>> welcome back to the "france 24" newsroom. iran as theh from president tries to get top oil executives to invest in his country. the standoff continues between protesters and police in the ukraine. the opposition says it is ready to go on the attack unless the government agrees to early elections. with just five months to go before the world cup in brazil, the clock is ticking. the president is in zürich to reassure football officials five remaining stadiums will be

finished on time. also coming up this hour, minister -- the brains behind getting chemical weapons out of syria. we will get his reaction to the syrian peace conference on now in switzerland. for years, a quirk in the french system has led politicians hold threetwo or even positions at a time. that policy is about to change. first up, president hassan rouhani is wasting no time trying to draw up new oil business for iran. aan has begun implementing nuclear deal with world powers,

a step toward a broad settlement that could lead to the end of sanctions. he wants western companies to revive giant aging oilfields and develop new ones once the .anctions are lifted >> with the implementation of the geneva agreement and subsequent steps, relations with europe will be normalized. and thent with iran united states have entered a new phase. during the past month and for the first time, politicians from both countries have exchanged views and made decisions to resolve differences in relation to nuclear issues. " businessance 24 editor has more. >> this was really an application to join the international community. he was reaching out with open

arms, not only to the business executives who might want to invest in iran, but to other world leaders. he spoke about wanting constructive engagement with the rest of the world and with nuclear talks he said there was progressingn for toward a more permanent agreement. was morehere opposition coming from elsewhere, in character with recent statements we have seen. gathered,f ceos are among them, the heads of the biggest oil companies. they were listening to him saying he was welcoming them back to the country after recent sanctions were lifted as part of the nuclear deal. they need to get those companies into the country to help rebuild its economy. thehat kind of a hit did

oil industry take with sanctions? >>ks it is in fact on the -- it is an effect on the entire economy. by almost half, the value of currency has plummeted. iran needs these sanctions to be lifted further. they are hoping with the opening offensive they will be able to encourage more investment. the president invited all participants to come to iran to investigate opportunities and meet to see where they could do deals in the future. the is important to restart economy. there was also a warning from the president about the obstacles, the other sanctions that remain as a block to the economy and how that might create further diversions. tweetedf the most

ian bremmer, the president of a political risk consultant firm, and this is what he had to say about the speech. >> is stored, the most important we have seen from an iranian leader since the revolution. he is focused on the improvements of his country economically. this is a guy that wants to show the world that he is committed to a comprehensive nuclear deal. it does not mean it will happen. a lot of people will be skeptical and upset, but if you are asking me if that is the speech that international community hoping for a deal wanted to hear, absolutely. >> the ukraine was rocked by more clashes between police and protesters after kiev saw the first death in two months of protests. opposition leaders came out of

emergency talks with the president saying he failed to give concrete answers to their demands and they say they are now ready to go on the attack. our correspondent joins us from here. what -- from kiev. what does that mean, go on the attack? >> i do not know if we will find out today or later on. it is ambiguous, but a very strong words. they have been talking tough, in a bid to regain control of the protest movement. certainly, members of the opposition, more radical members of the opposition, have been fighting with the police and continue to do so. at the moment, there is a fightingcalm where the is taking place, and it is important to stress that it is only in one area. things are calming down because

itali,lly clinch co. -- v one of the opposition leaders, asked for a cease and hostilities while they meet with the president and that is due to start in about one hour. yesterday they had a meeting and came out disappointed, it issuing the 24-hour ultimatum. >> in the meantime, international criticism is on the rise. we heard the latest from the german chancellor angela merkel who said the ukraine must protect demonstrators lives. what kind of effect could this have on the conflict? >> i do not know what kind of effect it has on president viktor yanukovich, because since the 17th of december, when they the mainl with russia,

ally in the international arena, and i was just at the office of and therean union, was meant to be talks about a range of issues with different regions of the ukraine, and most of the appointments have been canceled due to the confusion there is at the moment. you can see things that taking up in relationships. >> thank you. a court in russia has ordered the release of the business tightr of a former oriole -- oil tycoon and kremlin critic. in 2005 after a falling out with vladimir putin. it is the latest prisoner release ahead of next month's winter olympics in so she guess sochi.

-- sochi. is calling al qaeda for militant factions in syria to stop fighting each other and set up a judicial committee to sort out differences. several islamist groups have often up in serious, fighting it out with the original antigovernment rebels. the jihadist do not have a seat at the table at the syrian peace conference, and the call comes as participants there are gearing up for negotiations to begin friday. robert parsons has more. >> after all of the acrimony yesterday, there is a certain amount of fear that despite the fact that both delegations have stayed on, things could fall apart even yet. today it will be a day of talks behind the scenes with the u.n. talking to both

delegations, in the hopes he could bring them closer together and find sufficient common ground. there is a certain amount of optimism. he said he was not sure if he could get them in one room, but we heard the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, say that he thought the talks in geneva would last for a week, there would be a pause and then resume. >> that is our chief foreign editor. next, to the central african republic, or the newly elected interim president is due to formally take office today. violence between christian and muslim militias have pushed thousands from their home, and

the new president has asked displaced families to return home, but that will take some convincing. our correspondent met with one man who just brought his family back from the democratic republic of congo. >> after many weeks in exile, with his wife and five children, he has finally returned home. they had fled to the democratic republic of congo after violent clashes in the neighborhood between the christian militia and the formal rebels -- former rebels. >> this is the place of the buttonholes. the second -- loopholes. the second is there. my child used to rest here. here, and iell decided to take my family away because we are not secure in this situation. wifeile the preacher's

says it is more comfortable to be home than abroad, she is not forgotten the acts of violence that threatened her little ones. >> our kids are small. if something bad happens again, we will have to flee. it is very scary. >> he says he cannot go back to his church because it is itrounded, but he views important to start rebuilding normal life in their neighborhood, and with the new president, the country is on the right track. >> the election of the new president is a good news. she will not be part of any military group. she will play the role of a neutral person to bring back peace and reconciliation between the people. still thousands of displaced people, victims of

violence, and the new president is hoping to pacify the country and convince them to return home . >> now, there are just five months to go before the world cup in brazil, and the clock is ticking. the brazilian president is in tour, on a day-to-day pr -- on a bit of a pr tour trying to assure officials savings will be finished on time. >> the brazilian president unveiled the country's latest football stadium moments after the workers put on the finishing touches. she kicked off festivities by playing a bit of offense, though she took to the defense when it came to questions on the stadium far behind schedule. you can not do that on the worst happening. on the contrary, i give credit andhe governor

entrepreneurs who are behind the stadium and will complete the stadium on time. it is something i am sure of. i think brazil needs to gamble in its favor and not against it. >> brazil originally promised to deliver 12 stadiums by the end of last year, but preparations have been hit by cost overruns and protests over the estimated 10 billion euro budget. five stadiums are under construction, including one in são paulo, where two workers died in an accident in november. ticking with opening matches in just under five months time, but already teams are beginning to come to brazil. the american football team is wrapping up a training session to get used to the environment that lies ahead. ," and here"france 24

are the headlines -- the president of iran tries to get oil executives to invest in his country at the world economic forum. the standoff continues between protesters and police in ukraine. the opposition says it is very to go on the attacker must the government agrees to early elections. with just five months to go before the world cup in brazil, the clock is ticking. the president is in zürich on a pr tour to assure football officials the five remaining stadiums left will be finished on time. hassansident of iran time tryingsting no to drum up new business. executives at the world economic forum in doubles, switzerland. -- davos.

he wants western oil companies to revive its giant aging oilfield and develop new ones once the sanction is lifted. iran is the subject of the inside look. we are joined by a policy expert. what were your thoughts when you heard his speech? >> well, he is trying to keep up momentum, and increase it in terms of outreach to the world, and also make it more concrete. >> is it the speech that people hear?os were waiting to >> there is always the element of disappointment because they expect him to move faster, but that would underestimate the political hurdles he has to deal with at home. crack speaking today, the president says relations with europe will be normalized -- >> speaking today, the president

says relations with europe will be normalized. does that mean? >> normal relations with european countries in terms of trade, exchange, political discussions, so on. >> what will it take to get there? >> at the iranians are focused on what they are trying to do in outreach, and that the european union has a proper discussion about the strategy, what kind of relationship they want me on to negotiation. >> speaking on the part of the president, would you say this gesture is purely economic or politically motivated? >> it is both. he was elected on the mandate of fixing the economy and in order to do that he needs to reach out politically to facilitate economic growth at home in the oil industry is a big part of that. >> carlos marmol the oil industry and how crippling where tell us more --

about the oil industry and how crippling where the sanctions? what ayn rand needs on the oil -- what iran needs is to upgrade its oil industry in terms of technology, not just finding new sources, but to be if that happens, they will have

the trust necessary. they are onink that the path to developing a nuclear weapon? >> most concur that that was scrapped. now, it is more of a question of making sure that the infrastructure and the -- ifment capacity anybody wants to entertain starting it up again, we would find out in time. >> it was invited by the european -- the minister, ban ki-moon. should iran have been at the table? >> absolutely. the problem with this conflict is when your own side is winning, you are not willing to talk.

now, bashar al-assad seems to be doing better, and the iranians are more difficult to get and the americans and everyone else do not really have a strategy, but insist that iran has to agree to preconditions. it was a mistake not to invite them. >> thank you. sixth nationsthe rugby is coming up in sports, but we start with tennis. li na reaches the second straight australian open final. old raced to a five- zero lead. a two-love lead in the second. she set up a final matchup.

the men's domestic travel team was shattered. the goalkeeper could not stop the free kick. they moved to the left. say -- heading home a corner. >> the men's coach says it is disappointing they could not qualify for the next round. we should have won the game considering the chances we created. we need to be more clinical. that is the club. full of surprises, and that was a surprise for us. they hope to have the striker

for the world cup. scoring, heg the stretched out at halftime after a heavy challenge. twice incement scored the second half as monaco one three use -- 3-0. isidore took a lead straight from the kickoff. they were ahead with 10 minutes to go. then, the sixth of the season for the french international. , threes-one -- 3-1. an incredible penalty shootout

in ruth's monticello. tuesday, lease one at marseille. at the european championships, sweden beat france. the olympic champions went further ahead. sweden, playing for pride in their final game, hit back at levels for their final game. the scandinavians went three goals ahead. they won 30-28. for france, the olympic champions face the world champion spain. will croak -- face

croatia, the runner-up from the other group for a place in the final. union six nations just over a week ago i -- a week away, with the defending champion wales bidding for their