♪ terms for the 2007 iraqi killings. these civilian deaths sparked international outcry and call into question the use of either defense contractors. remembering the missing. ceremonies are to be held around the world to mark one year cents a group of nigerian schoolgirls were abducted. authorities say they are no closer to finding them. and move over, clinton and bush. republican senator marco rubio announced his run for the white house. the 43-year-old says america cannot move forward like going back to leaders of the past.

also coming up this hour, mile high profits. we will tell you how a room with a view is making millions for one french company. and from parisian street singer to national icon, france is celebrating 100 years since the birth of edith thepiaf at the international library. we will take a look. ♪ first, it has been one year since nearly 300 nigerian schoolgirls work enough by boko haram militants. their reduction sparked global outcry and messages of solidarity. the whereabouts of more than 200 of them are still unknown, and authorities up your closer to finding them. according to a worse by amnesty

international, some two dozen women and girls have been taken by boko haram since the start of last year. here is "france 24" catherine clifford. catherine: last year 10-year-old sammy was adopted by boko haram ram while at school. the teacher told us that boko haram was here, and he told us to run to the river, but we could not cross. it was too deep. the man came on a motorcycle and that he was not from boko haram and he was coming for help. when we got out of the water, he took out his gun and said he was boko haram and he took us. his father managed to reclaim him. they now live in this area in southeast niger, among some 1300 nigerian refugees. half of these are children. here, they are being offered psychological support and the courage to deal with their trouble.

"they came here is a member of boko haram burning a vehicle here it is someone who had his throat cut." not all have escaped. in particular, the extremist group are taking young women entering them into cooks sex slaves, and even fighter. >> one girl is 19 years old, and she told me that she had been trained how to use a gun, she had also been trained in the use of explosives, and they have also been taken by boko haram on attack against her own village. catherine: in recent months, the group had been taken on to several suicide bombings where a bomb had been struck to the body of a young girl. the abduction of 219 schoolgirls , amnesty international say over 2000 women and girls have fallen into boko haram's clutches since the start of last year. molly: ceremonies are being held in several cities including london, washington, and here in paris, while in the nigerian

capital, a rally was held at the unity fountain and remembers of the girls that are still missing. people of course are hoping for the 219 to return to their homes. any cunningham has more from lagos. annie: the reality is we do not know much more other than 219 of them are still missing. during the past 12 months, there has been a lot of speculation and rumor about the possibilities of where the girls are. there has been a lot of talk from president goodluck jonathan making various promises, saying that they know where the girls are and they will be rescued but i think what is interesting is today, this morning, we have had a statement issued by nigeria's president elect muhammadu buhari, and he has

added a note of caution, really. he has taken a completely different tact to president goodluck jonathan, and he has said that he cannot make promises on the return of the two hundred 19 girls. he said we do not know if they can be rescued. their whereabouts remain unknown, and he says he cannot promise that we can find them but what he has said is that when it comes to office, which is at the end of next month, that he will do everything in his power to bring them home. molly: anna, of course most of the focus is on the girls, but they are far from the only victims. anna: yes the only ones we can actually guarantee a number that has been abducted, the 219 still missing, but there have been numerous abductions of women and children over the past few years as the boko haram insurgency has continued.

we have not been able to guarantee how many numbers. we frequently hear a few dozen being kidnapped, the possibility of a few hundred being kidnapped, but we simply do not know how many. of course it is not just those who have been kidnapped to have been affected by boko haram. unicef has said that the united nations children's fund has set 800,000 children have had to flee their homes in northeastern nigeria because of the boko haram insurgency. molly: that was anna cunningham reporting from lagos. 20 14th on increase of sexual violence carried out by armed extremist groups. the u.n. chief expressed concern in a report that focuses on 19 countries currently in conflict or trying to recover, including iraq, nigeria, syria and manli.

now, the iraqi prime minister is in washington this week. it is haider al-abadi's first visit since he came to power. he is asking for more help to defeat the islamist organization. that dad lost a campaign to drive islamist militants out of anbar, iraq's largest province. reporter: the battle is excited to be long, tough, and expensive. islamic state group fighters have targeted the region for over a year, but the country's prime and mr. is hopeful the u.s. will provide support. during his first trip to washington, haider al-abadi is acted to ask u.s. president barack obama for billions of dollars of advanced u.s. weaponry. among the items on his shopping list -- unarmed surveillance drones, apache attack helicopters, and ammunition. althoughal-abadi is seeking

coalition airstrikes. prime minister al-abadi: terrorism threatens not only iraq but the wider region. we are in need of international soup or so we can curb this terrorism. reporter: iraq has been leaning on iranian-backed militias. before boarding his flight to washington al-abadi thanked the country's shiite neighbor for help in combating the militants. u.s. officials have been talking about an imminent offensive to retake iraq's second-largest city mosul. the shia on the ground wanted to retake anbar the country's largest province first, but sunni tribes could prove a stumbling block. they felt betrayed be the shia-dominated government. molly: a former blackwater

security guard has been sentenced to life in prison and three others to three decades behind bars. that is after being found guilty of killing 14 iraqi civilians in 2007. the shootings inflamed anti-u.s. sentiment around the world and are brought into question the role of defense contractors in warfare. mark thompson reports. mark: prosecutors called it an unprovoked and bush against civilians. in september 2007, a u.s. military convoy approached nisur square in baghdad. unable to stop an ongoing vehicle, private security guards protecting the convoy fired warning shots and then lethal fire. a gunbattle with iraqi police and armed soldiers ensued. at least 14 unarmed to billions were killed, and more than a dozen injured. -- at least 14 unarmed civilians were and more than a dozen injured. now nicholas slatten has been

sentenced to life in prison. his three former colleagues have been given 30 years behind bars. dozens of victims and witnesses were flown over for the trial with some questioning the difference between the men's actions and terrorist. s. to the guard for the families, they were just doing their job. >> they risk their lives to protect our liberties and theirs. all four of these men served in the armed services honorably, and they all received commendations for the bravery, integrity, and strength. mark: the seventh night in a debate over the u.s. military's widespread use of contractors. many are ex-soldiers. blackwater which has changed its name to academy, lost its $1 billion contract to protect american diplomats in 2009 after iraqi governments refuse to renew its company's license. molly: for more on the story, i am joined in the studio by an international jurist.

thank you very much for speaking to us. are you supplies by -- are you surprised by the sentence that these men received? guest: i with a yes and no. no because it is the u.s. and they are used to these higher-level sentences, but i think on top of the sentence, which is very important that there is a convention, -- a conviction, and this is a very good time. molly: the media call this a precedent-setting case regarding these so-called gray zones in u.s. law. under which private forces operate overseas in international warfare. celine: yeah, for the u.s., but i was the internationally because it causes a question of mercenaries and all the issues of private sectors that are deadlocked in the security sector and there is a great room, including in the international law.

and i think we definitely need to look into that because i believe that this is an international threat to international security. we need to regulate that, and the fact that we need accountability for these evil, and in that sense i think that what happened with blackwater is a very good sign that there is accountability and no impunity for individual criminal acts, because this is what it is about. molly: and you mentioned individual criminal acts. some said the fact that blackwater itself, which has now changed its name, the fact that blackwater itself did not face any -- what is the word? celine: charges. molly: yes, thank you, that will still lead to the fact that they will be placing it on individuals rather than the whole system. celine: exactly. first, as a lawyer -- any individual is responsible for the criminal act he commits, ok that is the case of these people

and other people in blackwater. now the second level, if there is the issue of responsibly and accountability, and i think this is something we definitely need to look into, including at the international level because this is the result was that blackwater ok, good, we have that now, they changed the name. they switched into something else, and they will continue so besides all what is happening now, which i think is good, and for this i think we can praise the u.s. because at least they do that. they have this judicial system when they go into that thing, but now we need to look into the response ability of the firm. i think this is something that should be looked into the international level also. molly: all right, celine bardet thank you for speaking to us on this. celine: thank you. molly: french, german, russian and ukrainian foreign ministers have expressed deep concerns about violations of a shaky cease-fire.

there has been fighting on hotspots putting fresh pressure on the deal. this has four foreign ministers gathered to assess progress in that minsk truce. six ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the last 24 hours while a dozen have been wounded. for more, we can cross now to "france 24'"s" gulliver cragg, who is in levyslaviansk for us. gulliver: the cease-fire -- there is been fighting since the cease-fire went into effect, and some cases near mariupol but it certainly seems there is more fighting in the last few days. the ukrainians figured, of course not always reliable and this figure of six ukrainian soldiers dead makes yesterday one of the bloodiest days since

the cease-fire went into effect. also, four civilians were injured in donetsk in the last few hours. most of the violence is close to donetsk, which is held by the regional capital, and particularly close to the former airport, which the pro-russians took from the ukrainians back in january. he is also saying it has been refuse access on the scene not far from the port city of mariupol which suggests that the situation there is also bad. both sides have been using artillery of more than 100 millimeter caliber, which they were supposed to have taken away from the front line under the terms of the minsk agreement. i just spoke to a ukrainian military's of one who denies that ukrainian forces were using weapons of that caliber, which

perhaps tells you something about the level of -- the nature that ukrainians have the lack of respect really there is on both sides, i should say against these marchers, who were supposed to be providing international independent arbitration under the cease-fire. molly: developer, you are in sloviansk an area not a part of the separatist uprising but is now controlled by ukraine. what are people saying about who they support in all of this? gulliver: people are certainly divided. remember, there was no real separatist movement before the armed men from russia came in exactly a year ago and fact. there are a lot of people who say we want to be part of ukraine, we never have seen what the problem was. there are others who support the separatists who feel that those people in other inclined to express themselves these days and for good reason.

posted up all over time, inviting residents to denounce people who expressed a separatist or pro-russian opinions to the secret services. molly: oliver cragg reporting from eastern ukraine -- gulliver cragg reporting from eastern ukraine, thank you. time now to look for today's business news, and for that, i'm joined by stephen carroll. you start out with potentially huge news in the telecoms up there. -- telecom sector. stephen: that is right nokia is wanting to buy out alcatel-lucent. if the deal did happen, it would be a big step for nokia and its efforts to compete in the telecom network business. the firm completed the sale of its handset unit to microsoft last year. alcatel-lucent meanwhile is undergoing a massive cost-cutting plan in an effort to return to profitability. a merger could risk involving the french government, though.

oversight on deals and strategic sectors, government telling reuters they will be watching for the possible impact on jobs as well as research and development. let's see how the markets have responded so stop out until lucent shares up around 12% in trading today in paris -- have responded. alcatel-lucent shares up around 12% in trading to the in paris will have generally speaking, pretty flat on the european market just london eating out some small gain, investors said to be worried about a report that greece was the government is preparing to default on its debt. and a french company has made a multimillion success of opening up panoramic vistas to the public. it started in paris with the concept has been export around the world as oliver farry reports from the world. oliver: the of this 94 stories

of the john hancock center giving a birds eye view of chicago, customers waste themselves in a glass balcony that inclines 30 degrees. it is the brainchild of a france company, -- 56, which is operated the conservatory. and also berlin's tallest structure it started off at the famous tower in paris in 1974. >> so we can visit. [speaking french] oliver: back then, the does it cost eight francs. today, the visit is 18 euros, it brings in more than 50 million euros a year. >> it is an incredibly

profitable business, but it all depends on property prices. for towers, a few elevators the big thing is the view along with a few ancillary attractions. oliver: all you need are a few telescopes, some roof decking, good weather, and paris will work its magic for the rest. ♪ stephen: and magic it looks as well. other stories yemen's only exporting gas channel has been shut down because the fighting in the area. 40% owned by france's total. classes were reported close to the terminal, which is on the gulf of aden. america's national basketball association has ditched coke for pepsi. they identified a new marketing with spepsico. that'spepsi's mountain dew soda

will be the primary. and the publisher for a chris collins -- for harpercollins say books will be available on amazon print and digital platforms. finally for me for now, boeing is going the extra mile to make passages more comfortable on board. the airliner has what it describes as a cuddle chair. the people who produced this video show how it will work. it has a backpack that fall into a cushion and people can lean forward to sleep. it is a whole massage table, and you will look ridiculous as you arrive for your flight. it is not clear whether boeing implements this plan, but the plan is 18 pages long for this concept. it is not a bad idea. i like sleeping on planes. molly: i do think it is a good idea.

cuddle chair is better than the original title. at that mockup does not look that comfortable. all right, stephen carroll thank you for that with our business update. it is time now for our press review. florence villeminot joins me for a look at what is grabbing headlines in the international papers. hi, flo. marking one year since the adoption of over 200 -- actually nearly 300 nigerian schoolgirls. florence: it is a big story in nigeria, and on the front page of "the daily trust," 365 days. it is also on the front page of the british paper "the independent" today we can see the photo of people marching through the nigerian capital holding up posters with photos of the missing girls. and this very famous hashtag

now, #bringbackourgirls. this anniversary comes as an mc international has published a new report on the situation in nigeria. a ring to the report, boko haram has abducted, raped, and enslaved at least 2000 women since 2014, and amnesty international talks about a reign of terror. you can read about it here in another nigerian paper "the punch." the chibok school brocades got so much attention because of the global campaign, that bring back our girls campaign, but this is an editorial that says that campaign seems to have died down a year later in "the punch." the world has seems to have moved on, etc. still nigeria has moved on. molly: all right flo let's move to moscow where the kremlin

have instilled a self-imposed ban. florence: that is right, "the wall street journal" talks about how russia is lifting up and on the iran air delivery. this is the so-called x360 surface to air missile system. in 2010, russia came back on a deal that it had signed with iran in 2007 under pressure from the u.s. now it seems like this deal is going to go through for suppan's at israel, the "wall street journal" says the kremlin is offering iran a possibility that will make it impossible to attack tehran's nuclear facilities without they are trying to strike a final deal with tehran on nuclear issues, and "b was regional" is remote against these nuclear negotiations and it's as "do you feel better about this nuclear deal now?" it says that vladimir putin, the russian president, has

essentially blown a geopolitical raspberry at the obama administration, and the "wall street journal" is critical of obama, saying it is interesting that he can think he did disagree with rush on your rain and yet will cooperate with russia on -- with russia on ukraine and yet still cooperate with russia on iran. molly: warming up relations between the u.s. and cuba, but also ice cream. tell us about this. florence: it very interesting story in "the guardian" today an interesting take on the warming between the u.s. and cuba, focusing on cupalia a state-run ice cream parlor that was set up in the 1960's by fidel castro. he wanted to create something bigger and better than anything his yankee rivals could do and price it low enough so everyone can buy ice cream, and "the guardian" reports on the "helado por el pueblo," so ice cream for

the people. it has survived because it unites us, but there is a question about its feature especially as relations with the u.s., what is theñ8ú