>> thank you very much for joining us. isis in surgeons have captured a rock' -- captured iraq's biggest christian town sending thousands fleeing for their lives, fearing the choice others have been forced to make, convert or face death. the archbishop told "france 24" the situation faced by christians in iraq must not be ignored. >> despite all the institutions that have happened during history, this is the worst one

especially when you think it is 2014, and everyone is silence about it -- silent about it, as though it never happened. if you keep silent about christians, other minorities will suffer. when they -- it is a desperate situation. it was a massive -- massacre, a genocide. >> president barack obama is considering the use of airstrikes against isis, and franchise -- france has pledged support for the forces fighting against insurgents. more on how the international community seems to be mobilizing. >> there has been activity on the diplomatic scene. the americans are planning something in the next few days whether that be food and water drops or something more decisive -- airstrikes. it does look as though we are reaching a time where the

dramatic threat to minorities is about to force action. france has also stepped forward and they are anticipating being asked to make some sort of contribution that is likely to be a military contribution. >> nigeria's health minister is warning the ebola outbreak represents a threat to every nation. her words follow the death of two victims in liberia. troops stopped people from the western areas entering the capital of monrovia. in sierra leone, the army is blockading affected towns. the world health organization has been meeting for a second day to just -- to address the crisis. there have been calls for the use of experimental drugs to try to stop the spread of ebola virus. our next report features disturbing images -- a man collapsing in the streets of an

african city, people scared to touch him or try to help him fearing he is unable a suffer -- her siis an ebola sufferer. >> onlookers feared he may be the latest victim of the deadly ebola virus. and though he drew a crowd, no one came to help him. residents say it took nearly five hours before medical assistance arrived. >> we came here this morning and saw him collapsed on the street. i don't know whether he was suffering from ebola or not. i cannot tell you anything. we wanted to come and take him from here because we are afraid. >> it is unclear if the man had contracted the disease. fear of ebola is spreading. ginny is one of the african countries struggling to cope with the outbreak -- guinea is one of the african countries struggling to cope with the outbreak. the government is trying to fight misinformation and spread awareness.

the u.s. has repatriated two aid workers who constant -- contracted the disease while working on the continent. the center for disease control rates -- raised its response to the highest alert level. since february, ebola has killed more than 930 people in the region. >> this outbreak of ebola is remarkable. the cases in the last couple weeks represents a third of all the ebola cases ever reported. it is a dramatic spike. >> a saudi arabian man who was treated for ebola-like symptoms after visiting sierra leone recently died at a hospital. if confirmed, it would be the first ebola-related death outside of africa. >> foul play has not been ruled out by investigators of the air algerie crash. the flight broke up on impact with the ground after banking

sharply during that weather -- bad weather. the jet crashed in mali on july 24. there were no survivors. nearly half of the victims were from france. the next report will be in september. >> the search for answers continues, but they are sadly not to be found within the black boxes of air algerie's -- of the air algerie flight. it has emerged that the cockpit voice recorders were badly damaged when the plane crashed. >> unfortunately, the recordings held on this device are unusable. >> the voice recorders in the 18-year-old aircraft use magnetic tape, which has since been replaced on more recent planes using digital technology. experts will continue to try to extract data, but they don't

give any guarantees of success. until more information surfaces, analysts continue to focus on weather patterns and the flight data from the other block box -- black box. the jet had to make a detour to avoid the storm. the aircraft entered a corkscrew-shaped descent. experts are relying on dna samples to identify the dead. the impact was extremely violent. >> we found no suitcases nor bags. it was all entirely destroyed. >> nonetheless, they will be able to identify all those who perished in the crash. the only comfort relatives can take is that their loved ones didn't suffer. >> hamas' armed wing is urging palestinian negotiators not to accept an extension of the gaza truce unless their demands are met.

this follows israel's offer to prolong the 72-hour agreement be on friday. there are fears that fighting could resume. more from jerusalem on the reaction to the peace talks which are being held in cairo. >> the sense that we are getting here is that what is going on during these negotiations is, in a way, a diplomatic continuation of the battles. very tough negotiations. it is obvious that both sides will not be able to get what they want. israel has been insisting on the complete demilitarization of the gaza strip before it is willing to put an end to its operation protective edge, although it has partially withdraw itwn troops. on the palestinian side, the requests that are being made are also unlikely to be granted notably, regarding the seaports,

the opening of rafah and other requests made by palestine such as the complete lifting of the gaza blockade. very tough negotiations. the first thing that actually needs to be negotiated is an extension of the current talks. for the moment hamas is insisting if they do not get their demands by tomorrow, friday, 8:00 a.m., they will resume firing. they say their hands are on the trigger as they talk. >> more of course on the israel-gaza situation as we continue through this program. we stay in the middle east for our next story. jordan has been accused of discriminating against palestinians denying entry to those fleeing the crisis in syria. this comes from human rights watch. jordan's prime minister says it

was not fair. let's get more from the deputy director of the middle east-north africa and division at human rights watch. good evening to you. are you being unfair, as jordan puts it? >> not at all. we recognize the efforts jordan has done to welcome syrian refugees but what the reports highlight is there are a category of refugees from syria namely palestinians, -- from syria, namely palestinians, that jordan has not been fair to. we've seen a worrying development. forced deportation of at least 100 palestinians from syria, including women and children him from jordan back to syria -- women and children, from jordan back to syria in very dangerous conditions. >> why would jordan have a problem accepting palestinian refugees? >> that's the question we hope the jordanian government will answer. in meetings with us, they have said this is a problem created by syria and also by israel.

they did not give us any convincing answers. what we understood is that they are worried if they allow palestinians from syria to come in hundreds of thousands, in their words, would actually come rushing to jordan, and that these palestinians would find it very hard to go back to syria at the end of the conflict. >> in terms of what happens next, clearly you can't solve the crisis in syria. that would be ideal, obviously. how do you see a way forward of coping with this crisis involving the palestinian refugees? >> the answer really has to be at three levels. first, neighboring countries including jordan, have to allow palestinians in. we've seen images of the camp where they live. people are dying. they have no way to escape. neighboring countries have to treat them like they are treating other syrians because they face the same dangers. secondly, because many of the labor -- neighboring countries have fears about what is

happening, the international community has to step up, has to say, ok, we are willing to support you more financially. there has to be a burden sharing in resettlement for humanitarian reasons. and i think it is important to allow some of these palestinians to go back, at least as a first step, to areas controlled by the palestinian authorities. we cannot have a repeat of what happened to the palestinians from a rack -- from iraq, where they spent months in a no man's land because no one wanted to receive them. >> clearly, a human tragedy unfolding before our eyes. thank you very much. nadim houry from human rights rock -- watch. two former leaders of the khmer rouge have been sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. the two -- one of them was the

head of state during one of the darkest periods of world history. cambodia was called -- turned into a so-called peasants' utopia. in reality, it became what was known as the killing fields. over 2 million perished. john kerry is in kabul trying to find a way forward in the presidential stalemate in afghanistan. there are allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. he is hoping to move towards a unity government in the country. the results of the vote are still being reviewed. oscar pistorius has been accused of telling a snowball of lies. in the closing statement, the chief prosecutor went on to call the south african athlete a deceitful witness. the blade runner denies murdering his girlfriend on valentine's day last year.

he insists he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder. >> we have january 2013, february 7 2013, february 14, 2013 -- >> portrayed as a gun-obsessed, impulsive man, oscar pistorius had used firearms in public places several times before killing his girlfriend on valentine's day. the prosecutor slams the paralympic star. >> it is a deceitful witness. the court should have no difficulty interpreting the full version of events as being absolutely void of any truth. >> the defense argues pistorius has an anxiety disorder. he thought there was an intruder and fired four shots through a locked toilet door, mistakenly killing reeva steenkamp.

for the prosecutor, that is nonsense. >> he wasn't anxious. he challenged the police officer. he engaged with the police officer about what he was doing with his gun not an anxious person being worried and scared. >> the closing arguments are expected to last two days. after that, the judge will have to review more than 4000 pages of evidence before giving her final verdict. if convicted of murder pistorius could face life in prison. >> time to remind you of the main world news headlines. france says it will help iraq fight the isis extremists. this as the country's biggest christian town is seized by the sunni insurgents. troops deployed in a bid to help stop the spread of the ebola virus. a state of emergency is declared in liberia. nigeria warns every nation is at risk. foul play has not been ruled out

by investigators of the air algerie crash. initial findings show the jets did not break up before it hit the ground in the -- the jet did not break up before it hit the ground in the mali desert. more in just a few minutes on "france 24." >> time now for media watch. l'oreal has a slogan "because you're worth it." that's got nothing to do with this story, has it? the boycott linked to the israeli-palestinian conflict -- l'oreal targeted that?

>> there are all sorts of variations on that online, not necessarily flattering for l'oreal or garnier. the issue is a local distributor of garnier products, which belongs to l'oreal paris. a photo went up on a website in support of the israeli army, with female members and their beauty products, and a slogan on the stand with us facebook page, saying, "so they can still take care of themselves even while defending the country." it got more than 11,000 -- some 12,000 likes in support of that. quickly, l'oreal and garnier became the target of this ever-broadening boycott move.

people subject to this ire boycott l'oreal and garnier. somebody on twitter in spanish throwing out there l'oreal products -- out their l'oreal products. "worthless> and how contentious it will remain. a french company in the center and taking it full in the face as you might say. we are having a slight technical issue with the link at the computer. james will continue his explanations. >> i will do my best.

>> reactions online to a very serious issue. persecutions of religious minorities in iraq by isis. there is talk of genocide. >> you do have images of the 40,000 or so -- >> just go through it. >> i give you a sense of the reactions online. we've been hearing from white house and pentagon officials. they could be forcing the hands of u.s. officials. both the white house and pentagon said they would not intervene unless mary al-maliki stood down -- unless nouri al-maliki stood down. there is an article talking about this. air drops or air strikes? active or passive help? humanitarian aid or military intervention? very different approaches. francois hollande is saying he's

considering some sort of help as well. one further article on all of this. there is increasing tension -- attention on this issue. there is this piece from "the ticket -- "the daily telegraph." we are aware there has been a certain amount of coverage of the christians, the christians who have been targeted by isis. the yazidi are a lesser-known religious faith, in existence for about 6000 years. as sean thomas says in this article, the genocidal attack on the yazidi people is as evil as anything going on in the middle east. he says it is a very unusual mixed faith. like hindus, they believe in reincarnation. like christians, they practice baptism. they pray facing the sun like zoroastrians. he says, somebody who has

studied the faith, it is about 6000 years old, and in some senses, it is like the mothership of all faiths in the east, taking and pulling out strands of the origins that are even older in the yazidi faith. he is saying what an absolute tragedy it is that they are being targeted in this way, a very peaceful people. who could explain why anybody would want to target them that way? it is impossible. >> thank you very much james with the media watch. we turn straight to business. a food fight between russia and basically everybody else. >> we are looking at the fallout as tensions over ukraine are escalating. as you say russia is now interning a food fight, so to speak -- now entering a food fight, so to speak, with the u.k. and other western powers, banning --

the ban covers imports of fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, and dairy product. farmers and fruit producers in the european union, united states, canada, norway, and australia will be hit. let's look at a picture of a shipment of french cheese that was meant to be sent to russia within days. its owners are now looking for new customers. french cheese producers overall shift more than 10,000 tons of cheese to russia last year -- overall shipped more than 10,000 tons of cheese to russia last year. looking for alternative clients. norway's fishing industry is feeling the pinch. exports amounted to about $1 billion in 2013. intel uses -- it tells you the story of food producers looking for new customers. in a sign that the standoff could worsen, the commission says the russian import ban is politically motivated. the eu exported 11 point 8

billion euros worth of food and agricultural products to russia in 2013. we've heard from the head of the european union -- european central bank and he has warned that the standoff over ukraine couldn't weigh on the euro zone's recovery. mario draghi kept interest rates steady. they held fire at the ecb in terms of new measures to stimulate the euro zone economy. france has been calling for action from the ecb to help their recovery along. figures show it police let -- show italy had slipped into another recession. there were plenty of factors for mario draghi and his colleagues to consider. let's listen to mario draghi as he spoke about the russian risk, in particular. >> the likely impact of the sanctions on the euro area economy -- we see risk especially coming from say the price of energy.

but as i said, it is kind of difficult now to precisely define what are the options in the future. >> noervousness over the russian standoff with western powers. we've seen stock markets trading lower this session. the u.s. markets have turned into negative territory after being in positive territory earlier. investors are digesting some upbeat economic data with a number of new job seekers falling more than expected last week being overshadowed by the geopolitical tensions. the main indices in london, paris, frankfurt -- negative territory as well. we heard from the bank of england this thursday. it too held its interest rates steady. next, we will ask whether the energy industry in mexico is really heading for a fresh

start. mexican lawmakers voted for a reform package that will break more than seven decades of state monopoly. the idea is to let foreign firms and private companies in to rejuvenate a sector that has been stagnating. >> it is -- its seven decade grip on mexico's energy sector is set to end. the state-run companies have to compete with foreign companies for the first time since 1938, part of president and regain it tell -- president and regain pena nieto -- president enrique pena nieto's -- >> it will strengthen pemex. >> oil production is mexico -- in mexico has slipped from the peak to a current of 2.5 million barrels. with the reform, the government is hoping for companies will

help mexico exploit its shale and deepwater reserves with their technology and expertise. not everyone has jumped on board. >> once foreign firms have a contract with mexico, they will be able to integrate the reserves in their ledgers and influence the international markets. mexico will then have lost control of its hydrocarbons. >> one of the most controversial measures of the reform is the mexican government absorbing part of the pensions liabilities for pemex workers expected to total around $127 billion or 10% of the country's gdp. opening up the sector is expected to jumpstart latin america's second-largest economy. they expect to see a jump once the first bids are issued. >> a bit of a struggle uphill for the mexican energy industry. there are hopes it will take off because of these reforms. >> we know you will be watching

that closely for us. thank you very much. that's it for now. just a brief bit of news. the tunnel at mont blanc in the alps has been closed

♪ s is democracy now. >> this is a very contentious issue, israel and palestine. i am surprised it is only a contentious issue in the united states not even among the population. it is contentious because the u.s. government and the israeli government are blocking a very important consensus