Hit a checkpoint run by the Afghan Air Force in southern helmand province. And those that hes had on aljazeera counting the cost is coming next by. The end. Hello im has a seeker this is counting the cost on aljazeera your weekly look at the world of business and economics this week a red light as legal challenges grow well look at whether its Business Model can survive in its present form also this week oil rebalancing as prices enter a bull market well look at the factors at play. Plus how your guys Legal Marijuana industry is facing a threat no one predicted. A lot of technology has changed how people all over the world hail a taxi just like google its got its own verb. That means to change the market for a service by introducing a different way of using it you might say air b. N. B. Arise the Property Rental market for example popularity has made it indispensable Car Ride Service in cities all over the world the sixty a billion Dollar Company is planning an i. P. O. Next year and now the challenge will be to disrupt its own Business Model to adapt for survival but in twenty seventeen a series of scandals over its Business Practices and its treatment of workers has kept her in the headlines for all the wrong reasons and is being stripped of its license to operate in london now one of the biggest markets for cabs in the world barbara looks at how that decision is going down. For the last year hes been driving for he works six days a week and says he makes enough money to support his family he enjoys being able to choose when he works hes one of forty thousand duba drivers in the british capital but now the regulators transport for london who run the citys buses and underground trains so they wont extend dupers license beyond the end of the month for many people whove got used to the service its a shock so you can cross to go from one place to another say quickly so now its like when i came out as i are ok this is obviously not she was going to train but i still feel like im i dont feel like im paying ridiculous amounts. To a lack of Corporate Responsibility in areas such as the reporting of serious criminal offenses it follows allegations that drivers suspected of sexual assaults were allowed to keep driving spent some time going through the regulations that parliaments given them in relation to deciding whether a private approach is facing proper look at the evidence and tearful have concluded today that in part on our system proper operator the real concerns around safety and security has come out fighting suggesting t. F. Else decision is motivated not by safety concerns but by politics and promising to fight the move in the courts by trying to ban in london there caving into the pressure exerted by a small minority that want to restrict Consumer Choice and competition this decision if it helps true will mean over forty thousand licensed drivers will be out of work traditionally after in londons west end. Restaurant people with a hail a black taxi cab five years ago arrived and caused a sensation with just a few clicks on your mobile phone you can get to where youre going to at a cheaper price but of course its caused controversy as well. Last year dr james farrow took the firm to court arguing drivers should be treated as employees with rights to the minimum wage and sick pay what to have on the mayor a nuber should do is they should evolve regulations for attorney central twenty First Century they should enforce and develop regulations effectively and they should protect Worker Rights of drivers who can carry on operating in london at least until appeals have been exhausted but this is one more setback for a firm thats been hit by legal challenges and protests around the world and also made life easier for millions of people well joining me now from london is called benedict frey karl is the codirector of the Oxford Martin program on technology and employment thanks very much for being with us now were talking about a huge market in london are we how damaging is this for globally. Well london constitute roughly five percent of you bus driver space and the u. K. Is its second largest market in europe so indeed this would be quite a significant blow to uber and while what has been great for consumers its often seen as being bad for the lame of market in form of less job security lower pay and all the rest of it but you did a study on the impact of sharing economy platforms like uber on jobs and what were some of the findings well what youre finding is that actually after the introduction of uber employment in Texas Services expands quiet significantly so overall that you create jobs rather than the star status to expand the labor markets for tax or services but what happens then obviously as labor supply expands is that there is more competition and that tends to drive down wages for incumbent drivers which is a side effect of that success if you like but in addition to that theres also evidence to suggest that it would drive a section very happy with their lives stay value the flexibility that the Platform Office then theyre quite content with their financial compensation so on balance i think that most of the evidence actually suggest that you have a drivers fear reasonable well now a lot of people are saying that this could be a game changer for the gig economy that other governments may feel emboldened now to more heavily regulate Companies Like you think that could happen. Well its possible i mean we will see what kind of a deal that is made if a deal is made i think this is quite actually a high risk game because the consequences of uber actually being bad would be very bad for london consumers a lot of people have actually structured their lives surrounding the every lability of uber quite of few people actually you can use it to commute to work it might constitute a risk to real estate prices in some. Areas of london that doesnt have good access to Public Services so i think that the fellas actually playing a high risk game in this regard and this may really constitute a blow to the city of london as it does to you bet so we will see what happens i think what the outcome of this process. The outcome of this process will very much determine. The countrys cities and regions proceed with this the c. E. O. Has said. Obviously theyre going to fight this decision and they say that its based largely on what they say is a bad reputation. Preceding it you think thats fair criticism i think what the sharing economy does is that it constitutes a trade off between flexibility and security and the labor market functions best when you have both so what legislators should do is to make sure that this gig economy this sharing economy can exist side by side with normal we the traditional labor market and that requires legislations to make sure that both function well in parallel car benefit for a thanks very much for being with us europe why is the first country in the world to make it legal to grow and sell marijuana and now the new industry is facing a threat no one predicted Daniel Schorr and the reports from the capital montevideo. This is nothing new its just that mary won there is now after a Long Campaign totally legal in europe why the business has been booming we think that the risk is worth. The risk as the final result of that will be. Respect their right to love. To have a plan. Of their houses and. If they want each registered user can buy up to forty grams a month from their local pharmacy. Banks are now threatening to close the accounts of those pharmacies selling the drug stopping they use of plastic cards they say theyre under pressure from u. S. Banks which by u. S. Law cannot trade with any company linked to the illegal drug industry. We see an absurd situation there your financial situation is being penalized with strong legislation which is not in place in canada or the u. S. But this has nothing to do with Drug Trafficking its totally legal. Europe weisss the us has got it wrong there mary on our industry is now legal delegation has been to the u. S. To put their case where the industry is looking at selling outside the bank system. System is now strongly regulated very controlled the state is heavily involved so thats why we feel it would be easy to show that we have nothing to do with Drug Trafficking or Money Laundering business is being done illegal enterprises controlled by the state. He says pharmacies a queuing up to sell marijuana but the financial obstacles have been removed this is normal and this legal as growing tomatoes a backroom backstreet industry is emerging from the shadows and taking its place in mainstream europe one society those involved say theres no going back to. Europe one uses say legalization has seen the illegal drug trade reduced or the stigma attached to marijuana is receding. Now you show you going into a Business Premises which is open to the public so now youre not in danger. The mood still has opponents both here and abroad but europe wise growers and smokers say merry want to use is now so normal many a wondering what all the fuss was about. Still to come on counting the cost the tiny bolt a country of stone youre already has one of the internets most recognizable brands but how do you replicate skype success m original and keep watching to find out how this country is putting Tech Innovation first. The first some other stories were watching this week saudi arabia ended the kingdoms reign as the only country in the world of bans women from driving movies less about addressing gender inequality than an effort to modernize its economy women still only make up twenty percent of the workforce according to the World Bank Women face gender based job restrictions in hundred economies around the world are the Worlds LargestMining Company b. H. P. Billiton said twenty seventeen will be a revolutionary year for electric cars it is predicting electric vehicles will make up around eight percent of the global car fleet by twenty thirty five and that electric future will be felt in the Metals Market especially copper thats because fully electric vehicles require four times as much copper wiring as a petrol or diesel car. James dyson the inventor of the bag less vacuum cleaner is turning his attention now to the electric car market he is designing what he says is a radically different car from current models that will go on sale in twenty twenty Budget Airline easyjet also announced this week it wants to fly electric planes within the decade its teaming up with the u. S. Startup right electric to build an all electric airliner. Now a trade dispute between the u. S. And canada is threatening the jobs of thousands of workers beyond north america it involves u. S. Aviation giant boeing and canadas bond body the u. S. Has slapped tariffs on the new bond body a c. Series plane boeing claims the new aircraft are being unfairly subsidized Northern Ireland is caught up in this route to as daniel lak reports now from toronto several years behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget bombard the series passenger jet is finally flying a modest number of planes have been ordered including by the u. S. Airline delta but this u. S. Commerce department ruling in support of a complaint by rival boeing could trouble the price of the bombard planes and this government is holding crisis meetings obviously were disappointed by the decision and i will continue to play hard for the kids and jobs canadas not standing alone in the u. K. Bombarded a is a major employer in Northern Ireland where the Largest Political Party props up Prime Minister to resign mays government shes expressed bitter disappointment so have workers at the bombarded a factory in belfast who want britain to take action of its own against boeing thats were going to lose a going to need to speak thats what the politicians need to release that. We sell for. One of our cars commercials this week. And they need to. Proceed to believe that they need to sell less. Those jewels or us canada too is said it will take a serious look at future business dealings with boeing a five billion dollars deal to buy fighter jets from the us company could be scrapped according to the Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau but the country also says it has legal means to challenge the ruling at the World Trade Organization and under the terms of the north American Free trade agreement nafta with President Trump threatening to scrap that agreement the current talks to renegotiate nafta havent been going well canada says it invests in not subsidizes bombard and as it points out the u. S. Has bailed out General Motors in the past and gives boeing preferential treatment by some measures canada and the u. S. Have the Worlds Largest trading relationship but its growing more hostile by the day now the oil market has been in a slum for the past three years but could it be turning a corner crude prices are now up twenty percent from june lows so that means we are officially back in a bull market for the first time this year so whats going on well for starters worldwide demand for costs strengthening according to the latest Quarterly Report from the International Energy agency oil demand is up two point four percent year on year on the supply side production cuts by opec russia and other producers of also help tackle the oil glance geopolitical issues are also a factor in independence votes in the oil rich iraqi region of kurdistan as inflame tensions turkey has threatened crippling sanctions on oil trading with iraqi kurds. So joining me now from strasburg is professor jack camo yani jacomo is the codirector of executive master and International Oil and gas leadership at the graduate institute in geneva thanks for being with us so what do you put this rise in oil prices down to is it all about whats happening in the kurdish region or is there more to it than that though i think what the whats happening in the kurdish region is certainly sparking. Speculative tended to the worries higher prices but whats what there is behind it is especially demand demanding creases higher than we expected which is not surprising because prices have been low and so consumer are keen to to use more oil and oil products. All opec made that decision at the beginning of the year to bring down supply. So they would like to think that they they had a hand in this rise in prices but is that was Wishful Thinking on their part at all of course its always a matter of demand theres hoopla either supply has decreased somewhat and we have had some withdrawal from the stocks there is heated debate how much withdrawal from stocks really that has been has there been just a shift in stocks from one country to another country. This is difficult to say stocks continue to be large so there is no immediate reason for an increase sharp increase in prices at this stage process may. Be strong but then well have to see what the response of supply will be especially supply in the United States from shale oil which at these prices is likely to start increasing quite rapidly lets talk more about that then what is your outlook then for the next few months with oil prices do you see these prices continuing to rise and if so are up to what level i think prices now are heading towards a level of sixty dollars per barrel in. This had to come by sooner or later about sixty dollars per barrel there are plenty of plays or specially in the United States but also in canada that become quite interesting quite profitable so supply will increase also the discipline in among producing countries may start to erode people may start saying that after all there is no need to maintain. Production at the lower level in the tendency the temptation to in. Resupply will also be there so i dont expect the prices may rise much above sixty dollars a barrel at any point in time in in the next year so how would you assess the Overall Health of the oil industry right now where the oil industry is. I believe doing fundamentally well there is an equilibrium of demand and supply stocks are being slowly reduced. I do not expect any there mattick changes in places i think prices are careful within a fairly narrow range which we may define fifty to sixty may be. As we reach two thousand and twenty they may get to sixty five but i am skeptical about any sudden change in prices. Except if that is a some kind of security or military threat which then would start a speculative flare up but it would be a fear of you know if prices increase very high for a short period of time this doesnt have much importance in fact but looking at this long term when you look at things like develop further development towards electric cars United Kingdom recently said that they were going to save face all fossil fuel cars by by twenty forty look at china theyre heading in that direction as well and china is of course a huge buyer of all right now what sort of an effect is that going to have on the industry as a whole long term it will have an effect but it should not be exaggerated the word this not. Order or france or china. Even you know china is a very