these are the headlines for you this hour. a crisis meeting in thailand the lien -- between rival political parties ends without a resolution. the meeting was held by the head of the army one day after imposing martial law across the nation. twin car bombs in nigeria leave at least 118 dead with no claim of responsibility yet, but it does seem in line with the boko haram group, who are still holding 200 schoolgirls they kidnapped over a month ago. the balkans began counting the

cost-- begin counting the after floods that left dozens dead. the bill could cost more than the entire bosnian war. also coming up this hour, what would you wear if you were walking up the red steps of the glamorous film festival in cannes? find out how the stars decide just that. and as the countdown to the e.u. parliamentary election continues, "france 24" will give you a taste of the dolce vita in italy. serbia's capital city of belgrade is bracing for possible flooding as relief workers across the balkans are carrying out a massive cleanup campaign. the region has been hit with the most devastating floods in over

a century at have left closeness -- close to 50 dead. our correspondent joins us from a town 200 kilometers southwest of belgrade, one of the areas worst hit by these floods. what are things like there now? >> for the moment, things are dry. the rain stopped a couple of days ago and all the water went off, but you can see the damage. you can see the trees and houses. metersvel of water was 4 high it is really unbelievable -- 4 meters high. it is really unbelievable. it is very dangerous to drive. other places where houses were moved by the floods. -- they looked untouched, but they were moved

hundreds and tens of meters. it is amazing. are coming back, everyone who could save something from inside their house, putting their stuff outside in the front to drive. nightmareike it is a that is ending here, but it was very strong, obviously. >> we are just a few days from the elections for the european parliament. tell us more about the european efforts that have come from brussels to help the victims of the flood. when serbia and bosnia asked for international help, they contacted brussels to coordinate the special forces of all the eu members. french,czechs, german, under brussels' supervision. this emergency help is already a european one.

the damage is very big. there will be official eu damages -- if the the damages are over a certain level, they will have the right to financial help. it is unclear at the moment how much they could have the right to, but, for serbia, we are speaking about between 10 million euros, the smallest possible, up to one billion, which obviously is very big. it is very imprecise, but obviously there will be financial help in some amount for this country. >> thank you for that report, laurent rouy. a meeting between political parties and thailand has ended without -- rival political parties in thailand has ended without resolution. the army chief has taken on the role of mediator after imposing martial law around the nation. outps have been spread

across bangkok since yesterday, with the military saying it wants to bring an end to months of deadly protests. our correspondent has more from bangkok. >> the fact that all these leaders from these different, very opposing political parties, opposing political protest movements were in the same room seen as ann be achievement by the military leader today. we are waiting for us press -- for a press conference to hear what was discussed. a second meeting has been called for 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. it seems this could go on for the next few days. it is unclear exactly how the army chief hopes to bring these completely polarized parties and unify staff to move out of this country -- to move this country out of this long crisis which is crippling the economy and resenting the possibility of widespread violence. we wait to see what the military

says in a press conference. from there, we see the meeting take place again tomorrow to try and find a way forward. comes as theis country is under martial law for a second day and there have already been some arrests. >> indeed. one of the antigovernment protest leaders was arrested by police as he tried to leave the country. a pro-government, redshirt supporter was arrested. it seems that the military is trying to be the mediator in this affair, tried to put itself forward as a neutral actor. it is hard to see how it is going to be able to do that. the military is seen as siding with the antigovernment, yellow shirt lobby. it is difficult to imagine that it will be able to support any kind of way forward here. although martial law here in bangkok is almost invisible at the moment, for some people, it

is increasingly tough. there is huge censorship being exercised by the military. under martial law, they can arrest and hold people without trial for up to seven days. they have extreme power in their hands at the moment. it remains to be seen what they will do with that power, take control of the country, another clue like what happened in 2006 whatother coup like happened in 2006, or they could move to elections as soon as possible. we wait to see over the next day or two what the military aims to do with its newfound power. >> ismail wolff reporting from bangkok. witness reports from the town of chibok in nigeria sat that new attacks -- in nigeria say two new attacks have killed more than 30 people this week. there were two massive explosions that left at least

more injured.any that is the deadliest ever bomb attack in nigeria. boko haram, the group thought to be behind that attack, is also still holding those schoolgirls kidnapped a month ago. the nigerian government says it a six-month extension to the states of emergency in three northern areas worst hit by the violence. after a year of living under a state of emergency, residents of three nigerian states face another six months of the same fate. president goodluck jonathan describes the security situation in the northeastern regions as "daunting." the parliamentary decree gives the military freedom to crack down on islamist militants boko haram, thought to be based in the area. >> to stop the proliferation of light arms and small weapons and

arms equipment made available to terrorists. >> more than 2000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed this year alone as a result of the ongoing violence. the international spotlight has been on the country's fight against the islamist militants since over 200 girls were abducted from a school in april. the president and his administration have been under fire for their failure to rein in boko haram. >> i believe the government can do more. i personally believe it won't work. >> human rights officials in the country have cast doubt on the government's strategy. >> the state of emergency that was imposed the last year in eastern nigeria has not been able to crush insurgency. it has only given a license to [indiscernible] from france,ams

great britain, and united states are aiding in the search to find the missing teenagers. has asked the un security council to list boko haram as a terrorist organization. in egypt, former president hosni mubarak has been sentenced to three years in prison over strip -- over charges of stealing public money. mubarak was sentenced along with his sons, who were given four years in jail on the same charges. the chances were mubarak would actually serve any of that jail time at all. >> certainly, we are not going to see him thrown into jail for three years right now. mubarak is being held in the luxury military hospital -- in a uxury military hospital. it is almost certain that mubarak and his sons will appeal. the protest could take several years.

-- the process could take several years. happenedontext on what in this case, what mubarak and his sons are accused of and the link it has to the government today -- >> the mubarak's were accused of corruption and embezzlement of public funds and, in particular, the sale of one of the luxury palance's -- palaces that was owned by the president, which should have been owned by the state. .t was sold to mubarak's wife what they were doing was whatever they wanted for their private residences, luxury, maintenance -- they were having those bills paid for by the public, without their consent or knowledge. putting it down as maintenance work, public infrastructure, all sorts of things.

much of this was routed through a private company called arab contractors, one of the biggest construction firms in egypt today, the company that helped build a dam. there are no employees facing charges. one man who isn't facing charges is the company's chairman for the relevant period. he happens to be the current prime minister of the country. finalare now in the countdown for the european parliamentary elections and we will focus on just how that vote might go down in the u.k. the election there tomorrow could see significant progress for one anti-europe party, the very euro-skeptic -- more on why they have every chance of coming out on top. >> he is playing to a full house. learn --turned out to listen to britain's leading e

uro-skeptic. >> let's divorce ourselves amicably from the european union. >> they are even more -- >> this is the first time realistically that not only they could win a national election but that any party outside the established westminster group could be in this position. it is exciting for us. >> many people have been calling on matthew goodwin. >> typically, these motors are portrayed as disillusioned, middle-class conservatives who live out in the countryside and are only interested in the eu. they are more financially disadvantaged than most voters. they come from across the political spectrum. >> can i give you one of these? i hope you will keep it and support us.

>> he is the number two candidate. he has every chance of being elected. >> try and vote for somebody who is like i am. now arenes in there doing nothing for you. could be decisive results ahead of next year's general election. >> let's leave politics behind to go to a little glamour at that -- the cannes film festival. movie-year-old director's is called "goodbye to language" and it is being screwed and it is in the running for the top prize.

the festival is also very famous for its glamour. every year, the walk-up those implements -- the walk up those infamous red steps is made by the biggest stars on the planet. the media impact is huge not only for the stars but for the designers that dress them. >> it is one of the most famous red carpets in the world. all eyes are on the stars. the pressure is on to find an outfit fit for princess. choose, i try, sometimes i homedoubts, so i'm going and thinking about it. i come back and eventually try another thing. when you try and you know, you know it right away. e has walked the red carpet many times. she can get ready under 45 minutes and chooses her own clothes rather than relying on

a stylist. but she says she still does get nervous. >> i get anxious, like everyone. but you remind yourself that it is part of our work. a beautiful dress also requires accessories to match. tonds are more than happy give them to stars for the massive exposure. >> i've been here at cannes for 15 years. chooseties can pick and whatever handbag or jewelry they might want to wear for their special evening. we've seen a change become bigger. it has become more bigger and more action-packed. there are more films, more people coming, more brands represented. >> to get your dress worn by the likes of jane fonda makes the red carpet the most important catwalk in the world. a picture is worth more than $1000. >> you are watching "france 24."

let's take a look at our headlines. first, a crisis meeting in thailand but lean -- in thailand between rival political parties ends without resolution. that meeting was held by the army one day after imposing martial law across the nation. car bombs in nigeria leave at least 118 dead. no claim of responsibility yet, but it does seem in line with the boko haram militants still holding that group of 200 girls kidnapped last month. and the balkans begin counting the cost of the devastating floods that have left close to 50 dead. the bill could end up being more than for the entire bosnian war. now we will take a look at what the press have been saying around the world. let's start with this continuing violence in nigeria, this new, tragic news that another hundred people were killed in twin blasts.

>> i want to start out with the "washington post" coverage of this horrible incident in nigeria. it is saying that the attacks highlight the nigerian government's continued failure to curb boko haram's growing reach. boko haram has been mainly in the north of the country. in that paper we've got some quotes. one of them that stood out to me was from a survivor of the blast . 32 years of age, he says, "everybody is scared in nigeria. muslims and christians alike. we can only do one thing, which is to eradicate these terrorists from the soil of africa." >> what has the nigerian press been saying? they met the most widely read paper has a superb comment piece . if you're going to read one thing today, read this. it really is good. it is by a motion former nigerian minister -- it is from

a muslim former nigerian minister. he says there could be inroads into boko haram's grip down the road. we need now is special development projects in the north of the country, where boko haram has been mainly based, and that involves irrigation, agriculture, redeveloping the desert, so that the local people are able to live and take part in nigerian society. he says it is not charity, it is enlightened self-interest. "if we do not give people something to live for, someone will always step in and give them something to die for." >> you've also been looking at coverage of syria. >> there is an exclusive on the front page of "the garden" paper in the u.k. --w they turned to deadly

the explosion we saw at the citadel in aleppo him a massive explosion. the paper has an interview with abu -- one of the people packing in the last explosives in that bomb. he says they targeted syrian troops. 30 to 50 died. as soon as the bomb went off, it boosted morale on the revenue -- rebel side. he was a carpenter before the war. he says it took 33 days to build the tunnel and it was 107 meters long. amt is a fascinating article a worth reading. let me turn to "the daily beast." jihadistking about fighters of american origin who could be on syrian soil and who might be about to return to the states. there have been figures bandied

around in the past, up to about 70 americans in january. according got now is, to "the daily beast," 100. they are scared about people slipping through the cracks. what will those jihadist fighters do if they return to the states? >> let's return to france. >> let me go to something a bit more entertaining. 3 billionnt page, a euro divorce. the person who gains is elena. they were married 23 years. he is a billionaire oligarch, a hess court has announced must pay all that money to her. going to get half of his fortune, to the penny, in fact,

the swiss court being very precise about its decision there. the cartoon is really funny. , "3 billion euros? brilliant." he says, "dream on, lady, you won't be getting it." that russian billionaire is the owner of a football team. says, i'm going to be keeping a tab on all the football players in brazil before and during the tournament, the world not want any i do scandals about getting into a kerfuffle." i will be monitoring you, he is saying. >> thank you for that, nick ru shworth.

monaco has announced its coach will leave a year before the end of the contract. sports starts now. leave ones coach will year before the end of his contract. he steered monaco from the french second division before finishing second in league one behind paris st. germain. portugal's coach has named his final squad for the world cup. a manchester united winger is included in the 23-man list despite a disappointing season at the club level. mark remainsion cristiano ronaldo, who has been bothered recently by a hamstring injury. >> the guarantees on his

recovery -- we have had some information through the contacts we have had with real madrid naturally,ff, but, after the champions league final to be played next saturday, we will be able to see how the player ends the season and we will evaluate him while he is with us and from then onwards try to draw up a plan for the crucial moment for us, which is the start of the world cup. will play friendly's against mexico and ireland before heading to brazil. they've never finished higher than third in the world cup. they will also face usa and three.n group pele has said that protests and delays in building the stadiums are putting the world cup at risk and deterring tourists from traveling to the country.

he said he agreed with many of the demonstrators' grievances, but added that now was not the time to protest. what is clear is that politically the money spent to build the stadiums for the world cup was a lot. and in some cases, it was more than it should have been. if some of this money would have been invested in schools, hospitals, it would have been different. brazil needs investment in those areas. that's for sure. protesters areat now breaking and burning things, and that's money that we are going to have to spend again. despite the conflict, pele has called on the people of brazil to support the team once the world cup kicks off.

with roland garros just around the corner, the french public is once again dreaming of seeing one of their players, such as jo-wilfried tsonga, lift the title. the wait for a winner on the men's side dates back to 1993 in yannick w?q?q?q?q?q?gg99ññwççac