>> hello and welcome to "france 24." we're live from pararis. headadlines this hour. theresa may asks the e.u. council for a b brexit delay. tusksk urges member states to offefer the u.k. aa within-year flexible extension -- a one-yearable extension. algeria braces itself for protests. forces loyal to libyan strongman

reach h a security barrier witi kilometers of the c capal. thee escalatation has been condemned b by the united state and d the u.n. sesecretary gene has called for c calm. also c coming up in the program thisour, the u u.s. annonounced deal end to the e trade warar w hina is in the offing. plus, international pressure mounts for the release of nearly 100 whahales held captive in russia's far easast. wel tell you why they were being held in the firs placece. stay with us. we're e live in paris. the british prime mister has written a letter to o the europn councill psident.. thereresa may has requeuested t brbrexit delay until the 30th o june. the prime minister says the u.k. will make preparations to holol e.u. elelections at the end of

may. but she's hoping to exit the block earlier. tusk meanwhile is ururgi members states t to offer the u united kingdom a one-yeaear flexible extension. for more on the britishsh prime ministerer's request, here's th eport f from london. reportrter: this is a n new req from theresa may. what's her reasoningng? we know the officiaial day had been the 29th h of march att 11 p.m. london time. clearly because her deal, the only one officiaially onon the table, the one that was negogotiated over two years, an struckck between the united kingm m government a and thehe otheher e.u. leadsers s has bee rejected thrhree times by arliamement. the neww default date is the 12h

of april because w what's thehe. council a at the last sumummit decided, the 2 27 other e.u.u. leaders said that if f and when e plan, that deal wasas approrod by parliament, which it needs to be, thehen, ok, the u.k. could leavave by the 22nd of may.y. but since it wasn't, that was the default optption. the 12th of april. so this is b buying hersrself o trying t to buy herself some mo time. showining willing in the e sens thatat fininally on paper and officially t the united kingdom govevernment and thehe briti pre minister are rececognizingng thf it comomes to it, then prararations havave already beg for the europeanan elections and that they will be held. which every e.u. member state has to do. >> earlier i asked our brussels correspondenent if e.u. states have an appetite for a brexit extension. >> this has to be approved unananimously y and we're heara lolot of voices against thisis.

partrticularly f from the more ard-line e.u. leaders. already liliters such as macron- leaders such as macron and others have e said that thehey not grantt another extension ter ththe 12th of a april unlnl thee u.k. parliament t has apprd some kind of new plan. that hasn't happened. so we're really going to put that at the test at the erergency summimit next wednesd. ththat's w when we'll l see if hardrdliners, p particularly frh president macron, whether he wiwill relent and allow thiss rorolling exteionn idedea, evev though nothingng new has beeeen passssed. but i think nobody really knows whwhat the oututcome here is. bebecause i thinink what's impot to point out is nobody wants the u.k.k. to run in these e europe paparliamentntlectioio. thisis isn't something that peol on the e.u. side want. particularly macron's very concerned ababout people put it here, 49 nigel ferreage's's b b

elected in that parliament and the new parliament starting with these u.k. politicians who wouod be tryining to sabotagage the e frfrom the i inside and of cour that idedea was given c credenc today when jacob reesese m mog out with a a tweet urging the u. toto do exactly that.t. sasaying that if there wasas a extensn, t the u.k.. shoululd a as a sabab tour ininside the e. so that is not goingng to make e.u. leaeaders here inclinened grant t that long-term extensis because ththere is that fear th the u.k. c could just t keep extendnding and extending and i ththe meantime it wouldlde insi e e.u., taking decisions, peperhaps trying to harm the e. >> dave the keying reporting there from brbrussels. protesters in algeria taking to the streets for t the seventh frididay in a row. it ces afterer a resignatition s -- bouteflika submitted his resignation. demonstrators want to maintain pressure to get the men closest to the president to step aside. they've been tasked with

overseeiei the political transition. the protesters want fresh f fac leading the country from here on out. reporter: ththey're called the three b's. many algerians w want themo o b igiven the boot.t. the three men have long been part of former president bouteflika's entourarage. since hihis resignationon tuesd the three b'b's are now slated lead thehe transition process. someone speaker ofof the upper house of parliament. he's said to become interim leader in n order to set up the next preresidentiall ections. ones where he won't be a able t be a a candidate. then thehere's the second m. he's beeeen a minister r for 16 years and is chair of the constitututional council. whichversrsees alglgerian elections. and finally, the recently appointed prprime ministster. put in placece as a r response the protest, he was prior to that the interior mininister. he oversaw the nation's notoriously opaque elections.

it's these thrhree men that protesters want toto see ousted. but there r remains a formidabl power in algeria to reckon with, the ararmy. a general is widely thoughght t bebe holding the reins now as h withdrawal of supporort led to bouteflika'sesemain pace i in. for 2 20 years in power -- resignatation of 20 0 years in popower. >> t the army faces challengese because it no lolonger has a counterpaur. not lyly musust it manage the secucurity andnd -- counterpopo not only must it m manage the securityty of the coununtry, b maybe e on the constitutional vd left byy the departure of the president. >> witith their first majojor r since the president steppeded down, protesters will be keeping a watchful and a a wary eye on what the military will do next. and what is now a delelicate transisitional phase in algeria democracy. >> forces launch a libyan strongman have reached a security barrier within 30 kilometers of the capital tripoli. the unity government has warned

that loyalist forces a are preparing toto face all threats. the escalation has been condememned by the united state and coincides with a visit by the u.n. secretary geneneral, speaking in trtripoli, gutierre issued an appeal f for calm. >> i want to make a very strong appeal, , an appeal for all litary movements to stop, an ppeal f for c containment, cal, de-escalatation, bototh militard political a and verball de-escalation. >> for more on this story, we bring in ourur international affairs editor. good aftfternoon, phillip. why are we suddenly seeing this push by khalifa t to enter tripi while the u.n. secretary general isis i in town? i think it t can be put down to the fact thahat this s is like tale twowo of cities. it has been dragging onon for a veryry longg time in libyaya. ththere have been multipiple

attempts to brbring the two s s together. the rebel forces whwho are base in the e east of the country, i bebenghazi, and the nationallll recognized goverernment in l li toto form some kind of power shsharing agreement. all l those a attempts h have r cocome to nothing until now. the united nations is in the middle of trying to plan a a ne reunion between the two sides to try to b bring them ba to ththe netitiating table to work out sosome kind d of power sharing agreement. now,w, the latest we have is th the forces s are in a town just behindnd me, which is about t 5 kilolometers south of tripopoli. where they a are not advdvanciny fufurther for the moment, but they're just outside the capital, that's where gutierrez is t there at the momenent, tal with both the rebelel leader, a hahaving met yesesterday with t prime mininister and head d of elecected internationally

recognized government. i think that the rebel leader is mamaking a statementnt here say that he doesn't believe that there can bebe s some kind of rereement bebetween the two sid. and as gutierrez is there, he's now going to show that he is in a stronger r position and will push fororward towards triripol and d also thehe facact is that ththe last few months he's made gains in the countryry, overrunning one of t the main o fields in n the south of the country, and also fighting against islamimist rebels. i think that is one of f the ke elements here in the fact that he rebel leader w who is khalia haar, has the s support of the uniteded arab e emirates and se jipt, who was in sasaud -- egyp who was in saudi arabia last weekek. he's m making the fight against ththslamiststs and their threat in libyas key policies and he doesn't't believe that t

government that's in charge ththere has theeans to do that. >> why doesnsn't he recognize t government that's in power r in tripololi? the internationally recognized government for the most part. >> i think he thinknks that as said, they're not capable of doing that jojob. and thatat he should be the man who is running t the c country. i think itit's also a situation that goes back a lot further. f you look back at the life of khalifaa haftar, he was a man wo is now 75. he was one of the backers of muammar gagaddafi, the f former strongman ofof libya, who helpe him seize power in 1969. and then fled outt witith him arwards and moved to the united states and homome moved back to libya a once gadadjovich had be toppppled from powerer -- gaddd hahad been toppled fromom power 2011 and created the libyan nationalal army with a view w o taking power. in the meantime,e, you have thi other leleader whoho has been elected as the de facto o rerecognized leadeder of the by

government. but this is only after there have been multiple attempts to brbring him and ann islamist-le government which together to orm power-sharing government which khalifa haftar does not officially recogognize becauses says thahat they were responsib for terrorisist attacks and o o instance -- incidents inin the country. that's why he's not rececognizi this power. >> thank you very mumuch for t . in other news, lawmakers in the united states voted to end all u.s. military support fofor the sasaudi-d wawar in yemen. the bipartisanill will n next make itsts way to o the preside desk. but donald trump is expected to veto the legisislation. . debate over r u.s. support to t war in yemen fled late last t yr after a journalist was murdeder at the saudi consulalate i istanbul. >> the iowas are 247.. the nays are 175. present is one. the joint resesolution is passe

reporter: a histororic vote to d u.s. militarary assistance fo saudi arabiaia's war in yeyemen. the house joined d the senate o thursday for t the first time er in supporting a resolutioion of this kind. and d it's a blow to donald tru, also reflecting broad dissatisfaction on capitol hill withth his f foreign policy. followining the votote, a messa from the u.s. represesentativeso the esident. elliott engle said trump will have to face the reality that congress is no longer going to ignore its constititutional obligations. getting the e measure passed ha taken months. but according to o observers, support grew after sauaudi agen reportedly killed journalist jamal khashoggi at ththe countns consulate in istanbul back in october. he was a u.s. resident and a columnist for "ththe washington post." meanwhile, supporterss of the so-called war powers resolution say the e saudi-led bombingng campmpaign in yemen has worsene

thee humumanitarian crisis.. ththey also argue that t americ involvement in n the 4-year-old coconflict h has vioiolated the constitutionalal requirement th congress should determine, not thee president. the measure now headads t to trs desk, who is expectcted to v ve it. overcoming thahat veteto would requirire 2/3 majorities ininot the sene and housese. >> donald trump will be heading to california later today. the u.s. president is expected t tour a two-mile section of the newly built bororder fencnc now on thursday trtrump backtracked on a threat he issued e earlier t this week tot down the entire border with mexixico. he's now threatetening t to sla tariffs on cars coming g into t unitited states. reporter: baback t tracking on week's thrhreat and replacing i wiwith another one. after widespread pushback over fears of dire economic consequences, , donald trump ha now said he e n't be closingng e u.s.-mexican border. in an effort to stop illegalal

immigration. president trump: b before we cle the boborder we'll putut the tas on the cars. we won't have to close t the borderers because thee penalty tariffs s on cars coming into t ununited statetes from mexicoco 25%, will be massiveve. repoerer: last week thee u.s. . president t sent a american and mexican industrieses into a pan. overer the possibililityf an immiminent bordeder closure. for day trade betweeeen th two countrieies is $1.7 billion a a. but now the threat of tariffs crcreates its own issueues. first, many carr parts go back and forth over the border multiple times. tariffs could h hurt american c companies. for imports of car partsts is as 113 billion -- $113 billion ininstry. su tariff on the grounds of nationonal security might not b popossible under the newly negotiated but not yet ratified north american free trade agrereement,s-mca. fofor the mexican government, tradade and trump's preoccupati with the lyle legal immigration

are e two separate -- illegalal immigration are two separate things. >> we are n not r responding -- [inaudible] -- we are responding on the may gration sidide in a respect -- migration side in a respectful way at ththe highehe level. the trtrade negiations arare a separate window. we'r'r dealing with.h. that reporter: after replacing one ththreat with another, , first border closure, now ththe tarif it's, trump has continueded wit his streak -- tariffs, , trump s continued withths i his s strea back pedaling. he a also changed h his tune on rolling back health care. after republicans balked. >> interior ministers from g-7 nanationare gatheringng in fran. theath they'll outline plans on fighting terror and human trafficking. the body will also discuss how to bring bacack islamictate jihadists and their families from syria and iraq. the move erases questions on the effectiveness of f the body in solving issues deemed critical.

a judge has ruled t that the e accused of carryiying out the worst terror r attack in new zealand's history undergo two psychiatric evaluations. the 28-year-old australian-born has b been charged with 50 coun of myrrh and 39 counts of attempteted murder. victims s of the mosque attack y they will remain patient while justice takes its couourse. more on the story now. reporter: the 28-year-old alleged terrorist appeared via video link from the maximum security prison n in auckland where he's currentlyly being he. beamed into thee c christctchur high court f fridamorning fofor what was a relelatively brief appearance. it c comes after new zealand police on thursdayay confirmed now faces 50 murder charges and 39 attempted murder chargeges a are still considering other chcharges fofollowing last mont massacacre. judge cameron man, a order memental health reports to determine whether the defendant is mentally fit to stand trial.

mentally a able to enter pleas the charges. or insane. but accordingng to the new zeald heraldld, the suspect's's defen lalaer said those assessments could take two to three months to completete. itit's also worth notining that suspspect noww hasas a defense working on his behalf. after previously sayiying he wod rerepresent himself. according to local media, ararod 50 f family members of thee vics were presentnt at the christctch high court to watch the proceedidings. however, the defendants did not speak -- defendant did not speak duringng the 20 or so minutes h was seen. but he will reappear in court on the 14th of jujune. >> internationonal pressure isi growing g for the release of nearly 100 whales held captive in russia's far east. a team of experts is set to visit the enclosure on saturday to determine h and when to set the mammalals free. russiaia is the only country whe whales canan be caught. they are often exported to ocean heme parks in n china.

>> a growing wave of global support to free some 100 whales heldld captive here in russia's far east. waiting- wading i into the battle tsave the marinine creature, a french explplorer m with russian officialsls. >> we are not here to crititici. wewe are here to o help. we have a lot of experience elelsewhere.e. but thehese people here are responsible for these animals in captivivity. reporter: 11 orcas and 87 belugas have been crammed into small enclosures which critics have dubbed whale jails. the ananimals werere caught in auautumn and allegegedly destino be sold totohina where m marine park instruction - -- constructn is booooming. killer whales can fetch millions of e euros andussia isne of the e few countries that contin to catchch and export the m m ma'ams -- mammals.

the issue has resesulted in a r between the couountry's agricultural ministry which claiaims the s species i n not threat, and russia'a's environmt indudustry, which has promised begin ththe ocess of relesion the e whales n now that winter over -- - releasing ththe whales to that winterer is over. >> it was impossssible to relea them. we would have lost them allll. ththis job canan be done nonow summer's coming. reporter: : an international te of experts plan toto head to th site on saturdrday. but he's warned thahat i it maye yearars to liberate them. > time n now for the businin news. good afternoon. there'e's been sort of breaeakthrough, if youou will, those trade talksks between chi and d the united d states. >> breakthrough, yes. but it is rather anti-climactit. u.s. president donald trump said after meetingg with the chinese vice p premier on thursday that deal end to the tariff war between the two countrtries cod be reached withihin four weeks. so while thihis does signal progress, it's not goingng as ft asusinesses and investors would like.

it was hoped that the two countrtries would be able to ho a summit this m month, to put a end to o the months' longng sanctions s war which has rattl globalal markets. tensions between thehe two countries are even touching academemia. the mamassachusetts instititute technology is ending refefer an funding titimes with h chinesee telecom groups. itit's not the first unirsity to make this decision. stanford and oxford university have also stopped taking funding from the firms. itomes in ththe light of accusations frfrom t the u.s. government that the companies' products could be used for espionage. samsung g has warned its first quarter profits would be drastiticallbebelow 2018 reresu it estimated that its operating profits s for the three months to end of march would be around korean yuan. the company blames l lower pric and slow demand in itits memory chip divisision. now the markets.

euroropean markets opened slyly ththe -- slightly hihigher todaf the e back of optimism from thi progress made in the u.s.-china talks. london and others are in positive territory now, up by a fifth of a percent. the dax has been hovering around the flat line. germanany factory orders are lling. south america's third largegest economy is continuining to sink despite a massive i.m.f. bailout fund. bubut as part of the packakage, argentina's government pledgdge to cut govnmenentpending anand raise e utilitiess priris. unpopular measures have sparked egular p protests. reporter: thousands of marchers took to e streets of b buenos aires on thursday, protesting high unemployment and government austerityy measures. a year ofof economicc turmoil pushed the president to secure a record $ $56 billion b bailout the i.m.f. last fall.

as part of the d deal, the gogovernment promimised to tigh economic policy, cutting spending and raisising utilitie prices. but some alysts sasay the plan, combined with sky-high interest rates, will perpetuate the recessn.n. th annual inflationate climbed rapidly from 2 25% in april of last year to over 50% this february. hitting individuals' spending power hard. around 1/3/3 of the population livingng below the poverty lini. thee highest rate in eight year. and homelessness is on the rise. >> we'e've b been living othe streets for ththree yeaears. my h husband worked as a a buil and we renteted o our home.e. and then from one moment to tht ne, the jojob ended. and nothing. we couldn't pay. o we e were evicted. reporter: soup k kitchens likek this one have seen a steep rise inraffic. a year ago it saw an average of 100 people per day.

but in recent months, as maybe as 700 cross the thrhreshold day in- as manany as 700 cross the threshold daily in seaearch of fresh meal. things aren't likely y to impro in the short term. the economy is s expected to ke shririnking g over the coming y >> n now let's lookk at some o e business headlines for you att this hour. google has d disband an ethics advisory council, only nine days after its launch. the tech giant set up the exteternal councilil to provide ethical guididance in its work artificial intntelligence. but it w was forced to scrap it after protests over s some of t appointed members, including g e headad of a right wing u.s. thi tank. snapapchat i is hoping to chann user growth byby adding games so its platform. the u.s.s. tech company said on thursday that it would host originalal games andnd games fr external d developerers. it's an attempt toto turn aroun the company's fortunes, after a difficult 2018 when it lost users and staff and sufuffered product problems.

pop star and businesswoman beyonce e knowles is partnering with s sports brand a adidas. knowles said she would be relaunching and expanding her sports clothing range with the germ company. it comes after she e ended her collaboration with phillip green, the british retaiail tycn and chairman o of top shop last year. after he was accuse ed of sexual harassmement. foreignn investmtmt in francnce on the r rise. in 2018 more t than 1,300 newew projects werere announced. a 2% increrease on the p previo eyear. reporter: choose france. that's the mototto the french government has b been using in bid to a aract moree foreign investorors. in 2018 thee number of n new foreign investments in f france went up jusust 2% compared to t year before. it's a slowdown compared to 017's's impressssive 16% groro. put into the glolobal economic context, france still cease the latest numbebers as a winin >> the fact ththat you have a

slowdown of the econonomy, you have a massive constraint on the verall tradedes agreement, and also that chchina reduced investment, means that this is actually remarkable. reporter: the number of jobobs create, thanks thth to the new projects, has, however, gone down by 10.5%. dedespite 1/5 of investments directed to the manufacturing industry. the u.s. and germany are still france's top investors. representing 18% and 14 of foreigign investmtment respecti. ththis year the u.k. has alslsoe it to the top t three, brexit uncertainty pushing investments acacross the c channel. >> i think therere is, there's questions a brexit effects. brexit combined with the different refoforms of the govevernments hahas really been cacalling on more off the i invs and typically when n you want t hedge your bets, y you want to look at how youou continue e to

business in excessss to ththis amazing market which is the conltntnenl europe. reporter: u.k. investors launched 118 projects in france 3rks3% more than the previous year. some 3,000 british firms employ 17 to 0,000

narrato i i've be an architecturcrcriticn lolos aneleles r n neay 15 y yrs, an i in althatat te i dod't think 'veverer ce acroro a builnng que asas iscrututle,