genie: hello. you're watching live from paris on france 24. the headlines. styles are like night and day. well donald trump and china's president trump -- will donald trump and china's president clash or get along? bashar al-assad has crossed many lines. angry words from the u.s. president as washington accuses the syrian m regime of a

deadly chemical attack. voters in gambia cast their ballots after nearly two decades of rule from the president. -- from the exiled president. who is joining the space race in our business update? pouring of amazon is billions of dollars into his update. new york is one of the culinary capitals of the world and it is home to the best restaurants on the planet. nual ding to an an foodie's list.

thanks for joining us. two very different world leaders finally coming face to face. u.s. president donald trump will meet with xi jinping at mar-a-lago this thursday. unpredictable versus sticking to the script. blunt and brash versus reserved and controlled. will they find common ground? topping thesues agenda, trade, security and north korea. let's get more details. what's the view in china going into this meeting? we are seeing a lot of calls for positivity and cooperation. overall it's not antagonistic in any way. is going to be looking for stability in the relationship and avoiding economic friction.

he has the biggest meeting of his term as president coming up next year. stability is going to be very keen to him. -- key to him. tillerson mentioned also when he was here earlier. jinping maytime xi be feeling confident given that even by having this meeting that has already been a success. trump has suffered a lot of losses recently. he may be looking for a win here. >> what should we be looking out for during this first face-to-face rendezvous? expectations and the bar are not especially high. especially with trump's somewhat

volatile personality, if everything goes smoothly and both sides make it out without any problems that in itself will be a major success. we're looking for some kind of economic trade deal or investment from the chinese side. nothing especially major. xi jinping may be looking to help trump make america great again or that sort of thing. for north korea, no high expectations. we can hope for is a strong consensus on the need to act. you could see something on the taiwan issue. that is uncertain. obviously these men are very different and it's really hard to predict anything with donald trump. be a very this will important meeting and if it goes well that will be very good for both countries. >> thank you for that update.

donald trump's right-hand man and has been kicked off the u.s. national security council. was not a demotion . press -- mike pence downplayed the shakeup as routine. he insisted he would maintain -- remain a key political advisory -- advisor. the republican senate majority leader will bulldoze past democratic opposition. lower thes want to threshold for a vote on supreme court nominees from 60 votes to a simple majority. judgeould help ensure neil gorsuch is confirmed by presenting a potential democratic filibuster.

some republicans feel the move will weaken senate tradition. tuesday's deadly chemical attack in northern syria crossed many lines. words from donald trump who blasted the atrocity as an affront to humanity. washington is blaming the assad regime. a draft resolution called for an investigation into the attacks which killed at least 86 people in it live province. ib province. >> as footage emerged of children choking to death from a chemical attack. a change in mind from the u.s. president. a chemicall babies gas that is so lethal people were shocked to hear what gas it

was that crosses many lines. my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> just last week the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. said the removal of president bashar a priorityid was not for the administration. nikki haley has lashed out at russia for failing to rein in syria and has threatened possible unilateral action. >> when the united nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. theex tillerson placed blame on the syrian regime and put russia on notice. mindere is no doubt in our that the syrian regime is

responsible for this horrific attack and we think it's time for the russians to take care of their continued support of the assad regime. is due next week for talks that will be dominated by the syrian conflict. >> $6 billion in aid is the amount international donors have pledged for syria after civil conflict enters its seventh year. donors for more than 70 countries were meeting wednesday. the humanitarian aid commissioner reiterated the importance of a political resolution. take a listen. humanitarian aid is not a solution. what is actually needed is a political solution. negotiated between the syrian people on the basis of un

security council resolution 22 54 and of course the geneva communique. the international community must remain committed to this object. >> gambia is heading to the polls this thursday for parliamentary elections. the first boat since longtime leader flew into exile. it's a crucial test for the country's new president from dictatorship to democracy. the election signals a new era for the west african nation. let's hear from our correspondent. here about 10 to 15 minutes drive from the center of the capital. qull to in some places --

eue in some places. there are photo ids on those asts to verify the voters they come to cast their ballots. are satisfiedials each voter is given a marble which they take into the voting booth. takes the marble and comes into a room like this. they deposit the marble into these tin cans. candidate oft the their choice. at the end of the day these cans are emptied in the presence of party observers and international observers having been sealed at the beginning of the day. a sheet is posted on the wall of the offices and numbers are sent to a collation center for the

national tallying process to take place. >> duncan woodside reporting. polling booths are open in several cities across the netherlands in a turkish referendum that could clear the way for resident erdogan to tighten his grip on power. the vote has stirred tensions between the hague and ankara locked turkish ministers from speaking in parts of the country. >> polling stations are open in the netherlands for dutch turks to vote in a referendum aimed at giving more power to erdogan. if past presidents new powers would include issuing decrees, declaring emergency rule and appointing ministers. as -- rs see

is thatmportant to us turkey returns to a stable state. we have full confidence and we believe in his argument. a yes vote would mean turkey can only become a better country. >> opponents fear this could lead to a consolidation of power in a country that has already seen tens of thousands of people detained in the aftermath of a failed to attempt last july. no because i want more power for the people of turkey. it was good the way it was. >> the referendum has sparked tension between the netherlands and turkey. last month writing briefly broke out after the dutch government fired a turkish minister from entering the consulate in rotterdam. the turkish prime minister accused the dutch of nazi tendencies for banning his ministers from addressing rallies aimed at turkish voters abroad.

criticism that has angered dutch officials. atdinner with wine pairing this restaurant will set you back over $1000. perhaps the culinary experience is worth it. restaurants has just topped the annual world's 50 best restaurants list. it is a reference for world foodies. serving more than french cuisine with a new york twist. 11 madison park has scooped the top awaward in gastrtronomy. it's in the eye watering expensive flat iron district. it already has three michelin stars. owners claimed there are not in it for the award. >> we take what we do very seriously. we don't take ourselves too seriously. dining is about people coming together and sharing a meal and

being able to open up and spend time with people they love. >> for the judges 11 madison park enhances the dining by blurring the line between the kitchen and dining room. >> all of us here get to treat these magical world where people in a world that increasingly needs more magic. that is something we choose to do because of something we believe in. the award has been criticized for favoritism and sexism. if you managed to get a reservation such fine dining does not come cheap. to 10 course testing menu costs 276 euro's a head excluding taxes. >> you're watching live from paris on france 24. top stories. their leadership styles are like

night and day. will donald trump and china's siege and paying clash or -- xi jinping clash or get along? bush are all assad has crossed many lines. angry words from the u.s. president as washington accuses the syrian regime of a deadly chemical attack in idlib province. voters in gambia cast their balance in parliamentary elections after more than two decades of rule under the disgraced president now in exile. time for the campaign beat. our daily round up of news from the french presidential campaign trail. before rounddays one it's really hard to predict who's going to come out on top in this unprecedented.

>> the polls keep changing. let's take a look at the latest polls. this is carried out by harris interactive. what is surprising is that emmanuel macron has managed to inch past marine le pen the far right candidate. he is at 25% and she is at 24%. meanwhile you have the conservative candidate francois fillon still trailing in third place. is the surprising unsolicited france movement candidate is having this incredible push right now. froms passed benoit hamon the socialist party. into third sneak place. analysts are bracing themselves for a major surprise on election day given that according to

one third of voters haven't made up their mind. >> it's incredible. it's a huge number. is the onen mark that leading the polls. it's true across the country. french people haven't made up their minds yet. mainstream politics is in the middle of a major crisis. why are so many voters uninspired? let's take a listen. vote. definitely going to i just don't know who far. maybe i will vote blank. >> who can you trust? it is so sad. i almost want to vote for le pen and i am of foreign defendant -- dissent. >> macron is just like president hollande.

>> i will decide at the last minute. >> some people are not going to vote at all. usually abstention is around 20% in french presidential elections. this year it could be as high as 35%. >> it could really swing the election this time around. the candidates are very busy trying to reach out to the undecided voters. you had been while i'm on -- benewah i'm on -- benewah kaman benoit amon.mon he's currently languishing around fifth-place. caravanshas sent

all around to explain his key policy measures to get people to better understand the universal basic income. caravan.he green nathan arelike helping to explain to voters how much they could earn with the universal basic income if he were to be voted as president. they can enter their current salary and see how much better off they might be. are you finding vendors are -- voters are enthusiastic? >> pretty much yes. we decided it might make the campaign better if we actually came to the people and explained how it will work and how we will finance it and how much they will earn.

most of the people will benefit. all of them are pretty happy with the outcome. >> there you go. hopes of a last-minute boost with the campaign caravan. he is facing a major challenge from the far left. >> he is really on a roll right now. a few weeks ago he was at a distant fifth. he is now trying to creep into third place. on hisorris spoke to him campaign program to find out where this momentum is coming from. unfortunately we don't have that soundbite. essentially he says that he represents a new desire for a

new kind of politics in france. that's why he's making those incredible gains in the polls these days. you for the campaign beat. for all of you undecided voters out there or if you're just curious about the french election, check out the vote compass. it calculates how your political views compare with those of the french presidential candidates and can lead to some very surprising results. time for the business news and stephen carroll joins me in the studio. big changesing with at the consumer goods group. >> the company that makes everything from mayonnaise to magnum ice cream's has unveiled a restructuring plan after it fought off a takeover bid from craft times. booster wants to

dividends by 12%. it's going to buy back 12 billion euro's worth of shares and share off its spreads business. bid was opportunistic but it did raise expectations for the company. >> well donald trump is preparing for his meeting with the chinese president, he may also be preparing for some bad economic news. >> he tweeted a video on wednesday hosting a -- highlighting a host of recent job creation many of which are unrelated to his administration. employment figures due out this friday are expected to show that job growth slowed down in the united states in march. 175,000 jobs were created last inth compared to 235,000 february. boss of amazon is making

an investment in space. >> jeff bezos is selling $1 billion worth of his shares to fund his rocket company blue origin. host a 11 minutes based riots. jeff bezos and elon musk are gearing up for a full on space race. touriststs to launch into orbit while muska has his planetn conquering the mars. they are changing the game for space exploration. space industryng is worth 447 billion euro's. spacex and blue origin hope to turn a profit. world's leading satellite

launcher has announced its own cost cuts between 40% and 50% for its new rocket. low-cost space travel will also require cheaper rocket launchers. >> if we can reduce the cost of launch by a factor of 10 and then by a factor of 100, that's going to take time and a lot of hard work. it will be a golden age of space exploration. spacex estimates 56.2 million euro's for its model. spacex and blue origin are still relatively new to the game. bezos selfies -- says he is selling shares to fund his rocket company. he looks to launch 11 minute space rides starting next year. for mixed picture in europe

the trading day. we have gains in paris. london and frankfort are in the red. u.s.es that came from the federal reserve on wednesday showing it is considering tightening its monetary policy by reducing them of the assets on its books. the company behind kfc and pizza hut in china has beat expectations by growing sales in of three months to the end february. sales rose by 1% raising hopes the company might the emerging from its two-year slump caused by a food safety scare. french energy company is deciding today on the future of france's oldest nuclear power plant. unions are protesting at the board meeting in paris is up to

2000 jobs could be affected by the closure. facebook is taking action to stop the spread of revenge pouring. -- porn. system across the facebook, messenger and instagram. it appears there are still plenty of people here in france hiding old money under their beds. >> 15 years after the euro came into operation there is still over 1.5 billion euro's worth of cs that haven't been redeemed. hard to believe. i have no francs. >> thank you for that, stephen

carroll. france 20us here on four. live from paris continues in just a few minutes.