>> a very good afternoon to you. we have the top stories for you this hour. french talks in moscow -- rex tillerson meet with his russian counterpart and asks the president to stop supporting syrian president bashir al-assad. police searched the suspect after three explosions targeted the german -- injuring one player ahead of a champions league clash with ac monaco.

united airlines apologizes for an incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed from a of a reviewromises of the airline's practices. we begin in moscow where the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson is holding tense talks with the russian counterpart. the u.s. wants the kremlin to stop supporting syria following a suspected chemical weapons attack. tensions between washington and moscow remain at an all-time high after the u.s.'s recent airstrikes on eight syrian air base in response to that attack -- a syrian air base in response to that attack.

thomas is in moscow. do we have any confirmation at this stage on whether president putin will show up to meet tillerson? >> no confirmations for the time being. there have been tentative suggestions from the kremlin's side that a meeting could take place. hearing that there are connections between the department of state and the kremlin to decide on a potential meeting last night. that thisn say is would be a bit of a snub if putin did not meet with tillerson. the previous secretary of state, whenever he came to moscow, he would meet with the president. syria is such an important topic right now for these two countries that it would be in

the best interests of the kremlin for them to pull out all their political elements of the president at the top. >> syria is the hot topic. what do we expect to come from today's discussions? >> what we've heard from both sides to begin with, opposing views. russiaton demanding that pulled back on its support for a ssad. what we've heard from vladimir putin, that is not going to happen. we have the foundations of whatgue with russia saying moscow really wants is more clarity about what washington is trying to do in syria and how it is prepared to go about it.

washingtonhat doesn't strike any infrastructure in syria in the future. laying down the law just before tillerson and lavrov started talking. >> thank you. sean spicer has drawn international criticism after saying adolf hitler did not use chemical weapons during world war ii. his comments came during a news -- he has been forced to clarify his position after thousands took to social media to say that millions of jews were killed in nazi gas chambers. >> when you come to sarin gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way assad is doing -- i understand.

thank you. i appreciate that appeared he brought them -- i appreciate that. he brought them to the holocaust center. i understand that. where assad dropped them into the middle of towns -- i appreciate the clarification. that was not the intent. >> germany is searching for suspects after three explosions hit a german football team, injuring a player. this is ahead of a champions league clash with monaco they -- investigators checking the authenticity of the letter claiming responsibility that was found near the scene of the blast. the match has been postponed until this evening when police say security will be extra tight. for more, jessica is in berlin. do german investigations have any solid leads at the stage?

>> the federal prosecution office in germany has taken the investigation from local police. the scene is being investigated very seriously. as a potential terror attack. also, the person responsible and the motives are not yet known. police are investigating two very different leads that we know up. the first is a letter found at the site of the explosion which allegedly was written by islamic extremists. citing germany's involvement in fighting against i.s. in syria. the authenticity of the letter is currently being tested. some security officials have doubted its authenticity already.

it doesn't bear any signature or any marking of the islamic state and is very atypical for how likeic state individuals to claim as possibility for tax. -- responsibility for attacks. left wing letter published they were a target because they had not done enough politically to fight against not to usazism. there will be a press conference in one hours time to update journalists. >> we can expect extra security at tonight's match. >> absolutely. security will be beefed up throughout the city this evening. inside and outside the stadium, protecting the fans.

another big priority is protecting the players that they early as to come possible to the stadium and expect extra security measures. fans will not be allowed entrance to the stadium if they are carrying large bags. they are not taking any chances tonight when it comes to security. this is not the only champions league game happening on german soil tonight. security there has also been efed up. the game will go ahead, despite the fact that they experienced these dramatic events yesterday evening. they are holding a training session and preparing for tonight's game. the president of the club said today that his team are professionals and they will be able to put yesterday's events

to the back of the mind. >> thank you. the u.n. international organization has warned that african migrants attempting to reach europe are being sold into slavery for as little as $200. human traffickers commit many are detained by criminal gangs and their families, extorted for ransom. selling human beings is becoming a trend among smuggling networks. as seen here, some arrests have been made to try to combat the illegal trafficking of migrants. within the political vacuum that is libya, smugglers and armed groups still thrive. the international organization for migration has discovered another horror story in the valley of tears. andigrants are being sold

selling human beings is becoming a trend amongst smugglers and the smuggling networks in libya are becoming stronger and stronger. >> libya has emerged as the gateway for african migrants who hope to reach europe. migrants have been captured by armed groups, being held, beaten and later being auctioned off in a market like setting. >> if you go to the market, you can pay between $200 and $500 to get a migrant that will work with you on your daily jobs or support your work. many of them escape. many of them are kept in bondage and many of them are imprisoned inside an area where they are forced to work on a daily basis. >> the armed groups tried to extort money from their families to allow them to continue towards the libyan coast. without that, some are abandoned to die in the desert.

many are packed on ill-equipped vessels. more than 600 are known to have died at sea since the start of the year. tens of thousands of students protesting in the capital of santiago against an education reform bill. the president and her government have fallen short of reforming higher education. officials say 30 people were arrested and 60 officers wounded during the protests. to brazil next where a top tourist attraction has fallen prey to the country's economic woes. cable cars were built over rio's favelas. these days, the cars are stationary.

residents say they have been forgotten by the government. >> yet another best each of brazil's olympic disrepair. these cable cars were opened in 2011 ahead of the world cup and olympic games. rio'sairlifts scaled over most violent suburbs and gave those in the favelas a means of reaching rio. >> it was great. the kids would use the cable cars. >> the project cost $60 million. many argued the money should be spent on improving education or the tourist system. it was a major tourist attraction and a pillar for the community with housing, medical and postal hubs built around each of the six cable car terminals. local police officers were patrolling from inside the hubs are providing protection for residents -- the cable cars have

been out of use. >> we have regret. there was a demand for social, cultural or educational projects. this demand is no longer being met. >> authorities have promised to get the system up and running again this year. with rising crime and the state of rio near bankruptcy, people here in the favelas are doubtful the cable cars will ever restart again. >> a quick reminder of the top stories. secretary of state rex tillerson meets with his russian counterpart and urges the kremlin to stop supporting syria's president. police searched suspects after three explosions target a german football team, injuring a player at of their champions league clash with ac monaco.

united airlines apologizes for an incident in which a passenger was forcibly removed from a plane and promises a thorough review of the airline's practices. time for the campaign -- are daily round up of news on the french campaign. there are 11 days to go before round one. there's something of a duel between the centrist, emmanuel macron and marine le pen. >> a dual at the top and a dual at the bottom. polls can make mistakes. let's take a look at the latest polls. you can see marine le pen and emmanuel macron tied at 24% at the top.

, jean-lucising result melenchon and francois fillon tied. proof of this incredible scenario that we are witnessing, --s surge for benoit hamon jean-luc melenchon's campaign. what's interesting is to see how other candidates and their supporters are responding to this prospect. listen to james, i reported who's been following team fillon . gatheredis fillon together a crowd of some 5000 people. just a few days ago, benoit gathered auc melenchon crowd of 17,000 people. he has been rising in the polls

consistently, he's been the big surprise element of this election. he could make it into the second round. rally, francois fillon's i asked a few people some questions about jean-luc melenchon's rise. >> i don't think jean-luc melenchon is realistic in his program. ago, jean-luc 17% in theas at polls. he only did 10%. i think he's overestimated. >> people are crazy. there is a big difference between fillon and jean-luc melenchon. >> that woman might think people are crazy, but a lot of people are bracing themselves for a runoff between jean-luc melenchon and marine le pen in round two. francois hollande is concerned about this scenario. he said this campaign smells

bad. >> it has been an unprecedented campaign. huge number of undecided voters. jean-luc melenchon could decide yhe election -- def pre-election addictions. -- pre-election predictions. --he was writing this wave he ended up coming in fourth on election day. he got 11.01% of the vote. still pretty good for jean-luc melenchon. jean-luc melenchon's team says this year is very different. , but howon a high with much higher can jean-luc melenchon really go? maybe to the topic is pulling momentum continues. >> it is true that our or scope

is looking good. >> fillon has the best approval rating of any candidate. a record-breaking 19 points. >> it shows that there is a wave building. we will find out on the first round on april 23. >> jean-luc melenchon has run before. in 2012, he finished a fairly distant fourth in the first round. this time, he is a different candidate. this year, the slogan is people power . this year, he has his own movement -- >> phi stands for philosophy, the love of wisdom. that is a pretty good manifesto. >> a change in tone compared to five years ago. -- talk to mend

about politics. here. have had it up to many leaders who tell it like it is. for a long time, he was very aggressive. he still can be. now, he is showing a more measured, kinder side. his leftist policies have not been watered down. he still on the far side of the spectrum. he's the candidate to unite all the voters on the left and he is attracting support from other places. >> jean-luc melenchon has been getting a lot of attention in the press as well. not everyone is happy. >> it depends on where you stand on the political spectrum. this paper is thrilled by what they are saying.

dynamic melenchon, the energy that could change everything. a different story if you look at right-wing papers, terrified by the prospect of a jean-luc melenchon presidency. some bashing going on -- on the front page, they are calling him the french chavez with a crazy program. he's running on a protectionist policy with heavy public spending. he wants to leave the european an alliancejoin with cuba and venezuela. >> he is the most tech savvy candidate in the election. >> he is the most 2.0 candidate in the selection. he's used a hologram. he's very active on social media. on youtube, he has 278,000 followers. more than donald trump and hillary clinton. he's understood the importance of internet and social media in

the selection. -- in this election. >> some far left french presidential candidate supporters have crated a videogame in his honor. >> it is called physical combat. -- fiscal combat. the aim of the game is to bash the rich. you roam the streets pretending to be jean-luc melenchon as he battles different rivals and oligarchs. the aim is to shake money from the rich people, like the former budget minister. that thehe imf chief aim is to shake these coins out of them to pay for jean-luc melenchon's policies. >> bid you is not to collect money, but to shake it out of people. check out the election compass. a tool developed by "france 24"

in partnership with -- it calculates how your political views compare with those of the french presidential candidates. it can lead to some rather surprising results. time now for business news. good afternoon. we start with the latest fallout from that video of a passenger being dragged off a flight. >> the u.s. senate commerce committee is going to investigate this as well. they have written to united airlines come asking for an explanation of what happened on that plane on sunday. the company issued a second, fuller apology for the incident. the chief executive says it's never too late to do the right thing. i've committed to customers and our employees that we will fix what is broken so this never happens again. controversy saw to it in million dollars wiped off the aviationunited --

experts say united was within its rights to remove mr. dao from its plan, but airlines need to consider the damage to the reputation. of facebook and media and viral videos come of the rules are going to have to change in how they deal with these situations. perhaps they will be pressure to take responsibility for things that really are out of their control because the public seems to be demanding that sort of apology. --n things go the spiral, this viral, airlines have to manage it, even if it means swallowing their pride a bit. >> we are watching the united share price. let's take you look at what's happening on the european markets.

or focusedoncerned on that rise of the far left, jean-luc melenchon. london, paris and frankfurt all managing to see some positive territory. >> oxfam has published a new report on how much big american copies are moving abroad -- >> the 50 biggest american firms have an offshore cash pile worth $1.6 trillion in 2015. most of that money is kept in tax havens. it is worried a company could benefit from a windfall if president trump presses ahead with plans to cut corporate taxes. it is a common practice. it is more popular than ever. take american companies storing money abroad to avoid paying u.s. taxes.

the corporate rate is at 35%. >> they've increased their use of offshore tax havens by $200 billion in a single year. which is dramatically reducing the tax payments to the u.s. and countries around the world, which could have negative consequences for poor and working-class people in america. >> oxfam says it is equally worried about a proposal from president trump to reduce the u.s. corporate tax rate to 15% and allow companies to stored cashheir back to the u.s. with a one-time tax of only 10%. it is a solution that will put billions back into the u.s. economy, according to trump. if these companies were to repatriate all the money they've held abroad, they would pay $515 billion in tax. that would mean the government losing out on $400 billion.

a day that companies have been lobbying for for years. >> companies have put their profits they burned over the past several years into many offshore tax havens with the expectation, hope that congress would lower their tax rate and they'd be able to pass that money back to their shoulders without -- shareholders without paying as much taxes. lobbying congress to influence the tax debate -- >> a british retailers saying its first rise in u.k. sales in seven years. up .9% for the last year. a 30% jump in full-year adjusted operating profits. it's pretax figures were hit by penalties the retailer had to pay to u.k. authorities over an accounting scandal. shares are down 5% in london.

>> finally, do japan, where consumers are finding it quite difficult to purchase a packet of crisps. >> two major manufacturers have halted sales of

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