molly: welcome to the "france 24 " newsroom. rescuers search for survivors as a quick hit southwest japan. damage of the tremors amid ongoing aftershocks. tens of thousands of people in escalating violence in aleppo province. rebels areforces and fighting for control in the region.

bernie sanders and hillary clinton face off in a heated debate just days before a crucial primary in new york state. molly: first, aftershocks have rattled japan this friday, following last night plus strong earthquake that killed at least nine people and injured 1000 others. rescuers are searching through collapsed buildings looking for any survivors. scores of people are now left without power and water. bring in richard smart, who joins us from tokyo. where do things stand with rescue efforts? the rescue efforts have not managed to find anyone in the last few hours, and it is looking more likely that most of the people who were in affected

areas managed to escape from collapsed buildings, and there is not going to be anybody else found now. also, there were 44,000 people in evacuation shelters last night, and that now tonight, so wes down to 15,000, are probably winding down the major first phase of the disaster. what do we know about the extent of the damage? richard: a lot of houses have been damaged because they are a little older. most of the buildings have been fine. castle, one of the most popular in japan, has suffered some damage, so there is concern that there will be fewer tourists coming in the future because of that. , bullet train was derailed leading to delays and cancellations throughout the day

for people. factories have been closed for the day, but it is nothing like the devastation that we saw in 2011 with the earthquake and sue nami, despite the fact that there was the same intensity -- with the earthquake and tsunami, despite the fact that there was the same intensity. the situation with the nuclear plant, that is not the case this time around. richard: no, no. there has been absolutely no effect from the disaster on the nuclear plant. this will be a point that people in the pro-nuclear cap are very happy about, because it shows that regulations after the 2011 earthquake have been ineffective for them. however, it points to the fact that there was no soon nami -- there was no tsunami at this point. the earthquake epicenter

occurred 15 kilometers from the a. molly: richard smart, thank you for joining us from tokyo. in syria fighting has unfolded on multiple fronts in aleppo province. then rights watch says in last 48 hours, at least 30,000 civilians have fled the violence in their region. the monitoring group is calling on turkey to open its border to them. here is more with our correspondent. 2011, somehe war in 2 million people lived in aleppo. now it is thought to be home to only 40,000. located in northern syria, 35 kilometers from the turkish is syria upon second-largest city. but since the war began, besieged by fighting and bombing. no longer an economic center, it was once a bustling commercial and transportation hub.

industrial hub was as big as the city center, but all that now his ruin. factories were shut down. the city is divided. government forces control a little under half the city and its greater urban area. here they are in most of the city center, but the regime controls eastern areas, including the airport. the yellow region is held by kurdish fighters. the rest, in green, is controlled by multiple rebel groups. namely, the al nusra front, the main -- a cease-fire went into effect in february between government forces and some of the rebels. as those groups seen terrorist organizations by the u.n. were not part of the truce. an airstrike targeting al nusra rebels continues.

in aleppo, it maintains control areas to the northeast of the city. molly: for more on the situation, let's cross to our regional correspondent, adam pletts, who joins us from beirut. walk us through what we are seeing from the islamic state in terms of their latest defenses in the area. adam: this is a surprise offensive against rebels and kurdish fighters in the area north of aleppo toward the turkish border. what they are doing here is trying to recapture a territory that was previously taken from them by those other fighters. this is territory that they have taken back, accommodating a large number that has taken place in interment camp and former settlements. people who have been previously are fleeing to the the government

oppress and offensive there, that has sent a large number of people to the north. they were unable to cross into turkey because it was closed to them. , ornewest wave of refugees internally displaced people, 30,000 of these people have been displaced for a second time. again they have tried to cross the border, but again they found it closed to them, with concrete walls having been made. human rights watch has released toeport, with people trying cross the border being shot at by turkish border security. it is a very difficult situation for the internally displaced people in this area, with nowhere really to go to the norse -- to the north and to the east. to the south there is fighting. the west is their safest option, but even that is threatened with fighting as the front lines are

moving very quickly. even there, they are vulnerable to further offensives from islamic state group. molly: as you mentioned, the battle lines are moving quite quickly to be a very fluid situation. the fighting going on is quite multifaceted. adam: very much so. we are talking about an islamic state group offensive against kurds and other rebels north of aleppo, but they have also left the islamic state group, offensives against government forces to the east, and also against al nusra and other rebels south and north of aleppo. very complicated situation. everybody has a stake in the battle in aleppo. you have the islamic state group and outlaws russia, -- and nusra. russia -- and al you have the kurds, the syrian government, the syrian army, backed by russian airstrikes, as

shia militia on the ground. a lot of the fighting is justified by the fact that al nusra and islamic state are not part of the truce. by carrying out offensives against them, the government doing so, that could draw the other rebel groups into the fighting, particularly if there are larger offensives on aleppo itself. that is likely to lead to a complete collapse within the cease-fire, and the implication that would have for the peace talks in geneva. molly: adam, thank you very much for that analysis. adam pletts reporting from beirut. the syrian war has sparked the ongoing refugee crisis. italy is bracing once again for a major influx of migrants. according to the international organization for migration, nearly 6000 people have arrived in the country since this past tuesday.

last month's controversial migrant deal between turkey and the e.u. curbs the flow of the asylum-seekers crossing between turkey and greece. that means many must try once again to cross from libya to italy. >> do not move, ok? do not come out. just wait. >> commandeered by the italian dangerously this overcrowded migrant boat risks capsizing. children are the first to cross the threshold to safety. along the central mediterranean, some 4000 people have been plucked from the waters between libya and sicily this week. and skies, calmer sees, moves to close the mediterranean route means italy is gearing up for a flood of migrants seeking a better life in europe. up 7000 from last spring, more

than 25,000 people have arrived on boats from libya this year to cope with the influx -- this year. to cope with the influx, italy has asked for an additional 15,000 beds. >> for others attempting the treacherous journey, there is no going back. with several regions now pushed to breaking point against the exodus, the european council president, donald tusk, has urged the e.u. to take a stand in solidarity with italy. molly: politicians in germany have been grappling for months over how to handle hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who entered the country. the ruling coalition has agreed

to a new integration bill. tough measures include sanctions for failing to take part in programs such as light which classes. also included, plans for new anti-terror legislation. our correspondent has details. ,> the university of pottstown syrian teachers are taking their first steps into the german education system. .> i want to teach dream is to -- >> in an effort to handle more than one billion refugees that arrived in germany as of last year, integration policy is now set to become law. there are job opportunities, job training, and even a streamlined process to get people into the system. the carrot comes with a

stick. >> anyone who stops training will lose their residency and their right to be in germany. >> anywhere -- anyone who moves away, in an effort to avoid social segregation in ghettos, refugees have already shown that they can do what it takes to integrate. the university of past and's first ever -- the university of pottstodam -- germane we can help teachers can mitigate with the kids. it would be nice for me to help kids for my country to live in germany and live normally. setith the german cabinet to approve the plan in late may, the university is already planning on increasing the numbers of courses it offers to refugees. it is hoped that the attendees will build--

bridges. molly: hillary clinton and bernie sanders held a heated debate last night. they attacked each other over wall street, gun control, and other issues. the combative tone reflected mounting pressures on both candidates, but it seems unlikely to have changed the dynamic of the race. new york state will hold its primary next tuesday, april 19. our correspondent has more. >> bernie sanders and hillary clinton debated in new york. one was born in brooklyn, the other was the state senator. but they did not come back here to share good memories. uplary clinton: i stood against the behaviors of the banks when i was a senator. i called them out on their mortgage behavior. sanders: secretary clinton called them out? they must have been

really slush fund it. [cheers and applause] bernie sanders: was that before or after you received huge fund moneys? with 1100 13 delegates, sanders is far behind clinton, -- with 100 -- with 1113 delegates, sanders is far behind clintoton. grabs,0 delegates up for polls show he is closing the gap with the former secretary of state. >> we have to win most states between now and the end of the process. we do not have to win new york. >> observers say that sanders has to win new york for him to have any chance of closing the delegate cap. -- the delegate gap. molly: let's get an update of our headlines. rescuers in japan are trying to assess the damage of the deadly

tremor and the ongoing aftershocks. fleeof thousands of people the escalating violence in aleppo, syria. militants and rebels are vying for control in the region. presidential candidates bernie sanders and hillary clinton face-off in a heated debate, days before a crucial primary in new york state. it is time now for a business update. i am joined by kate moody. you are going to start off with a crackdown on tax invaders. ers.n tax evad kate: europe has agreed to share data to track down people are trying to hide money. france, italy, and spain will begin sharing information to find out who owns assets like shell companies. it will be effective if the u.s.

signs up as well. what the deal on the sidelines of the imf meeting in washington could add to global efforts to crack down on tax invasion -- on tax evasion. doug: we feel another hammer blow today against those who would illegally evade taxes and hide their wealth in the corners of the financial system. britain will work with major european partners to find out who really owns the secretive shell companies and the trusts that have been used as conduits for evading tax and laundering money and benefiting from corruption. been the stockmarket has focused on china this friday. gdp growth is been reported of 6% in the first quarter -- 6.7% in the first quarter. it was probably in line with expectations. oil prices have also fallen after hitting their highest levels of 2016 earlier in the week and all eyes are on d

oha, where the oil producers cartel will be discussing output production this weekend. house oilronto minister -- tehran's oil minister says he will not be attending. our correspondence have more. -- our correspondent >> has more. this oil port -- our correspondent has more. >> all of the exports leave through this oil port. iran is back on the global scene. >> we have been busy. look at the infrastructure. they allow us to accommodate docking vessels and we are showing that we're making progress in building something. >> opec producing companies want to stem the production of free -- iran is not having any of it. the republic wants to be a major

player in the oil industry like it was back in 2012. they want to construct new methods of extraction as well. the process of very quickly implementing economic policies, because this year is about action and work. >> the islamic republic wants to go even further. send a petrol to asia, saudi relishingyadh is not iran's come back. >> having the market share is essential for iran, first of all because they need money, they revenue,, they need and the more they produce, they get more. >> the country is set to produce 4 million barrels each stay within a year, in line with production levels of 2008 that each day within a year, in line 2008.roduction levels of

-- there are new safety rules for the interior department close to prevent disasters like the deep horizon oil rig. european sales slumped in the first quarter of the year, but its market share is hitting a five-year low. sales dropped 1.6% in europe in march, continuing to suffer a emissionsom the cheating scandal. microsoft is suing the united states government for the right to tell its customers when a federal agency is looking at the contents of their e-mails or cloud storage. over 5.5 thousand requests have been received over the last five months. that is it for this business roundup. molly: thank you for a look at that. it is time now for our press review.

i'm joined here in the studio by florence villeminot. what is grabbing headlines around the world? we are going to start off with headlines in turkey. the summit kicked off in istanbul yesterday. flo: especially in tokyo, during his opening speech, president erdogan called for unity. you can see he said that the muslim world needs to be unified to fight what is really the major problem they are facing right now, which is terrorism and violence. terrorism is a major issue in the islamic world, but other papers are less optimistic about this unity. look at this article, a pan arabic paper, based in london, it does not mince words, saying this is the worst summit in the history of the organization of islamic cooperation.

it looks like all the geopolitical rivalry of a bitterly divided middle east. organizationvided will never be up to find solutions to those problems -- to terrorism, etc. on the contrary, it will probably throw oil on the fire. al-sisi is in hot water , showinging over gratitude. tell us more. flo: it is an interesting story getting a lot of coverage in the region in general. a lebanese paper comes back on the story. islands haveea been handed over to saudi arabia as a show of gratitude for the kingdom's financial aid. it is strategically important because of their location, very important to access ports in israel and jordan.

they have always been taught essentially is islands were injured 10, and it is to be protected, especially from israel. here you have a president handing them over to saudi arabia almost behind their backs. a lot of them took to social media to show their outrage. hashtage using the egypt has been sold to saudi arabia. in france we have a lot of reaction coming into last night's televised appearance by president francois hollande. flo: the president final -- the president defiantly defended his track record over the past four years, saying things are getting better in france. but not everyone believes him. he is getting quite a bashing. the show he appeared on is called "citizen dialogue," and he was supposed to exchange ideas with a panel of three

journalists and four citizens. you had a business owner, a taking, a young person part in demonstrations against the government. you also have one who votes for the far right. it was supposed to be a dialogue. but it was more of a dialogue of the death. francois hollande was checking out figures and defending himself, but it does not feel theire was listening to grievances. he was just droning on. the right wing press is really lashing out at the president today. let's look at the editorial in the main right-wing paper in france. "he's incorrigible. even his own party is questioning him, and he is not changing." he seems really out of touch with france, essentially. they go so far as to wonder,

does he even live in the country he is supposed to be president of? molly: let's cross to the united states and for politics. a lot of focus on the debate that took place in brooklyn, new york, ahead of next week's primary. flo: the gloves certainly came off during that fiery debate, and you can read about it all over the press. daily beast," a lot of people think hillary clinton is going to win the election, but really matters -- but what really matters is the margin, and that matters how left new york is. it is really a battle for new york's soul. we do not hear much from bernie wife.s' she says, "bernie and i will vote hillary if we have to." molly: let's stay in the u.s., where another racist taking place in new york.

this one is a bit different. flo: the race for the next u.n. secretary-general. you can read all about it in the u.n. newscenter. it is described both as the positionop diplomatic and the top job. created,e the u.n. was for the past 70 years, it has been a very secretive operation, selecting a secretary-general. but things are really changing. you can read more about that in "the guardian." the process has been revolutionized and is becoming a lot more public. for the first time ever, an open public debate place between the candidates. there are eight candidates that are going for the top job. they had a very public job interview. you can read more about that in "the daily beast." they had to go before the whole general assembly, deliver a speech, and they faced grilling for a couple of hours.

all of this was streamed across the world. you can see it says it was quite an intense job interview. half of the candidates are women. let's take a look at a cartoon in "the china daily."

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narrator: this is grace, a business woman in kigali, rwanda. eight years ago, she was starving and unable to feed her children. many of her family had been massacred in one of the worst genocides of the late 20th century. but today, thanks to an innovative program, life is good. she earns up to $200 a month from her furniture business and employs 11 people.