>> hello and welcome back to the france 24 newsroom. crowds packed the streets to welcome their former president home. after two years, he says he is glad to return to the ivory coast with the current leader there hoping for reconciliation. who will be chosen to succeed iran's president? turn out friday is forecast to

be low with many disillusioned with the state. masks are off here in france, most to the delight of many as the government uses covid-19 restrictions, but just over the english channel, the delta variant has pushed the daily case rate to its highest point since february. swarms of people thrown to the airport in abidjan and its surrounding streets this thursday to welcome one inbound passenger in particular. the former iberian president touched down for the first time in nearly 10 years in exile. he says he is glad to return to ivory coast and to africa.

teargas was used to dispersed some of his supporters and to block the road to the airport to those without a plane ticket, prompting a spokesperson for the acquitted former leader to call that response unjustified. the 76 rald was ousted from office in 2011 after refusing to accept that he had lost 2010 election, a move which triggered a brief but deadly civil war -- the 76-year-old was ousted. he was accused of crimes against humanity, but authorities delayed handing him a passport until after this year's election. >> march 31, 2021, and the international criminal court upholds the decision to acquit the former president of the ivory coast. that both -- bug bow -- bagbo is

a eemen and free to return to the ivory coast, a move sanctioned by the current leader of the ivoryoast. the events contained within the trial date back to late 2010 after a closely won presidential election. tensions rise as the united nations-certified results are published. >> [indiscernible] >> but this results are invalidated the next day by the constitutional council, which proclaims victory for bagbo. uncertainty plunges the country into five months of chaos. supporters of the country's

candidates clash. bagbo stood accused of weaponizing rape and murder to terrorize his opponent. he was arrested with the help of the french army and transferred to the hague where he faced four counts of crimes against humanity, charges he denied. after a three-year trial that heard 82 witnesses, evidence was considered insufficient, and he and his assistant were acquitted in 2019, a decision upheld by the icc's appeal chamber. >> we speak to our correspondent covering the story for us. it has been a mixed date of tensions and excitement. what more can you tell us? >> what i can tell is indeed, it

has been a mixed day in terms of reaction. both this jubilant, electric night filled with laughter and also cheering and chanting, but also, you know, clashes that erupted a little bit in different areas across the city of abidjan where police forces had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd, so definitely a mixed bag here. what we know, and with the latest is, at least for us, is when we did leave the airport and the presidential pavilion, we were met with more crowds waiting just as a motorcade -- >> we seem to have a problem there with the connection to our correspondent in abidjan. we can move on, though, to some of the days -- the day's other world news. at 7:00 this friday, pulling

will get under way as the iranian republic picks someone to replace rouhani as president, but we should not expect long queues or a flood of people eager to cast their ballots with just over 40% of the electorate forecast to ballot. the economic doldrums iran finds itself in an lingering frustration are among the reasons prompting the low participation rate. >> a final rally ahead of friday's presidential election. followers of the front runner ultraconservative cleric gather to show their support. with just four candidates left in the race, the remaining nominees insist the contest is a serious one. >> it is a good competition.

the various groups have representatives among the approved candidates. >> credit's vote to replace -- friday's vote to replace the run's ultraconservative president -- many voters say they have become disillusioned with the process, despite the urging of the president and supreme leader to go and vote. >> i don't see a candidate who can save the country from the situation it is in, which is a dire one, and that is why i won't be voting. >> unfortunately, my preferred candidate was disqualified and absent in the debates. i will try to vote for the person whose agenda is closest

to my preference. >> two main challengers include an military guard chief. >> to delve deeper into the election, we can speak to the editor of e.a. worldview. thank you for being with us. as iranians make up their minds about who to vote for or if they will vote at all, many are saying this ballot is potentially a foregone conclusion. >> this is a managed election. there are 4 candidates who remain. to give you perspective, the guardian council disqualified

all but seven of 592 applicants, including a former parliament speaker and a former president. three dropped up to back their individual candidates. it comes down to the hardliner back to the -- backed by the supreme leader's office. his chief opponent is a centrist former government leader. i expect the main candidate will receive more than 50% of those who do vote, but as you suggest, will he have legitimacy with a low turnout? >> what would his presidency

look like? >> it will look like the supreme leader wants it to look like. we know iran is facing serious economic challenges, in part because of u.s. sanctions on the country over its nuclear program , but in large part because of long-standing internal problems. claims of corruption, production problems. the primary candidate has not put forth any economic policies to claim what he would do and we do not know what the out -- the outcome of the nuclear talks in vienna will be, and we don't know if american sanctions will be east. -- will be eased. >> if turnout ends up being as

low as 41%, as many official opinion polls predict, can officials really and truly come out and say this ballot tomorrow has been free and fair? >> i think they can say it has been free and fair. i think they are not going to stop people from going to the polls. they are going to encourage it. if it is free and fair because the candidates have been so carefully selected, as it were, to be presented we can debate, but the question is this -- 41% would be the lowest turnout in the history of the islamic republic for any international election. the supreme leader will say this is a triumph against american pressure, but will people outside of iran see that as legitimate? more importantly, will iranians themselves who are suffering and economic crisis, suffering with

little hope that crisis will lift in the future -- will they see that election is being legitimate if less than half of the country have come out to rubberstamp it? >> turnout has dwindled in previous iranian elections, and apart from issues being raised this ballot, there's clearly something that runs deeper and goes wrong with the electoral system and with the link between the average iranian person on the streets and the political class of politicians. >> a friend of mine has said for a long time that they believe in the principles of the revolution but do not see that revolution being implemented. it is not just the economic problems or social issues. remember that in 2009, an election was decided by the supreme leader against the

person who won. more than one million people turned out, and those protests, which lasted for months, were not only that, but the man who probably let that vote was put under house arrest in 2011 and is still under house arrest. many others are not allowed to have their names mentioned in the iranian press. a lot of voters are wondering what it matters because they are not actually able to get participation in a system that will recognize their decision if it goes the wrong way against the elite at the top. >> that's all we have time for. thank you so much for being with us. next, the daily number of new coronavirus cases has jumped to

its highest level in the u.k. since mid february. official data shows that just over 11,000 infections have been recorded in the latest 24-hour reporting period. the british government's chief medical advisor says it is not yet clear when this current surge will peak, but has made it clear it will definitely translate into further hospitalizations. the delta variant of the virus, first detected in india, is said to account now for 95% of all new british cases. france has meanwhile recorded close to 2800 new infections. as the infection rate falls, more restrictions are being lifted. this thursday was the first day citizens could wander around outside without a facemask. sunday, the nationwide curfew will be scrapped. the health minister says 60% of the adult population has now had

at least one jab of a vaccine. we can listen to what some parisians are saying as the masks came off. >> [speaking french] >> [speaking french] >> it's time now for some

business news with our business editor, kate moody, who joins me in the studio. france is taking more steps towards easing coronavirus restrictions, and today marks a symbolic step for the tourism industry. kate: the magic is back just on the outskirts of the capital. disneyland paris has open for the first time since october 30. the theme park is one of the nation's biggest tourist attractions. it welcomes around 10 million visitors per year -- or at least it did before the pandemic. characters like mickey mouse will have to keep their distance. other amusement parks reopen earlier this month, and crowds have flooded back. the industry hopes to kick off a strong summer season. >> [speaking french]

kate: ryanair along with the manchester airlines group has sued the british government to challenge the traffic light system that has been put in place for international travel. court papers argue the government should clearly explain how it makes decisions on categorizing countries. other airlines are expected to join the legal action. the reclassification of portugal from green to amber spark controversy -- sparked controversy. the government says it is considering relaxing rules for citizens returning from abroad. the number of americans applying

for jobless benefits rose last week, reversing a seven-week downward trend. 412 thousand new claims were filed, 37,000 higher than the previous week. analysts said the shift was likely due to seasonal volatility and some changes in state systems. if numbers continue to rise, it could be a worrying trend. the dow jones and s&p 500 have closed lower for the second day in a row. investors slightly rattled by the federal reserve's plans to raise rates in 2023, earlier than expected. the nasdaq managing to close up. we saw losses of nearly .5% for london's footsie -- london's ftse. curevac revealed vaccine is only

about 45% effective, throwing into doubt hundreds of thousands of vaccenes. a newly published survey showed 2.3 million british adults held cryptocurrency assets. just over a third continue to consider such investments as a gamble, down from 47% last year and 14% say they have taken out loans to invest in the crypto markets. one analyst described the last statistic in particular as simply terrifying. u.k. regulators have repeated dire warnings that investors in the market should be prepared to lose all their money. while many regulators and analysts still see cryptocurrencies as an investment, el salvador is trying to approve it is legal tender. the world bank has now refused to help. >> it is called bitcoin beach. on the coast of el salvador,

this surfing village is the first to use the cryptocurrency, a new national law legalizes bitcoin as legal tender, and the government is hoping to roll it out to the entire country. >> we are trying to create a new economy. not everyone has access to a bank account, so we created the bitcoin initiative, which is money that is easy to move, easy to use, and in the end is a method of exchange. >> but the plan has already hit its first big roadblock. the world bank said wednesday it would not assist with el salvador's implementation of bitcoin. in a statement, it said, while the government did approach us for assistance on bitcoin, this is not something the world bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings. in addition to concerns about volatility, envinmental concerns exist about the massive amount of energy computers used

to generate the currency. two years ago, the country abandoned its own currency for the u.s. dollar. it is estimated 70% of el salvador and did not have big accounts, and many received their income through remittances that come with big fees. the hope is that bitcoin could drive investment in the country and increase the wealth of its citizens. >> that was the business news there with kate moody. thank. today's focus report looks at a material that many of us touch for use -- touch or use every day but one we know we should use less often. plastic is all around us and is clogging up the oceans. china is the world's biggest producer and consumer, but earlier, the government brought in a stack of new laws and at limiting plastic pollution over the next five years. our team in beijing reports. >> in china, recycling has long

been the domain of trash diggers and scrap pickers, but since 2019, residents in major cities have been required to sort their waste or risk being fined. private businesses have also popped up to help. users pay a small joining fee and can earn money by returning clean recyclabs to the 24-hour drop stations. >> you put the recycling bag with the other plastic items in the station, scan the qr code on the bag, and link it to your account. the backdrops automatically. you can bring the bag home for another round of recycling. >> from eco-conscious young people to frugal pensioners, the user base is broad. >> it is much more convenient than sending it to rubbish.

>> can you dispose of more items here? >> yes, a lot more, and the station is quite nearby. >> they have also found a way to resume -- reduce costs. >> by helping the residents sort waste themselves, it saves time and energy. >> think secure tracing, they can give users feedback when they have submitted an item that does not meet requiremen. in this case, the quality of the material is high. >> we don't give users feedback. users will not know if they have made mistakes in separation. we want people to learn. >> and the government could not be happier. investing in similar businesses to pick up the waste-sorting/. one highly visible result of the

new laws is the aging out of single use plastic items. in 20, china's food delivery industry served an estimated 17 billion orders, but major platforms now require customers to opt in for disposable cutlery. >> part of the order is if you choose to have cutlery or not. i like to use as less plastic as i can, so i choose not to. >> this small action also helps to raise awareness in a country that has been slow to engage with environmental issues. >> i really like it because it is so convenient. i realized i grow a lot of trash to the trash bin. i do think young people,

especially well-educated young people, are paying attention and are happy to follow the rules. >> but raising awareness among consumers is just one small piece of the puzzle. one of the minds behind china's plastic pollution policy is proud of the progress china has made but believes more can be done. >> the enforcement of this policy lacks behind sometimes -- lags behind sometimes. we do not have a mechanism to guarantee implementation at this time. we can say some sectors still have not done enough to deal with plastic pollution. for example, the food delivery industry and career industry -- both are large-scale in china and are growing rapidly, making it difficult to trap -- two tackled the traffic -- making it difficult to tackle the plastic pollution they generate.

>> it has been a complicated process. plastic straws have been completely banned since january of this year. this store owner has modified their product line to keep customers happy. >> we began using paper straws to replace plastic straws in october last year. we developed a product that can be drunk without a straw in our r&d process. we also are using bottled packaging without straws, and we used recyclable pet packaging. >> but a nation addicted to take away has not always reacted well . >> i prefer plastic straws. the paper straw will dissolve in the water after a long time. with the new straws also cost five to six times more than plastic ones. for some, the move is still

worth it. >> the transition has been smooth. we business owners understand, and so do our customers. >> meanwhile, tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean from the yangtze river alone each year. among the government's next challenges will be trying to reverse the effects of decades of pollution. >> time now for a quick break, but do stay with us here on "france 24." ♪ >> well-known stars of french heritage, but it harbors many arts, astronomy, architecture, as well as nature's wonders. come along with france 24. discover france's living

heritage. meet these people whose passion for their professions deserve and drive french heritage. >> you are here on france 24 and france24.com.

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06/17/21 06/17/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: i did what i came to do. number one, identify areas of practical work our two countries can do to advance our mutual interest and also benefit the world. two, communicate directly that united states will respond to actions of interest or those of our allies. am