>> welcome to live from paris. i'm in the french capital, let's take a look at headlines this hour. shinzo abe a looks fit to claim a decisive victory after the elecection.. reviving the pacifist constitution as the country faces a growing threat fm north korea. after a bloody campaign, the fromppines, reading a city pro-islamic state militants. as pain moves to impose home rule on -- as spain moves to impose home on catalonia, next moves across the region.

♪ >> we begin in japan with prime minister shinzo abe set to win after exit polls showing a decisive victory. promised to deal fairly with north korea, local media reporting his ruling coalition hass r retained two thirds majoy in parliament paving the way for him to amend the nations postwar pacifist constitution. [applause] >> japan's prime minister has won his bet. the liberal democratic party acquiring a landslide victory in the parliamentary election. despite pre-election opinion polls which showed lackluster support for his policies. he called sunday's elections a year in advance in hopes of

gaining the super majority needed to revise the country's pacifist constitution removing any doubt about legitimacy of the country's armed forces. while the move has not sat well with the country's opposition, shinzo abe says he is hoping to change that. >> the constitutional revision we are facing, a high hurdle rerequiring the approval of two thirds of parliament. although the ruling coalition did win the election we need too gain wider support on this, not so much the ruliling coalition t also from the opposition, after that with the public, winning a majority in the referendum. shinzo abe says by strengthening the military the country can better deter north korea which has threatened to sink japan and has fired two missiles over the northern island. >> we will deepen our coordination with the international community to let north korea change their course. i'm renewing my determination to

protect people's lives so they live in these under any circumstances. revisions of the constitution to become official they have to be approved by a majority of the japanese public. in the referendum. >> let's get more from france 24, in tokyo, shinzo abe is not enormously popular. how did he manage to claim a big election victory? showed that more than half the voters said they didn't trust the prime minister and yet, they voted overwhelmingly for the ruling party. the reason is that people are looking for stability. aty want a stable government a time of heightened tensions with north korea. , whenant the government pyongyang is fired -- has fired a missile every month since february, people are worried.

the other reason is a divided opposition. by thety of hope led popular governor of tokyo failed to gain momentum during the campaign. the other party, the constitutional democratic party, did manage to triple its base but it remains a small force in parliament. it is only three weeks old and it has had barely any time to prepare itself for the election. >> what does this election outcome mean for japan going forward? prime minister shinzo abe managed to retain his two thirds supermajority in parliament together with the coalition partner and other parties like favorrty of hope also constitutional reform. theseconservatives --

conservative parties even in opposition together with the ruling party accounts for 80% of parliament. that will certainly help the prime minister push through his plan for reform of the constitution. however not all parties agree on how to go about to bring about that reform. sor instance, it even the ldp' partner is reluctant, cautious about having military forces written into the text of the constitution. it will be in uphill battle for the prime minister, in parliament but also he then needs to call i recommend -- a referendum and have the majority of the population agree to such an idea. that mission is far from being a college. >> thank you for that. staying in the region, the philippines have announced an end to five months of military operations in a southern city that is being held by poet

islamic state militants. that is being held up pro-islamic state militants. that is not the biggest security threat. stragglerst group of , they were caught inin one building. there was a firefight so they were finished. 42, inside the city. >> more from the regional arta.spondent in jak are they really defeated? > they have suffered a significant d defeat, , while te leader of the terrorist group is killed. the local islamic state

affiliate that led the resistance for almost five months against the military iss it wkekened with greatat numbers ofof troop l loss. one of the two b brothers that d the group, also killed in the operation. there is a significant victory for the military. the grououp is not the only militant group in sosoutheast asia. parts of t the southern island e difficult to police with militant factions continuing to be influential to the region. for example as a foreigner, ifif you are i in the rural area you are in r risk of being kidnappe. other elements of the grououp cocontinued to control territoto on the islands in the south of the archipelago.

may h have been defefeated in rawi for now bututhere is a a mh bigger picture of militants in southeast asia. >> it is interesting what you said there because just how strong, the extremists across the country, are they really a serious threat as the government has claimed? they very much are. they continue to be influential. they are a continued threat and if anything the danger of smaller scale terrorist attacks across the philippines and southeast asia hasas grown. marawi has been a galvanizing force for terrorists in the region. many have gone to fight their crossing through borneo, from malaysia into the southern philippines. the question is now, what are they going to do now?

it is anyone's guess what can happen. likely dispersal of the fighters and it seems unlikely there will similarditional, attempt to take land on the mainland in the short term. barriers -- areas are incredediy lawless. to set up a baseseamp therere ad continue to train anand entertan ththe aspirarati of the islamic state to hold terrrritory even f it h has been lost in the middle eaeast. it i is an uneneasy time for the security situation. now additional concerns for the reason. >> thank you for that. news, the catalan parliament will meet over the coming days to agree on a response to the governments decision to impose a rule. the regional president is planning to press ahead with a

unilateral declaration of independence. rebecca rossman has the story. >> a day of defiance. catalan took to the streets on sunday to perform where they joined in a circle, hands enter twined. -- intertwined. it was a symbol of unity while the government is at the brink of collapse. the cabinet is meeting today to theuss counter steps to spanish prime minister who on saturday sent shockwaves across the country after announcing he was removing others from office and curbing the regional governments power. a session is planned for later this week. many suspecting this could be the opportunity to act on the threat of independence. in an attempt to preempt the the firstster, for time in history, calling on the senate to trigger -- article 155

of the constitution which would allow the central government to temporarily take control of the region including over local police, finances and public media. on tuesday, a special commission of 27 members of the spanish senate will be reviewing the request. make ale, a chance to case to the senate on thursday. just ahead of friday's decision when the senate votes on whether or not to approve the article. forcing article 155 will have its own set of challenges. separatists expected to try and block the measure, civil disobedience. >> human rights activists say the islamic state group killed 128 people in a syrian town. the killings occurred over a before theperiod syrian army recapture the town.

you cannot force talks among people who are not ready to talk. that is what the u.s. secretary of state said after meetings in saudi arabia and qatar, rex tillerson pushing for progress to end the long row between qatar and its neighbors. calling on iranian backed militias to leave iraq. as the fight against the islamic state in the region draws to an end. >> iranian militias that are in now that the fight against isis is coming to a close, those militias need to go home. any foreign fighters in iraq need to go home. allow the iraqi people to regain control of areas that had been overtaken by isis and desh, allow the iraqi people to rebuild their lives. >> we have more from washington. >> u.s. secretary of state, rex

tillerson was speaking after a rare meeting between leaders of iraq and saudi arabia there. of rex tillerson were almost entirely aimed at iran. fresh from the announcement here in washington from u.s. president donald trump, the tougher stance from the united states toward tehran. it is time for the iranian backed militias to go home said the u.s. secretary of state now that the fight against the islamic state is coming to a close. those also the words of rex tillerson. those iranian backed militias did help the united states achieve one of its biggest foreign-policy goals, not just of the trump administration but of the previous obama administration. the defeat of the islamic state organization not just in iraq but also in syria. a u.s. official had to come out ter to expxplain what rex tillerson meant with the iranian backed m militias.

they are the popular mobilization forces in iraq but also, the paramilitary arm of the iranian revolutionary guard that had been sanctioned by the trump administration earlier this month. what this administration is seeing in the region or what it is fearing at this point is the increasing influence of iran in the region at the exact same time that the trump administration is trying to an and is dealing with it as a rogue regime. >> jumping off a 30 meter highbridge it might not be everybody's cup of tea. one group of 245 daredevils in brazil did just that on sunday. not alone. they did it together to break a new world record. the event taking place near sao paulo. an extraordinary feat.

something i would not attempt myself. let's take a look at what has been making news. claim a decisive victory after calling an early election. to revise the pacifist constitution, the country faces a growing threat from north korea. after a bloody campaign, the philippines eclairs -- declares to five months of fighting islamic state militants. next inng what to do catalonia as protests continue across the region. time now for our business update and i'm joined here in the studio. >> good, how are you? >> starting with market reactions to the election in japan. >> stronong response from the markets. a clear victory for shinzo abe. japanese shares jumped from more

than 1% as the yen weekend. the longest winning streak in the history of the index. most other asian markets closed in the green. in europe, a positive trading session, indices comfortably trading up. the ibex 35 was down 3/10 of a percent over concerns of a deepening political crisis. for more on the economic implications of the election win in japan, i'm joined by a professor at the school of management and information at a japanese university. thank you for speaking with us. first off, to what extent would you say shinzo abe's economic policies helped to secure this win? >> let's not forget that most japanese exporters have record eaearnings andnd they are flourishing. is the profitem

they made isn't being filtered into the employee wages. we a are not seeing the secondnd stage whicich is consusumption risising, the econonomics or, te regimes s waiting fofor it to happen. as for structural reform, the trajectory of the third arrow is different from the first two. we have to wait and see. >> what are some of the economic policies that voters are waiting to see from the third term of shinzo abe? the cononsumption tax rise from 8% to 10%. from a european point of view it may sound low. the last time they rose up from 5% to 8%. there has been a devastating decline in japanese consumptptin behavior.. the fragilitity of the behavior was weaker than wewe expected. this is a delicate move. an increase to tax is never very popular as a political move.

showst t do thiso discipline to the world d that e are trtrying to do something abt our debt ratio. >> as we saw from the reaction in the markets, investors seem to be reassured by the prospect of more economic stimulus. what challenges lie ahead for shinzo abe to deliver on promises of growtwth? >> quiuite a few. if you look at the external factors,s, a lot of unknown statates,n the united the polilitical ininstability t. , of national, -- secondly, as i said before, the trajectory of the third arrow which is structural transition. should be more e tackle from the opposition in this regard. the party, the for

opposition does not have the capability to tackle at this point. >> thank you very much for speaking with us from the university. we apologize for the quality of the video coming in off of skype. we wrap up this business update with the story of the smiley. it was a french invnvention and the family that pat did it -- that patented it is still raking in cash. >> you might be surprised to hear that it is a french invention. the company is based in london, it was setup up in 1972 by a young journalist writing for the -- writing for a french newspaper. >> when you are reading the papers are listening to the radio or watching tv it is bad news. i wanted to point out the good news. he told me it was not possible. -- if there article

was an article with good news i would draw a smiley face. smiley andted the then came millions of avatars around the world each with its own character and quirks. it has become a powerful branding tool since then. in the smiley family, his son has taken the helm and expanded the company's reach. i inspired a movement and then it was reinvented and redeveloped by other companies. it is something i am proud of. >> smiley companies now one of the worlds top licensing companies with more than 260 licensees around the globe. it sells more than 23 million products each year. >> you are smiling there. >> i am smiling. thanks to a french inventor. who would have thought? >> that is the business update.

it is time for the press review. ♪ , spending thenow day browsing through the main stories and what has been making headlines. and thegin with spain tensions continue to rise in catalonia after the announcement on saturday. >> as the spanish pm announced, he would depose the catalan separatist leader. let's look at the front page, a catalan paper record it to be close to the separatist movement, they say the spanish sovereignty is seeking a united response after activating article 155. another daily says, "our democracy is going through troubled times. the disloyalty of catalan authorities have forced the hand of the government. dissolving the government is not

the answer." the paper urging a common goal, democracy, "with all its imperfections, deserves to be improved." >> moving on to a short-lived controversy. -- the appointment of a zimbabwe leader as a goodwill ambassador. rather interesting. >> there is a lot of chatter on twitter and other social media. many people thought it was a joke. ahead of the world health organization, and ethiopian politician appointed this goodwill ambassador and quickly rescinded the appointment after widespread outrage because zimbabwe's leader has been in our for more than 40 years. he is been accused of human rights abuses and many feel that the world health no right of pointing him given that the

country's medical system is very poor neglected. the zimbabwe mail attacks the ethiopian head of the who saying that he wanted to repay zimbabwe's later, the zimbabwe mail says that in the end it shows that they are part of an african old man's club. on twitter many people have been reacting. a user says "if only the presidential term were as short as his u.n. ambassadorship." askinguerto rico, washington for a bailout plan as the island is still struggling in the aftermath of hurricane maria. bailout plan but a marshall plan. that is what she said, the mayor of san juan. the u.s. gave european allies billions of dollars to help rebuild after world war ii and

she wants puerto rico to have the same bailout plan to help them rebuild after hurricane maria. remembering that puerto rico is a u.s. territory, the mayor has said that fema, a u.s. emergency agency, needs to work faster and their aid has helped in bringing food and water to the people. a benefit concert for victims of puerto rico. is one photo of the event that has gone viral. >> a photo that will warm your heart in these troubled political times. this picture here of america's five past living presidents, jimmy carter, george bush senior and junior, bill clinton and barack obama, the five presidents came together for a rare appearance to raise money for puerto rico and here they are with lady gaga who was headlining. saying that sometimes a boy band

needs an extra member to make a comeback. a lot of comments like that on twitter. another user said it was a beautiful example of humanity at its best. , most of the island is still without electricity. is doingnce, calais his best to woo english tourists back to the town. >> this tuesday marks one year since the camp was dismantled. things got tense between the french and british over what to do with the influx of migrants. those images in the media are clashes between migrants and police and the camps tarnished the city's reputation. a french paper says that the city will now drawback it is tourists. they want the return to an era of "hotels, casinos on the beach

and an english feel to the city." they want to build an equestrian center and bring back the days of glamorous horse races. it could not be a better time because the city suffers from over 14% unemployment and they are hoping with this boost in tourism it will also bring back jobs to the city. >> let's and with a president -- let's end with a presidential leak from the house. with hisel macron was ministers when his dog was gildedng loudly on the mantelpiece of the presidential office. forleak was captured posterity by a tv crew who was filming at the time. nemo was adopted from an animal shelter by emmanuel macron and his wife in august. dogs behaving badly there is nothing new.

previous minister had to give away his dog. >> we will have to end there.

narrator: the following program is an original p production ofof link tv. next up, conveniencee undercover. meet the maskeked shoe shiners of bolivia and some other unusual entrepreneurs. all part of link tv's "viewchange" film contest. announcer: "viewchange" is about people making real p progress in tackling the world's toughest issues. can a story change the world? see for yourself in "viewchange." small business. big impact. narrator: whetether it's carving cobblestones or farming cocoa, a new business can be the best ticket out of poverty, and in the developing world, small businesses have a big impact for entire communities. first, watch some women bring a little color to the world of micr