the fight against global warming. against official policy, three french parliamentarians declaring the syrian president lost all his legitimacy several years ago. the move has drawn the ire of the government in paris military sources in kiev say the kerning president is likely to order government forces to start pulling back heavy weapons in the countries east.

the latest agreement may be starting. stephen will be here, telling you how -- french bread seeing a growing stream of baker's. dusty-- bakers. our top story, momentum building towards a major you one client -- the major you oneu.n. climate conference. francois hollande says he is determined to leave a mark i broke ring -- by brokering -- he

is being accompanied on this trip by two of france's leading actresses. >> we are coming to the point of no return when it comes to climate change. we must transform intention into action. recalling desk calling on all states to work quickly to fight against climate change. particularly against its effects. corresponding to their situation and national capacity. >> let's get more details on this message to the philippines by francois hollande. he has called for a climate change alliance with the philippines. what moves are a push to make that happen? >> it is very important right now and a welcome development in

the philippines. france is partnering with us on this. we have to prepare this country for a lot of -- and brought by climate change right now appeared they see how weather has been changing. filipinos depend on the agricultural front across the country. the sea, the land -- droughts during the driest periods of the month and severe weather. even during the off-season. severe weather increasing and causing so much damage. the partnership between paris and manila will push awareness around the world. >> the philippines viewed as being on the front line in the battle against global warming. how is it preparing for the key conference in paris? >> right now, they have been

gathering information that will be presented in paris. we are going to show examples of what kinds of damage climate change is having. so much affecting the lives of a lot of people. coastal towns, villages and even schools and education -- billions have been lost because of climate change. right now, we are also preparing for preventing this by shifting to clean energy. we are trying to control the decay because of pollution in our water and air and the land. we want to show the world in paris that things can be done if we all work together. >> thank you very much for that update. three renegade french politicians have traveled to

damascus. the first such meeting since france closed its embassy in 2012. the trip was not approved by the french parliament's foreign affairs committee. here is juliet kemp. >> bashir al-assad along three visiting french polar rotarians. -- parliamentarians. these images being broadcast without sound. the day before the french party met with the syrian foreign minister to discuss antiterrorist measures. but there were no scoops to be had. >> the islamic state group is creating tension in our country. >> the parliamentarians and say they were on a personal mission, speaking to -- defending the initiative. >> neither you nor i nor the

united states will do away with assad. it would go from bad to worse. it is clear that he cannot be ignored. i'm not defending him but i'm saying we will have to deal with him. >> he would not go into the details of the talks, saying he was to relay the information to the french government but the government has washed its hands of the delegation. >> this is in no way an official french diplomatic initiative. >> france severed all contact with the syrian government and closed its embassy in damascus in 2012. paris has given military support the moderate syrian opposition. on the syrian side, the government appeared to appreciate the mission. the meeting was the main story on the evening news. >> the actions of those three french renegade partitions -- politicians have been condemned by francois hollande. he was speaking in manila.

the premise are in france has also criticized the decision to travel to damascus. -- prime minister in france. >> i strongly condemn this initiative. they were meeting bashir al-assad. he is a man responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. it is not a matter of dialogue but the gesture itself. this is a big mistake. these parliamentarians represent national sovereignty. they stand for what this country is. the fact that they met with this butcher like it was no big deal -- it is a moral error. >> let's get reaction from the middle east. adam joins us from beirut. you've been monitoring the to visit -- the visit. what kind of reaction has it been receiving in syria?

>> we know the french government's position. they have disowned it c. that is not something that would be clear looking at syrian state media. the parliamentarians held a meeting with bashir al-assad images and footage of which was made widely available broadcast. they attributed a quote along the lines of the syrian government always welcomes cooperation "between states." clearly trying to paint a picture of state cooperation between the two countries. we know that is not the case. while this meeting has been going on, the fighting continues -- a heavy government offensive

in the damascus suburb of duma. the syrian government used barrel bombs in this offensive. >> can i ask you for the update on the syrian christians taken by is? >> the details are still unclear. sources -- the numbers we have four estimates of how many people were abducted between 19 and 285. we do not know their whereabouts . the ice is stronghold -- another isis stronghold or in the

mountain range. a large number of syrian christians have pleaded the area -- flleeed the area. a large number of people fled this area. thousands of the fled -- that would meet several thousand people. nothing like the exodus of people fleeing isis in iraq, but a substantial part of their committee. the question is what the intentions of isis are, the purpose of this abduction. perhaps they want to use them as

a prisoner swap. to the pessimistic end, to make another propaganda video. airstrikes will continue. unfortunately, as we know, the islamic state has followed through with those kinds of threats when they made them. >> one person has been killed and two others wounded in a bomb explosion in the egyptian capital. the blast occurred outside a pizzeria in cairo on thursday. it follows the detonation of three other devices targeting the offices of cell phone companies. our cairo correspondent has more details. >> the telephone company's targeted were vodafone and the

united arab emirates based company. they took place around 6:30 in the morning. they were quite small. the third bomb was outside a popular restaurant in a working-class neighborhood appeared three workers were injured, one of which killed. another injuring six people, including police personnel. we have seen these kinds of attacks increase in recent months. there was a huge spike in deadly attacks that almost exclusively targeted the army and security personnel and killed soldiers and policemen. they have spread to mainland egypt with attacks texan cairo and the delta region. a militant group has pledged allegiance to the islamic state. we have seen an increase in these kinds of smaller bombs that have targeted public

spaces, commercial interests -- earlier this month, there was a small bomb found inside of cairo's largest shopping malls. it is unclear who is behind these attacks. police are in full alert across the capital. the egyptian government is portray egypt as a stable -- the attacks this morning, some of which targeted places like vodafone and commercial interests will be a great cause of concern for the security forces and the government. >> for two straight days, the credit military says it has no combat fatalities to report, although four of the troops have been injured as fighting continues in some pockets. there are indications an

agreement may be getting to bed and out. the president is likely to order government forces to start pulling back heavy weapons. pro-russian separatists claim they have already started that withdrawal. >> within 24 hours, they will have their next report at lunchtime today. the chretien -- ukrainians saying there have been no violations of the cease-fire as of midnight. the trend does seem to be that the intensity of the fighting is being reduced. the other observation mentioned a lot of movement of rebel artillery and military equipment

. seemingly going away from the front line. neither the rebel side nor the ukrainian side are agreeing -- the have not given the necessary information to observe this withdrawal. the pessimism here in ukraine -- the former president leading some of these negotiations that have led to the accord. he says vladimir putin was basically behaving as though there was no agreement at all and has made it clear that he would not stop until ukraine complies with all of russia's demands. >> it is time for the day's business news. you will start us off in india where they are going to invest in their roadways >> india will spend $170 billion in upgrading its railway network over the

next five years. government plans to raise the money for the plan by borrowing and increasing prices for freight transport. the announcement mail -- made by the railway minister. it suffered from inder investment -- under investment. the federal budget due to be unveiled this saturday. to germany where unemployment has fallen to his lowest level since 1990. the number of people who work -- out of work in february fell to 20,000. the federal labor office says private consumption and construction helped to boost the job market. france also saw a fall in the number of job seekers. food and drink among france's biggest exports but baked goods don't travel very well.

the french bread causing a boom in bakeries abroad. people flocking to france to learn traditional skills. >> the sparkling beaches of rio de janeiro are known for their son and sound, but not their cakes. one of the hot in this neighborhood is a french style -- croissants are a staple of the brazil indict. -- diet. >> there are six styles of bread -- it boost my overall sales. >> a traditional brazilian baker -- luis rakes in some 2300 thanks to his french flair. at this culinary school in northern france, 1/5 of those

training to be baker's come from overseas. paying 600-8000 euros -- 6800 euros for his course, bringing the traditional baguette back to his father's bakery in greece. there is more diversity -- 60% of the foreign students come from asia. >> japanese pastries are different. they are light and pretty, but sometimes lack flavor. french pastries strike a good balance. >> eager to cap into the booming baguette business, this school dispatches chapter is -- teachers each month to south korea and japan. >> pretty flat across the european states -- corporate news today.

jpmorgan executive bill winters is the new ceo. a look at some of the day's other business stories -- rbs has cut its losses by more than a third from last year. the lender reported $9 billion -- giving up $1.5 million of his pay package because he says he does not want to be a distraction. the spanish oil companies to get profits or by more than 700% in the last year. -- oil company seeing profits soar by more than 700% in the last year. the french defense equipment maker has a deal to sell 24 jets to egypt is worth one billion euros to their company. a supplier of radars -- the

contract with egypt signed earlier this month's worth more than 5 billion euros. an unlikely star of the fed's korean stock exchange. seeing its shares soared by 50% in trade. that's after south korea struck down a law banning adultery. >> all those unfaithful people letting loose in korea. >> keeping people investing. >> thank you for the business news. next up, the press review. time to find out what is grabbing headlines in the weekly -- you are going to start us off with -- >> they're calling it the

comeback issue, issue number 1179. the second issue since the deadly charlie attacks. you can see a drawing by one of charlie's cartoonists. you can see this dog with charlie hebdo in its mouth running away from a pack of rabid dogs. you can see the pope, a jihadist and a caption -- here we go again. its editorial, he addresses religious intolerance quite the finally. he says charlie hebdo will continue to criticize those who allow themselves to get locked up in the comfort of religion that supposedly has all the answers and provides them with an excuse to stop that can -- stop thinking for themselves. >> looking back at the paris

attacks in january and taking an exclusive look at how the shooters plotted their rampage. >> how they prepared their attack. these are screenshots of video surveillance. an incredible investigation into the 12 days that led up to the attack on charlie hebdo. they used video surveillance to track down the shooters. these 12 days, the chilling countdown. the official investigation is just begun. one thing is for sure, the brothers -- the shooters did not act alone. they were not lone wolves. they got a lot of help. they look at who helped them prepare the attacks and where they got the money from. four people have already been arrested and five others are

actively wanted for giving them logistical support to set up these attacks. >> an unlikely cover girl. angela merkel is on the french version of the american magazine "vanity fair." >> radiant and smiling on the front page. benedict fair -- vanity fair wonders, who are you, angela merkel? the most powerful woman in the world. how did you go from being a clumsy kid from east germany to a political animal on par with barack obama and vladimir putin? what is the secret to her success? what is the story going on behind the scenes? you will have to read the whole article appeared her trademarks are simplest become a virtue, inflexible the -- simplicity, virtue inflexibility.

will she run for a fourth term as chancellor? for now, she is being mysterious about that. >> these top politicians who speak -- sleep 4-5 hours a night. the french prime minister on the front page -- >> here he is. look at this determined look. furl brow, determined looking. they call him the bulldozer. he has his eyes on the palace. he wants to be president of france one day. this focus is on his strategy, his style and his position. he wants to go very fast, but perhaps going to fast. -- too fast. he has not attained any concrete results.

he is losing support in terms of public approval and he has upset a lot of his socialist colleagues who think he is a bit too much to the right. very soon, he will find himself in the hot seat. his days as prime minister are numbered. >> interesting. let's finish up -- >> focusing on the humor across the world. what do people laugh at elsewhere? the attacks on charlie hebdo sparked a massive debate on satire. making it painfully clear that humor is very much a culturally relative thing. they are more positive this week. humor can be therapeutic. also very powerful. what we find funny here is not going to make people laugh in asia or russia or south america.

in india, dirty jokes are the big thing. russia, it's all about laughing through the tears and making a mockery of the country's current problems. britain is famous for its humor self-deprecating humor. humor is incredibly important in british politics. the funniest men often wins elections.