>> welcome to the "france 24" newsroom. forging closer ties. ukraine signs a landmark trade pact with the e.u. russia warns the deal will have consequences. i'll string moderate levels. -- bolstering moderate levels. president obama calls for $500 million to train in opposition as militants continue their fight for a unified islamic state. algerian football fans have been going wild with joy after their team qualify for the first time ever for the last 16 of the world cup in brazil.

ukraine has signed a landmark trade act with the european union. it brings the country increased political and economic ties with europe. russia has warned it will have grave consequences for the ukrainian people. that agreement was signed in brussels a short while ago. the ukrainian president is due to speak in the coming hour. nicholas has more. >> an historic moment as petro poroshenko signs the agreement that has been at the center of ukraine's crisis. whichd the pen in a club was to use a similar summit late last year. minde agreement brings to

november. it did not happen then. but the pen is the same, demonstrating historic events are unavoidable. >> his decision to reject the agreement in favor of closer ties with moscow led to his ouster following protests. that prompted russia to annex crimea and led to a pro-russian rebellion in eastern ukraine. a weeklong fragile says fire -- cease-fire expires friday. moscow is applying economic rusher. it has raised gas prices and cut off supplies to ukraine. russia -- brussels want talks next month to reassure russia the agreement is not aimed against moscow. where's cross to brussels mave is standing by. we heard the ukrainian president earlier today before signing

saying it offers a new perspective and new start for his country. what does this mean for ukraine. >> he said it is a great day for his country. it means access to the european union's internal market, 500 million consumers. it means free movement of goods and services, and capital. just like the rights in the european union. it means standardizing laws in line with safety standards for food and the environment. >> this pact does not guarantee a full year membership --e.u. membership. >> absolutely not. that promise is not on the table today. that is a different procedure. most feel the conclusions of the summit in brussels that the agreement was not the final step of the partnership between the e.u. and these three countries.

that would hint that one day membership would be possible. that would have to get the support of the 20 member states -- 28 member states. it could take decades. it would be hard to put a date on when that could happen. poroshenko said his country paid a high price and he is looking for support from all countries in the union. >> this pact was to be signed last november by the then president. it did lead to the current crisis in ukraine. russia is clearly unhappy and disagrees with the pact. >> absolutely. vladimir putin did not want those three countries to sign these agreements with the european union. he wants them to sign his eurasian economic pact that he signed with pakistan and belarus and pressuring others to sign. they decided to take the

european path and not go with him. awareropean union is well of pressure from moscow. they've started meeting with ministers of economic development from russia and ukraine to make sure the implementation of the agreement is going ok. they have a special meeting in july. this agreement did not happen overnight. this has been a process of seven long years of negotiations between the european union and these three countries. russia has had a lot of time to impactsterms with the unless influence -- and the lesser influence putin will have as they become closer to the european union in. inwe will be checking back with you as we wait for poroshenko to speak in the coming hour. i will bring in our international editor for more analysis. this has been touted as an historic agreement. why? >> both sides is sending a

message that ukraine is part of the european union family. ukrainian government is signaling it does not want to be part of the russian sphere. it is a hugely important day for those who fought for this association agreement and sacrificed their lives for it. in november, 100 people were theed in central kiev at height of the protests against the former president, the man who refused to sign the agreement that today has been signed. for the pro-european movement in ukraine, this is literally a question of flesh and blood in a way it is not for people in western europe. western europe has a more jaded attitude toward the european union. that is going to be a factor in whether e.u. leaders do admit ukraine as a member. that could take many years.

this association agreement could be a step towards that. there are no guarantees those sacrifices would lead to full membership one day. >> we heard a bit about what ukraine is gaining out of this agreement. tell us more about the pros and cons. there are some cons. >> in terms of the savings exporters in ukraine are set to make, that is a figure of 500 million euros a year being projected by the e.u. at a savings made by no longer having to pay custom duties on goods into going -- going into your. you have to offset that with losses incurred from russia taking countermeasures. russia has warned of grave consequences. we already have a clue as to what those mean. on june 23, russia said it would

protect its markets against ukrainian goods. in other words, it will raise customs barriers for ukrainian goods running into russia. this is why the former president signhe did not want to this association agreement. at least that was the official reason he gave. he was under a lot of pressure from putin. he projected ukraine would lose 367 billion euros in trade with russia. contrast that with 500 million in savings. he was arguing this is a bad deal for ukraine. it was not just the russians unhappy with this association agreement. there were some in ukraine saying if we join this, our goods are going to compete with the same goods elsewhere in europe, which are technologically better and cheaper to produce.

we are going to have a problem of competitiveness and be much like certain business organizations were in bulgaria and romania. this has not been universally accepted in ukraine. for the pro-europeans, there's important factor which is about incrementing european norms and standards aimed at challenging the oligarchs and their entrenched interests. there's a hope among the pro-europeans that eventually this will lead to cleaner politics and a better relationship between politics and big money in ukraine. >> this is not just about economics. it is about the struggle for influence between the e.u. and russia. where do things stand? who is winning this battle? >> it is a blow to russia that ukraine did not join the customs union. let's show you a map of that union that now comprises russia,

kazakhstan, and belarus. ukraine would have expanded that market significantly to 220 million consumers. it would also have protected russia's southwestern flank, as you can tell from looking at that map. protecting it, making it a buffer zone with nato and e.u. countries to the west. this is a loss for russia. a tussle between russia and the west continues. lost to thebe association agreement, but eastern ukraine is not lost to russia yet. russia will continue to exert influence using the gas issue and its influence through those militants in eastern ukraine. >> you mentioned a buffer zone. we are also seeing moldova and online to sign

association pact with europe. hopefully wetries, can show you where they are situated as well. george and moldova are both ex-soviet states and like ukraine have difficult relations with russia. moscow backing breakaway territories in mulled over and georgia. the reason is because nato cannot accept new members that have breakaway conflicts on their territories. comesof russians thinking back to the deep-seated and long-standing fear of nato expansion. that explains a lot of russia's behavior over ukraine, moldova, and georgia. >> thank you for that analysis on this situation. the increasingly tangled fight against sunni extremists in iraq and syria. washington has made a bid to strengthen more moderate syrian rebels. thursday, president obama called

on congress for $500 million in training and arms for the syrian opposition. it comes as syria and iraq face and expanding offensive that isis militants. been reluctant to arm the opposition because of concern it could fall -- weapons could fall into extremist hands. >> obama wants congress to approve part of the $5 billion counterterrorism fund he announced the key foreign-policy speech at the west point military academy last month. it will be part of the 2015 overseas contingency operations budget request. part of a larger piece of legislation that will have to work its way through congress. that money will be going toward training elements of the syrian opposition to help them counter assad's troops and also terrorists in their midst.

on the money and training are yet to be hammered out, mainly because the white house wants to consult with congress on details and also with international allies as to how this training and equipping of the opposition is going to take place. it will have to work its way through both houses of congress to be approved. that could be an uphill battle given we have seen both houses have been skeptical of u.s. involvement in middle east conflicts recently. >> over the past two weeks, sunni a string this particular large areas of western and northern iraq -- sunni extremists have taken over large areas of western and northern iraq. the prime minister and his government had failed to stop the militants threatening to tear the country apart and bring further instability to the already volatile region. >> the aftermath of the syrian

strike on the border of iraq, an area not under the control of isis. an attack welcomed by the iraqi prime minister who is receiving help to fight the militants for more than just one ally. damascus, tehran, and washington are all seemingly fighting a common enemy. this article details what each country has applied. iran is sending surveillance drones and weapons and officers to advise. dozens of troops are stationed at the border. tehran has also set up a control center at the airbase, ironically, a former american base. 300u.s. has sent up to commanders and 35 surveillance flights per day. senior american officials have emphasized the parallel efforts to fight isis are not coordinated. the u.s. secretary of state has expressed concern about other countries getting involved.

it has been widened with the reports of irgc personnel, people from enron being engaged in iraq -- people from iran being engaged in iraq and perhaps syrian activities. that is one reason why government formation is urgent, so the leaders of iraq can make decisions necessary to protect iraq without outside forces moving to fill a vacuum. >> despite calls from the international community and prime his own country, minister maliki has discounted forming a national salvation government, even as the iraq crisis begins to creep against -- across its borders. >> iraq's top shiite cleric has called for local blocks to agree on the next government's prime minister, promise speaker, and president before parliament

meets tuesday at of a constitutional deadlines put in place. ties.g closer these are the headlines we are giving you right now. ukraine has signed a landmark trade pact with the e.u. russia has warned the deal will have negative impact on the ukrainian population. u.s. president barack obama calls for $500 million to train and arm the syrian opposition as extremists continue their fight for a unified islamic state. algerian football fans have been going wild with joy after their team qualified for the first time ever for the last 16 of the world cup. it is time for a look at what is grabbing headlines in the world press. we are going to start with the french press. >> a lot of focus on new unemployment figures that came out yesterday. there were 24,800 new job

seekers in may. that pushes unemployment to a record level in france of over 5 million job seekers. right-leaning paper that is alarmed today saying france is sinking into mass unemployment. in the editorial, it wonders how long the downward spiral is going to last. it has been going on for too long. the new labor minister is drawing a lot of criticism for his reaction to these new figures or lack of reaction. he has been very casual about the new figures, according to this editorial. almost indifferent about the results. he did not give an official reaction. he said he did not want to be like his predecessor and comment on monthly unemployment figures. all he said was these are not so good. havesays he may not anything to say about the new historic implement figures but does have a lot to say about

football. wednesday, he was invited on a popular show. he was not talking about unemployment. he was there to promote a book he has written about football called "beautiful game." this says it is a little ridiculous he did not mention the unemployment figures. >> french papers are talking over -- about the battle over european commission president. >> david cameron is on this mission to block the appointment of one as the head of the european commission. the says he is fighting a losing battle. warned european leaders the appointment would push written out of the e.u. he's trying to paint him as a diehard european federalist out of touch with anti-european sentiment. he hoped other european leaders would follow his lead. let's take a look at a cartoon drawing inspiration from the road" beatles "abbey

album cover. david cameron is saying follow me. the other european leaders are not. >> let's cross stateside where papers are focusing on a controversial supreme court ruling concerning abortion clinics. >> this is a unanimous decision by the supreme court. it ruled buffer zones around abortion clinics in massachusetts are unconstitutional. people defending the buffer zones said they are necessary to avoid harassment and physical intimidation of women going to get abortions in massachusetts. but the supreme court said these are a violation of the first amendment, freedom of speech, of whoe antiabortion activists could not give "gentle counseling" to the women about to get abortions. this is an editorial critical of the ruling for not acknowledging the real threat women face when they try to exercise their

constitutional right to get an abortion. this is an article also critical of this ruling saying the last to have anan about abortion needs is to be screened out by antiabortion campaigners. there are also instances -- other instances where these buffer zones exist around political rallies, voting stations, and the supreme court. it wonders why public safety comes first in these instances instead of freedom of speech. for the first time, algeria qualified for the knockout round. there has been excitement in the algerian and french press because of the big country and community. it kept me up a big part of the night. this is a front page today talking about how magical of jury was during the game -- algeria was during the game last night. >> we had plenty of fans out on

the street in my neighborhood. the papers are continuing to playern the uruguayan who but one of his competitors -- who bit one of his competitors. suspending him from nine matches and banned him from four months of any football related activities. getting a lot of attention in the uruguayan press. this is an article that says bad , but a lot ofz fans in brazil are having fun with the story. you can see a story -- the picture of a woman posing in front of a poster in brazil, a scary looking poster of suarez. it is not the first time he has been punished for biting another player. in thesh-speaking paper u.s. says he is a prisoner of his past. this is the third time in his career he has been punished for biting another player. as you can imagine, he has been the butt of a lot of jokes.

this is in a portuguese business paper. it is talking about foot-bullying and new training methods for modern football. >> thank you. it is time for sports. we are starting with the latest football action. >> algeria through to the last 16 of the world cup for the first time after getting the draw they need against russia. he gave russia the lead. that would enough -- been enough to send the men through but they were able to secure a tie with germany. belgium has a 100% record. the late winter sealed a tie with the united states in the next round. delirious in were the capital as their heroes reached uncharted territory.

fans flocked to watch the game in the thousands. the equalizer means of jury can toast knockout world football for the first time. is the first time africa has had two teams in the knockout stages. >> [indiscernible] it is good to be in front leading. they can go for counterattack. they have those kinds of players. i had not the good feeling i can survive for 90 minutes without scoring the second goal. what happened? [laughter] you know? yeah. he was there, he is the man of the match probably. rew an algeria has come through. >> germany beat the united

states to top group g, but both sides are through to the knockout rounds. he got his ninth world cup goal. the u.s. is ahead of portugal. portugal got the victory they needed but did not win by enough. his goal got portugal on their way before the equalizer. the winner was in vain though. theyerman and u.s. fans, were united enjoy is the sealed places in the last 16. the u.s. are also building a reputation. americans have reached the knockout rounds in four of their last six world cup appearances. uruguayan striker has been banned from football for four months after being found get -- guilty of biting the italian player. he has been fined and ordered to leave the hotel, but they are

set to launch an appeal as they believe he is being persecuted. he and the lawyer are in another hotel working on the appeal. we requested a meeting with the president of fifa. we talked for 40 minutes. the truth is, i'm not entirely clear on what the arguments were. that is something the lawyers have to find out. what is clear is the punishment is very hard for luis. that is how we feel. personally, i think they getting uruguay out of the world cup. missed theree incident the match against italy but pictures show him biting his shoulder. it is the third time he has been sanctioned for biting. >> such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football stage, and in particular not at the world cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field. the disciplinary committee took

into effect -- account all of the factors of the case and the degree of his skills in accordance with the relevant provisions of the code. the decision comes into force as soon as it is communicated. >> the 27-year-old is also bannedgg99ññwççñmwxñ

to "the and welcome health show" -- your weekly guide to the world of medicine. coming up, a technology that allows surgeons to operate right inside a beating heart. the latest equipment designed for the