>> things for joining us. it is 1:00 p.m. in paris. you are watching "france 24 come live from paris. our headlines this wednesday. a new round of peace talks on syria is starting in geneva to try to end five years of fighting. the syrian government is holding parliamentary elections, a vote not recognized by the u.s.

president dilma rousseff, another coalition party, the progressive party, has left her government. one of the leaders now saying they support dilma rousseff's impeachment. and rating the law firm of the panama papers. also coming up for you this hour, in business, would you volunteer to pay more tax? we will hear about a mayor trying new ways to raise funds. and it are international press review, we will get reaction to a controversial survey of british muslims. .ots of criticism coming in we will have more with florence villeminot. thanks for being with us here on

live from paris. i am catherine norris-trent. syria,starting off in where parliamentary elections are going ahead in government controlled areas of the country, around a third of syria posterity. some 3500 government approved cabinets are finding seats in parliament. the vote is not recognized by the u.s.. different government has called it a sham. several have criticized the procedure great fighting has intensified in several areas of syria on the ground. wednesday, the thought of another round of peace talks in syria. they are beginning again in damascushere the delegation will not be arriving for at least another 24 hours. the cease-fire agreed in february is under increasing pressure amid infighting for the past few days.

formid a surge of fighting the past few days. >> the latest attempt for a roadmap to peace. negotiations aimed at stopping syria's five-year civil war, a power struggle to prevent the breakdown in the country's cease-fire. >> we agreed that what is important is that the decision of austerity continues, that humanitarian aid reaches every syrian. and, three, that the political process leading to a political transition is now crucially urgent. >> the u.s. envoy is due to meet coalition,rella backed by saudi arabia, the u.s., and other powers. they are calling for a transitional government in syria with bashar al-assad out of the picture. including members of the opposition.

but they say bashahar al-assad s there to stay. there has been a surge of violence afterer the regime announced a new offensive to recapture aleppo from insurgents. >> the cease-fire has been so important over the last weeks because it has given people a lot more than simply access to markets and to the systems, it has given them hope. the end of the cease-fire would dash that hope, and we are all of the belief that it must be maintained. also allowedhas for increased humanitarian aid across syria. and a significant drop in civilian deaths. bringing longer lasting peace to a torn nation. catherine: next, brazilian leader dilma rousseff has said the efforts to impeach her are a

conspiracy headed up by her own vice president. dilma rousseff was referring to an audio message from michel temer calling for impeachment. more bad news for dilma rousseff. another coalition partner has abandoned the government, the progressive party. or pp. blow to dilmaew rousseff, the progressive party announced it was leaving the government coalition tuesday, in a move that is likely to see most of its 47 lawmakers vote for dilma rousseff to be impeached. adding fuel to the fire, and what she has already deemed a conspiracy against her. >> there is no longer any doubt about the coup, the farce, and the betrayal underway.

there is no doubt about my denunciation that a coup d'etat is underway. busy.nwhile, police were they say it is necessary to separate rival demonstrators ahead of the key impeachment vote. >> there are clearly two antagonistic groups. one is pro-government, the other one is against. they are both authorized to protest on sunday. the police decided to put up this wall. police announced they were lining up 14,000 officers to manage security. with days to go, dilma rousseff is fighting to drum up the support she needs to stay in office. the opposition is racing to mobilize the 2/3 majority it needs for the impeachment process to continue. catherine: organized crime

prosecutors have rated the offices of the law firm of the panama papers scandal targeting the headquarters, looking for evidence of money laundering --lowing the huge week of the huge leak of documents. the president of panama threatening diplomatic consequences as france takes action. >> the government of panama ratifies its position. asksespectfully and firmly the government of france to reconsider that mistaken and unnecessary decision.

if the french government does not reconsider its decision, the panamanian government will have to take diplomatic measures in response to the unilateral position taken by the french government. new plans to improve life in poorer areas of french cities have been presented to the cabinet today in the so-called empty ghetto law, which contain 65 measures to try to improve social morbidity and crackdown on unemployment. he spoke out in the wake of the charlie hebdo attacks, saying that france needed to end "texting -- "territorial and ethnic situations." mark, what is the focal anti-ghetto law? what does it contain? mark: icad in several aspects. people toencourage

serve in the military, and civic areas, in schools or poorer neighborhoods. it also is requiring a lot of efforts in terms of social housing. this has been really an ongoing problem in france. there is not enough social housing, especially in the so-called rich areas. so the government really wants to push the envelope. are 65 measures to make sure that this so-called apartheid, when the prime minister uses this word, it created a shockwave in france. this is a problem with bill that will then go to parliament, starting in june, that many of those measures have already been proposed or have been implemented in the past, and the result has not been very good. when you go to the neighborhoods in france, the geographical

aspect has changed many of the very ugly towers that used to be there and are not there anymore. however, when you need to find a job, you need to get some support for education or professional training, it is not there. this has really been a problem. after the paris attacks, the prime minister was hoping that supportl help fuel more for this initiative, but they are not certain it will be working better than previous initiatives. catherine: we are seeing protests in france. there is a lot of anger on the streets. is there a sense that the french government needs to be seen to be taking some kind of action? is that what this is about? the -- whattly what it is about. however, this comes as one of the responses. we have seen many emergency measures being announced by the government in favor of the youth, more money, more

fellowship, and so on, to help for education, especially accessing the labor market, which has been a real major issue for the use in france. when he was elected back in 2012, francois hollande said, "my main goal, if there's one goal for my presidency, is to make sure the use of france are happier or see a better future for themselves in 2017 than in 2012." if you ask them, that is clearly not the case, so it appears the government has failed to deliver. we are entering the last year of francois hollande's presidency, and we are beginning to see the campaign of 2017. the government has to show it is acting. the problem is, the polls show many people are not convinced at all. judginge: clearly not, from the numbers we have seen on the streets. thanks, mark.

the world's largest international organization, the u.n., is trying to put a stop to seven decades of secrecy over its top jobs. for the first time, the united nations is allowing candidates for secretary-general to make campaign style pages. memory -- many members say they are lobbying for other changes, too, for the first female head of the u.n. race is underway for the position of the world's most prominent diplomat. next u.n.t for the -- changeseneral could be a foot for the u.n.'s 70-year history. a contenders will be taking turns to lay out positions for the top job, more than 50 countries are lobbying the body to elect a woman for the first time. among them, the former prime minister of new zealand. >> i am seeking a position

because i think i am the best person for the job. obviously, i am a woman. i would obviously not expect to get the job because i am a woman. i think women have the capacity to be on equal terms with men for these positions. pitted against unesco,etary-general of and the bug arian commissioner, as well as a handful of other bulgarian -- and the commissioner, as well as a handful of other candidates. >> that is the first step to approachitment to this of making sure the senior management team reflects this regional parity, but also gender parity. >> the u.n. has taken steps to make the election process more transparent and inclusive, yet

critics say it is far from democratic and still involves plenty of backroom bargaining. puts to aber council vote for the 90 -- for the 193 member states. any stay that many say it is rubberstamping for a foregone conclusion. they had high hopes, but french football fans' dreams ase dashed tuesday night, this team was knocked out of europe's champion league by manchester city. 3-2 on aggregate. the blame is being put on the shoulders of the paris coach. after this dismal performance, they go to many of the disappointed psg fans. >> it is really, really tough.

>> this loss really hurts us, especially against manchester city. >> we underperformed. we lacked the desire to win. a reminder of our headlines. a new round of peace talks on syria is starting in geneva. trying to end five years of fighting. syria's government is holding parliamentary elections, a vote not recognized by the u.n.. more bad news for beleaguered visiting president dilma rousseff. another coalition partner, the progressive party, has left her government. supporting her impeachment. organized crime prosecutors and havet law -- in panama rated the offices of thomas exxon sica -- of mossack fonseca.

stephen, hello. we are starting off in the u.s. the world's biggest privately owned coal mine. stephen: peabody energy has find that has filed for bankruptcy protection in missouri. the unprecedented falling coal prices have left it unable to pay its debt. peabody's financial problems have been exacerbated by its $3.8 billion takeover of macarthur back in 2011. since then, prices and demand have fallen dramatically in the coal industry. u.s. government figures estimate half of american producers of the coal industry have filed for bankruptcy since the downturn began, but peabody would be one of the biggest we seen in trouble in the sector. catherine: let's turn to the price of oil, which has had a volatile 24 hours. stephen: we were talking yesterday about sharp gains on oil markets. prices rising to their highest levels that we have seen so far this year. that is after an oil producer's

meeting on sunday, the head of the oil producers' meeting on sunday. you can see not quite as bright with ew ti and brent crude. brent crude is still trading for over $44 a barrel, which is more than we have seen in recent months. the stock markets are having a good day, european shares trading significantly higher at the midpoint of trading day. chinese trade figures are showing a rise in imports in march. catherine: in france, the government has published its latest outlook for the economy. how is it looking? stephen: it is more of the same. coming this year. they predicted that growth of 3.3%while in a deficit of at 4 this year, that is as before, but it slashed its forecast of inflation from 1% to

just the 10th of that. that will send alarm bells to economists about the state of the french economy. these forecasts have tended to be optimistic on the scale in recent years. we will have to see how those pan out. catherine: the government has tting budgets, leaving some communities short of cash. stephen: 3.5 billion euros for those local governments, so mayors in several cities have prompted the idea of asking residents to volunteer to pay more tax. it sounds like it is unusual idea, but many are in favor. >> tough times call for innovative thinking. the town is looking for volunteers willing to pay more taxes. the 6800 people living here will soon receive details of the plan by post. it is an idea of the mayor has been working on with his finance team for over one year. are a voluntary

contribution of money from a citizen, corresponding to a nectar percentage of a tax they are already obligated to pay. could be usedat to help save a local cafe or pay for a next her music teacher. it would be impossible without the extra help from residents. for local authorities will be chopped by 3.5 billion euros this year. have tried to come up with a host of new ideas, to help improve things in the community. >> among the town's budding harmonica players, the town seems to have struck the right chord. >> i am in favor, but it should not be too high. it would enable us to solve some of the townhouse problems. >> i am not against the idea. for once, we would be sure of where our money is going. if there is transparency, i think everyone is in favor. this voluntary tax would be

added to the 7% hike in local tax that is already set to take effect this year. stephen: more business headlines now. with more thants 200 million euros. at its mainales market in the u.k. rose last inth for the first time 2015, the first time that has happened in three years. shares are down more than 5% in london. facebook is opening up its messenger app for users to communicate more with companies. chatterbox would allow users to contact businesses with queries or make purchases on messenger. the technology could allow facebook to rival competitive call met -- competitive call numbers.

the move is part of a drive by your path largest low-cost airline to improve customer service. what was it, two years ago that we had the chief executive of ryanair on? stephen: he said he was going to try to stop annoying his customers. catherine: stephen carroll with the business news here. time now to take a look at what is grabbing headlines in the newspapers around the world. florence villeminot is here. let's look at the continuing fallout of the panama papers saiga. -- saga. launching an unprecedented inquiry into the scandal. read about on the front page of "the guardian" today. these attacks officials from 28 countries gathering for a hastily arranged meeting in the

wake of the panama papers scandals. they will try to find a way to analyze information together, work together, and develop a global strategy to crack down on tax offenders. "the guardian" applauds this aggressive new approach in its editorial today, and says the best thing to do to fight tax evasion would be to harmonize taxes across national borders. but that is politically sensitive in many parts of the world. so in the meantime, the most important thing is to have transparency between countries and to essentially try to work together to crack down on loopholes, according to "the guardian." the loopholes are the biggest problem because the local tax system is only a strong as the weakest link. that is why authorities say a halfhearted effort will not work. catherine: meanwhile, the french version of sleep is calling on taxpayers across the world to do their part in the fight against tax evasion. flo: it is a funny article that calls on taxpayers of the world

to unite in the fight against tax invaders. academic.e by a u.s. has found whatrs it is fullknew, that of a bunch of liars and cheaters. when is the world going to wake something that you knew all along, and that is that the came -- that the game's rate. the 1% is interesting because they do not have very much in common, other than the fact that they are so rich they do not believe that they need to belong to any nation. he talked about new cosmopolitanism today. also critical of tax invaders, heading down the red carpet toward an offshore there. pay your taxes," you are a thief."

he says, obviously it is some money that i made in the market. catherine: this is getting a lot of attention in the abroad. flo: they have pollen -- they have published some of the findings. it shows the chasm between muslim values have the rest of the u.k.. 52% of the people in the survey believed that homosexuality should be illegal. just under one third think polygamy should be legalized. 21% support replacing british law with sharia law in certain areas of the u.k. sympathize with suicide bombers. "the wall street journal" talks about the fact that britain has a muslim problem here. you can see this new survey

shows an alarming failure to assimilate in the u.k., sparking a discussion about a state within a state. sayerine: of the papers that the way it was carried out -- >> the statistics are a problem, according to many critics. there is an interesting piece in "the independent." he writes that the poll is ed andly skew unnecessarily divisive. the muslims in the study are from an area that make up at least 20% of the population, and therefore they are less likely to be integrated. the results of the poll do not represent the whole of british society. other people have taken to social media, criticizing the --l in a more humorous ray in a more humorous way. people haveral, and

written about the most banal things -- for instance, potholes, the weather. my favorite one was the #, what british muslims really do think, "do i look fat in distress?" has been getting a lot of attention in social media as well as a the guardian carried out a study of 70 million comments posted on the guardian's website over the past decade. according to the research, gender and race appeared to be key factors in attracting abusive comments. it says regardless of what the articles are written about, if an article is written by a woman , it will attract a higher proportion of blocked comments quite male writers attract the least amount of trolling. it's own writers talk about the emotional and almost physical

repercussions that this kind of online abuse can have. it is part of a whole series called the web we want, that "the guardian" is featuring right now. it wants to raiseq?q?q?q?q?q?q??