♪ "> welcome to the "france 24 newsroom. i am molly hall. here are the headlines we are following. tosung's tycoon is sentenced -- years in prison. he was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, and perjury. the search is on for the ousted prime minister of thailand. she skipped a verdict in a negligent case brought against her. hurricane harvey is set to strike texas.

the storm strengthening as a barrels toward the u.s. gulf coast. ♪ molly: those are the top stories we are following this hour, but we start with a developing story out of afghanistan. there were reports a shiite moscow has come under attack -- mosque has come under attack. police say there are sounds of explosions and the gunman are still inside the mosque that was crowded with worshipers. it's located in a northern neighborhood of kobul. a member of afghanistan's shiite clerical counsel was quoted saying at least two people have died. we will have more in the coming our.

-- hour. of samsungaire heir group has been sentenced to five years in jail. he was found guilty of bribery and other corruption charges. his 6-month trial is part of a wider bribery scandal that ultimately brought down the country's president. here is how some people are reacting. >> giving a five-year jail sentence is big news. i hope this will be a good example to other conglomerate leaders as well. it does not reflect the national sentiment and not even the standards set by law. i am worried that such a ruling might worsen the so-called crime of having no money in our society. for more on this, we can

cross to our correspondent in seal -- seoul. with the make of this verdict and the sentence? this difficult to say at point. south korea has a very long history judicially of leniency towards the chairman and the family members of the chairman of these gigantic conglomerates that dominate the south korean economy. samsung being the leading one including sk, high-end a -- hyundai, lg. the past chairman that were convicted of corporate crimes have generally seen very light sentences, presidential pardons, and so on and we know for a fact the legal team will be appealing this sentence. this is not really a done deal. that being said, the five-year sentence does send a message.

it seems likely he will be behind bars for tom -- for some times to come because it seems unlikely his appeals will be heard anytime likely through next year. molly: all of this is part of this wider bribery scandal that brought down the president did what does this ruling, this verdict mean for the current president who has been detained and is in custody? andrew: absolutely. i think this is very bad news for the ex-president and her lee iseam because what accused of is bribery and corruption. she is the briber, which makes her and her crony the bribee. two trialssure these are related and this is very bad

had for her if indeed lee been found not guilty, that could raise one of the legal burdens over her. now that he has been found guilty, this looks very grim for the upcoming verdict. inly: you touched upon this the first question, but what exactly does this mean for samsung? who is going to be at the helm and how is the company going to function? andrew: that is the question. what is interesting about this has beenamsung's lee in jail since february and samsung job -- stock has risen 32%. electronics were down 1% following this news, but samsung appears to have done extremely well, the best results ever in the previous quarter while the de facto leader has been in jail pending his trial.

he's the vice-chairman. his father has been incapacitated since 2014, so he is out of the managerial loop and lee himself is not seen as being a visionary business leader. bear in mind, samsung is run not necessarily by lee and the founding family, but professional managers. many people would say it seems clear the leagues -- the lees have been taken out of samsung management and prevent they are not business geniuses that they are often painted to the end the foundation may be better off without them at the managerial helm. molly: thank you very much for that. andrew reporting from seoul. authorities in thailand are looking for the former leader. primelikely the ousted minister has fled the country. on friday she failed to show up for the verdict in a negligent

trial against her. >> thousands gathered in front of thailand's supreme court to show support for their ex prime minister. their weight turned out to be -- wait to be in vain. shinawatra never showed up. she said she suffered from an ear ache. >> if she is not guilty, she should stay and fight. the law is already on her side and would allow her to appeal. if she is not here, what does that tell you? will she still claim she did not get justice? >> yingluck shinawatra was ousted in a 2014 military coup and she now faces years in prison for supporting -- her supporters say is

politically motivated. >> we really believe that former prime minister yang luck -- yingluck acted in the people's and the farmer's interest. we hope she will receive justice and we are here to support her. >> honesty, justice, fairness, i don't want her to face the same in --as done brother was ousted by a two in 2006 and now lives in exile after fleeing a corruption conviction. molly: in east asia, the death toll from typhoon hato has risen to 17. -- is picking up the pieces this friday. nine people died when the storm region. the south china the leader had to apologize as the government has been criticized for mishandling

response to the storm and failing to adequately warn residents as it approached. , ining with severe weather the united states, hurricane harvey is set to strike the state of texas. the storm is strengthening as a barrels toward the gulf coast. it's a sound being heard all along the texas coast as residents do all they can to prepare for what is shaping up to be the fiercest hurricane there state has seen in over a decade. >> i got four things of water and formula for the baby. fruit,r, canned goods, lots of -- for my little boys to eat. just trying to be prepared. harvey is being fueled by warm water and moving slowly so it will be able to dump maximum amounts of rain. went could push as much as -- wind could as much as 12 feet of water on sure in what is known as a storm surge.

there are mandatory evacuations for those in low lying areas. >> i am not gone up at one of my deputy's lives on the line to get you out. you are on your own. >> these residents are doing as they are told. bought the house and have only been in there less than 30 days. >> it is sad because we don't know what will happen. we don't know if we will come home to a --back to a home. >> not everybody is ready to leave their property to and uncertain fate. katedon't want looters to -- to come in, so i want to stick around. schoolents in houston's district may see a bright side to the storm. they were supposed to start classes on monday, but their superintendent decided to delay the first way of school. molly: it has been over a year since the british voted to leave the european union and during

that time, net migration to the u.k. has dropped significantly. -- tells us why. >> the countdown is on until the u.k. formerly -- formally leaves the european union. many brits are saying they voted on a divorce to gain more control of their borders. net migration has been falling since the referendum with latest numbers from the statistics office showing it dropped to the lowest level in three years. >> it highlights the fact that net migration is coming down, which is what i think the british public want to see and that means within that, particularly the non-e.u. migration, we have seen 82% fall. -- we have seen a 20% fall. >> it is the alarming departure of e.u. nationals that explains the drop. 33,000 left this year, making it the highest outflow in almost a decade.

citizens from eastern european countries make up a significant chunk of this number with an increase of 58% in departures. employers have a deal for the government to come up with a clear policy explaining the status of e.u. nationals in brexit britain. a criticism shared by the u.k.'s opposition leader, jeremy corbyn. >> you have to look at the effects of greg -- of migration and the lack of people working in public service and nhs and england are facing problems because of the number of -- e.u.-u.k.oming divorce has had a significant impact on migration flows. with the country now bracing for rexedus.led b molly: charles as no more has been honored with a star on the hollywood boulevard. -- has the details. [applause]

prolific legend in france and beyondnd. he has received a star on the hollywood walk of fame. star, i can be a little bitidered californian because i have my daughter here and my grandchildren, so the grandfather is american. recorded and has written thousands of songs in multiple languages and produced to those wholbums work standshis alongside that is other icons such as elvis presley and frank sinatra. he was born to armenian presidents and fled to france.

he felt compelled to help after an earthquake. >> it is strange, i realized it was like i had a child that had to be looked after. ♪ aznavour has a career that spans over eight decades and he continues to write songs and perform. ♪ molly: you are watching "france 24." it is time for our business update. i am joined by brian in. we have troubling figures here in france when it comes to the french economy. brian: the unemployment figures have come out and it's not a pretty sight. a significant rise in the number of job seekers.

nearly 35,000 people joined the ranks of the unemployed to rise up a full percent here. france has seen encouraging dips in the stubborn unemployment rate, but the july bump puts it on track for a yearly rise of .1%. over three and a half million people are now seeking work in the country and all sectors saw a rise in july. youth unemployment is on the climb with jobless seniors and long-term unemployment also increasing. the figures are being attributed in part to aspiring short-term job contracts and training programs and they come in a delicate time for the macron administration as he seeks to implement labor reforms. 1.6% overprojected at the coming year and some economists are saying it is not enough to fix the country's chronic unemployment problem. >> we are still in a fairly fragile situation. we cannot start thinking everything is fixed and the

growth will allow us to turn to full employment. even if we see good indicators, these indicators aren't enough to give us a significant drop in unemployment. turning now to argentina where the president is moving ahead with measures to modernize the closed economy. his efforts every silly been met with resistance from the -- his efforts have recently been met with resistance. it is in the region of sierra del fuego -- tierra del fuego. in theit is being called end of the world. the mountainous region was once home to a booming manufacturing hub and produced 90% of some electronics in argentina, benefiting from protectionist policies put in place by the populist former president. for the 150,000 residents of those daysfuego,

have come to an end. >> i showed up to work at 6:00 in the morning and they told me not to go in because i was no longer of the company, just like that. in 2015,taking office the president reversed the southern region special tax breaks and lowered trade barriers in a bid to modernize argentina's economy. employment has plummeted as overseas -- the companies to reduce output. 6000 people lost their jobs. >> i am trying to sell my things to make it month-to-month. it's difficult because eventually i will run out of things. >> nearly 1/5 of argentina's workforce is employed in manufacturing and the plight is simply -- the somatic of a national trend. employment in the sector is -- as a whole dropped by 4.6% with 58,000 jobs lost.

this administration agreed to help unions and companies in troubled industries to lower label -- labor and other cost. bryan: time for a check on the markets. european indexes gaining as investors look ahead to remarks from the meeting of central bankers and wyoming today. most expecting stimulus programs to stay in place. in paris just under 3% as the most recent consumer confidence shows a 1% drop in office. new figures on the frankfurt dax show strong growth in consumer confidence. amazon's whole foods acquisition looks to be kicking off in the u.s. and the ftse 100 gaining 4/10 midday. accusedhorities have two managers at a french bank in participation in a scheme to participate libor. it is used to set borrowing prices on consumer credit

products. this has resulted in roughly $9 billion in fines to banks worldwide. softbank is investing nearly $4.5 billion into a japanese after an announced $1.4 billion investment to grow in asia. -- wework spotify has signed a major new licensing deal with warner music group. the musings -- streaming -- music streaming service as a possible prelude to a public stock offering. finally for business, say it ain't so good wine production in france set to fall to the lowest level since 1991. the agriculture ministry says

production is expected down 18% this year after severe spring frost hit vineyards across the country. france is the world's largest -- second largest wine producer behind italy. the wine and spirit is the second largest exporter and the -- accounted for 10 and a half billion -- 10.5 billion euros last year, especially during harvest time. the drop is not just that for exports, the french also drink more wine than any other country in the world. i try to contribute as much as i can. some of those see prices and the glasses will get that much more expensive. thank you very much for that. the time for our press review. ♪ i am joined in the studio by florence for a look at what is grabbing headlines. we're going to start out with press in russia focusing on the death of russia's ambassador to sudan. >> it was confirmed yesterday by

moscow. you can read that article in the moscow times. -- he was found dead by embassy workers on wednesday. sudanese authorities say he was found dead in his swimming pool. according to the embassy press secretary quoted in this article, foul play has been ruled out and the cause of death was most likely a heart attack or a group. molly: even if it is national -- natural causes, it is getting national attention. >> -- says this is the latest in a macabre series. it is the sixth time a russian official has died abroad since november. being a russian diplomat is a high risk activity according to diplomats are so many dying? that is what the daily beat

wants to know. speculation is round -- is flying around this curious case of the dying russian diplomat. in a world where the russian government is accused of murdering -- with exotic poisons, amateur detectives are to surmise it may be something -- someone hitting back. one thing that is important is there are may -- very many facts and perhaps that is why there are so many conspiracy theories. molly: in cuba we have u.s. and committee at -- canadian diplomats that have reportedly developed a hearing loss. >> they developed these symptoms after what is being called a sonic attack and the havana times reports about these alleged sonic attacks. they could have caused brain damage according to u.s. doctor who assessed these u.s. and canadian diplomats. the diplomats reportedly were suffering from nausea, hearing loss, headaches, and balance disorders. molly: the u.s. hasn't blamed

the cuban government for causing this incident, but it did decide to dispel two cuban diplomats at the cuban embassy in washington in reaction to this. >> in deed and in the "washington post" editorial they do not really hide who they believe is behind the attacks. it says "cuba is a small, highly state wherepolice next to nothing goes unobserved by the regime, much less high-tech results -- assaults on foreign diplomats." it is essentially playing down what is a sinister attack. it is really critical of the former u.s. president barack obama for restoring relations with cuba in the first place. molly: let's focus here on french politics and it's a pretty did -- busy weekend. >> several parties are holding meetings and conferences. what is interesting is the political landscape in france

got a huge shakeup in the wake of the recent presidential and legislative elections. to this paper, many parties on the right and the wounds. licking their it talks about the puzzle of the opposition because the opposition is fragmented like a puzzle into several divided pieces. it talks about crumbs. on the left you have several fighting clans and the socialist parties and the greens and the communist and the middle these partiesl of are fighting with each other and on the right you have the far right national front. within those parties, there are other divisions and hence that puzzle. all of this is very good news for emmanuel macron because the opposition is more preoccupied with inner fighting than actually being in opposition. molly: you mentioned the socialist party is going through a bit of a socialist -- identity crisis. >> some people within the party

said they should change their name for a new beginning because they suffered humiliating defeat. their presidential candidate did not even make it to the second round. what is this new name? it is the socialists. not the socialist party, the socialists. socialist supporters think about this new name change or prospective new name change? they were interviewed and one said, it's a charming new name, a change oft packaging and we are not really interested. the caplly: now with story i certainly love -- cat story i actually love. >> this might be my favorite story i have ever talked about. it's about our colleague, anne. she found her missing cat after nine years.

is cuddles and he disappeared in 2008 and anne desperately searched and eventually lost hope. she got a call from a vet saying the vet had found her cat. she has four other cats and got confused what cat's the that was talking about. kilometers found 425 from where he was lost and was found because of an identification tattoo. she will never know what happened to him, but here he is an here is a photo of their happy reunion. 9 years. i wonder what that is in cat years. molly: thank you so much. we are going to take a quick break and the news continues on "france 24."

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