>> you are watching live from paris here on france 24. the headlines. the british prime minister calls snapap elections for junune 8. she throws down the gauntlet to the opposition. arrest two mene suspecected of planning a terror attack during the country's upcoming presidential elections, according to judicial sources. france's presidential hopefuls

are in campaign overdrive as the country countdown to sunday's first-round vote. opinion polls suggest a wide-open race with no less than four front runners. we will have more in the campaign beat. thanks for joining us. the british prime minister has announced calls for snap elections on june the eighth. theresa may said she would ask the house of commons on ,ednesday to back her move blaming division in westminster, she said in earlier election was the only way to guarantee stability for written in thehe years ahead and as the country navigates its divorce from the eu. >> i have just chaired a meeting with the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call

a general election to be held on the eighth of june. last summer, after the country voted to leave the european ,nion, britain neeeeded certainy stability, and strong leadership . since i became pririme minister, the government has delivered precisely that. >> theresa may speaking earlier. let's bring in our london correspondent. benedict has more details on the british pm's shock announcement. why is she calling these elections now? >> this is a shock announcement, it cannot be overstated. this is a monumental political u-turnrn, reversal. why now? herself, innister her rprprise announcemenent himn frfront o of 10 dowowning streed she believes t the country needs now.he needs it

she h has sent seseveral times e was doing so reluctatantly. inindeed, she e and her ministes and her presess team have coconsistently told us since she came into office after d david cameron's resignation that no elections until 2020. stability.reasons of it is exactly for all reasons of stability and strtrengthening te prime mininister and the u.k. government's and p preparing for brexit and negotiating thahat vital future of the united kingdom m outside of t the euron ununion, as voted for inviting brititish people. she said that is why it is needed. shefact of the matter is inherited d a very small majoriy from t previous conservative prime ministerer david cameron. , , ose thatvatives

helped herer to get e e majority in parliament, havave therefore required sigignificant power, power r to force h her governmeo back down on policies that matter to her. she wants her own mandate. his is a political gamble. wants a vote e in the house of commons tomorrow, and she must win. >> as i was sasaying, there is a five-year fixed parliament come introducuced by dadavid camerono to secure stability and thee susurvival ofhe then-cocoalition governrnment. david cameronon, who did not hae enenough mpsps in the prevevious eleltion to foform a governmentn his own, so he had the junior partners of the liberal demomocrats. she needs t to win the majority totomorrow in the house of commons. we have just seeeen jeremy c con has tweeted d that h he supportd

welcomes -- he could've decided not to do so -- but he welcomed the chance to go to the british people. he believes labor can do well in the elections. thatat is not one of paul's show us, that madeow her take ms. gamble. suggest thes coconservatives llll win the net general electioion, if it is hed in the coming months or two, and would win comfortably. although we do not elect a a pre minister directly. campaigns,election wiwitnessing the o one in franad elsewhere, are unpredictable. that moveded by the prime minisr , who needs two thirds, i believe that is 429 mps that she will need to say yes. now with the reaction of the

labor leader, ththat looks like. tweeted, brave and right decision by p.m. theresa may. my best wishes to all conservative candidates. the eighth of june, if she gets the vote tomorrow, will give the green light for a snap election here in the united kingdom. >> thank you for bringing us up to date with that story. in france, two men have been arrested and marseilles on suspicion of planning a terror attack during the presidential election, according to judicial and police sources. authorities had d been hunting e pair since the end of last weeek and were arrested just a few minutes apart in the southern port city. let's listen to the french interior minister. this morning, between 10:00 and 11:00, our counterterrorism units arrested two individuals

in marseille's third arrow do small. born in 1987 and 1983 respectively, and of french nationality, were both radicalized and intended to carry out an attack on french soil in the next few days. >> that was the french interior minister speaking earlier on. up, we are with you 100%, that is from he was vice president mike pence who met with japan's prime minister shinzo abe date. washington making moves to reassure japan. the north korean vice minister said it all out war would break out if the americans launched a military action. the e warning g comes after pene told the north not to test washington's resolve. trump, theesident

united states will continue to work with japan and all our allies in the region, including south korea, to confront the most ominous threat posing this region of the world, the regime in north korea. let me be clear, our commitment is unwaveringg and ourur resolve could d not be stronger. , wehese challenging times are with you 100%. in the face of provocations across the sea of japan, ththe people of this country should know that we stand with you in the defense of your security and prosperity, now and always. >> staying with this story, let's bring in michael, our tokyo correspondent. reassuring words fromomice presisident mike pence concerning the nuclear threat from north korea, the u.s. reiterating its support for its japanese allies. >> that's right, and to be

honest, the japanese public needs the sort of reassurance. some of the tabloid newspapers have alarming headlines. of coursrse, there have been stories even in the mainstream media about the possibility of war breaking out and even the u.s. launchihing such a war preemptively. obviously, there are a lot of people h here in j japan on edgt the moment. reassurance that the united states will be there is helpful. also on the agegenda during that meeeeting today, the launch of bilateral trade negotiations. tell us more. >> another aspect of the trump policy is s to try toddress what he sees as imbmbalances in the united states-japapan trade. t time, the united d states iss initiating bilateral talks witih japan over these issues. bluntpanese are trying to

some of this because they are concerned on autotomobiles, agriculture,e, other things, tht the united states demand will not be t to the natitional inte. we are seeing the two parties, even on the security side, very much in lockstep. on the trade side of things, we can expect to see some action ahead for japan-u.s. relations. >> michael, thank you for the update. donald trump has reached out to turkey's president recep tayyip erdogan. was leader congratulating him congratulating his victory in a controversial and tightly contested referendum that hansen sweeping new powers. protest came despite from opposition parties and international monitoring groups over alleged voting inconsistencies. the turkish president has dismissed outcry at the telling themsults,

to know their place. speaking at a rally, erdogan slammed accusations that the contentious vote was not free or fair. this leaves the country deeply divided and has not thrown it e.u. membership bid into uncertainty. already tense relationships between the eu and turkey could worsen in the wake of sunday's slim referendum win as the turkish president moves forward with an agenda at all the with brussels. they have made us wait at the gate of the european union for 54 years. we will sit down and talk. we can hold a referendum or that eu bid, too. either they will hold their promises to turkey or they will have to bear the consequences. >> throughout the campaign, turkish president launched bitter attacks on the eu, accusing some countries of not

see-like behavior for barring his ministers from attending rallies with the ex-pat community. now ththe referendumum has pass, erdogan is talking about holding another one, this time on reinstating the death penalty. >> we have lots of work in this country. god willing, first, the death penalty. i will discuss the issue immediately with the prime minister. goes ahead with a promise, a yes, would effectively add turkey's bid to join as the eu forbids the on d. continuous needling also has eu officials concerned about their ongoing deal with turkey to take back refugees in exchange for 3 b billion euroson aid. european n countries are worried abouout the refugee isss caused by syryria.

thehekey is forced to make decisions, europope will face me refugees, which is not what europe wants to see. analysts say the results of the referendum could deal a fatal blow to the eu-turkey courtship. next, dozens of people in the west bank have rallied in support of palestinian inmates on hunger strike. 1300 palestitinians serving time in israeli prisons have refused food since monday. they are protesting against poor conditions and israel's policy of detention without trial. more than 6500 palestinians are currently behind bars in israel. earlier, i spoke to our israel correspondent. out he has been put into solitary confinement today. the public minister confirming that a short while ago. he is seen as the leader of this movement. emma in demanding

essence, b better conditions in the prison, they want more family visits, phones in the public visit areas, they want a renewed academic studies, more tv channels. in a larger sense, this is a protest about what they call the inhumane conditions in the israeli prisons, the accusation that some prisoners are tortured, treated badly, even putting in that new york times some 600atistics that palestinians have been killed since the 1960's in israeli prisons. what is interesting about this whole eruption of palestinian hunger strikers -- and it is the widest scale we have seen in decades with h 1200. protestingy against the israeli government but this is also his moment to come to the stage of palestinian

politics, he is one of the rivals of the palestinian president mahmoud abbas. he has been silenced in the past. he has c chosen the prisoner ise this time but in the past decade he has not been involved in any of the hunger strikes. >> you are watching live from paris here on france 24. a a reminder of our top stories. the british prime ministerr called s snap elecections in ju. she blames the division in westminster as she throws dodown the gauntlet to the opposition. police in france arrest two men suspected of planning a terror attack during the country's upcoming presidential elections. penceice president mike meets with japan's prime minister in tokyo in a bid to bolster bilateral ties. trade deals and regional tensions with north korea top of the agenda.

time now for the campaign beat. our daily roundup from the french presisidential campaigngn trail. that twojust come in suspects have been arrested in marseille. wrench officials believed ththey were planning a terror attack before the presidential elections. security has been a major issue throughout the campaign. in the meantime, it is the final countdown to around one vote. >> this will probably add a lot of uncertainty to what is a very uncertain election. it is unprecedented in french history with just five days to go until around one, four candidates are battling it out. here you see the central candidate emmanuel macron, marine le pen, jean-luc

melenchon. neck, givenk and the margin of error. you can see images here from a rally that macron held in paris yesterday. it was seen as a make or break moment for emmanuel macron. organizers say about 20,000 people showed up. he spent a lot of time throwing punches at his rivals but there was also a lot of love going around. >> i love you, mr. macron. it will be like cuba without sun, venezuela without oil. you have the choice between thatcher and i have chosen the best of the left and the right and even the center. i am ready, with you by my side, bridget. >> some love for his wife.

our reporter claire williams was at that rally. she spoke to a lot of macron supporters who said they are worried about the surge that jean-luc melenchon has been seeing in the polls. all, to get the choice only between extreme right and extreme left, that is my first concern. i am comfortable for the future, even if we don't win, we have already done a lot of things. i am quite happy with what we had done in a year. i am very worried about the is, in at the thing meeting like this, it shows that people are really supporting. melenchon is a very good speaker.

i am sure that when it is the moment to vote, people will realize macron is the only one that has the right program. >> far right leader marine le pen also held a rally in paris yesterday. she has been upping the tone in the home stretch. >> she certainly has. scott wells broke out outside with national demonstrators and police. inside, activists tried to interrupt marine le pen's speech twice, but it did not stop her. she lashed out against immigration and warned voters about the importance of sunday's vote. let's listen in to a sound bite from marine le pen. sunday is an historic rendezvous. it is a story for france come historic for people, historic for our nation. believe it is the

truth, what is at stake is our civilization. on sunday, the choice is simple. either france is reborn, or it goes down. rally reporter was at the and he also asked about this surge we are seeing from the jeanan-luc melenchon. what's interesting, marine le pen supporters are less concerned. >> i am not afraid. i would not mind if melenchon and le pen made it to the second round. le pen's ideas are much more practical. i'm not worried. it would not be a bad thing. it would be amusing, actually. and all theillon others are part of the past, we are tired of seeing the same faces. le pen argan on the moves that have not been in power so i understand why people are supporting one or the other. >> melenchon has changed his

mind so many times over the years. he used to be in favor of a closer european union and open borders. now his position is similar to ours. i think decoherence will make the difference. >> speaking of jean-luc melenchon, the far left candidate decided not to hold a rally yesterday and instead went on a boat ride. >> he went on a cruise along the northeastern canals, fishing for telling his supporters to keep the faith in the final stretch. take a listen to jean-luc melenchon. >> over the coming days we have to display total self-control. it is not always easy to keep a cool head. you have to keep it going with a particular fuel called humor and a mockery. the other idiots are pointing out on their print page in the newspaper, melenchon is a threat to the stock markets.

thankfully i am seen as a threat. dangerous.he is very what do his supporters think? you can see the supporters along the canal have mixed opinions about how dangerous he is. >> i don't think he is too aggressive. don't you think le pen and fillon are also aggressive? is, is currently a little, he is a fascinating character, but a little too extreme for me. >> he is really confident. in fact, he was telling his that he willinn nice become france's next president. >> we are going to win the election, don't worry. we are going to win it alone. we are going to win because we arare levelheaded.

i already surprised in the primary. we are going to surprise them again in the presidential election. >> surprise is the keyword. never have the first rounds of presidential elections been so uncecertain. one third of voters are expected to not know yet who they will vote or, so expect a nailbiting finish. so much for that. if you are interested in the french election, check out the vote compass, a tool developed by france 24. it calculates how your political views compare with those of the french presidential candidates and can lead to some surprising results. time now for a look at the day's business news with stephen carroll. the markets have been reacting to that announcement of snap elections in the u.k.. primen before the

minister spoke, the markets were seeing values move. initially the pound dropped sharply against the dollar but after theresa may spoke, we have seen it bounce back. it is up .7% against the dollar. one pound worth about $1.26, that is the highest it's been in 10 weeks. already seeing the markets react. on the stock market, it had been a day where european shares were falling. after theresa may's announcement, we saw those markets fall even further. in the 15n around 1% mins running up to when she spoke. that gives you an idea of what investors are thinking. market watchers say this remove some of the uncertain terry an electiont and can produce uncertain results. , the online streaming

service netflix says it expects to hit the 100 million users marked this weekend. under 5added just million users in the first three months of 2017, less than the company had expected, and more than 2 million fewer than the previous quarter. analysts say the slowdown is due to no new major new release is taking place over that period. a scandal hits a brazilian construction firm, find $2.6 million by a u.s. court over international bribery. $2.4 billion of the pet will go to the brazilian government, the rest to u.s. and swiss authorities. google has agreed to open up the android operating system to rival search engines as part of a deal with rivals.

the decision sets a new precedent for the tech giant which is facing legal complaints in many countries, accused of abusing its position in the mobile market. turning to thailand, the famous street food in the capital of bangkok is under threat. >> city of authorities are planning a massive cleanup of the streets including all stalls being banned from main thoroughfares. this is being met by an outcry from sellers and taurus alike. a nighttime snack prepared before your very eyes. for many, bangkok is synonymous with street food, so much so the thai capital was named the best street food destination two years running. but doing so may soon be a thing of the past. officials are cracking down on vendors. they have announced plans to ban

stalls across the city by the end of the year. >> vendors make the streets of dirty, leaving food and garbage on the ground, they throw left over food in the

announcer: this is a production of china central television america. lee: leonardo da vinci once said that simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication. this week's "full frame," guests are proving that simple ideas to foster change can have the most profound impact. i'm may lee in los angeles. let's take it "full frame." welcome back. see this bar of soap? well, did you know it has the