>> welcome to "france 24" newsroom. it is good to have you with us. extensively over marine le pen on his final day of campaigning for the presidential election. joined for a deluxe edition of the campaign beat. donald trump gets his first legislative victory over the white house. nearly pass a bill to repeal and replace obamacare.

and china's first of a sickly-produced passenger jet takes to the sky as the country tries to break into the global aviation market. ♪ after months of rallies, interviews, and debates, this is the final day of france's presidential campaign. the polls show emmanuel macron over theded his lead far right wing, a projected 61.5% of votes. the front runner seems to have gotten a boost from wednesday's brutal debate. le pen is not giving up. she took to the airwaves to criticize the fact that macron has not named a prime minister. en: i named my prime

minister. i'm up against a candidate who will not give the name of his prime minister, probably for electoral reasons. comingoined by people from different political backgrounds and those who wish to participate in writing the country. molly: for his part, emmanuel macron says his eventual take will be someone who can help forge a new path. macron: it will reform the path i have made if the french people put their trust in me, someone who has experience with political choices, the ability to lead a parliamentary majority and a new government that will be charting a new. experienced men and women will be a part of this. molly: talent thursday, marine le pen held a rally in a small town that the far right candidate calls part of the land of the forgotten.

we have more. reporter: a dramatic final appeared to -- appeal to the voters of france. marine le pen chose a small calls "thewhat she land of the forgotten," the disillusioned voters who make up her base of support-. thousands cheered her arrival. groundis on familiar here. the far right candidate nabbed 30% of the vote in the first round in this region. pen: i have been the voice of the french people who cannot take anymore, who cannot take anymore and have a chance on sunday because it is the people who have the only sovereign power in our country. here,er: government wednesday's fiery debate was still on their mind. >> i was a little disappointed. i think she could have defended herself better. i hope it will not impact her results.

she lacked precision. more fell she struck the right tone. really goodhe has a chance, no doubt it i will vote for her because i agree with her ideas. i am the owner of a small business. he is an upstart, and he is someone who does not match up. we do not know what he is about. i would rather vote for marine le pen been macron. reporter: le pen is trailing behind emmanuel macron, but she is hoping to ride the wave of populist anger to the palace on sunday. molly: greenpeace activists place a banner on the tower, "liberty, equality, and brotherhood" printed on the front with the #resist.

andr calling on brothers sisters to resist the far right national front. we will have more on the french election in a few minutes when florence villa minogue joins us with the campaign be. meanwhile, -- florence villa leminot joins us on the campaign beat. an donald has his first legislative win since taking office in february. . trump: this is a full repeal and replace, and make no mistake about it. i think most importantly, yes, premiums will be coming down, yes, deductibles will be coming importantly, it is a great plan, and ultimately, that is what it is all about. we knew that was not going to

work. i predicted it a long time ago. i said, "it is failing," and now it is obvious that it is. ailingit i -- is failing. it is dead. none of the house democrats backed the new bill. our white house correspondent has more on the legislation that now heads to the senate where its future is uncertain. of congressmbers just about managed to squeeze through this vote in the house of representatives before they for recess. u.s. president donald trump actually changed his shuttle for a meeting that was planned in new york city with the australian prime minister. he decided to stay in washington, d.c. and have his victory lap in the rose garden of the white house with the republican members of the house of representatives.

he voted for this repeal and replacement of obamacare. this might come back to hunt him if americans do not get cheaper and better health insurance as promised them by both republicans and u.s. president donald trump. if many lose their health insurance, as has been predicted by many experts and this congressional budget office, that takes a close look at these types of bills before they actually get to voters, and he way, the rose garden might turn out to have been a little bit premature because there are still several steps to be taken until obamacare really is history. there is a vote to be had in the senate on a different bill to this one. somehown would have to be consolidated, and only then would the u.s. president, donald trump, be able to have that moment of glory that he wants and complete the campaign

promise of his spirit he only then be able to put pen to paper and officially signed the end of obamacare, the health care law that was signed into law by his assessor, barack obama. molly: safe stones in syria. russia, iran, and turkey signed an agreement that would set up for such areas. he united nations described the deal as a promising step, but the u.s. has voiced concerns. there is more from our correspondent, henry peck. henrnry: reducing conflict to an absolute minimum, it is not a cease-fire because cease-fires are often avoided. it calls for a cessation of violence between the regime and the opposition party.

refugees, secure border zones, which are perhaps monitored by a third party. it is a break for this country in the six years of civil war, however, criticism as to whether preventill enforce to air force planes from flying over these zones. and indeed the agreement allows for the continued targeting of isis and groups linked to the al-nusra front and whether the extent to which inse groups will be active these stones and considered legitimate targets by the regime, russia and iran, remains to be seen. the possibilities and a return to the conflict as with the previous cease-fire agreement, or it may be a chance that more lasting peace. molly: next, china's first

domestically produced passenger jet has successfully produced its flight. now the chinese are hoping it will help them break into the global aviation market. for more on this, let's cross to brian pinsky, who joins us from beijing. tell us more about the significance for china in all of this. brian: this is china's attempt into breaking into the extremely lucrative airline market. it is the second largest country set to overtake the u.s. as the largest airline in a decade. far, it represents flyway profits, and its manufacturer reported it has over -- nearly 600 orders already. however, most of them are from the firstmpanies and one to use it will be the china

eastern airlines. it is possible that it will receive a heavy boost from the , urginggovernment chinese airliners to buy it. however, some are saying the actual significance to beijing thantional rather commercial viability. the broadcast of the flight was broadcast live on state tv. the government media gushed over it, and a lot of the experts -- by the citizens with technology. , thesimilar, ironic note first home a jet airliner is foreign-madeely from avionics to the engine, and it may even be only 30% chinese-made. thank all right, brian, you ray much, brian kopczynski joining us from beijing.

next, the organization is opening its first basketball training academy in africa that will be based in senegal. the academy is part of a push to expand recruitment worldwide, and it follows three economies -- academies that were launched in china last year. the nba is hoping to tap into the african market as well as building new audience or the game. >> the focus should be on the youth. the youth in africa, you know, we have got 65% of the population under the age of 30, and we have to make sure that we outfit the young population with the right tools, and i feel like this is a great equalizer. extensiveanuel macron lead over marine le pen on the final day of campaigning in france's presidential election.

donald trump gets his first legislative victory as house republicans narrowly pass a bill to repeal and replace obamacare. and china's first them ethically-produced passenger jet takes to be skies as the country tries to break into the global aviation market. alright, it is time now for the campaign beats. alright, it is now our daily roundup of news from the french campaign trail. florence villa eminot. françois hollande -- the last dayay is of campaigning. remember, french election rules are very strict. the last 24 hours between sunday's vote, it is campaign-free, election-free,

and that might be very good news for all of us -- or for you -- suffering from election fatigue. it is also a moment of reflection for those who are still try to make up their minds. wednesday's debate was certainly a bitter debate. political analysts have said he won that match. florence: if we look at opinion polls published after the debate, he has a three-point boost. if the election were held today, he would gather 62% of the vote, marine le pen are you percent. keep in mind some of these -- 38%. keep in mind, these are the last poll that will be broadcast, again, there are very strict rules and france. until sunday, there will be a blackout. you cannot talk about exit polls, predictions -- the only thing you can talk about on sunday is the turnout rate. the first estimate at noon, the second one at 5:00 p.m.

then of course you have the official results that come in. molly: flo, despite the polls showing she is trailing, marine le pen believes she can hang on, on the wave of populist anger. a lot will depend on undecided voters. florence: there are a lot of undecided voters and a lot of voters who attempted to abstain. one in four voters are not going to turn up to the polls at all on sunday. so did the debate change anything? for some, yes, and for others, it just confirmed their disappointment in this election. we wanted to vote at first, but now i am leaning toward macron. pen was a joke, we are talking about the country, and she is laughing. she cannot remember anything. >> she cannot represent the

country. . >> i watched, but neither convinced me. it was all insults, only insults, nothing interesting. had said, "we are going to reform this, this, this," it will spoil my valid. >> marine le pen was true to herself. flo, ifll right, oneed macron is elected sunday, many will be discovering him as he is new on the political scene. florence: a lot of people are thrilled that there could be a change in french politics, but we don't really know that much about him or his personality. for instance, what is his relationship with power? what is his concept of leadership? long government. reporter: how does emmanuel

macron make decisions? --e is defies is he decisive? one thing that his goal is to stand out. >> as someone who is always been fond of the concept of leadership and power, this is why he was disappointed with francois hollande's presidency because he felt that he lacked the embodiment of power. reporter: even after 200 hours of debate and heavy criticism of the topical sunday work, he stood his ground. >> we saw his opposition, and he did not budget. along and did not water down the law he wrote. reporter: decisive or stubborn? when the same law pushed france's notaries to the streets in a 2014, this union representative dealt with the former economy minister. >> it was not really in

negotiation because he promised we would be heard before the avernment decides, but it was monologue more than a dialogue. reporter: negotiations may be one-sided, but he always involves his staff in his decision-making. he also does not have a problem saying when his staff got it wrong. mr. macron: i am just reading what is written here. in decomposition of the governing institutions -- i did not understand the sentence. [laughter] reporter: the kind of straightforward manner that has irked his fellow cabinet members, some of which have accused him of trying to do their jobs and treading on their toes. we havef course, flo, been talking about this french presidential elections requested time, but there is another vote just after that is also very important. florence: if you are getting

tired of politics, brace yourself -- it is not over yet. we will have the parliamentary elections in june, and analysts say it is just as important as the presidential election. 577 members of parliament to be elected. analysts are expecting a major shakeup of the political makeup of the parliament in a major defeat for the ruling socialists. the party has really been reeling ever since it crashed out after the first round of the presidential election, and questions have really emerged about the future of the socialist party. the 50-year-old party. luke schrader tells us more. : disappointment writ large, earning just 6.3% of the vote in the first round, france's socialist party faces a major question over its future. isthis presidential election a cruel moment for the socialist party which is to divided. this result marks the end of an era and calls for a profound renewal.

luke: should the deathknell be ringing for the party as a political entity? it took on the former five prime minister, who himself endorsed emmanuel macron. >> the party has to move the site and change, the end of the story, because we could not change our name or our nature. luk certainlye: the party was already in political trouble. follow from socialist president françois hollande's failures and now the voters heading toward the center and the far left. however, this is far from the first time the left-wing beat them. 1999, its predecessor came in with just 5% of the vote. >> every time the socialist party sees this kind of situation, a serious crisis, it reinvents itself. completewe saw a

reinvention along the lines of theory and understanding of the new world we were moving into. organizationy and and a reconsideration of political alliances. luke: it would position for a four meter on to take the reins of the first presidential election. 30 years later, the socialists wins out in the presidential first round, stole the rallies, becoming the second largest party in the french parliament. the difference this time is it has seen not just the erosion of it with the m as wellp, with many jumping ship to macron's en march! party. it seems that a new beat is now needed entirely, one that was to voters who have already decided to sit out the dance. molly: that is all we have time

for on the campaign beat, flo. thank you so much. you will be back next week with the french connection. if you want to find out more about the two candidates, be sure to head to our website and that is where you can compare their platforms side-by-side and proposal by proposal. let's get a check of business now. i'm joined by brian quinn. brian, i am joined by something that has been rocking markets, and that is the price of oil. at a: oil prices are five-month low, leading to losses around the world and a persistent supply glut keeps pushing prices down. the market is staging a mini rally of the end of the week. opec producers again signaling they will extend a previous supply cut to try to reduce the surface. -- surplus. c sliding back -- the

frank for dac -- the paris cac and frankfurt dax both sliding back. in the midst of fierce military action against the islamic state group in mosul. mobile app startups inspired by the likes of uber and others, as the cash grab -- cash-strapped government is trying to encourage job creation in the private sector. catherine clifford has more. catherine: they can be ordered now with a smartphone. >> it is much better than having the hassle of checkpoints and traffic congestion. means "my the app mel." "my meal."

ahmed: it includes a picture can disruption, and the price. catherine: a lack of clients connected the smartphones, the business is now worth over 90,000 euros and has eight bank employees. it is part of a growing app scen e in iraq. -- anotherired by company inspired by uber was launched in february, and it is geared to safety. >> if the driver is a registered unknown to us, we will call the driver. catherine: he aims to hire 50 new employers this year and expand to other cities. athletic these are creating jobs where they are badly needed. like these are creating jobs where they are badly needed. short of cash to pay its workforce, the iraqi government

is hoping to entice workers towards the private sector, launching an initiative worth 4.5 billion euros, providing loans to encourage new businesses. brian: let's take a look at more business headlines. the u.s. government launches a criminal probe into over following the company's use of illegal software designed to evade legal oversight. it was in order to dodge sting to avoid local laws. warren buffett has sold off 1 /3 of his stake in ibm. buffett is that ibm had not performed up to his expectations when berkshire made the investment, pointing to tough competition. arthur daniels midland says it is planning an expansion in europe this year.

that statement contradicts previous reports that it was going to be cutting in europe and ireland. international brain trading are hurting its profits. finally for business, it is the merely successful versus the truly giants, as tech companies battle over the european markets. a group of internet businesses, including spotify, are calling on european commission to rein in what they consider unfair business practices by internet titans like apple and google. those two companies together control over 90% of the mobile operating system market. says they're using that to promote their own streaming expense.at its the european commission is currently in the myths of overhauling digital policy for of block -- in the midst overhauling digital policy for the block your i want to keep my spotify working. molly: all right, thank you bring much for that.

we will take a quick break. the news continues here on "france 24." stay with us.

♪ ♪ >> in this episode, a look at personal archives of california history. collection of california orange ephemera. it became a symbol. it all cam