' calls for a ban on the confederate lag in public places, with many saying it is a sign of oppression and racism. difficult diplomacy as paris to host militants from russia and ukraine for another attempt at ending a conflict that has claimed more than 6000 lives. and the city launches its bid to host the 2024 olympic games. if it succeeds, it will be the first parisian games in a century.

well, we begin this hour in the united states with the debate over wether it's a sign of sovereign pride or a throwback to racism and white supremacy. a rally is under way in columbia, south carolina, as part of a growing movement to take down the confederate flag from public places. the flag was the implement the pro-slavery south during the civil war and was recently embraced by dylann roof, who is accused of shooting dead nine in a south carolina church. >> take it down! >> people gather in front of the state building where the confederate flag still lies of full mast. once a rallying call or slave-owning states of the south, it's now a controversial symbol. for the gunman who wore the lag

and shot nine people dead and a black church in charleston, it wasn't emblem of white supremacy -- for the gunman who wore the flag and shot nine people dead in a black church in charleston. >> never again will someone be able to use that read tags as the reason for taking lives of another human being -- that red rag. >> we need to look at our history, but we need to look at it as one people. the time has come. it has waited too long. reporter: many have rallied to take away roof's symbol, including the state governor who called lawmakers to take the flag down. >> the murderer in charleston said he hoped his actions would start a race war. we have the opportunity to show

that not only was he wrong but that just the opposite is happening. my hope is that by removing a symbol that divides us, we can move forward as a state in harmony. reporter: the debate is growing across the rest of the united states. virginia's governor said he will ban the confederate flag from state license plates and walmart stores said it is pulling all confederate flag merchandise from its shelves. laura: president obama waded into the debate on race yesterday when he made these explosive comments during an interview. president obama: it's not just a matter of it not being collate to say [bn-----in public. it's not just a matter of overt discrimination. societies do not overnight completely erase everything that happened 200 or 300 years prior. laura: earlier, i spoke to our

washington correspondent, who told us about reaction to the president's use of a very loaded term. >> the white house said there was no deliberation before he used the n-word in that hour-long interview. in other words, it was not planned. it is an incredibly significant word for a president to use an even more so for the first african-american president in u.s. history. he has never used the word as president before, though he had beforehand in his book but this is quite significant. what the white house also is doing and the president and his defenders and democrats are now doing -- they say you have to put this into context. he did use the word, but the context was this 1 -- no longer using the word does not mean that the debate about racism is over. it does not mean that racism in the first race is over in the united states. in the rate -- in the words of barack obama, racism is "not cured."

maybe what you are seeing now is a u.s. president who will speak more and more openly about race something that african-americans certainly want him to do more. the next chance he will get will be this friday because he along with michelle obama and the vice president will be traveling to charleston, and he will beginning the eulogy for the pastor who died along with eight other people in that shooting. that will give him a very public possibility to talk about racism and also perhaps the other subject he wants to talk about -- that is gun laws. and maybe there will be time to talk about the other subject that now is a big debate in the united states -- the confederate flag. laura: obama plus defense secretary meanwhile has been visiting estonia to assure nato members who are worried about russia's activities in the ukraine. ask carter -- ash carter says

the u.s. is committed to protecting allies. carter: you lost your independence once before. with nato, you will never lose it again. that's because the united states and the rest of the nato alliance are absolutely committed to defending the territorial sovereignty of all nato allies. laura: francis hosting talks between russia and ukraine in paris tonight the latest attempt at ending a conflict that has claimed 6500 lives over 16 months. both ukraine and russia blamed each other for violating a cease-fire agreement. just this week, the eu broadens sanctions against the kremlin. i'm joined on the line by an analyst at the urijah group who is following these talks closely

-- an analyst at the eurasia group. who's to blame for violating the minsk agreement, the russians or ukrainians? matthieu: the level of implication of russia cannot be denied, and ukraine has been defending itself against what they consider aggression by russia, and the separatists are in the middle, so it's hard to tell exactly who is doing what. laura: russia and ukraine have pretty entrenched positions going into these talks. can we expect any kind of progress at tonight's negotiations? matthieu: the talks have been mettled by the presence of more infighting and the talks could be considered almost dead, but it's practical as well because it allows politicians not to go

to another round of discussions and not to address the key issue. it's a practical option, but it is not making anything move. laura: what about relations between russia and the west? is russia suffering the act of those sanctions -- the effect of those sanctions? is russia becoming more willing to compromise as those sanctions begin to bite? matthieu: it's a mix of several factors economically and politically in the price russia has been suffering for the past tebow months but it's also a question of how much damage russia can take --. laura: thank you very much indeed. moving to syria where kurdish fighters are moving closer to the islamic state stronghold.

they have cemented a string of victories over jihadists in recent weeks. the town was captured with help from strikes from coalition forces. kurdish fighters are shaping up to be the most effective force against the islamic state group. and violence in syria continues to fuel the worst refugee crisis since the second world war. some refugees from syria are determined to make it to europe making either the risky mediterranean sea crossing from libya or a trip against balkan states to try to enter hungary which last week announced plans to build a wall with the border of serbia. the government is aiding it will no longer abide by immigration rules. budapest says it is struggling to cope with the immigrants that have crossed into this country illegally this year alone. kate: arrested as they tried desperately to reach europe.

these migrants are among the thousands who have illegally crossed into hungary, hoping to build a new life in the european union. tuesday, budapest said it was cracking down on migration. the government unilaterally suspended in eu rule that requires countries to take back asylum-seekers who first entered europe through their borders before traveling to other member states. the eu has asked for clarification of the unorthodox step. hungary has also attracted criticism for its plan to build a fence along its border with serbia, which serves as an entry point to europe. many migrants insist they will not be deterred by a four-meter-high end, while rights groups have slammed the idea as inefficient and amoral. >> in principle, we are against the creation of walls and fences because they can limit the access of people to a silent and this is a universal human right that needs to be preserved. europe cannot simply hide behind

walls. kate: hungry's right-wing government argues its asylum system has been overburdened and overlooked by the eu. >> the eu does not necessarily give the necessary regard to the pressure coming from the balkans. kate: authorities say as many as 60,000 migrants have crossed into hungary in 2015, double the total number of last year. laura: the british government is warning citizens stranded in calais to be on their guard as illegal immigrants may try to board their vehicles to make the trip across the channel to the u.k. passengers have been struck -- stuck in calais while french riot police battled with migrants trying to board lorries and other vehicles.

australia's government has announced plans to strip geo-nationals of their citizenship if they are found to have links to terrorist organizations. the reforms to estoril's citizenship act come amid reports that two australian men died fighting for the islamic state group in iraq -- the reforms to australia's citizenship act. >> stopping terrorists from australia -- that's what tony abbott says the new laws are designed or, specifically targeting tool nationals engaged in terror activities. abbott: if you engage in terrorism against australia, you will automatically forfeit your citizenship. you are convicted of a terrorist offense, again there will be an assumption that your australian citizenship is forfeit should you be a dual national. reporter: the announcement came amidst unconfirmed reports of

the debts of two high profile islamic state fighters. the foreign minister confirmed on tuesday that the two islamic state group recruits have had their passports canceled. around 120 nationals are thought to be fighting for militant nationals abroad. since last year, australia has passed a slew of national security laws to combat the threat of homegrown terrorism, a real fear after last year's hostage siege in a sydney cafe which saw an islamist extremists kill one man before being shot dead himself. the new measures originally sought to give the immigration minister overarching powers to revoke citizenship but now they only apply to dual nationals after being deemed unconstitutional by legal experts. tony abbott insisted the new laws would not leave anyone stateless, which would be a violation of the united nations

convention. a separate review will be held for cases concerning those homely -- holding only australian national lease -- australian nationality. laura: 61 numeral james warner was best known for writing the score to the 1997 epic "titanic" -- 61 year old. >> the smash hit when the hearts of millions of cinema goers, "my heart will go on" performed by celine dion. with its haunting vocals and it are sweet celtic pipes -- bitter sweet celtic pipes, the rest of your garnered james horner two academy awards.

more recently, another collaboration with director james cameron with "avatar." on monday, the man behind the music was killed when his personal aircraft came down north of los angeles. because of the crash is not yet known. tributes have flooded in from across hollywood. celine dion said she was deeply saddened by the news, while actor rob lowe said nothing shaped his musical experience -- his moviegoing experience more than horner's musical genius. laura: paris has officially launched its bid to host the

olympic games in 2024, and if it succeeds, it will be the first time paris hosted the games in a century. it is up against boston, budapest, and rome, but there will be a long wait to see who has one -- won. the decision will not be announced until 2017. reporter: the city of paris is on the starting blocks once again with the 2024 olympics clearly and its sites -- in its sights. some of france's best sportsmen and women joined the city's mayor to launch the bid. >> paris is ready. paris is waiting for the world and we are going to build a great victory for these games for the olympics, for paris, and for our country. reporter: joining paris are the cities of boston, rome, and hamburg. other cities could still announce bids. the paris sca has many

advantages aimed at seducing the international olympic committee the main one being that 80% of the infrastructure required to host the games exists already but with a budget of just 6 billion euros paris is trailing behind the previous host, london who spent $11 billion, and beijing who invested over $30 billion. >> have everything needed and could put together a loki games that do not cost too much. there is a sport and passion among the french and parisians which will be key when it comes to convincing the committee. >> if harris wins the race, it will be the first time the city of lights has hosted the games in 100 years. laura: good luck to paris. may the best city win. markus karlsson is with us with the latest business news. markus: the board of a french

conglomerate is rejecting a takeover for its telecom unit. this is the results of a board meeting that was held this evening called to discuss a 10 billion euro bid from its rivals . it's the second mobile network in this country. it want to buy greek telecom and a deal that would have created the biggest french mobile network with some 34 million customers. in a statement this evening, the board says it believes a sale would have brought tough regulatory scrutiny and it also says the company is in a position to benefit from rapid growth in the french telecom market on its own. we will, of course, bring you more details on this rejection of this offer. for now, we turn to greece. hopes have emerged of a deal between athens and its creditors to unlock more bailout cash for

greece. this comes after the country put a compromise proposal on the table, but the question is if the greek prime minister will get the backing of his own governing coalition. several greek lawmakers say the government is ceding too much and by the sounds of it, some businesses may just agree. >> relief a deal is in sight anger over the tentative terms. greek lawmakers were not the only ones to shun the proposal put forth by the prime minister. small business owners say if the deal is adopted, they fear the onus will be on them. >> all the government cares about is for public servants to keep their jobs. of course, it's a good thing that their wages and pensions are not being cut. that's great, but all the weight is going to be shouldered by businesses and we the small business owners are struggling just to stay open. reporter: the greek government

proposes to raise some 8 billion euros this year and next in return for the final trench -- tranche. tsipras is offering to raise taxes and raise the retirement age and cut defense spending by 200 million euros, the public-sector wages would remain the same. markets have rallied for a second day on the news, but analysts warn the mood could sour. >> people will see prices going up. businesses will have less of a motive to do well because of the taxation associated with higher profits. >> eurozone finance ministers will be discussing details. the final plan may be a ways

away. markus: we are getting word that the greek prime minister will be meeting with the heads of the european commission, the international monetary fund, and the european central bank on wednesday, so we will see if there is further progress in those talks. as you heard in that report, european shares have traded higher for a second consecutive day on the hopes of a greek breakthrough, but the single currency has been falling back, losing value against the u.s. dollar. a little earlier i spoke to a currency strategist in london and asked why the euro has been losing steam. >> if you go back to last week you saw the value of the euro rising as tensions were building. the eurozone accounts for -- it is a region with a surplus of savers. if we go back to the beginning of the year, interest rates available on bond yields were

very, very low. the combination of those factors meant investors were looking abroad, outside of the eurozone, to pick up greater returns on their assets. when tension rises when we get times in the market of risk aversion people tend to bring their money home, and that meant the euro was being well supported despite the fact that it was greece within the eurozone that was creating a lot of this tension. now that we have again this increase in risk appetite with stock markets going up, investors are willing again to buy riskier assets, and this means they are pushing their money perhaps into emerging markets, certainly into riskier assets, and this drives the value of the euro lower. markus: good news is basically bad news. do you think the risks associated with greece are diminishing from a market perspective? is there a clear sense of that?

jane: the market is certainly celebrating the fact that the risks are diminished, but i think we still have to be careful because we still do not have this deal signed between greece and its creditors. by the end of wednesday, there could be something on the table but even then, there is some concern that the far left governing party in greece may not want to support this pledge either. we've got to remember that the new compromise that greece has offered to creditors includes raising extra vat but also saving some money from the pension system. this is not a cut in pension rates that will be paid but it is a cut in pension contributions. that is a little bit vague as to if it crosses one of those red lines put out by the government as a pledge that they would not cross.

markus: that once again was jane foley speaking to us from london. let's stay with eurozone business activity. the single currency area has hit a four-year high. a closely watched survey came in at its highest level since 2011 this month. with a reading came in at 54.1 above expectations, and also above the threshold that separates a contraction roman expansion. the expansion points to a acid than expected eurozone recovery. let's bring you up to date then, with the figures when it comes to stock markets. in europe, we did see indices closing above the flat line with greece very much taking center stage. the athens index up more than 6% at the end of the trading day.

let's also bring you up-to-date with the american indices this hour. we have seen the u.s. indices turning from negative into positive territory -- not by much, though, when it comes to the nasdaq and the s&p 500. this as investors are mulling the latest u.s. economic data and also keeping track of greece and developments there. if you look at the data, we did see a greater than expected to klein in durable goods orders. at the same time, we've seen a pretty strong figure out on u.s. home sales. a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to u.s. economic data on this session, and that is perhaps why we are seeing the indices go in and out of positive territory, but overall, they are pretty close to the flat line this tuesday. let's bring you up to date with a few other stories we are watching. shares of blackberry among the laggards on wall street after

posting a loss. it's half of what they posted during the same quarter last year, but still weaker than expected results, and new sales fell this year. the man who was seen to be next in line at samsung has apologized for the spread of the mers virus after around half of cases and south korea were traced to a hospital and soul -- in seoul belonging to a foundation run by samsung. 27 patients have died and south korea

rom pacifica, this is democracy now! >> when we see that symbol lifted up as an emblem of hate, as a tool of hate, as an inspiration for hate, as an inspiration for violence, that symbol has to come down. that symbol must be removed from our state capital. amy: for decades civil rights groups have called for south carolina to remove the confederate battle flag from flying on the grounds of the state capitol.