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tv   France 24  LINKTV  February 3, 2016 2:30pm-3:01pm PST

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to write off its syrian peace talks as it puts them on ice, saying syrian people are waiting for action. a backlash in britain over the prime minister's plan to renegotiate the country's membership in the european union. and, another three months of a state of emergency looks to be on the cards here in france. todayvernment confirming
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that it will ask parliament to extend the emergency measures. catherine: we will start with those fledgling peace talks. the syrian government says everyone else is to blame for those talks stalling this wednesday. early on, the u.n. official -- insisted thea negotiations would resume, and soon. he admitted it had been impossible to advance peace talks amid military action inside syria. from the first day, i have
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indicated that these are not talks for the sake of talks. allow simplyot procedural matters to become more important than actually the result for the u.n. -- the humanitarian situation of the syrian people who have been waiting for us to deliver not a conference, but something concrete for them. i have therefore taken the decision to bring -- to temporarily pause. it is not the end or the failure of the talks. catherine: our correspondent has more for us from geneva. the inter syrian peace --ks under the you are in the u.n. special envoy got derailed because of the differences between the government and the syrian opposition and differences
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between the great house that had been sponsoring the talks. the cessation of bombing of civilian facilities. disagreement on cease-fire terms for the whole of syria. the envoy has postponed talks until the 25th. theetween, he is aiming for syria talks to be discussed on the sidelines of the security conference in munich, where mr. and his american counterpart, mr. kerry, will be discussing the issue. but for the time being, the talks have tanked. syria itself,ide meanwhile, the u.n. is reporting the 38 workers have been killed amid a major -- reporting that three eight workers have been killed. families have been forced to flee their homes in nearby towns. there have been unprecedented
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frequency of airstrikes in the area the last few days. the syrian army is reporting that it has broken sieges on two opposition-held villages in the area. now, a grenade attack in the capital of burundi has killed at least one person and left five wounded. this, according to the mayor. exploded five minutes apart. another grenade attack on monday had already left one person dead. burundi has been subject to civil violence following a failed coup against president and karen season -- president nkurunziza. agreed onron
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precedent on tuesday. measures, -- reporter: with an eu reform deal in hand, britain prime minister -- british prime minister david cameron faced the next step, selling the deal to skeptical mps in the house of commons. aime minister cameron: settlement which will offer families in our country security at every stage of their lives. that's what we're fighting for. reporter: the european council president produced a draft document on monday which could grant more powers to national parliaments to block eu laws, allow britain to restrict access benefits -- on benefits for non-european migrants. this was not enough for many eurosceptics, who, polls show,
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have been growing in numbers. they accuse cameron of selling britain short in the proposal. and be a good european -- reporter: the heated discussions were even tempered with moments of humor, like when the labour leader accused the prime minister of discussing the proposal with journalists before the mp's themselves. cameron replied -- prime minister cameron: it gave me the added advantage of being able to visit the town of the right, old gentleman's verse -- birth. cameron has an uphill battle to convince his party and 27 other eu leaders at a summit in two weeks. any changes te legislation must be approved unanimously -- any
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legislationoeu must be approved unanimously. catherine: the emergency measures were put in place in the wake of the attacks in paris in november. they will need to be approved by parliament. some are warning that individual freedoms are at risk. thomas waterhouse reports. supporters say the tax is crucial to making france more efficient in its fight against terrorism in the aftermath of last year's deadly attacks. its opponents claim it is a measures that politicize the justice system. the draft bill put forward by the government aims to prolong the current state of emergency by a further three months, until may. it suggests those returning from fighting jihad overseas should be better monitored, police
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powers should be boosted. lead totity stops could a suspect being detained for four hours or more without a lawyer present. are currentlyches only permitted by a magistrate under specific circumstances of organized crime and terrorism. they would be extended. police would have more power over their firepower and would be allowed to shoot an armed individual in self-defense. the government would have the power to block websites that praise or encourage terrorism. extending the current state of emergency as well as the plan to strip convicted terrorists of their french nationality has already sparked widescale protests. the national assembly will debate the proposed changes to the constitution on friday. catherine: the government's security proposals are being
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compared in some quarters to another controversial law, the patriot act in the united states. that law allowed for sweeping measures to tighten security in the wake of the september 11 attacks, gave lease rater power to detain suspects -- gave police greater power to detain suspects. how do the french plans compare? we are joined on the line from new york. is it fair to call what the french government is doing a french patriot act? how do the situations measure up? >> i think one big, initial difference from your reports is that the french legislation actually requires changes to the constitution, which the patriot act did not, and that is a fundamental difference. because when you are changing the constitution, you are changing the fundamental, basic law, the supreme law of your country, and that's very radical. at least by american standards. in the united states, that almost never happens.
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we very rarely have amendments to constitutions. that's a big difference between the united states and france. in general, in france, the constitution is changed much more casually. it has indications down the line for how the law is viewed and interpreted. this may be a more fundamental change in france than it is in the united states. the act in the united states had certain provisions that had to be reviewed periodically. some of those have already had their sunset and have been reviewed, but we know that they can be challenged again in legislative session if something happens that awakens people to the possibility that things can be implemented in a way that was different. these are all major factors that have to be taken in mind. catherine: and, if i'm correct, i believe that some parts of the original patriot act were transformed into regular laws, to put it in layman's terms.
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how much of the original patriot act is still in place in the u.s. today? it.ery much of there were some provisions that were deemed to be excessive. there were others that were very controversial at the time that were implement it. it seemed like, based on the sentiment in the legislature at the time they were in limited, there would be some greater controversy around them when the chain -- the time came for their automatic review, but that really never materialize to the extent that was predicted -- never materialized to the extent that was predicted initially. doing are uncomfortable anything that can be asserted to -- people can be very afraid at certain times. measures can be implemented that may be armed tailored to balance notinterests -- maybe are tailored to balance the interests of privacy and security. we see that in the presidential
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campaigns right now. thebiggest opponent of scope of the patriot act is rand paul. he is doing poorly in the polls. the other public candidates do not adopt his position. this is in line with public sentiment right now. catherine: indeed. speaking of public sentiment, there is also the other side of things, the people who feel their freedoms are being impinged on. there have been legal challenges as parts of these laws in the united states that came out of the patriot act. how successful have those challenges been in the u.s.? >> some of them have gone through. like i said initially, not to the extent that was initially, i think, conceived. that ithe obstacles is is very hard, even in the united states, to make these challenges , because of the way the law is set up, and that is something
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that has to be understood from the beginning. the biggest change has been the reduction in the ability of the so-called secret intelligence courts, the intelligence and surveillance courts, to act without some sort of transparency or traditional oversight. another big problem has been the inability to get standing in the in the uniteds, states, you have to be directly impacted to bring a challenge, but it is very difficult because of the secrecy around this to find out who -- if you have been impacted. there is a vicious cycle that limits this. some of the more excessive provisions have been tamped put, in terms of trying to in better controls and some greater oversight on some of the decisions that have been made. catherine: thank you so much, eric, a legal analyst speaking to us live from new york. the international is urging perris city authorities to find a lasting housing
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solution -- amnesty international is urging paris city authorities to find a lasting housing solution for thousands of roma who were evicted today. many of them had left before the day's evictions. 7:00 a.m. t is french police surround a makeshift roma camp built on an abandoned railway track in the north of paris. they are here to enforce a french court's decision to evacuate and dismantle the encampment, a verdict that was based on a legal complaint by the french railway company that owns the lot, but also for safety and sanitary reasons. >> the evacuation was necessary, as much to implement the court's decision as to protecting these people. it isn't being conducted out of the blue. there have been many weeks of
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preparation. alternative proposals were made to the people concerned. reporter: the evacuation was ordered in october, and many had seen it coming. of the 400 people who used to live here, over half were already gone when the police came. secure them went to their belongings and to start building their next encampment. system are tired of the and, indeed, the only way for them to stay in france after cunningham and is torn down is to build a new one -- in france is torn downmpment is to build a new one. reporter: settlements and trailers -- around 11,000 roma were evacuated from makeshift camps in 2015 in france. it is a practice amnesty international has labeled costly
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and ineffective. theerine: in australia, high courts have thrown out a challenge to its offshore detention system for asylum-seekers. the case was brought by an unidentified bangladeshi woman who had previously been held on an island nation along with hundreds of others. 6-to-1 vote, the ruling was that the government's role in funding the detention was legal. >> the people smugglers will not prevail over our sovereignty. our borders are secure. the line has to be drawn somewhere, and it is drawn at our border. reporter: the human rights law center has brought the case forward on behalf of the bangladeshi woman and 266 other asylum-seekers who were brought to australia for
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medical help. the high court's decision means the group, which includes 37 children born on australian soil, could be deported, among them, a five-year-old boy who was allegedly raped on the island and could be returned to his attacker. >> it is fundamentally wrong to condemn these people to a life in limbo on a tightly -- tiny island. the stroke of a pen is all that it would take our prime minister for our immigration minister to do the decent -- prime minister or our immigration minister to do the decent thing and let these families stay. than 1400 people are waiting for asylum applications to be processed. some of them have been there for three years. according to aid organizations, many women have been sexually abused and the asylum-seekers lack access to proper education, health, and social welfare. catherine: the u.s. president
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has reached out to america's muslim community today, paying his first ever visit to a mosque on u.s. soil. barack obama call for tolerance and an end to violence. has visitedt mosques in foreign countries before, but never won at home. the council on american islamic relations has reported an increase in attacks on mosques and individuals following the attacks in france and southern california. ama: generations of muslim americans helped to build our nation. they were part of the flow of immigrants who became farmers and merchants. muslim americans enrich our lives today in every way. they are our neighbors, the teachers who inspire our children, the doctors who trust us with our health, future doctors. they are scientists who win nobel prizes, create new
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technologies that we use all the time. they are the sports heroes we cheer for. muslim americans keep us safe. they are our police and firefighters, in homeland security, in our intelligence community. they serve honorably in our armed forces, meaning they fight and bleed and die for our freedom. catherine: some of the u.k.'s most renowned actors have brought a taste of shakespeare to some of the migrants camping out in calais today. they staged a performance of "hamlet." the actors are currently taking part in a year of special events to mark the 400 anniversary of the playwright's death. just coming up to 20 minutes
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past 9:00 in the evening in paris. business news with kate moody. we've had yet another strike here in paris and more protests. this time, it is by drivers from uber. what's it all about? have seen major strikes by taxi drivers around the world, particularly here in france. they have taken to the streets to protest against unfair competition from platforms like bue -- uber. this week, uber drivers called on the french government to back down on its efforts to tighten industry regulations. demanding the right to exist. ride-sharing services in paris today --eir forms horns today.
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they were reacting to measures taken last week by france's prime minister. manuel valls called on them to return to their base between jobs. but as these drivers are self-employed, their base is often their home, far from the city center. >> can you imagine the driver making a trip for two kilometers, then obliged to return 30 or 40 kilometers to his base? it's not well thought out. the prime minister's proposal came after three days of taxi strikes and includes frequent checks at airports and train basedons to make sure app- drivers are not picking up customers. the drivers in question say they are being squeezed out of the business. >> assist 2016. there is competition everywhere. a subset of non-taxi drivers hold a license which allows them to carry just two people to nine
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people at a time. many of them skirt the rules and ber to pickms like u up just one passenger. this could put some 10,000 jobs in jeopardy. kate: let's take a look at the markets. we saw heavy losses in asia trickling over to europe. the ftse and the cac 40 closing down 1 and 1.5 percentage points each. the dow is surging. oil prices have bounced back. u.s. crude up about 6% after sinking below 30 -- $30 per barrel on tuesday. the services sector, which includes retail banking and in january, improved at its slowest pace in nearly two years. the chinese chemical group, c offered to buy syngenta.
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it would be the biggest international takeover by a chinese company. chemchina wants to add to its portfolio of fertilizers and pesticides. turning to some of the day's other business headlines, focus on the auto industry. general motors has raked in record profits of nearly $10 billion in 2015. america's biggest carmaker reported earnings of $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter. strong sales of suv's and pickup trucks in north america helped fuel growth. gm said it expects to do even better this year. cut hundreds of managerial jobs in europe and phased out less profitable models as it tries to improve its profits margin -- its profit margins there. it is trying to save at least
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$200 million per year. recall ofwidened a vehicles that could have risky airbags. 1.7 million models made from 2007 to 2015 were equipped with takata airbag inflator's, which could explode during a crash. yahoo! shares have dropped as much as 7%, as the internet company said it would cut 15% of its workforce, more than 1000 jobs, by the end of the year. the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures. mark thompson reports. mark: yahoo! is slimming down. from jobs to products'launched by the company -- products launched by the company's own ceo, there are cuts across the board.
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games, yahoo! tv, and a selection of -- value everyone who has made contributions. the changes have not been easy, but they have been necessary to position the company or a stronger future. mark: the savings could generate yahoo! around $1 billion. the internet pioneer -- this comes after the troubled internet company reported a $4.3 billion loss for 2015. yahoo! has struggled to keep pace with web giants like facebook and google, putting ceo marissa mayer in the firing lines. of investors two months ago -- firing lines of investors. two months ago, they pressured a rethink. >> the board and management are plans ino examine our
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the best interest of shareholders. mark: the board may be welling to -- willing to sell its core business in what has been called a reverse selloff. verizon has reportedly shown interest. yahoo! says it will focus on its turnaround plan. kate: finally, the city of paris is undergoing a makeover of sorts. more than 800 individuals or companies have submitted plans to give the french capital a facelift. the focus on new housing facilities and parks. at least 22 projects have been accepted by the mayor, hoped to provide at least 6000 jobs. she spoke about the future of paris. mayor hidalgo: the city we see in these plans is greener, because you see nature takes over all of the space. in my opinion, it is more peaceful. it leaves a lot of space that can be shared. there will be some private buildings with rooms for friends
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just passing by. there are many shared working spaces as well. in paris, we are always on the lookout for a place to have a party or a family reunion. all of that is made possible
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02/03/16 02/03/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> are still receiving bills for tainted water. not only are we receiving bills, they have gone up. the average is around $200 a month for tainted water. it needs to stop. amy: in michigan as protests continue over lead poisoning in the flint water supply, the mayor says all lead pipes must go congress holds its first , hearing today on the crisis. but no one responsible for the

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