it lets take a look at what is making headlines this hour. it isite house says making its final decision on airstrikes for syria. russia has warned that any attacks will risk drawing in global powers. the protests expected on gaza border after of were thatd, israel warning

those approaching the border run the risk of being shot. the head of the swedish academy that awards the nobel prize sits as the organization finds itself in the throes of a sexual abuse scandal. first to our top story. after days of furious speculation, donald trump concluded that no final decision had yet been made on possible military action against the syrian regime, this following the suspected chemical attack in eastern ghouta. france, with britain and acknowledging that will follow ande house led effort,

trump telling russia to "get ready." president obama tried to deal with those chemical weapons when he was in, enlisting the russians, who now are complicit --assad retaining those weapons on the only reason he is still in power is the regrettable russian vetoes. reporter: washington consulting allies about a response, including the united kingdom and france. >> we have proof that last week chemical weapons were used -- at least chlorine -- and there are used by the regime of bashar al-assad. reporter: the claim that damascus and its russian and

backers have repeatedly denied, calling them made up and a pretext for action. meanwhile, the u.s. president backs away from his threat of incipient missile strikes he made earlier in the week. russia said it would see any such act as a war crime, standing by its own warning that it would shoot down any missiles and retaliate against launch sites. >> we saw messages that are coming from washington. they were very, very coarse. . wish there was dialogue reporter: russia has stated the main priority is to avoid war, and particularly a direct clash with the u.s. a mission to

create investigative body -- u.s. proposal russia tabled earlier in the week. and the deputy leader says he does not believe that this will allow to -- lead to war. from our more correspondent in beirut. what is behind making such reporter: this is not unusual -- makeo allow the leader to a speech to the people. his second-in-command to the

people. this says something about the elections that are coming. now he is saying the americans are very hotheaded. and that this comes to nothing. but the attack will not take place. hand, they suggest that they are ready to react and they do not thk it will change the position on the ground. they said that they would be completely out of their minds, those not directly involved yet. clearly this is has blood taking to assert their position and say this is our position and we are ready to attack. >> for the benefit of our

viewers, what -- how important is the role of has blood -- hezbollah in all of this. openly involved in 2013. are not saying exactly how many people they have there or wh they are doing. works, they are essentially ground soldiers trained by the u.s.. also hezbollah smuggles weapons. at the largest, there are about 10,000. it is very unclear how many are there. they have been working largely

with the arabians and the -- iranians and the assad regime. east,ying in the middle protests expected in the gaza strip, the third consecutive friday. some 33 have been killed in the last cheat of weeks, a part of what the palestinians are calling the great march of return, weekly demonstrations of the border with israel, demanding a return to areas where they were expelled in 1948. israel has warned that it will respond with live fire and bullets. here is mackler has more. friday prayers are ending, and that is when the process really kicks off. there is a large peaceful protest and a smaller core of protesters who come to the

defense, throw stones, molotov cocktails. be that is the pattern we will see a again today because it is be -- being call a day of protest, palestinian flags israeli -- flying, flags being burned. others are calling it molotov cocktail friday. is not the same kind of weapons the israelis have in the arsenal but we willeaponry, have to wait and see how this will develop. the past few fridays, it has turned deadly. are the israelis hoping that these protests will peter out? yes, that would be in certainly.terest th do not wa to open up to

fronts. they want their soldiers in the north of the south. reason, thevery point of view of those in gaza, they want to keep the stage in the international i. i do not think there will be a petering out just because it will be in israel's strategic interests. france, a verdict expected in the trial of five men in a small town that 20 jihadistsnd have been accused of a terrorist conspiracy. five were from a town in the southern part of the country that 20 became a symbol of the s sweeping through parts of france. at least eight of that group were killed, with another seven missing. tell us more about the case.

it has garnered a lot of attention. five people are trial today. as you mentioned, they are charged with conspiracy. what really gained attention across france was the fact that 20 people, one of the largest traveling for jihad have come across france. two of the people from today were in fact -- didn't fact travel to syria for jihad -- it did invite trouble to syria for jihad. one was only staying for a few weeks. one of them is said to be a frequent facilitator.

there are two others facing verdicts. the court, of course, going into these proceedings says it cannot understand what happened to this idea, the idea is to understand what is for tile on long this wayive wave of people -- for people from syria. >> was the prosecution asking for? -- what is the prosecution asking for? for the teedo the people who traveled to syria, the prosecutor is seeking 16 and 18 years respectively. they are going for nine years for mosley, the chief person in go-betweeng as the to get them over the border.

the question now is homuch given thate served time already served left to be taken into account. you.ank the head of the swedish group thatrestigious awards the nobel prize for literature a step down, this after the organization being criticized for its probe into the sexual misconduct of a man married to one of its members. is a for stitches institution in stockholm that hands out the nobel prize for literature every year. for months, the swedish academy has been embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal. now it's boss has stepped down. as am leaving the academy permanent secretary. the well of the academy that i leave my post -- the will

of the academy that i leave my post. reporter: they are under fire for their handling of abuse allegations of an influential member of academy circles, merry to an academy member. voted againstmy expelling the last week, three other members stood down in protest. >> she said she would no longer be involved in academy work. the institution cut all ties. a swedish newspaper reported the allegations of 18 women against him. none of the allegations have to police for for the story broke. prosecutors opened an investigation when the delays -- emerged.details

some of been called out either of evidence orck the statute of limitations has passed for some of the cranes. >> the white house is there is no final decision on strikes in syria, this after donald trump met his top national security team, russia warning against any attack like a drawing global powers. more protests are expected on the gaza-israeli border. israel is warning that those approaching the border will risk being shot. and the head of the swedish academy that awards the nobel prize in literature steps down as the organization finds itself in the throes of a sexual abuse scandal. one now to get in update news -- and we are starting with

volkswagen, the carmaker announcing a sweeping restructuring plan. a new ceo who has replaced maxie moeller. he outlined his decision at a press conference. must speed up its decision-making process, he said, and we will have more on that as we get more information. no volkswagen shares were trading up following the announcement. keen -- european markets are generally trading -- there we have it, volkswagen shares are up and european shares london, up slightly. in other news, the u.s. president has signaled he is considering rate -- moves for .he u.s. to rejoin tpp

it was a trade agreement signed aimed atbers countering china's influence in the region. donald trump called it a disaster and pulled the deal as soon as he took office. imbalancede escalates, he seems to change his mind about it. an unexpected turn on a deal he once called disastrous, u.s. president donald trump says that he will revisit the transpacific partnership, a trade pact with countries, anfic idea floated in diverse. >> he said in diverse that he was open to -- he said in davo

davos that he was open to discussing. reporter: negotiated under barack obama, it includes 12 .ations it represents 40% of world trade. the pact looks to deepen the ties between these nations to counter china's rising economic clout in the region. -- the u.s. never made the president trump pulled the u.s. out of the deal. he said in a tweet he was only willing to reopen talks if he could secure a better deal. as fears of an escalating trade war with china grow, the president may now see the deal as an effective way to put pressure on beijing.

and japan's trade minister says that a deal is not possible without making concessions. take a listen. this agreement was sports, carefully taking into account the interest of participating nations. it is high standard and well-balanced and very delicate. it will be difficult to take only parts of it and reopen negotiations or change only parts of it. solange: -- yuka: meanwhile china from global trade deficit from march changed 11% from a year earlier. washington claims that the trade imbalance with china has racked up three hundred $75 billion

last year and has demanded to merit thesteps gap. finally from me -- the head of uber says it is time for silicon valley tech companies to change their mindset and embrace more regulation. speaking in new york, he said that tech firms had been without thinking how things fort use different purposes. these comments as the personal data scandal continues to affect the sender -- the center. they have been trying to improve the company's image. >> companies until covelli have it behind the idea that we are just building platforms. we are just holding platforms -- what humanngs

beings do with these platforms is not a responsibility? i think we are wishing for a world where we did not have to, and i think that world is over. thank you for that, yuka. for the press review. time to look at headlines around the globe. i am joined by allison sergeant. hi, allison. nnette.: hi, a james comey's upcoming book -- it looks like a ripper read. "a higher loyalty" it is being called the comey book by michelle. they are skewering donald trump

on the front page, calling him n," and not the green kind of pe, but the yellow kind. this as one of the claims of the book as he was alleged to be d," ased with the "wee vi story that trump has always denied, reportedly asked comey many times "can you imagine me with hookers?" comey called trump "untethered to the truth," takes personal shots at him, describing them as having bright white moons under suggests which comey are the result of wearing glasses when he goes tanning. news is taking particular offense, focusing on these personal attacks as a way of

book, sayingthe that he goes as far as to -- as to question the strength of his marriage to melania. haveews does not seem to gotten a copy. .hey will interview him he will be a meteor quite of a talking about his book. annette: the head of the swedish foremy, responsible awarding the prestigious nobel literature prize, has quit over her handling of the sexual harassment allegations? annette: yes, you can see the permanent secretary who stepped down. this scandal has been roiling sense november when allegations published.

the man accused is a french man who has been living in sweden for decades. he has been nicknamed "the swedish harvey weinstein." that's not him in the photo, with his friends, and academy member who has not resigned. columnist called the event says shey," and she does not see how the institution will ever regain its reputation. a change of pace -- but to my old stomping ground, australia, for something completely different. a turtle being given a lot of attention, not just for the color of its hair. son: that's true. i do not know if you have seen one of these? they are pretty rare.

it has a mohawk that is made of strains of algae. it is not hair. queensland is the only place found.he turtle is this article buried the lead, as you said, because the other feature of the turtle is the fact that it breeds through its through them.oops basically one orifice to do everything. it is in danger of going extinct, the real reason it is in the press. it was on the list of endangered species. there were quite a few reptiles from us tell you on that endangered list, which highlights, according to the paper, but there are serious holes in australian legislation when it comes to protecting reptiles, and that's because they are not working as manic animals like mammals and birds, getting the come -- the attention. although i would say that turtle is pretty charismatic. annette: i would say he looks

like a punk rocker. it's hard to keep a straight face. to does appear to be disagreement because this is naturally very serious story about the fact that animal endangered,indeed but whether charisma helps save animals from extinction. right, because this final story coincides with another story about a study actually that found that when people see endangered animals everywhere, it causes them to forget they are endangered. , this showed pictures of charismatic animals and they say that half or more of the participants did not realize they were in danger of going extinct, even though the group they asked was pretty highly educated. say just because you see

turtles in pictures does not mean that they are everywhere. deciding notcannes to show any films from netflix since they are skipping the ceremony. we think of them being on the couch, not in cinemas, and that is really what netflix's role is. toy have decided not consider the films for the big prize, just because they are not shown before they restroom, which is a law in france. either side support -- they say that cannes is being high-handed and doctrinaire -- in a word, french. netflix seems kind of instant -- intent on destroying the very

concept of cinema, the tradition of going to the movies. the article says it is like choosing between alien and predator. both sides are at fault. annettzñvpx]a

ñ [upbeat jazz music] woman: most of the things that i do require an enormous amount of planning and negotiation, and it can take a long time. every once in a while, i'll be like, "you know what, we're just gonna walk up the hill," you know...