genie: welcome back to the "france 24" newsroom. time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula in paris. the parliament in russia grants president vladimir putin the right to deploy russian military in syria. the kremlin says those planned strikes will only concern the air force. the u.s. hits the afghan city of kunduz with two more airstrikes after the caliban sees -- after the caliban seized it this week.

investigating syrian president bashar al-assad over alleged crimes against humanity. that inquiry is made on graphic syrian armyen by a photographer who defected two years ago. iconcoming up, a fashion steps aside. in business, we will look at what is next for ralph lorenz and the brand that bears his name. in the centralg african republic continues to we will look at that country's biggest export, diamonds. that and more on the way. first, our top stories. first, the russian parliament has just voted to

give -- to allow president vladimir putin to send russian troops to syria. the kremlin was quick to play down that decision, saying it will only use its air force, not ground troops. sean walker told us the latest. >> vladimir putin, when he was in new york earlier this week, was clear that this is only about airstrikes, that it is not going to be troops on the ground for ground operations. reiterated, only airstrikes. we did not get numbers of how involved,s would be how much russian support would be on the ground in syria, if they are not taking part in active combat. we did have this official rubberstamp decision. it was quick, unanimous, done in private. yearw the same thing last

ahead of the crisis in ukraine. and the one thing that was made clear is that all the other western strikes in syria and in iraq against international law -- are against international law because they do not come with a you and resolution. russia is different asked forssia military assistance, and that is why they have gone ahead with this. this comes just after vladimir putin made that very high profile trip to the un's general assembly. what is his strategy here? >> that is right. when he spoke to the un's general assembly, after airing a lot of grievances about western policy and u.s. hegemony in the coalitioncalled for a

of free countries to fight against terrorists and against the islamic state. he even compared it to the coalition of the nazis in world war ii. i think because of the very different evaluations of bashar al-assad, vladimir putin is him as a hero fighting terrorists, when of course most western leaders wanted to see him go for a long time and see him as a key part of the problem, i think we will not see that coalition. we will not see european and american and russian planes flying joint bombing raids. what it does seem like is that after the long meeting with barack obama in new york, perhaps there was some kind of agreement that while the west is watching warily, it will not stand in russia's way. sean walker -- genie: sean walker reporting from moscow. sergei lavrov is hosting a counterterrorism meeting. for more on that, we go to new york to jessica.

different sides of the fence. russia is still determined to work with it. how with that pan out in this meeting today? jessica: it is looking increasingly like russia versus the united states. we can expected a at the u.n. security meeting that, as is often the case, hosted by the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov -- as you heard said earlier this week, president putin's call for a broad alliance, a coalition to fight the islamic state in syria and interact. -- and iraq. the russians are calling for a u.n. security council resolution, taking the moral the ground and saying that strikes that have been carried out over the last year by the u.s., and some more recent strikes by france, are a legal under international law.

we can expect more finger-pointing and perhaps some efforts to work together as well. what is interesting is also to have a look at what is happening on the diplomatic front in terms of the political negotiations regarding syria. it does seem that some small headway might be being made. it seems some western powers have maybe slightly softened their stance and could potentially agree with in negotiations to have some sort of transitional government within which bashar al-assad could possibly stay at the fornning, in exchange dropping barrel bombs on his people. those are the indications we are getting here from diplomats. thee: other news out of u.n. -- the palestinian flag is going to be raised for the first time ever. tell us a bit more about that. won their bid for nonmember observer states to raise their flag at the u.n.

headquarters. isay the palestinian flag going to be raised. it will first be raised in the rose garden, just behind the general assembly building. later on it is said to be going up in front over the u.n. hq where are the -- where are all the other flags are raised. timed expect that to be to take place just around when the palestinian president gives his speech. he is due to give his speech in front of the general assembly, and then there will be a sort of flag raising ceremony, scheduled at 1:00 p.m. unfortunately, it might be raining quite heavily at that time. genie: thank you for that. jessica reporting from the u.s. -- from the u.n. france has launched an inquiry into crimes against humanity by the syrian regime. prosecutors in paris are basing the claims on a series of graphic photographs taken by a

former syrian army photographer. oliver farry explains. oliver: french prosecutors are the first to take on the syrian regime in court. an investigation into crimes believed to have taken place between 2011 and 2013 will open on the 15th of september. the french foreign minister reveals the investigation, saying that it is our responsibility to act against the impunity of these murderers. investigators are working from photographs taken by a former civilian military police photographer. the man called him caesar -- the men called him caesar. he defected in 2015. the photos were independently and presented to the united nations in april of 2014. the prosecution comes as france remains firm in its demands that bashar al-assad step down.

even as former western allies are opening up to the possibility of dealing with the syrian leader. genie: next to afghanistan, where two days ago the taliban and seized the city -- the taliban seized the city of kunduz. fighting raged through the night . special forces have not reached kunduz to back troops on the ground. u.s. air forces have carried out three airstrikes since yesterday. let's bring in catherine james. what has been happening there today? catherine: we have had a bit of a setback today for the afghan government. "the wall street journal" reported in the last hour that one of the last two strongholds that the government held has been taken by the taliban, and up to as many as 60 soldiers have surrendered to the taliban.

this is a disappointing development for the afghan government and army, and reports of major forces supporting the afghan army -- needs to be understood that they are not sending troops to fight. they are only at this point in an advisory role. genie: tell us a bit more about reaction from kabul now. some lawmakers are calling for the president to resign. catherine: that is right. this is quite understandable. it has come after a year of difficulty and a lot of problems within the government in being able to make people feel secure. the economy has been failing, so this is really a nail in the coffin of what has been a long time coming. it is not surprising that they are calling for him to resign. obviously it is not a great time for that to happen. with akabul itself, and

lot of afghans, i would imagine, the victory that the taliban have won here is by and large one of morale. they have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with. whether they can take over any guess,ities is anybody's but by and large they have struck at the heart of what afghans have been fearing all along, that once the forwarders pulled out their army, the taliban would come back in force. genie: catherine james reporting from kabul. saudi-leden, where coalition forces say they have foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to yemen aboard an iranian boat. the coalition has cited houthi rebels allied with iran. the ship was carrying various types of shells and rockets and allegedly fort houthi forces.

now to the u.s., where georgia has executed its first woman in 70 years. 47-year-old kelly gissendaner requested a prayer before being put to death by lethal injection. her execution came after a flurry of last-minute appeals, including one from the pope. guess and dana -- gis sendaner's supporters say that she found god behind bars. she was convicted of murdering her husband. she was given -- almost 30 people have now died in the central african republic after clashes between militias and u.s. -- and u.n. peacekeepers over the last four days. the violence is putting? 's over the -- is putting ability marks over the to -- >> diamines of all sizes,

shapes, and colors for sale in central paris. these exquisite jewels come from all over the world. but for the past year, they have not been coming from one of the leading exporters, the essential african republic. rebels ousted the former president two years ago, leading to sectarian clashes with securing christians. a measurement to ensure sales of the precious stones cannot be used to fund armed militias. mining has continued, and huge stockpiles have been built up, hoping to be sold when the country becomes stable. amnesty international is urging the governor -- the government to make sure that only diamonds will be sold on the global market. provide legalnot

evidence, then the government should not sell them. >> more than 100,000 carats have beeniamonds smuggled out since the embargo came into effect. if and when the ban is lifted, diamond exports could bring in close to 50 million euros per year to the cash-strapped nation. genie: back here in france, a european member of parliament has come under fire for her comments on race. wentweekend, nadine marano on television saying that france was a country of white people. that prompted furious reaction is -- nicholaso sarkozy demanded that her candidacy big -- that her candidacy be withdrawn. nicholas sarkozy is hoping to be

the republican candidate for presidency in 2017. nadine marano says she will not change her position. let's take a look at our headlines. the parliament in russia grants vladimir putin the right to deployed russian military in syria. the kremlin says those planned strikes will only concern the air force. the u.s. hits the afghan city of kunduz with two more airstrikes after the taliban seized in this week. nato special forces are posting afghan troops on the ground. investigating syrian president bashar al-assad over alleged crimes against humanity. that inquiry is based on graphic pictures taken by a syrian army photographer who defected two years ago. time for our business news with stephen carroll. we start here in france with a day in court for uber. stephen: that is right.

two senior executives of the company over its lows cost -- over its low-cost service, uber pop. six charges, including misleading commercial practices. uberpop connects drivers without formal training or taxi licenses. the service was shut down in july amid angry accusations from taxi drivers of unfair competition. they face a maximum penalty of two years in prison and 300,000 euros. french government has unveiled its spending plans for next year. stephen: the french government is cutting spending by at least 16 billion euros in 2016. it is also hoping to take in an additional 2.4 billion more exilesiles -- as tax

declare from abroad. the markets in the meantime -- some worrying news for the euro zone economy echo stephen: these are figures on inflation, or rather, deflation, as prices fell 2.1% in september. this is what is happening on the markets. not concerned at all with those figures. we are seeing a big bounce in the european markets. carmakers are leaving the gains. china has cut the sales tax on small cars in half, even helping volkswagen with all their troubles. up over 1% in frankfurt. genie: something we do not talk aloud -- talk a lot about in business, fashion. there is an iconic figure stepping down. stephen: this is ralph lorenz -- ralph lauren. he will stay on as chairman.

the new chief executive is arriving as a -- at a difficult time for the ralph lauren brand. >> an american icon bows out after five decades. inph lauren set up shop 1967, selling ties. his empire is currently worth $9 million. his version of country club chic and anonymous with a preppy polo cup shirt. his net quarter profit down is 5% -- his net quarter profit is down 5%. his choice to succeed him is an outsider, 34 years younger. he has steered cap's old navy division to success.

he has been with h&m as well. that could prove crucial as ralph lauren is being hit with heavy discounting by rivals. in october. turn 76 he says he is still excited about the business and is not leaving. he will remain a thing of chairman and creative chief. stephen: more business headlines a fine of $105 million for gm -- forthe united states, fiat chrysler inside the united states. trying to buy the electronics chain for more than 700 billion euros. the board is considering the proposal. shares of the company have jumped more than 15% at the

offer. the chinese technology company four away is making -- it is producing the new nexus six p phone, which unveils on tuesday. china struggled to make inroads in the american market after its activities were limited in the u.s. up, something good from long-winded people like myself. it turns out 140 characters might not be the limit anymore on twitter? stephen: this is a project being examined by twitter's cofounder, jack dorsey, to increase the length of tweets. very controversial. the team are examining options for maybe changing the brevity that has become the trademark of the social network. they have allowed people to post links and photos by having them include in the character account that in the character count. it is one of those things that investors had been worried about

, lincoln to advertising and how much money they make. genie: thank you for that. stephen carroll with that look at the business today. let's take a look now at our press review. it is time to take a look at what has been grabbing headlines around the world, and we have florence villeminot with us to help with that. lots going on in a can a stand, who seized -- in afghanistan, who seized the city of kunduz. flo: "the wall street journal" talks about the taliban standing their ground into dues. a very interesting piece in "the guardian" as well. it talks about how symbolic kunduz is. recapture of the city is a military, political, and propaganda coup for the taliban. it marks a shift in strategy for

the taliban and. in recent months and years, they have been waging war against government forces, but in rural areas. here they are moving into a big city. it is also a big test for afghan forces. anulled out a cartoon in arab paper based in london focusing on the afghan government. the afghan government here on the left guzzling up this potion drink. what is that drink? it is international help written on the bottle there. inre is one last drop left that bottle. meanwhile, the taliban vultures are watching the situation. genie: let's focus on french politics. shuou do not know who alan pay is a career politician, the mayor of bordeaux, who now has his eye on the presidency. flo: he has been around since the 1980's. a former prime minister former

foreign minister as well. the 70-year-old plans to stay around a little bit longer, and he wants to represent his party. of months, heuple has really seen a rise in popularity. this is a concern for the leader -- perhaps everyone thinks he wants to run for president again. if we go back to the front page, let's look at it here it it ofks about the rise to power a senior citizen. we take a look at the front page again. you can see him here looking quite old, a flattering photo for him. he says he is pushing sarkozy's buttons as he rises in popularity. genie: an editorial that is so great and so french, comparing these two men as if they were competing wines. flo: it is quite fitting that they compare him to a bottle of

wine. they say nicholas sarkozy is like a heavy red wine that leaves stains, perhaps stains on your teeth and lips. while the other is more of a respectable wine, more civilized, more bourgeois, as well. there are elements on the right that find sarkozy a little too, and, a little too right wing. common, ae too, little too right wing. now it will be up to the right to choose their champion. genie: another big story in platini, about michel the head of european football's governing body. he is now being drawn into the fifa corruption scandal. flo: big news in the sports papers. the sports daily here has shall platini on the front page.

it goes into more detail about what is going on. swiss prosecutors are investigating the corruption scandal at fifa, accusing sepp blatter, the president of fifa, of making a disloyal payment of 1.8 million euros to michel platini. both michel platini and sepp blatter deny any wrongdoing. swiss authorities say they are treating him not only as a witness but as an accused person as well. genie: there is a lot of shock in the french press. michel platini is also a very respected soccer official. flo: he is seen as an honest guy. up until recently, he was seen as a good guy in the corruption scandal. take a look at what all this means for his image. the investigation is really tarnishing him, his image of being the white knight within the evil football world. writer says he is determined

to run for fifa presidency if and when sepp blatter steps down. genie: more now with an american photographer. he has traveled here to europe to document some of the more human stories behind the migrant crisis. flo: you mightp1uvvóxóxóxóxñaw=w