this is -- genie: "france 24 there, these are the headlines. candidates still standing in the u.s. presidential race. primary voting coming as amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg drop out to back former vice president joe biden. the latest life from washington on the way.

israeli prime minister netanyahu looks set to win the country's third elelection in less than a yeyear, but exit polls s say his ultrareligious and nationalist alliance still falls short of the parliamentary majority he needs to form a government. diplomat heads to turkey for talks on the fate of millions of syrian refugees. the turkish president calling on europe to share the burden as thousands of refugees sisits ststranded on the border with greece. also coming up this hour, the coronavirus has spread to over 70 countries around the world. the details on the way. in business, we talked to a top exec at bmw about how the car industry is coping with the virus, and the constellation -- cancellation of the geneva motor show. that is our top story, live from paris.

americans are going to the polls today in crucial primary votes for the democrats. there are five candidates still in the race, but it was former vp joe biden who got the biggest boost going into today's super tuesday vote that is already underway in a few states on the east coast. this weekend, moderates pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar dropped out of the race to back him. the democratic establishment is desperate to unite around a moderate candidate who can be a left-leaning -- you can beat -- candidate who can beat left-leaning front runner bernie sanders. joe biden got a big bump over the weekend from these backings. will that be enough to really help him get past bernie sanders? that is the bibig questition. everyoyone was lookiking at the

, buth after sououth carolina nono one expected that support o come as s quickly fromhehese otr candidatates. you mention pete buttigieg. you mentioned amy klobuchar. those are two other moderate candidates. there is also beto o'rourke, a former candidate who dropped out earlier in the race, who also came out in support. the question is really how much of this is going to help him win some of these super tuesday states. it is not just the support and the appearance of electability that it gives him. it is also the actual numbers. in some states, like in minnesota for example, , the hoe state of amy klobuchar, that could mean for joe biden the difference between not winning any delegates or winning some delegates. the key for joe biden -- everyone still thinks bernie sanders is going to come out ahead in number of delegates. the question is whether joe the distance with

bernie sanders, and that really means he needs to win delegates in as many states as possible. it is looking like it is going to be the south for joe biden. maybe big states like california and texaxas for bernie sanders. but the midwest and the northeast are very tricky for joe biden, and that is where we might see a big push, thanks to those candidates who came out in support -- the midwesterners like buttigieg and klobuchar, and of course beto o'rourke and texas. he is very popular there. that could be a big boost for joe biden. of course, this is going to be a very tricky super tuesday. a lot of states. a lot of delegates coming up. the result there reaeally looks unknown. ofie: 14 states and a couple territories as well. who exactly is voting in super tuesday, and what are the races to watch?

as you mention, 14 states, one territory. american samoa. and the democrats abroad are beginning to vote today. the number of delegates -- that is what you should be looking at. more than a third of the total number of delegates will be allocated at the end of this super tuesday. compare that to the first four states, who only allocated about hundred 50 delegates. that gives you an idea about the more than 1300 delegates allocated, and those huge states -- the most populous state, .alifornia, 416 delegates texas witith 228. those are the key states. very diverse states. a very high latino population state. those two are going to be very key. the south, as i mentioned for joe biden, is going to be key.

northernolina, the neighbor of south carolina, very similar demographically. can joe biden in the south really gain the support of the african-american vote, as he did in south carolina? --re is a very big unknown the entrance of mike bloomberg in the race. he spent $500 million in tv advertisements and in campaigning all over the u.s., something that none of the other candidates has managed to do. the question is, will bloomberg take some of the boats -- the votes away from joe biden? people started turning to bloomberg when they thought joe biden was faltering. can joe biden's urge bring them back? will this be the super tuesday that decides the race is finally a two horse race between bernie sanders and joe biden? the unknown really is michael

bloomberg, and it is also going to be turnout. it looks like people are coming out in numbers to vote, but also there are already millions of ballots that have been cast in the past few weeks and past few days. about 3 million in california already. that could also change the results. they are going to take a long time to come in. it is going to be a long night and a long few days cocoming in. as you were speaking, we saw some of the first images of people voting, in north carolina, where it is 7:00 a.m. in the party. one of the super tuesday votes today will be in texas, a state with one of the largest evangelical communities in the country. more than 60% of those fundamental christians are registered republican and vote for donald trump, but there is a small population of evangelicals or former evangelicals who vote demomocrat. a reporter went to meet some of

them. like many around the country, sunday morning, residents of austin, texas come together to attend church. unlike most churches here in texas, this one is very liberal. ofi have been a supporter bernie sanders for four or five years now, because his career mimics what i believe we should be doing. >> i will probably vote for joe biden. i was very impresseded with president obama, and i am looking for a return to civility. reporter: according to a pew study, 20 5% of evangelicals in texas are democrats. it's a growing trend, particularly with women who feel the terms message does not reflect christiaian valueses. it was not an easy pass for many, like cindy mallet, who set her mind started to change after meeting people who drive for rideshare companies. >> the values i learned of why

we vote for traditional marriage and against abortion were turned on their head. i was forced to see from from another perspective, which i never would haveve gotten, had i stayed within my bubble. reporter: although she votes democrat, she understands why so many evangelicals are trump supporters. it is really uncomfortable to start integrating new information that feels so opposite of what you saw before. i i understand why some people don't want to do that. it doesn't feel good. >> this is karen smith. reporter: karen change her political position in 2016, when donald trump won the nomination. >> 2020 is going to be an imimportant election year. reporter: she campaignsns trying to educate others on somome of e more progressive believes she now holds. kareren: i am going to v vote fr any opponent to donald trump, but i hope we find candidates of faith and character on the left

and d break the myth that t they christians are the republicans. reporter: it is unclear how many will change their views before the upcoming election in november, but democrat exporters are confident that even if trump loses 5% of the even tellico vote, it could change support for the elections in key states like here in texas. out of israel, after a third election in less than a year, benjamin netanyahu's party looks set for victory. exit polls say he will earn the most seats in the knesset parliament, but will fall short of forming an outright majority. is third time lucky for benjamin netanyahu as he claims victory in israel's third election in under r a year. >> our arrival said the netanyahu era is over, but we join forces and turned the table. we turned lemons into lemonade. reporter: with official results

led to -- it to be announced, likud took first place and exit polls, but short of a majority in the 120 seat parliament. in second place, the winner of september's election, benny gantz. his failure to form a majority after that election is what triggered monday's vote. he expressed his disappointment. the understand, and i share feeling of disappointment and pain for not getting the result we wanted. ,f these are the final results they will not bring israel back on trackck. with netanyahu's coalition short of the 61 seats needed, the role of kingmaker could fall to his former ally, and leader of the secular nationalist party, avid door lieberman. avigdor lieberman.

in september, he said he would only form a government of national unity, ruling out an alliance. is a party ofnu principals. wewe will not budge one millimer from what we promised, from what we committed to our voters. netanyahu's victory could be a significant come back after he was indicted on corruption charges in january. it could be a much-needed push ahead of his trial monday to begin march 17. genie: the e.u.'s top diplomat will be in turkey today, working on the fate of refugees in turkey. dozens of refugees are still stranded on the border with greece. that comes as fighting between turkey and syria continues. turkish defense ministry says a warplane of syrian forces has been shut down. turkey launched a military offensive last week in

northwestern syria, to push back government forces looking to retake the rebel stronghold. our reporter told us more from the turkey-syria border. reporter: after a relative low infighting that lasted about 24 hours, starting sunday night, violence has picked up again in idlib province-- in province, with a syrian jet shot down as the syria national agency says that attack was the result of turkish forces. no confirmation yet from turkish authorities, we know that a model of that train was particularly vulnerable to detection from the aerial defense systems on the ground. idlib,le, in the city of an explosion killed and injured civilians. no word yet on the number of those casualties. and a tank belonging to pro-assad factions was destroyed by a rebel group supported by turkey in the eastern part of

the idlib province. this is taking place as this tuesday the turkish parliament is holding a closed door with the session defense minister on the continuing situation. thee: the report from turkey-syria border. have the latest now on the coronavirus. while the outbreak seems to be slowing in china, it has quickly expanded to 73 countries around the world. there are 19,000 cases and 3000 deaths across every continent except antarctica. reporter: wearing a mask, president xi jinping visits one of several research institutes, racing to find answers in the truth about the coronavirus. chinacases w were reported in on tuesday, the lowest since the end of january. but the outbreak is rapidly

spreading g elsewhere inin the world. south korea has said the country is at war as the number of cases reached nearly 5000. 70 countries have imposed travel restrictions against pyeongchang. the number of cases in europe's hotspots doubled over the weekend. meanwhile france, germany, and the united kingdom said they would send supplies and give financial support to iran, which is struggling to contain a dramatic surge in cases. in the united states, president donald trump said he is considering additional travel number ofns if the cases sururpasses 100. pres. trump: we will confront this chahallenge together and we are going to be very successful. reporter: european union health ministers are to meet in brussels to continue coordinating a continent wide response. caseses now coconfirmed in 21 european countries. level has risen from

moderate to high for people in the european union. reporter: the list of countries hit by the coronavirus continues to grow. tunisia, morocco, senegal, jordadan, and iceland l confirmed their first cases on tuesday. colombia hast in ruled against legalizing abortion in the first four months of pregnancy. the decision has disappointed abortion rights activists. they were hoping the case would mark a shift in latin america, which has some of the strictest reproductive rights laws in the world. outside colombia's constitutional court, antiabortion campaigners celebrate, while abortion rights activists vowed that their fight will go on. againstave ruled legalizing abortion in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, and a case that has reopened a fierce debate in the country.

is alive from the moment of conception. from that moment on, he or she is a human being, independent of the mother, part of the family. >> the communal is asian of abortion does not save any lives. it pushes women to have unsafe abortions. no life is protected -- not the woman or any other. a ruling in 2006 allows in portions -- abortionos if the others life is in danger, if the pregnancy was a result of rape, or if the fetus has serious health problems. many abortion-rights supporters hope the case would set a precedent for latin america, home to some of the strictest reproductive rights laws in the world. guyanauguay, cuba, and allow abortion without a woman coming to prove she was raped or that the pregnancy endangers her life, while the status quo on

abortion in colombia remains. many believe the case was nevertheless a big step which has opened up public debate in one of latin america's most ininfluentiaial countries. all eyes are now on argentina, which is set to legalize abortion in the coming days, with the backing of its president. genie: you are watching france 24. let's take a look at today's headlines. a decisive day for the five candidates still standing in the u.s. presidential rate -- race. as amy klobuchar and p back out to back joe biden. set tomin netetanyahu l looks win israel's third election in a year. still fallsance short of the parliamentary majority he needs to form a government. the e.u.'s top diplomat heads to turkey for talks on the fate of millions of syrian refugees.

turkish president calling on europe to share the burden. -- there arefugees thouousands of refugeess left stranded on the border with greece. stephen, today should be the opening of the ginin -- geneva motor show, but it has been canceled over coronavirus. right.: that's bmw unveiling a new all electric concept car, part of its industrywidede drive to sell moe electric vehicles. the company expects that by next year, a quarter of all the cars it sells in europe will be electrified. is also dealing with the consequences of the coronavirus. 150 ststaff working at thehe carmakaker have been quarantined afafter an employee was confifid the virus.. china,a, aajoror market for new cars as well as a hubub for

prproduction. i have been speaking about thiss with a bmw board member, about the impact they have seen on their bubusiness. >> we expect in 2022 have another record year of sales. we expect slight growth. although corona will have short-term some impact -- you already mentioned china. it is much too early to say what the impact on the full year will be. we still expect slight growth in year,ar 2020, the full based on a great new range of products. we have reopened our factories in china on the 17th of february, so they are up and running again. we also see good other indicators in china, like the number of dealerships that have reopened is already at a level of 85%. 464 out of 551 dealers have already reopened.

so far, we have not seen any major implications on supply chain in other parts of the world also affected by china. mararketsopean stock arare seeing a r recovery aftere massive s selloff lasast week. stephen: thehey are all trading significantly up. investors are focused on the idea that central banks and governments will step in and offered stimulus to counteract the slump provoked by the spread of the virus. mark carney of the bank of england the latest to say he will take all necessary steps to support the u.k. economy. finance ministers are holding a phone conference to discuss the policy response. these messages being welcomed by investors. >> wall street had a huge rebound last night after significant l losses from l last weweek. a lot of investors are betting onon the fed to help out and synchronize central-bank movements.

so investors are hoping that for the restst of the month, ththe d will roll out momore a accommode policies to o help out thehe stk marketet. brent crude, the international l benchmark, and i , both significantly up in trading. aent crudude up 2%, following big fall over coronanavirus in recent weeks. the rebound partly down to stimulus hopes we are seeing on the stock market, also the prospect of the opec cartel o of oil-producing nations may d dece to cut output again when they meet later this week. genie: the coronavirus hitting a lot of companies hard. twititter has ldld its employeys to tweet frohohome. stepephen: telling its employees in japan, south korea, and hong kong to work from home, and has stronglyly encouraged its 5000 staff members around the world to stay away from their offices and work remotely instead.

this news coming after the social media firm band all -- ba nned all nonessential business travel. genie: in france, dairy f farmes of the latest to sound the alarm. stepephen: china is a major mart for expertsts, particulalarly powdered milk. priceses have slumped asas ordes have drieded up. farmers associations fear they might lose important contracts with chinese suppliers if demand does n not pick up soon. reporter: the french dairy from tradeeling disruptions caused by a new coronavirus. plummeted,f from china sorted export prices. according to the president of the dairy association, sales of powdered milk and dairy products have fallen in recent weeks. this farmer produces 700,000 liters of milk every year. he is afraid of falling pricice.

>> today, when the problem has a worldwide impact, you feel it at a local level. global trends for local prices. feared the problem will affect individual farmers. reporter: for the time being, only large-s-scale industriall firms are directly hit by supply-chain disruptions. china accounted for 9% of french dairy exports last year, six and 50 million euros. 6 650 million euros. >> it is useless to make products that end up going nowhere, so we halt production and find different s solutions. if the situation continues, that puts 650 million eurosos at ris. reporter: there is concern sosoe regions could be placed on lockdown. that could disrupt milk prododuction and risk problems going -- risk product going to waste. in australia, the

australian associated press is to close aft 8 85 years s in business. stephen: the agency y is jointly owned by four media companies in australia and closure comes after severe cutbacks in the industry in recent years. media companies have suffered from a drop in advertising revenues. 140 journalists will lose their ceasesen the aap operations in june. australian per minister scott morrison describing the news as concerned, while the opposition leader called it a tragedy for democracy. genie: the consumer goods group you deliver has reached an important milestone in terms of gender equality. next ben &ilver jerry's ice cream and of soap. theyey say they have reached gender balance across the management team. half of 14,000 managers are women, up from 38% in 2020 -- in 2010.

british pay in the gap report. the hourlrly pay is actually higher for women than men across the entire c country.. the ceo pushed ahead on sustainability issues and social coconscience and it seemss it hs been taken up by his successor as well. genie: that is good news. stephen carroll with the business update. we will stay with the international theme, international women's day. in the next half hour, we will take a look at the best female chefs, making their names in a field amended by men. -- dominated by men.

crabb: top-dog-turned-hollywood uber-creep... man: ♪ i wanna be a superstar superstar superstar, superstar ♪ crabb: movie mogul harvey weinstein was the first big scalp of #metoo, the movement that t calls out celebrity gropers and sexual predators. >> time's up! time's up! time's up! times up! crabb: #metoo took off around the globe until it met the french r resistance--m-more thaa hundred high-profile women who signed the famous "le monde" letter, defending the right of