a claim that its positions have been shelled as they urge to hold aggression. democracy and human rights under the spotlight is barack obama visited ethiopia. the government there highly criticized on both issues. india tightens security on pakistan after gunmen storm a police station in the northern indian state open job, killing at least six people and injuring five. i'm still normal.

-- stuart normal. chinese shares plunge off a cliff as the market meltdown returns to shanghai. we are up, up, and away over 400 coming together to bring a world record here in france. stewart: turkey says it did not bomb kurdish positions in northern syria. that's after a claim from the militia earlier that its positions had been shelled very they urged the halt of aggression. the situation is unclear. it appeared unusual that turkey would bomb kurdish white bg positions when it is the kurds in syria who are effectively fighting islamic state group

which turkey is also bombing. today we heard kurdish forces have taken a town in the north of syria. we go across live to brussels and we can speak to adam executive member of the kurdish national congress. thanks for being with us. let's talk about the situation in syria. kurdish white bg saying they were attacked by kurdish forces in turkey denying it. it seems strange that turkey would attack the kurds there. do you think this may have been a mistake? adam: no, it is not a mistake. i think turkey is not keen to see this in syria. turkey is blaming the syrian kurds not to collaborate with them and turkey is not too keen to see if i buy the kurds against isis. there's a lot of news and i

spoke to sources in the white bg -- ypg that said they bombed our bases and kurdish fighters would been wounded. stuart: do not want the kurds to be effective against the islamic state? surely this will hurt that process? adam: unfortunately, turkey has fought isis. they prevents the move to democracy. it prevented access to weapons and extensive medical support prices. -- for isis. the medical support is ongoing. it's a mistake to believe the militants bombing overnight in syria with isis weaponry is an

indication. on one side, they tried to give the belief that they are bombing crisis but on the other hand, we hear they have guns and -- stuart: let's talk as well if we can about the situation with the bombing of the pkk focus in iraq. presumably you would be one of those voices that says turkey is using its fight against the islamic state is a smokescreen to be able to go in and bomb those targets in iraq as well. adam: just before i want the news that kurdish forces liberated a town on a river and

was captured by isis for a long time. that's a big setback for security forces to take serene from their isis. that means the fight by the kurds against isis in syria is really going on. stuart: give us a reaction to the situation in iraq as well. adam: yes. you know the turkish president he was not keen to see the results of the elections. therefore, he must have a new early election. they have to criminalize the kurds and the kurdish parties. and terrorize it. how can he do that? he can start a war. arrayed against turkish basis in

turkey and iraq, not just bombing in iraq, but he arrested hundreds of activists in turkey just working for the kurdish party. that means the turkish government is really still not keen to see any negotiations for the kurdish question. stuart: thanks for being with us. adam newson joining us from the executive member of the kurdish national congress. to yemen where humanitarian cease-fire was due to start at midnight on sunday night. saudi forces now saying they have been responding to schilling on the border region which had broken a cease-fire. the houthis have been pounding an area, one liter saying it had not been consulted about the

truce so it could not give negative or positive answers about it. however, the truce does appear to be holding in the capital. here's kathryn. catherine: another cease-fire for yemen after exiled president appealed directly to the saudi king. and strikes led by saudi arabia have been halted to allow for five days of humanitarian assistance. the leader of the houthi rebels rejected the cease-fire, saying such a truce would benefit only the islamic state group and al qaeda. since the cease-fire went into effect sunday at midnight, there have been reports of ground clashes in several areas in the area surrounding the strategic al-anon to military base, as well as the rest of the city of chinese. officials say random shelling by houthis and their allies hit western cities as well.

in -- sunday, residents were picking the rubble after a are strikes killed several dozen injured at least 150 people. the saudi led coalition of mainly gulf arab countries have been waging an air campaign since march against the iran supported rebels who control most of northern yemen and the capital. stuart: democracy and human rights both in the spotlight in ethiopia today as barack obama begins a two-day visit there. it's the first ever trip by u.s. president africa's second-most populous nation, and the seed of the african union. the two presidents giving a press conference there. we just been hearing president obama saying that u.s. intelligence indicates that some groups that oppose the ethiopian government have not ticked into terrorism. the government there accused of being very heavy-handed nondemocratic and human rights. obama is going to address the

african union tomorrow and he has been meeting with you feel been leaders to create key strategic allies. let's have a listen then what barack obama has been saying. president obama: we continue to work together to advance ethiopia's economic progress. ethiopia has one of the fastest growing economies in the world of one of the largest economies in africa. we want to sustain the momentum because a growing and inclusive economy in ethiopia means more opportunities for the ethiopian people and more trade and investment between our nations. stuart: will -- ethiopia remains one of the worst ranking nations when it comes to freedom of the press and expression. the authorities justifying our actions as being part of the fight against terrorism. one journalism was handed a 14 year jail term for undermining state security. the term was later reduced to five years, and she has just been freed.

reporter: was she a danger to ethiopia? yes, courting to record court the giver five years behind bars. >> there's no equality, there is no justice. they say it is terrorism. they don't want to be criticized. i was in jail for four years. reporter: one of many journalists who suffer the same treatment in ethiopia. now free, she wants to spend time with her family before getting back to work, the same work that is not without consequences for her relatives. >> some officials came to my job and said it is hard to employ me.

i lost 45 jobs. reporter: the family is keeping a low profile, speaking in an apartment. like any mother, she can't help worrying. >> i want her to live her passion, i respect it, but i fear for her if she continues like that, she will be imprisoned again, even in the worst conditions. reporter: she has a choice to stay silent or speak out. for this journalist, that is no choice at all. >> i don't regret it. i won't regret it. i did the right thing. that right thing has did many bad things on me. i must pay the price for the bet i took. stuart: india has tightened security on the border with pakistan after gunmen stormed a police station in punjab. some reports say as many as six

people killed as armed police exchanged fire with the attackers. also reports that the attacks -- attackers remained holed up in a police station surrounded by security forces. india's minister assisting the situation is under control. reporter: gunfire rings out of the distance as police try and push back onlookers. an injured man is pushed away in the army arrives as backup. local media say at least three or four governmental response will for the attack, some of them wearing military uniforms. they first opened fire on the bus at around 5:00 a.m. local time before attacking the police station where they do not hold up. five guns were also found along railway track in the same state of punjab. india's interior ordered security behind along the border with pakistan. >> i've ordered guards to be alert all along our border. reporter: many in india have

pointed the finger at pakistan though islamabad has denied involvement. this is the first attack in punjab and nine years which straddles the border between india and pakistan and which failed to seek insurgency in the 80's and 1990's. stuart: if you have not seen these images, i can assure you you are about to be blown away by them. hundreds of hot air balloons have taken to the sky and eastern france this weekend, smashing the previous record for more than 40 nations taking part. as alexander reports, the sky feels with a wide array of different colors and styles of balloons as far as the eye can see. alexander: 433 hot air balloons were involved in this record-breaking display. they took off from an air base, the same spot where the previous record of 391 was set in 2013.

the event organizers said a new page and ballooning history has been written. as well as typical balloons there were also some rather interesting designs taking to the skies. a forklift truck, champagne, and even a french chateau. they had to take off in parallel lines, six kilometers long. the biggest danger is a collision resulting in a fabric tear. something that has happened twice since 1989. stuart: beautiful. spectacular stuff. the main headlines today turkey says it did not bomb kurdish why pg positions. turkey denying a claim by the minister that it's positions have been shelled as they urge ankara to halt aggression. democracy and human rights under the spotlight, you can see the president and the ethiopian president talking in the last few moments. the ethiopian government there highly criticized on both

issues. india tightens security on its border with pakistan after gunmen stormed a police station in the northern indian state of punjab, killing at least six people and injuring five. this is not familiar to me on "france 24,", but stephan is here all the time. stephen: i'm acting out of character. i'm going to start with the training in europe at this midpoint in the trading day, european stairs -- shares are down at this point. everything is pretty significantly falling in paris in frederick. shares in ubs down 1% despite net profits jumping over 50% in the second quarter of this year. a big market story today coming from china, the shanghai had its

worst single they drop since 2007, closing down almost 8.5%. a dramatic fall. chinese markets have been having a really rough ride recently. we have seen dramatic falls, the government stepped in a couple weeks ago to try and calm the market turmoil. we've seen waves of company abandoned shares and training. things were just getting back to normal and it plunged off again the effect throughout the rest of the asian market as well seeing some falls. for more on this let's go back to beijing and speak to our correspondent there, rachel, who has more on this force. thanks for joining us. give us an idea of what is behind this latest plunge we've seen other markets? rachel: the shanghai composite getting absolutely obliterated here today in china, falling 8.5%, the largest single they lost the 2007. we saw heavy losses across the

board in every sector, 75 stocks falling for everyone the rose. the shanghai composite has actually seen a rally for the last three weeks things done presidents and support measures by the government. but today investors clearly indicating they are not confident that a full market will return. many of them looking to cash in on profits once the market moves back above the 4000 level. but it did fall well below the 4000 level again today. we saw the market rebound, we've seen that since it hit bottom on july 8, but again, half of that just today in this one session we lost. alexander: we saw the government stepped in to try and calm down these markets. is this not working anymore? rachel: we saw the bubbles are to burst in mid-june when the markets peaked at 5100 and then 100 50% over last year's volume at that time. and then we start seeing wild swings day today with market up

and then down in the government steps in with the support of measures to try and prop up the market. they did work for several weeks, was all rallies for three weeks. now there are signs of the government is going to withdraw its support to think that the market can support itself. and we are getting new signs that the economy is slowing, we got some new data today they came in down and also some manufacturing data the came in below expectations friday. investors aren't confident right now the chinese economy and the size of the government is going to withdraw its support, they are not confident in the market itself, they are exerting more volatility down the road. alexander: rachel speaking to us from beijing. stuart: the greeks creditors arrived in athens for a new round of talks in greek bailouts. alexander: creditors expect to press for more reforms in exchange for the 86 billion euro bailout. officials from creditors have

arrived in athens to begin technical discussions about what athens needs to do in exchange for those reforms and also how much money they need. reporter: 86 billion euro is what is at stake as grace resumes talks with its creditors this week. mid-level officials from the european commission and the european central bank are heading to athens to hammer out the terms for third greek bailout package. the two sides are hoping for an agreement by august 11 as debt repayment deadlines loom for cash-strapped athens. greece owes the ecb 3.2 billion euros by august 20 and the international monetary fund 1.5 billion euros in september. failure to repay the ecb would likely mean greek banks would stop receiving emergency liquidity assistance, which could lead to their collapse. talks are expected to be difficult as grace is to carry out further reforms before it can receive any more money. the country's parliament has

already approved two rounds of tough economic measures after the prime minister made significant concessions to greece's creditors. greek banks reopened last monday after the government secured a 7.2 billion euro bridging loan to stave off bankruptcy. capital controls remain with greeks only able to withdraw 60 euros a day. according to the head of one of greece's biggest banks, these limits will remain in place until a bailout agreement is finalized. which means it will be sometime before the economy can get back to business. stuart: it might not have seemed like it at the time, but it turns out that amazon has been a good investment if you bought shares right at the start. alexander: closing 10% up, around $530 a share. $22 billion of the company and one day, surpassing walmart for the first time. online retailers are taking over from traditional retailers.

if you bought shares in amazon in 1997 when it first listed on the stock market, your investment would have increased by more than 26,000%. even if you bought one year ago shares of 70% as well. this is one of these companies that keeps surprising investors, even when the results are in good, people always want to buy into it. stuart: thank you, stephen. time for today's press review. we're going to have a look at what's happening in the newspapers the british face is dominating newspapers in france in the u.k. today as well. >> it is chris froome, who yesterday took home the yellow jersey in the tour de france for the second time in three years. we see him on the front page of a french sports favor. with the words i will level travel on the yellow jersey. he seems to be seeking to justify himself.

that's because chris froome has been battling suspicion and criticism all the way around the tour this year. a lot of those accusations potentially of doping have been coming from the french press. so the sports paper describes chris froome as having -- having described the sports as having gotten rid of the contender who styled himself as the champion of his generation. that of course referring to lance armstrong. since then, they say every exceptional performer will have to justify himself and prove honesty in the face of often unfounded accusations of cheating. as i said to me a lot of these accusations coming from the french press. the paper seems to suggest that that's because there hasn't been a french victory at the tour de france for 30 years. this would have been the colors of the french tricolor, they give us instead the blues and

it's feelings for not having had a win. the paper calls a failure at home and it would sit down to less funding for french teams, a lack of training, and perhaps a more rigorous attitude towards doping. the guardian, u.k. paper in its editorial points the finger not at froom, but squarely at cycling, the sport. it says cycling is so mistrusted that nothing is taken at face value. part of the problem it says is that while athletes themselves fear the rivals are doping, there would be incentive to do it too. that's the lance armstrong rationale. trust it says is tough to win back, but it really matters. the reason the matters is because sports hold out to the world the promise of a reward for virtue. the reward of course being hard work. stuart: the other big story that is dominating the papers is turkey's change of approach to the crisis in neighboring syria. reporter: if we begin with the

turkish paper that leads with that story on its front page. you can see there, and the most light version of the paper it describes how, during a working dinner with the prime minister the prime minister says turkey's raves on iis and the pkk has changed the regional game of. that shows this is about turkey flexing its muscles, showing itself as a regional power. euclid tsakalotos meanwhile they focus on the wave all this affected turkey's relationship with the u.s. in the region. washington calls on them to sing was between iso the pkk. that is the headline in arabic there. turkey is targeting the pkk in northern iraq as well as iis in syria. which is essentially what it was that setting out to do. this paper highlights how turkey risks rubbing its allies up the wrong way by targeting those

kurds. and why? the wall street journal tells us why an article entitled america's a marxist allies. it's because the kurds have emerged as washington's most effective battlefield partners against islamic state. even though the u.s. and its allies have for decades lifted the pkk as a terrorist group. the wall street journal this article tells the story of the 24-year-old kurdish woman who is now fighting the advances on self-governing kurdish communities, according to the wall street journal, fighters like her have presented an appealing face of the guerrillas. an image of women battling as equals with male colleagues against an appallingly misogynistic enemy. turkish bombardments are also threatening the u.s. alliance with that key partner, the kurds. stuart: the u.s. president has been busy in a different region of the continuing in africa. reporter: he is now in ethiopia

where he was greeted with rather less fanfare than he had in kenya. the new york times has an article from a reporter base there, and it reminds readers of ethiopia's haughty record and of course an election in may in which the ruling coalition one every single seat in parliament. she reports the opposition parties do not expect obama's visit to result in political change in ethiopia, they hope obama will find a way to bring human rights issues to the four, but the reality is defensive aid partnerships are usually the key priorities. stuart: that's a real change from the trip to kenya, which there he received an awful lot of fanfare. reporter: the daily nation, kenya paper, goes down the love and we saw over the weekend and has article saying the ridiculous sideshow grabbed media attention away from the vital issues. obama mania took hold of the

country and was embarrassing to kenyans and also to visiting dignitaries as well. everyone wanted a piece of obama is what a kenyan writer says in this article. university of nairobi students threatened to urinate on trees planted by the u.s. president in 2006 if he didn't address them directlyoç

aside from the pure pleasure of it, sometimes has a transcendent power. what is called sacred music seems universally to be a form of prayer a vehicle for spiritual practice because music and sound are so clearly connected to our higher selves. so now we're in for a special treat, because the reverend alan jones and native singer joanne shenandoah are going to give us the opportunity to experience something of this. so settle back take a long, deep breath as we join our host, phil cousineau on this musical, soul-rendering episode of global spirit, the first internal travel series.