>> you are watching france 24. these are the headlines. madagascar voting today in the runoff residential election. two former presidents facing off in a bitter battle for power. in king of belgium to weigh on whether to accept the resignation of the prime minister. he offered to quit tuesday over a fight over immigration.

legal troubles for donald trump as the attorney general accuses his foundation of being a personal piggy bank for the u.s. president and his children. coming up, the biggest ever stock market debut in japan. softbank costs mobile -- hasbank's mobile network had a terrible day. the democratic republic of congo years that for its presidential election. we will look at the controversy over the electronic voting machines. first to madagascar, where the island nation is voting for president today. and rivalspresidents

who have waited years to come face-to-face in a battle for power. inh were banned from running 2013 to avoid violence. here is more reaction from voters today. enthusiastic today. i am happy to take part in the development of madagascar. civics is an important duty. smoothly,should run just like the first round, despite the emotions. there should not be trouble. is a former french colony and rich in natural resources. decades in misrule -- in mistral have left it one of the poorest in africa. public primary schools are struggling to function with

dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and a lack of textbooks periods the candidates have promised to make education a priority. >> juliet just started eighth grade. with 50 people in her class and barely sit -- and barely any supplies, she finds it difficult to concentrate. >> i am sad because i do not have anything i need. >> the benches are rotten and two of my friends fell off of their chairs because they broke. >> this school has no running water. mosttion is one of the generously financed sectors and matt asked her -- in madagascar. the money is spent on paying teacher's salaries.

>> look at our textbooks. they are damaged. jumps straight to 51. >> at lunchtime, juliet heads home with her sisters. high hopesr has things will change when the country elects a new president. the price oflowers rice. i make nothing and our children need to eat and study. >> nicole cannot afford to pay her daughter's school registration fees. theo one helps her with housework.

my dream is to be a teacher. >> the government has plans for an infrastructure project to build 11,000 classrooms in the next three years. -- 900,000 children are missing out on an education. >> the democratic republic of congo is gearing up for its selection. the vote will see electronic , but they ares surrounded with controversy. technology will be used to manipulate results. infamous voting machine. the president of the commission claims this will make voting

easier for the population. >> the ballot boxes should tell the truth. we want the best to win. the many -- the machine is set to annihilate all attempts at cheating. >> voting machines are displayed. >> it looks very easy. knowthe uneducated people how to use the machines? some oppositional leaders are unhappy about the use of the machines, which they call cheating machines.

voting machines are not reliable. >> this is the latest incident in what has been a fraught campaign. 8000 voting machines destroyed in flames. the government and the opposition accuse each other of responsibility for the fire, but the commission claims there are enough machines to go along with of election on the 23rd december. >> the king of belgium is deciding whether to accept the resignation of his prime minister, charles michel. the move comes two weeks after his main coalition partner quit

in a fight over migration. they could face snap elections next month. let's go live to belgian. >> for the time being, charles -- to open consultations for the departments. we know the king has started the political consultations by receiving the head of the french speaking christian democrat party and afterword the head of the liberal flemish party. party, after he has seen all of the leaders of the mainstream political parties, he

will decide whether he accepts the resignation of charles, which is unlikely for the time being. the most plausible scenario is e king will maintain charles as the head of theederal last fort, which will at least four or five months because these snaplections are still unlikely. partiesthe political want to avoid sna elections. that is the reason for the current political crisis. it may be that the 14 days, at the same time of the european elections, will be held. overe key issue is immigration. what happened?

had an unveiling of u.n. tax on migration, which was a hot topic in belgium, only since the local elections which october, thating election they chose to go to the extremes. the parties decided to toughen their stance on what they think is the heart of the proposition. alliance chose to have a stance far more to the right in order to try and get

back the electives that voted for the extreme rights. clear whether this will work out. clear this has been means to condemn migratory movements to gain political votes. >> thank you for that. president emmanuel macron is facing protest from the french police department. he promised a one-time bonus for officers, but that does not seem to be enough. that comes weeks after yellow vest protests. the french president is trying to show he is in control.

>> it is a race against the clock. the french president has until the end of the year to follow through on his promise to the nation. -- minimum wage earners, and tax-free overtime for all workers. on wednesday, his cabinet is to agree on the finer details. the challenge is to convince french this is not more of the same. his government insists lessons have been learned. >> this government was built with public support. when we took charge, we focused on reforms for fellow citizens. >> to achieve this, from january to march, unions, businesses,

and yellow vest representatives were expected to participate in assemblies across france. set include the environment, tax, state organization, and what it means to be a citizen. already, there are problems with concerns it could be pro macron political rallies. the president is looking to reassure the french people his government has a grip on the prices -- on the crisis. more legal trouble for donald trump. they accuse the foundation of being a personal piggy bank. the foundation is to be dissolved under court supervision.

>> with a charity more of a personal piggy bank, that is the accusation as to the donald j. vow tooundation as they dissolve. >> repeated and willful self-dealing and much more. this amounted to the functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve his political interest. >> the foundation paid out $100,000 to settle legal claims against the mar-a-lago resort.

it paid $10,000 for a painting of trump to hang at a another resort. the lawsuit seeks to ban him and his children from roles. in a june tweets, donald trump blamed the suit on democrats and vowed not to settle it. pervasiveeflected the bias against them. the investigation could result in further penalties against him and his children and is likely to pay -- to play a part in his campaign. >> madagascar is voting in the runoff presidential election. two former presidents are facing

off in a bitter battle for power. in --ng of belgium to ray to weigh in on whether to accept the resignation of charles michel. the business news with steve and carol. you are going to start in italy. >> the commission has confirmed it has accepted rome's revised spending plan for next year. the deficit would have risen to 2.4% of gdp. the government submitted a fresh spending framework which will reduce the deficit. argued theent spending was necessary to revive the country's economy. restored rome needed to

confidence in its economy, but the solution is not ideal. it is the biggest ever public offering of shares in japan. by 14%re price slumped in tokyo. stock market is raising almost 21 billion euros, just shy of by world record set up alibaba. >> some new numbers have come out, showing the french economy took a significant hit from the yellow vest protests. >> they cut growth forecasts

because of a slowdown in the business environment. .1% say the protests not off growth. for the whole of 2018, it says the economy would have grown at 1.5%. >> saudi arabia has announced spending plans for the next year. as it moves ahead with plans to diversify its economy away from oil, including up opening up new sectors to privatization next year. >> record spending for saudi arabia. battered by declining oil prices, the kindt -- the kingdom plans to boost expenditures. today, the king has directed a

continuance of monthly allowances to offset the high cost of living, which go on until next year. the government said next year's deficit would fall to 4.6% of gdp with a major chunk of state revenue at 68% continuing to come from the oil sector. to crown prince has vowed diversify the economy. it has seen employment hit its highest level in a decade. the killing of jamaal showed he caused a khashoggi has loss of foreign investors. guests pulled out of a major investment conference in riyadh. the economy is expected to grow by more than 2% this year. without private sector activity,

they plan to wean the country off of oil with little success. >> investors will watch america's central bank to find out what it's expectations are next year. the federal reserve expected to raise interest rates for the fourth time this year. effort to stop things from overheating. joint up over 7% after a venture with pfizer. sales will be worth more than 10 billion euros. insight into what the jobs of the future might be. been role --has mulling over the new roles that will emerge as artificial intelligence and other technology revolutionizes industry. some titles are terrifying,

including chief purpose planner, cyber calamity forecaster and a flying car developer. the importance of re-skilling. >> i would like to be a flying car developer. it is now time for the press review. haveok at what the papers been saying. let's focus on the american press. michael flynn and what was expected to be a sentencing hearing over charges he lied to the fbi. a he went into this expecting light sentence and no jail time. he was rebuked for selling out his country. debate.ent is creating

some papers are saying the judge went too far. the atlantic says the judge did tol, especially in regards their argument he was tricked into lying to the fbi. that he wasn disgusted by it proves politically effective arguments or political spin do not hold up in court. the paper is referring to the use of treason, a charge of the mueller team had to remind the judges not being considered for michael flynn. the judge lost his cool, prorated a defendant and spread false information.

the debate of whether or not he is being treated fairly as something that could be signed -- could be summed up by a cartoon. beinghanging upside down, shaken down. >> the new york times is saying there is nothing political in the judge's treatment of flynn. we shouldes gets why care about this. it goes beyond the fact that a trump advisor lied. ae editorial board, it is reminder that no one should be above the law, even the president. political spin can only go so far. >> to madagascar, a country having its runoff presidential election today. are facingpresidents off. one.e vote is a crucial

the paper regrets what they say is an inconclusive campaign. to paper has called voters flip a coin. sometimes angst left to chance or work out. ambivalence can be clarified in an article by a french christian paper. they see each other as archenemies, but the image they try to project and their policies are similar. both launched campaigns with religious masses. >> pakistan, the prime minister launched a plan to try to bring poverty down by giving people hens to raise. >> the scheme of giving out bringing out the the business --

that needs to be revamped. it may help the poor in rural areas. for the pakistani english paper, the economics do not add up. it puts a burden on the women who have to care for the animals as well as their children. has not been a good idea for imran khan's image. weeks after the announcement, the prime minister theme has stuck, regardless of the topic. have his chariot being

pulled by a rooster. >> he is not the only world leader being equated with an animal. >> donald trump is not only the name of the president, but the name of annan fabian -- name of amphibian that likes to bury its head in the sand. to call attention to the president's blindness in regard to climate change, the bidder named it after donald trump. >> stay with us. website,heck out our france24.com.

on -- in paris.

new cuisine, you have to be kind of savvy and also a little bit careful, right? you're trying to create a market when it's not there. the fact that thai food had gained a reputation in west hollywood and other places as, you know, delicious food, but it was a certain kind of thai food. that opened the way for these newer chefs to say, "you know what, we can be unique and different within this food culture." like, chefs are artists, and so they're coming up with stuff all the time. it's not to say it doesn't happen in thailand, but i think being in l.a., this kind of cross-pollination might be opening up new tastes and flavors in thai cuisine.