oh yeah, oh and then you have ha ha, civil net. but not all libyans are as optimistic as cuba and the capital destruction from the civil war is visible everywhere. although there is officially a de facto government in place. it controls only a small part of the country. many here fear that the postponing of friday's election might lead to new unrest. more and more young people are losing faith in a future for themselves and their families. i know most of them you can see everywhere how tense a situation is that i personally do not believe that the elections will take place in 20. and i still really hope that they will happen and that people here will finally be free to pursue their life. goals shot here you go on. another stumbling block for the election. regional powers have been getting involved in the oil rich countries, conflict, election organizers, blame foreign intervention for the postponement. oh,

whom are the bam with suitors lomeley, there are people here who simply do not want this election to be a success intentionally. they benefit too much from the status quo. another only goal is to make as much money in a short time as possible and turn their backs on the country. we're yeah, holders. hydrogen, walton. this is your chance to go vote. that's the message plastered everywhere on tripoli streets, but it's unclear when exactly libyans will get their chance will for more. let's bring in. claudia got seni. she is a senior analyst for a libya at the international crisis group, which is an independent thing tank promoting a more peaceful world. thank you so much for joining us on d. w. so who exactly is behind this decision to postpone libby as elections? well, officially, the announcement to postpone the elections comes from the country's parliament, the house of representatives jointly with the election commission. but of course,

they wouldn't have made this announcement had some of the leading candidates and some of the leading fractions in libya not supported. and they say a freezing of the vote, and i think those groups are the constituencies that support to a field marshal a huffed, or the strong man based in eastern libya who was or is still a candidate in these elections. triply based fractions from the outset didn't want presidential elections because they considered them divisive and, and others as well. and the reason why this, this sudden freeze of the election process to place is because there seems to have been a sudden surprise among some of these candidates on who was going to run. and it was particularly controversial in their view. the fact that the son of late dictate their mom or get duffy safe and islam was going to run in this election and that the current prime minister would be running. so it's all is if all of a sudden they thought they could win easily. but with these other people in the

race they, they realize that their chances of winning these elections would did. so they said, let's hold everything. all right, so what happens now? i know that millions registered to vote is clearly very important for libyans to participate in this electoral process. will this vote be rescheduled soon? well, officially, the election commission announced the new date, the 24th of january. but that's more like paying lip service to, to, to, to libyans and announcing a date rather than showing that we're actually in limbo with no clarity. the truth is that there is no clarity on the path ahead. because either we sold the problems that have been leading up to these elections, meaning we get better, a better line up of candidates. my better, i mean, a more or less controversial lineup. we fix the law or,

or else it's hard to see how these residential elections can take place at all. and what is worrying is that now libby infections a back to the drawing board and plotting their own way out of the crisis. there are some who want just to appoint a new government and postpone these elections indefinitely. and essentially, what this would mean is a return to elite politics where a few groups or people with the vested interest, decide the course of the country, the fate of the country, and leave the voice of the libyans outside of the scene. yet again, and how high of a risk do you see that we're just going to see more unrest and libya more fighting? well that there will be no, undoubtedly a period of political instability and by political instability. i mean, for the possibility of having the government that is not recognized by a,

some parts of the country was not recognized by the current government. an attempt to sort of put on the table, new political plans, but fighting and outright conflict. i think the chances are still i didn't, essentially because in the past few months we've seen the reconciliation between outside backers of libyan factions, especially turkey, and the united arab emirates. and they are the strongest military supporters of the factions, of the rival, fractions in libya, and they will not give a consent to fighting. and actually can this positive international atmosphere is, is, is the only good factor that libya can count on, right? all right, that was cloudy. cassini from the international crisis group. many thanks indeed. thank you. well, holiday travel plans are being disrupted around the world amid a surgeon cove at 19 cases, driven by the army crumb variant more than 2000 flights had been cancelled globally

citing the impact of army kron on both employees and passengers. it's the 2nd year running, where the pandemic has overshadowed the festive season. ah, another cove at christmas and another difficult choice. as emma crohn continues to spread millions round, the world must now decide between cancelling the travel plans or taking the risk. for some in the us, the choice was made for them when several major usa loans canceled christmas e flights off to starve came down with them a groan. others returned to tests and boosters to help keep christmas alive, including thousands of new yorkers as this city, braces for surgeon cases after the holidays was wanting my family to go. this is elderly as to speeches. so it's not so much of work for myself as it is to protect bills well across the atlantic, christmas travelers in spain of facing the same tough choices cove at 19 cases are

at an all time high. but for many seeing their loved ones is worth the risk our gay and noise lab because other this is not the best situation. i have had to evaluate whether to leave like last year, when i could not do this or to take only to risk. and i have taken a risk that number one more time, though, maybe half way across the globe. australians of also facing christmas with irma chron cases here, have sold to new records, fueled by the variant residents doing their best to keep safe. we have our mom, we've done the rapid ended and testing, so we're being effective, we can and sang as much as we like this. and i think that's what he really can't do . but with i'm a grown already racing. santa claus, around the world, many seems set for another unmarried christmas. in bangladesh,

at least 39 people are dead and 70 injured after a crowded ferry caught fire. the incident happened on a river near a jello conti some 250 kilometers south of the capitol dotcom police say most of the victims were killed by the blaze. others drowned after jumping overboard to try to flee the flames. many passengers, including children, are still unaccounted for. oh, for more on this story, we can speak to a bul column as aunt he special story editor at the dock. i tribune. thank you for being on d w. what more can you tell us about this tragic incident? i love so far, 40 broad years have been described from the free, mostly from inside. the city and some other bodies were rescued from the river. and a couple of guys who had died in the hospital. but you know, the number of days will arise,

this corporation has been going on the fire service, and the other one is and they are conducting what i just came to come down the list we've covering the, the, you know, try because he didn't look up. he just told me that many more bodies are still trapped inside inside the cabin of the city. and most of the bodies are badly charge and it is very difficult to recover the audience from the side. it is indeed a heretic situation for many people also looking for their loved ones. now, is there any indication of what caused the fire?

you know that there are many kind of indication, but still the investigation is going on and it hasn't been the they don't don't mind from what what exactly falls of higher. but we talked to some folks who are, who told that the problem, the engine room and there were a lot of burials on the sales and called because you know, if he's a long road and you'd be good tomorrow to indian. so and up the very lot exploded and you know, substitute the currently, you know, the dog into for you, you know what all you need with fire. so. so you said it is very tragic, therefore, all of this, you know, we all of the,

she's as well off in the morning we came to know about the, the can see did you know, you know, the most many relatives and finance are, you know, you're still looking for the little babies last you live inside the 30 very tragic for this. yeah, it's very, very sad indeed. o celebrations to mark christmas have begun in the city of bethlehem in the west bank. we leave you now with some sights and sounds of the traditional christmas parade on major square in front of the church of the nativity in bethlehem. we'll have more headlines for you at the top of the hour. a marion evans team, thanks for watching. ah, [000:00:00;00]

with with, with makes the german here just in the gym love on banning them away, but i'm not even know how to work my own car and everyone with later holes and

everything today. just getting are you ready to meet the german can join me. rachel stewart and d w. imagine how many portions of lunch us heard out in the world right now the climate change event story. this is my flex the way from just one week. how much work can really get we still have time to work. i'm doing all in success. subscribe for loneliness like ah ah, is europe's energy crisis shackle to its political crisis with russia, a spike in natural gas prices this week, and russia's frustrations over the certification of a new gas pipeline with germany. have both sides claiming the other is playing

politics. we'll take a closer look also on the show. semiconductors are in short supply around the world that has automakers rethinking their sourcing, especially as the new corona virus variant threatens more supply chain problems. loan, welcome to the show. i'm seen beardsley and berlin or supply chain issues have plague businesses for months. now, microchips are among the items most desperately needed, and among those hardest to find, especially for automakers. even basic car models need at least 50 semiconductors, the control, everything from gps to air conditioning, even rear view mirrors, and as not to mention safety and comfort features that you might find in more upscale cars. according to one estimate, 11000000 fewer cars were to be built in 2021 due to supply chain bottlenecks. and that sums up to around $210000000000.00 in missed sales. and the vast majority of semiconductors are made in asia. that makes the u. s. and europe strongly dependent

upon imports to get those chips. and so now many automakers are exploring partnerships which ship producers to make their own semiconductors. are some experts, however, say it's too little too late. they blamed the industry for t shirts are short term planning and lack of investment of more than i'm joined by regime biswas. he's executive director and asia pacific chief economist at i h s. market or she could have you on the show. is it fair to say that these automakers were perhaps short sighted by not really securing their necessary supplies to somebody is an absolute vital component. i think what we've seen during the pandemic is something quite exceptional. and it's brought out these supply chain vulnerabilities for older mater makers that hadn't been there in that kind of form before. i mean, what we've seen is lost production in 2021 of millions of order units. and

that's meant that demand has been much greater than the ability to supply. so we're seeing a new kind of problem for the auto industry that they haven't seen in a similar way before. so i think they're reacting to that and of course it will take time and whether it's through their concept of building their own semiconductors plants, which is obviously a highly complicated area for them to move into. or another possibility which is being suggested by companies like intel, is that they will build factory specifically for the auto industry to help alleviate some of those concerns about disruptions. and i think that a government level, we're also seeing a lot of action to try to reduce that vulnerability of supply chains, reduce the supply from asia in the u. s. for example, the u. s. government's pushing ahead with

a chip act that's going to put in about $50000000000.00 us dollars to help ship makers build more facilities in the u. s. and in the e. u. a very similar projects under way to try to boost the production of chips within the e u. m to about 20 percent of total requirements. so these kind of actions are signaling that both companies and governments are trying to reduce know supply chain vulnerabilities. and he won the league concern if i may interrupt them. so you just mentioned asia there. we've seen that china has just locked down an entire city. she on of 13000000 people. it's shown how seriously it's going to go against any sort of outbreak. china, of course, a major manufacturer for many, many companies. these supply problems are going to continue. is that fair to say? well, i think even leaving aside the situation in china, which obviously is very concerning and has a lot of potential implications for supply chains. if this were to spread more widely, but even even leaving,

not aside this backlog in areas like semiconductor supply is still going to continue in to 2022. even if the situation are dependent right, improves through the year. so i think we are looking at a 2022 with continuing problems and oh, with our sector. and if on top of all about the pandemic creates new waves and use plots are options. then clearly the risk is that you have a whole new set of disruptions to supply chains, not only for semiconductors, but potentially for many all areas. old manufacturing that are critical for industry as well. so we are very much looking at those downside risks for the 2020 to outlook if this o micron variant turns out to be a big disrupt her. all right, we'll have to leave it there. russia, this was with i just market. thank you very much. thank you for speaking

of supply crunches. wholesale gas prices in europe briefly spike this week after a russian pipeline began reversing its supply to germany. a russian president vladimir putin now says the move is not political, although it does can side with right coincide rather with rising tensions between moscow in the west. the europe was already facing a winter of high gas prices due to lower supplies. some now a few that tensions with russia are going to make things worse. guess from the jamar pipeline usually flows from here in siberia to germany. but flows had been falling since saturday on tuesday, the guest stopped and began to flow back in the other direction, the more than 2000 kilometer long jamar pipeline links, natural gas feels in siberia with poland and germany viable arrows. it's one of the major roots for russian gas to europe. some western politicians and industry experts have accused russian president vladimir putin, of withholding deliveries to europe and mid political tensions over ukraine and not

stream to something that he denied during his annual news conference. the vol to him, it would buy them, they lie all the time. they mix everything up. gas from supplies, all are requesting gas volumes, under current contracts. and not only that, not right, it's also increasing the volume or a premier ship, the contract spokespeople for our w e and uni power, which among gas prompts, biggest gas by us and germany set. the russian company was still meeting delivery obligations by measurements. show that gas volumes flowing through the jamar pipeline have been reversed. some western politicians believe protein wants to put pressure on not string to. it's another pipeline which is set to deliver gas from russia through the baltic sea, directly to germany. germany has not approved the pipeline yet. some experts believe the kremlin is deliberately reducing flows to drive up gas prices in europe,

and speed up the approval process. experts warn that consumers in western europe need to brace for even higher prices. more cold weather in europe over the coming months. it's going to drive up demand. and i'm joined by his lawyer side. he's director of energy climate and resources at the raise your group. that's a political risk consultancy, and thanks for coming on the show. you know, russia says that it's meeting its obligations here at the same time, some in europe are crying foul. can you help us understand what is going on? it, thanks for letting me know. so one of the main problems is, of course, one size that we're meeting all the obligations. the other side is saying we're not having enough gas. so what's happening is gas is meeting probably it's minimum annual obligation, so they have long term contracts with customers in the u. and they are meeting that, but they're not sending any further gas. so if you want to have received more gas because it's cold, for instance, or your customer who doesn't fully contract, it's annual gas supply,

then it's hard to get that guess because i'm really isn't sending more gas in. it absolutely has to the moment the question is, of course, whether the gas form isn't sending the gas because it can't or because it doesn't want to that we're not entirely sure sure of. we don't really know where the gas form is sending all the gas. it can where it is actually withholding. and then that is sort of the mystery here in europe. problems, of course, the gas market is type, we do need more gas, and n g is coming from a markets around the world by ship into europe. but it would be good if it came to pass from russia or so europe says the 2 is playing politics here, put and says the same thing that the use playing politics with nor string to is he not correct there? well, i mean, no, seem to, and it's, but it says the notes from 110 years ago, they are highly political projects. you are linking to major consumer producer blocks together with a physical pipeline infrastructure. it is political by nature and this politics when it goes well, it's good, it's

a big producer to the consumer and it improves politics. but of course, when politics get sour, as they are now between russian europe and the west general over ukraine, for instance, which of course, is the gas trans, it routed traditionally, it was. then if things get complicated and that is the issue now, yes, both sides are playing politics. however, the approval process that has been put on hold is a commercial one. and this is important to keep in mind that the approval process with a bonus next are going to, in germany, is a commercial process. and all stream to and gas from has to comply with the european market rules. and in its current form, it doesn't, so that is a separate process. but then of course, there is politics that the german government, the americans, brussels, they have become skeptical about the political viability of this pipeline. not just its commercial liability. or i think last time with your age group. thank you very

much. thank you. and let's go now to some of the other global business stories making headlines. united airlines and delta have cancelled more than $200.00 christmas eve flights. they say the spread of the new omicron varian is taking a toll on flight crews and ground personnel. the airlines are trying to reboot travelers as soon as possible. tick tock has surpassed google as the world's most popular website. that's according to cloud farrah tech, from the tracks online activities. more than 1000000000 users sign onto scroll, tick tock, monthly, mostly children and teenagers. tick tock was launched in 2016 by china's bite dance . intel has apologized for angering the chinese government after called on suppliers to avoid goods and services in the sheen john region. the united states, the european union and other countries, have accused china of a brutal crack down on the muslim, weaker minority and the use of force labor camps there. and finally tis the season when many indulged their sweet tooth,

especially chocolate. and especially here in germany, it turns out that germans eat an average of 9 kilos of chocolate per year. that's about 90 traditional sized chocolate bars and back puts the country squarely in 1st place globally for chocolate consumption. close 2nd, the swiss a christmas is the main season for chocolate. germany's chocolate years have sold 160000000 chocolate centers this year loan. right, that's it for me. and the dw business team will be back in a little bit with more headlines. meantime, find us online, he to be dot com slash business team. beardsley,

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