>> the tony blair of italy is set to become the new prime minister. he is due to replace the current premier who is set to resign today. tension rising again in thailand. thousands of riot police have moved into bangkok trying to clear areas that have been occupied by protesters for weeks.

also coming up for you this hour -- lovers around the world are celebrating valentine's day monthand that makes this particularly rosy for businesses. we will take a look at the impact that february 14 has on everything from flowers and chocolates to his and her outfits. in nine years ago today, former lebanese prime minister roughy career he was assassinated. you are watching france. nicoletti said he will resign after the head of his political party pulled support. been the new ring from

us to become premier. he has that she is already the mirror florence but he has no experience on the global stage. rensing and ambitious, was elected the mayor of -- the head of the party last september. he has no experience. he called for a change of government, criticizing nicoletta for not acting quick enough to restart the economy. >> we see a need to open a new phase and have a new government. which can share as part of a coalition a wide, open program. >> inspired by former risk premised or tony blair and his renewal of the labour party, he

is noted for his relaxed style. he gained popularity by cutting local taxes and promoting recycling in florence. they hope he will bring fresh air to italian politics come along tainted by instability and corruption scandals. many times say they are keeping their expectations low. >> i don't think much has changed. >> really tired of it all. never see real results. >> renzi wants economic reform in order to restore confidence in the economy. >> you are in front of the presidential palace where nicoletta is expected to hand in his resignation letter today. >> yes, exactly. with actually meeting president napolitano now.

he is headed to the presidential palace and he thanked all those who have helped him along the way. he is expected to hand in his resignation. he is now being made to step down after pressure saying that he has not done enough to help the economy. he is resigning on the day that new information has come out that italy reported its first positive quarterly growth since 2011. 1%is only up a little by 0.1 -- 0.1%. the collector will hand in his resignation and then the ball is in napolitano's court. have meetingswill with the political parties on how to move forward. it is likely that he will then give a mandate to set up a

renzi -- too detail mateo renzi. >> he has been maneuvering from us to become prime minister. looks like he will finally get there. could he be going too fast? >> some say it is too fast. a lot of italians preferred renzi taking on this position through an election. but as we saw from his statements yesterday, he even quoted robert frost, saying that it was a necessity to take the road less traveled and it was time to take risks. and he believes that, even though they wouldn't go through election, changes necessary. s to beket so far seem

calm over this change. we will have to see how he will actually form this coalition government as well whether he has the support of the coalition partners. even once he is actually in there, will it be more of the same? we will have to say. italians are very concerned as to what will happen. >> thank you. belgium has just voted to extend the countries euthanasia law to allowed children to request assisted suicide. supporters of the law say it is a matter of compassion. but opponents believe the bill was rushed. the measure is backed by three quarters of the population. but it is still highly controversial. >> murderers, a protester in the public gallery denounced belgian

lps as the voted to legalize euthanasia for minors. the votes reflected the bills wide support among belgians. this isn't about imposing euthanasia on anyone. but to give the chevy chance to choose not to suffer endlessly. a but to give the child chance to choose not to suffer endlessly. >> does this law give you the security there will be no gray areas? no. you don't have that. the pediatricians don't have it. the parents don't have it. and the terminally ill children don't have it. >> under the law, children under 18 suffering unbearable physical pain can request euthanasia if the parents agree. three doctors and psychologists will have to determine if the child is aware of the decision. some campaigners argue that assisted suicide means that

medical staff will not exhaust all treatments. >> nothing is possible anymore in these cases except to let , in ao in a dignified way .ain-free way but these are very rare conditions. >> belgian is the second country to you -- to legalize is in asia for children. children age 12 and under can request assisted suicide. but in belgium, there is no age limit. syrianreak yet in the conference in geneva. the united nations mediator said that, at this point, the negotiations look set to fail. today's the last day of the talks. he will be sitting down with both sides of the conflict.

>> showing no optimism, the human mediator says he continues to seek every possible diplomatic solution to the crisis after meeting with the united states and russia. we will certainly not leave one stone unturned. rahini says that they will try to break the stalemate. however, the syrian opposition declares it unsuccessful. been madegress has since the second round of geneva with started on monday either side unable to find common ground. , i think the solution will be through the military operation and our rebels fighting on the ground. >> further contributing to the

deadlock, damascus presented a resolution.uncil mediator -- the human mediator -- the u.n. mediator will meet with both sides. >> tablet into bangkok to clear areas that have been occupied by protesters for weeks. the authorities will do all they can to avoid violence. but the antigovernment protesters say they are not going anywhere. >> go home was the message. after months of antigovernment scenes in front of the capital, they set about retaking the occupied site. protesters tried to block the operation.

>> are you still working for those murders? of monks, someup protesters carried out a peaceful sitting -- peaceful sit in. >> there is no going back. we will not hand back a single site we have occupied. some scuffles, security forces managed to dismantle some of the camps. some remained defiant, determined to keep up the pressure to remove the prime minister from power. >> the areas around the prime mister's office are still controlled by our movement. he cannot go back to work. seen political turmoil since november. haveovernment rallies forced some businesses to shut down and paralyzed traffic. >> in paris, the court of

appeals is set to rule on two french nationals convicted of attempting to smuggle over 100 door for orphans -- 100 darfur orphans. details.pson has the >> after six years of legal wrangling, emily and eric are finally set to learn their fate. >> we are pleased he can finally talk about the whole thing. we waited six years and the court really listened to us. so on that front, we are really satisfied. >> in october 2007, the couple, alongside fellow members of their french charity, attempted to smuggle 103 children from chad and darfur into france. they claimed they were orphans. before they made onto the airplane in chad, they were

caught. theyof the parents thought were interesting the children to be educated by the charity. the eight volunteers were sentenced eight years hard labor in chad before being pardoned by the president a year later. the condition that they would be tried in france. the pair was sentenced between two to three years in prison. both remain adamant that the operation was legal. >> lovers around the world are celebrating valentine's day today. that makes this month particularly rosy for businesses. here is a look now at the impact february 14 has on every thing from flowers and chocolate to his and her outfits. red and valentine's day just wouldn't be valentine's day without them. this french floors taking full advantage of the extra demand -- this french florist taking full

advantage of the extra demand. >> today, we are delivering every 35 seconds. on valentine's day, we are expecting 25,000 orders. >> also chocolate makers and internet travel agencies see a frenzy of transactions on february 14. some make up to half of their monthly sales in just over two days. over avendors the world boon to their offense. korea, couples celebrate their love i getting matching outfits. >> because we love them, we want to mimic them. we agreed to wear identical outfits. >> in japan, it is the women who buy valentines chocolates for the men. >> if the world were reversed, i would love to be given chocolates by a man. i hope it happens at least once

in my life. >> japanese women don't limit these chocolates to their other half. he also forgot for their male friends and colleagues. >> let's take a look at the headlines. italy is setr of to become the new prime minister. he is trying to replace current premier henry nickel it was due to resign today. belgian becomes the first country to grant terminally ill children of any age the right to thedespite some critics in mostly catholic country calling it a step too far. and tension on the rise again in thailand as thousands of riot police have moved into bangkok trying to clear areas that have been occupied by protesters for weeks. nine years ago this friday, rafe ariri was -- rafi k

suicidassassinated. the attack was initially blamed on pro-syrian lebanese generals. hasa u.n.-backed tribunal now named five suspects, all .lleged members of hezbollah what effect the assassination has had on lebanon is the subject of today's look very -- look. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. first of all, i think it is important to remind our viewers kariri. who was rafi >> he was a prominent politician, a sunni leader who built a business empire in saudi

arabia. but then came to lebanon after the end of the lebanese civil war to rebuild the country. managed to do just that. ,e helped them build bridges roads, the airport, to everything that you could think of. after a short while of his premiership, as prime minister of the lebanese government, he managed to gain confidence in the country. he was able to manage to build stronger ties between lebanese sectarian groups. therefore, in many ways, he was the country from

scratch, making it more viable for economic investments and for the future of the people of lebanon. this definitely wasn't something that the region was happy of. the regional influence he had over the country. >> have his political ideals been respected and followed in the country? of course, i mean, the lebanese by large loved him because he was a man of peace. not put them in confrontation with anyone. he was trying to pursue a personal -- he wasn't trying to pursue a personal agenda and trying to achieve a sectarian one.

he brought many lebanese to the realization [indiscernible] on march 14, two thousand five, in order to syrianthe ousting of the troops and control of the country. .hey pulled the syrians out little by little, they established the people of lebanon. they managed to hold elections and to build the country and to carry on what kariri implemented in the country. parties,tical particularly a group led by hezbollah, in their view,

lebanon must remain part of a learned her struggle -- part of and must holdgle a confrontation movement against what they perceive as western influence of the country. the opposition to his plan led to the collapse of the government and later on to the ousting of his son from the country. many of what he tried to do in lebanon. bola'sdue to has opposite -- it was due to hezbollah's opposition. >> you mentioned that assad

u-turn inade a sharp recent weeks, saying that his bloc was prepared not to join a unity government with hezbollah. why would he change his opinion so dramatically? >> he doesn't have many options to work with. has a strong military infrastructure and can disrupt the entire country and make lebanon a sectarian war bringing us back to civil war. understands that he is working with what is possible. knows what he wishes to have the country looking like. therefore a sod would like to forge a minimal alliance with hezbollah to form a government and to hold the country's peace

without having it totally slip into a civil war and perhaps try to negotiate. hezbollah toure by become part of the lebanese state and have a say within lebanese economy and he's rather than -- and peace rather than be withved in syrian conflict military involvement in the region. >> thank you for speaking to us from beirut. we apologize for the poor quality of the skype line from beirut. the latest from the sochi winter games next. the victory in the men's 20 kilometer event.

>> it was the skiing that made the difference. poland overcame in the women's 10 kilometer classic cross-country race. sweden picked up her second medal of the games. >> one of russia's most decorated athletes, evgeni plushenko, pulled out of the individual skating event. he was due to start a short program. operations.s had he told judges he couldn't carry on.

[indiscernible] the five-time winners are on their way through. john philip -- the french league face their main rivals on sunday. >> it is mental tiredness. granted, it is a forward tie anyway. we are not going to complain.

i am not complaining. we have played every three days since the month of january. we get ready for this. coming inig chance the champions league. >> looking to bounce back next week. he is very much aware that the club is entering a crucial time of the season. >> always aiming for victory. we've done this often. physical tiredness can also induce mental fatigue. >> they will have to make do without a ronnie.

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>> hello, and welcome to "the health show." in this program, we'll be exploring the long-term impact of living with h.i.v. while antiretroviral drugs have saved the lives of many, the patients who've been taking them for decades now appear to be aging more quickly. also in the program, the virus epidemics which start in animals