if you're up to date i'll have more for your other talk of the hour kate ferguson is up next with that bad news a business update for the day. the colby's in germany to learn german or japanese. why not learn with him d w z learning course because vic. young german. and jewish. i'm jewish so was. does that mean. in daily life. and at school. we should not be given a special status but be completely normal. this look of shock like wow there's

a jew at our school dance about thing 11 teenagers 11 stories. case i'm jewish and so is. young german and jewish starts feb 22nd on d w. aircraft both a massive loss as the pandemic basser as the aviation industry we ask at sea financial officer if 2021 will be any better. sir is the company has learned anything from the crisis. meanwhile plane makers are also profiting with another crisis climate change we'll show you how innovations in bio fuel could make aviation more sustainable. and the european union as signs its new trade policy the

focus is on green ideals world trade organization reform deepening ties with africa . this is the business i'm kate ferguson thanks for joining me 2020 has been a disastrous year for the aviation industry today airbus announced a $1300000000.00 loss as pandemic restrictions caused air travel to collapse last year airbus delivered a 3rd fewer planes than in 2019 turning out a total of $566.00 u.s. rival boeing has also been struggling it lost over its year on a year to live ring only 157 planes announcing its results earlier today airbus said it was not expecting to return to 2019 production rates this year this despite plans to run for office popular 8328 single aisle aircraft shares in airbus fell following the us. let's bring in dominic chief financial officer us air bus

mr sam i think it's fair to say that 2020 was the toughest year in airbus's history will 2021 be any better well what we've guided to do is that for 2021 in terms of deliveries we expect to at least to deliver the same number of aircraft as in 2020 we've also guided that or place which would recover to a little overboard 2000000000 euros that's a bit adjusted and all the free cash flow that we're not going to burn any free cash flow before him an a and customer financing anymore so yes i can say the worst is behind us but still times are very challenging. they certainly are this pandemic isn't going away anytime soon airlines around the world are collapsing who is going to be buying airbus planes at the moment or ellen's customers have to really weigh the near term . struggle for preserving cash making sure that they will be racially they can could continue them at very low levels you know in 2020 we had only one 3rd of the

passenger revenue kilometers we had in 2900 but they also have to consider how they are positioned competitively as they move all of the crisis and with the vaccines coming into play we think that traffic will recover gradually over the course of this year and from that perspective given that we have a very strong product portfolio and a very strong backlog we still see that the normal customers are also preparing now for the ramp when the vaccines are spread and then travel activity will recover that vaccine mobilize is anything but straightforward overall how would you assess the response of governments to the crisis in aviation frank it's very tough for us now as governments are acting not always in a court in a manner because of course there are a lot of routes to fuck to shut down we see the activities being depressed especially in europe it's a very different region by region other regions are doing much better so we would appreciate a war synchronized approach of course but you also understand safety goes 1st and

that is a hygiene measures to be implemented so that's why we think that the vaccine implementation will be crucial and we see some form of seeing pictures here and also in surveys only had one customers see customers requesting planning going forward to resume travel activity now of course the pandemic isn't the only crisis we're facing right now let's talk about the climate as well what progress has made towards making aviation more sustainable. we think that we have a huge opportunity on that front because by replacing old aircraft but new aircraft you can shoot for reductions in emissions 2 of about 20 to 25 percent so that's very material on top of that you know starting really developing 0 emission aircraft without any c o 2 emissions including hydrogen technology so we want to be the pony on that front too and i think the combination of removing removal of fleets and then also in the longer term maybe the middle of next decade introducing the 1st hydrogen aircraft

you can make a significant contribution to a lower carbon footprint and decouple position of the planet finally what would you say airbus has learned from this crisis i think it's all about agility and things came as a complete surprise so we had to adept very very quickly i think as early as april we cut our production rates messily to the rate 40 in a largest program which is the single a $320.00 family rate 40 means that 40 f. produce a month that compares to 60 plus before so it's all about adapting to a very change very fast changing environment and then of course taking the entire supply chain along there's so many suppliers we need there's about half a 1000000 parts to craft and each of these parts needs to be there to safely build an aircraft and from that perspective focus on supply chain strong collaboration also with the customers and agility are paramount. financial officer of us thank

you very much. and as mr mentioned there playmakers are increasingly focusing on making flying more sustainable this has led to developments in so-called climate neutral fuel boeing for example has announced that its planes will fly exclusively on bio kerosene by 2030. reports. almost 7000 liters of aviation fuel have been pumped into the wing tanks of this cargo plane and they're not even half full yet the flight from frankfurt to shanghai in china is a long one but this flight is something special because the cargo subsidiary of germany's largest airline is operating this freighter c o 2. using bio kerosene. it's a plant based fuel that the c o 2 in the fuel. has been.

a plane using bio kerosene and it's 80 percent less greenhouse gases the only problem is that the climate friendly fuel cost between $3.00 and $6.00 times more than normal jet fuel in spite of that many customers want to improve the carbon footprint left behind by transport like logistics company which chartered the flight c e o u s p's for a climate neutral flight to china every week. we also talked about this project. for the project the summer flight schedule those who are with. the climate beetle kerosene is produced at this refinery in finland an hour's drive from has for more than 10 years. has been working on replacing kerosene free.

materials. and. that's for the future we are exploring new. $100000.00 tons of bio kerosene per year. produced here a drop in the ocean compared to the 300000000 metric tons that the world's airline operators burn annually. in believes that a breakthrough in climate friendly aviation fuels is a matter for policy makers. what we need is for the government to create the market. to create the requirements for for industry to. become more sustainable. in addition to live times or many other airlines such as japan's a year made them air france and american airlines are already buying sustainable

kerosene more and more passengers and freight clients alike c.b. advantage and neutral flight. time now for a look at some of the other business stories making news strains can no longer view news on facebook but the internet giant has blocks journalistic content in response to proposed legislation that would force the tech part form to pay publishers for news google in contrast struck deals with many astray in media organizations. power blackouts in texas are hissing chip production samsung infineon and an expedient had to shut down their manufacturing plants as the state suffers from a record winter storm the closure comes at a time when the supply of chips is already under strain after a long time driven surge in demand for gaming consuls and other tech. has improved steel business will not be sold to britain's labor she still after the 2 companies failed to agree on a price their own company's steel business has suffered from overcapacity cheap

imports from china and increasingly stringent e.u. climate. the european union has set out its new trade policy for the coming years officials say the focus will be on fighting climate change and reforming the world trade organization the bloc also said it would ensure that companies do not use forced labor on especially sensitive topic after the recent signing of an investment pact with china deepening trade ties with africa is also high on the agenda. cocoa from ghana a classic african easy you trade product many african countries export their raw materials like cocoa on processed the main profit is made further along the supply chain the processing tends to be done in places other than africa itself the e.u. wants to strengthen trade relations with africa the european commission presented its new trade goals on thursday. these countries are geographically close with

strong economic and cultural ties to europe moreover is a hell of a long term strategic and economic growth prospects we will therefore will build closer trade and investment partnership with them to our mutual benefit china is way ahead of europe when it comes to trade with africa china's invested billions on the african continent in recent years in the likes of massive infrastructure projects the chinese government has reacted more quickly and generously than the e.u. and in their own self interest experts warn talking to a 2nd college of arts. in the art of china. also. should text. cause this going oh man search process it's all.

good news it is part of the scouts so we have heard this. and i hope we really played a more active also this competition with. more support from the european investment bank could motivate european companies to invest more in africa the e.u. has also announced that it will draw up new rules to oversee supply chains to prevent human rights violations and environmental degradation. a year into the pandemic some health care workers are still desperately trying to get hold of protective and $95.00 mosques now u.s. federal agents and maryland have seized a warehouse full of counterfeit mosques millions of which ever anything sell to unwitting hospitals around the country it's not the 1st time either in recent weeks more than 11000000 counterfeit and 95 mosques were seized across 5 states the

packaging wrongly declared them to be 3 and respirator math 3 m. has filed legal actions in more than 20 states. i'm not sold from a thanks so much for watching for more you can always check out our website e.w. dot com slash business from me on the team it's if i am taken. we've got some hot tips for your bucket list. going to. cut for food. and some great culture more years to boot. double trouble. finding against the coronavirus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing.

measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information and context. coronavirus of the code special monday to friday. the food. this is due to the news a shark coming up today vaccines are french if. there is drifting away millions of covert vaccines nobody but what's behind the policy out of prison or the pursuit of soft power plants. from rubbish dump to vegetable garden how the residents of this town in the philippines the cold hard.