genie: this is "france 24." time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. all eyes on iowa as the state gets set to choose its favorites among the u.s. presidential candidates. live coverage in just a minute. a historic parliamentary session begins in burma, set to install the first democratically elected government in more than 50 years. isen president raul castro

in france for his first-ever state visit to europe. also coming up for you this hour, over 10,000 unaccompanied migrant children have disappeared in europe. we will talk to ngo save the children about fears many of them have been taken by sex trafficking rings. has stirred amazon up controversy in japan. this after several companies offer services to rent buddhist monks. that and more on the way, but first, our top stories live from paris. the u.s. presidential race kicks up in knots this monday -- kitsap a notch -- kicks up a notch this monday.

are showing tight races for both republicans and democrats as they tried to get the lay of the land in the final hours before the caucuses begin. i enjoyed by philip crowther. good morning to you. very early there, just after 6:00 a.m. voting does not take off until after 8:00 p.m. tonight. other still campaigning today? philip: they can. there are no laws keeping them from campaigning across iowa, across the state on this last day, the the actual day of the iowa caucuses. 6:00 a.m. local time, but that does not meet the candidates are not stirring at this point, trying to get as many media appearances in as they possibly can on this final day, and as many campaign events as they can because they have to get in touch, be it over the airwaves or in person, with as many voters as possible. upfew people actually end

voting in these iowa caucuses, it can be around the 200,000 to 300,000 mark altogether, both parties combined. personal contact is so important. that is why over the last three days we have spent in iowa, we have seen so many republican and democratic candidates trying to shake as many hands as possible, imploring voters and supporters who already -- to commit to caucusing for them, voting for the candidate come monday evening in a few hours' time in iowa, when it all comes down to business. iowa is important for these candidates because if you win here, that gives you that key ingredient in the american elections. that is momentum. are in a weekries in new hampshire, specifically donald trump on the republican side and bernie sanders on the democratic side. they will want to spring what

has seemed to be only an upset months ago. genie: how important is a win at the caucus? if you win the caucus, are you guaranteed to win in the election? how does the caucus work? philip: it does not guarantee you anything. but a political career can be made or broken here in iowa. obamaample being barack in 2008, who won bank the iowa caucuses, which gave him the boost he needed going into the rest of the campaign. the last three contested democratic caucuses were won by the eventual nominee on that party's side. but if you look at what happened four years ago and eight years ago respectively on the republican side, the last few winners were rick santorum and mike huckabee, who relatively quickly faded from public view. that is what we will have to see today, if the eventual winner goes on to bigger and better things.

in terms of how the iowa caucuses work, it is very complex indeed, a fascinating exercise on american democracy. on the republican side, 1000 precincts, it is a secret ballot. on the democratic side, there is a lot of shouting and cajoling. what you will see there are groups that will form in a room that will represent each candidate. if that candidate does not come up to 50% of the vote in that caucus, those supporters would have to move on to a different candidate or leave the race altogether. it is a fascinating thing to see, and we will try to show it to you when the iowa caucuses actually begin in the evening local time. so much for you staying on top of that for us. drink lots of coffee. it is going to be a long day for you. that is philip crowther reporting from iowa. now to burma, a country that held its first parliamentary session today, a historic session that would have been

unthinkable just a few years ago. the nld party, led by aung san by a landslide. burma.w chapter for after 50 years of military rule, hundreds of pro-democracy mp's enter the country's parliament for the first time. they say it is a historic moment. i feel like i am still dreaming being here in this assembly. nld or the other -- or the former government. it has taken the whole world. excited because i finally have an opportunity to work on specific issues that affect my local community. it is so great being here. kyi's party won 80% of elected seats in the election and is expected to form

a government. its powers will be limited. a quarter of the parliament seats are reserved for the military, which retains control of several key ministries. aung san suu kyi is also constitutionally barred from running for president because her sons are british and not burmese. however, she will continue to exert influence by acting, in her words, "above the president." will also have to contend with ethnic rebellion in several parts of the country. as fighting continues in many states. a scent -- a taliban bomber struck in kabul today, just days before a fresh round of international talks aimed at reviving the peace talks. dozens more were wounded in the bombing at the entrance of the base.

in syria, the death toll from the suicide attack in damascus sunday is now up to 70 dead. the triple bombing of the holiest shiite tribe in syria has been claimed by the islamic state group leader that attack highlights the urgency for new peace talks that are getting underway in geneva. the ongoing crisis in syria has pushed countless people from their homes, and in one particularly grim aspect of the ongoing migrant crisis, new numbers say over the past two years, more than 10,000 migrant children have disappeared after they arrived in europe. it is feared that many of them have been taken to sex trafficking rings or the slave trade. we will be talking with ngo save the children in a few minutes' time. but first, this report. >> the most vulnerable among asylum seekers, last year alone, some 26,000 unaccompanied minors risked their lives to reach europe, according to save the

children. a police agency says 10,000 have disappeared in the last two years. according to "the observer." half were in italy, another thousand in sweden. these are accounting for only those registered at the point of entry in europe. to appointlieved many of the disappeared are teenagers. criminal says the enterprise has over the flow over the last 18 months, and there are linked between people bringing people into europe and -- many are fleeing the war in syria and entering europe last year. the flight of underage migrants traveling without their families is one of the most pressing

issues in the ongoing crisis. genie: for more now, let's bring atthe head of communication save the children. thank you for taking the time to speak with us here. 10,000 migrant children missing over the past three years, and by some accounts that is a conservative estimate. why does it take so long for this problem to come to light? it has not taken this long to come to light. this has been a huge issue for months and years as the refugee influx into europe has risen into 2015. organizations like save the children have repeatedly stated that children traveling on their own, without their families, are at a higher risk of being exploited and of being abused. genie: so what is being done to try and help these children, to get them back? organization, like save the children, we are in cooperation with local

authorities in establishing state faces where children find and get-- find refuge psychological care, because most of those children arriving in europe are deeply traumatized by what they have been through. save the children establishes in refugee camps and asylum samplers -- and asylum centers. we recognize vulnerable children. ofsee signs of abuse, exploitation. we act accordingly. genie: many of the children who disappeared are teenagers. is it more difficult to try and protect them? most children traveling on their own, fleeing on their own to europe, are in fact teenagers. young children usually travel with their families. when traveling with their families, children are normally better protected because they

have their mothers and their fathers and their siblings to take care of them. to protect them. so we have lots of teenagers fleeing to europe on their own, eritrea, androm these children are at an extremely high risk of being exploited and abused. genie: how much are the police getting involved? are their investigations underway to try to break up what are feared to be sex trafficking rings? >> there have always been. child trafficking and human trafficking has been a problem in europe even before the refugee influx. so there has been criminal institutions trafficking in europe, and police are trying to investigate these cases. and also, organizations like save the children try and train the authorities in order to

protect vulnerable children. it can be extremely dangerous for children who get separated from their families, who are then very vulnerable to exploitation. genie: sara, thank you so much. that is the head of communication at save the children. here in france, the cuban president, raul castro, has kicked off his official visit today. this is his first state visit to paris since each of the reins from his brother in 2006. both france and cuba stand to gain from the warming ties. a firsting cube up european economic partner, francois hollande. investigations -- negotiations are pretty far along. the deal includes partial debt forgiveness and reinvestment in cuba.

>> i think that is an to learn more about the cuban reality and relations between the two countries. upparis also hopes to shore the presence of french companies in cuba, with about 100 80 million euros in annual trade. france is in the top 10 of the island's partners, and first part cube has announced a series of infrastructure projects accounting for more than $15 billion in key sectors such as construction, energy, agriculture, and tourism. ties withs stronger cuba as an opportunity to expand its influence in latin america. , france, andba latin america, something similar cuba in the european union. >> cuba also needs its source of

income as its major ally and financial backer, venezuela, was deeper into crisis. the cut -- the country puzzle public debt is about 33% of gdp, of which 80% is late interest payments. the diplomatic relations between havana and washington last year has been a boon for the country. since then, it has welcomed they welcome -- a record number of tourists, numbers only set to grow. genie: one of the world's best-known chefs has been found dead at his home. of thench swiss chef three-star michelin restaurant an found by police, dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot. his restaurant topped the list of the world's best. he was 44 years old. you are watching "france 24." let's take a look at today's headlines. all eyes are on iowa as the state gets set to choose its favorites among the u.s. presidential candidates.

a historic parliamentary session begins in burma, set to install the kendrys first democratically elected government in more than 50 years. given president raul castro is in france for his first ever state visit to europe. now for business news, and we have will hilderbrandt with us on the set. a big day for renault in china, unveiling a new factory. >> this is its first ever chinese factory. and today was a ribbon-cutting. renault has said china is not its principal market, that is an unquestionably strategic one. catherine has more. >> cutting the ribbon on its first car factory in china. until now, renault was content to be a marginal player in china , leaving it up to his japanese alliance partner, nissan. the new factory, a joint

benefactor -- will produce up to 150,000 vehicles, with sales of 20 million cars per year. >> even to say there is no reason i cannot beat and china. globally, market share will stay close to 3.5%. entry comeslt's the ina time of slowing growth china. for the past six months, the manufacturing sector has contracted, sending ripples throughout the stock market while car sales reached a new high in 2015, many analysts believe that growth is unsustainable. catch-up strategy is to that on suv's. they account for one third of the chinese market, and sales

are increasing at a rate approaching 50%. china needs to improve its air quality and cut pollution and has indicated an interest in promoting greener vehicles. genie: let's come back now to europe. there is discouraging data on the eurozone. l: the pmi survey was at 52.3. anything above the 50 indicates expansion, below, contraction. spain saw its main and manufacturing improved since the gauge in december. genie: how is that affecting the market? will: it is not very positive, as you can imagine. it is the sixth consecutive month of contraction. tse, the tao, and the cac are all trading down -- the d

cac, and the dax are all trading down. this is quite troubling for nigeria. ordinarily about 70% of its income comes from oil revenues, but this year that is forecast to be just about one third. the government is in touch with the world bank for $3.5 billion in emergency loan. bharati -- ma do this week the parliament will debate a record $30 billion budget. time now for a look at some of the other business headlines. chinese state tv has reported that state police have shut down a $6.7 billion ponzi scheme. 21 people were arrested. one than 95% of the projects the online platform were fake.

the scam allegedly involved almost one million investors. rolls-royce has won a $2.5 billion order, delivering 100,000 engines for the new dreamliner planes. after a quarterly profit more than doubled to 100 million euros, there is good news for shareholders and travelers alike. the no-frills airline announced a hundreduy back million shares over the next month -- would bag back -- would buy back 800 million shares over the next month. genie: many are familiar with video on demand, but dozens of japanese company's are offering a different kind of service you might call monks on demand. will: i do not know if i have seen this before. you can order a monk and they can come, perform funerals,

rituals, anything you would like, but transportation and the nation is not included. as a country,rged 75,000 temples are fading more and more from society. there are still over 400 monks who have already registered for the service. let's take a listen. >> people do not observe religious events anymore. temples and monks need to accept that things are changing. be a better genie: chance for people to understand buddhism. -- would be a better chance to for people to understand buddhism. genie: rent a month. who would have thought? oliver farry is with us in the studio to take a look at today's papers. today we will look at the surprised revocation of a book ministerformer justice

, chris gentle berra, who stepped -- christiane taubira, who stepped down last week. is your book a tell-all? >> not exactly. not anything hugely controversial and it is written in a diplomatic tone. it is critical of the government, however. the book is entitled, rather poetically, "whispers to the young." it was in preparation ahead of your resignation over the last months but printed in spain and pretty much in the utmost secrecy. even bookshops were not told her the book was by, so a lot of buyers took a real chance on that one. hurt -- there is a sticking point between her and manuel valls and francois hollande, talking firmly but the government has plan to strip fridge citizenship

of -- to strip french citizenship of jewish citizens who might be suspected of terrorist involvement. that a country should be capable of getting by with his citizens, and she asked what might happen if every country decided to expel its own citizens who it might consider undesirable. -- now will make any matter how law-abiding they would be, it seems they are viewed with suspicion. however, it is not a diatribe against francois hollande or manuel valls. she does not share the same security-minded philosophy that the government does. genie: speak of the french president, francois hollande, he has a high-profile guest today the presidential palace, and that is cuban president raul castro.

>> that is right. it is said to be a historic visit. one wonders if it is a step to lifting the blockade of cuba. but there is a rather different l'humanite." barack obama and another number of heads of state, particularly francois hollande, have had to give legitimacy to a dictatorship, in which there is no political opening up in qb cuba. genie: let's go now to the united states, where the presidential primary season is kicking off today with the iowa caucuses. oliver: that's right. not quite the primaries. the primaries start next week in new hampshire. different from the primaries in a number of ways, the caucuses

are lest a formal gathering of communities and its delegates rather than candidates who are elected. and they are also voting upon a policy -- on party policy. the state puzzle voters are poised to replay the most significant rule whatever. outsider, andpean the establishments of both parties in the state have seen serious challenges from people like bernie sanders and donald trump, who are capitalizing on the anti-washington sentiment in the state. donald trump has maintained his lead in the state. the voters have been fairly forgiving of him after he kept going last election. how stupid are the people in iowa. bernie sanders of the democrats has been a bigger surprise. in a recent poll by "the des

describegister," some themselves as socialists. i do not think we will see that by the end of the year, but it certainly is a left-wing fringe there, capitalizing on an antiestablishment angle. hillary is three points ahead in the latest poll. this is borne out in other polls. many in both parties say the system is -- that the rich and powerful -- 38% of registered democrats. of democratsats are of the same opinion. the register -- trump and tenders are doing best among what they call unreliable caucus-goers. so they have to really turn out in force for either candidate to be elected. post,"m "the washington for all the questions protested, and he is saying it is a rather

informal amp -- a more informal process. there is really the first tests. the one thing that will be the factor will be the weather. they are expecting a snowstorm. they are hoping it will hold out until after the vote so it does not affect turnout.

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- hello. i'm john cleese. have you ever had a mystical experience? you know, one of those things that really can't be expressed in words? well, here on global spirit, we try to talk about what can't really be talked about, so listen closely to what the rabbi, the monk, and the sufi have to say, and decide for yourself. just settle back and join our trusted guide and host, phil cousineau, for a mostly mystical episode of global spirit, the first internal travel series. [mystical music] ♪