>> welcome to live from paris. these are the headlines. president emmanual macron names a new prime minister of france. only the second woman to hold the post. ahead of the parliamentary elections next month. russians repelled, ukraine's troops say they've reached the russian border north of kharkiv. meanwhile russians riled as

sweden and finland request to be part of nato. prime minister boris johnson trying tresolve the crisis in northern ireland, causing deadlock in the formation of the new government. this is live from paris. ♪ mark: thank you very much for being with us. the new role of prime minister france, the official residence of the prime minister. she has been named by president emmanuel macron to succeed him. she becomes only the second woman to ever hold the post. she dedicated her nomination to young girls everywhere.

>> as you can imagine, i'm very moved tonight, and i would like to remember the first woman to occupy the role as prime minister, and i would like to dedicate my appointment to all the little girls in france to live their dreams, because women have such a vital place to play in our society. mark: so formally the labor minister, now the new prime minister france. all that taking place at a hotel in paris. reporter: elisabeth borne becomes only the second woman to serve as prime minister. you have to go back to 1991 to find her only female predecessor. this is something emmanuel macron's entourage was -- said

they were keen to see, to have a woman in charge of the french government here at the palace. under the french political system, you have the president, who is the head of state, and then you have the prime minister, who is the head of government. so they will work very closely, hand in hand. he took a long time to name her as his head of government, 22 days. in fact, that was the longest wait since his election as president on the 24th of april until naming a new prime minister in france's postwar history. it's been a difficult puzzle to put together because he wanted a woman, but also some one who could try to bring together the left and right wing parts of his political movement, emmanuel macron really lou up the prince political scene in 2017 when he ran for president with his centrist movement, and since then he's been gathering politicians from both sides and trying to keep them happy has been a tough political task,

especially ahead of the parliamentary elections that are taking place in ju. she was serving as his labor ministry and before that as an ecological transition minister and transport minister in his first term as president. she was a long time member of the socialist party and very much on the center of that left-wing movement there. so the hard-line left-wingers not happy about her nomination. she is also someone who's got a great deal of history in the public sector, the former head of the paris regions put public -- public transport network. she seen as someone with a reliable pair of hands. we will see of her nomination is enough to calm the pressure from the left with the new left-wing alliance of parties under the hard left leadership, whether that will be enough for a challenge for them to keep the majority of parliament for emmanuel macron's party. mark: the new prime minister

france, the report therefrom catherine there at the swearing in. the handover of power was done by the outgoing prime minister. next, a story that might develop of the coming days in france. one of the most explosive debates about authorizing wearing of theburkini, anyone who wants to where one can now wear a burkini. it has become a controversial talking point in recent years. seen by some as the symbol of creeping islamism and an affront to france's secular traditions. the green dominated counsel has voted to scrap the rule at state run pools in this area this

monday evening. next, finland advancing its request to join nato. finland shares at 1300 kilometer border with russia. moscow is reported to have reacted by stopping its electricity supply into finland. already in stockholm, fears of national security have been raised in the wake of russia's invasion o ukraine. this was confirmed earlier this monday. let's get some debate. >> on monday, confirmed it would join finland -- sweden confirmed it would join finland in seeking membership in the north atlantic treaty alliance. >> sweden has cooperated with nato since the fall of the soviet union in 1991. it's modest armed forces number just 50,000, but it boasts the

latest technology and equipment, backed by powerful arms industry. withive submarines and a fleet of light warships and fighter jets, it maintains control over its large territory that spanned from the arctic sea to the baltic, where the island of gotland is home to a strategic military base. public opinion in both sweden and finland had been firmly against joining nato prior to the 24th of february, but russia's invasion of ukraine pushed their governments in the direction of the alliance. decisions that for now are of no consequence for moscow, according to vladimir putin. >> expansion into these countries does not pose a direct threat to russia, expansion of -- io these territories will surely provoke a response. >> they want no nuclear weapons

on their territory if membership is approved. mark: a professor in the department of political science and law joins us. is support for joining nato widespread across ordinary swedes? >> is pretty widespread and induce also much more widespread as finland is entering. most people feel that if finland joins, then sweden should join as well. so then you get to something like 60%, 65%, perhaps. mark: it's a high number. is there really a sense that russia is a threat? in the case of ukraine, one can see, it takes a particular kind of mine i supposed to justify, but looking at it objectively, one could see why russia might invade crane. does the same apply to sweden? >> i tnk if that were the only

thing that would've happened, but if you remember, if you go back to november and decber, russia was very assertive that not only ukraine should not be able to join nato, but also other countries that were considering or contemplating. this was actually the main problem for sweden and finland, and the finnish president made this clear just a few days ago when he reminded people th russia insisted on shutting the door on the part of sweden and finland. in that sense, sweden has had to relinquish part of their sovereignty in order to accommodate rush upon interest. so it was those two things, it was looking at what russia was doing in ukraine, but also russia's insistence that finland never join nato. mark: they are important distinctions, and think you for

pointing those out to us. i'm wondering will there be a similar kind of revenge meted out to sweden by the russians? >> we are not dependenon the energy supply of russia, reall but yes, i can well imagine there will be some kind of cyberattack, perhaps some influence campaigns are other things could occur. that is possible. at the same time, russia is quite preoccupied in ukraine right now, so i don't think we can devote a lot of resources to this part of europe at the same time. mark: it's hard to believe how deep or how shallow russia's resources on any particular area are. we can talk about the military might of russia, but this has been exposed by ukrainian issue. you mention the cyber issue there, presumably there may be a

cyber army, to coin a phrase, ready to set loose with whatever it can against the west, against sweden and finland. >> it is possible. the same time, in this part maintained a relatively low tension throughout the cold war and also in the post cold war period. i assume that it is in the interest of russia as it is an interest of sweden and finland, to continue to have not least a military posture which is at a relatively reasonable level. if one side were to enhance and expand troops and military equipment in various military positions of strength, then i think the other side would have to reciprocate. and russia has important ports, it has its second strike

capability in terms of its nuclear submarine fleet in the peninsula, and these are areas i think where russia would prefer to have a relatively low level of tension also in the future. mark: thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here on france 24. next, we turn to the situation in ukraine, the fighting is intensifying in the eastern donbas. reports are that strikes have killed 10 civilians, strikes on houses, hospitals, and science production plants in the city of donetsk in the donbas. most of the russian effort now is focused -- ukrainian forces are successfully resisting in

kharkiv, which is been under constant fire since invasion began. their images of ukrainian soldiers pushing up toward the russian border in that area. meanwhile, back in the city of our kyiv -- of kharkiv -- reporter: bodies of russian soldiers piled up by the dozens, the beginning of a large process of identification by ukrainian medical teams. the body bags are faced -- placed in these refrigerated bands, waiting to be sent back to russia. >> some of the bodies have signs like tattoos are crucifixes, so we can identify them. some have military insignia. some have id on them. >> the grim count continues as the russian military is pushed

back from the kharkiv region due to a successful counteroffensive by ukrainian forces. in this video, soldiers pose proudly around a post in the colors of the ukrainian fly, announcing their victory in regaining control of the area. >> the territorial defense forces have reached the border of russia, the occupied country. we have arrived, mr. president. we are here. reporter: ukrainian troops have been gaining ground over the past several weeks. remnants of russian defeat lay all over the region, abandoned equipment and polarized military -- pulverized terry vehicles. this town still bears the scars of the invasion. >> there are no longer walls, no fence, no shed, no kitchen, nothing. >> is possible that the russians will come back. i feel they can come back. that worries me. reporter: a probable but

unlikely scenario for the time being, as russian forces have turned -- turned their heads to the luhansk region to the don bosco, where they are concentrating their offensive. mark: mcdonald's has announced it is permit lee pulling out of russia because of the humanitarian crisis and the unpredictable operating environment caused by russia's invasion of ukraine. moving on, a brexit invention causing discord in northern ireland. british prime minister boris johnson to belfast to try to suit the situation. johnson's government in 2020 agreed to a protocol that created a border in the sea between northern island -- northern ireland and the rest of the u.k.

the importance of that whole issue regarding the border is that it was all agreed-upon in order to preserve the good friday agreement and part of that agreement is to keep peace in the province of northern ireland and the republic. to keep the idea of easy access between the two places, and then the idea would be that the border would actually be in the northern sea to create -- to meet the brexit requirements to create the distinction between rate britain and the united kingdom and the european union. boris johnson's government in 2020, now the same government saying it's not workable. so we will have to see how it develops. people are still finding shortages of products, problems

with what is going on there, and we will keep watching to see whether these things can be resolved. the main thing to resolve at the moment is the political situation. boris johnson is apparently in talks right now. if we hear anything, we will tell you. tom for truth or fake. news of vladimir zelinski being president of ukraine. great to see you. there appears to be an issue of having his face printed on a stamp in poland. is this truth or is it fake? >> well, it is true, but the question of who decide to do it and whether it was an official move are not, what we are looking at is in the cult that built up around latimer zelinski who really is admired for the stance he has taken and the way he has handled this disastrous situation. he is on mugs and t-shirts, so

it shouldn't surprise us that he is also on stamps. that is what we have been seeing, and there was a degree of -- usually that is an honor reserved for people of the country in question. ukraine of course bordering poland and a huge ukrainian population has gone into the country of poland. that is the image of the stamp in question, with sort of a pop art aesthetic. the truth is, there was a local counselor in the city of krakoff, and he did this has sort of a publicity move to show support from his city for mr. zelinski and his outspoken and brave circumstance against

russian aggression. so that is what was done, and in fact it was also a means of raising money. what is hoping is that he will have a meeting with president zelenskyy and as a final token or gesture, stamps were handed over to the russian ambassador in warsaw. i suppose you can interpret that as you will, but there's the message there. mark: if one of those stamps goes on a letter in poland, will it go through the polish post? >> the printing and all of that seems to have been done in every official looking way but it wasn't recognized at the polish postal service our state. but it doesn't look like they will intervene either. mark: president zelenskyy on a

postage stamp, i am for it. so it is kind of a truth. next, a report from the dalai lama which has shocked many, claiming that he sympathizes with white supremacists. this has the smell of -- >> manipulation, misleading, all of that. cnn and other media tend to tweet in long, rambling fashion. certainly when it is coming from the media itself -- mark: i would recognize that as cnn. has cnn been hacked or something? >> cnn says this was not our tweet.

what the dalai lama was said to have been saying in a rambling conversation, appeared to suggest a so-called white countries had a right to expel nonwhite people. as is often the case, there's a green of -- a grain of truth, he spoke about refugee crises and the importance of welcoming and how after the crisis perhaps refugees should be helped to return to their countries, so there was a grain of truth offered their. mark: james, thank you very much indeed, james creedon with truth or fake. great to see you. time for focus, life after russian occupation. at the strategic town k nearyiv, 300 -- strategic town near knyi,

people are starting to come back. our reporter sent us this. >> kyiv's central station, at 7:00 a.m. on a bright spring morning. returning home, five weeks after russian forces withdrew. his town isirpin, a place now synonymous with brutality and mass killings. >> i want to go home, but i'm afraid of finding out that my friends, relatives and neighbors have been tortured or murdered by the russian forces. >> today, irpin is a ghost town, but when he left, the sounds of war were everywhere. >> one day my friend and i came to smoke a cigarette here.

we heard the whistle of mortar shells and the bombs. there were three huge blasts that could destroyed every building. it was a terrible night. reporter: soldiers left tripwires in people's homes when they made their hasty retreat, but vitaly's neighbors told him his house is safe. >> we are at he. it's really messy here. before we left, we covered the windows to prevent shattered glass from falling in. i need to clean up. but i'm just really glad to have a place to be able to come back

to. reporter: before the war, irpin was home to some 70,000 people. most fled, and today, few homes are untouched. many returnees have nothing to come back to. >> i came back on the 15th of april. when i walked in, the place was a state, all my belongings on the floor. the doors had been knocked out. my stuff had been looted. the russians envied our lives. they still do. >> they said they came here for a special operation, and in my opinion, that special operation

was simply to destroy our way of life. down the road, and apartment block in ruins, a direct hit by russian missiles. charred and burnt, almost nothing remains. these volunteers are trying to salvage what they can. >> the people who used to live -- to live re are going to see in a garage temporarily, furniture. this building will be demolished and a new high-rise built. reporter: the local government estimates about 70% of the town has been impacted by the fighting here and over 800 million euros is needed to build new homes. today, he is cleaning in the soon.his young son can come home >> i haven't seen him for a month now. i believe he is fine. he has gro up a little bit. i talked to him every day. >> his wife and son escaped on the 1st avenue the war. not long after, bullets struck

the kitchen. >> i've changed the window, but i'm not sure if the russians will come back here again. so i decided to put a little bit of clean film and case it is broken again. >> slowly, reconstruction is underway. these architects along to a group of 120 ukrainian experts invited to come in to assess the damage and develop a strategy for the town's redevelopment. in order to understand people can live in that apartment again, we need to order a survey of the whole building. it will show if the building is at risk of collapse. if an initial survey is ok, the weight-bearing elements can be strengthened. >> the whole process will take time. over 1000 residential buildings have been destroyed in irpin alone, and with the war still

raging, there is a fear that kyiv and its suburbs like irpin remain in vladimir putin sites, and the town could be struck once again. mark: that report from our reporters there in kyiv. stay with us, more news to come, live from paris. ♪

05/16/22 05/16/22 democracy now! [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i really don't know how to describe it. i talked to him on friday. seeing him -- shooting innocent people was ridiculous. it was a horrifying scene. i have never heard gunshots like that that