>> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wins a landslide victory in a primary election for leadership. this despite corruption indictments. , theere in france transport strike enters the fourth week. it is now the longest lasting strike in more than three decades.

people left dead and 12 are .till missing several provinces are severelyly flflooded. houses have been washed away. thanks for joining us. fteras quick to tweet closing polls. benjamin netanyahu fail to form a government. netanyahu and d gideon saar broe earlier this month. --is now bringing journey us nonow we bring in jojournalistic gideon levy.y. benjamin netanyahu has secured the leadership of thehe liquid party. is thatt mean he is also the

undisputed leader of israel's right-wing heading into the march elections? >> yes, absolutely. but this was before those primaries. israel i is now divideded into o very clear camps. one camp sesees him as a hero. the otheher camp sees him as a villain. and there isis almost no other topic between the two. >> despite this victory because he did get 72 point 5% of the vote, the prime minister is actually quite embattled. , , inly many challengess judicial challens.s. tell us morore about what lies ahead for benjamin netanyahu. >> he is doing anything possible

to postpone the day t that he wl have t two stand in n front of t and to stand in front of his destiny. andd he is doing that inin a vey sophisticated d way. namely, prime ministerr -- he belilieves the situauation wille much easier than head of opposition. so it is all about this. side, the other camp can't accept that someone withth such serioious charges andnd a shadowow over his head cannot accept that this kind of personalality can be pririme minister or even candididate for prime miminist. the campaign in israel does not

go with anything elslse. >> for viewers, , can you explan morere precisely what t he face? what kind ofof charges does s he face? >> bribery i is the worst of th. withainly it has to do getting better covererage of him personally. b becauseite impressive until now,w, there is justice fr bribery over getttting better coverage. presesee thatut he got from friends, sums of money. withinally, we are dealing

cigars and champagne. it is not t the heaviestt corrupuption i can see. >> gideon, thank you for that. trump has urged russia and syria to stop the intensive calming. to take ground with air and grounund bombardmes . shownan relief group has men, women, and children have fled their homes in recent weeks. >> every day, the number of civilians fleeing villages keeps growowing. for the past month, , syrian forcrces backed byby russia have bombed the region to retake it from rebel fighters. last week, the army stepped up the offensive with a ground

operation leading to more violence which u.s. president donald trump has urged to stop. russia, syria, and iran are on their way to killing thousands of innocent civilians. don't do it. the province is the last still dominated by rebel fighters. taking them down will allow the government to control the whole country again, reclaiming the ty. itit will be alloweded to rereos a ststrategic highway linking damascus to a aleppo. government moves forward, residents move north toward the turkish border. they face the cold and rain. >> the warplaneses dropped shehs on us. we took refuge but we cannot stay here. we left with nonothing. we jusust fled from our homes ad escaped.

this.are barely surviving it we are suffering fromom the cold. may god help us. turkey is currently home to some 3,700,000 syrian refugees. it has closed its border and is calling for a new cease-fire. >> to kazakhstan where dozens have been wounded and some have died in a plane crash. the aircraft was carrying 93 people and five crew members. it lost altitude seconds after takeoff and broke through a concrete france -- fence before colllliding into a building. fly from ththeled to countrtry's largest city tththe capital. an investigation is currently underway. as a precautionary measure, all air flights have been

temporararily suspended. as france's crippling transport its fourth day, it is the longest lasting strike in three decades. workers are protesting pension reforms. if workers continue their strike, they could break the all-time record dating back to 1986. >> christmases past and new year's eve is looming. these french railway employees are not going back to work. they have crippled national and inner-city transportation as well as parts of the economy. they say it is all the government's fault. >> we want this reform to be shelved. we won't go anywhere until it is retrieved.

have beenay workers striking against pension reform for 23 days which makes the strike longer than the one staged in 1995. since talks failed again last week, the strike might continue and beat the 1986 record of 28 days. workers are ready to give up chunks of their salaries for the cause. >> nine days of my salary. isthis inspector leave she ---- believes she is fighting fr evereryone's pensions. >> my christmas g gifts are worh more than usual. so m my family understands. even t though you can't strike likeke we do. many passengers back them, but not all of them. my fifirst plane was cacanceled

d i i havetrugglgled to get here. >> they are right not to give up on certain principles. i hope to eventually get back home. traffic is slightly smoother on friday. >> at least 20 people are confirmed dead after eight-reverend -- after a typhoon ravaged the central philippines. the typhoon brought heavy rains, strong wind, and flash flux -- floods that leleft thousands stranded across the country. the island nation regularly suffers s from typhoons but stos seem to have been more violent and destructive. >> stranded, battered, and broken.

ththe typhoon begiginning to shn thursday and and devastating fashion. fallen trees or accidental electrocutions have happened. thousands of displaced represent -- resesidents canan be found in gymnasiums with officials voicing pleas for help. >> blankets and toiletries are important. whwhatever can be useful andd impoanant to us is w what we are pulling for. i hope people can help. slammed into the eastern province on christmas eve and barreled across the archipelelago's central r region christmas day, crashining into several coastatal towns only to lose momentum late on thursday. wind reached sustained speeds of up to 120 kilometers an hour. it left tens of thousands stranded with flights also canceled. the predominantly catholic island nation prompted words of

support. is affectinghat the dear people of the philippines because of the typhoon. >> i pray for the numerous victims, for the injured, and for the families. the philippines is the first major landmass facing the pacific typhoon belt and is hit by an average of 20 major storms a year. are deadlyhe storms and typically wipe out h harves, homes, and i infrastructure. keeping millions perennially poor. casablanca, an association that helps homeless people has started operating a shower truck given by a generous donor. it is the first on the african continent, equipped with a 2000 liter water cistern. they have received wide support on social media with 30,000 followers on facebook.

we have this report. judelunteers from the association meteor to operate a shower truck for the homeless, donated by a generous benefactor. the organization benefits from no official subsidies, relelying solely on the generosity of its supporters. [speaking foreign language] >> the i initiative has seen grt success. they shaved and obtain new close. -- obtained new clothes. language]ng foreign

>> hopeful that did not get a place on the truck next time can sign-up for the next round. those that qualify for help or registered digitally. the objective is to count and identify each of the homeless that often do not have formal identification papers. after registration, volunteer doctors offer medical consultation. [speaking foreign language] >> jude also aims to help the homeless reintegrate into society. it is the main path of these volunteers. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> many depart this evening with a smile on their face. jude sees aspike -- spike in people needing help every year. >> to stay with us and think you for watching "france 24." stay with us and thank you for watching "francece 24." ♪ ♪ the volcanic landscape in the far east of russia. virgin territory barely touched by tourism. a few years ago, a travel group started bringing people by helicopter to highlight the fauna.and the f fonda - --

> this is the area where we keep the groups together. we are in the soututh of kamcmchatka. people really want to visit this area. there are 1000 bears in this area. >> three bears. for -- four bearsrs. tveled fromve china, the c czech republic, and even brazil to see these bears up close. >> that right one. >> it is so lovely. i have only seen bearsrs in the zozoo. >> to feed the bears in the wild, she had the colleagues from shangnghai pay 600 euros eh for the onone-day helicopter tr.

they say it was worth every cent. >> we have seen a lot of pictures. it we want to try to come next summmmer. >> i am sure more and more chinese tourists will come. i think local markets should be prepared. nextn kamchatka be the tourist hotspot for the world? that is one part of vladimir putin's grand plan to make use t that issian territory the to only 6% of population. the far east. the district has expanded to include additional regions were moving the capital to vladivostok. since 2015, 1 of the highlights of the year has been the annual

eaststn economic forum. daniel, deputy director of the far eastt investment agency is a busy man. right now, in a short space of time, we have signatures of each contract. top state officials are present. chasing investors is his job. the task is to ensure every ruble of public money brings in 10 rubles of drive it investment. >> 3.4 trillion rubles worth of contracts. we have been preparing for this all year. >> there is a good deal of ceremonial pomp. >> [speakingng russian]

>> thehere is s a certain kind f investor in russia and in the world prepared to work under the conditions we have here in the far east and you'll with the difficulties. with theal difficulties. we have low population density. low infrastructure. prprojects c can really take of. the feel good in these kinds of places. [applause] >> 270 contracts with 470 billion euros. it is a success. does not necessarily mean the investment will materialize. these contracts are nonbinding for investors. the forum is about projecting an image more than anything else. ladies and gentlemen, we have

set grand goals for the development of the far east. these goals can only be achieved through partnerships a and collectiveve effor. >> the businessman still have to be persuaded to follow through. this is what he has come to kamchatka for. he is on his way to meet the representative of the chinese investor that wants to build a resort here. >> i have come to discuss the next steps with the project director. regions, they are up to a respectable level. >> look at this place. this is part of your land. beautiful. it is magnificent. really beautiful.

>> this businessman n is eyeing the area for hotels and businesses. >> if i understand correctly, the chinese absolutely need to have an infrastructure that allows them to have fun, spend money, and buy souvenirs as well as food and drink. >> the pririce tag is more than one billion euros.. >> this will be the largest project in the history of kamchatka or anywhere in the far east. the ststakes are very high. >> it is a p pioneer project. >> crucial to the development of the sector. >> the hope is to attract other investors with a return. instruction -- there are mouthwatering incentives for five years. >> the far east development corprporation is ususing public money y to connect them to thehe electricity grid and to thermal water sources.

land belongingng to the state is made a available in n record ti. anand tiny prices s compared t o market rates. >> but still, the investor is hesitating. euros in stateion aided investments announced in the far east, only 16% have soso far been carried out. and the regigion is losing 17,00 inhabitants each year r on avererage. under the state plan aims to reverse the exodudus. this is my trusty steed.d. more than 10,000 kilometers in this car, all the way from moscow. i had a trailer withthll my things in it. when i gotot here, thehere was nothining. just nature.e. geographer. a

he left his job to take vantage ofof a program offering one free hectare of land in the far east to any russian citizen. this is where i first building will be. i am planning to build a house for guests. but first i i have to clear the forest and cut down all the trees. i have to pay huge sums of money. tree,much as 30 euros per the rate set in accordance with forest three laws. l for a street -- forestry aws. there are no exceptions for maxine or anyone else in the area. >> i asked the officials in charge of the land distribution programs about this before i got the site. they toldd me, no problem. cut the trees down a and use the land but i found myself having .o pay 2000 to 4000 rubles

i don't plan to make money by chopping wood but i can't start my project while the forest is in the way. no one wants to solve the problem. >> the state hands out unusable but there are big projects for deforestation. 500,000 cubic meters of what o r top down each year -- of land are chopped down each year. it is actually an obstacle for development. the train over their loaded with wood is going to china. on open carriages. is a lawyer specializing in land rights and is among those protesting the fact that 90% of cut wood from this region is exported to china.

legally, on paper, t this would still belongs to russian companies. but de facacto has already been bought by the chinese. obviously, if we use this would to make furniture, houses, paper, the value would be multiplieded tenfold. but we just sell it as raw material and serve chinese industry. soso what wowould the chinese et in russia when they are doining just fine milking us for the raw materials? >> there are barely any wood treatment plant in the farar ea. -- plants in the far east. but this client is one that is about to open. it will be the region's first wooden flat factory. the boss is just making a few final checks. >> the least we can say is that the government half attempmpts o

popularize the farar east has boosted property prices and investor appetites in this sector. and the lack of competition means there is really goodd prospects for those of us that are not afraid to try and develop something here. problem.ere is a he can't get to see to give himm 120,000 cubic meters of wood he needs for production. he has to buy it. >> started buying would a year ago, keeping in mind that the logging company has sosold mostf theieir produce to china at pris that are double or even triple the average on the russian market. year, we managed to stockpile 10,000 cubic meters of wood. 10,000 cucubic meters will be just enough to keep the factory running for a month and a half.

afterwards, we will have to stop for lack of raw materials. >> they are not the onlyly investor in the far east making promises onn paper. they built a plant and invested one billion rubles.

steve cacabella: edith's s desi, the cocoupe dinnerware, it''s american classic, for sure, but it's s a landmark design. s so s part of the foundadation of momodern design. it is l literay timeleless. it's stro. . it's ststdy. she buililt all this i o it. it's meant to be useded. somebobody has to be the founundation for good desisign d dinnerware, and who better thann ededith heath h really? woman n as heath: i wanteded to make something that was for the american way of life, not the kind of dishes that were used in europe among g the aristocray bubut much morore peast-oriente, yet t it could be for sunday best, as well as everyday use.