♪ welcome, everyone. "france 24 you are watching -- you are watching "france 24." i am genie godula. these are the headlines. more than 260 civilians killed since sunday by damascus airstrikes and eastern ghouta. dozens of children among the dead as airstrikes hammer the area still held by the rebels. we will begin the latest update by our correspondent in just a few moments. students and survivors of last week's high school shooting a

fellow florida -- in florida head to tallahassee. this as also make the move to ban gun devices like the rapidfire bump stocks used in last year's massacre in las vegas. the french government steps up its plan to control immigration today, introducing new measures for the ministry's council. it will speed of asylum applications and makes it easier to deport people. this hour, who is afraid of artificial intelligence? the hugeort highlights risks posed by this rapidly developing technology. we will have the details in our business update. and the latest in our focus on poland series this week. view onage citizen's the wave of nationalism that is growing across the country. first, though, our top story live from paris. ♪

genie: we start first and eastern ghouta, the suburb just outside the syrian capital of damascus. that area held by rebels has been pounded by those russian and syrian airstrikes with devastating consequences. at least 250 people have been killed in two full days of bombings, with half the when aies tuesday hospital was to sort your scores of children are among the dead. for more on the situation, let's bring in "france 24" chloe kim in beirut. what is the latest on the situation? intensifiedombing this morning over eastern ghouta. it is impossible at this stage to give a precise number of

casualty as the large bodies are rubble, and it is impossible to independently verify this information. as you have mentioned, the ngodon-based observatory for human rights has reported over 250 casualties. if true, i it would mamake it te most violent episode since 2015 in eastern ghouta. this very high death toll can partly be explained by the difffficulties that people haveo reach medical facilities, hospitals and ambulances have byn targeted several times the shelling, it a lot of the people cannot get their wounds treated. eastern ghouta is the last rebel stronghold near damascus. it has been under siege since 2013, so now five years. in the last two years, the

the last two weeks some of the syrian regime and its allies have launched a massive offensive to take it back, and it will continue in the next few days. chloe, both syria and russia are defending the shelling, saying they are responding to an attack from eastern ghouta itself. chloe: although the scale of the violence is different, the humanitarian conditions are very difficult to compare. it i is important to highlight that there are two sides to the conflict. the russian news agencncy repord earlier that several buildings in damascus, including hotels and the russian center for reconciliation, came under a militarieslling by of eastern ghouta and that several civilians were killed as a result of this attack. you must remember that easternrn ghouta is located about 15 damascus, away from

and rebel groups inside ghouta are able to regularly fire rockets at the capital. since sunday, the syrian state news has reported several rebel attacks against damascus. stateteun again, the media anannounced 13 civilians wounded by mortar shells against residential areas and public facilities. genie: chloe, thank you for that. that is our regional respondent domat reporting. as the death toll rises in eastern ghouta, there has been a major military development in the north of ghouta. kurdish fighters are in the northern region of afrin. rebecca rosen reports.

rebecca: working tdrive out kurdish melissa, more resistance than anticipated. the observatory for human rights reported that they are armed with heavy machine guns, could the area.aving on tuesday, turkey's president saying he had the support of russia and iran in preventing syrian government forces from entering afrin. >> we have agreed with russia and iran regarding the afrin issue. these type of terrorist organizations take wrong steps. it is not possible for us to allow this. they will pay a heavy price for their mistakes. rebecca: but erdogan's rhetoric is in that of russia's foreign minister, who recommended dialogue instead of combat. >> i am convinced that turkish

legal interest, with regard to ensuring security, can be fulfilled and satisfied through direct dialogue with the syrian government. turkish forces have been making slow progress. on an alreadyin tense situation between turkey and the u.s., it's nato ally. hasasupported because of t the efficncncy in clearing the islamic state group and large swaths of syria, claiming large territory for themselves. from: students and parents travel to the florida capital from- students and parents marjory stoneman douglas high school travel to the florida capital of tallahassee. it reignited the debate on gun control, pushing people across america to demand more begun to prevent mass shooting.

refused to consider any move at this time. students are determined to make a change. owen burnell reports. owen: 100 students are marching douglas, determining not to stand idly by. >> let's make a chance. changed. let actions speak louder than words. if we do not do it, there will be another and another and another, and that cannot happen. >> because i lost a couple of friends in this, and i want to let them know that they were important. owen: the buses were headed to the state capital, where the students pressed legislatures for stricter gun controls. last week's massacre in flames debates about gun rights. many across the country demanding action. several even change their opinion on gun control fallowing last week's shooting.

>> he was so pro-gun, and everybody being able to protect themselves properly to a point where not everyone would be able to fire at such rapid rates, and maybe there should be restrictions. owen: the students arrived in tallahassee late on tuesday and will be hoping that lawmakers can be convinced to change their minds. the republican-controlled statehouse as long rebukes change. the latest shooting showing resistance with republican leaders considering raising age restrictions for gun purchases. an attempt by democratic representative to allow the house to consider a ban on assault style rifles was quickly rejected your genie: immigration is on the table here with the french government submit a bill on controlled immigration and asylum for the cabinet. designed to are assign asylum applications more rapidly and facilitation for transportation.

many mp's from the president's own party are against it. julia kim explains. julia: avoiding scenes like these, contrtrolled immigration and effective right to asylum, 38 set out new policies designed to process asylum requests. the interior minister wants applications to revolve in six months. to hit that target,, they sugget creasing the period in which a person can claim a final, from 120 days to 90 days after arriving in france. migrant organizations say expediting the processing period could be time-consuming but a , meaning check applications will simply be fast-track to rejection. the have also criticized idea of shortening the time frame to appeal rejection, from

one month to 16 days, which leaves hardly any time to find a lawyer. migrantss point out under so-called subsidiary protections to those who do not qualify for refugee status but can still qualify for asylum. people in this category will be granted a residence palette, extended from one year to four years. a child can also benefit from a 10-year permit. but the key and most controversial measure for some is the decision to double the maximum duration the government can hold a asylum seeker. administrative retention centers can hold people for to 90 days, up from 45. those who contest can be attained for up to 135 days. tricks have denounced the living conditions -- critics have denounced the living conditions. genie: we have got the latest for you now and our focus on:

series this week i'm a focusing on the growing wave of nationalism in the country. it is largely determined by the right-wing rulers of the ruling party, trying to control the court, ban abortions, and close borders to migrants. both sides of the political fence struggle on establishing their own place within the eu. in the heart of warsaw business meets nationalism. in this popular shopping mall, one shop stands out. surge polonia. it means rise up poland. it is flashover t-shirts. >> this is very popular. it is our national emblem. it does represent our business strategy and patriotism in poland. that stores so high

are mushrooming across the country. polish pride is also palpable in this restaurant. supporters of a far right revolutionary pans on the wall. these to our regular customers. for them, poland is not thinking dangerously internationalism. on the contrary -- >> in the u.s., nationalism is accepted. in israel, it is the bedrock of the country. nationalism is a positive thing, but in europe, it is criticized. >> with the european union, not europe, that forbids us to belong to our own national commununity, and we should say . we should say y it loud and cle. >> the conservative government has been loud and clear with the eu over several issues -- immigration, women's rights, control of the constitutional court. to this polish journalist, democracy is at risk in poland. >> in the streets of warsaw a

couple of months ago, it was our independence march. 50,000 nationalists shouted fascist slogans, and that march was called the great patriotic march. there is something very wrong here, and the government is not reacting adequately. christoph took part in the march back in november. a phd student in philosophy, and he has written a book explaining why he believes nationalism is fretting. -- is spreading. revolution,is the marxism, leftism, and other metaphysical and ideological inventions t that are diabolica. the fact that poland has become a bastion of the right-wing is not something that was acquired a few years ago. a younger generation has now risen against the system of power and politicians. 's vision is not shared by a

majority of:, but an increasing number of people accuse -- of poland, but increasing number of people accuse them of widening the rift between warsaw and brussels. like me orou are indiana jones, and you hate snakes, authorities in argentina in anwithin 100 snakes apartment in buenos aires that was up for sale. the snakes ranged from pythons to a rare in rural tree boa. and isas been detained reported to be facing charges of animal trafficking. ."u are watching "france 24 since sunday by -- more than 200 civilians killed since sunday airstrikes and eastern ghouta. among the dead -- children as syrian and russian airstrikes

hammer the area still held by the rebels. week's high last school shooting of overhead to the state capital of tallahassee to tighten florida's gun laws. this as donald trump moves to ban devices like the bump stock used in last year's massacre in las vegas. the french government steps of its plan to control immigration today, introducing new measures and the ministers council. controversial bill would make it easier to deport people. time now for our business news on "france 24" with stephen carroll. you will start with a new report on the dangers of artificial intelligence. stephen: a group of international airports is mourning the technology is right for exploitation. morehope was to report than 100 pages long detailing how the rapidly developing to remains of artificial intelligence and were singing machine -- and machine

learning as new risks. technology that is available now or will be in the next five years. digital security, physical security, and political security. the hacking of drones, self driving cars, facial recognition software can be used to determine targets for automated weapons. they also highlight that on line -- could be used to a ofater extent using images real people. what to do jus -- a lot to digest in that report. genie: and pricing. -- and frightening. let's go to crypto currency. arehen: 100 million petros to be sold. they have an initial value of $60 each. venezuela says it raised $735 million from the first day of the presale. it has been heralded by

president maduro. growth this3,000% year. critics say it is a desperate attempt to raise cash. >> venezuela is up the forefront of crypto currency, at the forefront of technology. we have taken a massive step into the 21st century. petro reinforces our economic dependency. take a lolook at what is happening in the markets for you next. european shares trading down. in the u.k., shares in the auto association have plunged by more than 20% after a warning of lower profits. meanwhile, the mining and trading giant glencore is up over 3% after their latest results. genie: air france now has warned passengers to expect disruptions

in flights tomorrow. stephen: they have canceled half of the flights from paris as well as some medium and short flights. this as crew and staff prepared to walk off the job in dispute over pay. they a are not the only once seeking a pay rise, though, as france's economic conditions have improved, so have demand for wage increases. >> in france, , they are calling for a 6% boost. the french industrial group is seeing walkouts, too.therere are other rumblings at other companies. as the e economy seems to be picking up, many in the french workforce see it is high time they were rewarded. >> they have gone on about the crisis. now they have said the results are gooood. the prospects are good. so now we want our piece of the pie. >> at the end of 2017, french unemployment fell below 9%, the

lowest level since 2009. some analysts say an increase would boost economic growth. others are calling for caution. >> companies need to reinvest, increase their profit margin and their production capacity feared all indicators at the moment show they are at the maximum of what they can produce. they need to expand. theompanies are predicting wage rises of 2% in 2018, more than last year. but not all employees will see the same benefit. that p payimated rises will be impacted by health insurance. of cases are treated individually and choose bonuses to reward only some employees, while the union fight for the workforce as a whole. genie: just to wrap up now, a new project from the boss of amazon. stephen: it is called the 10,000 year clock.

it is a thermal timepiece being built inside a mountain in a remote part of texas. it is 150 meters tall. the idea that it will last 10,000 years and count on the years as it goes. on construction was posted his twitter page. some are wondering if perhaps it puts them into the -- jeff bezos up into the category of a super villain. he is very rich. he controlled media organization. he has a space program, he is bald, and now he is building a giant clock. all of the elements are there if you want to draw them together. [laughter] poor jeff bezos. he is just trying to advance science. genie: he sure is. stephen carroll, thank you for your time now for our press review.

we are taking a look at what the papers are saying today. you will start with some of these awful reactions to the situation and eastern ghouta, the suburb just outside damascus that has been hit syrian airstrikes. >> that is right. hundreds, at least dozens of people have been killed. more images than words. let's start with the lebanese french language paper, which says history is repeating itself, evoking a similar situation in aleppo. "the guardian" is going with a graphic photo of a child on its front page, calling the latest situation in eastern ghouta as a catastrophe. it is forcing us to confront the reality that these people are facing, just children, panicked families, confusion, tears. this is really what is going on. genie: you mentioned defiance, also a lot of anger. dheepthika: this is also from "the guardian," simon writes

what is happening in eastern -- easternyria ghouta is besieged by government forces, cut off from food and medical aid. he says it took us 22 years to bring those responsible for this to justice. i call it how many more children have to die before justice is served in syria? we have a similar reaction from an arab language paper, which really slams the international community, calling what is happening a war crime and criticizing the inability of the international community to do something about it. genie: moving on to israel now where there has been a new twist in the corruption scandal against prime minister benjamin netanyahu. dheepthika: this is stemming from allegations that he traded favors for favorable coverage. now the "new york times" explains new allegations have

rocked the primus are, that one of his closest aides tried to bribe a judge into dropping a criminal investigation against his wife, against netanyahu's wife. he slammed these allegations as baseless and being part of a continued campaign of prosecution against him. it is coming at a time of the left and center are calling the prime minister to step down corruption scandals. the israeli daily says his days as prime minister are numbered. they have even compared benjamin netanyahu's wife to lady macbeth and benjamin netanyahu as the obedient servant following her to his downfall. genie: you had a special guest at london fashion week. dheepthika: that guest was britain's reigning monarch, queen elizabeth ii. she was sitting next to another queen, the queen of fashion herself, anna wintour, which you

see on the front page of "the daily mail." she certainly looks the part in a blue tweed dress and jacket with swarovski crystalals. she is not there just to admire the latest trends for fall 2018. she was also there to but still the inaugural queen elizabeth ii award to a young designer, a former do your in tour in turn dior intern who has been commended for getting back to the community. youe: i like the headline saw before. let's go back to france where the founder of the far right national front party, jean-marie le pen, has written a book about his life. it is coming out next week. dheepthika: it is the first volume of his autobiography. he claims it is really important because this is a guy who has been through a big chunk of modern french history. he has lived under three shoulders brushed with jacque chirac and others. he went to war with indochina

and nigeria and spearheaded the rise of the far right in france. interesting to mission, though, his daughter, marine le pen, who is the head of the current national front party, as a fractious relationship, only gets a couple lines in the book. of course, she infamously kicked him out of his own party last year. genie: a story i love -- a gold-medal winning ice skating pair from canada has captured the hearts and imaginations of people all over the world. dheepthika: that couple is called and tessa virtue, winning gold in the ice category. everyone says they should be getting a gold medal for sexual chemistry. they have been riveting fans for their steamy performance on the ice, so much so that people are wondering if it has been translated on the ice. they said officially they are not dating, but this has not stopped some fans from creating fanfiction about the two. i will not read it, because some of it is pretty msmutty. -- smutty.

skaters in shows the the throes of passion for hours, saying the canadian prime minister wants to decorate. genie:

♪ 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: evid i