host: this is life from paris. i'm "france 24." the main syrian opposition group will join the peace talks in geneva. they end their boycott after receiving u.n. and u.s. guarantees. peace talks began earlier in geneva. fresh troops faced allegations of child sex abuse in africa. brazil is losing the battle against the zika virus. the president has called for a

national effort to eradicate the mosquito that carries it. you very much for being with us. the latest on the syrian peace taalks. the rebels say they will attend. it has emerged the main rebel group has had assurances from the u.s. and the u.n. over humanitarian aids in terms of the cease-fire. these images -- taken before the decision was made. the meeting as face-to-face between al-assad and the u.n. envoy. the opposition declared they are coming to geneva for the, to

participate. so, i'm just telling you that. [laughter] >> she is giving me an information, as you can imagine. i have been hearing rumors and information already. we heard them many times. havei will react to -- i reasons to believe. i will only reacts when i get a formal indication of that, but that is a good signal. caughthe special envoy off guard. the one man who will not be caught offguard is our middle east expert, jonathan paris. jonathan, pleasure to have you with us again. how do you read this u-turn by the rebels? jonathan: i think the rebels are being, not quite humiliated but close to it. they had some conditions which were pretty much rebuffed by the special envoy. they complained to ban ki-moon

but the other side is coming in a very strong position. assads the regime, the regime, backed by has the law, and thezbollah, iran russians. these poor rebels are coming with very little support from the united states. host: is the issue that they are fragmented as much as problem is anything? jonathan: i think the issue is they are not getting enough support from the west, which two years ago they went to the same process where they were draffegd to this geneva talk. and nothing came of it. meanwhile, as far as i know there has been no cease-fire. their people are contained to be bombed and starved to death and freezing. to what avail? do you really think that assad

is going to agree to step down? host: do you think what happens next in geneva is going to make any difference at all? jonathan: i mean, it is nice to have proximity talks, which means they are not all sitting together but the special envoy is going from one group to the other group. that's nice. somethingd to eventually, but right now things have to change on the ground. and right now you have the feeling that the russian air power and iran and hezbollah are pushing the rebels back. and so, the rebels are in a weak position. six months ago they were in a much stronger position. my feeling is, until they are able to change their positions on the ground, we're not going to get much compromise from the regime. out ofan i take -- this what is happening in geneva and talk about islamic state and about the consultation that that

adds to this equation? the question?'s host: the question would be the fact that islamic state is there. will never be present for any negotiations but is there. how much more complicated does it render trying to solve this problem? againan: the i.s. is another albatross that the rebels have to deal with, because here you have the united states leading a coalition against isis. that's their focus. their focus is no longer on regime change in damascus. it is no longer assad stepping down. so, and meanwhile on the ground, they're being attacked by the russian air force instead of isis. so -- host: you see assad staying put? sitting in see assad a very good position right now because the world, the west is

focused on isis. and nobody is really focused on assad's regime and his allies. nobody is really in footing pain on them. on them.ting pain i think we're going to zoom past 300,000 dead in a little while. host: thank you very much for joining us on "france 24." we appreciate your time. from paris, french shoulders -- soldiers facing fresh allegations of child sex abuse concerning troops offering in -- operating in central african republic. one says abuse was rampant. reporter: allegations of abuse against the very people sent to protect them. the u.n. says children as young as seven, claims have been sexually exploited by european

troops and the central african republic and. >> these are extremely serious accusations and it is crucial these cases are urgently investigate. sent to the was country to stem the violence between christian militias and largely muslim rebels following a coup. the abuses claim to have taken place near camp of displaced people in 2014. soldiers from france and georgia are among those accused. both countries have launched investigations into the allegations. aref these crimes proven, specific and divisions-- specific individuals who have tions, insulted the name and damage the reputation of the georgian military and will be held responsible. guardian first

reported such cases of abuse and april last year. in that instance, 14 french soldiers were accused of sexually exploiting miners at a displacement camp. they criticize the u.n.'s handling of the allegations accusing officials of failing to take action. has: the french ambassador confirmed two foreign journalists working in baroody rundi were released one of four hours of the police had arrested them. theench journalist and british photo journalists were arrested. boutt journalists have covered e region for yearsh. their arrests sparked widespread condemnation from diplomats. amnesty international says satellite images show mass g raves in burundi.

consistent to a slaughter carried out by security forces. reporter: with satellite photos and witness testimonies to back them up, amnesty international says they found five mass gra ves in burundi. theted on the outskirts of capital of the east african nation, the graves were thought to have been dug on the afternoon of december 11. earlier in the day, armed gunmen in an antigovernment rebellion attacked military bases. the police force responded. i the end of the day, at least 87 people were dead. with sources saying the death toll may have been considerably higher. the report, which was released friday, points the finger at burundi's government and police force, saying a number of innocent civilians living in opposition neighborhoods were targeted. securityof all, -- the forces have been operating in complete impunity so far. then also we are calling for an independent investigation into

all these allegations. >> i think it is time to send international troops in there. and burundi has to all those sites. reporter: the united nati ons is also investigating reports of mass graves. violence has been escalated protest began -- since protest began. he saw and one a constitutionally questionable third term, coming to power in 2005 at the end of a 12 year civil war. host: european police have launched their most wanted website and list 45 notorious criminal suspects, including salah abdeslam, the key suspect in last year's paris attacks. this comes after sharp criticism of a lack of coordination between european police and the weights of the paris attacks. salah abdeslam was able to flee from paris to brussels hours after the slaughter of 130 people, passing through a police checkpoint. reporter: these are the faces of

europe's most wanted. 45 men and women suspected or guilty of a range of crimes from terrorism to armed robbery. all now feature on a new website created by european police office euro pole. the platform allows the public to give anonymous information about the suspects. >> it is an attractive option for police who have been unable to find anyone willing to say, i get the feeling that my neighbor or the guy on the third floor is on the website. whether or not this is going to be a success, we do not know yet. we will see how people react. es after: the move com european authorities were criticized for their lack of coordination before the paris attacks in november. then salah abdeslam, a key suspect in those attacks, fled over the belgian border hours after they took place. 23 of the e.u.'s 28 members are currently involved in the project.

information on all the fugitives that feature on the website is available in 17 linkages. in some cases -- in 17 langaugaeuages. awards of up to $10,000 are being offered. it is similar to long-standing fbi websites which focuses on criminals thought to be operated inside the united states. host: mark thompson there with the report of the most wanted website from europol. so, that website then up and running with some of the most wanted people in europe upon it. let's move on to angela merkel who has unveiled a new asylum procedure in germany. it is a response to a mounting criticism over the influx of more than 1 million migrants in the past year. l assault carried out by a 1000 strong gang of migrants in cologne on new year's eve.

three north african states, morocco, algeria, and tunisia, have been declared countries of safe origin, which means people seeking asylum from there in germany now have no case. family reunification's have been put on hold for two years. >> the german border is congested. vehicles rolling and from austria are checked by police. they let through cars but larger people carriers like trucks are inspected for human smugglers. >> we've noticed instances of people smuggling have gone down. i think it is because of these controls. reporter: the controls may be a deterrent to clandestine, hundreds of refugees has to germany's border everyday. at night, the busload of migrants pulls up at an industrial zone in the south of germany. there are over 50 on board. >> it's difficult to know in advance how many are going to arrive. that depends on the austrians. reporter: the german police have

asked austria not to send more than 100 refugees per hour. the passengers are's lit up into men traveling alone and families. and with the help of the interpreter, the police question the migrants. >> do you want to stay in germany and ask for asylum? reporter: for this family, germany has been their goal from the beginning. >> i want to learn german. then i want to find a job. i want my kids to go to school. that is all i want. >> you really need them to understand that it will not be possible to -- check conjures afterwards. reporter: for these people who often arrive with no identity papers, the first step is to determine if they belong to the same family. these bracelets so that the family is not separated during the registration process. arerter:in this stream those who arrived alone. people take -- police take digital fingerprints.

it is the only security check and place. entry into germany is rarely refuse. >> we start the expulsion procedure if a person does not give us a valid reason for requesting asylum. for the moment they are deported to the country they came from. austria in this case. we have to believe that these people are telling us. ermany's: but g rethinking its open-door policy appeared on thursday berlin zones.d tunisia -- save they will have little chance of gaining political asylum in germany. host: president roussef has called for a national effort to eradicate the mosquito that carries zika virus. reporter: preparing for a different kind of assignment. these soldiers are receiving training to prevent zika from. spreading

the virus has transmitted through mosquitoes, species found in tropical and subtropical areas. this instructor shows troops how the mosquitoes can proliferate in stagnant water, anywhere, including in tires. as brazil prepares for its famous carnival, president rousseff is warning of the risks of an epidemic. >> we are losing the battle against the mosquito. keeps reproducing, each and every one of us is losing the fight. so, we have to be fully mobilized. zika is no longer just a brazilian issue. it has had other latin american countries. theare now seeing possibility of an international threat to public health. zika virus is linked to a birth defect called microcephaly in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. 4000 cases have been reported

and brazil alone. -- in brazil alone. >> it is not a verifiable disease. this means that we hardly know what is going on. i can tell you that we are having an increase in dengue fever. we have that every year. this time of the year until the middle of may. so, we are probably having zika transmission bi now. of latin the whole america is on high lord with thousands of reported cases in venezuela. in peru, one man who traveled through columbia is also true have believed it contracted the virus. for killingn jailed her abusive husband has met with francois hollande to plead her case. politicians in france are rallying behind the 68 year old jacqueline sauvage. he used to beat and rape her

and abuse their son. when her son hank himself in 2012, she she turned a hunting rifle on her husband shooting him three times she was sentenced to 10 years in prison, upheld on appeal, the judge saying that her suffering did not merit a self-defense plea. ♪ >reporter: the courts said it ws toder, sentencing sauvage 10 years in prison. for her supporters, it was self-defense. in december, 2012, after 47 years of marriage, sauvage killed her husband with three gunshots to the back.he had been violent and sexually abusive to his wife and their children. the jury decided that was not a defense, ruling that was upheld on appeal. her family chose not to request the judicial review of the case, asking instead for a pardon. a petition in favor now has over

380,000 signatures. age's supporters want reform is what they see as lawse's outdated regarding domestic violence. >> yes, she killed him. this is not about getting her acquitted. this is about recognizing how much see suffered. she realized it is completely unjust to imprison her for 10 years on top of that. despite everything, this is a legitimate case of self-defense. >> we're here demonstrate against an arbitrary decision. a jury that understood nothing at all about domestic violence. reporter: presidential pardons are a rare phenomenon in france, but so, too, are conditions that draw such anger from across all sections of society. host: the case of jacqueline sauvage. syndrome, another term used in this case.

we will bring you all developments as we get them here on "france 24." hollande delaying his decision on whether she will be given a pardon. time for another look at the business. a surprise for japan from the global markets. good to see you again, sir. kus: japan has pulled a rabbit out of the hat, or the bank of japan. the bank of japan has lowered its benchmark interest rates to -.01%. this is seen as a bold step that very few central banks have taken previously. it means that commercial lender's will effectively be charged when they make deposits at the bank of japan. the hope is that commercial banks will increase lending to businesses and households instead of sitting on that cash. boos lowerto inflation levels and with that, the japanese economy. i spoke to a guest and he told us why the boj is taking action.

>> you can't actually charged individuals negative interest rates because they'd pile their money under the mattress. but you can do that in a attempt to try and generaten lending into the economy and also to try and stimulate credit growth. is the primaryat aim i think of what the bank of japan is trying to do, because generate to try to inflation to the system. they do that by the aim of negative interest rates is also to bring down the longer-term bond yields and effectively longer-term interest rates. that helps to generate inflation and that is one of the things that they could defend so desperately needs. at the moment, it is fighting off deflationary forces all over the place. you have got the falling oil prices and also the fact that you have got the strengthening eyn. these -- strengthening yen. these two factors are impacting inflation in japan. theory it sounds pretty

good this move by the bank of japan, but are there any risks involved? are clearly risks involved. if you look at the the theory behind it, you would say that investors are taking on, they've got to basically look for riskier assets to generate income. we live in a world where now the debt levels go through the roof again. and that could also have a knock on effect on the fact that the whole risk appetite element of the market is increasing. mind thato bear in there are increase risks that come with this but also the fact that the banks themselves find it harder and harder to generate income. their profit margins are squeezed because they cannot pass on that negative interest rate to their customers. so, in the long, it actually has a possible negative impact in the way that these banks are

meant to be the forces driving recovery. if they are not getting a profit generaltheir, through business, that that has an impact further down the line. let's take a, look at how stock markets have been reacting to that move from the bank of japan. we are seeing stocks in the united states power ahead this hour. the dow jones industrial average closed two sessions highs, up 1.9% this hour. higherares are heading on wall street after microsoft reported strong earnings. quarterly figures from visa and mastercard helped shares stateside to european indices finished higher earlier as well. we saw a real bounce for the ftse 100 in london. far behind.ot too once again on this move from the bank of japan. these gains today means that european stocks trimmed their w

orst january drop since 2008. it has not been a pretty picture at the start of this year. news.et's look at other american growth slowed down and the fourth quarter of 2015. the world's biggest economy expanded by 0.7%. thans significantly slower the 2% growth we saw during the third court appeared the strong dollar is seen as one of the main culprits, making american goods more expensive abroad which means a slow down for exporters. american shoppers were seen to grow more wary and consumption fell back for the year as a whole to the u.s. economy grew by 2.4%. the finance minister and france said that 2015 is a year of recovery for the french economy. the economy grew at its fastest pace in four years and the upturn will intensify in 2016 allowing for the creation of more jobs. despite the stronger growth

figure, the number of french jobseekers group last year. the growth rate for the year as a whole came in at 1.1%, an uptick if we compare to 2014, but still below the eurozone 5% growth. 1. growt high consumption was one of the drivers of the 2015 growth rate. we put the spotlight on and expanding part of the retail sector. retailing was worth 65 billion euros last year in france. reporter: this warehouse processes thousands of online orders every day. and yet the company that owns it was only a small hardware store until five years ago. internety going into retailer was one of the best decisions they have ever made. >> we're not bound by walls like in a traditional shop. we sell 45,000 products and counting. 65orter: the french spend

billion euros buying online last year. it is estimated e-commerce represents one in 10 total retail sales in france. experts say it is thanks to a growing number of offers to harness growth companies like this one have come up with new concept to attract more customers. 200 products and we added 30 new products just today. reporter: clearing sales websites have become popular in france. 1000 have less than clients when we started. now we have hundreds of thousands of active members on our site. reporter: to increase their online presence, businesses have had to hire. hire workers with the specialized skills. >> i did not have problems getting hired after university. reporter: 25,000 online retail websites were created in france last year. 65 billion euros not too

shabby. host: we take a short break. after that, more news.

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