anchor: welcome to france 24's newsroom. i'm olivia salazar when spear. top stories. kickoff and moscow. this world cup gets off to a start in russia. meetosts -- sorry, as they saudi arabia in the opening match. macron responds to italian calls over his remarks on rome's immigration policy, as

the europeanan migrant crisis fuels a diplomatic row between the countries. is on the agenda at the u.n. security council on thursday. the closed-door meeting comes as a saudi led alliliance attacksko houthi positions in a port city for a second day. years of preparation marred by human rights controversies, accusations of corruption, and billions of dollars later, russia is ready -- or should be -- as the world cup 2018 kicks off there today. as we look ahead to a month filled with football, there is funny at stake politically and diplomatically for the host of the tournament. alexis navalny was released from

prison, sentenced a month ago for organizing protests due to blood and report -- vladimir putin's fourth presidential term. i'm joined by a representative international federation for human rights. speaking of the announcement on the balmy, who said he was released from prison's morning, the timing does seem serendipitous. what do you make of this? obviously to coincide with the opening of the world cup. it is an image stunt by the russian authorities, i believe, to win favor with the international community, which has been critical about russia's human rights record. when always good news political opposition leader is released, but he should not have been in prison in the first place. he was merely exercising his right to organize a peaceful protest.

and thousands him of others were arrested throughout russia on the day of the protest. again, exercising their fundamental rights. not see thisould as a sign of politically easing up on opposition figures? guest: i would not. again, it is a measure to show -- by the russian authorities to p's the international community, in light of the opening of the games. but i expect the repressions will continue in russia, or worsen, at the conclusion of the games, if not during them. olivia: speaking of specifically vladimir putin, he has come under fire for a crackdown on opposition activists, on the media. how do you think they are going to use this international event as a platform for their image? guest: it is such a spectacular event that i think the authorities are hoping to draw attention away from what is

happening behind the scenes on the half of the international community. as you know for instance, right now, as the game is taking place, several political activists and human rights defenders continue to languish in prison. particularly the case of the chechnya branch who was arrested on fabricated charges a few months ago. prison,nues to be in awaiting his trial. ,nother political activist ukrainian of russian ethnicity, a filmmaker, was arrested in 2014 on alleged charges of terrorism. he continues to be in prison. he was sentenced to 20 years and was sent to the far north and a penal colony. he is currently on a hunger strike and today marks exactly one month since he has been on a hunger strike. he is in danger of dying any minute now. certainly, the russian

authorities will use the world cup as a way to draw attention away from these violations. human rights violations -- the country has been criticized were generally in the run-up to the tournament, with people looking at russia more closely. the you think this is going to encourage more checks and balances, going forward? guest: i don't believe so, because we have a president. russia hosted the 2014 sochi olympics, and even while the games were recognized as a , there was access lot of criticism about the labor of construction works for olympic c sites during those games, and other human rights violations. unfortunately that the position of the russian authorities with respect to human rights had not changed her the games. crimea, arrested opposition leaders, crackdown on , haveties in crimea

arrested scores of human rights defenders in russia, targeted groups such as the lgbtq mindy. my organization, if you permit of repressive measures the state has enacted between 2012 and 2017, targeting the civil society. so i do not see any reason to believe, unfortunately, that things will change at this time. olivia: thank you very much for that analysis. news from france now. the senate has definitively adopted president macron's landmark reform of the state railway operator. and phases out the monopoly ends the generous benefits and pension scheme for its employees. it comes after almost three months of strikes from labor unions. they have said they will go ahead with the planned train strikes until the end of the month.

now emmanuel macron says he never meant to offend italy with his comments. the french president the country irresponsible and cynical over its decision to refuse save port to -- safe port to a rescue boat carrying migrants, but round amended an apology from paris. the ship in question, the aquarius, has since been rerouted to valencia, spain, with more than 600 migrants aboard. i have been speaking to our correspondent just a few mckenna, in -- josephine mckenna, in rome. josephine: a political row was spiraling out of control over the state of the ship. italy was offended by comments emmanuel macron madee regarding its failure to allow this ship to dock in italy. overnight, president macron ndlephoned giuseppe conte a appeared to have a cordial telephone commerce asian.

the prime minister a short time ago released a statement to say that president macron said he had no intention of offending italy or italians, and had gone out of his way to defend italy and express solidarity and they need for greater solidarity among other european couountrie. it appears this meeting scheduled fofor tomorrow will nw go ahead. it i is still a rocky road, i think. it has been a difffficult couple ofof days. we sawawhe financece minisister cancel his meeting or popostpone his s meeting with his french counteterpart. ministertalian foreign called in the french ambassador yesterday to express serious frenchnts about what offificials including president macron had been saying about italy. it has been a difficult couple of days and this meeting will be critical to getting the relationship back on track. olivia: the human security

council is meeting today to discuss an assault on yemen's port city. britain requested a special session be held and fears humanitarian consequences of the saudi-linda offensive could be catastrophic. the port is a major strategic stronghold.a houthi peter o'brien has more. peter: today these markets are busy despite war on the doorstep. while residents went about their business on wednesday, there was fierce fighting just to the south, around the airport, in what looks to be the largest war.e so far in yemen's a saudi coalition with pro-government offenses launched an offensive on the port city, which is under houth rebel control. houthirikes -- under rebel control. arab states have not tried to capture such a heavily defended

city since the war began three years ago. a coalition spokesperson said they plan to take the airport, seaport, and the road leading to the capital, the do not intend to fight a street war. residents say who's the fighters -- houthi fighters have fanned out. are mobilized, we will be as immovable as mountains. peter: it is a crucial lifeline for food and aid to the restst f the rest of yemen. 22 million yemenis are in need of humanitarian aid, with more than 8 million on the verge of starvation. taking it over could be called an act of madness in every meaning of the word, because it is a city full of civilians and the main artery for all yemenis. peter: the u.n. says it has ships offloading aid even while showing is -- while shelling continues. olivia: once the nuclear weapons are gone, the sanctions will be too.

that is mike pompeo on the historic u.s.-north korea summit this week. meeting with his counterparts in underlined the south korean alliance was as robust as ever, despite president trump's announcement he would be halting the joint military exercises between the countries. with donald trump back in washington and kim jong-un being applauded upon his return to pyongyang, negotiators behind the scenes have gotten down to the nitty-gritty work. along the south and north korean border, high-level military talks were held, the first in more than a decade. in seoul, the u.u.s.'s secretary ofof state, mike pompeo, briefed south kokorea's president t and congngtulated the delegation. >> there were many different views on the outcome of thee summit, but what is most

important is it has allowed the entire world to escape from threats of a nuclear war. reporter: in a trilateral meeting, i'm pale reassured his south korean and japanese counterparts that washington still has their backs. pompeo: the u.s. alliances with these countries are ironclad. reporter: the briefing was a chance for the foreign ministers to clarify their view of donald trump's decision to push the pause button on military drills, a move tokyo had expressed concerns about. any pause inand prkrcise is contingent on d action toward denuclearization. we also understand the united states maintains its commitment to defend allies. pompeo also clarified what the white house believes will come next -- and it is not step-by-step actions, as announced on north korean television. completehen we get

denuclearization -- only then will there be relief from the sanctions. representatives from the nuggets states that detailed negotiations would begin in the next week or so. in argentina, lawmakers are dedebatingng a draft law legalizing abortion. it is set to be a tight vote twin supporters of the bill and those opposing it, who are supported by the catholic church. if the bill were to pass, it would need approval from the senate before becoming law. thanks for joining us. a divisive issue in argentina, but the country did vote in favor of same-sex marriage in 2010. what do you see the chances that they will follow in this progressive direction? declan, sorry. perhaps a technical issue.

going back toto the issue of abortition in argentntina -- its very divisive, but they didid ve in favor of sasame-sex mararrian 202010. do you see them m again adoptina progssssive positionon on this? declan: yes, argentina has aa recent history of that type of liberal, progressive reform. it did become the first country in latin america to enshrine the marriage e insex itits constitution. it h has been a p pioneer in iss such as gender identity and transgender rights. debate enters its 17th hour, the intntentions ofof lawmakakers are ineaeasingly clear. it would appear according to current esestimates that ann aremated 127 lawmakekers going to vote against this abortion law. an estimated 126 are going to vote in favor. that is a difference of minus one.

we have won national lawmakers still undecided. that oneit will be undecided vote of that lawawker who has not yemamade his orr her voting intentions clear in the debating chamber that will decide the outcomef this v vote. olivia: among its latin american neighbors, uruguay has legegalid aborortion, as has c cuba. mexico city y has special dispensation as well. many put the generalized resistance to that law down toto the caththolic church,h, which a strong influence in argentina. do you see religion as a key part of this debate? declan: argentina is a traditionally roman catholic country, the homeland of pope francis, leader of the global catholic church. of there is a deep vein conservatism that runsnsheir argentntine society, despite its more recent history of liberal and progressive reform.

it would appear also that this debate and this upcoming vote is going to be split much more on the lines of the vote of the rural constituencies of the argentine interior, which are much more conservative by nature, and the vote of the lawmakers, who are representing the constituencieses of the urun centerers of argentina, includig the e capital cityty, buen airis and very much seems inn oppositionon between rurural and urban areas, and it t would appr that that rural vote at the , and they prevail national parliament may reject the proposal for this abortion law. olivia: declan reporting from win a series. it is time to get a reminder of our top stories now. kickoff in moscow. this world cup gets off to a start in russia as the host

meets saudi arabia in the opening match. .o offense intended emmanuel macron response to italian calls for an apology after his remarks on rome's immigration policy as the european migrant crisis fuels a diplomomatic row between t the countries. on the agenda at the u.n. security council on thursday. the closed-door meeting comes as a saudi a alliance attacks houti positions in a port city for a second day. it is time to look at the latest business headlines. i am joined by yuka royer in the studio. the world cup is slated to be the most expensive in all history. we get a glance of that when the ball gets rolling. moscow has completely refurbished its stadium. it splashed out more than $13

billion. it would make the 2018 world cup the most expensive competition and history, though it is still a lot cheaper than the olympics. allison takes a closer look. allison: in the heat of world cup festivities, the competition can seem like a cash cow, with crowds of football fans eager to spend their rubles. but the boost in tourism will only put a small dent in the host country's bills. organizers say russia a spends about $11 billion on the tournament. the actual amount could be more. over half the budget went toward transportation infrastructure and the stadium, leaving 20% for otherr expenses, including security. it is money the russian government hopes to get back threefold. officials say the month-long russia'st could boost

gdp by $30 billion. economic analysts are not so positive. credit rating agency moody's predicts any economic benefits would be short-lived, and failed to make a mark in russia's one point $5 trillion economy. the 2018 world cup is slated to be the most expensive internment history. but russia's spending on the competition has been modest compared to its record-breaking budget for the 2014 winter olympics. the sochi games cost over $50 billion. rolls-royce is cutting thousands of jobs, i believe. yuka: the british manufacturer says it plans to cut 4600 jobs over the next two years as part of its restructuring effort. the company with 55,000 employees worldwide wants to save 400 million pounds to keep making profit and bolster free cash flow. rolls-royce has been under pressure in its main engine

business. technical problems with compressors used in boeing 700 87 green liners -- dreamliner's have led to cancellations. rolls-royce jumped after that announcement, rising more than 3% this thursday. the latest figures show it was up 3.77%, almost 4%. the overall market picture in europe is red across the board following the decision by the u.s. federal reserve to raise interest rates. all eyes are now on the european central bank, which is meeting today to discuss when and how to end its massive bond buying program. jamilr today, we asked why the interest rate hike could put pressure on global stock markets. : it is positive and negative. for global stock markets, it is seen as a negative.

it is seen as negative for the stock markets. however, a major positive is that we are continuing to see significant growth in the u.s. economy. the u.s. economy is continuing toto grow on a consistent level and d is showing no signs yet tt the higher u.s. interest rates arare actually waititing on u.s. economic, which is good for the global economy as a whole, on the basis that if the u.s. economy is performing well, it should lead to some positive ramifications of it later, because it was the u.s. economy that entered the global financial crcrisis first in 200. it appears to have exited the crisis. we need to see signs of growth in europe, including the united kingdom. of course japan as well. olivia: finally, the historic summit is over in singapore, but local businesses are still

feeling the effect. yuka: whether the summit on tuesday will bring about lasting peace on the korean peninsula is yet to be seen. for singaporean businesses, the events were immediate and fruitful. a trump cocktail very popular among thousands of journalists and foreign delegates. the singapore mint is issuing commemorative coins, hoping to cash in on the historic event. experts say the high-profile meeting will bring an additional 20 billion u.s. dollars to pick up the tourism industry. we are moving now to take a look at what has been happening in the papers, with the international press review. laurent joins me for a look at the top stories of the day so far. let's start with the russian press, who are feverishly

reporting on the world cup that kicks off today. dheepthika: it is making the front pages of the papers. let's start with a russian daily that says "a long awaited start." since winning the bid in 2010, russia has become ever more isolated from the international community. isway, the paper says russia hoping to hold a memorable world cup and leave a good impression on those who come. if you are heading to russia, the moscow times has put together a helpful list of questions you might have about russia and russians -- things like, how do i get out of jail, gay rights, wi-fi. and the ultimate question -- will russians be nice to me? the paper does admit russians have a reputation for being downright mean and surly. that behind this is an innate desire to be friendly.

and i: on the front pages imagine attention in the sports pages. headline,: a great "dance with the czars." wink, wink. a page saying, why we believe in them. unlike the ghosts of world cup's past, the site have presented a controlled image to the public. perhaps as a sign of that seriousness, this year's star players have abandoned their eccentricities. there are no wild, radical haircuts from france. just military style buzz cuts. let's talk about a radical proposal to split the huge state of california into three separate state governments. it appears that is gaining traction. dheepthika: it is the brainchild of a guy called tim draper, a

silicon valley billionaire who wants to make california a tri-state area he has gotten enough signatures for it to appear on the ballot. the idea is to split californians into north and south california, and the coastal state of just california. npr explains that the idea behind this is that the state of california is fundamentally ungovernable because it is so politically, socially, and economically diverse, and division would mean it would be better served. olivia: the odds are not stacked in favor of such an initiative. been 200a: there have attempts in california alone to divide the state, and numerous attempts in new york. the only state that succeeded was west virginia, which split from virginia back in 1861. for one writer from the sacramento bee, basically the messages, don't poke the bear.

this proposal is unconstitutional and impractical. rather than splitting the state, they should devolve more authority to cities. california is fine just as it is. olivia: we're following up on a riceimportant story, a sky scaling raccoon that got locals assessed and concerned in the state of minnesota. dheepthika: residents of st. paul are breathing easy after the raccoon scaled 20 stories of a high-rise office building. those adventures captivated locals. numerous tweets, a live need, and finally a safe rescue on the rooftop and release into the wild. it turns out the raccoon was a girl raccoon. our perceived sexism in rakuten reporting. -- raccoon reporting. why were we so quick to assume the raccoon was a male? the raccoon has her own twitter

account now. olivia: i am not surprised. a brave and daring female record in. -- female raccoon. zñvpx] coming up onreel south.

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