♪ >> hello and a warm welcome to "france 24." parise watching live from

. it is 1:00 p.m. and here are the headlines. an escalating war of words after iran shoots down an american drone as seen in this photo released by iranian state television. donald trump ordered a strike on the islamic republic in the late hours of thursday and then called it off abruptly. european leaders failed to reach a deal on top e.u. drops. a special summit is scheduled june 30 where they will try and break that deadlock later with -- expecting an address from france's president, emmanuel macron on the issue. also coming up this hour on live from paris, protesters in hong kong take to the streets once again. the opposition movement vowed to continue pressure on the leadership over a controversial bill that has thrown the territory into a political crisis.

♪ thank you for watching "france 24." reports have emerged this friday that the u.s. military made preparations to limit strikes on iran, but approval was withdrawn before attacks were launched. trump's temporary decision was in retaliation for the downing of an american surveillance drone. the body of the drone was put on display by iranian state television. several airliners, including declared they will no longer fly over where the incident took place. the head of iran's revolutionary division has spoken. let's take a listen. >> around 4:00 a.m. thursday,

this drone was targeted and downed by the air defense system of the revolutionary guard. multiple warnings had been given to the aircraft in two stages. reporters france 24's with the report on escalating tensions between tehran and washington. >> an abrupt change of plans. strikes ons to limit iran were in early stages when president trump pulled back. planes were in the air and ships in position, but no missiles had been fired. a white house official was quoted as saying. it is not yet clear whether president trump changed his mind or called off the operation because of logistics or strategy. the aborted strikes were in response to the downing of a u.s. navy drone by iran

thursday, and attack from earlier downplayed, suggesting it could have been caused by human error. president trump: i have a feeling it was a mistake made by someone who should not have been doing what they did. it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid who did it. the countries have been at odds since donald trump's decision last year. tehran says it has indisputable evidence the drone violated its airspace and was justifiably showned at the location by the revolutionary guard. the drone was in international airspace at the time. -- theent escalation has

u.n. calling on both sides for maximum restraint. >> for more on this story, i would like to cross live to edward hunt, an independent aerospace and defense consultant. he joioins us from italy. thank you for being with us. as we heard earlier, iranians continue to insist the unmanned drone was shot in their space. washington says it happened over international wars -- waters. what is your assessment at this stage? edward: it is a bit on the cough. -- on the cuff. is it extendsg roughly 12 nautical miles from the coast. the center of the strait is overlapping armani and iranian

territory. it was keeping roughly in the center. the devil is in the details as to how close it came to what iranians would call their airspace. >> the devil is in the detail, but we have had the iranian foreign minister saying they will be providing evidence to the united nations security council showing this drone crossed into iran's territory. possible.at is the point of the aircraft is to gather as much information as possible and although it has long-range sensors, it is useful if it can be closer to the target if possible. the maps of the u.s. and iranian accounts are extraordinarily similar. the iranian one shows a slightly furthermore -- further north movement. it would not have to be many miles or not that many minutes of flying time before it was

over iranian airspace. there is nothing conclusive at this stage that would lead me to tell an opinion on that. trump in hunt, donald a bid to perhaps de-escalate saying the drone was shot accidentally. thisikely is that or is precedence of this happening by mistake? edward: very sadly, the report the dutch released recently is probably a prime example of this. in this case, i suspect the iranians were aware of what it was. these aircraft fly fairly high on predictable trajectories. i would suspect they saw this as an opportunity to take a swipe back at the u.s. without killing any u.s. personnel.

they probably appraised what it was and that they could hit it with a limited degree of fault ability when it came to injuring any servicemen. is there precedence of this? how likely is it that this was a spy mission? was a spy mission, that is what it does. it is an expensive replacement for the youtube -- u-2. it is extraordinary expensive and capable. it has a line of sight ability to transmit information and satellite communication ability. it can be continually updated from its control and update its control on others from how it is seeing. it is very much a spy aircraft. >> i want to move on to decisions by airlines including

left-hand who announced they will avoid -- lufthansa who announced they will be avoiding this area. is that because they fear they will be potentially at risk? the coincidence here is the day after the release of the was inof may 2017, which some ways a warning of what can occur in conflict zones, the iranians used almost the same type of military battery to shoot down a military aircraft. about 30 years ago, a u.s. navy vessel destroyed and iranian civilian aircraft in the same region. are right toines be extraordinarily careful because there is one thing for complex planning and military strategy and operations, but these things can be -- go badly wrong if someone misinterprets what a radar is doing.

hunt, you are a defense consultant. given the warnings we have had weeks,e past days and the potential iranian attacks on the oil tankers of the gulf of oman, which have not been completely proven by the international community, downing by a drone, in your assessment, how close are we to a full-blown military confrontation between the iranians and the americans? close: i think not that to a war in the classic sense. there are quite a few subsidiary or steps that can occur before this. i would have expected the strike issued and then recalled would have been targeted on iranian radars, installations,

the iranians, should they choose to respond have lots of targets, other drones -- it does not see -- not immediate, but there is always room for misinterpretation and mistakes to occur and wars are started over less than this. >> that is exactly what we keep hearing, when tensions are higher, it is miscalculations and missteps that can lead to that confrontation. think you so much for your insightful analysis here on france 24. turning our attention to the tory leadership runoff, jeremy hunt will fight force johnson after they clinched a place on the final ballot to be put to the party's members. this comes after michael gove wereergeant javid eliminated. here is a look at jeremy hunt's

career. >> he has been cast as the safe option for britain. longy hunt's 14 year political career, including 9 years in cabinet speaks to the 52-year-old's resilience. elected mp in 2005, his first in a stereo post came in 2010 when he was named culture secretary, a two year stint during which he oversaw the london olympics. in 2012, he was appointed health secretary, a position generally ceva as a graveyard for british ministers, but he held it for a record 6 years. . his biggest test came after his proposal to impose contracts on junior doctors led to a massive strike. hunt refused to back down, alienating large parts of the medical community, but

showcasing his tough negotiating skills. in 2018, he succeeded boris johnson as foreign secretary and while he was criticized for sanctioning arms sales to saudi arabia, he was praised for his role in setting up yemen peace talks. described as thoroughly nice and a decent chap by his entourage, isy conservatives doubt he ruthless enough for the role of prime minister. a former remainder turned hard brexit here, he has been criticized for lacking strong convictions. he is seen as more sensible than his rival and less likely to sanction a no deal brexit. a scenario which he himself has described as little suicide. >> european union leaders are set to meet again june 30 after failing to agree on who should take the top jobs for the next five years. talks held in brussels continued

until the early hours of friday morning without candidates being finalized. the three lead contenders failed to receive enough support from the e.u.'s member states. emmanuel record -- emmanuel macron is expected to deliver a live press on that. replaceace is on to jean-claude juncker. the president of the european commission will have to wait at least one more week before he finds out who succeeds him. with somenoted pleasure, amusement, satisfaction, joy even that it appears that is not that easy to replace me. -- europeanleague union leaders failed to agree on who should take on the top post. the president of the european commission is normally chosen -- the candidate of

the largest political party in parliament should get the job. in theory, that would mean man fred weber from the center-right european people's party. emmanuel macron however says this process is unworkable after last month's elections left the e.u. parliament more fragmented than ever. three leads of the candidates were tested by donald -- and he considered there was no majority on either of those three names. >> angela merkel meanwhile defended the process. a new summit will be held on the 30th of june break the deadlock that will take place two days before the parliament begins the opening session. >> our common position is that we absolutely need an agreement before the new parliament convenes and chooses its president. >> besides the replacement for

jean-claude juncker, other top jobs include speaker of the european parliament, president of the european council, and foreign policy chief. >> the leaders of the e.u. also failed to agree on a carbon neutral climate target on thursday despite promises to protesters to fight harder against climate change. western member states and the eastern nations on that issue. after they, a day e.u. failed to agree on the plan, students from several european countries are expected to join a coalition calling on government action against climate change. according to organizers, the german city is expected to draw 20,000 protesters near a coal mine, one of the country's biggest. the site has become the focus of environmental protests over the

.ears over to the united states where a massive fire erected at a -- produces 335 thousand barrels of crude oil daily. the blaze is reported to have shaken nearby homes while sending smoke into the air. according to fire officia, that blaze has bn contained and there are no reports of injuries or evacuations and the cause is still unclear. where for theng third time in less than a week, protesters have taken to the streets over a controversial extradition bill with china. protest leaders said they are determined to keep up the pressure on the city's lead her despite -- apologizing and agreeing to shelves that

legislation. she did stop short of scrapping it all together. up the protests until their demands are met in full. thousands of black clad protesters met in front of hong kong's main government complex before converging towards police headquarters under the scorching heat. they continued to demand the complete withdrawal of a controversial extradition law and the resignation of pro-beijing chief executive. >> our chief executive said she was wrong, but she did not resign. nobody in the government has stepped down, so what is the point of apologizing. demanding an were investigation into allegations of police brutality and the release of those detained during clashes with security forces in the past two weeks.

many were still incensed by local authorities initial depiction of the largely peaceful protests as violent riots. >> i am a pacifist at heart, a nonviolent person and i think that is the case for most protesters. we are really not lying. i hope the police can change this way of labeling us. therotests against extradition bill drew in over 2 million people at their peak according to organizers. the scale of the unrest led carrie lam to suspend, but not scrap the bill last week and issue a tearful apology yet that was not enough to quell popular anger. >> it is time for business news and i am joined by catherine bennett catherine. apple is among a number of u.s. companies concerned about

potential tariffs on china. catherine: that is right. hundreds of american companies have written to the trump administration to urge it to drop its pan of imposing $300 billion worth of chinese goods. apple is one of the most high-profile firms. it warned the u.s. government knew tariffs would help its rivals. the tariffs could add hundreds of dollars to the price of products and the company said it would tilt the playing field in favor of competitors. stunned witheen allegations it infringed anticorruption law and is paying $282 million in penalties. -- has the story. supermarket chain with secrets. walmart practices at for stores outside the u.s. have been published in settlement papers. funneling money with a wink and a nod in india, paying hundreds

of thousands o of dollars in brazil to a contact nickname the sorceress for the ability to procure building permits. to put the corruption investigation behind it, walmart agreed to pay $282 million in fines to the u.s. justice department and securities exchange commission. must less than the $600 million asked for. walmart spent over $900 million fighting the cases. such colossal sums could be considered a drop in the bucket. corrupt walmart practices were initially revealed by journalists in 2012. the fec took over and found walmart deliberately looked the other way as middlemen paid millions in bribes on three continents over a decade. in a statement on its website, the ceo says the company was pleased to resolve the matter and that they had enhanced the ethics policies in compliance

with the foreign corruption practices act, which makes it illegal for american companies operating abroad from using bribery. >> american aviation aviators banned u.s. airlines from flying over iran's airspace. the united airlines had already suspended its flight over iran. -- has been doing well off the back of political tensions. gold prices soared to the highest level in 6 years climbing 1.36% to a height of , currentlyr ounce .30.ed at $1402 7 stocks remain mixed, but edging higher as investors keep a close eye on the political tensions between the u.s. and iran.

the london ftse and cac were up slightly while thehe said it cod increase financial inclusion and also announced nonbanks would be able to hold accounts in the banks of england. he also issued a warning about facebook's ambitious new plan. >> bank of england approaches with an open mind, but not an open door. unlike social media for which standards and regulations are only now being debated and legislated well after they have been adopted by billions of users, the terms of engagement for innovation like libra must be adopted well in advance of any launch and that is something the chancellor and i insisted upon at the last g7.

>> those are today's business headlines. deutsche bank under criminal investigation in the united states for possible money laundering after a whistleblower flight suspicion reactions linked to jared kushner. deutsche bank has been under investigation by the u.s. department of justice since 2015. this is the latest in a series of regulatory missteps for the bank. the small silver lining for the embattled alignments between two carmakers. they signed a deal with way mode to develop autonomous vehicles in paris and japan. it's the fourth time they forced partnership outside the u.s. market. the chairman of taiwanese electronics company foxconn is stepping down in order to pursue a bid with -- for the tiny presidency. he announced his resignation friday. he will remain on the board. his successor has been named.

this could mark a new direction for the apple supplier after 45 years at the helm. to be buried is a grave financial matter. the funeral industry of france is valued at over 2 billion euros. we take a look at one aspect. burial plots that go up for auction. an investment for maternity or until the lease expires. dozens of tombs are being auctioned off. the burial spots of other -- either been abandoned or no longer used. cemetery, dozens of residents have gathered to bid on their possible future restingplace. we talked to the children about it. on father's day we told them we cemetery. to choose a

ended up spending some 3000 euros for their chosen spot. buying or leasing certain tombs can be financially beneficial. to who want a historic or ornate -->> having a tomb monument is very expensive today. if you are looking for an important monument, it is almost impossible. many cities are looking for alternative ways of handling their increasingly crowded or full cemeteries. in paris, there is a major shortage of spots. .7% were bought for eternity most residents were laid to rest outside city limits to be buried in one of paris's 14 cemeteries. buying a plot cost over 15,000 euros and that is if you can get one. in 2017, only 171 plots were for

sale or least and there were nearly 5000 requests. >> good news for chinese tourists, they are getting their own flight right to the riviera. directna is launching a flight. it is all part of a push to welcome a growing number of chinese tourists who hopefully plan to dig deep into their pockets while on holiday. the airport has already been making strides. it translated the website into mandarin. mandarinmarriage -- and textiles to help chinese travelers.

man: i've already had a rewarding career representing artists writing the first review of basquiat, being the first person to buy his work, being jeff koons' dealer during the nineties. i've already done very