anchor: thanks for joining us on "france 24" this hour. these are the headlines. groups launched a major assault to try and break the ongoing siege in aleppo. it is the first big drive to regain ground after the syrian army moved in last week tightening the siege. the taliban says it is behind the truck bomb attack on a hotel mostly used by foreigners. the explosion was heard across the city. casualties do seem to be limited.

between donald trump and the family of a fallen u.s. muslim soldier continues. the soldier's father calls the presidential nominee a black soul. in syria, rebel fighters fight.st a new residents and some are fighting back. our regional correspondent told us more. >> what we are seeing today is a combined attempt by two powerful islamist rebel groups. toy are trying together

break the siege of eastern aleppo by the government for several weeks and bring in urgently needed food and medical aid. there had been an execution the syrian government was on the verge of a be campaign to try and retake east aleppo. what we appear to be seeing this morning is an attempt by rebel brigades to stop that from happening, to stop the city from falling into government hands and bring in urgently needed aid as well. we understand rebels are organizing themselves throughout government-held parts of the city. in the east, in the rebel controlled areas, the government has stepped up its brutal shelling campaign. we are also seeing civilians on the ground in the east burning tires in an attempt to impede the visibility of warplanes dropping bombs. even though it is not clear which way this offensive logo, it does seem civilians in the east have not given up the fight yet. newor: what does this

fighting mean for the humanitarian situation, for the people of aleppo, which is only getting worse? corridorsumanitarian were not popular earlier this week, before this big offensive began. according to the russian government, 169 civilians crossed through earlier this week. dozens of rebels also lay down their arms. this has been dismissed as lies by activists and rebels on the ground. now we are seeing a big upswing in the fight in terms of the aerial campaign and the new offensive. it is unlikely any civilians considering fleeing before will be willing to do so now. we are seeing 250-300,000 civilians trapped between warplanes above them and potentially incoming islamist rebels as well. anchor: in a related story, a

russian military helicopter was reportedly shot down in syria after delivering humanitarian supplies to aleppo. it went down in the province of idlib. the russian defense ministry said the chopper was shut down and all five people on board were killed. next to afghanistan where the taliban says it is behind a bomb blast in kabul that went off overnight at a hotel used mostly by foreigners. olivia reports. kabul awaits the aftermath of more violence following a bomb blast that tore through this poetry and civilian compound in the early hours of monday morning. a.m. and iround 1:30 was sleeping when i heard this big bang. i tried to get out but the windows shattered around me. it was so powerful it through me from my bed.

i was so scared. i was trying to find out what happened. then we found out tell a had entered the area. the explosion broke down the outer wall of the complex allowing armed attackers to enter the compound. an exchange of grenades and gunfire followed as security forces held the siege for hours. the taliban have claimed responsibly for the attack. two attackers were killed by afghan security forces. no one was killed or harmed inside the compound. unfortunately, one policeman was killed and three others wounded when they tried to stop the attackers getting inside the compound. reporter: the residential part of the complex, known as the north gate hotel, had already been targeted in 2013 in an attack which claimed nine lives.

this latest blast is just one in a series of debbie bombings -- deadly bombings. experts say the security situation has deteriorated significantly over the last year. anchor: we will come back to france where police have launched a formal investigation into the cousin of one of the men who killed a priest in normandy last week. authorities believe he knew of his cousin's plans to target a church. kate moody explains. reporter: days after the deadly attack at this church, authorities are still piecing together information about the two down terrorists. because of one of the 19-year-olds turned himself into police shortly after the attack. he said his cousin spent several days at his apartment at the beginning of july. the prosecutor's office believes he knew what was being planned. >> he was perfectly aware, perhaps not of the exact time and place, but of his cousin's plan to commit a violent act. reporter: the other attacker had

also been plotting throughout july. phone records show he had been using the encrypted messaging app to encourage a number of recipients to use knives to target churches. it is not clear when or how the attackers met. their hometowns were 700 kilometers away from each other. analysis of their phones show they were both there for three days before entering the church in the early hours of july 26, killing the priest before being shot dead by police. anchor: the mother of a dead u.s. muslim soldier has hit back at donald trump after the republican nominee questioned her silence during a speech by her husband at the democratic national convention. trump suggested the woman had not been allowed to speak. hitting back at donald trump.

the mother of a fallen soldier accused the republican nominee of being ignorant about islam after he questioned her silence during a speech by her husband at the democratic national convention last week. >> without saying a thing, all america felt my pain. talking, hetrump is is ignorant. son was a muslim captain in the u.s. army who died in iraq in 2004. in his speech, her husband slammed donald trump's stance on muslims and said his son's patriotism encourage contrasted sharply with the republican's values. >> you have sacrificed nothing and no one! trump took to the airways and said he had also made sacrifices, working hard as a businessman. he implied she had not been allowed to speak. donald trump: if you look at his

wife, she was standing there. she had nothing to say. maybe she was not allowed to have anything to say. you tell me. she was extremely quiet. reporter:'s comments have sparked outrage across the political spectrum. hillary clinton condemns them as saidding while jeb bush trump had been incredibly disrespectful. meanwhile, trump's running mate, mike pence, issued a statement calling their son a hero. he said donald trump was committed to protecting the military and their families. anchor: there are now under 100 days until america votes for president. our international affairs commentator was with me on the set earlier. he told us more about the biggest battleground states in play. >> we talk about 50 american states.

the election is not taking place in 50 states. it comes down to the swing states, the battleground states. there are about a dozen. you can boil those down to a smaller number. ohio, pennsylvania, florida. a lot of people say if trump were able to sleep those states, he could carry this election. pennsylvania has not voted republican since 1988. almost 30 years. they say it could happen this time because in the western parts of the state, some people say a lot of voters have the sensibilities of the brexit voters in britain. they are fed up. they may not love him, but he appeals to their anti-establishment message. they might vote for him more as a vote against hillary clinton. florida is another giant state. virginia also could be a big swing state. also, michigan and wisconsin, two others so-called rust belt

industrial states where if trump or to carry them, that could give him a pathway to the presidency. don't count him out. look to those battleground states to be the real focus in the next 100-day countdown to the general election. anchor: japan's former defense minister has been elected the first woman governor of tokyo. she says she has been inspired by the outpouring of support, getting one million votes more than her rival. kate moody has details. sherter: claiming victory, and her supporters celebrated her election as tokyo's first female governor. the veteran politician had run as an independent in a crowded field of 21 candidates, promising a new era of clean politics. for a tokyoing

where people's lives will be better, a tokyo where everyone can shine. men and women, children and adults, the elderly, and the disabled. since 2013, 2 successive governors have been forced to step down after financial standards. the second late in the preparations to host the 20/20 olympic games. planning has been plagued by money problems and designs for the stadium deemed too expensive. >> i have high hopes for her because women tend to speak more directly than men. >> i hope she will work hard for the olympic games to prevent terror attacks and lead the games safely. reporter: getting the budget under control and construction back on track will be top of her agenda as she begins a four-year term.

one of her first official duties will be traveling to rio to accept the lithic fl -- olympic flag on behalf of the next host city. anchor: an apology from the president of taiwan, speaking on behalf of the government apologizing for 400 years of conquest and colonization. she says facing difficult facts of history is necessary for taiwanese society to move ahead. years, we have brutally violated indigenous rights. i offer apology on behalf of the government. i know a simple apology is not enough. starting from this moment, all the actions government takes towards the indigenous people will be key factors as to whether the country can reconcile. anchor: music news from lebanon festival is

celebrating its sixth decade. some of the greatest names in music have graced the steps of the best preserved roman temple in the world. but the war in syria over the mountains now poses new challenges for the festival. down,er: as the sun goes up inruins like -- light a musical extravaganza. he's headlining the festival where 3000 people gather at the temple for celebration. in recent years, the festival has been in jeopardy. across these mountains is syria. >> for the last two or three years, it has been a real challenge because we are 40 kilometers from the syrian border. there is always a reason to fear. every year, we get more

spectators because we have made agreements with the lebanese army and security forces that really help us. it has given us the green light. night,r: on this hundreds of soldiers and police are patrolling the festival. a month ago, suicide bombers attacked a town north of the venue. fornizers and producers -- organizers and producers, each concert is a victory. dates, we start the promotion, and then something happens like a bomb, even something in syria, and people get scared. we are investing a lot of money. insurance will not cover it. must contact the ambassador and please call them and convince them to come to lebanon. that is not easy. he said it is important to keep the festival going. concerts ino

lebanon -- we can and should do concerts in lebanon. it was the music also murdered. the only answer is to increase belief in order to continue to play at festivals and concerts. reporter: the summer, the festival hosts an estimated 19,000 people. anchor: you are watching "france 24." let's look at today's top stories. syrian rebel groups launched a major assault to try and break the ongoing siege in aleppo. it is the first big drive to regain ground after the syrian army moved in last week tightening the siege. the taliban says it is behind the bomb attack on a hotel in kabul mostly used by foreigners. that explosion was heard across the city, but casualties seem to be limited. the feud between donald trump and the family of a fallen u.s. muslim soldier continues. theldier's father calls

presidential nominee a black soul. .ime for our business news let's start with uber getting out of china. >> they are selling the chinese business to its biggest rival in the country. the newly combined company is reported to be worth $35 billion. this is a move that sees uber throw in the towel on its costly battle to conquer the chinese market. chinese investors will get a 20% stake when the swap is completed. the deal comes after china officially recognized legally ride sharing services last week by issuing nationwide guidelines for the industry. anchor: in britain, new figures are shown the first effects brexit has had on industry. >> a survey of british manufacturers showed a sharp slowdown in activity in july. 48.2 lastfell to

month. anything b below 50 showows the sector in contraction. output was scaled back across all sectors and companies of all sizes. that news hitting sterling in trading today. the pound down again against the dollar trading just under one dollar and $.32 -- $1.32. anchor: the other big story on the markets today is the banks. >> investors are getting their first chance to react to the results of the stress test of european banks published on friday. these are designed to see how lenders would fare in the case of a severe economic downturn. there was a lot of focus on italy's lenders, particularly the oldest bank. it became bottom of the class in the european banking authority. with tests, investors have been cheered by the plan to raise capital and cut bad debt. the shares up 3.5% a short time ago.

less good news for italy's biggest lender, their shares down nearly 8% after test results. let's look at how european markets are trading this lunchtime. big movers on markets today. to give you some examples, deutsche bank 2%. r.b.s. down 2.4%. banks got good and bad news in the two stress tests seeing selloffs in the shares. training flat in frankfurt. anchor: in france, those in the tourism industry are looking back on a difficult month. >> where the peak holiday season for the important industry. those in it already suffer from the terror attacks last year say the numbers for 2016 were disappointing and the attack in nice has dented bookings further. reporter: france's tourism industry has had a dreadful summer.

the terror attack, cloudy skies, and fewer visitors for the football tournaments have left hotels, restaurants, and other attractions and pocket throughout the country. >> this is the worst july since we came here. reporter: when was that? >> 13 years ago. reporter: the attacks hit confidence among international tourists, particularly from the u.s. and asia. the bookings dropped in following week in comparison to the same time the last year. bookings across france were already down 13% but dropped to 20% after the 14th of july. >> after the nice attack, i lost it bookings the following week. i run a small hotel. reporter: some businesses are more optimistic saying the global economic and political situation has helped the domestic market. >> there has been no drop in

numbers. quite the opposite. clients from europe had generally decided to stay within europe, particularly france and spain, rather than go to north africa. business hope bookings frenchst, when most people go on holiday, will help recover losses. up, a majorrap accounting firm is changing the way it interviews graduates because it finds they are too impatient. >> they are going to speed up the way they recruit staff, a change directed at the millennial generation born between 1980 and 2000. in the past, the firm conducted three assessments for new hires that take several weeks. that has been condensed into a single day with applicant get an answer within two working days. after ages were made survey found more than one third of graduates were annoyed by how long the process took.

this is the sort of thing we are seeing replicated against -- among traditional employers to compete with startups that want to hire those precious graduates as they come out of university. inpatient millennials forcing change. anchor: i don't know what that says about their attention span. thank you so much for that look at business news. now time for the press review. we are going to look at what the papers are saying today. one of the big stories in the press is this clash between donald trump and the parents of a following u.s. soldier. >> that is right. it is a very ugly spat portraying trump in an unfavorable light. "the washington post" reports he clashed with muslim americans whose son died in iraq.

the parents spoke at last week's democratic convention and lashed out at donald trump's over his proposal to keep muslims out of the country. tomp reacted rather cruelly this criticism and even compared his own "sacrifice" to that made by their son. "the post" says this has caused division in the republican party. supporters are very unhappy with his reaction, calling it disrespectful and unprecedented. they have approached -- reproached trump for not being able to take chris's him -- criticism. >> i love this description. they described him as a man so angry about being cut off in traffic that he crashes his own car in revenge. i think that really sums it up. the news website is saying instead of moving on, he is dominancee democrats' in the news cycle by keeping this alive.

it has also exposed how easily and the tactics he is willing to stoop to. vox says it is a dangerous mindset for a president. anchor: another writer in the "new york times" has come down hard on donald trump. >> this underlines perhaps one of the greatest weaknesses of donald trump and the republican party. that is their lack of knowledge. i quote from this article. it is hard to know when the republican party assumed the mantle of the stupid party, but it was largely a show until now. that is according to the author who was a foreign policy analyst. he says there is no evidence republican leaders have been dumber than their democratic counterparts. but trump does not know the difference between coulds and kurds and uses the vocabulary of a fifth-grader. the writer says even if we avoid . trump residency --

presidency, the g.o.p. has soul-searching to do because donald trump is as much the symptom as the cause. thousand ofwith the supporters that turned out in germany yesterday. you see the picture on this article from a local cologne newspaper that demonstrated at a local shipyard. the demonstration took place relatively in peace. that is what the newspaper says. organizers did suppress this was a pro-democracy rally and not one in favor of her want -- erdo wan. russia.about turkey and "the turkish trap." that is how the left-leaning paper describes the current

e.u.-turkey standoff. it accuses the e.u. of turning a blind eye to thousands in turkey renege onnkara might the agreement. turkey has your where it wants -- europe where it wants as far as holding the policy over the heads of leaders. that is what it is saying, while carrying out purges. in the editorial, it uses the french phrase that means sticking the middle finger up at europe. toldcomes after erdowan off european leaders saying to stay out of turkey and miter on business. with growing tensions, he is moving closer to vladimir putin who are both aware europe's political force is seriously weakened right now. it says this situation is perilous. anchor: a lot of papers focusing on the olympics that start this friday. the chief has given his first press conference ahead of the games trying to ease tensions.

>> that is right. he did admit there are cash flow problems ahead of the -- that is what the head of the olympic committee said to reporters yesterday. according to the brazilian

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and this week, it's oneness: the big picture, you know, where we arere all coming from and where we are all going to, in other words, the grand theory that ties together everything... perhaps. so let's now explore oneness: the big picture with philosopher deepak chopra and author riane eisler. warning: this program may change your life. [ambient instrumental music] ♪ - i'm heading north from san francisco on my way to meet a unique group of scientists, futurists, philosophers, and mystics