will be getting the latest from the ground in the central african republic. the french military are involved in an operation there in the country's capital today. we will be talking about the divisions at the top of the central african government that are leaving many analysts worried about the possibility of stability returning to the country. we will be heading twos tunisia -- to tunisia three years after the suicide which sparked the revolution in tunisia, but also to the wider arab spring.

what has changed for tunisia three years on? that is all coming up. we begin in moscow where viktor gannett co. which is meeting with vladimir putin at the start of the talks which are going on even now. the ukrainian president said he wanted a strategic partnership with russia -- something that will worry and further enrich the protesters who are still camped out in independence square this afternoon. they want mr. gannett co. which to leave moscow's orbit in favor of the eu. ukrainian president to leave moscow's orbit in favor of the eu. for now, the ukrainian government said it does not plan to do that. it is looking for cheaper russian natural gas and also a multibillion-dollar loan that they need to avoid bankruptcy.

for more on the story, we can speak to our correspondent who was in moscow. thank you very much indeed for joining us, joshua. it is very much cap in hand that is ukrainian prime minister headed to moscow. he needs money to keep his country afloat. >> that is exactly right. he has tried to turn this tug- of-war between west and east, over ukraine's trajectory, whether it will grow closer to the european union or sign-up for this customs union with russia -- he has tried to turn hat contest to a competition to put ukraine up to the highest bidder. he has tried to get more money from europe to sign the association agreement with the eu. europe seems to be balking at that. flat amerco hooton may be more may be moreputin

willing to play that game as he sees it as russia getting the prize of getting ukraine joining the customs union. fromeeping ukraine europe's geopolitical orbit is also something the kremlin values. get relief from moscow today in the form of loan agreements, cheaper natural gas. there is no love lost between these two men. they do not seem to favor each other personally. boudin --ms fresco -- seems frustrated and disappointed with the ukrainian president. he also has to keep in mind the thousands of people -- tens of 's mainds -- on kiev square. >> we have talked a great deal

about what the european union was offering to kiev, why it mattered to europe that they should move toward its orbit rather than moscow. what is it matter so much to vladimir putin that ukraine should remain directed toward russia? thatoes it matter so much he is willing to put such huge amounts of money on the table? >> the first and very particular reason -- the prospect of this so-called customs union. under moscow'soc leadership that has become a real geopolitical priority of putin's. he has managed to sign up a few countries on the russia's post- periphery. the most recent success was

armenia. this customs union can't go very far without ukraine. the size of ukraine, its population, the size of its economy, also it's a store call and geographical ash historical -- historical and geographical role. without the customs union, many theomists are saying -- customs union without ukraine will not get off the ground at all. utin needs kiev for his own geopolitical ambitions. there's a fear inside the kremlin at the prospect of a historical extension of russia itself -- joining in any formal way with european political and economic structures -- that would be not only a literal or very objective

loss in terms of the customs union, but also a kind of psychological one for a lot of russian policymakers who would be very averse to the idea of seeing ukraine go out of its orbit and join europe. >> live from moscow where those talks are underway. we are expecting a press conference to be held within the next couple of hours as they come to an end. thank you. insula merkel has been sworn in for her third term as german chancellor. 86 days after she won the election, but failed to grab the outright majority she needs to rule alone. she faced a vote by the lower house with a grand coalition holds a comfortable majority. it she was confirmed by the presidential -- you were looking at the pictures of it. being sworn in for her third term at the helm of europe's largest economy.

our correspondent in berlin joins us. the last few weeks have seemed -- seen haggling, these negotiations, these talks to try to cobble together an alliance between historical opponents. the real challenge begins now for angela merkel. >> absolutely. -- did rule didn't a coalition government with the social democrats -- she is well- versed with working with many of the social democrats. ,n her third term as chancellor she is quite the canny negotiator at this stage. holds 80% oft now the seats in the parliament. anything they agree on being passed -- there will be little opposition to stop that.

of wrangling in this coalition agreement over the past couple of months. lots of points of contention. many are worried that this tug- of-war over issues between the parties over the next four years could lead to political stagnation here in germany. the social democrats will be a lot feisty or then when they were the junior coalition partners during the first term. they suffered a loss of support under angela merkel the first time around. they were seen as weak in giving away to her demands. this time around, the coalition -- social reforms, pension reforms, minimum wage -- how and when these will be implemented is going to be tricky over the next few years. is going toncellor, contentious for the

chancellor. he will be keen to make his mark at his own legacy for himself over the next four years. do have toarties rule together as a coalition government. to be seen as a cohesive unit on the international stage as well. domestically they face a lot of problems over the next four years. the daunting task of overhauling the energy transition. the social reforms are going to be difficult to implement. for better or worse, these two parties are going to have to do it together. live from berlin. thank you very much indeed. in discriminant, arbitrary invasion. opponents of the national security agency could not have put it better themselves. a judge agrees. serious that raises doubts about the legality of the

u.s. government's methods of gathering data for the counterterrorism program. >> the u.s. district court for the district of columbia and a ruling against the national security agency. the data snooping is probably illegal. he doubts the claims that the surveillance is necessary to prevent terrorism. he says that the government does not fight a single case in which the analysis of the metadata collection actually stopped an imminent terrorist attack. he said the nsa's collection of metadata was arbitrary and indiscriminate. he said the technology was almost orwellian. a blow to the nsa and to president obama -- good news for edward snowden. immediately issued a statement, saying he acted on his belief that the nsa's mass surveillance

programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge. the judge's decision is an initial ruling. it is likely to go to appeal and all the way to the supreme court. the u.s. government has restated its position that nsa surveillance is constitutional and that intelligence gathering is underway -- review is underway. >> we are looking up the entire system and evaluating it through the entire lens of whether we're doing everything we can and should to protect united states and its allies. or are we doing more than that because we have the tools and capabilities. reassurances, the obama administration has a major to convinces hands people worldwide that people's privacy is not being compromised. >> to north korea now where todiers have pledged loyalty the country's leaders in a ceremony to mark the second

anniversary of the death of his father, kim jong-il. ceremony comes days after the execution of kim jong- un's uncle. >> a sea of north koreans marched at dawn to leave flowers by kim jong-il's statue. all eyes were on the country's leader, kim jong-un, as he led a ceremony. two years ago he was thrust to power as the country's leader, following his father's death. the ceremony comes days after the death of his uncle. he played the role of mentor for outnephew, when he stepped as a young and inexperienced leader. the execution was played out publicly. the government released

pictures. the state run media piled scandal on him, painting him as a corrupt, womanizing drug user who had been landing a military coup. noticeably absent was his wife. she seems to still be in favor -- given her role in an important state committee following the purge. the execution brought international shock, it seemed to show that kim jong-un was not in complete control. kim jong-un past the weekend with a flurry of public appearances around the country. in a bid to show the world he is in the driving seat. >> to south sudan, where at least 66 troops have died in the fighting that has gripped the capital since sunday.

the president of africa's newest nation has said that a coup d'état against the government had been foiled. that fighting returned to the streets early this morning. therevernment had said had been several dozen dead -- 66 is the latest figure for those killed. according to the u.n., 10,000 inside there now camps controlled by the u.n. in and around the capital. we will continue to follow that developing story as it unfolds over the course of the day. it is a quarter past one in paris. a look now at the latest headlines. moscow's president is in calling for a strategic union with russia.

he kicked off talks with vladimir putin -- talks that will be closely watched by demonstrators still camped out in independence square and calling for ukraine to turn westward rather than eastward. angela merkel has been sworn in for a third term as the leader of germany, with the support of her grand coalition she was confirmed by the country's president. sworn in at the german parliament -- that is what you were looking at their. north korea has marked for death of kim jong-il which death -- with pledges of obedience to his son, kim jong-un. go to theng to central african republic where the military situation remains tense. the french troops -- 1600 of them -- are undertaking a military operation to try to

return stability to the country. in the latest news, they took on a new neighborhood today. one that is known for its christian populations. perhaps in the start to a new part of their campaign, they focused on attempting to disarm the muslim rebels. to talk about the latest events in central african republic, i am joined by our correspondent who is fresh back. thank you for being with us. you have followed the whole french intervention. you were there before it wasn't announced -- it was announced. we are.us an idea where the fact that the french military is heading into those neighborhoods and we are talking about a neighborhood that is mostly christian -- we have seen the huge displeasure of the muslims. does this signal that they are

concentrating on the pro- christian militias? >> they started with those rebels because they are easier to identify. because they came to power, they were still wearing uniforms and they were the ones you could see on the streets on their big pickup trucks, with their weapons, patrolling the streets. when the french army set up checkpoints, it was the first ones they encountered and the first that they try to disarm. that was followed by an order by the president and the international community to try to get the former rebels back to their barracks, back to the military camps. these armed militias have been -- it is a lot harder to identify who these people are , if they share a common strategy, a common goal. they are hiding amongst the civilian population in some of

these neighborhoods, as you just said. now the french army is going to , tryo take their weapons to force them to hand them over because they fueled these led tos that have several outbreaks of violence over the past several days and they have to try to get as many of them to hand over their weapons to try to appease the situation. >> what about the atmosphere? we have seen the difficulty the french military has encountered. the problem is that this is a country where the spiral of violence, of attacks and reprisals is already underway and the religious hatred is almost too far gone for the situation to be returned to control. >> i actually think that the sectarian sentience -- tensions

are a byproduct. for christians to target muslims. they are easily identifiable. same way the other way around. we have described it as this conflict twin religious communities -- when, in fact, it is -- i talked to a general there who was telling me that he actually grew up with some of these people who now belong to this unit and even within these groups, these rebel factions you theize -- they don't share same objective, they don't share the same strategy. it is really hard for the french army, but also for the civilians to understand who exactly is attacking them, who was shooting, who is carrying out these human rights violations. on the ground, it is very like aive -- what seems

calm situation with people on the streets, with people going out to try to get their hands on food supplies -- you need just a little incident and it sparks off into some uncontrollable violence. hard,s probably why it is both for the french army, the local police forces, the civilian populations to identify who has the weapons, who is opening fire, how to control them, how to get them to hand in their weapons, go back to their barracks, and stop the carnage. >> thank you very much, alex. past 1:00 heres in paris. we continue with the situation in the central african republic. they fled the violence in the

central african republic to seek refuge in the airport. according to this tweet from unicef, they have been living under the wing of an airplane ever since. in this video, the organization is appealing for donations to respond to the large-scale humanitarian needs across the country. the united nations estimates over 600,000 people have been driven from their homes over the past few weeks amid escalating violence between christians and muslims in conflict-racked central african republic. -- thearian aid situation is alarming. how shocked she was by the living conditions in these makeshift camps -- displaced people slipping on mats or even on the ground. she explains that medical centers are overrun with cases of malaria. in the city, doctors without the lack ofed at shelter, food, and basic medical

care. village, somen are forced to flee fighting and seek refuge in the bush. was posted last week. the united nations has not done enough to respond to the deck tear your rating humanitarian -- deteriorating humanitarian crisis. the letter urges the u.n. agencies to mobilize resources immediately, as it is now a matter of emergency. >> stomach pain -- some of the keywords monitored by the agency on social met works. encouraged to describe symptoms on social media platforms of the british government can share advice and guidance on how to treat this stomach bug that affects thousands every winter.

cairo, egypt woke up to snow on friday. it first time in over 100 years. social met workers have been commenting and sharing photos. -- networkers have been commenting and sharing photos. some of these photos have been identified as hoaxes. thanks to a remarkable social media appeal on the british twitter-sphere, a little girl has been reunited with her favorite teddy bear after leaving it on a train last friday. the happy ending helped by all those who tracked down the toilet upon son or. -- toy's owner.

it all started when this woman posted a tweet on friday. she found the toy at the king's cross station. to make sure the appeal was shared as widely as possible on the social network, she posted a series of photos showing the cuddly toy and a number of different settings over the weekend. the pictures drew the attention of thousands of twitter users. lost the loss to bear -- hashtag to get the lost bear back where it belonged. on sundayrts paid off afternoon. just two days later, the little girl was reunited with her teddy bear -- which actually turned out to be a lion called roar.

old saudi artist is over one million followers on instagram. profile features pictures created -- of food created out of modeling clay. images you can really feast your eyes on. an extreme wheelchair athlete and this video produced is --ilable to view on youtube he pulls off one stunning stunt and trick after another.

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>> beginning in the 1980's, the nearba