>> hello everyone, thank you for watching "france vingt-quatre." here's a look at today's headlines. u.s. president barack obama and russian leader vladimir boudin have had what the white house calls a frank conversation on -- nut amir putin -- vladimir puti have had with the white house calls a frank conversation on the ukraine. hasbuilding in donetsk been taken over. one year ago today, there were twin bomb explosions at the boston marathon that killed three people and injured 250. finished hisus

testimony at his trial for murder. the chief prosecutor wrapped up his cross examination by saying that the double-amputee runner was lying in the witness box about what exactly happened the night that he shot his girlfriend. ♪ >> also coming up for you this fakirs in france no longer have to tell policewomen are going on vacation. this is one of several old laws that have been eliminated by the government to make french business better. and the top court in india has officially recognize the countries long marginalized transgender community as neither male nor female, but a third gender.

that landmark judgment has been hailed by human rights groups and we will have more on that from new delhi. but first, u.s. president barack obama has urged the russian putin, toladimir have the two sides lay down their arms in the ukraine. frankad what was called a phone call. this was exacerbated over the with confrontations where a russian warplanes buzzed a u.s. destroyer. we take a closer look now at the efforts to try to calm down the crisis. >> outside parliament, supporters of the new authority chant, glory to the ukraine, glory to heroes. a show of support for the embattled government. tensions are running high with the country divided between those of support the new

leadership and those who are pro-russian. inside parliament, the a theg president condemned behavior. >> plans for the russian federation remain brutal. they don't want the next region to be on fire, they want the south and east of the ukraine to be on fire. >> for days, pro-russian forces and protesters have occupied police stations and government buildings in the eastern ukraine, like here in donetsk. kiev has called for them to leave and lay down their arms. he has launched an antiterrorist operation. actions, iof these underline one more time, is to protect the citizens of the ukraine, to stop terror and criminality. and stop the attempts to tear the ukraine to pieces.

>> on a visit to china, the russian foreign minister, sergei force talked about using to quell the unrest. >> you can be sending tanks it -- tanks against your own citizens while conducting negotiations. i maintain that the use of force in the southeast would most likely sabotage the chances of negotiations taking place in geneva. >> a strong warning ahead of the geneva meeting. russia, the ukraine, the united states and the european union will discuss the crisis in the former soviet republic. >> the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, will meet with the chinese president, ping, ahead of putin's visit to china in may. with more from beijing, we bring in shannon. as the russian foreign minister made any further comments on the situation in the ukraine today?

>> the russian foreign minister did make some comments on the ukraine today. he said he was hopeful that the ukraine government would resolve the negotiations and all the problems relating to the legal demands and the protesters in the eastern ukraine. he called this a step in the right direction. so, comments from sergei lavrov here in beijing. >> bucket -- take us to the birth -- the importance of the economic and political ties between china and moscow. >> lavrov says it paves the way for putin to visit your later. they want closer ties financially and economically. they are working on a gas bill pipeline that will be finished in 2018, that is something they are looking to finalize the spring and that could help export the market to china, a huge amount of energy that russia aims to deliver to china, and also, russian officials have

talked about china's investment crimea,e to invest in and in russia as well. paveds why lavrov really the way for political and economical deals that may be enforced later this spring. >> thank you very much, shannon, reporting from beijing. next, in the u.s., one year ago today the country was hit by a devastating attack in boston, at the finish line of the boston marathon. 2 pressure cooker bombs went off, killing three people and injuring 260, but one year later the investigation is still underway. 10:03 in the afternoon on the april, there was an explosion at the boston marathon and then a second bomb explosion, the worst attack on

u.s. soil since 9/11. >> i woke up on the ground with a firefighter on me, but internally gets on my legs. tofootage led investigators 2 suspects, the tsarnaev brothers. they tracked down tamarlin, killed 2 days later, and arrested the next day. he was found in the boston suburb of watertown. this ended days of tension and uncertainty for the people of boston. -- daysof uncertainty of tension and uncertainty for the people of boston. >> it were people waving american flags and thanking all of the officers, it was an unbelievable feeling. rlin was aed out tama follower of radical islam, and the fbi had warned that he may

become radicalized. it raised the question if the attack could be avoided. triedar tsarnaev will be in november and faces the death penalty. >> algerian campaigning has wrapped up ahead of the election on thursday. current leader abdelaziz bouteflika is expected to win the election despite his advanced age and failing health. he suffered a stroke last year. he has five people running against him and his largest opponent is a former ally who has turned his back on the regime. >> standing again after 10 years in the political wilderness. ministergerian prime -- is now the main opposition candidate. campaign has seen

-- him commended -- condemned by the president -- >> you have seen the latest masquerade with your own eyes. i was invited onto a program on public television. i have been part of this for 10 years. and i was not allowed to speak at. sing the praises of the sultan are allowed to. benflis was once the leader of the party but now he has turned his back on the party and aging president bouteflika. peaceful here want a change via the ballot box and i can bring that change, i have come to understand that. it, is my aim, i believe in -- though he has attracted

crowds to his rallies, analysts don't predicted that benflis will be much of a worry to the president. one decade ago, he managed only hold six percent of the vote. plans on, benflis sending 60,000 election observers to the polls to ensure a fair fight. >> that was catherine noris-trenton. oscar pistorius has finished his testimony in the murder trial and over the past week he has come under intense pressure from the prosecutor who says that the double-amputee runner is lying in the witness stand. the prosecution did his best to show his testimony was inconsistent, insisting he deliberately killed his girlfriend after an argument. the athlete has always maintained he shot her by mistake. thinking she was an intruder. -- oscar pistorius

faces life in prison if convicted of murder. we have more on the feeling in the courtroom and the prosecutor, -- with the prosecutor, harry nelson and his five days with oscar pistorius. >> he wrapped up his five days in the end with a spontaneous round of applause from the psychologists, who have been there every day. down inhe sister broke tears and those of us who have been gripped by the trial also felt relief. it was painful to watch him squirming in the witness booth, incredibly bruising interrogations. and today, i think was the final turn of the screw, when mr. nell put this to oscar pistorius, really who should take the blame for the killing of reeva steenkamp?

pistorious says he could be blamed for taking her life, never using the word killing, but he said he could not be blamed for the pulling of the trigger, which seems a rather bizarre claim to make. and everyone is rather be welded by it. with a -- nell responded sarcastic way, we have seen a bit of sarcasm over the last few days. he said, who should we blame, should we blame reeva for not telling you she was going to the bathroom. maybe we should blame the government, or black talon bullets, these are very appalling, expanding bullets that are banned in many countries of the world that he used that night. he did not seem to understand the question, he said, i used them in my gun. he wrapped it up saying that he killed her because they had an

argument and there were bloodcurdling screams, and he said you shot her, and you shot to kill her. >> reporting on the oscar pistorius murder trial. the government has announced 50 measures to make doing business cheaper and easier, part of francois hollande's so-called responsibility with companies, and in return for job growth -- in -- in addition to job growth it will save $2 billion in administrative costs. but some of the rules set forth our little bit unusual, as catherine explains. >> cutting through the red tape. this business has fewer than 20 employees, and each time the owner hires a new staff member, he has to fill out one dozen forms. >> this is a lot. and while we spend time on this we are not looking for work. >> small businesses like that one will only need to complete a single form online. this is one of the 50

recommendations on ways to cut red tape, and to save 2 billion euros per year. earlier this year, president francois hollande promised to make doing business in france easier, and in return companies will create jobs to deal with record unemployment. more than 3 million french people are jobless. is theer measure payslips from other margins of the deductions, and other details like this payslips from the u.k.. business owners say that this is long overdue. >> we have someone employed part-time doing this, checking pay stubs and doing all the paperwork. this would be a great timesaver and you don't have to hire that person. we are saving money that we can invest elsewhere. >> france will also simplify their labor code, scrapping unnecessary rules including a law from the 1930's requiring

patients to tell police before going on holiday. >> u.s. president barack obama and russian leader vladimir putin have had a frank call on the ukraine. separatists control several public buildings in the east, but one occupied building in donetsk has been surrendered. boston remembers, one year ago today the marathon there was shattered by twin bob -- twin bomb explosions that killed three and injured 260 people. oscar pistorius finishes his testimony as a witness in his trial for murder. earlier today, the chief prosecutor wrapped up his cross examination by saying that the double-amputee runner was lying in the witness box about what exactly happened the night that he shot his girlfriend. what theook at

newspapers have been saying around the world. here to help us -- about thef news today increasing tensions in the ukraine. >> we start by looking at the mes,"national "new york ti talking about few options for kiev after route -- revolt s preads. several state institutions passed into the hands of separatists and they compared this to falling dominoes in the east and wonder how spontaneous are these pro-russian protests? it depends on who you ask. you can see this quote here, from a 60-year-old in the area. i have lived there my whole life and never seen these men. " this article says that both sides in the ukraine conflict claim that they have the truth. there is a huge gap in perception, whether you are pro-european, or pro-russian,

and when one side accepts the truth, the other side calls this topic and or malicious lies and all of this leads to 2 narratives, and a very dangerous situation. to quote the article, it is too easy to envision civil war being triggered. >> others focus on how the international community is responding. >> another bit from the "new york times," critical of the united states, there is john kerry with his arms and legs caught in hunting traps. this represents the ukraine crisis and he says, yes we can. >> another big story is the explosion in nigeria that left 70 dead. >> as you can imagine it is getting a lot of attention in regional press. this is an article from burkina faso, a very radical article

about the aftermath of the attack on the bus station, this article says that it likens nigeria to a locomotive that just doesn't stop derailing. others wonder what motivated this attack, this article inflates -- and talks about the fact that it was quite obvious haram,ect boko and it is easy to think that was the case but -- because since 2009 may have carried out attacks across the country. this article points out that the united nations and the u.s. foreign council says that the government is partially responsible for spreading violence. >> in france many papers are focusing on the european elections around the corner. >> the socialist party is pretty worried that these elections could be another flop, just like the elections were in march. this article -- the photo is of the new party leader who will be

inaugurated today, but this article is quite critical of him, saying he's not really going to change the party line, like his predecessor. he faces pressure not only from the right but from the left. and this article points out a lot of people within the socialist party are angry with the president, francois hollande, for handpicking him and placing him at the top of the party. this is the latest point of disagreement between the heavyweights in the socialist party in the french president. according to this article, a lot of socialists are criticizing the president and the gloves are coming off. >> things are not better on the other side with the opposition conservative party. >> this is another article that is quite surprising. they did well in the political elections, with the blue wave.

they are really doing some soul-searching, trying to find what the party line should be on european politics. this article says that the party is very divided between euro skeptics and europhiles. nobody agrees, and this could all play into the hands of the far right party. >> we end in the united states were part -- papers are marking the one-year anniversary of the bombing of the boston marathon. >> one year ago today. there is a very emotional j.p.le, about 2 brothers, and paul morris. they were there to cheer her friend and they were wounded in the blast, and each of them lost a leg. a very touching article about their struggles since then, how they have slowly been trying to rebuild their lives. they have had 50 surgeries between them, and how they have had to learn to walk with new prosthetic legs.

a singlese to dwell on incident of violence and don't want to be defined by it, but they have written a book. it is called "twice as strong," and they use the swirl of media to thank the tens of thousands of people who donated money to help with their medical expenses. tributes will be held in boston until april 21, when this year's marathon will be held. >> thank you very much. that is a look at the newspapers today. tennis news is that next and that and much more in sports, starting right now. >> lost in the 18th round of the rallying albert montes after losing the opening set, going down 4-6. also out, the frenchman easing the opening against -- but losing with a late break, going down 7-5.

7-5, 7-6. elsewhere, the 11th seed had little trouble while alex ramis also had issues -- before coming through. only dropping 3 games, kaldovich. two men going for victory in monaco, the world number 1 and world number 2, nadal. this was an end of eight titles in monte carlo. nadal may be out for revenge, but is taking nothing for granted. >> i am ready to try and play well in the first round. always in the first round from is final and the draw -- it 55 of the ranking, every match is dangerous and difficult

to win. i have to be ready for the action. to these no stranger parts, and he will try to draw on last year's victory, saluting at the french open. place i carlo is the spend much of my time in the last six years, when i am not playing tournaments. i have a lot of friends who come to support me, and home is just a few minutes away so -- this is the first time i find myself in a position as a titleholder. last year i won in a great match always lookl and i forward to playing at monte carlo. this is a beautiful setting and you can see the -- you can see this, i am sure and i look forward to competing. bye, and a first-round got his defense running against albert montana.

nadal may face -- planning to return to the premiere matters, after scraping to the cup, he had a penalty to set up a wembley showdown. they focused -- they host west ham, two points separated from aberdeen in fourth place. >> we want to finish strong now. we have the opportunity to start game,ow, with a big established with the position and that means that we can play without fear. in these kinds of games it is very important, that we have a good focus and a good tempo in our game. we focus now on the premiership. -- are down for the

gunners, and may have to deal without kevin nolan. coming out of is retirement with his eyes fixed on the 2016 olympics. he has 18 gold medals to his name and retired after london 2012. he will compete in arizona between the 24th and 26th of april. he had begun training last year he had begun training last year and completed the six mongg9÷wñc

- hello. i'm john cleese. it seems that beneath all the apparent differences that separate the world's religions, there's a deep undercurrent that points towards what is called oneness or unity consciousness, the single indivisible essence of all creation. to get some further understanding of this, we're going to explore the concept from both the mystical and the scientific perspectives with an east indian physicist and a british mystic. so settle back, take a slow, deep breath as we join our trusted guide and host, phil cousineau, on this fascinating episode of global spirit, the first "internal travel" series.