that there are some changes happening it is not only the problem of the prime minister and it's not only the problem of the minister of finance or the problem of the minister of the public this is the problem. so every citizen needs to feel that they are in a problem and to be able to do that we have to be transparent the government needs to be there in spirit that really putting the problems on the table and saying listen this is where we are but also at the same time putting the solution on the table minding expectation that is that a lot of the acceptable. the situation and the political environment needs to be taken into consideration what are the priorities of the government how to really say to that to the people and how to actually deliver on what we are promising so that people would start listening and would start believing with time so hopefully they will get to trust us again so i think this is where the vision needs to be installed where people would have a say people would comment but also the government would put them in a position to say listen this is not our problem only this is everybody's problem so we appr

minister of information in namibia, emma theofelus, what is your answer? thank you very much for your question. just yesterday, coincidentally, our minister of finance's a 72.8 billion namibian dollar budget. in this budget, it does entail one area that is to secure job security for everyone in the country during covid—i9. in it are all types of interventions around tax reform, around social sectors getting more funding to ensure that education is not severely disrupted and, especially, this goes to young people, but also, more importantly, that youth entrepreneurship in the country does not take a big hit. billie, do we need targeted intervention by governments in the way that emma has been describing? absolutely, but i suppose i believe that the question shouldn't necessarily be what should the government do, but rather who should that government be? i live between the united states and the united kingdom, the two countries who have reported the most deaths from the virus and i certainly don't think that the people who have got us into this mess are going to get us out of it. i believe that has been one of the most distressing things for young peo

minister of information in namibia, emma theofelus, what is your answer? thank you very much for your question. just yesterday, coincidentally, our minister of finance. it's a 72.8 billion namibian dollar budget. in this budget, it does entail one area that is to secure job security for everyone in the country during covid—i9. in it are all types of interventions around tax reform, around social sectors getting more funding to ensure that education is not severely disrupted and, especially, this goes to young people, but also, more importantly, that youth entrepreneurship in the country does not take a big hit. billie, do we need targeted intervention by governments in the way that emma has been describing? absolutely, but i suppose i believe that the question shouldn't necessarily be what should the government do, but rather who should that government be? i live between the united states and the united kingdom, the two countries who have reported the most deaths from the virus and i certainly don't think that the people who have got us into this mess are going to get us out of it. i believe that has been one of the most distressing things for young

my own proposal, when i was awarded, was to create a minister of finance. trust that it will be part of [indiscernible]. aware of, we should be the fact that the proposal of germany and france is very important. course, it is not fully accepted, as you know. it is being proposed to the commission, and it will be discussed. but i am very confident that this proposal will materialize. confidentkes you about the fact that all countries have to vote on this? i think one of the countries is now on board with the proposal. is it structural reforms needed by countries that access for the money, or how can you get those countries that have [indiscernible] on board? >> everything, as always, is in the technicality in the way it would be operated. but i am confident of the fact probably,ll have, again, i don't want to be too decisive on that, because it is a matter being discussed. but i trust the billions will be decided. a lot of aid. spent asart could be loans. and there would be some kind of discussion between the commission and those concerned. what has been done

states have curbed the rate of infection and begun to ease their lockdowns, does the eu have a coherent recovery strategy? my guest today is mario centeno, finance ministerportugal and head of the eurogroup of ministers. has this pandemic exposed the eu's greatest weakness — economic divergence? mario centeno, in lisbon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you, stephen. thank you for having me. we saw deep divisions within the european union at the beginning of the covid—19 pandemic. have those divisions been healed? if you look back, you may see that these divisions have played a role in all the debate. but at the end of the day, we were able to act fast, in a very flexible way and, for me, as president of the eurogroup, which is very important, in a very pragmatic way. we had a few goals to achieve, to react quickly in a sizeable way and in a way that prevents further fragmentation of the european union, and especially in the eurozone. but, minister, if i may, you really didn't react quickly, did you? we saw the chinese government offer medical assistant to italy long before other member states of the european union, and we saw some of the members, l

i mean, you're the finance minister of portugal. deeply dependent on summer tourism, so your government has sent the message that tourists are welcome from all over and, "we are opening up." other european countries aren't sending the same message. we have some internal disputes where, for example, the danes and the finns are telling swedes that they're not welcome as tourists because sweden has a high rate of infection. we have britain, which admittedly is not any more in the european union but a very close neighbour, saying that all visitors will be quarantined for two weeks, if they arrive. so it looks like a european mess, and it is an important part of your economy, this notion of tourism and travel within the european union. how are you going to sort it out? this is a sanitary crisis, and people are very much afraid of their health. and we have to overcome this and we need to make this with a great deal of confidence and safety. i think most of those measures are measures that governments will take at the beginning of the de—c

i have been abused by the head andfrom the minister of finance in germany theuse, i mean, boston wasul accomplice wirecard had and i do not mean that in a facetious way. right? company, the this market cap, would have never gotten to $24 billion. havetor losses never would been the many billions of euros that they are, and but for bafin , they would not have raised net 2.5 billion euros for the market. bafin was the accomplice. what does this mean? is a tough one to understand. what it should mean is that the guy you quoted is going to be looking for a job next week. that is what it should mean. there are a bunch of other people from bafin who should be looking for jobs also. whether that actually happens, i do not know. but all the warning signs were there. the first warning was publicly made in 2008 and then again in 2016, and then in 2018, and in 2019, and every single person who spoke out about wirecard was placed under criminal investigation, so what does this mean for my friends in moscow? i hope it means there's going to stop being moscow on the mind. they view hedge funds and

he used to be vice minister of the finance d., so this is quite a tip from china. decoupling. lou: they're afraid of decoupling, it's also not just a fear, let's be clear. this is an outright threat, because it's saying to a sovereign nation -- that is, the united states, lest anyone misunderstand my point -- a sovereign nation, the world's only superpower, can't act out of its own volition and in its own national interest and that the chinese will fight them, us, if we choose to do so. who the hell are these arrogant s.o.b.s who think they can speak in this nonsensical tone and term? >> well, i know these arrogant s.o.b.s pretty well, lou. i think what they're going to count on now is their channels of influence through wall street, through the think tanks, through people in congress to try to block decoupling. this is like a declaration of war with, you americans are not going to get away from decoupling with china. and they will activate their friends who are quite numerous and powerful, as you know. lou: yes. well, we know who they are, they're on wall street,

decision to quit international talks on how to tax big digital company the finance minister of france called washington's move a provocation and indicated that france would impose a version of the levy this year the new tax will primarily affect u.s. companies such as google amazon and facebook. well a book by donald trump's former national security advisor is rattling washington and the white house among several explosive claims made by john bolton is that president asked china to help him win reelection in november the troubled ministration has been trying to prevent publication of this book and that alone has already made it a bestseller and excerpts of its have already appeared in today's u.s. newspapers. these pages contain claims which could rock u.s. foreign relations and significantly affect the u.s. presidential election in november they were written by john bolton who said he saw donald trump engage in fundamentally unacceptable behavior that eroded the very legitimacy of the presidency. top of the books list of bombshell claims that trump asked chinese president xi jinping

of progress. frns finance minister called the move a, quote, provocation calling the digital tax a move of justiceasury secretary mnuchin said discussions had reached an impasse and attempting to rush the talks was a distraction from more important matters, primarily the covid-19 economic response let's bring in analysts from fitch solutions. great to have you on the show. first off, what do you make of the timing of this decision to pull out of the talks. >> it is not that surprising i think the surprise is maybe more that they agreed. it seems that the u.s. was very, very keen. >> in the economy and taxation both really coming backfiring and suggesting that europe is not backing down what does this mean in terms of the future and taxation? >> france will always say they will do it anyway. speaking on the decision, it doesn't really look too bad for him. it is difficult on the european scale as they tried to have a european level digital tax it means that we are several member states which we are not very keen. i don't see that unchanged i don't see the countries saying we don't really want to ha

states have curbed the rate of infection and begun to ease their lockdowns, does the eu have a coherent recovery strategy? well, my guest today is mario centeno, finance minister

kim witherg's sam details of his exclusive interview with the south korean finance minister. hie kamaruddin for another check of the markets. >> asian stocks mostly lower with losses in more than 1% in sydney and tokyo. we are seeing financials way the most on the kospi, but the decline has eased for the benchmark, now just off by 0.9%. among the biggest drags. the korean won losing ground. resistance is staying strong level ahead of trade data do this week. we did get retail sales this morning. a pickup in may for the first time in three months. some relief for policymakers, but not so for stocks. all sectors in the red. the board for a quick cross asset check. we have the dollar higher extending gains for a fourth straight session. kiwi bonds continuing to climb rbnz indicating a reluctance to sell shorter dated bonds. wti back pressure with below $38 per barrel. futures moving ever closer to $1800 per ounce. also seeing a move in money managers positioning as they are boosting their bullish bend. be one stepsaid to closer to passing the national security bill. the npc's hon

say this is got to get the approval of the shareholders they've been in a digital a virtual meeting there for several hours we're expecting the federal finance minister of the social democrats to make some sort of statement after we know the outcome of the result of the shareholders vote the other hurdle of this deal has happened to get over today has been approval by the european commission by the e.u. institutions because in the government acquiring such a large stake of. the state aid rules which apply across the european union have to be here to the european commission has said well this deal does that here but of course as i say the big caffie at here is will the shareholders indorse this deal. as we reported strain is largest airline quantas is laying off thousands of its stuff as it tries to supply to survive the pandemic the airline says it doesn't expect the nation's borders to open at least for tourists for the for the coming year the click gauge reports. right now qantas is meant to be celebrating its 100th anniversary instead it's dealing with the biggest crosses in its history the is truly a national airline has fired 6000 staff and anot

cent government stake in the airline a summit on monday between the country's economy and finance ministers of tons of c o n t failed to yield an agreement. unions are alarmed they're facing the prospect of over $20000.00 job losses while they're ready to compromise with management on matters like wage cuts it won't be at any price as of tuesday lufthansa said it hadn't managed to deal with them yet but that it will continue efforts to reach one before shareholders meet on thursday the stage is set for a vote that will either seal of tons of bailed out or send hurdling towards bankruptcy proceedings. is not the only economic victim of covert 19 in fact the pandemic looks to have taken an even more drastic toll on germany's economy than previously thought the german council of economic experts advising the government has revised down its growth forecasts expecting g.d.p. to fall by 6.5 percent this year not the $5.00 per previously predicted economists believe the german economy has bottomed out with things likely to pick up again in the summer the council is forecasting growth of 4.9 percent f

. >>> finance ministers from the group of seven nations have indicated they could extend a debt reliefnitiative for low-income countries beyond this year to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic. japan's finance minister taro took part in the g-7 good news meeting held by video conference on wednesday. a statement released after the talks underscores the group's commitment to implementing debt relief for the world's poorest country until the end of the year, and possibly longer. the debt relief initiative was originally agreed on by the group of 20 major economies. >> translator: roughlyly h half the more than 70 low-income countries with repayment deadlines have reportedly sought debt relief. i think this move should be promptly implemented. >> the statement urges the international monetary fund and the world bank to evaluate and monitor the country's ability to cope with their debt on the grounds this would lead to sustainable development. japan will give $300 million to an international body supplying vaccine to needy populations across the world. the move comes as the vaccine

are locked in talks of the biggest economic stimulus package in the country's history the measures are expected to be finalized today. when it comes to children it seems finance minister all of the big heart he wants to grab families $300.00 euros per child a total of $6000000000.00 euros to improve their buying power. alongside families the government wants to help companies particularly affected by the pandemic it's planning to cut electricity costs on taxes there are billions for infrastructure development and some controversial incentives for car buyers. right now barely anyone is buying a new car in germany and that on top of the fact that core industry is already going through a difficult transition to a lecture mobility both carmakers and unions hope the purchase premiums will give the sector a much needed boost government representatives say they've allocated 5000000000 euros for the bonuses anyone buying the electric car will get a 1500 euro state subsidy. the french government meanwhile is being rather more generous for a monday new car buyers can expect up to $7000.00 euros in incentives for a new he car as both germany and france say green recovery will be

over 2 decades on the run he's accused of financing rwanda's 1994 genocide of 800002 seize and moderate hutus will appeal the extradition order. british prime minister boris johnson has vowed to offer millions of hong kong residents a pass to u.k. citizenship if china opposes a new security law which would clamp down on human rights the territory was promised a high degree of autonomy and rights in an 1907 handover treaty between britain and china. and german carrier love towns a has announced it will undergo a major revamp as it posted net losses of $2100000000.00 euro in the 1st quarter the restructuring plans will include job cuts and asset sales it comes after the airline agreed to a corona bailout worth 9000000000 euros. the bad them it continues to impact germany's economy heavily a further 240000 people lost their jobs in may bringing the total number to 2800000 those numbers camas lawmakers are locked in talks over the biggest economic stimulus package in the country's history the measures are expected to be finalized today. when it comes to children it seems finance minister old upshall says a big heart he wants to grab families $300.00 eur

government stake in the airline a summit on monday between the country's economy and finance ministers have tons of . failed to yield an agreement. unions are alarmed they're facing the prospect of over $20000.00 job losses while they're ready to compromise with management on matters like wage cuts it won't be at any price as of tuesday lufthansa said it hadn't managed a deal with them yet but that it will continue efforts to reach one before shareholders meet on thursday the stage is set for a vote that will either seal of tons of bailed out or send hurdling towards bankruptcy proceedings. the situation. aviation expert. and the german government wants to save. you know has a lot of cash to do that but the biggest shareholder as we heard the piece is against the deal why is that. i think the fear is the devaluation of his own investment due to this possible government involvement and there's a rumor that he actually wants to take tons out to take all of tons on the cheap himself because he is apparently about $16000000000.00 u.s. dollars rich his personal fortune and there's talk that he might be

pressure one of them buffett is being asked why it didn't spot the problems at the stock market listed company soon or there are even calls for a parliamentary inquiry germany's finance minister has described the situation as an unparalleled scandal and. a scandal like the wire card scandal must be a wake up call that we need more supervision and control of the financial markets and we have to say this to the shareholders or the employees of these companies and in particular to germany as a financial center and to all of us as citizens that's going to work. well for more on this i'm joined now by thorsten cell horan he's professor at the institute for accounting ought to take that analysis at the little big maximillian university in munich thanks for being with us professor the german finance minister says we need more supervision of financial markets but there's supposed to be supervision already why did it fail with wire car. well let me start by making 2 observations here 1st it's very early in the game to be pointing fingers wide card has historically been a very opaque firm and auditors and oversight bodies are not very transparent either but 2nd you're right none of the

therefore that the news that 98 percent of the shareholders had endorsed this plan for the government to take that stake was greeted by the man behind it the finance minister social democrat all of shots nice side dish 5 does his per kid despondence to the rescue package it takes a legitimate interest to text that is because that is very important to me this investment must not be to the detriment of the public service the government insists it will prevent a hostile takeover of homes you know and will send 2 people to the seats of the supervisory board. that has also pledged to renew its fleet to make it more efficient and environmentally friendly. the other hurdle they still have to get past was the e.u. itself would this infringe impinge upon the state aid rules that apply across the or the institution across the continent the e.u. the european commission has said no it does not which means on the face of it this deal can go forward but other allies have expressed real issues about some of the elements associated with this deal saying they will try to prevent it but for now at least in germany there is a sigh of relief from ministers and perhaps from lu

through the rest of them and the health crisis is far from over the french finance minister may appearconfident but he expects the economy to contract by 11 percent. so should keep this number reflects the brutality of the recession and the difficulties that still lie ahead. you know exactly france faces a long road to recovery. well let's take a look now at some other stories making news around the world russia will spend just $72000000000.00 to restore the economy following the coronavirus shutdown the country is reeling from the collapse of oil prices prime minister mikhail machinist and briefed president vladimir putin about the program it will run over 2 years and is meant to boost employment salaries and economic growth. germany's governing cabinet has been meeting up to thrash out the details of a multibillion a euro economic stimulus package to help the country recover from the pandemic protesters gathered outside the chancellor's office to say no to a proposed a cash incentive for new car purchases including for those with polluting combustion technology. facebook c.e.o. mark

day without a local transmission french finance minister the french finance minister has called for business activity to resume faster as the country comes out of lockdown france's economy is set to contract by 11 percent in 2020. walked around the world have left many families separated it's time they can never get back and effect of the pandemic that's proven extremely painful for couples separated from their children born to a surrogate mother ukraine is one of the few countries in the world where surrogacy is affordable and easy to arrange some families have endured long waits to be united with their newborns stranded there our correspondent nick connelly sent us this report one month and 3 days late but at least they're together. and your old us have traveled 10000 kilometers by car through continent in lockdown to finally meet their daughter. she still has to get used to us she doesn't know who we are. their daughter spent her 1st month with a carer in an apartment her parents only able to see her on a screen. you know he's so sad we were crying just seeing her pictures and unable to do anything for her you just feel so helpless all you c

of the mass. the health crisis is far from over the french finance minister may appear confident but he expects theeconomy to contract by 11 percent. so she's good at this number reflects the brutality of the recession and the difficulties to still i had little see these. friends faces a long road to recovery. while in the united states thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of new york city calling for an end to police brutality of this rally organized by black lives matter is peaceful but the city's leaders fear other protests will turn violent after nightfall last night to find a curfew looters ransacking shops across the city the damages caused further discord between new york city mayor bill de blasio and new york's governor andrew cuomo who insists the national guard should be deployed blasio says the country's largest police force will be able to handle any unrest. ard for more now i'm joined by journalist james reimer he is joining us from manhattan going to be to you james so these demonstrations they are taking place again on the streets there how are the protests going so far w

embassy holding pictures of george floyd with signs reading i can't breathe. but australia's finance minister mathias cormann has described protesters in his country as incredibly selfish saying they've put people's health at risk they marched in support of us demonstrators and to highlight the deaths of indigenous australians in police custody here today with the headlines here on al-jazeera al-jazeera world starts right now. oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh morning in. college a part of this is so we could keep. it simple but the knowledge of well before us at them but the more useful and little of the postulate they cut that short because of all see some of them out with the service of you know engender service send a civil service or cynic out of the so no one don't want to sit at the feast the serving up a deal but back up what with just swell. the color quite misses the won't be the 5th. wake a new. view to music a chef. indeed historic. must be of this throughout or you know e

it is no surprise that the news that 98% of shareholders had endorsed this plan was greeted by the man behind it, the finance minister-- [speaking foreign language] >> this investment not be to the detriment of the public purse. it will prevent a hostile takeover of lufthansa edible send two people to the seats of the advisory board. lufthansa will also renew its fleet to make it a more environmentally friendly. reporter: the other hurdle is the eu itself. with this infringe upon the states and rules that apply across the institution, the continent? the eli said no it does not. this deal can go forward. other allies have expressed real issues about some of the elements associated with the deal, saying they will try to prevent it, but for now, there is a sigh of relief from ministers and perhaps lufthansa since they have been able to stave off the imminent threat of bankruptcy. host: pakistan international airlines has granted a third of -- pilots after the fraud came to light into an investigation of a plane crash that killed 97 people in may. the crash was caused by human error. reporter: -- brother was among the vi

of your good. the health crisis is far from over the french finance minister may appear confident but he expects theeconomy to contract by 11 percent. so should keep good this number reflects the brutality of the recession and the difficulties could still lie ahead little she. you know exactly france faces a long road to recovery. well let's take a look now at some other stories making news around the world russia will spend just $72000000000.00 to restore the economy following the coronavirus shutdown the country is reeling from the collapse of oil prices prime minister mikhail in the shoes to brief president vladimir putin about the program it will run over 2 years and is meant to boost employment salaries and economic growth. facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg has defended his decision to not take any action on inflammatory posts by the u.s. president that's despite a group of facebook employees walking off the job yesterday to urge the company to act against donald trump's posts about ongoing protests zuckerberg says he was right to leave and challenge. on tuesday italy celebrated republic day whic

including italy and spain as we mentioned requested financial support in the form of neutralized the dutch finance minister said the following brussels should study why some governments lacked the financial wherewithal to fight the crisis on their own and in that context i would like to ask you i mean it is now really the best time to be taking the high ground in a lesson in fiscal more ality a time when your partners need help. well actually i think that we should help each other for example by keeping the internal market totally open so you don't put export restriction to anybody that actually need help from other countries sweden has been one of the country who has been most active when it comes to ventilators all over europe when some other countries wanted to keep them for themselves for their national people we didn't do that we showed that solidarity we also showed a lot of solidarity by giving very very high grants to world health organization the united nation the vaccine program because we think it this is a global pandemic that we should fight globally so you said that you have expressed a sense