>> hello and welcome to france a 24. we are l live from paris. two -- they want men to succeed a angela merkel will not run for election next year. this after the cdu was criticized. voters in ireland deliver a political earthquake as a sinn fein comes out. mary lou mcdonald says she is ready for talks on forming a coalition. the coronavirus continues to take a toll on china. chinaple reported dead on

, the largest death toll in a singlele day. this as the number of cases surges passed 40,000. 40,000. ♪ the woman handpicked by angela merkel will not be running for chancellor in next year's federal election. annegret kramp-karrenbauer will remain the defense minister. she has been struggling to assert control after -- in cdu after a r regional branchch defd her orders and back to a local leader. i spoke to nick spicer in berlin on what prompted this decision. was a matter of insubordinatation which underlrd annegret kramp-karrerenbauer's lack of control l over the part.

what happened inin thuringia, in eastern germany is the christian democratic union party officials, angela merkel's party, voted alongside members of the party of the afd voted for a man from a third-party. he was not in office for 24 hours before resigning in scandal. the local christian democrats did not listen to their national party leader. she tried to persuade them to try to hold a new vote and that she came away saying the matter remained unresolved, that the christian democratic union does nonot know how to deal with the far-right and far-left. this came after angela merkel, the german c chancellor who has been trying to step off the stage and putting in a great kramp-karrenbauer into her place kramp-karrerenbauer into her place as a party leader

-- that i is what precipitated herr announcicing she w would not be running as chancellor. >> what does this say about the influence of the afd in s shapig german politics at t n national levels? i think it shows that the afd has a signgnificant rolole. it is not present in all 16 german regions. it is the defect or opposition party in the federal parliament, even though it has only 12% of the vote. the rule has been for the christian democrats and the social democrats to never govern with the far-right, whether it is at the municipal, regional, or national levels. they are toxic and must not be dealt with. timeit -- was the first the christian democrats voted since world war ii. it looks like the far-right has a disruptive effect if you will on a national political events

because of what -- what happened regionally caused angela merkel's successor to resign. they are not entering governments at the national or regional levels. it is a power to cause harm and block things from happening then actual power in itself. >> ireland's political landscape has been shaken up. this after they left wing populist party at sinn fein secured the most votes. mary lou mcdonald says the election was a ballot box revolution. the two centrist parties fiona gail -- find --find gail here's a look at the woman who led the party to victory. >> mary lou mcdonald on paper is an unlikely leader of a sinn fein. mcdonald was born and privately

educated in the south dublin, a world away from northern ireland and the province rocked by local troubles known as the troubles. her political outlook was always republican. she believes the north and south ever put -- of ireland should unite. that is at the core of sinn fein and the party. mosts leader of ireland's popular party, she hopes to have the chance to pursue that drive for unity. >> this is not a protest vote. electionertainly an that is historic in proportion. this is changing the shape of the mold o of irish politics. ourhe was elected mvp for a name forking

herself with the lisbon treaty, even sharing a platform with ninigel frosh. in 2009, she was elected sinn fein president and took over in a 2018. the party waged an election campaign with laserlike focus on and wass housing crisis rewarded with a shock surge of support in the polls. mcdonald hopes to or may left findgovernment without ael and fionag fail. it will not be knonown who exacy failbe -- and beyond the -- carroll.ring in stephenn help us understand who exactly votedd for s sinn fein and why e party has become s so popular?r? > certainly the numbers are there. they are the biggest party in terms of first preferences. huge a shock for the irish political system. what explains that it is what has been happening to the two

main parties. d fine gael have been the main two parties for a long time. they were essentially one party. many voters felt they were more or less proposing the same party. ony were -- are very similar a policy front. they are two legs of the same pair of trousers and how close they are in their policy terms. that opened the door for sinn open a new door. they are left populist -- raising taxes on businesses, cutting income taxes, huge emphasis on housing, which is the guest issue in this campaign. plan the party is

promising to build 100 thousand new social houses. opened the door for them as being seen as an opposition to the existing two parties. they have developed young voters in particular. sin fain is very active in the is very to -- sinn fein active in the campaign to repeal the abortion ban. the exit poll, it is not just youth voters -- every age group fine was over 65's sin in there as the main party or a monk -- sinn fein was in there as the main party y or among the top parties. republic of ireland, it is not seen as something -- it is an ambition of several failes, fiona -- fianna

also -- this is not groundbreaking policy. the general consensusus among gael isfail and fine that there should be a referendum for a united arland. something that mary lou mcdonald is pushing for to happen sooner shay united ireland. something that mary lou mcdonald is pushing for to happen sooner -- the same party that -- sign it -- sinn fein isn't the same party that people may associate from the troubles. mary lou mcdonald is a new face of sinn fein. representative of a left wing politic in ireland. united ireland is a goal, but it is a backseat goal compared to other issues. >> resulults are still being counted. who is likely to end up in

government? 160 seats 84 of filled. we have a reasonable idea of what the makeup of the parliament will be when they convene later this month. -- fiannaent, saying fail is second despite coming --ond in the debt -- fianna fail should get 23 seats. slightly lower numbers for green. going from two to 11 seats from the last election. you need 84 a majority. fail and sinn fein could since coalition, boat -- then we have heard the fianna fail leader saying he will listen to and talk to anyone.

gael could and fine go into government together, but they could risk getting into merger territory. there is talk potentially of a left coalition perhaps funeral fail could join the social democrats and be -- the owner fail could join the social perhaps fianna fail could join the social democrats. it was a record in 2016 how long it took them to form a government. we may be looking at a similar time as well. >> when will the results be announced? >> it could be sometime this week depending on how long it takes with the recount. news, tens of thousands of homes across britain and ireland have been left without p power. this after s srm ciara swept

through the region. it canceled hundreds of flights and train serviceses across europe. they have warned of strong winds and -- james wilson reports. >> in a normandy it will take some time for locals to repair the damage. they were battered by the w wind and many trees s came crashining down over night. were lucky.owners but this statue is probably beyond repair. myds were reported up to 130 -- kilometers per hour. >> we are clearly up against very violent winds. >> french departments recalled what france described as a violent winds, but despite official warnings, that did not stop some people from leaving their homes. decided tothis man

cross a bridge to find the terrifyingly high waves. 130 thousand homes in northern france have their electronic homes in30 thousand northern france have their electricity turned off. while train services remain highly disrupted, fairies have are sailing this morning. -- workers in china are slowly returning to work, but many factories do remain short as the coronavirus outbreak continues to take its toll. on sunday 97 people died, the highest death toll in a single day. over 40,000 people are now infected. the overwhelming majority are in mainland china. thousands of people stuck on a cruise ship in hong kong have

been cleared to embarq. meanwhilpassengers on a cash -- cleareddisembark to disembark. this is the hong kong department of health. >> the people on board were happy to disembark and head for home. i have to clean all my stuff outside my room first. world dream was put into quarantine after officials discovered several passengers on a previous cruise had teststed positive f for the coronavirus. hong kong health officials were worrieied some of the staff may have b been infected, but testsf the 1800 member c crew all camee back negative. > passengers on board had no contact with the confirmed cases. that --der

put intoong has also place a mandatory two week quarantine. for all arrivals from mainland china. anyone who disobeys could face up to six months in prison. meanwhile, on another r crse ship off the japanese coast, only the sicick can leave. japanese officials imposed a two week quarantine for those aboard the diamond princess after discovering a passenger who had and barked in hong kong tested positive for the virus. in hong kongbarked tested positive for the virus. counting is underway in cameroon after elections were held for the first time in seven years. the boat was overshadowed by a partial opposition boycott and separatist -- vote was overshadowed by a partial opposition boycott.

counting begins in cameroon's weekions, but after i turn.. sunday's poll was clouded -- after a week turnout -- after a weak turnout. >> everything went smoothly. what i noticed is a remarkable abstention compared to previous turnouts. >> wee could not even get a thid of what we expected. -- over 400l that a people can turn out with 50 or 70 voters. maybe there was not enough awareness or may be people stood with those who started the boycott? country's west, militant separatists vowed to disrupt the elections. they have been fighting ththe government since 2017.

the conflict has killed over 3000 people. the low turnout also follows a boycott of the boat by the main opposition party. -- the vote i the main opposition party. the cameroon people's democratic movement -- in the outgoing legislatator, the party had 148 out of 180 seats. rolled the -- the party has rolled to the country for over 48 years. >> venice is celebrating the first day of carnaval. thousands have gathered for the annual water parade, filling the banks of the canal. this year concerns of our flooding and fears of the coronavirus are keeping some -- concerns over r flooding and fes of the coronavavirus are keeping some away. >> led by the famous rat shahapd boat, it is an event that draws

thousands to the city's grand canal as the carnival season gets underway. >> it is my first time and i love it. i love the show. i it is beautiful -- it is beautiful. >> 3 million people usually descend on the city during carnival, but this two year there are fewer tourists than expected -- this year there are fewer tourists than expected. they are blaming coronavirus fears for the drop in reservations. five star hotels to the one star hotels -- >> while some tourists have swamamp to the -- swapped the carnival masks for surgical ones, momost say they are here o enjoy the festivities. bux we are not the least bit worried. -- >> we are not the least bit worried. it is stillers say

possible to book a last-minute room, something normally unheard of during the carnival season. >> time for the business and news. workers in china are slowly -- have slowly started trickling back to work. many factories remain shut bestte the governments effortss to reinvigorate the economy. >> thehey havee also promised subsidies to susupermarkets to keepep food supplies s flowing. ththey announced a 43 billion fd to companies fighting the virus. someme major manufacturers and retailers and asksked that t thy willll continunue their clolosu. catherine bennett has more on what this proposed holiday looks like in china. thet is often called world's factory and it is

partially closed. millions of chinese workers returned to work after authorities prolong to the lunar new year holiday in an attempt to contain the coronavirus. a large number of factories will his still have their door shut. impacactmic impact could supply chains. already basically a month -- without factories working. have toldovinces companies not to resume operations until march 1. stocks calm, which is a major notlier to apple has reopened their doors. bmw are -- is extending the shut down until next week. a shortage -- suspendo plan to operations in pusan because of the disruption to the supply chain. busan because off

the disruption to the supply chain. the longer this drags on, the grgreater the impact on thee countries ecoconomy. if the coronavavirus comes under control by the end of the e mon, china's gdp could grow by 6%. if it is not under control by the end of march, gdp could dip. the virus mayof impact a major tech show here in europe in barcelona later this month. congress scheduled to start on the 24th of february -- other countries like south korea's lg -- other companies like south korea's lg have withdrawn. while way it will still attend. i will still attend.

the showow will go a ahe. global stocks and oil p prices fell on concerern over the coronavirus outbtbreak whihile e haven asassets like gold rose ts sunday. about a ftse is down 10th of a percentage point. , major indices dipped into the red. the stock market in shanghai finished the day on a positive note a as the reopopening of .usiness the u.s. president donald trump is proposing a budget plan worth 4.8 trillion dollars for the upcoming fiscal year starting october. it proposes cuts to social aid and social safety net programs. the white house is expected to unveil the budget blueprint later monday, but it is likely to get a chillingg reception frm

lawmakers. democrats are likely to object to budget cuts on domestic programs while republicans may raise concerns over debts. president trump was keen to claim credit on dutch asase hosted governors -- as he hosted a dinner with governors. >> $40 billion, we made a deal, mexicomca and canada, we have totally renegotiated t the deal with soh korea. it is a great deal for the united states. all to the benefit of your states and to you as gerernors. -- theingng nowoo it disputed islsland of c cyprus, h hahas been divided s since the invasision of turkeyey. from tuturkishrs occupied n north and they nanationallyly recognizezed thi-

tition of cyprus in the south have united to bring a symbol of unity to people's tables. alexandra's -- in 2017, the companynds founded a selling olive oil harvested from both sides of the island. they are trying to bring together the two communities. to promote peace and cyprus. that through a common goal we have. they face numerous obstacles -- >> they face numerous obstacles. --y are two entities >> this is the first time it has ever been done. >> the other -- another problem

they face is certification. the turkish part of the island is not internationally recognized and is susubject to export restrictions. they becomee -- may need to have passports and all kinds of documentation -- they need to have passports and all kinds of documentation to become eu products. to label their mixed oil as organic, they y o frnds s are thinking of marketing g it in seseparate bottles. online e dating was once considered a niche market or outright taboo, but in the next decade, it has become e a dominant form of matching. more and more couples stay together after finding partners online. a recent study showed a 30 -- already percent of adults used

-- a recent to study showed 30% a recent study showed with 30% of adults found their partner >> online. -- online. can sell eventy tickets, they can sell restaurant reservations. they can sell cosmetics, they can sell clothing, all the things you need around going on a date. >> i bet you have used one of these. dating appsely say are not niche anymore. meeting someone in person i is morere niche than anything else. it is true. a quickoing to take break. more coming up. this is france 24. ♪

woman: the most significant intelligence to date on islamic state. man: a vast cache of information about tens of thousands of i.s. fighters. man 2: absolute gold mine of information of enormous significance. woman: a huge blow to islamic state's operations. [echoes] ramsay: i'm stuart ramsay in turkey, and this is "hotspots." tonight, we're going to take you behind the scenes of the world's biggest and hardest-hitting stories. we uncover a terror group's secrets... man: to have that kind of information is just, i would say, unprecedented. ramsay: we report on america's epidemic of mass school shootings... man 3: there had been shootings in schools in america, but