>> hello and welcome. you have joined us on "france 24 paris.from the main world headlines this hour. scotland yard launches a criminal investigation into a fire that killed at least 17 people at a london apartment building. with the death toll expected to rise, theresa may orders a full inquiry. clamping down on cuba. donald trump will announce plans

to tighten travel restrictions on travel business dealings with cuba, backtracking on former president obama's historic openings to havana. ♪ let's begin in the u.k., the toll is expected to rise from 17 death. scotland yard launched a criminal investigation into a fire that engulfed a 24 story west london apartment building early wednesday morning. emergency services to spend a 30 day searching for bodies in the greenfell tower and the chief said they do not expect to find more survivors.

entire families are among those missing. queen elizabeth and prince philip are visiting a relief center. british prime minister theresa may expected to visit the injured after pledging to hold a full public inquiry into the blaze. standing by in london is our correspondent, benedict. we have some really high profile visitors this morning, a death toll at 17 but everybody expects that to rise. how is it playing into political life? devastating was the worst unprecedented once-in-a-lifetime, all types of expressions that started at 1:00 a.m. wednesday morning. what we have is a 30 day of rescue workers in the building day of rescue workers and the building and high profile visitors.

queen,d of state, the along with her grandson, a future king, prince william coming to meet survivors and talk to the emergency services. at greenfell tower, it is going to be known for evermore as the scene of a terrible tragedy. it has become a national tragedy and very, very political. theresa may came yes today. she met with the emergency services. -- theresa may came yesterday and was asking what do they need to firefighters and the police. so many questions and criticisms from the labour party, opposition and other quarters and also the media, the british media and international media saying she do not bother to meet survivors. very tense political times for the prime minister whether brexit or talking to northern

ireland parties and as heavy criticism and this response about an hour ago the prime minister would be visiting in the coming hours, some of the interest from greenfell tower in a hospital. >> as we have been observing, emergency services are still hard at work. what are the latest development? benedicte: the emergency services saying it will take weeks, possibly months. we have the public inquiry ordered by the prime minister shortly after she returned to down a street. what is needed, everybody agrees, swift responses. planning, the planning on that building that has been put on in the last 18 months to 2 years is coming under heavy scrutiny and offer -- under heavy criticism.

that is another type of material in other countries that is far more resilient. hows a question of cost per much money are you expected to spend on saving lives? inferno.towering this is what happened and what is being said as many investigations is that that planning helped the fire absolutely take over the building estimate of the life of the people inside, as well as the firefighters, just impossible. >> thank you. many questions need answering and we will continue coming back as it develops. today is the last day of campaigning and france's parliamentary election i had off sunday's vote after coming on top in the first round, macron's parties on track to win the absolute majority he needs to

put his programs in place which is market reforms. it will not be all smooth sailing. eads to ater, claire h suburb where the favorite to win is a communist candidate. >> low turnout is marie-george buffet's number one enemy. she is fighting to keep her seat and a suburb, north of paris, one of the last communist strongholds. 67% of residents did not vote in the first round. the candidate has come to support the shop workers and their plans to cut 26 jobs. >> workers are becoming destitute with all of these labor market reforms. this is the new right wing and macron embodies it.

we did not manage to win the presidential race but for the program entry, we have to fight against macron. parliamentary, we have to fight against macron. >> the candidate running for macron's is set to go after those who do not vote. he was born and raised in the constituency and she called 25% of the vote in the first, behind her communist rival. the president's candidate believes she will be best placed to make changes for the community. >> here, we have had 20 years of communism. as then sending people to sleep proving miracles at every election. at the end of the day, nothing changes. candidatesident's

gets in, nothing will happen. he will not hold any sway. france'sg loser in elementary election -- parliamentary election is the socialist party. he came in fifth with less than 20% of the vote, a far cry from the 20% she won years ago. she stepped down to allow thee-george buffet to win second round. this time, she does not know who to vote for. >> obviously, i am left wing so you would inc. i'm support the communist party. i want to see change. -- i do not support either of their programs. right until the last minute, i could change my mind. >> unlike last time, voters have 2 candidates to choose from in the second round. they had to decide whether

tuesday a communist stronghold or vote for the president's new party. >> clamping down on cuba. you president donald trump will announce plans for miami to roll tok barack obama's policy cuba. he is expected to tighten rules on americans traveling to the communist island. federal policy will restrict american companies from doing business with cuban enterprises controlled by the military. he is trying to meet a campaign pledge but struck down of closing embassies are breaking diplomatic ties. trump's's said it -- aides said obama's easing has not helped human relations. cuba, donald trump plans to roll back part of the historic deal reached by present -- former president barack obama. he is stopping short of cutting diplomatic ties with the island,

while campaigning, trump called the cube accord a bad deal and said he could've negotiated a better deal. it has many cubans anxious. he is expected to tighten rules governing travel and restricting u.s. companies from doing business with cuban enterprises owned by the military. some say it would make it nearly impossible for american companies to operate on the island. military is involved in well over half of the cuban economy. you have them involved in everything from luggage transport at the airport to provision of goods and services act as port terminals for cruise ships. they have an extensive reach and if you are not allowed to do any business with a military companies, you cannot do business in cuba. >> the trump administration is pointed to cuba's lack of progress.

>> if we sustain the sunny side of this relationship, cuba must begin to address his human rights challenges. >> fewer american tourists mean fewer dollars and the pockets of cubans who rely on the industry. americans -- our economy is 85% of americans per it could create chaos because we live off of it. last year, more than 600,000 cubans traveled to cuba by cruise ship or plane, a 74 percent increase from last year. visitors generated as much as $40 million for private cuba business owners. >> for more on this story, let's open it up to our correspondent. doug, why is donald trump doing this and how far will he take it? >> is it a total reversal?

no, a drastic step up of restrictions. we heard, diplomatic relations will stay in place. the u.s. embassies that reopened last year, they will remain open. commercial flights between u.s. and cuba will resume. that remains in place. anything but, consistent donald trump. being un-obama. if you still boil down his administration, undoing all of the thing barack obama considered his signature, whether were talking about rolling back health care, were and replacing so-called obamacare are the new regulations in climate change, pooling that the u.s. out of the paris climate agreement. this is in line. it was a policy when barack obama first announced it in 2014, he said, half a century of

estrangement has not worked. it has not achieved in the objective of overthrowing the communist regime, we have to try a different approach. the approach should be perhaps opening to cuba and a lot of cubans on board with the policy they have begun to see benefits in terms of national security, economics, social policy. it has begun to read some fruits. didld trump, as we heard, say he would get tough on the communist regime. >> who is he getting tough on the citizens of cuba? how will it impact them in ordinary americans? >> the ordinary americans, very interesting. specific impact, you will have travel restrictions. there are 12 categories in which america's can travel to cuba. 400,000 americans expected to visit cuba this year alone.

you could have an end to people to people travel. individual saying i want to go to cuba, book their ticket and go. you will be subject to get government position or be part of a licensed tour group. it will be that much harder. the real thing is the trade and business ties. we heard there will be a real crackdown on business dealings with anyone with any businesses controlled by the military. between the military and intelligence services, a big company of the military arm that controls vast sways. he said it is about the cuban people and trying to protect them against a communist regime. the end of the day, the cubans, the economy depends on tourism and that entire sector. in a sense, his policy could have a backlash effect on cubans themselves. it will be quite an impact, but

-- some people say. in terms of travel and economics from the cubans. >> our international affairs editor, thank you. turkey's main opposition party has set off on a grueling march from ankara to istanbul covering 425 kilometers of ground for -- of ground. thousands of people from the republican people's party have taken to the streets in a so-called march for justice. one person was slapped with a 25 year sentence for revealing state secrets. how the critics of the government say it is politically motivated. earlier, we spoke to our correspondent in ankara. >> from the reaction it is gotten so far, the march is condemned by president erdogan and his political ally in parliament, the leader of the

ultra-right nationalist movement party. the two of them are clearly unhappy about this march. i do not think that is enough. you know, president erdogan only changes direction when he sees he is losing the support of his own voters. his own voters, unfortunately, are not overly concerned about human rights. -- it is time for our business update. brian quinn joins us. what is top news stories. donald trump's plan to walk the u.s. back from relations with cuba. p expected to announce tighter restrictions on travel between u.s. and cuba and a clamp on a business is linked to the cuban military. due to the extensive reach, they can have an effect across almost all of the country's business sectors for a group of cuban

female entry doors have -- sectors. -- a group of cuban female boycotting there first family. >> a group of 55 cuban women sent a letter to ivanka drop and hope she may -- trump and hope she may convince her father not to reverse the relationships. >> please do not reverse the relationship. they helped us cuban women entrepreneurs to empower our families and empower our society. u.s. president donald trump is expected to reverse policies under the obama of memos -- administration that restored relations with cuba after more than half a century of isolation. the trump administration is

expected to scale back by reinstating travel restrictions and stopping companies linked to the cuban military. many female business owners rely on u.s. tourism. >> i think relations with cuba have opened in a number of ways since obama implemented the measures. it has helped my business grow exponentially. as a majority of my clients are from north america. >> more than 600,000 u.s. tourists visited cuba in 2016. cupid individuals have earned more than $40 million over the last two years sharing their homes on a website. 58% of airbnb housing are women. in the letter, they invited ivanka trump to visit cuba to see the progress that has been made firsthand. greece's creditors have

agreed to release those last of the bailout plan. they badly needed the 8.5 euro -- 8.5 to avoid default billion euro payment to avoid default in a few weeks. the involvement of the international monetary fund which is expected to approve in principle. it is a sticking point. the imf and greece has been hoping for measures to ease the country's debt load. minister saidce while they do not get everything they wanted, progress has been made. >> we feel there is a much greater clarity on a both the greek people -- both the greek people and the financial markets. is it as much clarity as the greek people deserve after all of the forms carried out and all of the sacrifices that have been made?

perhaps not, but we recognize that we do not want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. we recognize that all sides have tried to give an compromise to some extent. >> time for a check of the markets. european indexes trading higher. investors are feeling optimism. auto sales are doing well as fresh data shows european new car registration rose nearly 8%. tesco soar. let's take a look at more business headlines. takata is expected to file for bankruptcy. the company is facing billions of dollars in liability from forctive airbags worldwide and they are in talks with a

takeover. dupont and dow chemical have cleared a key regulatory hurdle. u.s. authorities have approved of them to sell of certain assets. dow and dupont announced the merger in the late 2015. a meltdown at british airways that stranded thousands of passengers last month at least called 80 billion british pounds. the estimate was released thursday adding up to lost revenue, rebooking and accommodation costss from the debacle. aig said his independent investigation is still ongoing. very expensive mistake. >> thank you. the latest from the business world for its time for the press .eview -- world -- it is time for the press review. a look at some of the papers.

focusing on french politics today. with extraordinary moment what is coming up on sunday, the second round of the legislative a vote. the business paper is leaving on this as so many of the french papers. it is saying what we will expect is a tidal wave of support for macron and his new party, la republique en marche. you can see very complex, full coverage in the basic message is 470titled wave will of the seats out of 577. that is the latest opinion poll is slightly more than what we have been. the comment is, in his wish he will be president of all the french is almost true when you consider that statistic. the downside is people have not been voting, one into voted last week. >> one pointed out there will be

a lot of new mp's with little experience. >> it is saying what we are seeing are novices knocking on the door of the national assembly building of the french parliament and it said one in three of the mps for macron's party have held no elected office. i have seen other statistics. many are inexperienced. inside, they say it is actually a training day lined up. hold up, just one training day to cope with life in the national assembly. you can see the headline. how the parties coaching the new mps. one of the problems is according to this paper is that macron's party will have the numbers but not the experience of heavyweights in the political life to lead things that the

parliamentary commission. that is one worry for macron. the paper said macron's message is you should listen in the chamber to the vote -- so the voices can be heard, which is a different tone from what we are used to. let's go to left wing galena paper and it has an article that says hold on a minute -- left wing leaning paper and it has an article that says hold on a minute. they said it is complex and codified. the whole of life in france is complex. there are very few guidelines for the newbies. what they do have is instructions about how to reserve your place in the restaurant in the parliament building, but not in information of how a session in a day's working of parliament to how that takes place. it points out that, yes, it is a handbook but for the old hands

to tell the new guys on the block what is going on. the new recommendation that the new guys should not try to do too much. a blow to the traditional party, the socialist and conservatives. >> we have seen the meltdown on both sides. if we look at a paper, available -- it is on the right. saying the photos you see are people who think they want to cooperate with macron. the paper says it is signaling a split already and it is reduced. the republican party said both guys are traitors and this whole political shenanigans that are going on big time. paper go to a right wing

which is what we are seeing from the republicans on the right. you see the cartoon, a steamroller lurching forward to crush was remains. >> that international press is leading on macron. >> the economist, let's look. europe's savior. you can see macron literally walking on water. theresa may is sinking underwater. the economist is arguing macron is the right man at the right time and he steals policies without prejudice from left and right. he will face resistance. the advice from "economist" is you must resist that strikes we will see here in france. one of the reactions on the twitter, just a moment ago, was "economist" is pro-macron.

of fascination from various quarters. the question mark is lingering about what will happen in french life. >> macron

michael klare: welcome, everyone. i'm going to speak tonight about the major themes of my book which is "the depletion or disappearance of the world's vital resources." the resources we depend upon to support our modern industrial civilization and about the scramble to procure, to secure what's left in the world of