anchor: hello, welcome to live from paris. i'm annette young. that's look at what is making headlines this hour. syrian troops in direct confrontation with turkish led forces. the u.s. sanctions to turkish ministries and three g governmet ofofficials. erdogan is asking for an immediate truce. from violent clashes in barcelona after the spanish supreme court sentenced nine

froman separatist leaders nine to 13 years in jail. and to our named joint winners of the 2019 booker prize after judges broro their ownwn rules y declaring a tie. ♪ annette: first to our top story. america has sanctioned to turkish ministries and three senior government officials in response to the country's inoing mililitary stance northern syria. president trump calling his turkish counterpart to demand an immediate truce. u.s. vice president mike pence is set to head to the region. >> t the united states of ameria

the invasion,top implement an immmmediate cease-fire, and negotiate with kurdish forces in syria to bring an end to the violence. president trump reiterated his afer to mediate and arbitrate negotiation b between syrian defense forces and the turkish military. our desire is not to shut down thehe turkish economy. our desire is to see an appropriate response. these sanctitions willll be very severe on n the turkish economy. will continue to ramp up these sanctions. we were very clear warning the government of the sanctions. meantime,n the syria's army has entered areas in the northeast of the country, leading to the growing possibility of a direct confrontation wiwith turkish led forces. theine mortimer has more on turkish syrian border.

>> sanctions are the one weapon that america has that could make president erdogan think again. the fact that they are limited sanctions doesn't mamatter. it sendsds a signal to the world markets, foreign investors, and currency speculators. the signal is that turkey is at loggerheads with the strongest economy in the world. and that frightens the world markets. we saw this last year when president trump imposed sanctions ovover the prosecution a an americican priest.t. the sanctions were impmposed in july on steel and aluminum. collapsed.the lira in september, inflation hit 25%. in october, turkey released the priest. bear a anerdogan cannot economic collapse at this stage.

he has lost elections this year which deprived him of the two biggest cities in the land. istanbul and ankara. predecessors have control those for the last 25 years. any economic shock at this stage would further decreases popularity. i think erdogan is entering a period that will be difficult for him politically as well as economic weight. mortimerjasper reporting there. forces have been deployed in the areas around the border town further east. our corrrrespondent on the groud sent us s this report fromom the border.. in the south of jerking of the syrian border with nearly 60,000 inhabitants turkey nearuth of

the syrian border with nearly 60,000 inhabitants.. the only turkish party to oppose the offensivive in northeastern syria. with hostile movements threatening turkey so much that they can justify this w w? no. their goal is just to come and take what they want. reporter: the evacuation orders issued by local authorities have left the outskirts of the city deserted. on the back roads leading to the border, this sheepherder is one staying behind. just a handful of locals, mostly men, that has sent their families to safety. >> i try to call, but i can't get service. more than any other, our region willll suffer the most. two men were killed just a couple of days ago. reporter: thehe local econonomys based on cotton.

but agriculture has been put on standby since turkey's offensess started o on october 9. >> look at my cotton. my pickersrs are too afraid to come to the work. what can they do? this is a complicated situation for all of us. reporter: like many others, mahmoud would like the region to remain kurdish but for the defensive to end. annette: a court sentenced five members the five to 30 years in prison over a bid to detonate a car bomb outside of notre-dame cathedral three years ago. the case is the first to involve a group of women attempting toto stage an attack in france. ines madani i was the leader of the notre-dame cathedral terror cell.

police found her fingerprints anand a car packed with gas cylinders. ani and her accomplice tried and failed to blow up the car near the popular tourist attracaction in the heheart of paris. got the heaviest sentences. at five years and 30 years in jail. >> i think the court issued this ruling to seset an example. the sentence seems completely disconnected from the gravity of the acts. there were no deaths or injuries. reporter: the prosecution and plaintiffs do not share that analysis. the cell made of find women may have failed the bombing but clearly stated the inintention o kill as many pple as possible. , someng their arrests jihadists atcked policice with knives. at least two of them tried to join the islamic state group in syria. >> i think the court realizes how serious the crime was. this failed attack could have

killed dozens of people. reporter: the south says it got its orders -- the cell says it got its orders from ia jihadist weeks earlier. ththey were killed in sysyria ms later. annette: angry protests and clashes on the streets of barcelona. the capital of the catalan region witnessing massive demonstrations after the country's suprememe court sentenced a number of catalan leaders to present for the role they -- to prison for the role they played in the referendum of 2017. sarah morris tells us more. sarah: newspapers are digesting that sentence. let me show you some o of thee papers. this is s barcelona-a-based conservative newspaper. they are leadiding with the

headline, "significant mobilization against the h high sentences of t the trial. " a photograph of that airport that saw significant disruption. manyny of the airline e crews ho arrive -- some could not get inside. there were 67 flighthts cancele. a right-wing newspaper taking a very different view of those sentences. prison, 60 days until freedom." they are pointing out because the public prosesecutor lost the application to the supreme court to set a minimimum amount of yes for those prisosors before they will b be able e to be eligibler privileges, the people sentencing independence leaders

allowed to go home e for the weekend as early a as next year. that brought quite a lot of indignation from sectors of catalan and spanish society. thethis is from p pais, best-selling left-wing newspapaper. , from straight sentences nine years to 13 y years f for e main leaders of the process. trying to get independence. theyey have an ededitorial where ththey say that ththis was an impeccable trial, a vevery fair trial. the sentence reflects s the fact that the spanish justice systetm didid a very g good j job and dt reflflect any kind off vengeancs the nash list -- as the catalan nationalists accused it of. annette: take a look at news

elsewhere. the city of london, police moving into clear trafalgar square where climate change activists set up cap a week ago. the protest movement 20 to cause enough disruption to force governments to make changes to cut carbon emissions. four demonstrators died in capital, with rallies breaking out to proposed changes that would allow the president to seek a third term. he has been in office since 2010. south africa's embattled former president jacob zuma is facinin coururt on corruption charges. it is the fifirst time he facess trial. he is accused of taking kickbacks before he became president from a $3.4 billion purchase of arms manufufacturedy european companies including a french d defense firm. pollss have opened across

mozambique with 13 million voters registered to cast .allots these elections are key to consolidating pace. the two main parties in a protracted civil war signing another peace deal. it is an election that pits old-time foeses against eah other. two partiese -- that signed a peace deal months ago. expected to win has since 1975. but the main opposition party could gain ground in key states. provincial governors will be elected. during the campaign, the president highlighted successes. the signing of the august peace deal with one civil war photo as

foe as wellil war as a natural gas project. wrecks first and foremost a message of trust -- >> first and foremost, a message of trust after difficulties the last five years. mozambique's 13 million voters have been disappointed by the president's first term. fragile.eal is still and above all, economic crisis has rocked the country. it was triggered by a $2 billion corruption scandal. it is one that hurt the nation's economy through hidden debts. not have tohould pay back debts incurred by corrupt officials. >> the governance will never allow the mozambique state or its people to pay back hidden debts. it has to be after those that created the debt to pay it. the leader has campaigned hard against the

government, stressing their involvement in the hidden debt scandal. has also been blamedd for growing factions. annette: it is he your of -- it hasr the u.k. been a year of records for the u.k. atwood thergaret oldest author to win at 79. aftere sharing the prize dick allen judges decided to break the rules and split the after judges-- andded to break their rules split the 50,000 pound prize. about thelittle bit novel. >> she is the 60-year-old literary activist and author

with a nigerian heritage. this is her eighth novel, "girl, woman, other." it is told from the point of view of 1212 different voices, mostly women, black, and british. several queer characters and one non-binary character. the stories overlap and intertwine, spanning decades and different parts of the u.k.. it might not be so accessible, but it has beautiful flow and is very easy to read. a complex structure, i think she really pulls off the 12 different voices. they seem very distinct from one another. annette: and the joioint winner , author of the 1988 cult classic "handmaid's tale."

person -- i think the fourth person to have one twice in a lifetime. she also won in the year 2000 for her novel "the blind assassin." she was shortlisted multiple times for the prize. it was set 15 years after the end of handmaid's tale. we returned to the dystopian where women are divided into forced roles. red and auntind off is one of the more terrifying characters. .e see inside her mind she was my favorite narrator.

teenagers, one growing up in gilead and one growingng up over the boborder in canada. perersonally, it wathee one i i most enjoyeded leading m -- reading from the shortlist. . was a tiny bit disappointed i don't want to give too much away, but i will say some situations did not quite deal rerealistic within gilead. but i think atwood i is injectig hope. annette: have you been spoiled by the tv series? >> it is so gruesome that i prefer reading it. tell us a little bit more about this particular one. >> it is the longest shortlist in recent history.

quite a challenge to get through . it is also praised for its diversity. the most diverse in the 50 year history. four women among six finalists. no white men were among the authors. were the british author and activist. also salman rushdie. and a nigerian author. criticism, this for putting star names on ththere a and not lettg enouough new talent onon the shorortlist.t. the prize isng often criticized for his accessibility and maybe not being in touch with what readers

are more broadly connecting with. the best on the long list did not make it to the shortlist. ,nnette: thank you for that going through this year's booker prize winners. this is what is making headlines this hour as s syrn troops a are set for direct confrontation with turkish led forces. the u.s. sanctions to turkish ministries and three government officials. ththis as donald t trump calls r erdogan asking for an immediate truce. also, violent clashes after the spanish supreme court sentenced nine catalan separate -- separatist leaders to nine to 13 years in jail. and as we just heard, two women authors, margaret atwood and bernadine everest are named joint 2019 booker prize winners after the judges broke their very own rules by declaring a tie.

so it is time for some business news.. i am joined on. the trump administration has slapped turkey with sanctions in response to thehe country'ss military offensive in syria. ththis is not the first time it has done that. president donald trump has said he is prepared to destroy turkey's economy if they continue to attack the kurds. the new sanctions may not have that much impact. steeltariff on turkish comes at a time when metal exports have already declined, meaning there is not much ststel left.- steel we take a look at the trade relations. reporter: the partnership with washington already under strain. questions over how much damage the u.s. can do to the chinese

economy. >> these sections will be very severe on the turkish economy. reporter: the u.s. goods and .ervices total $20 billion it they will boost trade to $100 billion, but that has now been scrapped. only 5% of turkish exports had to the u.s.. some key sectors would be vuvulnable such as air steel,rt, iron, steal -- and machinery. in 2018, washington slapped sanctions on turkey over the continued detention of an american pastor. donald trump then cut those tariffs to 25% in may of this

year. the u.s. government figures show imports of turkish steal in august were down 88% from the sameme months a year ago. penalties imposed will raise tariffs on turkish steal back to 50%. little leftatively to sanction. it sank into recession at the end of 2018. any prolonged trade tensions could set back its recovery. measures have been seen as less serioious than expected. .33% against the u.s. dollar just short while ago. market, stocks rising after a brexit negotiator suggested a deal was still possible this weekek.

more of theyou some top business stories. officially launched a digital currency project despite growing backlash. with1 founding members companies like huber, lyv -- uber, lyft, spotify, and vodafone still in after others dropped out. tercard withdrew from the project over regulatory concerns. in france, revenue declined for the first five months last year. in 2018, the figure was down to 864 million euros from one billion euros collected the year before. the decrease was in part due to vandalisism by yellow vests protesters revolting against the government lowering speed limits.

american motorcycle maker harley-davidson has suspended production of the new electric model due to a technical glitch. the problem with battery charging was reportedly discovered. motorcycle was first unveiled in 2014 as part of the country's efforts to attract younger -- company's efforts to attract younger writers -- riders. mozambiqueues having a presesidential eleion n toy following a violenent campaigngn periodod. the couountry contitinues to sur frfrom debebt crisis.. sendingare gass reserves the countrtry into a n new investment hubub. thentnt compapanies he struck billion-dollllar deals on liququefied natutural gas s pro. our correspondence has sent us this report. mozambique, known to others as the qatar of africa.

the discovery of a norm's gas reserves will make it the biggest producer, bringing $50 billion of investment from energy companies. a lawyer explains hohow the lell issues will l have to beat u uph by local lobbyists. >> [indiscernible] when we look at public construction, you need a joint mozambique owns 51%. reporter: construction is booming and the associated corruption has become one of the themes of the campaign. the sitting president has become the theme of the candidates. don't have data. reporter: the ruling party has

recent infrastructure projects like this bridge built by the chinese. it is the longest suspension bridge but it t is little used. >> basically, colonial structures and architecture is growing. you organize that side. it has s to be taken seriously as the couountry's informal secector makes up 65% f the economy. but the elections are just as important this year. >> we want a president to sort out this market. look at it. believe the election could change your lives. therter: i it will be one of thousands of local observers monitoring these critical elections.

>> lots of potential promises in mozambique. annette: thank you for that. that is it for this edition. i will be back after a short break. stay with us on "france 24."

[drums beating rhythmically] men: hey! man: for more than 4 decades, papua new guinea was my home base to cover s some incredible stories from natural disasters, to political coups and cicivil wars. sean dorney on manus island for abc news. i even got to captain the national rugby league team. announcer: sean dorney sends a long pass... and it's a try for papua new guinea. [cheering] sean: now, i'm living back in australia and facing my toughest assignment yet-- trying to beat a deadly disease. but while i stitill can, i'm