>> hello and welcome to this hour of "france 24." here is a lack at our top stories. barack obama promises to boost military might in countries along russia's borders. his appeal announced on the first leg of his four-day european trip in poland. extending voting by five hours, syria says turn out has been high. voting can only take place in government-controlled areas, meaning large blocks of the north and east have been excluded. and a new map of france is revealed. it hopes to reduce the burden of beurocrat's in a bid to save

money. but it is a plan in and out without its critics as you will see. the strongest of separatist strongholds in eastern ukraine has seen fierce fighting tuesday, a second day of olence in the region, as kiev's army continues. the army continues to have taken down a number of rebel fighters. the fighting comes just a day after battles in areas further to the east. pledging to help or bring stability back, $1 billion to support and train armed forces of nato states that border russia. that is the budget that u.s.

president barack obama is calling on congress to plouffe. he made this announcement on the first stop of his four-day trip in europe. he said he did not want to threaten russia but wanted them to stand down. >> a rainy start to barack obama's four-day visit. his aim, to reasure alleys that the united states has their backs with the ongoing crisis in the ukraine. with four f-16 footers behind him, he explained the reason for the visit. >> our commitment to poland security as well as the security of our allies in central and eastern europe is a cornerstone of our own security, and it is sacrasanct. it is a commitment that is particularly important at this

moment in time. >> the seven-week pro-russian insurgence in ukraine has left other eastern european countries nervously looking over their shoulders. white house has pledged an extra $1 billion in help. >> given the situation in ukraine right now, we have increased our american presence. we have begun rotating additional ground troops and f-16 aircraft into poland. this is going to help our forces train together. this is going to help our forces support nato air missions. it is also part of nato's stepped-up presence across central and eastern europe. >> with that, obama left the hanger with the polish president. the type especially poignant as it comes on the 25th anniversary of free elections after communist rule. travel to will

brussels. before we see what happens in france, we go to our correspondent in warsaw following the american president's visit. has the president met with the wishs? >> his words are going in the right direction, but not far enough to realize the pols wildest dreams, which is to have a nato base permanently on polish soil. the polish president was dropping strong hints in that direction when he said there should be no second-class nato members. that could be interpreted as a reference to the deal that the tacitly struck with russia, which is there would not be nato bases on the soil of those countries. he pols state russia's

occupation of crimea should wipe the slate of any deal of that kind. the polish prime minister has been stressing in interviews recently just what a thing to do that was, that and ex-ation that ea, the first time y european country has annexed the soil of any other country. they feel the u.s. should be reacting more strongly to that. the polish are celebrating 25 years of freedom, the first elections that brought about e end of come anything -- of communism in poland. people now think that poland, is a a nato member, an e.u. member, which is pretty prosperous european democracy

would ever be attacked by russia again, but the pols after seeing what happened in ukraine are not so sure. poland is increasing its military spending, and it wants other countries to do the same and as much u.s. help as it can get. >> thank you for your analysis of the situation. well, obama is to meet with poland's prime minister on monday. obama promises financial support to kiev through the winter months as it continues to negotiate its gas bill with russia. the supplier has offered a six-day extension on debt collection, avoiding an immediate cut-off of supplies. the two sides dispute the price that should be paid. the broker said they are closing the gap between them. >> polling stations in syria will stay open until midnight tonight local time.

after the electoral committee extended the voting by five hours, a move it said was necessary due to the high voter turn out, but a move that would only affect the areas participating in the election, those under government control. bashar al-assad is expected to walk away with a third seven-year term and others calling the election a sham. >> presidential elections amid a brutal civil war. for the first time in 50 years, syrian voters have a choice between several candidates, but with the polls only in government-held areas, saw saw is almost certain to win. others insist the polls are legitimate. >> we are here to show the world that nothing can stop us from expressing our free will. why should other countries be able to organize a vote and not us? why shouldn't we have a vote?

>> this is one of two candidates running against assad. he is a vocal critic of the president's economic policies, but considers him a close friend. >> the process is transparent and democratic. and given the huge turn-out, we are confident we will have the support of many voters. i wasn't expecting this, but because of this huge turn-out we may need to extend the elections by another day. >> in this northern town, rebels say the elections are a shameful farce which will only prolong the war. >> the elections are a means of avoiding reality and distracting the world from the massacres. this is the situation. the elections are pointless, and we are sure that he will lose the war. >> tens of thousands were voting abroad, but many of the two million refugees who have fled syria were excluded or

abstained. >> lucy gave us an idea of the atmosphere at the border and what syrians in lebanon think of the vote. >> thousands of people have come across here. 10,000 crossed the border today to vote. i spoke to a number of them, and a number of them said they were voting for bashar al-assad. there is a large army of syrian workers in lebanon. they didn't necessarily consider themselves refugees. lebanon has said over the last week that people who go back into syria to vote could lose their refugee status. that could have stopped a few. syrian refugees are divided on this issue as are the syrian people. >> indeed divided. the opposition has criticized the regime harshly for holding the vote amid a raging civil war. do people think the vote will help or hinder the situation further? > in the event it progresses

peacefully, some of the main rebel groups, including the islamic front said they would not attack polling stations to keep civilians out of the the conflict. that is one of the things that kept it quieter today, as well as a huge security presence on the part of the regime. but there is a general sense that because the poll could only take place in the government-held areas, because it was so disputed, with the opposition considering it a sham, calling it the election of blood, that this could have only increased the divisions in the country. the regime is looking increasingly involved, and it looks like the war is turning in the army's favor. last ity of homs fell month. it is more unlikely that assad

will step down. there is a fear that this could exacerbate things between the two positions. >> the last french hostage appeared g held has in a video. they are trying to secure his release. he was kid and a halfed as he as traveling with a colleague, philippe verdon. verdon's body was found shot dead in july of this year. the two men were on a business rip in the area when they were kidnapped. >> store owners and market owners rushed to shut down shops following the arrest of a pakistani politician on monday. he was wanted in pakistan on

murder charges. he has lived in the u.k. in exile since the 0's. he said he could shut down the city within minutes. his opponents says he is a tie ran. >> it is an anniversary that ina allows no public discussion of. the taketh anniversary of tiananmen square comes around. it is something that the u.s. has appealed to china to release them before the anniversary is over. >> a lone man facing down a tank. this iconic representation of the tiananmen square crackdown is sensitive on mainland china. but in hong kong it is a symbol of the 25-year anniversary of the massacre. this year many mainland chinese

have crossed the border for a chance to experience political protests. >> here it is written let's rehabilitate tiananmen events. this is the marching slogan. >> on mainland china these events don't exist. that is why i came here. >> most chinese people know little of the events of 1989. but a recently opened museum is trying to he had indicate some of the thousands of mainland terrorists who come to hong kong every week. most are reluctant to be filmed. >> we didn't know about this thing. it seems like it doesn't exist. so we never mentioned it, and i dare not to mention it to my parents. if i tried to, they will just say stop talking about it. >> but even here, such a museum encounters problems. the owners of the building could shut it down and allegedly under pressure.

>> it is trying to convince them to do something against this museum. no matter what happens to this museum, it happens. >> they also have to face pro communist party groups who increasingly turn up to provoke them as they did last sunday. the activists are accused of being backed by bengal, seemingly determined to control freedom of expression, even in hong kong. >> a new map of fraps has been revealed, simpler with eight regions less than before, a reduction in bureaucracy that the government will hope save money. it is not easy to redraw a map as regions revolt. here is the new face of france. >> it was not one of francois

hollande's campaign promises, but for the government it is tie anaheim to relay the zoning property. administrative layers have multiplied, says the president, time has come to simplify and clarify this so everybody knows who funds what and with what resources. the plan is to cut the number of renals. -- regions. three would fuse into a single entity. the same in the south of ranchise with two merging. some consider difficult to edistrict these areas and were untouched. >> merging two or three regions will lead to cutting the number of council members. >> the government is hoping to save money, some 10 billion you'res in the next 10 years

but also help regions be more competitive by redefining the roll of each body. >> did you know that compared to the german regions, the support for companies innovations jobs, french regions receive five times last fund. in france this money is scattered all over the place. >> they could disappear over the next decade, and many of those prerogatives would be transferred to regional councils. >> we are turning to business news, and the french government is speaking up against a steep hilippine fins the bank b.h.p. -- b. n.p. paribas. here is more. >> barack obama has kicked off a tour meant to heilman the close ties with europe. at the same time, the french government is protesting against a possible $10 billion

for for b.n.p. pair bass skirting sanctions against, iran and cuba. hey say $10 billion would be disproportionate and may hurt trade talks. here is more. >> as the u.s. president boarded air force one to europe, he may not have known about the political row he was flying into it. a stand-off it brewing over the largest bank. .n.p. paribas risks paying a $so billion settlement, something the french government says is unreasonable. >> this poses a serious problem. of course there should be a fine. however, the fine should be proportional and reasonable. this figure is not reasonable. >> b.n.p. is accused of doing business with iran, cuba and

zambrano between 2002 and 2009. last month the governor of france's central bank said b.n.p. was in compliance with laws, rules and regulations of the european union and france. france president francois hollande will bring up the issue with the u.s. president on thursday. the foreign minister has hinted that the fine could impact the transatlantic free trade deal. >> they are putting fresh pressure on the european central bank to help the euro zone economy, this as inflation slowed during the month of may to just a half percent. inflation has fallen steadily in the last year, a sign of weak demand. that is far blow the target rate. it is raising concerns of falling prices or deflation, which is seen as bad news for the economy.

the e.c.b.'s governing council will be meeting on thursday to discuss how to responsibility. there is speculation the central bank will take action to boost lending to small and medium sized businesses. now ahead of the e.c.b. meeting, investors were seen taking a step back in the stock markets. urope finished in negative territory. after hitting record highs on monday, the dow and s&p 500 s&p 500 in the united states are in negative territory. general motors and ford are among the winners after better than expected car sales in may, but not enough to lift the industries above the flat line. the european union has told bug -- bulgaria pend to suspend preparations for a pipeline.

it would bypass ukraine. the european commission calls for a suspension pending a decision on whether the project violates e.u. competition law. a spokeswoman for commission says south stream should be value waited in light of european priorities. european leaders have called for a review for energy supplies during a stand off with ukraine. the bulgarian minister says he believes the pipeline could bolster energy security and create jobs. if we look at other news in brief, still no saying on a related topic. poland's foreign minister is urging france to pull the plug on a deal to sell two war ships to russia. they say the sale of two helicopter carriers could threaten the russian neighborhood. they agreed to sell them for 1.2 billion euros. france set the contract must be

honored. the french luxury group said it has finalized the sale of a mail order company. this sale is seen to help them get out of retail and focus on luxury good. final if you are reason to road rage, don't go driving around moscow any time soon. the russian captain is the world's more congested. a driver in moscow with a commute that should take half an hour in normal traffic is delayed by a total of 128 hours per year. istanbul is in second place, followed by rio de janeiro, mexico city and sao paulo. 128 hours worth of delay is ouch. >> i promise i won't complain about the traffic here in paris. it is time now for our daily

dose of web news. >> hello there, welcome to today's web news where we will be taking a look at some of the stories making headlines. coming up on today's show, the n.s.a. is interpreting millions of online images every day. utrage over an attack on two transsexual women in atlanta. and a pretty impress griffin display. >> no longer content with collecting telephone and online data from people all over the world, the national security agency is now harvesting images that web user have posted online. the article claims the u.s. intelligence agency is interpreting millions of pictures every day to use in its facial recognition program. they say it has accelerated

under the obama administration and particularly so over the past four years with the growth of social networks. according to top secret documents obtained by edward snowden, the u.s. started using the software in 2010, which .aptures images the revelations have sparked anger biyombo. web users from across the globe have been slamming the use by the n.s.a. and urging selfie enthusiasts to stop posting pics on the web. lthough the n.s.a.'s practices have not condemned online, it is not the only organization taking an interest in facial technology. the f.b.i. is also collecting millions of facial images of americans to help billed its

so-called next generation identification data base which reported lillibridge will cost close to $1 billion. >> no, no! oh! >> this week released video filmed on may 20 on a commuter train in atlanta, u.s.a. e silent scenes in which two transsexual women are physically and verbally attacked. no one came forward to help and the footage has been relayed online, garnering 2.5 million views. the video has prompted an outpouring of commentary online. opinions posted their online, and people sat back and watched it happen. they were able to film it, but no one intervened.

they say police dope do enough to ensure that traveling on public transport is a safe experience. one of the victims has criticized the atlanta rail system security officials. in an interview, she says they didn't even write up a report or take statements after the incident. minority group solutions also denounced a lack of support by staff, who did not even off the victims any medical attention. the group is now campaigning for more comprehensive training for security officials to provide better protection for the gay, lesbian and transgender community. >> american football team, the washington redskins got more than they bargained for cohen they asked fans to tweet under the redskins pride hashtag with what the team means to them.

instead of support, countless people seized the opportunity to berate the name, urging a name change. name change. a1x1xa7guc

06/03/14 06/03/14 democracy now! democracy now! [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> the united states has always a pretty sacred rule, and that is we don't leave our men or women in uniform behind. >> president obama defends his approval to swap sergeant bowe bergdahl, an american pow,