>> welcome back to the "france " newsroom. it is 1:00 p.m. in the french capital, for clock p.m. in islamabad. the manhunt is underway in pakistan for breakaway pal taliban militant for a suicide bombing village 70 people dead in pakistan. the anti-terror crackdown continues in europe. chargedrther people are

with terror activities after a weekend of raids. mn is arrested in the violence under suspicion of planning a new attack on french soil. and the recapture of the ancient syrian city of palmyra. what that means for the aside regime-- for the assad and the islamic state group. three days of national mourning have begun across pakistan following sunday's suicide blast in a busy part in the eastern city of lahore. at least 70 people are killed and over 300 more injured. most of the dead are women and children. a splinter group of the talib and has claimed responsibility for the attack. a spokesman for the military says several arrests have been

made. a cache of arms and ammunition has been recovered. >> a family day out turned to tragedy. womens' bodies, mostly and children, continued to arrive until monday morning. accompanied by devastated family members. the blast followed two years of relative calm in lahore. struck in a park, a popular site for the christian community, many of whom had gathered to celebrate easter sunday. >> we strongly condemn them. >> my 22-year-old son, father of my grandchildren third my son has a two-year-old daughter. oh, my god. he should not have left me, my son. >> and pakistani

taliban faction said it was targeting christians. dozens of bloodsoaked victims had to make their own way to the hospitals in taxes and rickshaws because they were not enough indolence is. -- in taxis and rickshaws because there were not enough ambulances. christians make up around 1.5% of the population. many said the government's offering quick condolences but are not improving security. three days of mourning has been declared. caught was alexander all -- alexander all caught reporting there. what is the latest on the investigation that has been launched there? isas you mentioned, there right now a military-led operation that is happening.

there are five such military operations conducted across the province. this is the first on the military is leading these operations. we have seen such operations were led by local police before. there are local police forces saying that the attacker -- he came with another three accomplices, who escaped after the attack. tore are efforts being made locate those three accomplices. we are getting reports of raids being acted in different areas of lahore. yet, this is a preliminary initial investigation. the reports have not come out to sources. we are getting to know that there is some headway, but as of yet, they do not have much clue about who is behind the attack. how would happen or where it happened. that is still being asserted. thomas: do we have any more

detail about the taliban offshoot that has claimed responsibility for the attack? active for abeen few years now. it is a break off action from the main part of the taliban. they have in the past claimed other attacks, especially in lahore. saw the church attack and peschel are -- in peshawar. we also do know that they have paid allegiance to islam in state, and they identify with that, too. thomas: we have 70 people killed and over 300 more injured. this is the deadliest attack in pakistan since the 2014 massacre

at the military school in peshawar. >> there was definitely a relative calm in the last year or so with the plan that came into action after the peschel hawar -- in the pesche school attack. we saw some operations ongoing there. there was a massive crackdown against militant networks in those areas, but it was thought to be relatively safer and more insular to these kinds of attacks. but now, as you mentioned, he comes to a -- it comes as a surprise. the fact that the taliban came out and said that the ruling party that rules the province said that they should be ready for such more attacks, and the

threat is still there. and that this is a threat that we are still operational. this is a major setback. military leadership, there have been many meetings between the intelligence has, and they are leading these intelligence based operations within punjab and they are -- in the past we have seen that there is this element of pope pakistani militants that exists in the punjab province, because of which there is such backlash from these militant groups, which are pro-pakistan but then sometimes when there is a crackdown against them, they go against pakistan. this could be one of those factors. thomas: thank you very much for that insight. belgian police continue their investigation into last week's airport and metro bombings, carrying out 13 raids in several towns on

sunday. prosecutors say four people were arrested, and three other suspects have been charged with participating in a terrorist group. the investigation continues across europe. the suspect was arrested in italy. national is to be extradited to belgium for questioning. providinged of documents for the attacks on tuesday and also for the november attacks in paris. abdeslam -- belgian police on sunday carried out raids in brussels and two other cities. three were indicted and releasing a fourth one. also in belgium, a man already in custody was charged in connecti with a probe into an

attack on french soil. the 38-year-old is suspected of belonging to the same terror cell is the mayor arrested on thursday. >> anti-terror police in the netherlands arrests of a french national suspicion of planning a fresh fat and rants that a fresh here in- a fresh attack france. two other men, both in their 40's, were also detained. the french interior minister has praised the work of the secret services, and the cross or cooperation between european countries that helped for this attack. a major antiterrorism operation in the streets of rotterdam. that a specialist police unit with prosecutors worked together to detain the french national. the country have been on high alert following attacks elsewhere in europe. an whattness described

he saw. >> i was on the left side of the road and someone is on the right-hand side. four armed men appeared, aiming their weapons on me and the other men, who was across the road. i was, of course, very scared. but then they told me just to keep going. prosecutors said three other men were arrested sunday in a separate operation. two of them are described as being 43 and 44 years old, and of being of algerian background. the french suspect was requested to be arrested, as he thought he was -- as they thought that he was planning to attack france in the name of the islamic state group. people living in nearby buildings were evacuated as a precautionary measure. dutch prosecutors say he will be extradited to france as quickly as possible. in black and chanting

anti-immigrant slogans, schools of far right -- scores of far right demonstrators were in the belgian capital for the 31 people killed in less wii's attacks. policelay -- riot disperse the crowd. several people were arrested. the mayor of the city says he is appalled by the unrest. in other world news, archaeologists are racing to assess the damage done to the temple and monuments in the syrian city of palmyra after 10 months of jihadist control. finallyt assad recaptured the heritage site from the grasp of islamic state after days of fierce fighting. the syrian army says the victory will serve as a base for broader operations against the organization. palmyrancient city of has been described by unesco as the crossroads of civilization. and one of the most important

cultural centers of the ancient world. but when the islamic state group overran the area last year, artifacts that who survived wereands of years destroyed in mere months. only beenve not killing brutally a people, they have been destroying the human civilizations. >> now that syrian government forces have driven out i.s., there are renewed hopes of salvaging the archaeological and artistic treasure troves that remain. >> syrian government forces have retrieve from palmyra, now it will to preserve commontect these human assets, cultural assets. >> the loss of palmyra is the latest in a series of setbacks for the islamic extremists since

they conquered large swaths of syria and declared a caliphate in 2014. after taking palmyra last may, the group destroyed several greco-roman ruminants. the group's description of the ancient -- the group's distraction -- the group's distraction of the ancient buildings -- despite the destruction, the head of antiquities says the government will be able to restore most of the artifacts by the end of this year. >> we expected the worst because of the fighting, but i think the nightmare is over. the work can be finished by the end of 2016. see what hasll survived the cultural onslaught of the extremists and will keep a watchful eye on the government's restoration efforts in a city that unesco has classified as a world heritage site. brown reporting

their banquet next, to latin america, where pressure is mounting on dilma rousseff. bar association plans to file a new request for her in peach. -- toecision -- after file a new request for impeachment. she has ruled out stepping down, despite the mass demonstrations. our correspondent has this report. scandal that has blown up in the face of brazil's government. on the right, president dilma rousseff. on the left, ex-president lula, both caught up in brazil's biggest ever corruption case. -- time protesters >> he is hiding lula and dilma behind him. mauro two years, sergio

massive taking over a probe into petrobras, accused of businessmantate huge bribes. the supreme court judge took the investigation into lula out of mauro's hands. so how did lula get wrapped up in this? prosecutors accuse him of receiving political favors from companies now under investigation. at the same time, lula is trying to take up a government cabinet post, a move that critics say has led dilma rousseff to shield him from prosecution. all of this has led lula's successor fighting for her political life. she has refused to step down. but the pressure keeps piling

up. thomas: it is time now for a look at the latest business news with kate moody. you are starting today with a look at one of the most successful financial -- kate: a con artist managed to steal billions of euros from corporations, in spite of copycats and films. he is currently living in israel. he gave the associated press the behind-the-scenes look at how he got away with the scam for so long. our correspondent has the details. >> he pretended to be a powerful agent on intelligence the hunt for a terrorist or it on the phone he would spin a story and convince people to hand over their company's cash or he scams tens of millions from corporations, including from disney, in absentia, and american express. he found a loophole in china.

>> in china, a bank director earns 400 euros to 500 euros per month. when you meet with him and give him 10,000 euros, to him that is a jackpot. so he will use the entire system to open offshore accounts, to which there will be several gateways, and you will be able to put it into a company. that company will, of course, make that money official. chikli laundered his money, and he is not the only one. his fake scam has spurred over 13,000 copycats, and the damage is rising fast. >> it is a huge scam, a significant scam, big dollars, and relatively recent, in a little over one year's time to go to get to the billion dollar figure. it is scary. the money has been initially going into 70 -- into over 70 different countries. at the very top of that list is

hong kong and china. --the u.s. state department euro poll calls china a blind spot. european intelligence agencies say company -- companies that are defrauded are unlikely to receive help from chinese authorities or recover their money. let's turn to the markets now, kate. how are they faring this hour? kate: the european markets are still closed. we will focus on the asian markets there. they are bolstered by a weaker yen, sharp shares up 4% as in user rescue deal that will see it taken over by the tight aiwanese company foxconn. let's look at the other headlines now.

the al jazeera network plans to slash 500 jobs near the home base of qatar. lost as were said to be it shuts down its american cable news channel. the state-funded broadcaster is struggling to tighten its budget. the u.k.'s independent newspaper published its last printed edition this weekend as it transitions to an online only format. the paper, which was in print for 30 years, ended its run with an exclusive alleged assassination plot on a former saudi king. a plan has been outlined to trade to $5eral billion as international sanctions against tehran are relaxed. there is focus on the increasing pakistan electricity exports. let's end on rather a

topical note, one of my favorite foodstuffs, chocolate, a favorite at this time of year, of course, and easter. cocoa beans are grown to produce the final roddick. about two thirds are grown in western africa, the ivory coast and ghana being the top two producers. companies in belgium and germany rake in the most benefits. cocoa growers get 6% of the -- on thethe african ivory coast, there is a push to produce more chocolate, where the beans are grown. take a listen. we are encouraging ivorians to consume their own products, especially since the products are created without additives, no artificial colors or preservatives. thank you for that look

at the latest business news. time now for a quick spin through the papers in today's press review. oliver joins me now for a look at today's french and international papers. a lot of talk about the attacks in brussels and paris. linksshows the clearest to both of those attacks, and the scale of the network that mounted them. the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. it also notes that the scale of the actions planned for brussels has not been determined. some investors think it might have originally planned an attack similar to the ones in paris in november, which might have involved two teams, one suicide bombers and one carrying out armed attacks in public places. there is a similarity in operational methods and in the profile, which is probably what

prompted france's minister for .erially -- for cities there are hundreds of neighborhoods and friends that have the potential to be another molenbeek, the neighborhood in jihadistshere several are said to have originated. a huge concentration of poverty, unemployment, and ultra system, where public services have more or less disappeared and elected representatives have given up the ghost. clear -- and rather drastic declarations from a government minister. how have they gone down? oliver: not very well with some left-wing and centrist politicians. some mayors have disapproved of the minister has comments, calling them violent, angry at

all the municipalities being portrayed that way. one person criticized his comments, saying they are stigmatizing the vast majority of those who live in molenbeek or french suburbs, citizens like any others. thomas: let's move on to the international press now. bomb attack in pakistan yesterday's dominating headlines. oliver: the express tribune carries out an attack -- carries the story of an attack on local easter.ns celebrating they said they had targeted it because it was an easter celebration. local police said the majority of victims were muslim. confirmation of the attack came from the prime minister. reports aoday

terrorist group as saying they wanted to convey to the ruling pakistan muslim league and to the prime minister that "we have inived input job punjab." a doctor at a nearby hospital says that the capital harbors around 70,000 people. thomas: let's move onto another headline story. that is the hijacking of a demonstration in brussels, which was meant to be in memory of those killed in last wii's attack. it was hijacked by far right for -- in last week's attack. it was hijacked by far right hooligans. one peter asks how did these many arrive? how were they not stopped sooner

that one paper asks, how did this many arrived? how would they not stopped sooner? the interior minister was not ordering the cancellation of the match. they came under fire for letting the people get on the train, the hooligans. but they said it was too dangerous to allow them to stay, and in such small term, across the spectrum, the act has been condemned. he did not want to record too much publicity to the bulletins, but -- thomas: finally to your homeland, oliver, ireland, which has celebrate in the centenary of one of the most defining events in its history, the 1916 rising against british rule. it was unusual because it did not take place on the exact date of the rising itself,

but earlier because easter fell in late april in 1916, in the irish government has been a bit embarrassed about commemorating an armed insurrection, perhaps word about giving too much legitimacy to it. it was a different world back then. the irish times, which 100 years ago calls the rising the darkest week in dublin's history, was more complementary. it said, the men and women in our uniform arching yesterday were an assertion of sovereignty and maturity of success. one of them being the president himself, michael diego. irish independent reports he gave a speech on saturday in which he patriot to the men and women of 1916 but in many

respects said that we have not reformed the dreams and ideals. spins: thank you for that through the french and international press. for more on any of those stories, this is our@ñññññç

>> the following program is an original prproductiion of linkv. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. i'm so delighted to come here and talk about our work. and this is an occasion that, uh, giveves me the opportunity to raise more issues that we see in the connection with our work. grameen bank, which was started back in 1976... not as an effort of a bank or