world news editor analysis from france 24. i'm mark owen. the talibanay they e on the verge of arming a government in afghanistan as the scale of the humanitarian crisis becomes apparent in kabul -- the verge of forming a government in afghanistan. hurricane ida reaches new york, and people are asking why there were no warnings. the damage in louisiana and

tennessee still being assessed. emmanuel macron announces 1.5 billion euros to transport contraband security. saying drugs are the bane of the city and traffickers will now be harassed by police. thank you very much for being with us. the taliban says it is closer forming a new government. the islamist militants who pledged a softer brand of rule then during their brutal reign of 1996 to 2001 was transformed from an insurgent group into a government power. it is believed the announcement may take place on friday just days after the chaotic pullout from -- of u.s. forces from

afghanistann america's longest war. france 24's correspondent has been in kabul throughout. he has been speaking to a senior taliban spokesman. >> there's not as many people leaving the country as the media says. those leaving will be forgiven if they come back to afghanistan. they will be in a safe environment to carry on working. this issue should be solved. we have no problem with them. they are individuals and afghanistan's future will be in their hands. we welcome them. they are our heroes. they should not worry.

mark: let's get some water analysis from a research fellow at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. thank you for being with us. can i ask you your reaction to the words of the taliban spokesman there? >> i think it is good they are statements, but it is not going to give afghans who worked in the previous government much comfort. we don't yet see a complete alignment with the words of the taliban senior leadership and the actions we see on the ground. >> is there a clear chance the taliban can establish a workable government? >> i think they can establish a workable government. i don't know how functional it will be. they don't seem to be going for an inclusive option. there will be the supreme leader and an executive leader of sorts

who manages the day-to-day affairs, but they do not seem to be engaged in inclusive coalition making. i think it is highly unlikely they will keep their promise of having an inclusive government or engaging in talks. the taliban themselves simply do not have the technical expertise to run the country. mark: when you say inclusive, do you mean including, dare i say it, women, or are you talking about trying to federate the various taliban clips of -- rate the various groups -- trying to federate the various groups around the country. >> of talking about having a more decentralized government. any of those things would make the government more inclusive, but it does not seem to be the direction the taliban is headed. mark: there has been protest even today, dozens of women

turning out ably to protest for the basic right to continue with their work. i'm sure most right minded people around the world wish them very well with that. to think with the formation of a government, the international community that pulled out so quickly leading to this situation will be able to exercise some sort of influence on the new government on issues such as human rights? >> i hope so, and i think having a diplomatic presee on the ground is going to be important the taliban have a bit of a problem, which is that the country has changed. the urban population has become mo educated, is accustomed to having rigs. there is internet. if they respond negatively to protests, it will end up in the national news. there is leverage over the taliban, but being present is

one form of leverage. mark: they use it to help fire and fuel them to help take over the country, and now it could be something that judges them. a final question for you -- taliban and statecraft -- do these two words belong in the same stateme? >> i don't think the taliban have a sigficant track record when it comes to governance. in the late 1990's, the governance model was not very sophisticated. the ability to govern has only become even more difficult with technology, so we will have to see. i'm not holding my breath. mark: thank you very much for joining us here on france 24. we appreciate your time. we are watching developments from kabul. next, up to 26 people reported killed in the flooding disaster caused by hurricane ida hitting

new york. there has been extensive flooding on the ground and in the subway system, leading to reports of people dying trapped in basic accommodation. >> a day after the storm, this is what is left. parts of new york are still submerged after storm ida brought last flooding. several people were killed on wednesday after almost nine centimeters of rain fell on new york in the space of anour, almost doue the record previously set storm henri in august -- set by storm henri. the governor blamed climate change. >> this is a reality we have to face. this is the biggest wake-up call we could possibly get. we are going to feel a lot of things differently i think quickly. >> the subway system was suspended as floodwater poured

in an emergency services rescued dozens of people from submerged cars. in -- in new jersey, tunnel b of the airport is also submerged. >> we are just removing the trash off the catch basins. >> storm ida also flooded pennsylvania, triggering tornadoes, including one in annapolis in maryland, which left widespread damage. around 2000 homes in pennsylvania, new jersey, and new york are without power. mark: next, firefighters in california have managed to fight back wildfire-threatened communities. the fire continues towards the

state line with nevada. president biden has approved a declaration of emergency in order for federal efforts to boost local efforts. >> firefighters have been doing what they can to fox in the wildfire near lake tahoe. they have made some progress to protect community's und threat due to favorable weather conditions. the fire is just a few kilometers from the evacuated resort osoutlake tahoe. the town is safe, but homes i the area remain in danger. burning trees are creating spot fires ahead of the main wall of flames. >> spot fires continue to be a problem. they have been a problem since the first day of this incident. once we get the wind -- once we see the wind slowdown, we will see those spot virus slowdown. >> on the upside,ind is

expected to calm heading into the weekend. >> friday is a very light wind day across the entire fire, so the issues and conditions that the weather was causing, especially the last couple of days, will be mitigated by much lighter wind across the fire. >> a state of emergency was declared on wednesday. fire crews from around the united states are battling the fire, which is just 23% contained and has destroyed 700 homes and other buildings since breaking out on august 14. mark: emmanuel macron is on day two of his three-day visit to marseille. he has promised 1.5 billion euros to help the city. he's promising greater security as well as a clampdown on drug crime. only last weekend, two men were

shot dead in a drive-by shooting in the north of the city. >> we have spoken a lot about the urgent security situation. some would say too much because it is not new, but it should not become a habit. it describes the situation in marseille's neighborhoods. we must conduct a real hunt, a policy of harassing traffickers both here on the ground and all the way to the heads of the trafficking networks abroad. >> our team following president macron's visit. >> emmanuel macron spoke this evening about a series of emergencies here in marseille, a security emergency, a social emergency, and a health care emergency, outlining concrete measures about what the state can do and what the state intends to do to help.

we already heard about 1.2 billion euros that will be pumped into 200 schools that will be renovated herin marseille. problems in schools have been linked to very serious drug-related crime in the city with 12 murders of young people in the past three months alone. we know there will be concrete developments in that regard. 15 schools are going to be renovated now. the renovations will begin right away in 15 of the worst schools in the city. also, there were announcements about policing. he had already said 200 police officers would come next year. some extra announcements -- 8 llion euro will be investigated in surveillance cameras in more ouble parts of the city and we knew 150 milon ros would be invested in a new police stati. 30 extra educators are going to 30 mediators. we know these are concrete measures to boost the situation for education in marseille. also public transport. we know the tramways to metro

lines are going to be extended along the areas worst affected by violent crime cut off from thcity. some very concrete measures being promised by emmanuel macron this evening in front of the mayor and other representatives of marseille. mark: day three of emmanuel macron's visit is friday. back to school in france, a message for 12 million inch. children returning to school must get vaccinated against covid-19. >> pupils are greeted at the door with a squirt of hand sanitizer. it is the new normal as wrench children head back to school. in marseille, one class had a presidential welcome back.

>> [speaking foreign language] [laughter] >> [spking feign lguage] >> but some doctors are concerned. the infection rate among children is higher than this time last year, and around 37% of teenagers in france are not vaccinated yet. >> [speaking foreign language] >> all children over the age of six have to wear masks inside. if a high school or college student comes into class -- comes into contact with a covid case, members of their class

will not have to isolate, but for younger students, the entire class will have to take time off school. teachers are doing their best to avoid infections. >> [speaking foreign language] >> to help keep the spread of the virus down, the education minister has announced plans for at least 600,000 saliva tests a week in schools across france. mark: we will have more of emmanuel macron's visit to marseille on friday. swedish pop group abba is releasing its first new record in four decades. ♪

that takes you back, doesn't it? "mama mia," abba's first international hit. the new album release is set for september 5. >> ♪ mama mia here i go again ♪ mark: it is time to turn our ida business. data regulators have slammed whatsapp with a record fine. >> 225 million euros, the biggest find ever issued by the country's data commission.

platform -- the platform is required to change policies. it is run by facebook it has headquarters in dublin. it says the fine is disproportionate and plans to appeal the ruling. >> it is more than a slap on the wrist for whatsapp. in fact, the messaging service has just become the recipient of the biggest final -- the biggest fine ireland's data protection commission has ever issued over what it was doing with user data. >> a fine of 225 million euros has been issued on whatsapp along with a reprimand and an order for whatsapp to bring its processing into compliance by taking a range of specified remedial actions. >> the matter goes back to 2018 when the d pc -- the dpc began looking into complianc with new

data regulations. it found whatsapp had not been sufficiely transparent over how is shared user data with facebook, the company which has its european headquarters in ireland. the decision he led to a 250 million euro fine, but other data regulators also had something to say. eight disagreed. the protection watchdog has pumped up the penalty, leaving whatsapp vowing to appeal. >> whatsapp is committed to providing a secure and private service. we have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent. we disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018, and the penalties are entirely disproportionate. >> the app has faced criticism that its privacy policies are too long and complicated. >> next up, another techtarget facing pressure from regulators. apple says it is changing rules

on the app store allowing developers to take payments in the app itself rather than through the store. the new policy is expected to take effect around the world early next year. let's take a look now at thursday's trading action. wall street finished the day in positive territory. investors are taking in some urgent data ahead of friday's jobs report in the united states. s&p and the naz that hitting record closes. shares for spotify and netflix posted big gains after that change in policy from apple. next up here in france, the prime minister continues his second day of meetings with lobbies and business unions. he will meet with the head of

the country's biggest labor federation on already. he reiterated his opposition to looming changes in unemployment benefits. also his opposition to a very serious issue. >> we did not spend a lot of time on the issue of pensions. there was no question of having that discussion. is not the issue at hand and there is tension around it. if this was about pushing back on retirement age, we would not be here. we mentioned it over the course of about 30 seconds. unemployment insurance, 35 seconds. >> finally, business owners in kabul are adjusting to life under the taliban. with bank accounts frozen in the future of or up in the air, the economy remains extremely fragile. as the owner of one electronic

store explains, clients are hard to come by. >> everyone is unemployed. most people, 70% to 80% are unemployed. the shopkeepers you see on this road have a lot of goods to sell, but there's no buyer. products worth 30,000 afghanis before can now be found in secondhand shops for 10,000 to 15,000. >> one of the many challenges facing afghan citizens is the question of foreign aid that accounted for 40% of the gdp last year. it is basically now in flux. mark: we will be keeping an eye on that. thank you. time for "focus." we are heading to the border between venezuela and colombia. a growing number of venezuelans are crossing.

our team is reporting from one border slum where many do not have enough food to feed their families. >> [speaking foreign language] >> this is often the diagnosis for the children in these slums in arid northeastern colombia. >> the risk of severe malnutrition. the child is not eating foods that can give them enough calories for their growth and development. >> a malnourished child is in danger of dying. in this community, save the children organizes health brigades to detect cases of malnutrition. >> she has lost a lot of weight because we don't eat well.

sometimes we only eat once a day . when she sees there's nothing, she cries. she asks for food and we have nothing to give her. >> at seven years old, victoria has the weight and height of a three-year-old girl. the after effects can be severe. >> she is chronically malnourished. she won't catch up in size compared to a child of the same age. this will affect her brain development, meaning she will have more learning difficulties. >> humanitarian organizations have trained women from the neighborhood to identify cases of malnutrition. one of the leaders of the sector, which has been baptized "the landing strip." >> this is the old airport. there used to be a landing strip here.

this emerged after the pandemic started because many even this will and migrants in different neighborhoods were no longer able to afford rent. >> many families have planted makeshift shelters on these lands. the majority of them make a living from recycling garbage. water arrives here by donkey. >> the children drink this water because their mothers cannot afford to buy drinking water, so they get diarrhea, which then leads to malnutrition. >> victoria, the seven-year-old girl who suffers from chronic malnutrition, lives with her grandmother and 12 other children. due to the lack of contraception, all families here are large. >> we have a new mother here who has just given birth by

c-section. she arrived a week ago from venezuela. >> there are many y mouths to fd . >> a couple of slices of fried banana for each of them. that is all we have to give them. >> for more than three years, the flow of venezuelan migrants has not stopped. the border was strictly close for over a year, but families fleeing the crisis and misery have not stopped filling in. those who remain in macau, which is 10 kilometers from the border, cannot afford to go any further, but this poor region with the economy already in crisis has nothing to offer them. humanitarian organizations have set up an entrance. >> we cannot give them meat,

chicken, or fish, you can replace it with vegetable proteins such as beans or chickpeas. >> they organize consultations for malnourished children. thousands of families survive thanks to this emergency aid. >> we provide comprehensive care so that people can receive nutritional care, access to safe water, cash transfers, which are key to saving lives. >> at least 20 children have died of malnutrition in the region over the last six months. the toll would have been higher without humanitarian aid. the local people now need to work to feed their children. >> what i ask for above all is help in setting up small businesses, investment and training, so that a mother or father can have a job. with a job, these families will

be able to get by and have a decent life. >> meanwhile, as the venezuelan crisis worsens, shantytowns continue to grow. mark: for more news, stay with us. you are watching france 24. >> thanks very much for staying with us. time now for eye on africa. >> reporting from across west africa. >> the latest in politics, economics, and the arts in africa on france 24. our journalists are in every region, every country, to report on the emergence of a continent of unparalleled riches, bringing you africa's stories on france 24. liberte, egalite, actualite. >> i'm sarah morris, france 24

correspondent in madrid. spain and portugal, two countries are covering from painful recessions, now being challenged by the political and social fallout from those years. watch me on live from paris and france 24 news programs. ♪

09/02/21 09/02/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] this amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> our goal is to seek justice for elijah mcclain, for his family and friends, and for our state. amy: in a major development in the movement for police accountability, three colorado police and two paramedics have been criminally charged in the death of 23-year-old elijah mclean. they beat him, put hn