the french government survives two no-confidence votes by mp's opposed to a bill that would see the retirement age raised from 62 to 64. emmanuel macron thanks niger for their help in securing the release of olivier dubois today. xi jinping begins a three-day visit to moscow, just days after an arrest warrant was issued for vladimir putin.

♪ >> welcome back. the french government has narrowly survived two no-confidence motions filed by mp's angered at the use of special constitutional powers to force through a pension reform bill. that bill, not fit to a vote, will see the retirement age raised to 64. had the government lost, that could've been the end of the reform plan and the government may have had to resign the new cabinet. more on this close call for the french government. >> k very close,. just behind me, you have an mp

close to emmanuel macron. he is saying that this pension reform bill is necessary in order to reduce public deficits. it is a victory for the government, because it will not have to be exact. the -- will not have to riesign. that members of the opposition say it is such a close call. emmanuel macron needs to hear what is being said in the national assembly. clearly, french society and politicians, the international assembly, hugely divided over this pension reform bill that the government has managed to survive this vote of no-confidence. it is unprecedented. since 1962, that is the last time a vote of no-confidence went through.

this time, it was close. in 1962, charles de gaulle was the french president. he lost that vote and decided to dissolve parliament. the opposition wants the french president also to dissolve parliament because of how fractured french society is. >> clearly lots of opposition to this pension reform bill. what do opponents of the bill have up their sleeve? what will they do next? >> the opposition says it will not develop the fight. when the results were announced at the national assembly, they started showing pieces of paper saying "on continue." clearly, they think they can still win this battle. what will they do?

they will be at a constitutional court tomorrow, saying this bill is unconstitutional. possibly they will manage to get their way over a few articles, but the substance of the built will not change. they want to take to the streets, encouraged the french people to continue to protest. massive protests are organized next thursday. in the transport sector strengths, in garbage collecting, in the energy sector, in various sectors of french society, you have got hundreds of thousands expected to take to the streets. the opposition wants to show it is not over, they can still convince macro to turn his back on this pension reform bill but it does not seem likely. >> these tensions in the political arena have echoed on

streets across france, with protests and strengths during the course of the last few weeks. earlier this evening, there were some intense scenes in paris. these pictures were filmed earlier this evening. meanwhile, fort a 15th straight day, garbage collections have not been working in parts of the country, notably in paris. as the rubbish piles up, the smell has become overwhelming. trade unions have called for a new nationwide protests on thursday. this update from the city center earlier. >> these protests have sprung up over the last two days in opposition to this reform pushed through parliament. this shows that the motion of no-confidence earlier today -- of course, disappointment when that did not go through, but perhaps not too much surprise.

there is no huge police presence is surrounded by dry at police and protesters, there were a few hundred earlier. they were joined by mp's after the motion of no-confidence failed. those mp's have also now left. two were hard-core supporters, but for the most part, people have moved on but said that this is not the end. they are determined to keep making their voices heard. they will keep protesting. protests and strikes announced for thursday. they will keep taking to the streets, the fight is not over yet. >> let's get more analysis. i will speak to small -- paul smith, professor at the university of nottingham. a sigh of relief for the french

government, but not exactly a cause for celebration. >> absolutely not. it was closer than any of us expected. 19 deputies from les republicans joined the main opposition parties and voted no-confidence. it proves that it would have been very tight had the built been put to a vote. by no means over. >> celt there would it have been for the government if they had lost this motion? >> it would have been difficult for isabeth rne to carry on. she is meeng with cron tomorrow morning. he is also meeting with leading members of the majority in the national assembly and then having lunch with the speakers of the two houses. it remains to be seen whether he is taking the temperature or is going to express his determination to carry on, but what is interesting is that is

not that new, but it will be the first time that this new mechanism that allows for a referendum is being tested out. the nupes has already tabled a proposition that might lead to a popular referendum. we will see how that develops and what the constitutional part does, but there are meetings tomorrow that might have some bearing. >> could the french government has played its cards differently? >> undoubtedly. the government might even have rightly wanted to, but it seems that macro has decided to go for this. we cannot afford not to. this is his position, that the pension system is breaking and we need to do something sooner rather than later. it has got to be done now.

he wants to get it done as quickly as possible in his presidential return to get it up and running. but he has not done a good job of communicating the whole thing. he and elisabeth borne have not succeeded. there is one pretext that i think she might go. you might be asked to step down as prime minister because she has failed to communicate, but that has spent what is really failed. the government has not succeeded in carrying the people with them. >> polls suggest hearts and mind are not with the government on this one. can you see future governments reversing this? >> if this referendum were to succeed, and the suggestion is that the proposal is to block the limit of 62 years, could it be rode back on?

it is possible. let's say it passes and the initiative for a referendum fails and then in 2027, somebody, maybe jean-luc mélenchon makes it a key plaint of the presidential campaign, i could see it. it is not impossible to see it being reversed, but it they will be that the cost of doing that would be part of a high financially at the time we get to 2037. >> given that this is such an emotive issue, in terms of a gift to opposition parties, who is the biggest beneficiary out of all of this? >> i think it benits both the right and the left. i do not think one befits mo than the other. the nupes have been making most

of the noise. where le pen has benefited is that she is looked calm. she is not needed to make noise. the left has been doing that. but whether they are able to capitalize, there has been tension between the trade leaders and jean-luc mélenchon, not a member of parliament the figurehead of the nupes. it is not altogether straightforward. certainly it is in the opposition's interest to get what they sun shines. exactly how they would capitalize on this is not straightforward. >> thank you for your analysis. emmanuel macron has thanked the government of niger for their help in securing the release of olivier dubois, who worked for

liberation and le point was kidnapped in mali in 2021. he said he felt tired but was otherwise fine. >> after 711 days held hostage, olivier dubois is free, saying he is tired but in good health. >> kit is incredible to be free. i want to thank niger and its know-how in managing this situation and to france and to all who contribute to making today possible. >> dubois was captured in april 2021 in mali by annotated -- by an al qaeda affiliated group. he was trying to interview a jihadist matter. these laser, he -- days later,

he posted a video on social media asking loved ones to do everything they could to free him. they captivate public awareness campaign, pressured politicians, mobilized regularly, including in martinique. the jihadist coalition that captured dubois is made up of four violent extremist groups. its broad goal is to drive for it forces out the region and impose its version of islamic law. our terrorism expert explained why niger partnered to facilitate the release. >> niger is involved because it is not the secret. niger has channels of negotiations with al qaeda affiliates. when you have his directions, you have to have channels of negotiation in order to counter them. sometimes, it ends up helping in

a hostage situation. >> until today, the left proof of life from dubois was a video released in march pretty 21 -- 2021. he was the last french hostage in the world. now, finally safe. >> someone else kidnapped in niger more than six years ago was also released today. jeffrey woodke was kidnapped where he had been doing -- humanitarian work. the biden administration says his release was the result of years of effort. no ransom money was paid. just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for vladimir putin, he was giving a political left as xi jinping kicks off a three-day visit to moscow. the visit has been closely watched in western capitals. president xi said his visit

would give it new momentum to ties between moscow and beijing. of the subjects key leaders will be discussing is china's 12 point position on the ukraine public. it aims to end the fight. daniel hopkins is in moscow and tell us more. >> they enjoy a close relationship. it is a no limits partnership, as putin calls it. certainly a lot of topics to cover. china is a crucial ally to russia. it has filled the western void when it comes to energy exports, billions of dollars in exports to the east. the trade partnership has grown exponentially. as part of russia's drive to push forward and payments has

surged. russia, or china rather, has this poly what analysts have called pro-russian neutrality. it may take this position that it respects the territorial integrity of ukraine but also russia's interests. on the other hand, it stood by russia and refused to condemn russia for his role in invading ukraine, refused to in this vote augustine in a security council. the biggest question as to what china's role could be in negotiating some sort of agreement between russia and ukraine china is coming off the back of negotiating between tehran and saudi arabia. so xi comes to moscow the dealmaker. we are hoping putin will push the russian president to some sort of compromise. >> today marks 20 years since

the start of the u.s. invasion of iraq. in a matter of three weeks, it toppled saddam hussein. that was followed by years of instability. there are no celebrations marking this and the country continues to battle challenges from political instability to poverty to rampant corruption. >> piece in that is precarious - - peace in baghdad is precarious. citizens remembered seeing -- these seeds. >> the situation was exhausting. homes and communities were hit. people were killed and warplanes dropped bombs. >> after several weeks, saddam hussein was toppled. >> there was a kind of happiness. you can see happiness in people's faces.

at the end of 2003, hussein was arrested and sentenced to death for years later. he testified against him. >> this was the moment all of saddam's directives were hoping for. it was a moment of pride and honor. >> this iraqi women's rights activist remembers the social victories following the end of hussein's rule. >> the 25% women quota in parliament was included, the second victory. >> but iraq would see another 20 years of instability, rebellion against american occupation, the war against the islamic states group, and uprisings of young people against the government. >> now, when you want to express your opinions or claim your rights, they confront you with

weapons and kill you. it is no different from the previous regime. today, iraq continues to face the threat of insurrection. porting to a senior iraqi official, hundreds of fighters belonging to isis are active in the country. >> let's get a check on the world of business. i am joined by peter o'brien. the dust is settling after ubs agreed to buy credit suites. how is the banking sector responding to this acquisition? is there a sense that the crisis has been averted? >> banking stocks had a wobbly day but mostly runs in the u.s. and europe, even though there had been a sharp selloff after the takeover was first announced. that is a sign that the acquisition may have closed the tap on concerns about the global banking sector, which worries gushing since we last found out

that credit suites was in deep trouble. that credit suites was in deep trouble. >> credit suisse employees were back at work on monday after ubs agreed to by the bank. >> the sooner the better. >> ubs will buy credit suisse for the equivalent of over 3 billion euros and absorbed over 5 billion euros of losses. the swiss government could provide 200 billion euros of support if needed, a third of the country's gdp, this after a plan to loan 50 billion euros to the bank failed to calm investors. credit suiise plagued in recent

years. in a controversial move, over 16 billion euros over the type of bond known as additional tier one will be wiped out, eating bondholders empty-handed. swiss opposition politicians condemned it leaving the taxpayer to fit the bill. financial authorities in france, austria, germany -- germany, the ecb have all lauded the deal. >> these actions are instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability. >> fearful of contagion, the merger prompted several central banks, including the federal reserve and the ecb, to inject cash into the global banking system, a move designed to boost confidence. >> as of monday, those banks will be able to exchange u.s. dollars daily rather than weekly until at least the end of april. let's dig more into that controversial part of the ubs

deal. the bonds of credit suisse. the bankhead issued about $70 billion worth of additional tier one. the swiss regulator has decided these must be valued at zero, which is anchored bondholders who thought they would be better protected than shareholders, as is usually the case. it is also said to hurt the global at1 bond market. unsurprisingly, credit suisse has lost a lot of value on this. but ubs is doing not so badly, trading up by more than 3%. markets seemed to be more or less convinced by the moves. your closing up a crop -- across the board. the cac 40 up. dow jones up by 1.2%.

earlier, we spoke to betsy stephenson, economics professor at the university of michigan. >> i think that the system is in a better place and then in 2008, but there are a lot of banks that were not considering the interest rate rises were inflation risk that comes with subsequent higher interest rates. they were not taking that into account and after the question is how many banks? if we were to market the value of all of the assets, including long-term bonds that they bought when interest rates were low, if we were going to mark all of those to market, how many banks might the derwater? i have seen some estimates that suggest that there are other banks that could fail if they are scrutinized in that way, but

i do not think we are seeing something as opaque as the 2008 problems were. >> cannot such an optimistic picture everywhere. another californian bank, first republic, still in trouble despite receiving a rescue package. it share price dropped by almost half on monday. concerns over its liquidity and reports it is in talks to raise more money with j.p. morgan leading the rescue plane. value has collapsed by over 90% over the last two weeks. 9000 more jobs are getting the acts in the tech sector. amazon is bringing its total firings to almost a 10th of its recent workforce.

they are strong to cut costs amid economic uncertainty. that is a familiar tale in the sector facing a steady drumbeat of layoffs. it follows the decision by metta to cut another 10,000 jobs. in sri lanka, hope could be on the horizon as the imf approves an almost 3 billion euros vallow out for the country. corruption and economic this magic man -- mismanagement, the country ran out of reserves to pay debts and imports. they are hoping this cash injection will help the country get back on his feet, but in order to access all of the money, they must first we negotiate. >> thank you. thanks for watching. i will be back in a couple of minutes. ♪

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03/20/23 03/20/ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! president pres. bush: coalition forces are in the early stage of military operations to disarm iraq, free its people, and defend the world from great danger. amy: 20 years ago today, the united states invaded iraq beginning a devastatingar that deroyed iraqdefied