catherine n.: hello, this is "live from paris" on "france 24." i'm catherine nicholson with your headlines. international outrage after a hospital was destroyed in syria's second city, aleppo. the united nations is calling on washington and moscow to use their influence to end the bloodshed. 24 police officers have been injured, three of them seriously, and 124 protesters put under arrest after a day of labor law protests in france boiled over into violence in several cities. and in venezuela, the crisis

deepens. civil servants told they cannot be paid because of government oversight. meanwhile, looting continues, as well as opposition efforts to remove president nicolas maduro. thanks for joining us. at least 24 police officers have been injured, three of them seriously, in a day of protests and violence around france that has brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets. demonstrations against labor law reform plans boiling over in paris, marseille, toulouse, lyon, and more. organizers say over half a out in people turned total. police put that figure at 170,000. the interior minister has

announced 124 arrests have been made nationwide. 24's" politically -- aurore dupuis. aurore: cleaning agents are taking away the trash, rubbish, broken bottles left behind by protesters. most of the protesters have gone home. about an hour ago, police started closing in on them to try to disperse the crowd. there were dozens of police vans, dozens of police officers who had been blocking every street leading to the square where i am, right in the heart of paris. they started storming into wards a group of people, thinking that they work troublemakers, -- started storming in towards a group of people, thinking that they were troublemakers, anarchists. thate moved in toward

group of people, and there was a moment of panic, because those people started putting their hands up in the air, saying are from the" we labor union. we are not anarchists. police stopped. they did not address them. they let them go home. things carried on smoothly from then. things have gone back to normal now. we did talk to protesters before they went home. they told us they felt ashamed, absolutely disgusted, appalled by the way the march had ended. they said they were only here to protest against the so-called labor law that is being put forward by the french government to try and make the labor market a bit more flexible. these protesters, throughout the day, said they were here to try and make the government back down, to scrap that bill entirely, that they were not here to spark any violence. other protesters did say they felt that the heavy police

presence, including a helicopter hovering over the protest -- they said that this could potentially fuel tension between protesters and the police forces . they said that that police presence was perhaps not necessary and that is perhaps why things turned out to be so ugly at the end of the day. the bill is supposed to be put forward at the parliament on the third of may. as you know, protesters have been protesting since march 9. at least two months that they have been taking to the streets. this is the fourth major nationwide protest taking place across france. protesters say they will not back down, that they will continue to protest, and the next day they will do so is may 1, international workers day. catherine n.: some reaction has just come in from the french prime minister. manuel valls saying he forcefully condemns the violence carried out by a minority of

irresponsible people. more on that story as we get it here at "france 24." looking across to aleppo, syria's second city, where the future hopes for a threadbare cease-fire hang in the balance after heavy days of fighting that have left more than 200 people dead. at least, have been reported killed. syria's pro-government newspaper is reporting that the army is preparing a major assault to retake the whole of aleppo. meanwhile, there is international condemnation after a hospital supported by doctors without borders was destroyed in a direct airstrike earlier on, killing at least 27 people, including three doctors. stacked sandbags are all that keep the façade of the hospital from crumbling. from this side, nothing could be salvaged. twisted metal frames strangle

deserted corridors, leading to rooms with empty beds. what was once a medical lifeline for the people of aleppo is now another casualty in a bloody war. >> airplanes carried out a number of raids. one of them was on the hospital. the area was hit by three rockets, resulting in ma killed and injured. reporter: the hospital was hit by a direct airstrike. local sources blame syrian or russian warplanes. for their part, the syrian military has denied targeting the hospital. among the dozens killed, the last pediatric doctor in the rebel held part of the city, igniting a crisis within a crisis. he was the only pediatric doctor there. right now, the team is trying to find another suitable

place. reporter: according to the red cross, aleppo is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. the the hospital drawn into firing line, locals in need of essential health care are running out of options. the white house has strongly condemned the airstrikes in aleppo, and it is pointing the finger of suspicion for the hospital bombing at the assad regime. secretary of state john kerry did say that the facility. to be deliberately destroyed -- the facility appeared to be deliberately destroyed. staffan de mistura describing the truth as barely alive, saying that it still could be revived. talks are due to resume in just under two weeks. reporter: a catastrophic situation in syria's second-largest city. risks aid lifeline that being broken down. that's the bleak outlook

described by the united nations a day after government airstrikes in aleppo. >> no one doubted the severity no onesituation, and now is now uncertain about the consequences. so, what i'm saying is that the lifeline to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of thate that have had hopes things would really get better now -- that lifeline may be broken. reporter: aleppo has now become the main battleground in syria's five-year civil war. the government push to retake the city comes as the cessation of hostilities has all but collapsed and hopes for the resumption of peace talks are once again placed on shaky ground. the u.n. envoy to syria is calling on the united states and russia to intervene to get all sides back around the table. >> the next round of talks are going to take place, because we need and we want to keep the

momentum, but let's be frank. they will be meaningful only if and when the cessation of hostilities is brought back to the level we saw in february and in march. toorter: a diplomatic end the syrian conflict was never going to be easy. key opposition figures suspended their participation last week over alleged government violations that the cease-fire - - while all sides are set to try and create a transitional government, the future of the charlotte sought in syria will likely remain the elephant in the room -- the future of bashar al-assad in syria will likely remain the elephant in the room. secretary-general ban ki-moon called on syria to immediately renew their commitment to the cease-fire, calling on united states and russia to do their bit. u.s. vice president has made a surprise visit to iraq -- the

u.s. vice president has made a surprise visit to iraq. chris al-abadi is facing -- fears criticism for an american-backed reform drive he is trying to carry out. joe biden is the most senior u.s. official to visit iraq since his last trip there in 2011. back to the head of the united nations. of what he called growing xenophobia in austria. ban ki-moon visiting vienna today, a day after the country's parliament voted in some of the country -- that you's -- voted in some of the eu's toughest migrant policies. alex marquardt has more. a warm welcome for ban ki-moon. the u.n. secretary-general arrived to express worry about growing xenophobia. secretary-general ban ki-moon:

i'm worried that european countries are adopting increasingly restrictive migration policies. on wednesday, austria passed one of the most restrictive asylum bills in europe. if the mechanism is triggered, border authorities will only grant access to refugees facing serious threat in neighboring transit country. some groups, such as minors or pregnant women, are exempt. on top of this, austria announced fans to build a fence along the border with italy, sparking outrage from rome. vienna says it has no choice w hile other eu members fail to do their part to stop the influx. >> we must maintain free movement in europe, but our primary goal is to maintain order and secure entry points in austria. received some

90,000 asylum requests last year, the second highest per capita after sweden. the influx has boosted support for the far right freedom party, whose presidential candidate made it to next month's runoff. the government's tough stance is seen by many as a bid to hold -- catherine n.: looking across the venezuela, where lawmakers have passed a motion to set the food minister. and others are being told they cannot be paid their salaries. the opposition-controlled national assembly is accusing the government of failing to properly manage the national budget. the growing crisis is sweeping the country. fighting over bags of flour in venezuela's second-largest city. hours earlier, dozens were arrested for looting shops and grabbing food in supermarkets.

wreaking havoc. >> they took everything -- the computer and the merchandise. >> here we are. we are completely unsafe. we can't stay open. we can't do anything. reporter: violence comes as many venezuelans are increasingly frustrated after repeated food shortages and a worsening energy crisis, which is causing daily blackouts. socialist president nicolas maduro is largely being held responsible for driving the country to the brink. the opposition, which has the majority in parliament, has started collecting signatures. a referendum to remove -- hoping to hold a referendum to remove him from power. >> we will collect the 4 million signatures needed for the referendum to go ahead. then we will hold the referendum, and we will win it. reporter: in the capital, caracas, thousands of people have taken to the streets.

maduro, however, does not seem worried. speaking on national television on wednesday, he pledged to stay in office until at least 2018. aduro: nothing they are doing is politically viable anyway. reporter: if the referendum is successful, new elections could be called as early as next january. catherine n.: the captain of the costa concordia cruise ship is back in the legal spotlight. francesco's casino -- francesco trialino beginning the for manslaughter. he says he has been made a scapegoat. prosecutors argue that his sentence did not go far enough. mariam brings us up to date. night: disaster struck at into the early hours of the morning on january 14, 2012.

the costa concordia, with more than 4000 people on board, began to capsize after it hit rocks. amid chaotic evacuation, 32 people went down with the ship. de,breach of the sailors' co the captain was not one of them, branded "captain coward" by the italian media. he came under fire for boarding a life raft ahead of his passengers. a lapse in judgment that accounted for one of the 16-year sentence he was slapped with last year. the in court thursday, 55-year-old is battling to overturn the conviction. his lawyers will argue that the sinking was a collective failure and schettino has been unfairly made a scapegoat. >> we think there are some serious elements of responsibility which cannot be attributed to schettino.

cruises dodged criminal charges with a one million euro fine. they are being sued for damages. >> there was a glimmer of justice. we are still a long way off. >> the company that is inoponsible for what schett did needs to be held responsible. mariam: the prosecution is seeking to up the captain's sentenced to 26 years. if schettino loses, his last stop will be italy's highest court of appeal. catherine n.: russian scientists likely popping a few corks after successfully launching a new rocket. 2.1a carrying three satellites into orbit. up to now, they had been dependent on foreign sites for lunch.

vladimir putin flew impersonally to watch and -- flew in personally to watch and congratulated the staff afterwards. russia.y for does this mean a new kind of space race emerging? let's look closer. thanks for being with us. are the united states and russia really still rivals when it comes to space? >> in a way, increasingly, they are. obviously, the history goes back to the cold war and the u.s.-soviet space race, which took place both in the civil sector and military and national security. you can go back to the race to reach space by him and mannedaft -- space by a spacecraft. russia seems to be interested and putin personally seems to be quite peeved when they had to initially cancel this launch, but he seemed pleased when they

were able to pull it off successfully. my guess is there a combination of -- there is a combination of russian pride, as well as military and economic incentives as well. catherine n.: given recent tensions with vladimir putin, there are likely to be those rather suspicious that this development in russia might threaten the united states or the west in general. what would you say about that? itself is more of an indicator than a concrete example, but the russians have just recently -- a couple months ago -- tested and anti-satellite weapon -- tested an anti-satellite weapon. it's well-known that nato countries are concerned about russia's ability to hit the u.s. and other nato satellites with a missile actually blowing it up or fiddling with it or disarming or disabling it with things like cyber attack or dazzling or jamming. it's one of the most dominant

concerns in the u.s. defense establishment right now. we do have -- space is becoming a more contested domain. that's not likely to stop. catherine n.: just looking more broadly, a lot of people might well ask whether dominance in space is really all that much of a priority to the united states, given all of the issues that the u.s. government has to deal with down here on planet earth. what would you say about that? is space still important? >> i think it absolutely is. the reason space is vital for down here, we all use our cell phones, internet, gps, but also, for u.s. military primacy -- senior pentagon officials have identified space as the most important problem for the united states. the way that american forces communicate with each other, find out where they are, collect -- that all has to do with space. it is a real problem for us down here.

i think it will be for u.s. allies in europe, like france and great britain and others. catherine n.: thanks very much for giving us your thoughts and insights. with -- keeping with the space theme, nasa has released a dramatic new photo showing the surface of mars here this time, it is a 360-degree panoramic picture, which has been pieced together from dozens of images taken by the agency's rover earlier on this month. plateau a mountain and inside of the crater. it has been rolling all across mars since 2012, on a mission to document as much of the red planet's surface as possible. firma, policeerra in new york are celebrating what they are calling their biggest ever gang takedown in history,

officers arresting 120 people from two rival gangs, accusing them of murder, robbery, bank fraud, drug dealing, and more. police say the big-money bosses infiltrated various parts of the operatesle the gang across the united states. they have been locked in a decades long war. here is the district attorney. >> we have charged 120 twondants and two -- in rival bronx street gangs with racketeering, narcotics, and firearm offenses. in addition, the charges include allegations of multiple murders, attentive murders, shootings, stabbings and beatings, committed in furtherance of federal racketeering conspiracy's. catherine n.: in paris, thieves have made off with thousands of euros of luxury handbags after a raid in one of the city's she kissed -- city's chicest

districts. street is home to several designer brands. an investigation is underway. business news with will hilderbrandt. you have some news today on volkswagen. william: the company has set aside $16 billion, about 18 billion euros, to deal with the emission scandal. last september, volkswagen admitted it had manipulated at least 11 million of its cars -- up to 11 million of its cars to produce false emission data when tested. the chief executive gave little data on how they plan to rebuild the brand. >> badness for european volkswagen customers. they won't be getting compensation for the company's diesel emissions cheating. the ceo reiterated this after showing the effects the scandal

has had on vw's bottom line. the resulting exceptional charges recognized in our 16.2 billion euros. our operating business is not strong enough to cover this enormous burden. as a consequence, we are reporting negative operating results and a group loss for 2015. reporter: of these 16 billion euros earmarked to cover the cost of the scandal, 7.8 billion went towards the buyback scheme destined for american diesel customers. a similar deal for european customers would drive costs even further. there are close to 500,000 rate vehicles in the u.s. -- 500,000 u.s. vehicles in the and over 8 million in europe. there has been a push towards

cost-cutting. >> there is an operating -- problem of costs. compared to other mass manufacturers, that must be improved as much as possible if they still want to be number one across the world. reporter: in order to achieve this, however, the company will have to get past powerful trade unions that sit on half of the seats of its supervisory board. william: today, volkswagen shares ended up about 2%, but they are down 20% since the scandal erected last year. last year.erupted at the closing bell, the results were mixed. just above the pipeline -- the flatline. over on wall street, stocks having a mixed day throughout trading. at the moment, they are just below the flatline. facebook briefly hit an intraday record high of 10.5%.

wednesday, the firm reported quarterly earnings well above expectations thanks to a sharp increase in mobile advertising revenue. time for a look at some of the day's other business headlines. comcast is buying dreamworks animation for $3.8 billion. the studio is behind hit films like "shrek" and "kung fu panda." the deal will come -- create a new competitor for disney. ford announced record results. quarterly profit more than doubled almost $2.5 billion. the carmaker saw strong north american sales. suv's performed strongly in europe. two more examples of consolidation as large drugmakers look to expand their list of products. abbott laboratories is buying st. jude medical for $25 billion. the french firm sanofi made a bi

$9.3r media vision worth billion. an entire american town is up for sale. it's on the border of nevada, near california. the asking price is $8 million. that includes the airfield, plus the building home to the local casino, bar, restaurant, and post office, all wrapped up in one. the town was founded in 1965 by nancy had will -- nancy kidwell and her husband. she is hoping to make money. she put it up for sale a couple years back for $17 million. now they are hoping to sell it for about half of that. we will see what happens. catherine n.: casino, restaurant, and post office all in the same building. william: take care of your daily business, then go out in the evening. catherine n.: i love that. thanks so much, will

hilderbrandt. we are going to take a short break. see you in a couple minutes.

04/28/16 04/28/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from flagstaff, arizona, this is democracy now! broadcasting from northern arizona university. >> the government won the election in january 2015, to say no to the parliament. we're not accepting any more of your toxic loans under conditions that will shrink our economy. amy: former greek finance minister yanis varoufakis joins