>> welcome back to the newsroom here on "france 24." here are the top stories. they u.n. releases a scathing report on child abuse in the catholic church, demanding the vatican removes all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers. the ukrainian president is kia afterwn in battling -- kia after battling two months of protests. the winter olympics kick off in sochi on friday, the most

expensive ever, but some locals say they are not seeing any benefit. also coming up this hour, the olympic torch will be touching down in sochi ahead of the winter games and a series of demonstration against russia's anti-gay stance is heating up around the world. if you are feeling heat by the winter blues, the answer might be in eastern germany. a giant anger has been transformed into -- a giant hanger has been transformed into a winter getaway. committeeuman rights released an unprecedented paper

where it slammed the catholic church where it calls it a systematic cover-up of sexual abuse. it is demanding the vatican turn all abusers over to the police. >> the catholic church has authoritynder the [indiscernible] it has led to abuse. [indiscernible] for more now, let's ring in our correspondent. >> for more now, let's bring

it in our correspondent. >> it is a surprising report, but last month you had the high-level panel facing the tough questions, the top grilling from the u.n. committee in geneva, and now you see this very blunt criticism in this report written out in black and white, criticizing the vatican of adopting, systematically, policies that essentially allow the abuse to continue. some recommendations have been that included that all clergy suspected or known to be part of the abuse should be removed and reported to the authorities. they are also asking that they hand over all information they have. they are also talking about the interesting cases of the

magdalene laundries, where they say the vatican was involved in torture and slavery. they say the vatican needs to conduct an internal investigation and take steps to prevent this from happening again, and also called for compensation for the families involved. tough statements by the u.n. committee, but the committee made the recommendations, and they are nonbinding. it is not exactly that this committee has teeth to go over the vatican, but at the end of the day it is still an international body, and this is potentially embarrassing for the catholic church. >> thank you. the parliament in the ukraine is back in session to come to a conclusion on a proposal from the opposition that would cut some of the president's powers.

the protests began when the ukrainian president turned his back on a trade agreement with the you in favor -- with the european union in favor of russia. in the protest movement look up to europe, and you see them waiting the european flags and what they like is the rule of law. they want to live in a normal country where they can expect the court to make the correct decisions, but the ukrainians are getting disillusioned about ofs positive depiction europe because of the european companies -- because of the european countries failure to investigate corruption. in austria, the recently resigned prime minister, keeps his fortune and where he has gone is an example.

the government has not opened any investigations into the allegations. although the opposition leaders have made noise about trying to get the austrians to do that, they have not been really insistent about it either. , the suspected of chokriuspension been rated. it was one of the deadliest cracked downorces on a militant movement that has been linked to al qaeda. images by the house were the bloody siege took place. took placer ministry

that the suspected killer of chokri belaid was one of those killed. >> pulmonary tests prove that one of the -- preliminary tests prove that one of the terrorists , whod is kamel gadhgadhi is responsible for the murder of chokri belaid. this operation is the greatest gift we could get to the tunisian people. >> the firefight broke out when antiterrorist units attempted to arrest five men after being tipped off about their hideout. when4-hour siege resulted the gunmen refused to give themselves up. they found on arms, explosives and suicide belts. the news of kamel gadhgadhi's killings came as tunisians were

prepared to mark they -- marked the one-year death of chokri -- anniversary murder.i belaid's lastly, the tunisian parliament adopted a new constitution, a major step toward democracy. militantsn on islamic will be a new challenge. >> the deadline to transfer all of the chemical weapons out of syria runs out today, and less than 5% of the stockpile has made it abroad. western leaders are urging the syrian president bashir assad to stop delaying the process. 8 weeks behind schedule

-- that is the delay. in january, this ship left for cyprus carrying the first load of weapons. the ship should have since returned to syria to transfer the second load. instead, it is stuck in cyprus. >> it has been delayed, and as a result, only 5% has been transferred out of syria and that is because the bashar al-assad regime is making excuses. >> february 5 was a deadline for chemicalall of syria's weapons with the goal to dismantle all production facilities by mid-march and destroy the stockpile by june. the u.s. urged the regime to facilitate the transfers and france is following suit. >> the syrian government is

slowing down the process of destroying chemical weapons. bashar al-assad's government must respect its commitments. >> syria's number one ally, russia, blames the delay on security issues but insists they will get rid of the stockpile by march. all of itsys chemical weapons have been destroyed, 10 years after muammar gaddafi sign the chemical weapons convention. it was completed with help from western countries to make sure it was kept out of the hands of militants. there is still much left to do. officials from the organization for the propagation of chemical weapons went to southern libya to see for themselves. they confirmed a large stockpile from the muammar gaddafi era had been destroyed, including

mustard gas and bombs. western countries feared it could fall into the hands of militants. libya's prime minister hailed a success. >> we are happy the operation has been carried out successfully. it was finished without anything that could harm the environment or the area that stored the weapons. >> while acknowledging the milestone, more needs to be done. all declarations by libya have been destroyed. there are some residuals that weapons, andry two we are confident they will be destroyed in due course. >> less toxic chemical weapons will be destroyed by 2016. they stem from the muammar gaddafi area -- era in 2004.

olympics kick off in sochi, russia, friday, and it will be the most expensive ever. russia says the $51 billion spent will be worth it, but some locals say they are not seeing any benefit. >> ski slopes, cable cars and stadiums -- altogether, 11 olympic sites over a 50 square kilometer area. none of this was here when the games were awarded six years ago. 25has cost 37 billion euros, times as much as the last winter olympics in vancouver and local authorities say it will bring long-term benefit to the area. >> everything that has been built, the ski slopes, the

infrastructure, and the 24,000 hotel rooms will be used after the olympics. believe me, it is a legacy. >> sochi is now much better and acted with 327 kilometers of new road, train stations and a new airport. >> we live in such a good region. sochi was a summer resort before, and now it is also a winter resort. i do not think that in the future these venues will not be used. >> not all local residents agree. some say promised infrastructure has failed to materialize. have beently we connected to the water system, but it was not clean. you could not drink it. after that, when the frost came, he would turn to ice, and that was it. nothing else was done for us.

>> construction has also been plagued by delays, leaving worries that lagged -- lavish facilities may not be completed on time. meanwhile, the winter olympics are reaching all the way to japan. the annual winter festival in sapporo opentable, featuring today, -- sapporo opened featuring several ice sculptures of japanese athletes. it should welcome some 2 million visitors. if the ice and snow has you at by the winter blues, the answer might the in germany. a giant airplane hangar has been transformed into a getaway. >> it might be mid-winter, but

you do not have to travel too far from berlin to find a tropical paradise. in this airplane hangar, and holiday getaway result complete with microclimates, real sandy beaches, and exotic wildlife. >> we wanted a bit of a holiday to escape the winter, get light and heat, and relax. nothe airplane hangar did house airships but held russian fighters during the war. up for 200ched million euros to create the tropical paradise that opened 10 years ago. the site anded said we will apply the principle of a cruise ship, but instead of taking people on a distant

voyage, it is the tropics that will come to them, and that was the birth of tropical island. >> 56,000 tropical plants have .een imported -- euros a dollars day, it is still not something everybody can afford >> i have a not pension, so for me is too expensive, but for others it could add up. say -- stay in this tropical illusion for the entire week. >> you are watching "france 24." let's look at the headlines. the u.n. has released a scathing report on child abuse in the catholic church and is demanding the vatican remove all clergy that are known or suspected

child abusers and turn them over to the police. the ukrainian president is sitting down with the eu foreign-policy chief in kiev. viktor yanukovych has been battling kerley will months of protests. the winter olympics kick off in sochi on friday. they will be the most expensive ever, but some locals say they are not seeing any benefits. speaking of sports news, you will he -- meet one of the french hopes for gold. the 25 euros is a five-time world champion, but he has yet -- an a world title olympic medal. >> a spectacular first time strike over the goalie who

miscued the clearance. it took until the 81st minute to get back on level terms. paris was not quite finished. the dramatic 2-1 win. the other semi final, improving fight, lyon were one-time winners of the royes hadon while t never made the final. bug striker has been unveiled for monaco. beenlgarian striker has unveiled for monaco. he is pleased to be working with the italian coach. >> i have decided to come here because it is a great team.

i know the coach. .e was working in england it was an easy decision for me to make. i've never been here in france, but i think the football is really good. me,s a new experience for and it is a new adventure for me . i have the chance to train with my new teammates today. >> he will face a baptism of .ire in monaco monaco is currently five points behind. to bounce backk from a weekend setback. cristiano ronaldo faces a four-game than after his mocking gesture. his coach was trying to play down the incident. >> eu should be asking the now

though about it -- you should be it, butenaldo about honestly i do not think it was such a bad gesture. i think it is being overblown. the player was not happy and i think the red card was excessive, plus he was provoked, the same way he is provoked every time we play a game. reale cupholders defeated in only one of two defeats this season. >> i said we were going to play different from the last time we faced athletica. it was not a good match up. we have not lost many times this season, but that game we deserve to lose. athletico is on top of the spanish league. one of the big french hopes for 25-year-old five-time

world champion across four different disciplines but he has yet to win a coveted olympic title. four years ago in vancouver he had to settle for a silver medal. he is not feeling stressed. moment, i am quite relaxed. i do not think i have been stressed since the beginning of the season. i have had some complicated run, andhen i did not had to watch the others run. that was destabilizing, but the last few days i have had great feelings and i am enjoying the experience thus far. >> since the last winter olympics in vancouver, he has down -- dominated his sport. had a refreshingly

relaxed attitude. >> my goal is to come back to france with the gold medal, but i know the rules of my sport. menow it not only depends on , but the other athletes performing. first of all, i am going to sochi to have fun. and give i am at 100% everything, i will be happy. gold, silver, or bronze, it will be a great reward. when i go, i am not being hypocritical when i say i am just hoping to have fun and will not have regrets. he is one of the hot favorites for gold. >> if arts, entertainment, or thing, heree your is "high profile" that starts right now.

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