on france 24 and france24.com. ♪ >> may 3, france is to begin her return to some kind of normality. domestic travel restrictions will be lifted, secondary schools will be reopened. bars and restaurants perhaps in mid-may. covid figures still concern experts. biden works in modern miracle by getting china and russia to join him to save the climate. he is joined for a virtual climate summit on world earth day. a funeral takes place in

20-year-old daunte wright days after the policeman who killed george floyd was convicted of his murder. the same community lace to minneapolis another black man killed by a police officer. thank you for joining us. the french prime minister confirmed that domestic travel restrictions are to be lifted may 3 and that secondary schools will reopen the same day. the first steps toward the country exiting its covid-19 lockdown. the prime minister also set -- said some businesses including bars, restaurants, and cultural venues might reopen around mid-may. he says the covid-19 situation is improving three weeks after france ended the one month lockdown, its third to try to stop the spread of the virus. >> [speaking french]

>> the french prime minister, in spite of his optimistic words, the covid figures in france are worrying. 34,318 cases. 283 saliva testing will be a major precaution at primary schools reopening in france. i france 24, we examine how it

will work and the disgruntled parents who are unhappy about their child's classes will close if one positive cases identified. >> schools begin to reopen monday and the covid-19 protocol is much the same as before they closed earlier this month. if one pupil tests positive, the entire class will have to quarantine 17 days. parents associations still are not happy. because of one case of covid, all e children have to stay at home. children will test saliva testing and nursery and merry school. children -- teachers will be

testing twice a week. unions see very few have received tests. we have to prioritize vaccinatns for teacher where children don't wear masks, because they are t most likely to get infected. >> before the lockdown, the number of classes closed because of an infection has multiplied. many parents are worried about a return to this situation. >> the situation in france. a new record, more than 314,000 new cases in india over 24 hours. over 24 hours. it is worth saying twice, i think. the country has recorded 2000 deaths over the past day. strain hospitals, overwhelming demand.

>> with india's health service buckling under a dramatic surge in cases, many patients are being turned away as hospital beds fill up and oxygen supplies run low. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the surge in cases is being linked to the spread of more infectious variants of the virus, including one that originated in india, but many people also blame authorities. narendra modi's government has been criticized for holding packed political rallies for local elections and allowing a hindu festivalhatas attended by millions. this week, he urged governments to use lockdowns as a last resort. health experts say india let its guard down during the winter

when cases were at a low. >> people wanted to get out of your long restriction, people wanted to get back to work. >> only a tiny fraction of the indian population has received it back the nation. -- a vaccination. experts say there will not be enough for the 600 million people who will become eligible. >> president joe biden gathered leaders to spur global efforts against climate change. drawing commitments from the chinese president xi jinping and russian president vladimir putin . >> united in the global fight against climate change, world leaders came together to renew commitments to a common goal with president joe biden announcing a new target to half u.s. carbon emissions by the end of the decade and more in the

years beyond. >> if we take action to build an economy that is not only more phosphorus, but healthier, fair, and cleaner for the entire planet. these steps will set america on a path of net zero emissions by no later than 2050. >> china vowed to face down its core consumpon, even after its heavy reliance of fossil fuel decade. >> we will strictly control coal fire power generation projects and limit the increase in coal consumption over the period and phase it down in the five-year plan period. >> the carbon emissions trading system. they put a price on pollution,

they will now apply touildings and transport. other countries like india, canada, and russia followed suit with plans to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions. as leaders including the u.n. secretary general emphasize the need for countries to do more. >> we are at the verge of the abyss. we must make sure the next step is in the right direction. leaders everywhere must take action. first by building a global coalition for netero emissions by mid century. >> countries in the paris accord are set to give updated emissions targets in november at the climate summit taking place in scotland. the 2015 agreement aims to keep average global temperatures from rising above two degrees celsius by the end of the century. >> let's bring in the professor of climatology, joining us by skype.

good evening, sir. are you surprised, perhaps heartened to hear biden, xi jinping, and putin in accord on this issue? >> yes, of course. that itself is good news. now that is not enough to protect climate. the atmosphere only knows real emissions and does not understand political disposals. but it is good that leaders announce more ambitious targets, that means that some leaders have small ambitious targets. if thoseargets are achieved a really, if emission reduction really takes place, that is certnly good news because we know the urgency is really there. >> net zero by 2050. it is right the u.s. should lead the way, isn't it? >> well, the u.s. is historically the largest

polluters, if you look at the accumulated emissions since the industrial revolution to date, the largest emitter is china, but in terms of accumulated emissions, it is the u.s. it i very portanto have the u.s. participating again to the international efforts to protect climate. it is one of the big players together with the eu, china, and those thre together make a big so it is very important that the u.s. is taking this new leadership role. >> china saying they are shooting for carbon neutrality by 2060. let's hope that happens. how about india's role? india with its growing economy and growing pollution, there are issues we need to keep a lid on. >> of course. india is a very large population

, a population that increases faster than china. their level of carbon pollution per inhabitant is lower at the moment, but if it is not curbed in the future, very large emissions would come from india, so it is very important that after china, the u.s., and the eu, that is an important emerging country as india stops relying on coal for example for its energy production and relies increasingly on renewable energy. it is possible. as president macron mentions, india is part of the solar alliance and has a lot of solar energy on its territory available. if it wanted to, india could decrease its emissions in the future much more, as well. >> the u.n. saying there has to

be a global coalition to be net zero by mid century. he says we are on the verge of the abyss. how realistic are the targets they were discussing? can it happen? >> well, you know, there are many studies, including those summarized and synthesized by the ipcc over time showing that the knowledge, the technology, the changes in behavior, the economic tools needed to achieve such targets are available. up to now what has been largely missing is the polical will to implement them, to implement those solutions at the appropriate scale. it is very important to have such an international summit like the one happening now virtually at the request of the u.s. because that is the kind of event able to increase the

political well. >> the ipcc, the intergovernmental panel on climate change, thank you sir for joining us and sharing your analysis. we appreciate your time. >> you are welcome. >> professor of climatology and former ipcc vice chairman. the pleasure to get to speak on the issue of climate change here on france 24. hundreds of people turned up at a temple in minneapolis to pay tribute to 20-year-old daunte wright. he was shot by a pole officer on april 11 during a traffic stop in the small city of brooklyn center. the preliminary inquiries show the female police officer so after mistaking her taser for her service pistol. days after guilty verdicts were handed down on the minneapolis police officer whose killing of george floyd set off nationwide

protests and a reckoning over racism, another black man killed by police, this time in the nearby suburb. his family holding his funeral this thursday. >> it has been an emotional few days here in the city of minneapolis. just two days ago, j and victory in the death of george floyd, the officer convicted of his murd on all three counts. it was a joyous atmosphere two days ago and here we are in minneapolis mourning the loss of yet another black man at the hands of police officers. today was a very mournful day. there was a large crowd gathered out here. they have all gone inside as the funel is in process. we are standing right outside the church where the funeral is being held. daunte wright's family came first alongside rev. al

sharpton, who is a big civil rights activist here in the u.s. he will deliver the eulogy today. this is less than one year after he delivered the eulogy for george floyd's family in the same city. this is bringing back a lot of memories of something that happened very similar thing that happened just one year ago. george floyd's family is also here to support daunte wright's family, along with their lawyer ben crump, who will continue to assist daunte wright's family as the investigation into his killing is continuous. >> the funeral of daunte wright in minneapolis. the news continues on france 24. stay with us. ♪ ♪

>> hello and welcome to a special edition of talking europe in which i'm pleased to welcome britain's defense secretary. he is in paris to boost british defense ties, which will enshrine the treaties of 2010. the two governments consider those ties to be particularly important as britain adjust to a new role in the world after leaving the european union. ben wallace joins me from u.k. ambassador's resence in the french capital. welcome to the program. >> thank you. >>s let's start with the tensions between the west and russia over ukraine. you have said in the past that nato still has something of a cold war mentality. do you think nato has been outmaneuvered by russia? >> i think what russia spotted

and that was my point when i made those comments is that if you sit and wait in a very static environment, your adversaries will use methods to weaken your position r get ahead of you. what we had seen in many areas has been pressure using those methods, whether that is cyber, cybercrime, espionage, we have seen assassinations, as we saw in salisbury, has used a range of methods that nato has not been prepared for. the work of nato 2030, the reform program, has been all about nato moving to recognize there is a threat we need to deal with, so it is now in the right direction. it is absolutely the case that russia had been clever at preparing the ground or doing things before we were ready to do somethi about it. >> the british government sounds more hawkish on russia than

france and germany, for example. on this side of the channel one sometimes get the impression that britain is moving away from european positions and aligning with the u.k. is that a deliberate move post brexit? how do you see that? >> britain is obviously shaped partly by the use of nerve agent on its use of -- on its own soil. i think that is going to shape our attitude toward a country that is supposedly acting in a civilized way and that plus what we have seen around the world of course makes britain somewhat determined to push back that malign influence we have seen. to be fair, there are many countries in europe that feel the same way. this is not britain feels one way and the rest of europe feels the other. i regularly meet with my counterparts across nato and

scandinavia and the nordic countries and they all feel very similar. >> let me ask you about french-u.k. defense questions and i want to quote something the former british ambassador to paris said earlier this month. he said we have not seen a new flagship u.k.-french project that will take us forward for the next decade, we have seen projects falling away, such as the future combat aircraft. a hit clearly from brexit. what is your response to that? >> i think it does not reflect the history of aerospace programs before and after membership of the eu. we have loads of programs over the last decade. some have been great successes, like the jaguar airplane. we have had programs that never came to fruition. that is nothing to do with e.u. membership. >> sorry to interrupt, i think he was talking about a major

flagship project that everyone can point to as symbolic of the future of franco u.k. defense. this is something that is missing at the moment, isn't it? >> no, we collaborate on a number of projects already. we collaborate on our nuclear project that is incredibly important. we collaborate in our organization of our forces. the joint expeditionary force grouping that we have worked to bring online and i a mechanism for should be deployed together, that is real and solid. it has been exercis and we will continue to use that. therare many things we already collaborate together. the a400 is a collaborative project. in my recent defense reforms, we are going to be letting go of our hercules aircraft and continuing to build on our fleet of a400s. if you are looking for a project of the moment, of course and number of countries within

europe, not just a britain-europe are trying to settle on the future type of aircraft. for example, fcas, britain, sweden, and italy collaborating on an aircraft is different than the german-french collaboration. it does not mean that is where it is going to end up. this is not an eu thing at all. most aerospace projects over the last 30, 40 years have been driven by who are the customers. in european defense, there are very few spenders who by large equipment programs. france, germany, btain, italy, they are the big four. that is what drives aerospace programs and will continue to drive it no matter what our status is within the european union. >> allies have been concerned i think it is fair to say in washington about the cuts in army personnel numbers, which are government has decided to do several thousand army personnel

to be cut by 2025. why should beijing or moscow take you seriously when they see you cutting those numbers? >> because beijing and moscow are themselves investing in technologies that may be don't need so much mass in the long term. when you can have as many people as you like on a battlefield, but that did not really work very well in the first world war. technologies coupled with force multipliers, with the right strategies and tactics, coupled with alliances. here is the big key between britain, europe, and russia and china, russia and china don't have any alliances. they don't have many friends. europe, nato, united states, we work together. our strength is our alliances. we want to make sure we have battle winning capabilities and we have to make sure we are prepared for the type of battle that will come tomorrow, not fighting yesterday's war. >> china is investing in

technology and it is increasing its conventional forces. it is expanding its navy significantly. >> we are increasing our frigates and destroyers. we will have more by the middle of this decade than we have now. at the same time, by ung technology, we will have them available for longer days at a. the other part of having defense capability is we want our capability to be forward and used operational and the russians know that. that is why they are offering at a rate of readiness integrator forward presence. i can have lots of ships tied up alongside, but that is not going to deter anyone or change anything. we nd to make sure we have a force that is ready and deployable, a force capable of beating our adversaries, and a force ready and able to work with alliances. i'm here because it is important that britain and france are interoperable in our equipment programs and deployments. if you are saying, britain on its own, will it take on china and russia?

it is not a surprise to anyone, i don't think that is going to happen anymore than france or germany will take theon another round. we have always been defense alliances. that will absolutely still be the case. we are still going to be in expeditionary country. i'm tting an extra 24 billion pounds over the next four years. i will spend nearly 200 billion pounds on british defense in the next four years. that is a rising tide of funding. it has allowed me to make the right decisions to modernize a force to fight tomorrow's battles. >> you have said that britain has sometimes been too dependent on other countries in the past and that britain can now pick and choose its own battles. maybe you can give me an example of a hotspot or a conflict around the world where you can imagine britain acting on its own. so if we forget multilateralism for a second or alliances with the u.s. or the relationship

with nato, can you imagine such a situation where britain really does do something on its own? >> let's be clear, 99% of its own, we will be with nato, nato is our priority. nato deployment. on some, we will join the united states. on others, france, germany, or whatever. it just means we have to have a force that can bring to the effect of the party, bring to the moment all the right capabilities we need depending on what we are doing. africa is a very different force layout. it could be britain in its own, it could be britain with an african partner, it could be the united nations in molly. it is giving me choices. >> just briefly because we are running out of time, france is very concerned in light of the events in chad yesterday nad the death of the president. what is your thinking on helping

the french operation or the g5 group in the coming weeks and months? >> first of all, we are sending an extra helicopter to support the -- we arrived in the u.n. deployment alongside the 300 british troops deployed. this is an example of where britain and france absolutely align. africa is a key area for europe. it is a key area for our interests, our trade interests, but it is a key area for our security. it is in our interest to that are stability and counter radicalization across east or rest africa. we are worried and sad by the loss of the president of chad. and you know, we totally condone -- condemned the use of force to try to get rid of a government that is in place and we will do everything we can to support our friends, but also those

countries and producing that stability that is so important. i think that is the real key here. we have to recognize that what we don't do over there comes back to haunt us all over here. i think the lessons of the last 20 years have meant that we have to as a defense realize the best defense is sometimes being over there, being abroad, investing in resilience of other countries. that is the best way of keeping troubles from coming to our shores. >> we will have to ended their. thank you so much for your time. the u.k. defense secretary. thanks to our viewers on the program. goodbye for now. ♪ >> ever since the huge fire ripped through notre dame, this ancient cathedral has been turned into a giant building site.

two years on, the work to secure and shore up the structure is mostly finished. but the hard work is far from over. >> don't mi notre dame revisited, and the heart of the cathedral, alongside the men and women working to save the fire damage. notre dame revisited on france 24 and france24.com. ♪ ♪

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04/22/21 04/22/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> people are scared. they are terrified. people have isolated themselves. ey are not stepping up unnecessarily and the roads are empty. amy: india is in a state of crisis as covid cases surge and hospitals run out of oxygen. india just set a new global