>> it is 1:00 p.m. in the french capital. you are watching live from paris, all the international news for you from "france 24." the death toll has risen in saudi arabia. 310 people have been confirmed killed in the stampede at the hatch pilgrimage -- at the hajj pilgrimage new mecca. when billion euros to help syrian refugees in the middle

east. beefing up checks on migrants coming into europe. is it a change of tone on syria? basharmerkel says al-assad should be included in peace talks. to bring the four year conflict to an end. plenty more coming up in this hour of "live from paris." the latest business news. it will take the wheel and volkswagen with the latest on the environmental scandal that has forced the chief executive of the company to quit. vw cheated on emissions tests in europe. x for joining us on "france 24." i'm catherine norstrom. we start off with -- i am

catherine norstrom and. at least 310 people have been killed in a stampede at the annual hajj pilgrimage. hundreds of other people have also been injured in that crush. you are seeing features of the chaos near mecca. our correspondent has the latest. >> tragedy and grief on this holiest of days. hundreds of pilgrims were killed in a stampede in mina on thursday, and more injured. the site is the last stage of the hajj pilgrimage to mecca and was particularly crowded for the festival of eid al-adha, the most important day on the islamic calendar. much of information has come from the saudi arabian civil defense agency, which had been tweeting regular updates regarding rescue operations and

precautions for visitors. crowd control is a pressing concern during the high. this -- during the hajj. this comes two weeks after a crane collapsed coming killing nine people. similar stampedes have caused hundreds of casualties. despite security measures, the -- it are provides checks 2 million people to the site. >> this comes weeks after another deadly accident in the cut. a crane collapse -- in mecca. a crane collapse, ahead of the hajj pilgrimage. philip moore is in dubai with the story and tells us more about the saudi arabian authorities' efforts to beef up .ecurity at the pilgrimage clearly those security efforts, which have not been enough to prevent these latest deaths. saudi authorities have

tried to in crew transport -- to improve's transport, security, crowd control, anything that would reduce the chances of what has just occurred now. but it has just happened again, roughly 2 million pilgrims arriving for the hajj pilgrimage , which tests security to the limits. and the number of tragedies in the past, usually when people have been crushed in stampedes. the worst was in 1990, when 1400 inple perished in a stampede a tunnel. this one looks particularly nasty, too. we will bring you any updates inthe situation at the hajj saudi arabia. after days of division, the european union has managed to agree on some measures in response to the continuing migration crisis. eu leaders meeting at a special

summit in brussels monday night pledged one billion euros in aid for syrian refugees in the middle east. they have agreed to set up local hotspots, refugee reception centers, in italy and greece. they could be up and running by november. our correspondent reports. >> an excellent summit. those were the words of the eu council president, who said eu leaders managed to put their differences aside in dealing with the migrant crisis. one measure aims to stem the flow at the source. lebanon,sed help to turkey, and other countries in the region. at least one billion euro will be met with ice -- will be mobilized. are over 4 million syrians living in neighboring countries, where increasingly dire conditions have contributed

to a surge in the number of refugees trying to gain asylum to europe. for those who continue to arrive on eu shores, there will be so-called hotspots operated by the end of november, reception centers in front-line states like greece and italy where eu officials will sort refugees. those ineligible for protection will be sent back. >> this means we combined together. for relocation. this is very important for us because for the first time, the migrant question is not simply a question of the member states. long pushed for support and processing its huge influx of arrivals, and was first to suggest -- despite strong objections from eastern european countries. >> in the balkans, tensions are

ramping up on the croatia/serbia border. croatia banned all with serbian number plates from entering croatian territory. the words again of the foreign minister. is ingional correspondent belgrade and has more there on the intense situation at the border. the crisis started four days ago when croatia was overwhelmed with the crisis. it decided to close its border to trucks coming from serbia, and this, of course, created problems at the entrance points of the country. that nothing

happened. this is why serbia decided to close its border to croatian .u and the entry of his country is being banned for all vehicles with serbian plates. course, this country 20 years ago, the memories are often fresh. this is not helping to find a peaceful solution to that crisis, which will have a huge impact for the moment. about 20 million euro were already lost. rise.gures likely to >> many migrants entering europe are fleeing the war in syria. homeowners from

angela merkel suggesting a change of approach on the syrian conflict. she said that president bashar al-assad should be involved in peace talks.ies >> angela merkel and her allies have not budge on the bottom line. bashar al-assad must leave power. the german chancellor first demanded that he must've down in 2007, along with her french and british counterparts. now, however, merkel says negotiating with his side could bring an end to the conflict that started four years ago. angela merkel: we have to speak with many actors, including a ssad but others as well. also in sunni countries like saudi arabia. >> other governments are also softening their stance on the

syrian regime. saturday, secretary of state john kerry said the timing of a shar al-assad's departure have to be decided during negotiations. said a sod could play a ite for transition for france's president disagrees, and maintains his original stance. >> france's position is that syria's future cannot include bashar al-assad. a successful transition can only happen after his departure. syria's biggest ally, pushing for military cooperation with the u.s. against the islamic state group, it seems more options are on the table than ever before. news, at leastld 25 people were killed in a double suicide bombing in yemen. mosqueack targeting a run by the houthi group.

the mars the first day of eid al-adha holiday. just over a year ago, since then, yemen has found into chaos and civil war. in the face of fierce criticism, a young u.s. businessman has cut the price of an aid truck. condemned for buying out and hiking the price of medication from $13.50 to $750. it is not clear what exactly the knew price of the drug will be. >> this drug has become the flashpoint in a fight over price gouging in the prescription drug industry. the controversy kicked off when the ceo of touring pharmaceuticals -- of turing pharmaceuticals announced a 5000

percent increase in the price of a drug to $750 a pill. dr. there is no doubt i am a capitalist. i am trying to create a drug company, a profitable drug to each and it is up company to decide its prices. >> bowing to backlash, the company announced lands to lower the cost of the drug at the client to say with the new price would be. turing pharmaceuticals' aprim is -- of der >> what is more concerning is this trend is causing the cost of medications to go up. so overall, as you see this happening with many drugs, the impact would be tremendous because increasingly the cost of health care is driven by the cost of medicine. of theu.s. has some

highest prescription drug costs in the world. pricing controls are a constant concern for the industry. now politicians are waiting in. s bernietial candidate sanders and hillary clinton have unveiled plans for reining in the cost of prescription drugs. >> pope francis has been greeted by crowds of well-wishers in washington. he is embarking on his first ever to the united states. later this thursday, he will be the first pontiff in history to speak before the u.s. congress. he has already held talks with barack obama at the white house. you see them there together. he has celebrated a mass at a washington cathedral. philip crowther has more on the pop-outs visit. pope francis will adjust a republican-controlled congress in washington thursday, and republicans have already recoiled after the pope waited ded into american

politics at the white house yesterday, where he stood with barack obama on climate change. he might again wade into -- republicans would not like him to talk about the opening up toward cuba, but it is likely he will do so. he has rejected the notion that he is "a bit lefty," and he will probably prove that when he spaced to this joint meeting of congress. he will mention most likely his opposition to abortion, his opposition to same-sex marriage, and certainly his support for the traditional catholic institution on marriage. in the meantime, republicans will look very closely at what themes say, and all of will be in the u.s. congress. it will be a packed joint meeting of congress with one single exception. wonderful and has decided to pope, clearly and

simply because of his climate stance. toll has risen in saudi arabia. 310 people have in confirmed killed in the stampede in the hajj pilgrimage. several others are reported injured in the crush. eu leaders have pledged one billion euros to help syrian refugees in the middle east, and i have also agreed to beef up checks on migrants coming into europe. is it a change of tone on syria? hasan leader angela merkel said bashar al-assad should be included in any peace talks. bounds to bring the four-year conflict to an end . time to catch up with the very latest business news. stephen carroll is with me in the studio. hi there, stephen. lots of news coming in thursday.

from the environmental scandal and volkswagen. he keeps on coming, doesn't it? stephen: we have lots of several pieces of information. startrmaker is going to naming those responsible for manipulating emissions tests tomorrow. this as the german transport minister has confirmed that some of the 11 million affected these all models of volkswagen cars were sold in europe, although he could not say how many. he has called for new on the ,oad emissions tests in europe being supported by the european commission, not set to be agreed in the coming months. they will face -- as well as from france, and korea. -- south korea. >> this comes after the chief executive of volkswagen, martin winterkorn, finally stepped down from his job on wednesday. 128 pension is worth

million euros. he could also be eligible for a severance payment of over $3 million. both white and's supervisory board pointed out wednesday that martin winterkorn was not aware of the regulation of the effect of cars. >> you can imagine. also, the question of who is in line to succeed martin winterkorn. >> that will be announced by the onrd at volkswagen friday. the current chief executive of one of volkswagen's groups, the shortest brand, porsche. and herbert deese, who joined both white and in july from bmw. he is one of the passenger car division, the biggest part of the group. he could be the outside of them i take over as they are trying

to see a changing of the guard at volkswagen. >> how is this playing out on the stock markets? stephen: post-wagon shares have started the day up by almost 4%. but with the news out of the transport ministry on new emissions tests, and that some of those cars we now know were bought in europe, bmw shares tumbling today because of a report of the german autobuild weekly, which said they, too, in a be implicated different diesel emissions anydal, the company denying inaccurate omissions on their part. it is taking shares down over 8%. across europe, the markets are also trading -- they carmaker having a rough couple of days. renault down to 6%.

you can see that on the frankfurt stocks there. partly down to carmakers. and containing the fallout of scandal, hoping not to tarnish the broader industry. >> volkswagen, the people's car, and a symbol of german innovation. the 78-year-old company struggles with an new emissions scandal, the government is trying to limit damage to the broader industry. >> i think despite the scandal, we should be careful not to cast doubt on an entire industrial sector. or the company that is involved. on its capacity for innovation and its importance to our country. >> on oh manufacturing is a key driver of the german economy. volkswagen, mercedes-benz, and country'sent the

largest industry sector. it accounts for 20% of german exports, including 800,000 people. some 300,000s employees across 29 plants across the country. the are the cornerstone of german auto industry. >> this must never happen again in volkswagen, and we want to make sure that we do everything so that confidence in the country is quickly restored. >> restoring consumer confidence and rebuilding a brand may be an uphill battle, one that is not in the company's best interest, but the country's as well. >> we are heading to the united states, where the chinese president, xi jinping, is becoming one of the biggest names in the technology world. >> yes, he is. including facebook, amazon, and apple. that is an event he attended on wednesday night. there were new partnerships

announced in china which will help push the sale of windows 10 there. many technology cubbies have a difficult time operating in china. there.k is locked despite the restrictions, on internet access in china, she is saying he wanted a more open cyberspace. let's take a listen. >> china abdicates the building peaceful -- in cyberspace, and we should believe they should be in line with the respective national reality spirit when we catch importance -- when we attached importance to it, we have the him of encouraging more industry to make use of the internet, to achieve better development. night, stephen, a battle over bears that end up in the german courts. tell us about this. >> this is a tasty story for you. won a court maker battle against a german

manufacturer. you can see them there. --claims the gold cover bare the gold covered their was an infringement. they have been making notes is the 1920's. the german comedy won the first round of its copyright case, but a federal judge reopened that case on tuesday. it is fairly clear inclusive. >> i am not the legal expert, stephen. it is not the same as chocolate for me. i thoroughly much, stephen carroll with business news for us. it is time now for a review of the weekly press. time to take a look at what is grabbing the headlines in the weekly news magazines. florence villeminot no joins us now. for the weekly press review. let's head to the republic of

congo, not the democratic republic of congo. the president wants to change the constitution to allow him another term in office. >> this is what he said. "i will allow the people to vote on my third term." it is controversial news because the 72-year-old has tightly ruled the oil-producing country for 30 of the past 35 years. you can read all about it here. between 1979 and 1992, then returned to power in 1997 following a brief bloody civil war. he has been in power ever since. elected two times. a lot of people say he has his eye on the next presidential election, scheduled for mid-2015. terms innly have two office, and you have to be under the age of 70 to run for the top job. this is why they need a referendum to change that. >> that's right, because he is 72 and has been elected twice.

his critics are calling it constitutional coup d'etat. goalfear that his ultimate is to become president for life, and this is a controversial trend we have already seen in several african countries. there are about a half-dozen african countries where the residents have -- where the president's have been around for over 30 years in some cases. recently we have been talking about burundi in burkina faso, which have received violent acts. guess what has a chance of getting its way? first of all, the opposition and civil society are very well organized. secondly, france, a big ally of -- of congo, has been wishy-washy about the whole thing. they do not want the referendum to take place, but france has an economic interest in the country. >> very interesting developments there.

onto another issue. pope francis has of course in a the spotlight. after his trip to cuba, he flew over to the u.s. for a very well-publicized visit. >> that's right. here he is, looking like superman on the front page this week. "super francis." not since john paul ii has been there since pope mania, a se.e-apocaly pope francis is lashing out against the rich and powerful. he did so in the lions den, which is the united states. you can see this pope is not afraid of anything. rarely has a pope been so outspoken. talks all sorts of controversial topics. his favorite weapon is words and prayer. >> he has been using these words, hasn't he? in modern technology. he has famously embraced this. he apparently tweets quite frequently, but he has also been

warning about the abuse of social media. >> the pontiff has a love-hate relationship with technology. he has called the web a gift from god, but, as you said, he warns about abuse and says that it must be used properly.

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stefan: the ancient temples of angkor wat, cambodia. wake at dawn to experience the serenity of the sunrise and you'll quickly discover you're not alone. the place is crawling with bugs. but what may seem like disgusting pests to you and me are what many in this region would call lunch. with 40 tons of insects to every human on the planet, are we in the west ignoring one of the world's great untapped resources? that is huge. i'm stefan gates