anchor: you are watching "france 24." syrian rebels and government troops trade accusations over the use of chemical gas on civilians in a town southwest of aleppo. the fighting has reached new heights. violenceople have fled in south sudan in three weeks. most of them, women and children. the number has doubled the past

10 days alone. south africa votes in local elections today. those are being seen as a test for the controversial president jacob zuma and the ruling party. ♪ we will start in syria, where rebels and activists are accusing the government of using toxic gas on civilians. , dozens ofear aleppo cases of breathing difficulty have been reported. the syrian government is accusing a terrorist group of another gas attack that killed five in aleppo. this comes one year after the un security council established a deadline to find out who was behind previous gas attacks in

syria, a deadline that runs out next week. >> this footage appears to show patients in a hospital just south of aleppo struggling to breathe. victims, rebels in the country say it was a chemical weapons attack by the syrian government, claims rejected outright by damascus. washington says it cannot currently independently verify the allegations, but it takes them seriously. >> we have long expressed our condemnation of chemical weapons on civilians. it violates the chemical weapons convention, to which the government of syria is a member. >> rebels say dozens of people were being treated after barrels of chlorine gas were dropped on the town in the northwest of the country. a russian military helicopter was brought down nearby by rebel

groups hours before the attack, killing all on board. russian troops have given president bashar al-assad military backing since last year. both the government and rebel groups have been accused of using chemical weapons during the civil war. all sides to 90 allegations. anchor: in nearby aleppo, the fighting is only getting worse. rebels have been trying to take back the only route into districts they control, a route now held by syrian troops. they have launched a counter offensive on a number of fronts around the city. there are 300,000 civilians trapped in the eastern part of aleppo, the largest besieged area in all of syria. hith sudan, a country being with a massive humanitarian crisis. 60,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the past three weeks.

most of those refugees are women and children fleeing the violence and heading into neighboring uganda. that number has more than doubled in the past 10 days. john keeps close watch over her infant son. the pair, just two out of tens of thousands of civilians displaced by recent fighting in south sudan. >> there was nothing there. everything had been stolen. we did not have any alternative. we have nothing. refugees arriving in centers like this one are women and children. many of them suffering from illness and malnutrition. >> it is very difficult to find any food. sometimes, two days can go by where we have not had a meal. we'll may have one meal a day.

that is why my child is so malnourished. >> the refugees floating -- flooding over the border have doubled in the past 10 days, bringing the total to more than 50,000 in the past three weeks alone. reported andan have increase in people seeking refuge. 2.6 million people in south sudan have been displaced since the country was plunged into civil war three years ago. >> there has been a real step up to try to make sure the people fleeing the violence and the fighting and uncertainty and terrible fear that is around here, there is also a need to make sure that the services, as more people come in, that we can support them. >> despite the government and ,ebels signing an accord i violence flared again last month. the previously agreed peace deal is still on track, according to

the government. anchor: for more on the situation in south sudan, i'm joined by the former head of the u.n. in south sudan. over 2.5 million people in south sudan have been displaced since the country was plunged into civil war three years ago. is this new increase due to anything in particular? since itsver independence, south sudan has shortcuts, all of it man-made, it is one chapter in a long-running saga. going to get progressively and cumulatively worse. from the political angle. anchor: can you explain the root of this violence? what people are running from? >> in this extremely young

blood, it was born out of , separating from its genocidal neighbor in the north. inevitably, it has no institutions. it has inherited nothing. no institutions to speak about. unfortunately, it got burdened with oil wealth, which, with the lack of institutions, meant that corruption rained and the government would not go out of its way to keep people calm. in that sense, the fighting between the different groups, the different parts of the government and the parts of the government that became the opposition, are some of the most recent causes. the longer-term causes are negatively the failure of

development. nations are not built overnight and certainly not in three or four years. i think we have to be extremely patient, but also act in a way that builds from the bottom up. you don't construct a house from the top down. elections, democracy, a lot of aid -- those are the tools we normally use. and anot expect a nation people to live in harmony. ,ife does not work that way especially not in that part of the world. anchor: you have been very vocal in the past about the failure to prevent genocide in darfur or. is it not too late to stop the violence in south sudan? >> it is currently too late to

stop the state of violence because the violence is already happening. now, the rainy season is starting. agencies have left out of fear and they have been pushed out. we are not talking about prevention at all. we are talking about how to mitigate the damage taking place and do what one can to help whoever is surviving. there is no quick fix or easy answer. this cannot be solved with political process founded on short-term expedient the. afraid -- this may sound somewhat pessimistic, but it is not intended to be -- one of the biggest things we can do is to

stop interfering from outside. there has been too much irrelevant intervention from the african union, from the un security council. everyone is well-intentioned, but when the problem is so great and when the problems come from all levels, trying to make peace is not going to work. this is going to be a very long haul and the best thing to do is and the people to survive the human development in the long run will happen. we can eect a lot of pain continuing, a lot of suffering. i'm afraid this will continue. we have to take the long view. anchor: thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us, the former head of the u.n. in sudan and an active

campaigner against genocide and crimes against humanity. south africa is voting in local elections today, but they could have an impact on the national stage. that vote is widely being seen as a referendum on the president, jacob zuma, and on his ruling party, the anc. that party has been in power since the end of apartheid, but a strong challenge from opposition groups, high unemployment, and corruption scandals have left many south africans considering a change. about whybit more this local election is so much importance on the national stage. >> these local government elections are very important because it deals with the needs of the working class and it deals with the needs of the poorest of the poor. we have seen unprecedented protests under jacob zuma's rule. we have seen people taking to the streets and, often, these

protests have been very violent. people have been saying that they cannot understand why they are still not getting and enjoying basic services. , during the previous elections, promised these things. they do not have basic sanitation, water, proper houses. people are saying they have had enough of corruption, enough of these municipalities. this will probably be the toughest test for jacob zuma since he has come into power. anchor: what about jacob zuma himself? could this vote really bring him down? he has survived so much already. >> as you say, he has survived a number of scandals. however, opinion polls have predicted that the anc is expected to lose major cities in south africa, cities they have been holding since democracy.

it is going to be very interesting to see, when the polls close tonight, how south africans have voted. we have seen traditionally, that despite the scandals, he still enjoys the support of the majority of the people of south africa. people still have a blind loyalty to the anc, seeing the anc still as a liberation movement and as the party of nelson mandela. after 7:00 tonight, when the votes are counted, we will be able to tell whether the anc did lose a lot of support. anchor: thank you so much for that. all departure flights from dubai international airport have been delayed until further notice. that is after an emirates airlines plane crash landed and burst into flames. everyone on board, about 280 people, were evacuated safely,

but the cause of the accident is still unclear. it does come four months after a plane belonging to dubai's other carrier crashed and burst into flames as it was landing in southern russia. all 61 people on board that flight were killed. this news just coming in from tunisia. we have just heard that the tunisian president has named a new prime minister. we will bring you more on that as we get it on "france 24." let's take a look at today's other top stories. syrian rebels and government troops are trading accusations over the use of chemical gas on civilians in a town southwest of aleppo. the fighting has reached new heights as the rebels try to take back the city under siege. 60,000 fled violence in south sudan in just three weeks. most of those people are women and children. the number has more than doubled in the past 10 days alone.

south africa is voting today in local elections that are being seen as a test for the country's controversial president, jacob zuma, and the ruling anc. some business news for you. european banks have been having a rough week on the market and there are more results today. >> there certainly are. 29% inprofits fell by the first half of the year because of the volatility in the market fueled by china's economic slowdown and britain's vote to leave the european union. they also announced a $2 billion share buyback this year. it is part of a plan to focus on operations that are more profitable. the picture was not much profitable -- much better at standard chartered. fvenues are down by one ifth, but the bank has made

progress on cutting down its bad debts. france's, profits at top bank beat expectations, rising 8%. that figure was boosted by the visaof the bank's stake in , rather than an increase in revenue. profits fell at the retail banking division by 5%. anchor: how have the markets been reacting? >> we have seen gains early on, but we have seen the markets turned to the red in the past while. hsbc is up by nearly 4% in london. it is not such a great day for droppedo -- shares have nearly 0.5% after a 50% slump in profits in the first half of the year. anchor: next, we will go to india, where the parliament is

discussing major economic reforms. >> it could be the biggest change to taxes in india since independence. they will vote on a national goods and services tax. the tax is a central part of prime minister narendra modi's efforts to overhaul the indian economy. let's join our correspondent in new delhi. how important is this reform for the country? off, this bill has been in limbo for a decade now. it was first introduced to the indian parliament in 2006. as you mentioned, once it is implemented, it will be the biggest tax reform in independent india. it would impose a national sales tax that would create one of the biggest single markets in the world. it would replace 17 existing state and federal taxes, making the movement of goods cheaper

and more seamless across the market with 1.3 billion consumers, about four times the size of the population of the united states of america, for example. in addition, the indian government believes that the tax the ease of doing business for companies by reducing costs and streamline the current tax structure, which is riddled with bureaucracy. most crucially for the prime minister, it is key to being seen as an economic reformer. it will add arnd two percentage points to the national gdp, quite possibly making india the world's fastest-growing economy. >> you talked about the economic benefits. is it facing political opposition? >> it has been a very contentious bit of legislation, which is surprising because it is making the tax structure more

efficient. 2006 by theduced in former prime minister of the congress party. biggesthe bill's supporters were members of the prime minister's party. however, since taking office, prime minister modi has made the passing of the bill a huge priority. a few weeks ago, he calledn all party meeting appealing to lawmakers to set aside political differences in the interest of national gain. it is quite possible that this evening lawmakers will heed to his advice and finally vote this bill into law. >> we will be watching thavote closely as it happens later in new delhi. thank you for joining us. anchor: just to wrap up, you have some news about that phenomenal game "pokemon go."

apparently, not everyone loves it. >> there is a man in america who has filed a case against the over people trespassing on his property looking for pokémon. people are searching for these pocket monsters in real-life locations. this new jersey resident says at least five people have come knocking on his door, asking if they could get into his back garden to find pokémon. he is seeking class-action status for his lawsuit, so he is hoping other people who have been affected by other players of the game will join him in this legal action. for all of the people out there playing, the game gives you lots of warnings about no trespassing , pay attention while playing the game. anchor: go figure. thank you so much. i hope you are not going to play now.

it is time for the press review. ♪ we are here to take a look at what the international papers have been saying. you are going to start with the u.s. intervention in libya. >> a new front in the war against the islamic state group, that is what the "new york times" reports. the u.s. has been hesitant to return to libya, but it is necessary is what the paper says. it is going to be difficult, but the u.s. had compelling reasons to act, including preventing libya from becoming a breeding ground for the islamic state to launch future attacks on the eu. anchor: other papers have been very critical. >> let's start with the french communist paper, that says it will pour oil on the fire that is in libya, a libya already so divided. algerian daily says it will

make things worse for algeria and also the eu and the u.s., which risks repercussions over these airstrikes. let's stay in the united states, where the president barack obama has lashed out at donald trump. >> "unfit and woefully unprepared" were his words according to "the guardian." urged theobama has republican party to denounce trump. the republicans need to stop indulging trump, that is what this "new york times" contributor says in this opinion piece. he calls him an unabashed and unrepentant fabulist with little control over his temper. commentshe president's show how out of control this election is getting, according to "vox." >> that a president would isticize a candidate

unprecedented. the fact that we did not even flinch over obama's comments show how off the rails this election is getting and has gotten. waseems like trump concocted in some liberal laboratory toe frighten obama. anchor: a fox news analyst has compared the khan family to a woman who criticized hillary clinton. benghazist her son in and accused clinton of covering the real details around his death up. fox wonders why the khan family have received such positive media coverage.

is's portrayal says it unfair. anchor: let's switch gears. we want to talk about the drop in oil prices hitting one african country hard. >> that country is angola. you can read about this in the "washington post." journalist access to angola is so limited, so this story has scarce details about the story. in a regionas taken fighting for independence from angola. it is also a region that produces half of angola's oil output. there have been clashes between the flec separatists and government troops. wasangolan capital considered the dubai of africa once. they had skyscrapers, they brought in huge celebrities to perform at private concerts. with the oil bust, it is a totally different story.

people are dying of preventable diseases. a bag of rice costs five times more than it did a year ago. to country has been forced ask for billions of dollars in loans. the royal bank considers the country upper middle income because of that boom, so accessing humanitarian funds is scarce at the moment. anchor: you have a u.s. study that is going to make parents relieved. >> don't fear, it turns out that those born in the 1980's and 1990's are having far less sex than previous generations. that is according to a study in the "washington post." you see that the number of sexual partners of millennials is at an all-time low, one that has not been seen since the 1920's. a very long time ago. it is a real contrast to the impression of the randy

millennials we see in popular culture. a mixture of living on home -- at home and not understanding the concept of downtime has impeded their social lives and as a result, they are having less sex, far fewer partners. on the flipside, there are a lot more career minded and money driven -- as one millennials says interviewed, sex is not something people ask for on your cv. anchor: thank you for that look at today's papers. thanks for watching "france 24." for a closer look at the press review, check out the website -- france24.com. moore is on the way just after this quick break. stay tuned. ♪

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