>> russia has the world third highest number of covid-19 cases, the figure standing at nearly 700,000. we will get the latest from our new delhi correspondndent. franan's newew prime minister jn as theyasas a new cabinet facece unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. the world''s most visited museum hold to the mono laser reopens in paris. the louvre open again after a

four-month closer -- closure. we begin in india which has overtaken russia as the world's third highest number of covid-19 cases. the figure standing at roughly 700,000, as the outbreak shows no sign of slowing down. there have been almost 20,000 deaths in the country s since te first case was detected back in january. new delhi. a massive spike in those figures in india. take us through some of the numbers. that is right. those cases rising very quickly. now, india recorded its highest numbers of new cases on sunday with 25,000 new infections, and this is despite the steadily increasing, but still limited testing. now, several public health experts have cautioned the

actual number is much higher. officially, as of this morning, india has 700,000 cases, and scientists are still debating about when the country is likely to hit its peak, they say likely at the end of july or early august. much of the caseload is predictably coming f fm large, metropolitan cities like new delhi and mumbai. both of these cities have a population of over 20 million people were people live in an extremely dense, urban clusters. mumbai has already 200,000 cases. cases areof all coming from these two cities of delly and mumbai. cases are also being reported from remote v villages in the mountains, little hamlets, making the size ofof the challee the indian government is facing truly staggering. now, all of this is coming at the end of what was described as

one of the world's most stringent lockdowns. it is not surprising. warnedhealth experts had of such a spike and restrictions were eased. as you are saying, this was happppening as the country was easing lockdowns and people being able to go o back to work. i assume offfficials could b be worried that thecoululd be, indeed, looking at a second wave. >> that is right >>. now, the indian government has been fairly vocal about the fact they had no choice but to prioritize the reopening after three months of widely obeyed lockdown. the government was trying to strike a tricky balance between protecting an ailing economy and safeguarding the public health of its citizens. when the lockdown was eased in early may, it effectively remains -- it remains effective

across many sectors. schools arare closed. universities are closed. the daily metro is closed. international flights are still not taking off for l landing. the countrywide network is operating at a limited capacity. the government here is saying to the people you can go to work, but that is it -- no gyms, no cinemas. much of the country still remains closed. now, the country has infrastructure, which was crumbling even before ththe todemic is threatening collapse and in delly they are facilitya 10,000 that and plans are on the way to more facilities.

the border between australia's new -- two most popular states -- a spike after cases. the outbreak in melbourne has seen hundreds of cases in the last two weeks, making it more than 95% of the new australian infectioions. offears of a second wave coronavirus cases appear to have materialized in the southern .tate of -- victoria of the 140 new confirmed cases of covid-19 declared in australia this monday, 127 of those are in victoria, the state largest single-day increase since the pandemic began. community transmission -- transition has skyrocketed. it prompted authorities to enforce a hard lockdown that has

affected 3000 residents in these power blocs, unable to go to work or to leave for food or medical supplies. it is an unprecedented response with a massive testing blitz, and some 500 police officers stationed outside of the apartment blocks to ensure no one leaves or enters. meanwhile, the b border between victoria and new southth wales s set to close on tuesday night with the premiers of both statee and the prime minister scott morrison all the green it is the smart call to make it this time. for the rest of the country it is a reminder not to let their guard down and that potentially an explosive new outbreak could occur anywhere at any time. it is s the world's momost visid museum, home to the mona lisa. the louvre having been closed

since mid-march. low visitor numbers expected due to the lack of tourists and parts of the museum will remain shut. however it is a first page and a very welcome one for many. >> rarely does the mona lisa enjoy such peace and quiet. businesses can once again admire the masterpiece as the louvre reopens its doors to the public. it is a rare opportunity to explore the most famous museum wiwithout the crowds. >> [speaking frencnch] >> around 70% of the louvre is

opened to the public. visitors have to reserve online with entries limited to 500 every hour. masks are compulsory after the age of 11. it has suffered around 40 closing sincein mid-march. >> [speaking french] >> the worldld's mostst visited museum is bracing itself foa far less lucrative summer season than usual. lester, almost three quarters of the visitors came from abroad, many from outside europe. manyny travelers shincheonji in place,e, and no onone knows when they will return in large numbers. >> in france, a cabinet reshuffle is about to take place. to -- e expected

let's cross not to catherine. just how much of a cabinet reshuffle are we actually expecting? still waiting for the list of names of the new french government. newill be the third under prime minister john kast x. the namese getting soon. there have been quite a few tensions over policing in france. recently with demonstrations violence, some people have not been fully supported by a leisure number of

police officers. we could see changes at the environment ministry. that will be a big deal for the french government going forward because after local elections, there was something of a green wave that swept across several large cities, so emmanuel macron looking to give it to a more environmental stance. we do not believe at this stage that the foreign finance ministers will change. some key posts with continuity, but a limited shakeup nonetheless. >> is coming as president emmanuel macron is very much looking to be reelected in this presidential elections two years from now. is trying to move toward the next stage of his presidency, to position himself more favorably for the 2022 french election. he gets around 38% in the opinion polls, which is not

unusual for a french president after three years in office, but it is not as high as he would like to view wants to improve his image. his --ad taken out adouard philippe, who was more popular than him, and has appointed jean castex, who is seen as a technocrat, a behind the scenes minister. it seems like emmanuel macron is taking the reins of this government. there is also a question of whether he could shift to more of a left-leaning or environmental stance. himself is from the right wing. it will be extended see what shape this will take. reporting from paris.

thank you. japan is battling against floods and landslides after torrential rain. rescue workers are rushing to save survivors. emergency services and residents are bracing for more rain later this week. >> a call for help. sitresidents can do can tight and hope their messages seen. floods in n southwest jajapan ha washed away roads and bridges, leaving men -- many an isolated community stranded. >> [speaking japanese] >> conditions are making it difficult for emergency workers to access someme areas.

they managed to save 50 memembes of s staff and resesidents froms nursing g home i in one of theht hit areas. around one dozen are feared dead.. water inundated the ground floor after torrential rain started on saturday. those in wheelchairs were unable to reach higher ground. up to 250 millimeters of rain is expected in the south of the island through to tuesday morning. hundreds of thousands of residents have been advised to evacuate. oscar winning a time consummate any america money has died. he scorered movies such as "the good, bad, andnd the u ugly, and "cinema paradiso." oscars and golden globes. he passed away overnight in a rome clinic. and that is it for this edition.

please stay with us here on france 24. >> it may be a cliche, but we truly are living through extraordinaryy times. covid-19, climate change, a global movement against racism -- here on france 24 we want to menu the human stories behind the headlines. the program is called the new normal and it features original reporting every week from france 24 correspspondence all around e world. >> the new normal on france 24 and france24.com. >> hello, and welcome to the france 24 interview. today with this, one of the living legends among war reporters, one of the most famous british journalists.

thank you for being with us. you are here in paris with good news -- finally, 22 years after being published, your memoir has been published in french. it is an iconic book. it is translated in french now at the equator publishing company. first ask you a question because in the first -- i you are w writing didn't want to trade nostalgia. what do you mean by this? >> indocochina is a place where corrupted during the war, capture the imagination of so many westerners that were there whether they were soldiers, journalists -- alall of that. and war changes people and

changes france 24 me, and i did not want to give a sense that i was nostalgic for war or for the countries i was in, but they were going through the more -- most horrendous time. is a place that stands apart, and marks me very strongngly and marks of ththe people, so in that sense one is nostalgic. >> was it to say farewell to indochina? all yourur memories of -- as a younung journalist beieing caugn this major war in indochina quits work -- indochina? jon: writing the book was a way to put into hardrdcovers my expenseses in indochina as a yog wawar correspondent, but it is also about coming of age, entering adultlthood byy confronting and hohorrific situation in one of the most exotic and before places in the world. you are very nicely using the river, which is mainly the

mother of waters. using the ririver as an analalof a memorial, you are also saying it is not as innocent as it seems. what do you mean by that? jon: one has a romantic vision of the river, and i traveled long lengths o of it not in chi, but in indochinana. i have seen it in its veracity in the border between laos and cambodia, and then it becomes more gentle -- the river flow, anyway. i have also seen that it travels through lands which were at time at war.

the most horrific things were happening around the mekong and nice to see bodies of people that were massssacred, a lot of themem civilians. >> the book is an iconic book overseas. it was published overseas. the question is how do we explain why in france we were covering the indochinese war? it took 22 years for it to be translatated for the french public. would you say or think there was maybe in france and in the west particularly some problems to face bad memories because it is by the way, a war that we lost, and it was quite difficult to address to the public these kinds of memories? jon: maybe a little bit. the main reason it was not translated is my english publishers were lazy about trying to promote it in france,

and i did not do much about it myself. i always wanted to be translated into french. i have a very strong attachment to france. moving into the french, colonies of vietnam and cambodia made it even more strong for me. i think that there is -- yes, there isis a tenendency to turn their r back on the e attitudes. >> the americans were not too eager to address the defeat in vietnam a few years later. jon: no, the americans are very bitter in belief - -- defeat and

magnanimous in victory, as we saw in the second civil war. >> you saw in ththe most somber pages, some eventsts you have bn witnessing regarding the tragic events of the book, people from vietnam leaving after 75, going into the high seas, the china sea -- i wanted to ask you a asa reporter, how do you combine this with your memories, your heart, your spirit, because what you are describing is extremely violent. john swain, do you live with ghosts? jon: sometimes. less so now because i'm older, but absolutely. when i am confronted, for example, by photographs of southeast asian people, people from cambodia, vietnam, laos, in

difficult circumstances, i am really, really touched because i know -- i can see in their faces what i saw in their faces in 1972 1975 when i was there -- how they express fear, terror, hunger -- it is ready. it breaks my heart. >> do think this experience when you are still young man built you or destroyed you? jon: i think it built me. i am not the same person obviously, that i was all those years ago.

you can learn from it said that is a bit tough -- learn from it. it is a bit tough. journalists are terrrribly privileged. i was very privileged to be there at a young age, to see those things at the sharp end. and to see lots of suffering and terrific h humanity, h human bes helping each other as well. that marks you. from that point of view i don't think it turned me into a cynic. >> back to the tragedy, i wanted to ask y your reflflection after decades of covering wars around the world, it looks like history teaches nothing because we have the same issue in the indian ocean, and still the main problems of corrupt governments, the lack of understanding of we need to do something by the international community. what is your reflection?

do you need to -- jon: it does not nullify what i did. it is disturbing that these things repeat themselves. i am not one of those joururnalists who believe e then change the world by what they have written. i think that is incredibly pretentious, but i think tryryig to write what t you see and what you feel as a journalist, because wewe are in a privileged plplace, and leading your reades as if they were on your shoulders so they can see what you see, and bring it home to them, i think has to be a good thing. >> there are some beautiful things you write in your book -- you mentioned this beauty into sadness. i would like to ask why you reconcile the violence, barbaric action you have been witnessing and the beauty out of it that you have been witnessing in cambodia.

how do you receconcilele it, orw is it popossible? jon: i t think humuman beings he toto sensese to them. i ththink one e of the thihingsi came awaway with his that t humn beinings, even in these places n behave disgustingly towards each other and they can be led very badly by people that encourage that, and that is what happened in cambodia. there is a famous french expression -- cacambodians alwas smile. they have a very beautiful people, but the famous cambodian king 19th-century said to french colonial officers you have to realize that cambodians i like water buffalo in the rice fields. they seem to be very placid, but if you provoke them too much, they go completely mad and they get very angry, and that is what happened. >> do you think your profesessional experience e baco

a few dickens ago would be possible today? jon: i think largely not. journalism has changed so very much. i mean, now, first of all, you cannot get away from the officie -- you are a foreign editor, or an editor -- you have a mobile phphone with you. he is inin touch with you, askig you what you see, telling you where to go. one has lost on's independndenc. i looked to wander around, repoport what i say. all of thahat has changed, and e worlrld in syria is veryry dangs for r western rereporters to go, but the sameme time, we lost in cambodia, more than 20 journalists in more than eight weeks. it is an horrific casualty fischer -- figure. they were either killed or still missing. that figure has never been mashed, even in syria. and that was the khmer rouge who -- i have sometimes s said they were the precursors of ices and

not from a religious point of view, or anything like that, but theyey were just psychopopathicd they killeled anyone thahat encroached on their territory. not to have publicity or anything like that, like isis has done, but just out of a pathological hatred for them. >> this is the france 24 interview. thank you for watching. bye-bye. >> [speaking french]

spanish] ng language] g foreign

reporter: horrifying escalation of ethnic violence in the democratic republic of congo. different militias have terrorized huge numbers of the civilian population. second reporter: the drc's government say the extent of hunger and displacement is being exaggerated. reporter: 13 million people in need of humanitarian aid. crawford: i'm alex crawford in the democratic republic of congo, and this is "hotspots." tonight we're gonna take you behind the scenes of the world's biggest and hardest-hitting stories. we travel to drc to honor the world's forgotten conflicts. man: we've got sense that you were going into o the badlands. crawford: stuarra