paris, these are the top stories we are following for you. western threats to strike the announces hissia regime is in full control of the town. we will bring in the latest with our regional correspondence. the investigation continues in algeria after the country's worst ever and disaster. -- air

disaster. a military plane crashed shortly after takeoff. organizers of the cannes film festival announce the lineup for the event. spike lee will be among the competitors. first, our top story. says western threats to strike his country after a suspected chemical attack based on "lies" seek to undermine his recent advances into damascus. it comes after russia's defense ministry said assad's regime has taken full control of the town. according to moscow, the syrian

and is flying high in duma military police have begun patrolling the streets. let's cross live to our regional correspondent standing by in beirut. againstgnin military action. what is the latest coming out of duma? the flagorning, started to fly, suggesting it is now run by the syrian regime and the russians were helping them. the russians have military police. they are not special forces. they been monitoring the de-escalation zone. this is a clear move toward showing it is business as usual for the assad regime. the russians are supporting them and they will be out on the streets monitoring things. we don't know how many militants are left in the town.

they live very close to civilians. beyond that, we can't really say. as for the attack and whether there will be one from the u.s., yesterday, president saying the missiles are coming, just wait. he has now backed off a little bit. it's a question of if and when. things unsure in terms of whether there will be a missile attack. the russians and the syrian government showing their carry-on -- they are carrying on as usual. westernunclear whether allies -- what they are planning to do. talk us through the moves where you are. >> here, things are very tense -- it wasour ago expected that there would be some military strike in a few days. the air base syria has been closed to commercial aircraft.

the main airlines are not flying . people are very concerned here. the other concern at the moment is for the civilians who were -- up ton the attack 500 people have been injured during this attack. 70 have died. they showed clear signs of chemical or gas poisoning. there may be people trying to a andle bodies out of doum into jordan. there are experts waiting to test these to see of chemical weapons are used. we think corine weapons were used. -- chlorine weapons were used. there are staff on the ground to recognize the signs. there might have been a nerve agent. chlorine can be detected in blood and urine up to a week afterwards. a nerve agent can't.

it will disappear within 24 hours. may not be signs left. >> we are following a strongly --ded tweet and that russia aimed at russia and syria on wednesday. the west national security council is preparing to discuss that very issue later tonight. across the water, theresa may is holding a cabinet meeting abt britain's possible response. responsibility -- lies with the syrian regime and russia. it warns all options are on the table. >> the president holds syria and russia responsible for this chemical weapons attack. the guaranteed that syria would in used chemical weapons again and they did.

have six u.n. resolutions they beat out to protect a soft -- vetoed to protect assad. those lie at russia speak -- at russia's feet. threat considering the presence of russian advisors across syria. key u.s. allies are also considering their options. will chair her cabinet this thursday to discuss her government's response to the attack. thatl the indications are the syrian regime was responsible and we will be working with our allies to consider how we can ensure that those responsible are held to account. >> reports suggest her government is coalescing around a plan to strike syria without a parliamentary vote. that plan coming five years after david cameron lost a

landmark vote in the house of commons on similar military action. france has maintained a little support -- the palace has been mum on the issue since monday. preparing toron strike syria -- the un's secretary-general warning that their plan could spiral out of control. >> the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, paul ryan, has announced he wouldn't be running for reelection this year. is a big blow for republicans ahead of midterm elections scheduled in november. with a record number of resignations and retirements, the party is set to face an uphill battle at the polls. >> to be clear, i'm not resigning.

i plan to serve my full term as i was elected to do. i will be retiring in january, leaving this majority in good hands with a bright future. race't think a person's for congress will hinge on whether paul ryan is bigger or not. if we do our jobs, we will be fine as a majority. >> three days of national mourning following the north worst airtion's disaster. it killed 257 people. the cause of the crash is still unknown. authorities have opened an investigation. combing through the wreckage of the deadliest plane crash in algeria's history. the aircraft was largely consumed by flames after it crashed into a field soon after takeoff. eyewitnesses were some of the first to arrive on the scene

. >> the plane took off from a base and caught fire. the pilot once to avoid hitting houses. here steered into a field -- he steered into a field. >> we found piles of bodies. and absolute disaster. i don't want to talk about it. >> the plane took off from the military base just south of the capital. it was supposed to head south, stopping in bouchard before -- a disputedrney morocco. annexed by roc over two dozen refugees from the region were among the dead, including women and children. the rest of the victims were r.g algerian soldiers and authorities. the aircraft is a soviet

designed 76 model with an overall good safety recd. the algerian military has a history of aviation disasters. died when aneople aircraft carrying army personnel and their family members crashed -- two years earlier, to army planes collided during a training exercise, killing both pilots. world newsoving from to the world of movies. the cannes has just announced the films that will be screened in competition at month. the cannes film festival just announced the films that will be screened in competition next month. >> they will be competing for the big prize, best direction, etc. 18 films in total.

they come from all four corners of the world. leeble names like spike will be debuting his latest film. in italian director who won in 2008 will be sharing his latest release there as well. has anotherrector film in competition. he is a controversial figure in russia because he's been put under house arrest. an iranian director will also be showing his latest film. ,3 years after he won the prize this film director has had extra night problems in iran -- extraordinary problems in iran. he's done amazing things. he was smuggled out of the country.

cannes made him a member of the jury in 2010. they kept an empty chair for him there. festival organizers say they are doing everything they can so you can be in attendance. -- he can be in attendance. the film starring have you ever bardem and velti kroos. -- and fell at the cruise -- penelope cruz. here's a clip. ♪ ♪ >> there are four french films

in competition this year. they will be debuting their latest features. a fourth feature comes from a man who's been in attendance at the festival for more than six years now. 2014n the jury prize in for decades of loyal service. >> well deserved for him. give us a recap of the info we had. >> what we know already about this year's festival, the president of the jury is cate blanchett. high-profilepe we know what the posters look like this year. kissing a romantic scene. that was unveiled yesterday. something else unveiled yesterday, netflix streaming

service won't be participating this year. the festival's organizers wanted the netflix features to have a french theatrical release at the same time. netflix didn't want to do that. now, they're calling it a day and they won't be present in cannes this year. >> is there a chance they will be back next year? >> the streaming service issue is really creating great waves in the cinema industry. >> thank you very much for all the latest coming from cannes. let's remind you of some of the stories we've been following for you this hour. says westerndent threats to strike his country after a suspected chemical attack are based on lies. announces hissia regime is in full control of the town of douma. investigation continues in algeria a day after the

country's worst ever air disaster. 237 people died when a military plane crashed shortly after takeoff. algeria is observing three days of mourning. the organizers of the cannes film festival have announced the lineup for the event. spike lee will be among the competitors. we are starting with facebook. the social network emerging financially better off after two days of grilling of zuckerberg by u.s. senators. and recover $10 billion it d lost over the data harvesting scandal. he was grilled over the harvesting scandal, e spread of fake ws on fabook and ehat sort of regulation th social network should face.

>> as facebook's ceo was grilled in congress, the share price involved -- evolved. facebook saw its market value jump by $17 billion. investors reassured by mark accepting's way of possible change without making any specific promises. >> my position is not that there should be no regulation, but i also think you have to be careful about what regulation you put in place. >> you made the commitment to changing all the user default settings to minimize to the greatest extent possible the collection and use of user data. >> this is a complex issue that deserves more than a one -- that deserves more than a one-word answer. >> disappointing for some, maybe. zuckerberg's line of answering was largely expected. like manytform,

social media platforms, is monetized based on the basis of trading information. that's a big part of the way they make money. there is an incentive to make as much money as you can. these promises ring a bit false. >> shareprice gains made over the past two days have allowed facebook to limit its losses due to the cambridge analytica scandal. its stocktestimony, remained 10% below where it stood before the scandal. and wiped out $15 billion in shareholder wealth. >> taking airbnb and a german rival to court. deputy mayor for housing says the rental companies aren't obeying the law here. have been airbnb obliged to have their hosts register with city hall.

the authorities want airbnb to remove any ads that don't have a registration number displayed. currently, only 16% of paris avia airbnb listings are complying with the rules. china, there's been a fresh warning from the imf. warns china not to settle other countries with debt as part of its global infrastructure project. china is funding $1 trillion worth of roads and rail and .ther transportation projects christine lagarde is worried. the road initiative can provide much-needed infrastructure financing to partner countries. can also lead to problematic increases in debt.

potentially limited other spending as that services arise and rise and creating balances -- >> new zealand has banned all future offshore oil and gas exploration. >> their prime and a stir announcing this move as part of a package of measures to tackle climate change -- they are prime minister announcing this move as part of a package of measures to tackle climate change. 22 licenses won't be affected by this. ailed thee has h decision as the end of the age of oil. the international benchmark its highesthit level since november 2014 on the ongoing tensions in the middle east. today, we are seeing that price fall back ever so slightly. as oil prices also playing into matters on the stock market today. oil companies seeing slight

gains, mirroring the picture across europe. one company that is having a very good day is the low-cost airline, norwegian. oslo afterup 45% in reports the owner of british airways and liberia iag is considering a takeover offer. shares by 45%. huge. time now for the press review. time to take a look at what's making news in some of the papers around the world. the main preoccupation for many papers is the syrian conflict at the moment. >> the syria-russia crisis with washington center stage on storm. tweet provoking a

we can go to the independent in london which says the missiles are coming. that headline is the same in the belgian paper. are pointing to the volatility of the u.s. president. the belgian paper is saying that trump is really blowing hot and cold now towards moscow. sending a tweet about syria and warning of a missile attack against assad. within the last hour, sending another tweet -- all nations should work together to stop the arms race. those two tweets alone represent the inconsistent messaging. is horrifying for people to imagine that trump and his

early-morning dressing gown is sending off tweets like this, one of which could start world war iii. >> a lebanese paper asking whether there's a real risk of escalation or whether it is rhetoric at play. >> this lebanese paper looking at the question. is it rhetoric or a real hike in some kind of conflict? russia's ambassador to lebanon has said that in the case of a strike in syria, the missiles will be destroyed and the equipment used to launch those missiles will be destroyed. no decision has actually been taken by any final act of going into a conflict situation from washington. on both sides, there is a degree of belligerent rhetoric. let's go to the damascus paper speaking very much as assa

d's mouthpiece now. moscow is hoping reason will prevail and the rhetoric -- the west is trying to raise tension because of the loss of eastern bhuta. we've heard that douma has fallen. >> usa today leading with the words -- a warning for the former secretary of state. >> madeleine albright tells trump he needs to think his syria's stance through. bombecision a year ago to a syrian airfield after a chemical attack was "very appropriate." however, his message last week to bring troops home was mixed messaging. the lovely quote from madeleine albright is being unpredictable

can have some uses in diplomacy, but constantly having unpredictable unpredictability is really difficult for people to follow. no one is able to measure or gauge what the american administration is doing. >> another top story this thursday, the awful crash of a transport plane in algeria. >> the algerian paper leads with photos only of that crash. a one-word headline -- "catastrophe." algeria is in three days of mourning after 257 people were killed when a military transport aircraft crashed just south of algiers. we can go to another paper which stresses the morning aspect. -- "thesee this paper nation" in er arabic.

the papers and algeria stressing the important role algerians has ine algerian army daily life. --both of those stories after the news cycle focuses on that, you look at a piece in the guardian. there's some good news out there. by an academic who argues that lets take a step back, don't over dramatize. if you think of things more broadly, the world is not as horrific as you think. lifee last two centuries, expectancy has doubled. extreme poverty has been dealt

with and there's been massive progress in education for girls as well. don'ttake a step back and get drawn into the new cycle and focus on the improvements. >> there are lots of good things happening. we just need to remember what they are. if you want to see more, log on to france24.com. stay with us on "france 24." we will be back with more international headlines after a short break.

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