you are watching "france 24" time for 60 minutes live around the world. here are the headlines. the army of zimbabwe taken overr as heavy gunfire is hearard in e capital. the military d denies they arere leadingg a coup, saying that mugabe is safe without revealing where he is. now the south african president has confirmed the information and he says he spoke with robert mugabe who told him he is safe,

but under house arrest. and the president of lebanon says nothing has justify the prime minister's c continued absence from lebanon, which means he is actually being detained. the prime mininister, haririri,e an announcement from saudi arabia declaring that he was retiring and has not come back cents. a record -- back since. and a record number of airplanes in a billion-dollar deal. and a victory for gay rights in australia, the country has overwhelmingly backed same-sex marriage in a survey held through the mail. live fromtop story, paris. ♪

we start with the military takeover of zimbabwe, the army moving in last night, the nine it was a military coup, but saying that the president robert mugabe was being held in a safe location. three explosions were heard in the capital and military vehicles seen in the streets. correspondent: as the military the streets were blocked to key govovernment buildidings with presidents muge under custody. safe and his family are and sound and event -- and their security is guaranteed. we are taking criminals who are committing crimes t that aree

creating suffering in the country, in order to bring them to justice. correspondent: the soldiers took over the state broadcasters in the early hours of wednesday morning, but promised a return to normalcy after they finish their mission. according to government sources, the finance minister is among those detained. the announcement came after a night of unrest. three explosions were heard in area.l -- in the central fearing the instability, zimbabwe residents had a rush on banks. residents have been told to take shelter because of the political uncertainty. anchor: the south african president is one of robert mugabe's closest allies and he says he spoke with him by telephone. he said that mugabe indicated he was confined to his home and

that he was fine. >> i am hoping the defense force will not move. that they will be able to respect the condition of zimbabwe, as well as the people of zimbabwe, so that this situation does not go beyond the situation where e it is now. we are hoping the situation is going to be controlled, so that peace and stability comes back to zimbabwe. anchor: we will get more analysis on the situation. i am joined by doug, what sparked this to happen now? seeinghat we have been is a leadership struggle over the past is. we know that robert mugabe is not getting any younger, he is 93 into very frail. there has already been skirmishing these recent months and speculation on what will happen when he goes. it is pretty black and white in

terms of where the lines are drawn in the succession of struggle. you have a lot of veterans from the liberation struggle, the generation from the 1970's just before zimbabwe got independence from great britain in 1980, who fought alongside mugabe. and from outside, from mozambique, there was a fierce struggle. fast-forward 40 years, that is how long mugabe has been presiding over zimbabwe, you have now a sense among a lot of the people in the liberation struggle that they are being marginalized and forced to the sidelines in favor of a younger generation, notably led by the wife of robert mugabe, it is called generation 40. it is a classic leadership and power struggle and the two

factions, where you have irony with a situation of a military takeover in which those leading the military takeover are at the same time announcing that the presidents, mugabe and the leader of the independence struggle is safe, just in detention, they are not doing anything with him, it is those around him. they are basically trying to bring back those who have been marginalized. and they are in favor of his wife, bringing back the vice presidents who was dismissed by mugabe, and ringback others who felt that they were losing -- bring back others who felt that they were losing to this new generation. mugabe is staying for now, but at the same time trying, the military is trying to do these maneuvers and trying to bring back those, you know come a that they favor basically for the eventual leadership succession. anchor: tell us about the wife,

grace. she is unpopular at home. doug: she is deeply unpopular at home. flamboyant,d as extremely extravagant, they call her gucci grace for her high tastes. beyond that there is a faction in zimbabwe who see her as more of exerting control and influence over her aging, in some cases ailing husband. they see her as the one pulling the ropes at this point. not suggesting that mugabe is suffering from dementia or not calling the shots, no, he is still president, but she as i youngere is 40 years and she has a dominant personality with her own women's answer youth wing, that to her. she is a powerful figure. is grooming her

for succession, that is something a lot of the older guards see this as a danger to their own prospects, because many places including zimbabwe, when you lose power you lose the prestige, you lose the connections and influence and of the wealth, because the economy and political power are often closely tied together. anchor: douglas, thank you. the president of lebanon hasn't spoken out on the absence of prime minister hariri who resigned in an announcement made from saudi arabia and have not gone back to lebanon since then. the president said nothining justifies the prime minister's continued actions, which means he is actually being detained. our regional correspondent told us more from beirut. correspondent: he has made it clear previously he believes that he is at the very least not free, not able to move freely,,

now he madade it official. he said in public he believess that the pririme ministeter is actually being detained in saudi arabia. agenciesalso add news reported through anonymous sources, that the meetings s wih foreign diplolomats in lebanon were described, they described hariri as being kidnapped, even. i think his position on this has been clear for some time, but hariri has responded too that with a completely differerent tone, using actual local lebanese dialect to say he is ok. he is saying he is absolutely fine and he will come back as he has promised to do so, to his beloved lebabanon. not much content other than again a denial that he is being detained. let's give you background on the

president, his party in n a political alliance -- the patriotic movement which his son-in-law is head of and has --n in france: four hariri calling for hariri to be set free. it was even reported hehe was considering g lodging an officil complaint with the u.n. that hariri is being held against his will. anchor: that was from beirut. iran calling off rescue efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake there on sunday, saying there is no longer any hope of finding survivors. at least 530 people were killed in the worst earthquake to hit the country in a decade. thousands more hurt in the tremors that had the border with iraq. many people forced to sleep outside in the freezing cold, and desperately in need of food

and water. iran has so far declined any offers of foreign aid. the u.s. secretary of state is in miramar today, also known as bruma. he is meeting with the army chief over a crackdown thahat hs muslims00,000 rohingya to flee into bangladesh. rex tillerson said that they were concerned about the .ritical reports he called for an independent investigigation into the crisis, but said that the u.s. would not consider broroad economic sanctions against the country as a whole. we wait forn: while the findings of an investigation on the events that have occurred, the united states will continue to work with our partners to ensure that therere are c consequences fofor indivis

confirmed to have been responsiblble foththe atrococits using all available resources, including those with u.s. law. anchor: meanwhile, back in the united states there has been another mass shooting, this time in california. a gunman usesed a semi-arctic rifle and -- semi a autocratic d handguns to open fire in sacrcramento. he shot dead for people be f for he was killed by police. two children werere wounded who were shot at a school. and also in the u.s., the investigation into the trap campaign's trump elected ties to russia. jeff sessions now blaming his memory to -- for not mentioning russia.ds discussing he says he never lied under oath, saying sleep deprivation and chaos of the election

clouded his mind. julia kim reports. correspondent: another twist in the tangled tale of links with russia. during his january senate confirmation u.s. attorney general jeff sessions said under oath that he was unaware of commune occasions between the donald trump campaign and moscow. but before the house judiciary committee, he turned on his earlier statement, saying there was a meeting that took place. >> i had no recollection of the meeting until i saw these news reports. i do now recall that the march 2016 meeting at the trump hotel but haveattended by -- no clear recollection on what he said at the meeting. correspondent: according to documents, the former campaign foreign-policy advisor george papadopoulos had arranged a meeting with the russian president. although he says he has no clear recollection of the incident,

sessions insists he rebuffed the proposition. >> i did say, do not, you do not represent -- like something like that, i pushed back and i was concerned that he not go off somewhere pretending to represent the trump campaign, he had no authority for that. correspondent: george papadopoulos pleaded guilty to relying -- to lying to the fbi the same day that the chairman of the campaign was indicted on 12 charges, including conspiracy against the united states. anchor: there has been a victory for gay rights in australia. the country has overwhelmingly backed same-sex marriage in a survey that was held through the mail. it paves the way for legislation that could make australia the 26thth nation to formalize gay marriage. for more we go to thomas moorhouse. correspondent: big crowds in

front of a big screen, for a big announcement for australia. on wednesday, equality campaigners and gay couples came to this park and this was the broadcast they had all come to hear. >> now the official results of the straily and marriage law --australian marriage law. yes responses, 7,817,000. 61.6% of clear responses. [cheers] correspondent: in the park, a huge cheer followed by song and dance with similar rallies nationwide. ♪ correspondent: love certainly was in the air with some wasting no time getting down on one knee. >> today means everything. to hear it was over 61%, we are just feelingng the love anand we soso happy. thank you u so much.

corresespondent: close to 80% of australians on the register expressed their view i in a nonbinding postal survey on whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to wed. the prime minister has welcomed the results. >> now it is up to us, here e in the parliament t in australaliao get on with it. get on with the job the us trillion people have asked -- the people have asked us to do and get this done this year before christmas. correspondent: he hopes to push the issue through parliament in a conscience vote in which they will not be obliged to vote for -- the bill could be presented as early as this thursday. anchor: time now for a look at business news with stephen. you are starting with a very big announcement from airbus. >> the company has managed a record order for european aerospace giant, worth $50 billion. the american ambassador's indigo

partners have ordered the airplanes, they will be going to hungry and the united states, and to mexico. correspondent: the biggest single order in the company's history, was almost $50 billion. airbus will sell 430 aircraft, 157 to the73 -- and u.s. investment firm indigo partners. frontier,be leased to just mark and -- jetsmart t and wizair. >> as an o owner you look k at t to produce the seats to market and we are satisfied that airbus has consistently proven to be the winner in all categories. correspondent: the planes are known for low fuel consumption and this is set to become one of the most popular planes in

aviation history. after the deal, airbus will have sold about 14,000 of them since 1988. the announcement comes after didisappointment from the compay on sunday, when it believes it had reached an agreement to sell their flagship superjumbo. the state owned company from saudi arabia instead signed a deal with their rival, boeing. they have failed to secure customers since 2015. and competition between the two airline companies remains intense. shortly after the airbus announcement, boeing concluded a deal to sell 225 737 max aircraft for $27 billion in what has been hailed as the largest single jet order from a middle eastern company. anchor: the latest on debt trauma in venice will you -- in venezuela.

>> after a second ratings agency declared them in default. they said they are in restricted default over failure to make payments on bonds. there was a similar step taken today, there is alarm over the state oil company. meanwhile, russia has confirmed a deal to restructure through $.1 billion worth of gas there. that is a fraction of the debt burden. there commit occasions minister says they are working on a plan -- there minister saysys they ae working on a a plan. >> we all fifinancing exteternal debt. we a a looking a at risk agencis -- ofac, the treasury department, the european union and donald trurump. we do not t care, we w will payn common agreements for the bonds. >> now i look at what is happening in the markets.

in the oil market, the big story today is oil prices continuing to fall after the report from the international agency saying the united states must act on record expansion, oil prices falling. around $61,k crude $50 a barrel. and oil and gas companies among the fallers today. we are keeping an eye on european companies that have trading operations in zimbabwe. of aays trading at 8/10 percent. 2% in paris. more business headlines, profits at the apple supplier falling by 40% in the third quarter. that is falling production problems with the iphone 10. shares down by 1% in taipei. investors reassured by the preorder figures. israel.r laws in

a union took a case against a delivery company, saying the majority of riders want to the rights of employees. arbitration committees find that they were self-employed, because they have the right to allow other riders to take their place on the job. parliament voting in favor of a new tax on the biggest company in the country. they have created it after the constitutional courts struck down a tax on dividends created by the previous government. the new temporary levee will raise about half of the 10 billion euro shortfall in france. anchor: now something for the videogame lovers. mario and luigi coming back to the big screen. >> it could be the biggest licensing deal in recent years, the washington -- reporting that there is a deal with nintendo to make an animated super mario brothers film. the 32-year-old game series is

believed to be the best-selling ever. the deal would see mario and luigi fighting evil mushrooms and turtles. most shockingthe part is the 32 years. anchor: you are probably not even born. >> i remember. anchor: i babysat you i believe. thank you for a look of business news. ♪ we are taking a look what the papers have been saying in france and around the world. hi, let's start with the french president who is actually in germany for the climate change conference. >> should we limit the population of the world to save the planet? that is the question that was asked this morning, as macron makes the trip to germany to attend the climate summit.

15,000 scientists this week signed a petition calling for measures to help limit the world population growth, especially through promoting family planning and educating people, mainly young girls. it is important to know this is a christian newspaper and it is a sensitive subject for them, quote, calls for "responsible procreation." anchor: this is a religious newspaper. they also interviewed a french writer and environmentalist who has s a different opinion on the being too many people. >> he says overpopulation is completely beside the point. that is the argument he puts forth in an op-ed. he calls the population argument, "imposter." he said the world should focus on how countries are redistributing wealth.

he says every seven seconds a child dies of hunger and to solve the problem we need to focus on the money and how to better redistribute wealth in the world. anchor: we are focusing on syria with a story that broke earlier but is now making headlines. >> it came out on monday, but i chose it because it has a lot of photos and is a multi-chapter work. it says in a secret deal, 250 islamic state group fighters, and 3500 members of their families, were escorted out of raqqa and taken elsewhere. there were foreign fighters in the group and they fought to take their ammunition with them. a western coalition kernel -- colonel says, we did not want anybody to leave, but they left the decision of the local forces who brokered the deal. the local forces did this, they accepted for them to be taken out in exchange for the end of

the fighting there. the russian defense minister is picking up a story similar to this, saying u.s. forces have been helping the fighters escape. except the u.s. media has debunked the claim. in the washington post, they show that the images, that the russian government provided as proof the u.s. was held in the jihadists escape is actually from a 2015 videogame. anchor: in any case, russia and the role in the u.s. elections was one of the main issues the u.s. congress was addressing and wanted to talk about yesterday. that is when they were questioning the attorney general. >> for five hours yesterday, jeff sessions was questioned by the house judiciary committee. he testified in january he had never met with any reference. that is well working on the campaign as an advisor. yesterday he said he only remember thehe meetings when the

news announced he had met with russians. he changed his tune. they do not really by his argument, the new york times asking, what else are you forgetting mr. attorney general? the paper also says when he said quote "i have always told the truth," the times says he could be right if you change the definition of the words truth and always. anchor: they also spoke about the controversy with roy moore. >> jeff sessions says he has no reason not to believe the women who have come out against roy moore. now roy moore is running for inf sessions' senate seat alabama, but the republican party has dropped him because of allegations of abusing minors. and there is a cartoon about the scandal, with a sign that says this is roy moore country, girls, lock your doors. anchor: and there was an article about his evangelist background. evangelical

protestant and the way he has allegedly treated teenagers has created a lot o

♪ musicic [loud raindrops] narrator: torrential rain in the dry season. flooding when there's nonormally droughtht. desert where trere used to b be grass. ♪ music narrator: tens of thousands of deaths in cities across europe from freak heat waves. even more taken to hospital. is this a taste of our future? dr. patrick kinney: climate change is already profoundly affecting public health across the globe. narrator: evidences