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>> crackdown on suspected islamist militants in tunisia. police shoot one man dead during an early-morning raid at the capitol. they say weapons are being stashed. western embassies across the the muslim world shut their doors. possible terrorist threats. he will head to yemen for the latest. he is boldly going where no robots has gone before. we will be introducing you to the first human rights robot ever to go into space. you are watching "france 24." more than 20 american diplomatic missions around the world are close this sunday. the united states points to a possible new terrorism threat from al qaeda. there are unspecific threats from al qaeda, particularly in the middle east and north africa. security visors met to discuss

the potential threat. >> i have a guard outside the u.s. embassy in yemen -- a heavy guard outside the u.s. embassy in yemen. searching vehicles as they approach the era. the situation reflects across much of the muslim world as the u.s. closes over 20 embassies in 18 countries as well as issuing the global travel warning for its citizens. a high-level meeting in washington pointing to a potential threat emanating from the arabian peninsula. >> we are taking it seriously. you would expect us to do that. we are reacting to it. >> the threat to western interests wanting others to germany, the united kingdom, and france closing their embassies in yemen for the next two days. paris warning french citizens to

remain vigilant. >> we have been informed directly and indirectly of threats that concern our missions abroad as well as our citizens. they come from al qaeda. >> it is the first time since the 10th anniversary of 9/11 that the u.s. has taken such action. the focus on now qaeda was reinforced even further on saturday. interpol issuing a global alert after a string of gel breaks in nine countries. -- jailbreaks in nine countries. >> intelligence officials say the thread focuses on the al qaeda affiliate in yemen. for more on this, let's head to the yemeni capital. benjamin, what is the situation where you are? >> the situation is quite calm.

>> tell us a bit more about the intelligence that is prompting these warnings and closures. some critics say there is not much to go on. >> even wonder -- it has been going on for the past few days.

e-mails exchanging, some people suspect it was a way for the administration -- al qaeda leaders -- they fear a higher risk of attacks from al qaeda. >> thank you for that. tunisian police have shot dead one man and arrested six others in a raid on suspected islamist militants. the crackdown to place in the early hours of sunday morning. our correspondent has the latest from the capital. >> officially, the interior ministry has put up a statement and said it was a downgrade acting on information -- eight don -- a dawn raid acting on

information. they were sent to a house in the southern suburb of the capital. they surrounded the house. there was a heavy exchange of fire. one member of the group was killed. one was wounded and six more were arrested. circulating on facebook, there is a video which appears to be of the incident. we can see six men lying facedown on the ground. it is very early morning, quite nice in this picture. about 12 or more antiterrorist people lined up around the house with them. let's stay in tunisia.

thousands of people took to the streets of the capital shouting, no to coups. yes two elections. -- yes to elections. mark thompson reports. >> fireworks and flags in the tunisian capital. thousands gather in support of what they call the governments right to govern. >> we are free to dress however we want and go out and pray. we are free to go to mosques and cover up and wear the veil. what ever you like, not like before. >> ruling islamist party organized a rally in the face of demonstrations following the murders are two key opposition figures.

a prominent secular leader was assassinated in february. since the murder, anti-regime protesters have been listed for us in their calls for the government to step down. tunisian prime minister held talks with political groups on both sides saturday to try and quell the protests. >> we support the preservation of the constituent assembly. considering that without it, we would be walking towards the unknown. >> the government would not step down and tell it has fulfilled its mandate and has called for elections to be held in december. >> flash floods and pakistan have slept at least 38 people to their deaths. heavy rains have wiped out entire villages and washed vehicles off the roads in the

north of the country. troops have been called into some areas to drain away floodwaters. pakistan has suffered devastating monsoon floods. it has affected a staggering 21 million people. the funeral has been held for a 24-year-old taiwanese soldier who allegedly died after being punished for bringing an unauthorized cell phone onto his base. their service was attended by taiwan's president and he was mobbed by angry protesters gathered outside the funeral home. the soldier died after several days of being forced to perform a rigorous regime of exercise and sweltering -- in sweltering heat. tens of thousands of protesters gathered in downtown taipei saturday to voice their outrage. to a hit and run in the u.s., one person has been killed and 11 injured after a driver plowed his car into the venice beach

boardwalk in california. one person is in critical condition. the car was traveling as fast as 30 kilometers per hour down the pedestrian strip. the driver of the car is now in police custody. africa's oldest leader robert gabi has been declared winner of zimbabwe's presidential election. this will be his seventh term in office. but his rival, the prime minister, says the vote was fraught with fraud. western election observers were not allowed to monitor the vote. the u.s. has called the election deeply flawed. the european union also expressed its concern. jacob zuma has congratulated him for his successful vote. our correspondent has more on

what we are likely to expect from his seventh term. >> they won more than two thirds of the parliament, giving them superpowers and allowing him to do just about anything, including making changes to the constitution, without the support of any party. one of the things he is most likely to go in is what he calls in digitization policy. this is a policy aimed at foreign owned mines which forces foreign mining companies to cede 51% of their share to black zimbabwean groups. that policy was introduced in 2007 and people are not -- people are expecting us to go ahead. and. >> the front runner in

mali's presidential elections have gotten -- has gotten a boost. >> ahead of the run on vote, the favorite has already have -- the favorite has one when already in the bag. >> i am solemnly calling on all members of the party and all my fellow malian's who voted for me to return to the polls in support of the candidate. in the second round of the provincial election. >> it is the prize endorsement. he has broken rites with his party, which has called on its supporters to vote for his rival. cisse seemed the natural choice. their two parties formed a coalition against the hunter

which overthrew the president in march of 2012. keita is seen as being close to the leaders of the coup. the 10% could be a significant factor in the runoff. the question is where their support will go. the turnout for the first round was barely over 50%. >> australians will be heading back to the ballot boxes. the prime minister has called an election for september 7. six weeks after defeating the former prime minister and a labour party vote. the economy, asylum seekers, and climate change are among the key issues. he faces stiff competition from conservative opposition leader tony abbott.

the first talking robot astronaut has launched into space. it was among five tons of supplies and machinery sent to the international space station. >> taking off from japan's space center early on sunday morning, but with a very special guest on board. meet the first talking humanoid robot astronaut. his mission is to be a companion to japanese astronaut, set to become the station's first japanese commander in november. the robot is capable of recognizing human voices and speech with preprogrammed responses and actions to questions. you can even make small talk. >> conventional robots have a

lot of knowledge, but they are not much fun. you do not feel like talking to them. in contrast to those, i wanted this robot to be one you would feel like talking to. >> it took nine months and dozens of test to ensure that he will function space. communicating with a robot counterpart back on earth. once on board, he will have to wait to see how far it can hold conversations with the astronauts. the robot's creators hope that he will open a new chapter in the history of communication. click that little robot is boldly going where no robot has gone before. that is it for us in the newsroom. >> watch "france 24" on your smart tv.

it is now available on connected television. it is a whole host of interactive services. you can browse articles on our website or access our complete catalog to watch the programs you missed. take control of your tv experience. >> thank you for joining us. coming up, a drone special. we take you on a trip with unmanned aerial vehicles. we will test one out. drones were all over headlines in recent years thanks to president obama's policy.

the country has increasingly opted to use unmanned planes to fight its wars. in 2011, the u.s. military trained more drone pilots than fighter pilots for the first time in history. that trend is likely to continue. other countries have decided to join the movement. france is trailing in the race for unmanned planes. >> one of only four drones in the french air force. they can fly for 24 hours straight, 500 kilometers per hour. their eyesight is superior to those of humans. all four drones are used in military operations in mali. >> we do not have all the means necessary to carry out this kind of operation.

during the war that we lead in libya, the united states gave us 80% of the targets we dealt with. >> on the other side of the atlantic, a very different situation. thousands of drones are in the hands of the u.s. air force. these images of a secret drone project in the 1960s show the united states understood the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles at an early stage. france has decided to buy a dozen from their american counterparts. after years of hesitation and trailing behind in the technology race. >> a former general told me he did not want the topic to be mentioned. there have been many obstacles coming from within the french air force. >> an ethical issue delayed the program. drones can be equipped with missiles, deadly robots operated

in afghanistan and iraq with devastating effects. these are iraqi rebels trapped, -- tracked, and they did not see this coming. the french army's position now seems clear. >> it is a false debate. there is a pilot in the drone, and operator. >> to avoid the unreal computer game feel, they require to work within the headquarters of operations. it will take another 20 years to -- added two french is -- francis air force -- france's airfleet.

pilots could even send third round allies on staffing attacks while giving orders from above. the future seems to point to mixed squadrons of humans and robots. >> there is a whole other side to the story. infrastructure monitoring, firefighting, and pollution control of the list of possible civilian uses for drug and continues to grow. and, there are 2000 drones in used in the agriculture -- in japan, there are 2000 drones being used in the agriculture sector. >> the sky is the limit for these flying robots. from their roots in stealth military attacks, these unmanned vehicles have rapidly spread into the civil sphere. soon, they will be everywhere. in this fancy district in the south of france, aerial videos are wildly used to sell real estate. clients are provided with a

birds eye view of some large properties for sale. they can also get a good sense of the mansions layout. >> this video will prompt clients to visit the mansion or send someone else to do it for them. >> they have worked with these flying bug for the past four years. they say real estate is only a small part of their business. >> we work in the cinema and tv industry. we also work for construction sites and solar panel inspections. it is very diversified. >> this french company sent civil drones equipped with infrared sensors after analyzing the data they can help their clients avoid future problems. >> we were able to see that the field was covered in beatles. >> drones can be used in disaster surveillance and

environmental protection. oil and gas companies hope to use them to detect pipeline faults in the arctic. many other applications are still to be found. >> in the future, drones will have mechanical bombs and we will be able to do things instead of being passive. drones will perhaps be able to move an object, place to another and do dangerous tasks. >> advocates say the aircraft is five to six times cheaper than a helicopter. according to a recent u.s. and report, in the next 10 years, the industry is expected to create more than 100,000 new jobs. critics say that is a prelude to increased mastic surveillance. -- domestic surveillance.

>> in order to better understand what drones are all about, we decided to test one. what is it like? >> it is very simple. it is really -- any of your smart phone. you link it up directly wirelessly and it is very simple to control. as soon as you got your controls in your hands, you can take off and enjoy. it has a wide angle lens. everything the drone can see, you can see you. >> i can see my screen. how much do we spend? >> for this one, you pay 349 euros. it is quite a lot, i think. you only get 18 minutes of autonomy.

you can recharge. i think it is a bit expensive. >> who is buying this? >> i cannot tell you exactly what the demographic is for the drone. the last iteration of this drone saw half a million units. there is certainly a base -- a client base. >> how would you rate this drone >> in terms of design, we think it is quite nice. a lot of technical problems, we are all the way down to the three out of 10. in terms of value, we think it is kind of even. you do have 18 minutes of fun. >> thank you for watching this special edition on drones. keep the conversation going on facebook and twitter. we leave you with images of our drone. thank you for watching.

♪ >> rio becomes that capital. the government wants to showcase the capital -- the city purged of crime. half the drug dealers really disappeared -- have the drug dealers really disappeared? do not miss this exclusive report.

. glad to have you with us on "newsline." the new president of i ran reached out to the world with words. leaders in other nations are waiting to see if he will follow through with actions especially when it comes to his nation's nuclear program. he called for transparency and