genie: this is "france 24." time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. david cameron gets set to defend e.u. reform proposals to british parliament. european lawmakers start talks on approving the deal to avoid

the so-called brexit. the head of syria's main umbrella opposition group is due to join peace talks in geneva today. it is hoping that will help get the troubled negotiations back on track. the french government is calling for a second extension of the state of emergency that has been in place since the paris attacks in november. the state of emergency will stay in place until new judicial procedures are approved. you thisng up for hour, another strike in france over uber, but this time it is the drivers for the right-hailing service who says the french government is trying to push them out of a job. the mayor of calle meets with government ministers in paris. we will take a look at the state of the thousands living in the giant migrant camp known as the jungle. first our top stories, live from paris.

british by minister david cameron is due to be questioned in parliament today. that is over new proposals to try to keep britain in the e.u. and avoid a so-called brexit. cameron has to convince those wary of the e.u. vote inside and outside his own party that the plan presented by the european council offered britain the best of both worlds. clovis casali has more. press is the britis divided as always when it comes to europe, saying the prime minister's capacity to self-delusion is breathtaking. while "the guardian" and "the independent" believe the merit of e.u. membership is beyond dispute, david cameron wants to change it, and he has been .egotiating behind closed doors

the prime ministers is significant progress in the following reform proposals. parliament could block e.u. laws, opting out of strong political union. britain could also request an emergency brake to restrict access team would benefits for e.u. migrants. some eurosceptics are far from convinced. >> i myself do not think the red card system offers anything like enough, and i would like to see more progress. >> we are not going to be taken as fools. there delighted that british people are going to vote to leave. bring it on. >> those campaigning on the other hand are thrilled that it shows the e.u. willingness to -- against --ecisions it is really positive, and it

will be interesting since he what e.u. leaders say when they continue it. states need tor agree for the reform proposals to be adopted. britain will then organize its referendum on whether to remain in the e.u. or not. it could be held in june. genie: for more now, let's bring in our e.u. correspondent. the european parliament is already debating this e.u. draft deal. what are we hearing out of you canfari echo >> imagine it was a pretty engaging and lively debate. for the first time they had the chance to express themselves on this draft e.u.-u.k. deal. for eurosceptics in the european parliament, the deal was pathetic and they want to go straight to the exit door. for others the deal went to bank

far and destroyed some of the pillars of the european union when it comes to social welfare benefits and the free movement of europeans. the president of the european commission put on a brave face and backed his proposals. --called on european members all of the euro parliamentarians -- to back his proposal that he calls fair not just for the u.k. but also for the other 27. he says there is not a lot to be proud about right now in the european union, saying there is now a crisis of solidarity, referring a number of times to the refugee crisis, kept out of the eurozone, calling on and keep us to take the decision as soon as possible and make sure the u.k. stays where he believe it belongs, in the european union. law,: any changes to e.u. whether they are child benefits, work benefits, has to be approved by the mp's, don't they e?

that is correct. they need a proposal from the european commission regarding those changes to law, and that proposal will only come about if the u.k. citizens vote yes in that referendum. after that is drafted up, committee meetings will take place in the european parliament, then at committee level, and then closed-door negotiations could take place. aen that would be followed by plenary vote. this could be -- if that vote had taken place today, it is unlikely there would have been a yes. if you look at the reactions from the various heads of the political group, not one mp stood up saying they like all of this, talking about the climate of fear that was being brought about. know, the former prime minister of belgium, the head of

the liberals, is a federalist. for him it would be his worst nightmare to see the u.k. leave the european union. then we saw from another that it was called pretty pathetic. saying it was not worth the way, in his opinion. spoke, sayingalso that if the brits want to leave, just give them the door. and then a group affiliated with david cameron, he said give the u.k. their chance to decide what they wanted. it is their choice. a letter a very good start. genie: thank you. now spain is still without a government six weeks after its last election. on tuesday king felipe appointed the head of the socialist party to give it a try, but observers say his chances of success are slim as well. he needs to strike a deal with federal political parties, and as clare murphy reports, they are far from being on the same

page. form aco. cast with government six weeks after income clues of elections, the socialist leader of spain faces an uphill struggle with conflicting parties. but he was upbeat as he confirmed he was the candidate for prime minister. change is closer today, a change for unity and progress, a change that can be built with great agreement and solution. >> spain's king felipe a opted for the specialist -- for the socialist. the king did not invite me to former governor -- to form a government today, which i think is reasonable because this exercise is about trying to form a government. i cannot form a government if i do not have some kind of agreement with the socialist party. country's political

system has been in deadlock since december elections resulted in a hung parliament, --voters flocked to start ending the traditional two-party system. calledi-austerity party for a formation of a leftist coalition. >> for this country it is possible to form a government of change and progress. centrist party has also signaled it does not want to be left out in the cold. and now the clock starts ticking. spanish law dictates a two-month deadline for the formation of the government or a new national election must be held. now to geneva, where the u.s. special envoy for syria is fighting to get the troubled peace talks back on track. set, when it was be lostt all hope would if this round of negotiations

failed. but the head of the serious main opposition group is on the way to geneva to that would give more hope to end the five-year-old war. he was furious over what it called over unprecedented russian airstrikes, with a syrian regime near aleppo. elliott richardson explains. >> rescuers are struggling to free civilians trapped under piles of stones. some have come out of the rubble in critical condition. others show no sign of life. the government has been aided in recapturing villages by russian airstrikes, but it has caused widespread desolation. >> the city suffered today. with more than 10 russian airstrikes. killed in one of these strikes, and three others were taken from the rubble.

live. are civilians here. a family lived in this house per at a man, his wife, and their three children. the man and his daughter were saved, but the other two children died. >> the russian air force has operated older 300 strikes -- over 300 airstrikes since monday. three villages were captured in aleppo. by breaking the siege, bashar al-assad wants to cut the rubble supply routes in aleppo province. in otheris being made provinces since last september. the rebels are losing ground. civilianseople, rebel and troops, have been killed since monday. genie: the russian foreign minister spoke out today on the bombing campaign. sergei lavrov says russia will continue to bomb syria until it defeats "terrorist organizations."

we focus now on the refugee camp in france known as the jungle. more than 4000 people are living in that camp in calais, trying to get somehow to start a new life. is a meeting between the interior minister, after a series of vibrant incident -- of violent incidences between the -- accu so much for taking the time to speak to us. these local officials are heading to paris, asking for a firmer hand in dealing with the camp. what is your feeling? is the situation spiraling out of control? >> well, you know, the refugees are quite desperate to go into the u.k., and as you know, it is cold in northern france. living conditions are difficult. so obviously, you know,

everybody is a little bit on edge. but, you know, i can tell you from witnessing this last sunday how the police behaved with the refugees that they are not going about it the right way. they are not peacemakers. in 45 minutes, they are able to transform a little bit of tension into almost a little war. too is because they are way heavy-handed about the way they deal with refugees. most of them, a great majority of them, are very peaceful people. they come from war-torn countries. they do not wish to have a war. there is a small minority of younger people that tend to be a bit more aggressive. it is by far the minority. that, butnderstand don't the police need to be heavy-handed? if you like to try to control the few people who are causing a problem to make sure it does not

spiral out of control? because theys respond in a heavy-handed way that it spirals out of control. i saw it with my own eyes this sunday. genie: what exactly did you see? >> you get a few people that are climbing onto a lorry, and the police answer by throwing a few teargas grenades, and so more people come out wondering what is happening because they are throwing teargas grenades when they were in the camp doing strictly nothing. so when those people come out, then the police respond by sending more cheer gasconade, which makes more people come out of the camp, and pretty soon -- by sending more teargas grenades, which more people come out of the camp come and pretty soon there are people getting out, in their full police gear, throwing teargas grenades all over the cap to the people who did not challenge them.

genie: what do you think the solution is? these people have been there for years now, many of them. what is the solution to the crisis in calais? is it something france can fix by itself? >> the problem is mostly a british problem. france accepted that the british would build all those barriers to prevent people from going to .ngland if people want to go to england, it is often because they come from countries that have ties to the u.k., so they end up having toilies there and they want be there. anybody can understand that the people who have been torn away from their countries want to be reunited with their families. that is only normal. the u.k. should let them in. genie: thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. with theyra conforti

defense group. the french government is calling for a second extension of the state of emergency that has been in place since the paris attacks in november. that move needs to be approved by parliament. francois hollande has justified the extension by the need to face the lingering terrorist threat after those attacks. today the government is discussing new moves to increase the powers of the police. our french politics editor explains. >> we are seeing a big debate in parliament starting on friday. what the government is trying to do is bolster a constitutional reform to enshrine in the constitution a modernized state of emergency that could be some criteria are determined to be met. it is at the same time pushing a the code would reform of criminal procedure, as it is known in france, exceptionally

-- essentially giving the police more leeway in terms of using their weapons, conducting searches. so both in the constitution and through a regular mall, the government is pushing this because it says we still face a terrorist threat. all the polls, the french support this. we heard manuel valls till the bbc a couple of weeks ago that this will go on until the organization of the islamic state is defeated. that means basically no limits. so they are trying to make this pass through parliament. there is going to be opposition, but not in terms of giving the police more power because everyone realizes the terrorist threat is there and it is there to stay. genie: that is our french politics editor. business on france 24 with stephen carroll. there is a protest to do with uber, but not the kind that we have been used to. stephen carroll that's right. normally we are used to protests

against the ridesharing companies, but this time it is drivers who have taken to the streets in paris, protesting changes to the regulations that govern the industry. they say new rules will put people out of work. uber says up to 10,000 drivers are affected by the changes come as mark thompson explains. >> one week after taxi drivers caused chaos, companies like uber are staging their own counter demonstrations. they are causing -- they are calling the silent protests a period of mourning. spotchecks will increase, and drivers without reservations will be forced to return to the garage between each fair. this could put thousands of drivers out of work. >> for a company like ours, if we do not have access to a platform that represents 70% of

our business, it is certain death. >> the move comes after taxi companies held talks with french prime minister manuel valls, asking for tight controls on private cabdrivers, part of an ongoing battle between ridesharing services and central authorities. uber has already been forced to withdraw a service that allowed regular drivers to take bookings. french executives were arrested and charged with me sleeping commercial practices after continuing to offer the service six months after it was banned. not all caps services are joining the protests. some are not taking part because of the impact uber has had on their own business. genie: next now to yahoo!, which has announced more job cuts. stephen carroll that is right. cutting by 15% or more than 1000 jobs by the end of the year. it is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures, trying to

compete with the likes of google and facebook. after reporting losses of $4.3 billion from last year. the company has admitted it is examining proposals to sell off its core internet business. marissa mayer explains that cutting costs is necessary. : we will have approximately 9000 employees and less than 1000 contractors. this represents a workforce that is 42% smaller than it was in 2012 and will contribute to total realized savings of approximately $400 million annually. the decision is not one that we have taken lightly, and we will make every effort to treat affected employees with thoughtfulness, transparency, and compassion. stephen not really feeling a bounce in the oil prices with the rise of the price of oil,

but london and frankfurt are trading down today. shares are up over 6% after their most recent result, a 12% jump in revenue toward the end of last year. they also said trade in france is almost back to normal after the terrorist attacks in november. one other big story moving the markets today has to do with the chinese chemical company can china. they have offered to pay 40 billion euros for the swiss sin gentle., it will be the biggest takeover of a chinese company abroad. it needs to be approved first by e.u. and u.s. regulators. amazon could be making a truly big move into traditional bookselling. stephen carroll the online reseller could be opening up four more physical bookshops in the united states. the comments were made in a call with investors.

it has yet to comment on any expansion plans, but it is moving from online to off-line. genie: i think people like browsing in bookstores. molly: i still -- stephen carroll i still love it. genie: i still love it, too. stephen carroll, thank you. is here witheminot us to take a look at the papers today. british primeon minister david cameron, making his case in parliament for this long-awaited draft deal that could reshape britain's relationship with eu it is really the top story in the british press today. let's take a look at the top story in "the independent." "deal or no deal." cameron is meant to extract significant concessions from the e.u., but a pro-european papers quite president. the

-- of the prime minister. it is critical for him to make his dangers promise of an in-out referendum in june. the merits of continued e.u. membership are beyond dispute, according to "the independent." this is a moment of truth and we have to convince the u.k. that is the case. has also hadn criticism from eurosceptics hoping for more. flo co "-- they are talking about the great delusion. in its editorial, the daily says we admire cameron, but on europe we have to say frankly his capacity for self-delusion is breathtaking. what happened to all of those pledges, prime minister? "the daily mail" accuses cameron of selling the country short. genie: there is still a lot a on the race to the white house out of their -- after all the drama

at the iowa caucuses. flo: the iowa caucuses signal a long contest for both parties. no candidate has an easy path, according to "the new york times. on the republican side, ted cruz was the surprise winner, but he could face tough competition from marco rubio, who came in third. he is getting a lot of attention in the press today, seen as having a good chance of winning the republican nomination because he has the backing of the republican establishment. in this cartoon, you can see ted cruz cruising ahead, thinking he is going to win. but behind him you can see the marco rubio us. if you look closely, you can see that the person driving the bus is actually an elephant, a symbol of the republican party. it is interesting that ted cruz is getting a lot of attention amid the close scrutiny, and sometimes not always in a good way. people tend to focus on female politicians and give them a hard time about their wardrobe.

but jezebel, the feminist website, is giving ted cruz the same treatment. close fitted cruz' him? they have a whole lot of photos to prove their point, including one of them in a very large coat that you will probably see. after all, this is the man who wants to run the entire country, and he cannot even manage his personal wardrobe properly. according to jezebel, this should be a source of concern. genie: let's come back to france, where arguably we could say people dress better. let's focus on president francois hollande. he is drawing criticism because he is thought to be perhaps not quite socialist enough anymore. flo: the socialist president has been championing some issues that have been traditionally right wing. this is great, on the front page of "l'opinion."

they have depicted him as goldilocks, fallen asleep in a comfortable looking bed, which is the right wing. and the three bears looking at francois hollande, or three main players in the opposition. you can see the small there is nicholas sarkozy. so thrilled tom find francois hollande sleeping in their bed. by stabilizing and stealing ideas from the right, francois hollande is stabilizing the right. people wonder if this is a good political strategy. genie: this alarming spread of traditionally, spread by mosquitoes, but there is a new development there as well. lookingery ominous front page. this is the enemy, the mosquito, of the zika virus, is on the verge of turning into a massive pandemic. there is been that case in

texas, and the china daily in their cartoon today are focusing on the potential explosive spread. those are you are -- those other words that we hear from the world health organizat