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Tensions are rising as countries compete for control of oil and gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean. On August 18, Turkey dispatched a drilling ship flanked by navy vessels to an area off the coast of Cyprus, deepening its disputes with Cyprus and Greece. A war of words could spiral out of control as Greece and France send their warships to the contested region. But carving up the riches of the Mediterranean could prove to be a costly mistake. A Lebanese exploration well has come up dry, oil companies have delayed drilling and many nations are switching to renewables. Could this mean some countries miss out on the oil and gas bonanza? Plus, does the crisis-hit World Trade Organization need a Brexiteer to run it? - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The world's factory has been shuttered, supply chains have been broken, flights have been grounded and tourism decimated. That's the real-world consequence of the coronavirus and the epidemic has yet to peak outside of China. Growth could halve this year to 1.5 percent, the OECD warned in its worst-case scenario for the outbreak, a growth rate generally considered to indicate a recession. As markets crashed, central banks stepped forward to say they were ready to support growth. The Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.5 percentage points, its first emergency cut since the financial crisis in 2008. Whether central banks have the firepower after more than 700 interest rate cuts and trillions in bond-buying after the financial crisis is another question. And after all that, it was the stock markets that benefitted the most from rate cuts with little trickling down into the real economy. 　 Unlike the 2008 crisis, where banks needed a desperate infusion of cash after they lost a bet on subprime mortgages, this time, they need governments to step forward to stimulate the economy. Governments may need to find money to bail out airlines; the industry stands to lose $113 billion in revenue. The World Bank has pledged $12bn and the IMF has set aside $50bn, pledging to help poor countries where health systems are weakest, including providing emergency funding. Bilal Hafeez, CEO of Macro Hive, says he thinks the "chances are very high that we are indeed heading for a global recession". Rajiv Biswaz, executive director and Asia-Pacific Chief Economist at IHS Markit, adds that a scenario in which the world experiences a recession really depends on how much coronavirus spreads globally. "Clearly now we have very substantial escalation in South Korea, Iran and also Italy. So it is certainly a growing risk that we could see this escalating into a pandemic that affects the whole world economy and that could destroy global consumption, and in that kind of scenario, there is certainly a risk that it could evolve into a global recession," Biswaz said. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

It was a bruising year for China. A trade war with the United States left its economy expanding at the slowest pace in 30 years. And economists estimate 4 million jobs may have been lost in 2019. This year is already being defined by the outbreak of the coronavirus which has killed thousands and has infected thousands more, putting the brakes on China's economy. Economists polled by Reuters expect China's growth rate to slump to 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year from 6 percent in the previous quarter. That would be the slowest pace since the financial crisis. With much of the country in lockdown, the virus could affect up to 42 percent of China's economy, according to Standard Chartered. Companies may struggle to make payments on loans leading to a rise in what is called non-performing loans of $1.1 trillion, according to Standard and Poor's. Chinese airlines have been forced to ground planes and are expected to lose $12.8bn in revenue. Globally, the airline industry is set to lose $29bn, according to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA). And the effect of COVID-19 is being felt regionally. "Well, as you know, from 15 to 20 years ago China was already dubbed as 'the factory of the world' so then what we have seen now is that the supply chain sourcing has been interrupted," Reuben Mondejar, professor for Asian Initiatives at the IESE Business School, University of Navarra, tells Al Jazeera. Argentina needs help to avoid death default, again Argentina's economy is expected to contract for the third consecutive year. Inflation is running at more than 50 percent and the country is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid a default on its debt. Since the late 1950s, the IMF has provided loans and bailouts to Argentina more than 20 times. But this time it has finally admitted what everyone else was saying - that Argentina's debt is "unsustainable". The country has debts of more than $320bn. The IMF now says they will have to take losses on their holdings. And there seems to be a determination in Buenos Aires that they will not accept any new austerity measures. In fact, the new President Alberto Fernandez has instead frozen prices and increased salaries. Richard Segal, a senior analyst with Manulife Asset Management, explains that the situation in Argentina has been stressed for many years. "The IMF is acknowledging what we have understood for a long time, meaning that the public debt is unsustainable and it needs to be written down quite substantially," Segal notes. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Global carbon dioxide emissions held steady for the first time in three years in 2019. The International Energy Agency says that was thanks to a switch from coal power to renewables in advanced economies. The United Nations estimates that the world needs to reduce coal-fired electricity by two-thirds in the next 10 years, to meet the goals of the Paris climate change agreement. Despite that our pursuit of coal is unrelenting. Data from endcoal.org shows more than $50bn is being ploughed into coal-powered projects around the world. China alone is contributing almost $40bn in financing projects from the United States to Australia. And rather than scaling back on coal-powered electricity, over the last two years China has added 43 gigawatts of capacity - that is as much power produced by Germany's power generators. Although Germany has said it would eliminate its coal power stations, it is spending more than $1bn on projects in Greece and India. Kai Niebert, president of the German League for Nature, Animal and Environment Protection, tells Al Jazeera that we are at a very "critical phase" from a climate perspective. "We are entering a new era where renewables should be on the rise but we are still subsidising and financing the fossil sector." Shipping: The unseen polluter The shipping industry is often referred to as the unseen polluter. About 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea with an estimated $4 trillion worth of goods being moved every year. The European Union believes if the industry goes unchecked, it could contribute to a fifth of emissions by 2050. Shipping now accounts for about 3 percent of global emissions and, like the aviation industry, it is not part of the Paris accord. "This pollution is happening pretty much at the time out in the deep sea, away from the prying eyes of the public," Gavin Allwright, secretary of the International Windship Association, explains. But Allwright says although shipping can be considered an unseen polluter, it moves a majority of world trade and is probably the most efficient of all the modes of transport. Now there are initiatives under way, where batteries are being used to help power ships and wind power is being considered as an alternative. Still turning around an industry that invests hundreds of millions of dollars in each ship is quite literally like turning around a supertanker - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

As the death toll from the coronavirus keeps rising, it is crippling not only China's economy but is having a knock-on effect globally. Formula One's race in Shanghai has been postponed and this year's Mobile World in Barcelona has been cancelled. Oil prices have tumbled 20 percent below their January peaks, raising the prospect that OPEC could cut production again. But it is not only OPEC that is feeling the pinch. China has also turned away gas tankers, slashing gas prices in half. Yury Sentyurin, secretary-general of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, said: "This is a force majeure situation. Any contract between sellers and buyers have a special clause ... called force majeure, for some events and situations which are out of the influence of participants of the parties of the contracts." Sentyurin points out there may be some postponements and delays in contracts but argues: "I think this is a temporary situation because fortunately life hasn't stopped and people will continue living, will continue producing, will continue consuming and everything will continue, from my point of view." The economic impact of rising sea levels Warming oceans and melting ice caps could cause sea levels to rise by more than a metre (three feet) by the end of the century, according to the United Nations. The rise could displace or affect up to 680 million people living along the world's coastlines. The UK's National Oceanography Centre (NOC) projected that flooding from rising sea levels could cost the globe $14 trillion annually by 2100. Indonesia is planning to spend more than $30bn on moving its capital because Jakarta is sinking at an alarming rate. A majority of the city could be submerged by 2050. The United States will need to spend $400bn over the next 20 years to improve its flood defences. And New York state is considering spending more than $100bn on a storm barrier, an idea President Trump calls: "costly, foolish and environmentally unfriendly". But the World Bank believes every dollar spent on sea defences can yield between $7 to $10 by preventing costly damage. Swenja Surminski, head of Adaptation Research at the Grantham Research Institute, tells Al Jazeera climate change is the "defining issue of our generation" and it is "no longer a distant threat" as the impacts of climate change can be seen, particularly along coastal areas. "Coastal areas are particularly exposed, not just because of sea-level rise, but also other challenges." Surminski notes that water usage and the fact that about half of all global megacities are in coastal areas are major challenges in battling the threat of climate change and rising sea levels. "So these are massive, and still growing sites, where people live, where their livelihoods are - and these are exposed from sea-level rise." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ #AlJazeeraEnglish

Despite vowing to stop propping up strongmen in Africa, France is backing a Libyan warlord and Chad's dictator. Many welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s promise in 2017 to end what was known as “Francafrique”, or France’s sphere of influence over its former colonies in Africa. But many say France is still up to its old games. In Libya, Macron has thrown his lot behind the renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, secretly supplying arms and training despite the UN and Libya’s former colonial power, Italy, backing the government in Tripoli. Forces loyal to Haftar have blockaded oil ports and have stopped pipelines, strangling the economy of much-needed funds. And while fighting so-called "Islamist" militants, France deployed warplanes to attack a rebel convoy in northern Chad, helping to keep President Idriss Deby in power. Deby has faced several coup attempts since gaining power in 1990. But is it all about the oil? “Really what Macron has presented is the case for a changed relationship with Africa, not so much a reducing or a retreat from the continent, but much more for putting the relationship on to a new footing,” Paul Melly, consulting fellow at Chatham House, tells Al Jazeera. “And you can see that most strongly in the relationship with the West African countries, and particularly the very troubled Sahel region on the margins of the Sahara where Macron has argued the case for much more of a partnership approach but also economic reforms.” Melly adds that France has “long-standing traditional economic and security interests” in a range of countries, from Chad right down through Central Africa, that do not have a good governance record. Brexit: What does it mean for the UK economy? “Get Brexit done” – that was the slogan that won the 2019 election for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Britain left the European Union this year but the kind of relationship the country has with the rest of Europe has yet to be decided and the process is unlikely to start until March. The economic cost of Brexit hit $170 billion, according to Bloomberg Economics, and that number could rise by another $100 billion by the end of 2020. Counting the Cost examines what Brexit means for one of the worst-performing industrial economies. Hamish Muress, a senior currency strategist at OFX, tells Al Jazeera: “For our clients, the big questions will be around what happens to the pound and what happens to the euro over the next 12 months.” Bilal Hafeez, CEO of Macro Hive, says the EU is the UK's largest trading partner, and when the UK was a member of the European Union it enjoyed a free trade agreement. He adds: “So whatever the agreement is with the European Union, at the end of this year it will not be as free as it once was in terms of frictionless trade …” - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Unmanned ariel vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have come a long way since their introduction in the first Gulf War in 1991. At the time, they were used just for surveillance and intelligence gathering. A decade later, a Predator drone fitted with a missile was used by the CIA in an attempt to kill Taliban leader Mullah Omar. And almost 10 years on from that failed attempt, the assassination of Iran's Qassem Soleimani became the first time a senior military figure has been killed on foreign soil. Drones mean troops do not have to deploy into hostile territory, therefore saving lives. Still, there have been many civilian casualties. Under former President Barack Obama, the number of drone attacks rose to 563 from 57 under George W Bush. More than 800 innocent civilians were killed in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The drone business is a growing industry. According to defence analysts Teal Group, spending on research, development and procurement is expected to rise to $14.3bn by 2029, up nearly 30 percent from $11.1bn this year. The United States is by far the biggest spender on drones. In its 2018 budget, almost $7bn was set aside for research and development and buying drones. Despite the US high spending on drone technology, much less expensive technology has been used to great effect. The US and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for an attack on Aramco oilfields that wiped out half the country's oil production. China makes a rival to the MQ9 Reaper for the export market, and it is said to cost half the price of the US system. The aircraft has been used by the Iraqi military in attacks on the ISIL (ISIS) group. And Turkey has become the first to attach a machinegun to drone to protect military convoys. And that is not all, they have been flying autonomous drones that can find, track and kill. But it is not just nations like Israel, Iran and Pakistan that have used drones to target people. Non-state actors ISIL and PKK have used drones in attacks too, drones you can buy from Amazon. Justin Bronk, a research fellow for Airpower and Technology at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), tells Al Jazeera that the use of remotely piloted drones is an extremely efficient way to provide surveillance and attack options over long periods of time in permissive airspaces. "The basic technology behind creating something that flies as a remotely flown drone with weapons capability is not particularly challenging so we're seeing China is, in fact, one of the biggest exporters now of armed drones," Bronk explains. Has Putin been good for Russia's economy? Russian President Vladimir Putin crushed the hopes of potential acolytes with plans to rewrite the constitution to beef up the power of parliament. After 20 years in power, Putin's proposed constitutional changes would enable him to grab power after he steps down. With the constitutional reform, Putin could extend his ability to rule indefinitely. But what of his economic record? Has he delivered for the Russian people? Charles Robertson, the global chief economist at Russian bank Renaissance Capital, says Putin did an "incredible job" in the first decade or so, helped by rising oil prices. "When he inherited power, Russia was the size of Belgium, as an economy, and very rapidly, it became the size of the Netherlands and then became even bigger as a top 10 economy now with low inflation, and decent enough growth but people often forget about Russian demographics and forget to strip out the population growth numbers," Robertson says. He adds: "Actually it's doing not that differently from China on a per capita basis for GDP at the moment, or India for that matter." Economic cost of coronavirus The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China continues to rise. Beijing has extended the Lunar New Year holiday and businesses shut down to curb the spread of the virus. A total of 18 cities in central Hubei province now have some sort of travel restrictions affecting 56 million people and authorities are rushing to build a hospital to accommodate 1,000 beds to treat victims. Now the virus has spread beyond neighbouring countries to Australia, Canada, France and the US. And just when the Chinese authorities hoped the economy would begin to pick up after signing a phase one trade deal with the US, it is already having to count the cost of yet another outbreak after the SARS crisis. Patrick Perret-Green, head of global macroeconomic strategy at AdMacro, explains: "We're only just beginning to appreciate the wider effects. We're talking about unprecedented action. Major cities being shut down, business enterprises being closed until at least February 9." He later adds: "Chinese tourism is another area where we are going t- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

"This is coal! Don't be afraid, don't be scared." When a prime minister takes a lump of coal into his own parliament as a peculiar form of show-and-tell, you can be sure of a couple of things. One: that coal means a lot to the country's fortunes, and two: there is going to be some controversy about it. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been a vocal supporter of the coal industry which has been partly responsible for helping Australia's economy avoid a recession for the last 30 years. But then he also went on holiday while his nation burned, in some of the worst bushfires ever seen. Now scientists are saying climate change has helped create conditions for the rapid spread of Australia's wildfires. And environmental activists are warning that Australia must curtail its carbon-producing industries such as coal. In 2018, the value of Australian coal exports was $46bn, equivalent to 3.5 percent of nominal gross domestic product or GDP, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia. The coal industry directly employs a quarter of a million people and many more through support services and related businesses. But Morrison says Australia is only responsible for 1.3 percent of global emissions. However, when you take into account its export of petroleum and coal and its population of approximately 24 million people that means we have a country with 0.3 percent of the world's population, responsible for 5 percent of global carbon emissions, according to Bloomberg. And then there is the cost: More than 500 Australians die each year from heat stress alone, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The institute also says that the financial cost of climate change is expected to rise to $26.7bn every year by 2050 - which is as much as it spends on defence currently. With a debt-to-gross GDP ratio of just 40 percent, Australia has the power to transform its economy away from fossil fuels, if it wants to. Tom Swann, a senior researcher at The Australia Institute, tells Al Jazeera that there has been a big shift in the rhetoric and some of the political positions taken by Australia's commonwealth government over the last month but there has not been any change in policy. "In fact, rather than taking stronger action to reduce emissions and calling for global leadership this government has, in fact, shifted towards saying things like climate action includes hazard-reduction burning, reducing the amount of fuel loads to try and make bushfires less common, less severe." Swanson points out: "Unfortunately it's actually climate change that is making this hazard-reduction burning more hazardous and more dangerous in Australia. That has really become a bit of a distraction from what has to be the main game: reducing emissions." Julien Vincent, Executive Director of Market Forces says most people are deeply concerned about the effects of climate change, especially after the latest season of the bushfires outbreak. But he points out that many people are perhaps "less aware" of how their personal investments may be helping to fuel the problem. "What we do is help shift the behaviour of financial institutions by giving that sense of power to the people they are ultimately accountable to." Is Lebanon ready for an IMF bailout? Protests in Lebanon have been going on for months. At times, they have been violent, driven by the failing economy and general disdain for the government. Now Lebanon may be forced to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the political and economic crisis escalates. It may also need to reconsider its 23-year-old currency peg to the dollar as its debt becomes unmanageable. Lebanon's debt to GDP ratio is 150 percent - the third-highest in the world. Now it has to repay $1.2bn in debt due in March. There was a plan to swap those, giving it more time to repay the debt, but it has been pulled after the credit rating agencies said Lebanon would be in "selective default". In total, it needs to repay or issue more debt to cover a $2.5bn Eurobond this year. Jad Chaaban, associate professor of economics at the American University of Beirut, said the devaluation of Lebanon's local currency has driven up the prices of many goods. "It is very difficult for us to enter into any international loan or international bailout because of the very harsh conditions that are usually imposed with such loans such as raising indirect taxes, cutting pensions, and laying off people from the public sector. This, unfortunately, cannot be done now." Chaaban adds: "The Lebanese population cannot bear any increase in the prices, in the taxes. People are on the brink of massive poverty so we cannot come now and cut their pensions and apply austerity measures that are u - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Three years ago Chinese President Xi Jinping stood in front of the world's business elite in Davos, defending the post-war international liberal order as President Donald Trump railed against globalisation. Now, 18 months later, a trade deal of sorts has been signed. The deal, whichever way you choose to break it down, is a win for Trump who argues the agreement delivers "economic justice" for the country. Has Xi wasted the political capital he established? China's treatment of 13 million Uighur Muslims, tactics against democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and removal of presidential term limits - giving Xi indefinite power to stay as leader - have created uncertainty, cramping growth both at home and abroad. Still, China has agreed to buy $200bn of US goods over two years, including $32bn in additional agricultural products. And tariffs on $360bn of Chinese goods will remain in place until after the US election or China proves it is in compliance with the deal. But there is little confidence in that target being met because American farmers may never be able to produce enough. Plus, US companies will no longer need to hand over their technology to gain access to the Chinese market. Greg Swenson, partner at investment bank Brigg Macadam, tells Al Jazeera that the new deal with China is a win for Trump and a win for the US, arguing that the Chinese economy could not handle the tariffs imposed on its export-dependent economy and ageing population. "They did lose the battle politically, there's not a lot of support. They have basically isolated themselves for a number of reasons and I think President [Trump] has done a really good job of exposing some of the flaws or some of the real problems with the Chinese model," Swenson says. He adds: "It's important to know that the rest of the world is very much aware of the Chinese state-owned enterprise model and the risk that poses to the rest of the world as well as the military, security intelligence, and human rights issues." Russia's pivot to the East and South Boxed in by sanctions imposed on Russia following the annexation of Crimea and backing an uprising in the east of Ukraine, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been working hard to reduce reliance on the West. First came the opening of a $55bn pipeline to supply gas to China, completing Putin's so-called pivot to the East. And this month, Russia opened a pipeline through Turkey to supply southern Europe, further punishing Ukraine, which now stands to lose billions in transit fees, for strained relations between the two neighbours. Russia currently supplies 40 percent of Europe's gas. The proposed pipeline will provide more gas for Turkey and open up markets in Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. It comes as Russia's biggest gas company, Gazprom, was forced to halt construction of another pipeline under pressure from the US. Gulmira Rzayeva, founder and managing director for Eurasia Analytics, explains that when it comes to gas exports from Russia to Turkey, the political dimensions and existing tensions have not affected energy exports. "This is an interdependent issue and Turkey, as much as Russia, has depended on the export and import of natural gas." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The assassination of Iran's second-most powerful figure, Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike has led to the deployment of more troops to Iraq. And while Iran hit back and tensions appeared to ease, a US-Iran shadow war goes on. Counting the Cost takes a look at the trillions spent on wars and the billions spent on maintaining US military bases. There are 200,000 US troops stationed at hundreds of bases in countries and territories outside of the US. Despite President Donald Trump's promises to remove US troops from the Middle East, the number of troops in the region has increased. Since 9/11, American taxpayers have spent $6.4 trillion on wars and military action in the Middle East and Asia, according to the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. And according to US central command, there are between 60,000 and 70,000 US troops in the Middle East. Glenn Carle, former CIA deputy national intelligence officer and assistant professor at Boston College, explains that some host countries pay substantial amounts to maintain a US military presence while other countries do not necessarily make the same kinds of formal contributions. "In Iraq, I'm not so clear that they are actually making a formal contribution to hosting us as much as they are happy to have us, I'm sure. So there will be ancillary or secondary indirect costs that the host country is paying certainly. But I don't think that they are paying some sort of a fee to host 6,000 American soldiers now in several bases," Carle says. On how the latest US-Iran tensions may play out, Carle notes that the US political system is largely paralysed so that any "coherent, decisive action" in international relations is difficult to carry out. "There has been strong inclination on the part of half the country to remove the American presence from Iraq, which is viewed as a disaster, and yet most professional national security officials or individuals think that it is necessary for the US to have some sort of a presence there, which is independent of whether we are the ones who broke the crockery or try to put it together, but that to leave now would be a problem," says Carle. "So I don't see us leaving anytime soon, unless the incoherent and capricious man in the Oval Office actually manages to act upon his compulsions." Does the meat industry need to change to save the planet? The hog and pork industry has taken a hit from African swine flu in China and Asia and the whole question of how we get our protein fix has gained prominence against the background of climate change. Animal agriculture is responsible for about 9 percent of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions globally. Justin Sherrard, global strategist for Rabobank, tells Al Jazeera that meat is a dietary staple for most people around the world, as much as staples such as rice or bread. He notes that the debate around the meat industry is not really about whether people are addicted to meat consumption. "What it is about is how we are going to change the emission signature associated with meat production and consumption in the future," Sherrard says. "And on a positive side, we are starting to see commitments being made by the larger leading animal protein companies in Europe and in the US about reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their whole supply chain." Will France's digital tax on Silicon Valley escalate trade war with US? Silicon Valley's tech giants have often been criticised for not paying fair taxes. Much of the problem exists because of international laws that allow corporations to pay their taxes in the country of their choosing. But France is leading a group of nations in imposing a tax on the revenues of Google, Facebook and Amazon, and that has threatened to escalate a trade war. The US has proposed tariffs on $2.4bn of French goods but the French have warned the EU will retaliate. Italy, Austria, and Turkey have also imposed levies and the UK will likely follow, despite expressing interest in signing a trade deal post-Brexit with Washington. Julian David, CEO of TechUK, explains that taxation is "still stuck in an old model" and it does not apply just to tech giants but any company using digital technology. "The problem here is that the taxation system isn't fit for the new world that we live in," David says. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) new managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, has described the global outlook as 'precarious'. The global economy is growing at its slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis, and trade tensions could cut global economic growth by $700billion - which is roughly the size of the Swiss economy. Central bankers have been pretty clear that any slowdown this year would require governments to step in with stimulus packages, because monetary policy is at the limits of what could be achieved. But there are many variables, challenges and geopolitical events that will affect the world of business and economics in 2020: The US election, a lack of leadership as the US steps back on the world stage, climate change, and protests from Chile to Lebanon. Will President Donald Trump win another term? And what does that mean for trade wars and disputes? Can the world come together to tackle global warming and globalisation? And will we see more people on the streets to protest austerity and the fact that wealth is unequally spread across society? We've got a panel of experts to cast an eye on the year ahead and to give us some insights into what to expect in 2020: Akber Khan - senior director, Al Rayan Investment Charles Hecker - senior partner, Control Risks Jairo Lugo-Ocando - Northwestern University in Qatar - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

In this episode of Counting the Cost, we look back at the year 2019: people from Latin America to the Middle East took to the street to protest the unequal spread of wealth and demand that governments end austerity; a trade war between the United States and China has put the breaks on global growth and is reshaping globalisation. But the biggest story of the year 2019 has to be climate change and the lack of will to do anything about it. Climate crisis: With the exception of the European Union, there is very little effort to reduce emissions. The cost of our inaction has been put at $2bn a day. The United Nations says that $48 trillion needs to be spent by 2050 to avoid catastrophe to humanity; that means putting survival before short term profits. Teresa Bo reports from Brazil on the threat of deforestation, the Amazon crisis and President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies. Raheela Mahomed reports from East Kalimantan, Indonesia, on the environmental cost of moving the capital from sinking Jakarta to Borneo. Lucia Newman reports from Santiago on the continuing protests in Chile and how the economic and social crisis has spiralled into a political one. US-China trade war: The idea of globalisation has come under attack - from President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India", while the trade war between the US and China has taken a few points off global growth. The biggest losers have been exporting nations like Germany and Japan. Scott Heidler looks at some of the benefits from Bangkok. And Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Tongi, Bangladesh on the rise of steel prices thanks to the US trade war. Africa Continental Free Trade Area: In May 2019, a new economic bloc was born: 54 nations came together to form the Africa Continental Free Trade Area. The aim of the bloc is to increase trade between nations by tearing down trade barriers - in the hope of becoming the next European Union. Ahmed Idriss reports from the Nigeria-Benin border. Healthcare in the US: Who should be responsible for providing healthcare? The state or for-profit organisations? Shihab Rattansi reports from the US on how the health insurance industry is failing patients. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Weeks of violent street protests were brought to an end in Ecuador in mid-October after the president walked back austerity measures. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno withdrew the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed agreement to increase fuel costs. The agreement had paralysed Ecuador's economy as it hit the poorest and the minority indigenous population. The government decided to cut fuel subsidies, which cost the government $1.3bn a year. Quito had asked the IMF for a $4.2bn loan as it struggled to cut its budget deficit and debt. At the same time as receiving the loan, big businesses won a concession wiping out past taxes, according to former Minister of Finance Wilma Salgado. Now the question for many is: Why would you take a loan to help corporations but cut subsidies to the poorest? In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Ecuador's Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner explains that cutting fuel subsidies was the right thing to do for the country. Sonnenholzner argues that fuel subsidies in Ecuador benefit the "ones who have the most" and those who consume the highest quantity of fuel. "I have nothing against subsidies when they are necessary and they go to the people who need them. But in the case of Ecuador and fuel subsidies, they just don't," Sonnenholzner says. He adds that if you put it together, "the fuel subsidies has cost the country more than its GDP for the last 45 years." "It has no economic sense, no social sense, and of course no environmental sense. So something that makes no sense, why would you keep it?" Cash crunch in Kenya Kenya is in the midst of a cash crunch. Now the lender of last resort, the IMF, may lineup a loan to make sure East Africa's biggest economy does not succumb to an economic shock. The cash crunch comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to create one million jobs annually but to do that he has been increasing spending on healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture and housing. Nairobi has increased its debt to 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), spending a third of its revenue on servicing debt. And the loans are not cheap - going to the markets to raise seven billion euros ($7.8bn). There is now less money to pay contractors, forcing the government to increase the debt limit to $87bn. Ahead of elections in two years, there seems to be little political will to downsize civil services, which eats another third of tax revenue. The Kenyan government also seems to be unaware of the breach of its legal debt ceiling of 50 percent of GDP from 2015 to 2016. The infringement only surfaced after a new team took over the treasury following charging of the previous finance minister with corruption-related offences. Alisa Strobel, senior economist for Sub-Saharan Africa at IHS Markit, says besides the job losses the latest cash crunch in Kenya has resulted in "sticky, non-performing loans" in the banking sector. "With the removal of the interest rate cap, we do expect to see some improvement on this front that will hopefully support aggregate demand in the near term," Strobel says. Can Netflix hold on to its crown? Cord-cutting, Peak TV and the rise of so-called over-the-top services, or streaming to you and me - are we witnessing the end of television as we know it? It is estimated that 63 percent of people watch their favourite shows online. And more content companies like Disney, HBO and Peacock are launching their own services. Industry leader Netflix saw 13.2 million people watch Martin Scorsese's epic gangster movie The Irishmen in the United States over the first five days of its release. The streaming giant is spending billions on content and has more than 100 million subscribers worldwide. Apple is now spending $6bn on content, including a reported $300m on the Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston. And Amazon claims it signed up millions of people after paying 90 million pounds ($120m) for three years' worth of premier league games. So can Netflix hold on to its crown? Daniel Gahder, research manager at the analytics company Ampere Analysis, points out that budget is very important when it comes to the success of new streaming platforms and Amazon and Netflix seem to have a strong market position at the moment. "These new companies coming in like Disney and a lot of the studios do have a lot of content to lean on and ultimately I think in their current form this many services might be difficult to sustain in the market. What we may see is some of them adapt and change." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Scientists suggest the planet may have crossed a series of tipping points making global warming unstoppable. The European Union has declared a climate emergency, urging nations to cut net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. And the United Nations believes we need to spend $48 trillion by 2050 to save the planet. Carbon trading is one method some are citing as a solution to the climate crisis. Many people have already encountered some form of taxes or extra charges for using plastic bags, coffee cups and even optional carbon footprint charges for flight purchases. But carbon trading is becoming a growing market for the biggest polluters. The value of traded global markets for carbon dioxide allowances soared 250 percent to a record high of 144 billion euros ($160bn) last year, according to Refinitiv. There are 45 national and 25 sub-national markets with governments trying to set a price for a tonne of carbon. Companies can buy certificates to offset their emissions. To avoid penalties, companies can buy the emission credits of others. For example, Tesla sold emission credits to Fiat Chrysler and General Motors, making $1.7bn since 2012. But how successful carbon trading becomes really depends on China, the world's biggest polluter. While it has been the biggest investor in renewable energy, it has stepped up spending on coal-powered plants at home and abroad. China has yet to launch its carbon trading market. Beijing would like richer nations to do and spend more than poorer nations for past emissions. And it looks like Europe will push for a new green deal that could see the European Investment Bank spend a trillion dollars on shifting the economy to cleaner forms of energy. Anthony Hobley, cochair of the advisory board Carbon Tracker, says it has been a very rocky road to get emission rates down globally and that carbon market trading usually sits alongside other policy tools like product standards and regulations around energy efficiency. "Carbon market schemes tend to operate within a closed system, within a bubble so you set a cap for your economy and the carbon market is just one of the policy tools that you are using to drive down emissions," Hobley explains. The new head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, also wants the bank to take into consideration climate change when it is making monetary policy decisions. "When you have been in the IMF and World Bank meeting in Washington a couple of weeks ago, there's a clear sense something ought to be done. The ECB is acknowledging that they want to support those green policies," Hubertus Vath from the Frankfurt Financial Center tells Al Jazeera. Big data and algorithms that discriminate against women and people of colour Every time you use your phone, computer, an app or a website, you are leaving a digital footprint that tells a story about you. And that can be used to sell services back to you. When you watch films or listen to music the data can be used by algorithms to make helpful suggestions for other material you may want to watch. But it can also give away your sex, age and race. It is that manipulation of data that is starting to raise concerns because it can be used to discriminate against women and people of colour. Tech entrepreneur David Hansson claimed Apple's new credit card gave him 20 times the credit limit than his wife. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak tweeted he had a similar experience with the card operated by Goldman Sachs. Now a Wall Street regulator has launched a probe into possible discrimination and the New York Department of Financial Services also opened an investigation into healthcare provider UnitedHealth Group after an algorithm allegedly favoured white patients over black patients. The so-called information economy is also becoming a huge issue for the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Europe to seize control of its own data from the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Frederike Kaltheuner, a Mozilla tech policy fellow, tells Al Jazeera that the tech industry faces large problems including a lack of diversity as well as a general lack of accountability. "We tend to treat the sector as something that is fundamentally different from everything else. We don't expect tobacco companies to self-regulate, we don't expect ethics guidelines to guide the oil industry, and yet when it comes to tech, we tend to agree on these very fluffy standards," Kaltheuner says. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

A rebellion against inequality, austerity and the politics of "more of the same" is growing in Latin America and is springing from what looks like the most innocuous changes. It is not dissimilar to uprisings elsewhere. In Chile, the rise of train fares led to street protests and calls for an end to neoliberalism. In Argentina, a sitting president was voted out of power after a protest over austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition of a $57bn bailout. And in Ecuador, it was the IMF's involvement which forced the president and cabinet to escape the capital Quito. The size of the IMF bailout was similar to the size of unpaid corporate taxes, as highlighted by former economy minister Wilma Salgado. Ecuador requested a $4.2bn loan from the IMF and a condition of that was to cut the budget deficit. The Ecuadorian government decided to cut fuel subsidies, which were costing $1.3bn a year. But the decision led to protests, forcing the government to walk back the proposal. Still, the government pressed ahead to wipe out much of the taxes owed by Ecuadorian corporations. Otaviano Canuto, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South who has also held roles at the IMF and the World Bank, tells Al Jazeera that the scrapping of fuel subsidies had differentiated impacts on the social structure in Ecuador. "Cutting the fuel subsidies, paradoxically, while in some other countries it might benefit particularly the poor, because as long as it is accompanied by compensatory social policies, the fact is that the major beneficiaries very often are the middle classes who use cars, who benefit from the oil subsidies and so on," Canuto says. "But in the case of Ecuador, apparently the burden is split between the fractions of the population. I know for one that the preference of the IMF, for instance, was on adjusting value-added taxes, not attacking the fuel subsidies." Has Shinzo Abe's economic policy helped Japan recover from its lost decades? On November 20, Shinzo Abe served his 2,887th day in office, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. But Abe's first term lasted only a year. He quit amid accusations that he violated electoral laws. And there were five other prime ministers between his first and second terms, all of which only lasted about a year each. At the start of his second term in 2012, Abe's namesake economic policy grabbed the attention of economists and policymakers. Japan's economy was struggling with deflation and slowing growth after a stock market and property crash in the 1990s. And Abe promised to combat the slow growth with a three-pronged economic plan, known as "Abenomics". The plan involved the Bank of Japan using its powers to buy government bonds and stocks. The second step of the plan was to increase infrastructure spending and the third was to make structural changes to the world's fourth-largest economy. For the most part, economists have said the policy has been a failure. But questions have also been raised about his over-friendly relationship with US President Donald Trump, who finally delivered a trade deal that avoided a protracted trade war. Takuji Okubo, managing director of Japan Macro Advisors, notes that Abe has implemented several important economic policies but has also benefitted from a bit of luck. "He has been lucky in the sense that the global economy has not had a major recession in the past 10 years so that has been a very favourable environment for Japan's economy to prosper." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/