>> egypt's abdel fattah al-sisi finally confirms speculation that he will indeed run for president. sisi is the widely popular general who ousted mohamed morsi from power. almost my month later, sisi is promising to rid the country of terrorism. the right-hand man to x president -- was at the international criminal court in the hague. counts of facing four crimes against amenity linked to the postelection violence for years ago. in the man thought to be the world's longest-serving inmate a death row is granted

retrial in japan over multiple murders committed nearly 50 years ago. you're watching "france 24." let's start in rome where barack obama is due to make pope francis. he just arrived there not long ago. that first meeting ever between the two leaders will focus on narrowing the gap between rich and poor. u.s. president also hoping that meeting will help most his support with catholics back at home. we will get a bit more analysis on the u.s. president's visit with pope francis. i want to bring in douglas herb. likes it looks like they want to start with the catholic issue, getting the support of catholics by cohost up let's just remember barack obama did get his reelection with rather heavy support from u.s. catholics or american catholics. especially from hispanic catholics. that was a big demographic in his election. so you are right -- he does want to boost his support because a lot of that along with the rest

of his demographic in the u.s. has waned. this popularity is not what it was. it will not hurt to get a boost among obviously the catholic constituency. this visit really should be viewed in broader terms. let's throw out a few statistics. it is the ninth presidential visit, u.s. presidential visit to a pope will stop we had barack obama has already visited echo, benedict back in 2009. we have seen residents have varying chemistry with pope, john paul ii with ronald reagan. they got along famously because they were seen as staunch anti-communist. where is the chemistry going to be between this pope, who has been seen as the reform minded pope, someone -- a very different figure than the previous popes and in recent modern history, and president now down in the ratings. the obvious chemistry will be on economic agenda. when you think of this book,

pope francis, what do you think of? his moral agenda -- poverty, -- theity, the whole jesuits, going to the heart of the whole jesuit tradition, who this pope is, the first just whip open 1000 years or so. helping the wounded, helping the hurt. obama probably wants people to see the parallels, wants its own economic agenda. he is trying to see himself as a president that reaches out to america's underclass, not just the middle class but the underclass who have been sort of left out of the economic equation. he has placed great emphasis on trying to level that playing field, so he is looking for on a certain level moral validation. i will use those words. moral validation. only a religious figure such as the pope who is the head of over one billion catholics in the world can lead to a president who know secret is right now down in the ratings, can use all the help he can get, so any extra boost in stature from this pope is going to be a bone to

the president. it is mainly economic issue, poverty, it inequality. >> just very briefly, what about issues where the two men differ -- contraception, abortion, gay rights. >> they do not get much thornier than that. theyope has been clear, disagree, barack obama, who is pro-choice as a president, and this church for all of his reform mindedness on issues of poverty and inequality and reaching out to those e doeslass, this pop have traditional catholic church teachings with regard to abortion. the vatican was buried much opposed to many aspects of obamacare, the health care policy. because of its mandatory coverage for contraception. obviously a big issue. for choice ran an advert in the "new york times" noting that this pope differs with a lot of american catholics on this issue and that he is not -- i will not say pro-life, i

often use the word anti-choice. that is obviously a subjective on the abortion issue they do not see eye to eye, on the gay marriage issue they do not see eye to eye, on the contraception issue they do not see eye to eye. on a lot of other conservative issues they do not see eye to eye. an intellectual president. he can respect those differences. he can make that very clear. hard focus on economic agenda where they do see eye to eye. herbert you so much, there. let's go to egypt where abdel fattah al-sisi has now officially confirmed he is quitting his job as the country's military chief to run for president. that long-awaited announcement comes nine months after the ouster of egypt first democratically elected resident mohamed morsi. many egyptians are tired of the more than three years of turmoil

their country has seen since the arab spring ouster of hot see of mubarak. greg supporters of abdel fattah al-sisi welcome his decision to run for president. as might be expected, he announced wednesday that he is withdrawing from his position. >> today i am here before you and my military uniform for the last time. this country has been through a lot in the last few years. our role now is to recover and rebuild agent. i led the overthrow of former president mohamed morsi in july 2013 just a year after being named defense minister. he has been the most influential figure in the interim administration since morsi's ouster. he is needed to stabilize the

country. >> their country needs a artful manlike sisi. he knows about everything -- military, economy, politics. he knows everything about the country. >> but there are concerns that his becoming president would constitute the return to military law. >> i think he should remain defense minister. i support someone else for presidency otherwise they will say that it was a coup. also, if he runs for the presidency, we can expect trouble. >> al-sisi's critics accuse him of using deadly force becomes to political and social unrest. according to amnesty international, more than working hundred people have been killed in a crackdown on morsi's supporters and thousands more have been arrested. al-sisi's announcement came days after the court candidate to sentenced to more than 500 members of the muslim brotherhood, but now the 's lawility under al-sisi

is a reminder. one was skill in cairo during a protest against a court ruling. >> and the international criminal court in the hague. gouda is facing counts of crimes against humanity. that is due to crimes for years ago on the ivory coast. -- michellerguson ferguson has details. the one-time right-hand man of the former president now joined his former boss at the international criminal court. pending trial over postelection violence in 2010 and 2011, which cost over 3000 lives. the 42-year-old faces four counts including murder and rape. still ahead, the due date galvanized the force and refused

to concede defeat in elections to our driver -- to his archrival. lower responsibility in direct -- he argues crimes committed by rebels were ignored. >> we hear talk of peaceful solutions, but right under our noses, in front of everyone's eyes, in front of the united nations representatives, his men kill and commit atrocity, and no one says anything. first courte's appearance, questions are raised over how long the process at the hague could actually take. the court has yet to confirm the charges against him pending further investigation. >> amnesty international has issued its annual report on the death penalty around the world. in 2013, known executions went

up by almost 15%. last year's global increase is due in part two more executions in iran and iraq followed by saudi arabia. the numbers of executions in the united states has gone down, but it is still among the top five countries putting the most people to death. and in a related story, a japanese man sentenced to death nearly 50 years ago has been granted a retrial. he is thought to be the longest serving death row inmate in the world. he was arrested for murdering four people and burning their house down in 1966. he initially confessed to the crime but retracted during his trial saying he gave a false confession under police torture. the 78 euros iwao hakamada is said -- the 78-year-old iwao hakamada is said to suffer from mental illness due to years in solitary confinement. people say that he may not even

understand what today's ruling is all about. out as iwaoke hakamada's lawyer unveiled the court ruling. the trial of a man on death row for more than 1.5 decades. onhe would not have been death row if he really deserved to die. >> it is thanks to all of your support that we have come this far. thank you so much. i am just so very, very happy. >> iwao hakamada's friends and family have fought for nearly half a century to clear his name. the former boxer was arrested in 1966 for the murder of his boss and three members of his family. throughout the trial, hakamada denied the charges and claimed his innocence, claiming his confession was tortured out of him. then's supreme court upheld death a dent in 1980. they demanded a retrial but he upheld the death

penalty in 1980. he demanded a retail but they rejected. hakamada, now 78, is believed to be the world's longest serving to throw in may. his family hopes the retrial will put an end to 48 years of legal battle. >> the biggest muslim rebel group in the philippines has just signed a peace deal and that ending four decades of deadly conflict. that agreement between a moral islamic liberation front and president of queen us -- and the president government should work toward a new southern autonomous region for the philippines muslim minority. the local elect leader should be in place two years from now. decades of fighting in the philippines has condemned millions to brutal poverty. and the search for the missing malaysia airlines plane is on hold for the second time this week due to bad weather. lanes and ships have been searching for some of the hundreds of objects that have been spotted by satellites in

the remote south indian ocean, but so far no debris has been confirmed links to the airplane. where the imfaine has agreed to a badly needed bailout for the country's government. this after a warning that kiev is running out of foreign currency. says it will amount to funding between $14 billion and $18 billion for ukraine, but what is more important than that is it will allow other foreign aid. we've seen that a for the european union to bring in a package for ukraine all total 27 billion dollars over two years, so it is a much wider figure than what we are expecting from the imf. the imf says have not agreed

when that will be paid. ukrainian officials say they will likely to get the money from the european union among all the international donors who have committed myself them. adequate money from the imf does not come without strings attached. the imf has strict economic reforms from ukraine. we do not have the details of those yet but we do know that what is a key matter of contention with subsidies, gas subsidies provided to consumers and ukraine. the imf wanted those reduced. we've seen signs on those already. the price increase of 60% from the first of april, further increases between now and 2018. >> stephen, this is money ukraine definitely needs. where is needed most? >> the country only has about enough for two months to cover what it pays for its imports. that could provide a huge blockage in the economy. of course, there are generally wider economic problems in ukraine.

ukrainian government says the economy will contract by 3% this year. unemployment is massive there. they say without the austerity that will come with an imf deal, things could be even worse. the country's economy could shrink by 10% and a could default on its debt. >> editor stephen carroll. we have terrific images from houston, texas where a construction worker had a truly lucky escape from a fire. you can see him being rescued from the balcony of the burning apartment building just moments before that top floor you see there in frame collapsed. he dangled his body from the fifth floor balcony and flung himself onto the balcony below just before the burning debris fell from above. that is some pretty impressive stuff. fortunately, that construction worker is safe and sound. watching "france 24." please stay with us. >> the semifinals of the french

cup after thrashing in the last eight. minutes,n front 70 then he runs off a free-flowing move, exchanging a pass with riviera before holding a second before half-time. after the break, riviere sabine monaco to a 6-0 win. and i'll finally ended the run of the amateur. the mali international finally broke through to score in the 77 minutes. the amateurs have knocked out other teams and have posted strong here to be site -- here too. .n the end, security two no wins 19 successive away game in the competition. bundesliga, -- in the

bundesliga, open scoring after 11 minutes with 13 goal of the season. the rundown of the final 10 minutes, finished off 1-2 with julian bent. to --it 3-12 novak djokovic goes through the semifinals after fending off defending champion andy murray. to be served held by a controversial net point took the first set in florida. the second,-2 after it all fell apart for the six seed as joke of which -- d jokovich completed the victory in just over 1.5 hours. he will play the japanese surprise winner against roger

federer in the finals. it was a great day for domenico during the wto events going on in miami. it is not look like it was going to turn out that way early on though. --a quarterfinal a prominent as a quarterfinal opponent. form.le in fine winning a second set tiebreaker, then grinding out victory 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. she is not only through to the semifinals were also breaking into the top 10 for the first time. next up for her at the number two seed li na. it was a good day for spain in cycling as rocky rodriguez won the first mountain state in this year's catalonia and took the overall lead. the -- to hold the white and green jersey, but that was set to change as the pelican

raced into the pyrenees yesterday. 163 kilometers that included three tough climbs, the last of which rose to the finish at lama lena. heading into the final kilometers, after the successful hunt down, the heavy hitters was rodriguez, and it was the patricia,acing for who broke away to take the victory. alberto change -- chase after his fellow spaniard to finish second. tour de france winner chris could only finish fifth. more mountains today. year's rally next has been unveiled by its organizers. starting and finishing in argentina, the 9000 kilometer course will also travel through chile and bolivia. the world's most famous rally rate again going to south america. the rally director was getting

all nostalgic. >> it is true that the 2015 map looks a lot like 2009 and 2010, with this big loop that returns to buenos aires resting three last year,just like there are a variety of stages. the novelty of this edition is there will be maritime stages for everyone. >> in the 25-year absence, persia, the hardest driver, 2010, and filled the brace switching to -- and phil switching to four wheels. some great motorcyclists made a successful crossover. for the moment, i have just got to learn and he will be behind me to get me some advice. like that is the promise of it is the-- >> promise of having an attractive car competition for the persia had a beautiful story with that

car, a story that goes back for many years will stop the first participation was in 1987. remember, persia per disputed four -- participated four times and won four times. theast year's rally saw many, while another was king of the bikes. now persia have their eyes once again on the prize. welcome. and we will be taking a look at some of the stories making headlines. coming up on today's show, afghan hip-hop artist. the u.k.'s controversial ban on sending books to prisoners. and a base jumper off new york city's tallest skyscraper. it is your duty to vote, a

responsibility, the way of moving afghanistan forward. this rap track available on youtube was written and performed by an afghan hip-hop artist to encourage young afghani is to persist data in an upcoming presidential election with the first round scheduled for april 5. it was produced by the competition aimed at minutes -- maximizing voter turnout. they sing lyrics over premade tracks downloaded from the competition website. an one of afghanistan's official line was, either pashtu or dari, and there is no mention of political candidates allowed. the winner gets $1000. men's category do was, -- the men's category duos, here they are reaching out to young voters.

and the women's category with this video, which will be on afghanistan's leading television channel, and the hope that it will prompt more afghans to cast their vote. just one in three voters were dissipated in the previous election back in 2009. werest one in three voters dissipated in the previous election back in 2009. ♪ new u.k. ministry of justice regulation is banning prisoners. books. it aims to cancel trafficking of illegal goods, but i has been met with widespread criticism. france's -- slams the bam, calling it an

irrational punishment regime. eminent writers and scholars agree. scores have signed this open letter, urging authorities to rethink these new rules that ban prisoners from obtaining parcels that contain books and essentials. a petition directed to the secretary of state, chris grayling, has 18,000 signatures in just three days. the minister has responded on the government's website defending the policy and planning that prisoners will still have access to libraries within their detention facilities. appeasefelt will critics who have -10 the book thief. -- who have nicknamed him the book thief. the site instant peeping shows web users in real-time, an instagram users in five of the world's biggest cities, new york, stockholm, london, paris, and tokyo. the platform, launched recently

by a team of swedish developers, also delivers an analysis of the data. so we learn for example that the louvrehium -- the museum, the eiffel tower, and -- are the three most photographed places in the capital. some web users typed in "how do how do i goe?" or " into google.g?" this features a selection of some of the oddest questions. queries such as "why did i get which comes up 40,000 times per month, or more alarming inquiries like "how to hide a dead body" or "how to get away with murder." hasw social media trend emerged in the u.k.. the sellofies.

faces ine wrapping sticky tape, sometimes attaching items and posting to facebook. crazerl who started the said she was inspired by jim carrey. the facebook page now is over 166,000 likes. back in september, base jumper james brady into a publicist -- lostwo accomplices themselves up the world trade center tower. each really about the tallest guys are per in the united states, which stand that 1417 butrs, a staggering feat, totally illegal, and the daredevils are now facing criminal charges.

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