anchor: welcome to live from paris, news and analysis from france 24. these are the headlines. russia says it destroyed a large weapons depot near lviv. deaths there and in kharkiv as russia's steps of attacks across ukraine, especially in the east. the eu condemning the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas. israeli police violence as there is a split in the coalition government that could lead to its downfall.

thviolence i condemned by the government. the presidential candidates have not been treading on egg shells this easter, both on the campaign trail two days ahead of the live tv debate that could prove decisive in this presidential election. this is live from paris. ♪ thank you for being with us. ukraine's highest security official says russia's anticipated new offensive in the east appears to have started. he spoke to say russia attempted to break through the entire eastern front of the regions. we will have a full breakdown and analysis for you.

first, airstrikes indiscriminate on civilian areas, the words of the eu foreign policy chief on russia's attacks. day 53 of the russian invasion of ukraine has seen it targets across the country struck by russian forces. lviv in the west, perhaps the incident that changes the complexion of the conflict. the city so far, where nearly 5 million people to leave ukraine has passed through, now targeted in airstrikes. moscow says an arms depot was struck. seven civilians reported dead. our correspondent sent this. reporter: the black smoke on the horizon here in the city of lviv has disappeared, only the second time since russia began its invasion of ukraine that we have seen the black smoke, that there have been russian missile strikes inside the city. today, four missile strikes hit three military targets. we don't know much more about what those were, but one place does not -- clearly was not a

military target, and we would hope the intended target was not hit because it was a car repair shop. we saw the place a few hours ago, burnt out cars and burnt outbuildings. next to the buildings, a hotel. quite a few refugees from other parts of refugees had come there. from more dangerous laces in theory, to not see those scenes anymore. now a bit of a reminder for ukraine and the people of this normally peaceful city of lviv that vladimir putin's army has the possibility of hitting pretty much any part of ukraine with its missiles when it wants to. air defense works well here most of the time but it did not this morning. that's why we have seven people dead, at least 11 injured, and three in critical condition. anchor: let's get some wider

analysis. michael is from the brookings institution. joining us live, good evening. what we have seen today, the push across the east according to ukrainian sources, and the strike in lviv, does this change the complexion of what happens next? michael:ould be, but it strikes me as an indication of russ not quite knowing what it is doing. because e strike in lviv doesn't make a lot of nse to me. i guess it has a psychological effect, it was almost a sanctuary city, but i'm not sure what it achieves in a concrete way. most ukrainians are hardened psychologically by the war at this point and i don't think they view anywhere in the country as a complete sanctuary anyway. in the east, if the russians are beginning already, in my judgment it is foolish, because they are not ready. the ground is still muddy, the units that fought near kyiv are

still re-outfittin and getting new conscripts. if they attack piecemeal, they are likely to fail in the east, even though it is more suitable for widescale aored maneuvers. i'm not that impressed. anchor: that phrase, error of judgment, earlier it was said russia attempted to break through the eastern front. the phrase, attempted. perhaps an error of judgment? michael: could be viewed i think if russia were to marshal offenses for summer offensive, they should -- they could succeed in parts of the country. it's possible vladimir putin wants to use this romantic may 9 commemoration day, victory in europe a day, to put a book and on his operations and achieve some results and declare a cease-fire by that point. i suppose if that is his goal and he wants to consolidate in the east and south, ab he wants

to get after it, but it doesn't make sense if he cannot be successful and if his forces are not up to the challenge. moreover, think the widescale offensive in the north, northeast and east is probably not in keeping with the idea of creating the corridor, it is a more ambitious goal, which i'm not sure they are capable of achieving. anchor: could we be set to see a repetition of what is happened in mariupol, a war of attrition -- mariupol, 20,000 lives at least, civilians, taken. michael: i worry that is in the offing in the future in other parts of eastern and southern and southeastern ukraine. i think with the general now in charge of operations, with his track record of a bombing apartment buildings in syria, with vladimir putin's callousness toward human life, it is hard for me to believe the russians will show restraint. we are not giving the many incentives to show restraint

because the west is imposing sanctions more or less unconditionally, not really tied to any strategy for peace process. i don't know that putin is likely to change approach. anchor: as we've been speaking, it has just dropped in front of me that volodymyr zelenskyy has announced russia has started its fensive in the east of ukraine. that is word from the very top in ukraine this is happening. would we like to see a change in how ukraine handles things? michael: ukraine will be stretched across a large perimeter and of course the russians, as time goes by, be able to use more cess are. they will not be limited to the roads. in that sense, a more daunting proposition. as of april 18, i am under the impression that most of the fields in eastern ukraine are unsuitable for the movement of large armored or vehicle columns, and therefore the russians could relatively limited to major roads for the foreseeable future, which may

give the ukrainians of some hope of using similar tactics to what work successful in recent weeks. anchor: there have been reports that what is happening in mariupol is perhaps worse than stalingrad in world war ii. i am not able to judge that, but from your perspective, with your depth of knowledge, what would you say to tha michael: i would say it is similar. it is similar to the classic siege tactics used in world war ii, also used in the russian war in syria, used in the russian war in chechnya, and fraly are one of the classic ways you can fight an urban resistance, to drive them out b making the city they were in unlivable and preventing them from having sanctuary within a broader civilian population or a working infrtructure. tragically, it makes a certain amount of historical and strategic sense for putin to do this, and i expect he will continue. anchor: michael hammond of the

brookings institution, thank you for sharing your analysis with us, he appreciate it. we will be bringing more analysis and coverage of all of the events in ukraine. just to repeat that, president zelenskyy announcing russian forces have begun what he has called the battle of donbass. backing up what we were staying -- sing at the start of the program,. -- program. the french presidential elections are where we go next. while families were hunting easter eggs, the candidates were hunting votes. macron making appearance on national media. polls suggesting he has a 12 point lead. le pen was in normandy in preparation for wednesday's

head-to-head debate with macron on national television. a quarter of french voters say they may well abstain in the round to vote on sunday. reporter: convince voters, that is marine le pen's mission as she campaigns in normandy. she is hoping to expand her voter base. [singing] and grab some supporters of a left-wing firebrand. it is meant -- it has meant she has had to reconsider her position on banning the headscarf after running into a muslim woman on the campaign trail. she says there may be leeway for seniors. >> i am not insensitive to stories such as that of an older woman whose son fought for

france, who said to me she wears a headscarf because she is elderly and it doesn't hold the same meaning for her as for the young women forced to wear because of social pressure. reporter: campaigning in marseille on saturday, emmanuel macron helping to burnish his green credentials and pick up votes from the left. the third place candidate -- only a third of those who voted for him says they will vote for macron. still, macron says he is devoted to battling climate change. >> it is what he expects of the french and the world. if marine le pen is elected, france will be the first and only country in the world in the paris agreement to stop renewable energy and cut back on them. reporter: the candidates prepping for a high-stakes debate on wednesday likely to prove decisive ahead of sunday's

vote. anchor: we are following it every step of the way. our next story, paris prosecutors of a report by the european union fraud agency accusing marine le pen and other members of her nationalist party of misusing public funds while serving in the european parliament. speaking this monday on the campaign trail in normandy, marine le pen denied wrongdoing, dismissing report as foul play. >> she was an elected member of the european parliament for 13 years. once again, marine le pen accused of misusing public funds. an investigative work site first broke the story, reporting that europe's antifraud office claims that she embezzled some 137,000 euros from 2004 through 2017. together with her colleagues on

the far right, the bill amounted to more than 617,000 euros of taxpayer money. french prosecutors are now looking into the claims, just ahead of the country's presidential election. marine le pen's team has questioned the timing and deflected attention toward rival emmanuel macron's costly use of a consultancy company. >> it has come in just days before the second round, i think you can see this is not very subtle. what i would like to know is where we are at with the scandal. the financial prosecutors office was very fast with this. reporter: this is not the first time the euro skeptic politician is accusedf owing moy to the eu ititution 2016, t parliament accused her party of giving a fake jobs to friends, this to the tune of 6.8 million euros. that investigation is ongoing. she has consistently denied

wrongdoing. anchor: of course, we are watching for developments on that story as well as all the other aspects of the presidential election between now and sunday, the second round vote. next, violence in jerusalem caused a split in the coalition government in israel. images shocked the middle east. the israeli prime minister is working to hold his fractured coalition together after a split on the right and an arab israeli parties threaten to quit over the violence. here is our correspondent in your resume. reporter: the first time an arab party, indeed an islamist party is part of a coalition party in israel, and 10 months later, this religious story, the site of israeli troops inside the

mosque during ramadan, has turned that on its head and they are now freezing that. it is also significant for the coalition government itself. it had a slender majority of one . a couple of weeks ago, there was a defection from the prime minister's own party, a right-wing jewish politician defected. there are now four more politicians that could be leaving the government, it could be the end of the government. this particular coalition, parliament is currently in recess so there is no need to vote on anything. by the time they return in may, the story may have calmed down, but it may not. israel is on the brink of a political process brought about by religious regions paid anchor: we are watching development on that situation

for you in jerusalem. a football star shared star at the death of his baby son. it was signed by rinaldo and his partner, a social media influencer, who announced in october they were expecting twins. they said it is with deepest sadness we have to announce our baby boy has passed away, the greatest pain any parents could feel. the birth of our baby girl gives us strength to live with some hope and happiness. our thoughts are with rinaldo, his wife and their family. time for business. crunch time for sri lanka, talks with the international monetary fund getting underway this week. >> a sri lankan delegation is in washington to secure a financial lifeline from the international monetary fund. the government seeking to borrow as much as $4 billion to help pay for imported fuel and other essentials and services.

but to access the funds, sri lanka needs to present a sustainable debt program. imf officials have said its debt pile is not susinable ait stands, and moody's has downgraded sri lankan bonds further into junk territory. reporter: supporters of sri lanka's opposition national people's party march to protest against the government handling of what is a devastating economic crisis. >> we want a government free of collection -- of corruption. reporter: protesters want the president to quit, saying he is responsible for exacerbating sri lanka's economic woes by introducing max of -- massive tax cuts after he was elected in 2019.

after selecting his government this month, he h now sworn in a new cabinet that does not inude members of his own family, although his brother remains prime minister. the deepening crisis has resulted in prolonged power cuts, food, fuel and medicine shortages, and inflation of 18.7%. there has been a sharp fall in the value of the currency, the stock exchange is closed for five days from this monday, and temporary default is underway with repayment of external debt suspended. talks with the imf are now beginning. lombo is looking for around $4 billion. the funds would be given on the conditions sri lanka agrees to a stabilization program. colombo also seeking help from india and china. the two countries have already committed to significant financial support. yuka: the impact of the war in ukraine continues to hamper

economies around the world. the world bank lowered its global growth forecast for this year by almost a full percentage point to 3.2% from an earlier 4.1% forecast. that is mainly driven by a shut -- a slowdown in europe and central asia. to help countries cope with the crisis, the world bank is preparing in a package of $170 billion for 2023, with $50 billion of the financing to be committed over the next three months. china's economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of this year despite coronavirus lockdowns around shanghai. official figures show economic output grew 4.8% in the first quarter compared to the same time last year, better than the forecast of 4.4%. however, retail sales in march fell by more than expected, by 3.5 percent, as the government struggled to contain its worst covid outbreak today.

-- to date. oil prices rose on monday as libya added to concern about global supply. brent crude currently at about $113 a barrel. on monday, libya's international oil corporation declared a force majeure at sites, saying groups of individuals prevented employees from working, forcing them to stop production. among the sites shut down is a key export terminal, which libya uses to export almost a quarter of the 1.2 million barrels it produces every day. on the stock market, wall street had a pretty subdued trading day this monday after a long weend. all three major disease finished in negative territory.

you can see the dow jones and nasdaq also down i attend of a percent -- a 10th of a percent. twitter shares rose nearly 8% after the company's board adopted a defense mechanism to counter elon musk's takeover bid. the move would allow existing shareholders except musk to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby diluting musk's steak. jack dorsey called out the board in a tweet, saying it has consistently been the dysfunction of the country. dorsey resigned as a ceo last november and his term as a board member expires in may. that is it for business. anchor: thank you very much. great to see you. let's go across the studio, truth or fake. james joins us. a twitter account that appears to be linked to the bbc, british broadcasting corporation, has shared an alarming quote that

has been attributed to emmanuel macron. clarify pleas. james: this is a fake tweet on a fake -- a fake quote on a fake tweet. it is a screen grab, or seems to be a screen grab on the bbc world twitter feed, you can see the graphics and whatnot indicating this is the real deal. you would have to be quite -- i supposed to ascertain is not the real deal, you look of the content of what is being said. why would emmanuel macron draw attention to this quote, if it was something he had said, during the presidential election, when refugee numbers are a political football with the far right candidate

anti-immigration. it is unlikely emmanuel macron would draw attention to such a statement. if you google the quote in question -- europe needs to be prepared to take up to 60 million refugees over the next 20 years -- it was never uttered by the french president anywhere. you can dig as much as you want, you can't find it. it was linked in this fake quote, with the notion that sanctions on russia are leading to an economic collapse in africa because of the vast amounts of russian wheat that are imported. the content is fake, and if you go to win the screen grab claimed the tweet was published, if you scroll down through, you will never find it, it does not exist. the photo, that photo is actually a photo associated with an article on the bbc twitter

feed on the 11th of april, earlier in the day. it then transited from the fig screen grab of the tweet, made it onto telegram, another messaging service, onto another service, and it got 130,000 views. that shows the extent to which a fake tweet like that attributed to a reputable media can take on viral capacity. anchor: so the bbc has been had in some way? that can happen to any well-meaning media outlets. james: i suppose with ever greater access to graphics and editing tools, it is quite easy to get fake news out there. anchor: our job as journalists is more important than ever, isn't it? more important than ever given what is happening, the manipulation of what is fact, and the amplification of lies. james: at a glance it looks like

the real deal. it is so easy to click on that and share it. anchor: bbc world news, with the little tick, i'm sure they are convinced it is real. they got caught out. everyone is trying to get the third-place candidates votes. the candidates hunting votes this easter monday. chocolate might cheer them up. james: cheer anyone up. this is an article from 1991. anchor: 1991. james: he was a politician at the time for the socialist party. in any case, the quote at the top, you can translate it to the only party regenerating politics is the national front. anchor: in 1991?

james: he did, but it is out of context. he was criticizing the party for not crating greater renewal and policies and he proceeded the quote by saying i'm going to tell you something awful. it's not like he was praising the national front. but when you have an increasing i suppose linking between extremes, he is now far left. some could say he could go further and supporting emmanuel macron -- he said don't cast your vote for marine le pen and the national front, but he did not say vote for emmanuel macron. some centrist politicians or left-wing politicians are feeling that a far right politician -- that a far left politician would have supported the politicians. anchor: i think they have more

in common than they would like to believe. james, thank you for shedding light on those two stories for us. truth or fake, always with the truth on the other cited the studio, yuka with business. stay with us, more to come on live from paris.

04/18/22 04/18/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we were forced out of the al-aqsa mosque and then jewish settler started to enter. after we saw two groups, we started to chant and the israel i forces tried to detain me. amy: israeli forces raided the al-aqsa mosque for