berlin. violent protests bring parts of france to a standstill. another night of mass protest against the president's unpopular pension reforms and more are planned, and a visit by king charles has been postponed. also coming up, germany's chancellor praising the eu's tough banking rules as the bedrock of stability, at the

same time, new turbulence involving deutsche bank shaking the markets, once again. >> you can see oil at the surface of the water and it is a source of pollution. brent: people in nigeria are suing one of the biggest oil companies, blaming it further dwindling access to clean water, and one of the biggest names in german bundesliga football is sacked after last week's loss. the coach is forced out as the top club chases it's 11 consecutive title. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff, to our viewers watching all around the world, welcome. on this friday, europe's human

rights watchdog is criticizing what it calls the excessive use of force by french police during demonstrations against popular pension reform. it is the latest headache for the french president macron, dealing with strikes, locates and rallies across the country. today, he announced a visit to france by king charles iii has been postponed due to violence. correspondent: this will be the only chance to meet king charles in the french capital in the coming weeks. his figure has been unveiled in a wax museum, ahead of his canceled visit to paris. with tensions over a pension reform on the rise, many on the streets welcome the move. >> do we now have to block off half of paris because charles is visiting? i don't think so. >> i don't think it is the right time for the king of england to come to paris.

correspondent: today, -- >> today, we are protesting against the pension reform, and macron would not be available for meetings with him. correspondent: police arrested hundreds of protesters across the country on thursday. flights and rail traffic were disrupted as many employees went on strike. the door of the city hall was set on fire. polls show that the majority of the french people opposed the crown's reform, which would extend the retirement age by two years, but the president insists, it is the only way to keep the pension system afloat. at ae eu summit in brussels, the french leader said he was open to finding a way out of the crisis. >> we will not give into this violence. what does not have the right to violence in a democracy, i am ready to talk to the unions to make progress on all of these matters. correspondent: unions have

warned of a major social conflict if the government does not back down, while france's top court still needs to give final word on the bill, the country is bracing for more protests. brent: i spoke with our correspondent in france and asked her how significant the council of the royal visit is. correspondent: well, president macron had been under pressure for a few days to pull the plug on this visit by king charles, given the volatile situation and the prospect of welcoming the king with streets full of garbage and heavy security for every public appearance. people in charge of the red carpets for this event, they were also planning to strike. there was a lot of opposition with the optics of the visit, saying it would be really bad right now. the decision to postpone the

visit becomes an investment for what was meant to be a high visit, meant to cement a revitalized friendship between france and the u.k. after years of tensions. brent: we have heard today that the french president says he is willing to talk to trade unions and knows they are angry about this, but he also said he is not going to change his mind on raising the retirement age. are these talks going to make a difference? correspondent: you are right. he is willing to talk to the leaders once the constitution approves the pension reform. this is something president macron said in an interview earlier this week. this does not represent a change of stance. it may be an attempt to pacify anger on the street. although i doubt that will have any effect. one of the main problems here is that many people here are really not just angry but the way that it was passed without the

parliament vote. i think it reinforces this image of the president as an aloof leader, out of touch with the concerns of the people. brent: we have been hearing a lot of that the past days. today, the council of europe slammed france for the use of excessive police force, particularly in paris. we have seen videos on social media, it does not look good. what are we looking at for the next few days? correspondent: well, it does not seem like these protests are going to die down soon. the unions have called for another day of strikes and demonstrations. yesterday, we saw more than one million people take to the streets to protest this unpopular reform. one of the biggest worries for the government is spontaneous, and organized protests in many cities across france where there have been flashes of people with the vandalism of public property.

i think this feels on the verge of some kind of event like we saw during the yellow vest protests. brent: people are drawing parallels already. our correspondent with the latest from paris, thank you. the banking crisis knocking at germany's door. shares in their biggest lender deutsche bank fell sharply friday, fueling even more turmoil in the financial markets, and speaking at an eu summit today, the german chancellor insisted there is no reason for concern, describing deutsche bank as stable. investors are worried as other banks share prices across europe i dropped. this follows the recent collapse of two u.s. banks in the takeover of the swiss bank by its domestic rival ubs. here is olaf scholz, commenting today on the banking turmoil.

translator: the european banking system is robust and stable. we have the necessary overstretched structures, and thanks to the work over the years on the effort of the banks themselves, the are in a robust and resilient position. this is an incentive to make progress in the capital markets and the banking union. it is more important, plentiful heartedly they progress. brent: i asked our correspondent in brussels whether or not the chancellor was on the defensive during that press conference. correspondent: that is right. he was really trying to calm the concerns around this. he said that deutsche bank is a profitable bank and there is no reason to doubt its future. he said it had been formerly reorganized, and it will be very profitable. this is over concerns of the share price greatly reducing this morning, over fears of

contagion after credit suisse, the major bank was taken over by ubs. there is concerns about what this means for the banking sector in europe. at another press conference, the french president macron backed up this position and said the european union's banking system is sound and blamed the market turmoil around deutsche bank on speculators trying to get in while there is turmoil going on in the banking sector. he also said the eu's banking situation should not be compared to the swiss. he said it is not a comparable situation. this is all happening in the context already on the agenda by the european union, trying to kickstart its plan put forward in 2008 for a banking union. it is about harmonizing banking rules and making sure taxpayers are not funding or bailing out banks that if they fail, and it

sort of got underway after the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 but has been sluggish ever since. you can sense from leaders speaking after the summit that this will start to be a priority issue as we see high levels of inflation, high cost of living, the concerns around the banking sector growing, and this banking union issue for the european union is becoming much more of a priority. brent: that was our dw correspondant from brussels. here's a look at other stories looking headlines around the world. prosecutors in montenegro charged a cryptocurrency entrepreneur with forgery after he was arrested for allegedly traveling with fake travel documents. the south korean fugitive is also wanted in his own country and the united states. he is accused of fraud following his company's collapse last year, which wiped out close to $40 billion of investors' money.

the russian control operators of the nord stream two offline were asked to help salvage what you see here, this unidentified object found in the seabed beside the pipeline, the last intact nord stream pipeline after three explosions destroyed the others last september. authorities have yet to determine who was responsible. the u.n. accused russian and ukrainian forces of carrying out summary executions of prisoners of war. a report by the un human rights monitors arguments at dozens of killings, as well as the use of torture and the use of people as human shields. documented abuses by russian forces outnumbered those by ukraine 6:1. staying with the war in ukraine, russian and ukrainian troops continue to fight fiercely in the east. bakhmut has symbolized slow-moving battles that come with a fight with the human cost, but there is another frontline town in western

ukraine has witnessed crucial ukrainian assistance, and that city is almost completely encircled now by russian forces, much like bakhmut to the north. correspondent: the city may not look like much of a prize in battle. there simply isn't much left of it. but residents say the russians seem set on battering the city into submission. this eerie silence rare among the fighting. translator: there are planes and rockets here all the time. see, two. a birds eye view shows there is barely a town left occupied, but this is not stopping russian fire. translator: the situation is getting worse and worse, the missiles getting bigger, buildings literally collapse. correspondent: western intelligence and ukrainian commanders say the fighting for avdiivka are some of the

fiercest of the war. comparisons are being drawn to the and battled city of bakhmut. -- and battled city of bakhmut. located in another province, avdiivka is another stubborn thorn in russian troops trying to advance west. data gathered by the institute and study of war says that they have almost surrounded the city, an apparent attempt to cut avdiivka off from western supply lines. so far, like bakhmut, avdiivka has held out. ukrainian troops are managing to stop russian forces from breaking through the defense line, but commanders are having to weigh out the use of every shell and bullet. translator: we are trying to save ammunition as much as we can case this breaks through. [bombing] correspondent: the city's fierce defense earned it a reputation as a second frontline focus

and they have an advantage over bakhmut. it has been on the frontline since the conflict started in 2014. translator: there is a very serious fortification line with concrete bunkers. it is protected better than bakhmut. correspondent: the ukrainian government advised avdiivka's people not to take their chances. a voluntary evacuation effort has emptied the residents, but some feel they cannot leave. translator: what about leaving? my son is in the cemetery. nobody needs me anymore. correspondent: it is a sentiment shared by others. local officials say some 2000 have chosen to stay in the city they have long called home. with russian troops pushing to

encircled avdiivka, they face a growing risk of being left to their own devices. brent: will avdiivka become the next bakhmut? i put that question to a senior lecturer in security and development at king's college. guest: i mean, it is possible. the fighting is very intense, as described in the program. the city is almost encircled on some fronts but not entirely. it is going to be hard to provide additional reinforcements, so, i think the situation is quite fragile. i think a lot of the eyes were on bakhmut. at the same time, at this area, it became much more dangerous in the way because ukrainians managed to stop the strong advancements of the russians in

bakhmut. i think this is also a fragile situation, and it is possible. i think the problem is the big roads that connect them seem to be more or less under russian control, and the city is very close to an area where supplies are probably much easier to provide. brent: there are reports that the russian offensive around bakhmut is losing steam. is that what you are hearing? guest: i think the reports is that ukrainians successfully pushed back the northern parts of bakhmut, but, you know, what seems more or less clear is that the russians have maybe been able to take the city, and they have expended a lot of armament, ammunition, artillery, and men,

and this may be exhausted some of their forces. what is interesting is the head of the bakhmut pnc company was talking about dedicating his efforts now to africa. his group is not getting the necessary ammunition from the russian military, so maybe there is a sign of frustration there, but, certainly, the russians and ukrainians have lost a lot, although, the proportions are nowhere in terms of numbers of bakhmut on the ukrainian side. brent: that was the senior lecturer and security development at king's college london. thousands of people in nigeria's delta region are suing the oil giant shell, saying they are responsible for polluting rivers and underground water supplies. towns in the delta region say they have not had access to clean water for decades now.

our dw correspondant has this report. correspondent: life here is tough. she has lived here with her husband for five years and everything is hard to come by, including clean water. >> i am not happy. this is suffering. i have it all the time in my house. correspondent: ogale is a community and part of nigeria's oil-rich area. big nationals like shell have exploited the area for decades. pollution from oil spills has led to contaminated water and rivers. this is the ogale river in the niger delta. if you look closely, you can see oil at the service of water and some fish have been washed off

the shore as a result of the pollution. this water is completely useless, even though people can see what is here, they have no access to clean water. this community used to rely on fishing. with this level of pollution, their source of food, income, and water has vanished. >> this is no good. everything we use for a bath, we usually just use it for wash. we use it for cooking, but it smells. correspondent: the united nations environmental program ran tests on the water in ogale. if found levels of carcinogens and benzene to be 900 times higher than allowed by the wto. scientists also found refined oil in the groundwater, which feeds the wells people drink from. local authorities have warned

people to not drink the contaminated water, but many like blessing have no choice and are forced to do damage to their health. >> that is what we see most times, in the levels of cancer, prevalence is increasing. we see people coming down with cancer, and before you see it from 50 to 70 years, now you see children coming down with cancer. 15, 20. correspondent: the government provided water stations across the village to supply clean water for other communities, but none of the stations has worked for years. local authorities admit they have not done enough, but say the responsibility for solving the crisis eyes elsewhere -- lies elsewhere. >> what we do as a government under the state's to support, support services, but the main issue is elsewhere.

correspondent: while policy makers play the blame game, others argue their responsibility is for them to provide clean water to the people of ogale. others have taken the matter into their own hands, like the traditional leader who has had many cases caused by the shell oil spillage and is seeking compensation in the courts. >> there are big people that received dividends, and to sit down and enjoy the money, and their grandchildren are enjoying the money. i want to tell them that money is blood money. that money is blood money. as you are using the money to get comfort for you, your children, and your descendants and dependent, children of ogale are dying. correspondent: the case will

take years. in that time, nigeria and shell will continue to profit from ogale's oil, while people like blessing james, who suffers the consequences of the contaminated water they are forced to drink. brent: i am joined by the ceo of sanitation and water for all, a global partnership of civil society that is working together to prevent water crises like the one we just saw in nigeria. she joins me from new york, where she attended the u.n. water conference. good to have you with us. the numbers are not looking good , 2 billion people on the planet do not have access to safe drinking water and even more don't have access to basic sanitation. why hasn't there been more progress with something that seems so basic in a century? guest: good afternoon from new york. we are still waiting to see the

summary of the conference. but, why there hasn't been more progress? because there has been not efficient political will in the world, and if we compare the heads of government that attended the conference with the oceans conference that took place one year ago, you see in that conference we had 24 heads of states of governments and here we had six. his water being prioritized at the highest level inside national governments? we don't think so. we need more political will, innovation, action, more money, and we also need accountability to make sure that any commitments made and implications are followed up, and there are consequences in case they are not met. brent: if consequences are not

met, they can be life or death for some. i know that you said women and girls are the ones most likely to die do to a lack of access to water and sanitation. why is that? guest: they are more likely to die, they are more likely to miss school, they are more likely to be missing work. why? because they are normally the ones inside the household who are responsible for managing the water, and walking long distances, you have to go catch the water. the woman who told me this story, when they are having their periods, they do not go to work or school because they cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, so if they are sick people in the house because of waterborne diseases, they are the ones who take care of the sick people. so lack of water has this

massive impact on gender equality. so without solving the water crisis, we will never solve the gender equality crisis, and the poverty crisis and many other crises that women face. brent: it is. you mention this because the conference is still going on and we want you to come back and talk about this. we appreciate your time and insights. good luck in new york. guest: thank you so much. brent: big news from germany's bundesliga. the coach has been fired and appointed another coach to replace him. >> he will have to get his head around this one. sunday's defeat was the coach' as last. it meant they slipped off the top of the bundesliga table, but there is still hope. >> how much of a setback is that when it comes to the race?

you are no longer in first place. >> a big setback. we have to win. >> it was not always like this. last year, bayern won with eight points, with one of the most highly regarded at the helm. results have not been great by bayern's standards. but they remain in contention for the league cup and champions league. it will be up to thomas tuchel achieve that. the former chelsea coach won the champions league with the english side in 2021. they would love to see similar scenes in their dressing room in june. brent: before we go, a reminder of our top story, paris has been cleaning up after another night of mass protests against the government's pension reform. strikes, blockades and demonstrations have caused widespread disruption in the country. a visit by king charles iii has

been postponed. you are watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back. ♪

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capital.9:00 p.m. in the french here are the stories making headlines. turmoil prompts king charles to postpone his visit, calling off the trip after a phone call with the french president who said it is not ready to host prince charles after protest over pension reform. after the second day of the eu summit in brussels, leaders tried to reassure markets the banking system is on solid ground, just as european bank stocks take a sharp dive this friday. benjamin netanyahu comes to london to meet with prime

minister sunak, met by protesters worried about the state of democracy in israel. prime minister sunak telling the israeli leader about the need to protect democratic values. ♪ hi. thank you for joining us on "france 24." he was due to arrive on sunday, but king charles has scrapped his first state visit to france with the nation gripped by protests and strikes in the wake of the pension reform. both palaces agreed logistics would be a problem saying the king's visit would be likely rescheduled the summer. speaking at the eu summit, emmanuel macron admitted it would not be serious to allow the monarch to visit at this time.

[speaking in foreign language] translator: from the moment when the unions announced a new day a protest with the king's visit planned monday to wednesday, it would not have made sense to invite them to a state visit in the midst of protests. it would have been awful for the british people and ourselves to try to carry on as if nothing had happened with everything that is going on, so it needs to be organized when calm is restored, so we suggested summer depending on our respective schedules. anchor: and, for more, stephen clark joins us, author of the book, elizabeth ii. thank you for being with us. >> ok. anchor: talk about the timing and the optics. there was a banquet plan for

versailles. that would not have been good. why is this problematic? >> to begin with, it probably wasn't problematic, but given the social climate in france at the moment, any sign of wealth and privilege goes down badly and gives the opportunity for people to politicize king charles's visit. it was not a political visit, it was a cultural/democdiplomatic . it is not the right atmosphere at the moment for this kind of friendly visit. anchor: king charles was scheduled to visit bordeaux, where the entrance to the town hall was set on fire, so there a art security concerns -- are security concerns as well. > he was due to go by train,

so it was becoming impossible to organize. anchor: let's step back a little bit. how significant was this trip supposed to be for controls given that he was just beginning his reign. >> he chose france for his first state visit abroad. that is a big thing. now he is visiting germany, which has annoyed the french people, berlin, thinking that, but it was a big thing, and the queen came to france on five state visits. she was always really well received here. they named a flower market after her and charles will visit the flower market. she spoke french. he speaks french. it is an ongoing friendship since 1904, we have formally been friends through two world wars, minus arguments, the suez

and things like that, but this was supposed to be an expression of friendship, not a visit to support emmanuel macron, just a visit from king charles to france, his neighbor. he was going to visit cultural things, an art exhibition, as you said the winegrowers in bordeaux, a fashion school in the north of paris. anchor: i ask the same question to our correspondent in london and wanted to pose it to you. how is this being viewed in the u.k., not only charles postponing his visit but the strikes in general and what is happening across the country? >> in a way, france's confirming its bad reputation for strikes. the british press loves to talk about french riots. it always makes a good story. at the moment, a large section of the british press loves to talk about chaos on the european

continent, because they say it is the fault of the eu. i heard that on british tv this afternoon. that is nonsense. france has always been like this , ever since 1936, demonstrating to get workers rights, to get good retirement pensions, and they don't want anyone to right or left, they don't want anyone to take it away, so they demonstrate. the u.k., which has forgotten that stuff and british workers lost a lot of rights, and now at the moment, in britain, there are lots of strikes and it is as if british are emulating the french without the riots, just the strikes, no demonstrations, but there are massive strikes in the u.k. at the moment where people are saying they want their salaries to catch up with inflation. nurses, doctors, people like that. in a way, it is an emulation of the french way, so in britain it

depends on which side you are on on the political spectrum, how you view things in france. anchor: ok. we will leave it there. stephen clark, author of many books, bestsellers, thank you for joining us on "france 24." it was the second and final day of the eu summit in brussels with a one focused on the war in ukraine with today's focus on the banking crisis, the worldwide turmoil that came from the collapse of silicon valley bank in the u.s. eu leaders were anxious to reassure markets at the european banking system is on solid ground. despite those assurances, european banking stocks fell sharply friday. our correspondent has more from brussels. correspondent: the use leader's were briefed by the european president kristin look guard, who told them that they european banking system is stable. that was a very private meeting. the leaders were not able to

bring mobile phones, because when it comes to things like this was small leaks and move markets. the main message from christine look guard is the eu is protected from the types of things we are seeing in the u.s. and in switzerland specifically because of the banking union regulation put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. that puts quite stringent regulation on all bank. and that is quite different from the situation in the u.s., where large parts of the banking sector are not covered, that that was the point christine look guard made to leaders as they left the summit. it was mentioned by olaf scholz in the french president emmanuel macron. emmanuel macron said the eu situation is completely different from the situation in switzerland. switzerland, by the way, is part of the eu single market for goods but not financial services, that they did not have to implement that stringent

regulation put in place after the financial crisis. of course, as they were having this meeting, outside the room, there were these developers with deutsche bank losing value, european banking shares losing value. it does notook like those messages of strength of the european banking sector were able to calm these jitters today. president micon said the following shares of the european banks we have seen today in particular is due to speculation and not the fundamentals of the bank itself. german chancellor schultz said the same thing, but the fundamentals of deutsche bank is strong and whatever is happening in the market today is due to other factors, so we will see, but for the moment, the stringent banking regulations in place means they will not be subject to contagion from what is happening in the u.s. and switzerland. anchor: the banking crisis

looming large, but on a different topic, there was discussion about eu rules related to vehicles that run on synthetic fuels. what is the latest? correspondent: yeah, this topic was not officially on the agenda but dominating discussions around this, this agreement reached in november, that germany signed up to, that would ban the sale of cars with combustion engines by 2035, because they are run on fossil fuels and not net zero. germany dodged this with a last-minute stance that has infuriated many countries, including france, so there was expected a showdown between president emmanuel macron and german chancellor schultz, but there was suspicion that mn omicron might do a deal with chancellor schulz. the germans are having combustion engines running on

liquid fuels produced as a byproduct of renewable electricity generation, so in theory, net zero, and once internal combustion engines. he said we will support this idea of a germany, if you support nuclear power as a greenfield eligible for subsidies and the net zero industry back that just came out. we don't know if the deal was struck, but the town at the end of the day certainly suggested that maybe some kind of understanding was reached. emmanuel macron said talks will continue over the next days and weeks come in it does not look like a breakthrough is imminent but that germany and france might be singing from the same hymn sheet and we will find more about that in the coming days. anchor: thank you for keeping us up-to-date in brussels today. that was our correspondent in brussels speaking with us earlier. the united nations says it is

concerned by executions of prisoners of war by russian and ukrainian forces. the head of the united nations human rights monitoring mission in ukraine held a news conference saying her organization has documented killings recently by both sides that includes 25 russian prisoners who were executed in 15 ukrainian soldiers who were killed after being captured. benjamin netanyahu was on a diplomatic trip to london this friday. he met with british prime minister sunak who emphasized the need to protect democratic values. many are concerned about the state of democracy in israel at the moment. benjamin netanyahu is on trial for corruption. this week, the parliament passed legislation limiting conditions under which a prime minister can be removed from office. also, the leader and his government are moving forward with the bill that would give the government more power. critics say democracy in israel is under threat, and israel has

been rocked by protests in recent weeks, a feeling shared by demonstrators who were there to greet benjamin netanyahu outside downing street earlier today. >> well, we are protesting against attempts to change the democracy in israel, and literally turning it into a dictatorship, where the acting government cannot be monitored, cannot, you cannot protest against it, so this is what we are standing here for. >> what is happening in israel at that moment is a disgrace and benjamin netanyahu belongs in jail, not government. anchor: our correspondent says netanyahu is facing pushback from protester just about everywhere he goes. correspondent: people here are saying benjamin netanyahuants to get out of this tense situation and that a change is as good as a holiday, but he brought the protests against the judicial reform with him and he

walks up downing street to cries of shame in hebrew, and that kind of repeats what happened in berlin and in rome the previous two weekends. some analysts here are saying that ridley he is not being invited to washington and that's really he is not being invited to washington and he's making do with this trip. it's not clear what this trip was for. there were no statements. perhaps benjamin netanyahu, chancellor schulz saying what he thought about the judicial reform process and those comments to the press. yway, there were twoeadouts. the israeli readout mentions -- does not mtion judicial reform that focus on iran. u.k. readout mentions israel's judicial reform. so, this controversial policy overhaul, overthrow follows him

wherever he goes, including to this visit in london, and by the way, he is breaking with his normal habit of meeting with jewish leaders, and perhaps because when he met him in rome, they gave him an earful too. anchor: the man who inspired the oscar-nominated film hotel rwanda will be released tomorrow. the rwandan government said he will be set free along with 19 others who were convicted of terrorism-related offenses. he was serving a 25-year sentence in his release follows intense diplomacy by the u.s. where he is a permanent resident. washington says he was wrongly detained and has long denied the charges against him. king charles may not be coming to france this week but one event heat will attend is his own coronation on may 6. westminster abbey in london has held the coronations of british

and english monarchs for the past 1000 years and it will open its doors in the public in a special way following the ceremony. correspondent: it is a space normally reserved for clergy and monarchs, but after king charles's coronation, visitors will get a chance to walk over the pavement once they have taken their shoes off. >> it is a unique experience to be on the pavement and share the expense of where the monarch is crowned. correspondent: the medieval mosaic floor is named after a roman family of marble workers who perfected the technique. >> nowhere else in the world do we have a pavement like this where you see the collaboration of italian craftsmen and british masons. the stone is alabaster, where the coronation chair will said. correspondent: marble, stone, colored glass, metal, the

pavement was laid on the orders of king henry the third. generations have forgotten it under a thick carpet, even under the coronation in 1953. it was only uncovered and restored 2008 to 10,010 and were long last that the stage for the coronation on may 6. anchor: if you're just joining us, reminder of our top stories on the turmoil in france prompt king charles to postpone his first a visit to france with the monarch calling off the trip after a phone call with the french president who admitted it would t be serious to host charles as the country is rocked by protests over pension reform. the second and final day of the eu summit in brussels with leaders trying to reassure jittery markets that the banking system is on solid ground, just as european bank stocks take a sharp dive. and, benjamin netanyahu comes to london to meet with prime minister sunak, met by

protesters worried about the state of democracy in israel, and prime minister sunak telling the israeli leader about the need to protect democratic values. time for an update on the business news. apple's chief executive is in beijing? correspondent: this high-profile visit comes amid growing tension between the u.s. and china. chinese media reported that they visited an apple store in beijing friday, kicking off his first trip to china in three years. he is scheduled to scheduled to attend the china development forum this weekend, one of the few american business leaders attending the government-backed business conference. the new prime minister may also attend. it comes as global manufacturers are reassessing their presence in china following three years of zero covid restrictions. apple has shifted some iphone production to india peered a trade dispute between the u.s.

and china has been intensifying since last october after washington announced strict export controls targeting the tech sector. meanwhile, the french government is moving to ban use of tiktok, coming after the ceo of tiktok faced tough questions by lawmakers over concerns user data could be shared with the chinese government. on twitter, the civil service minister said the restrictions will be imposed on cybersecurity grounds, but not just tiktok about other recreational apps. who is behind the controversial app and doesn't really leak user data to china? we have been taking a look. correspondent: since its creation in 2017, tiktok has become one of the world's most successful apps and a true gold mine its parent company, chinese tech giant bytedance.

like many other apps, tiktok requires access to the camera, microphone, and contacts, an avalanche of personal data which bytedance is suspected of transferring to the chinese government. both the company and beijing have repeatedly denied these allegations. >> [speaking in foreign language] translator: the chinese government attaches great importance to protecting data privacy and security in accordance with the law. it has never and will never require companies or individuals to illegally collect or handover data located in a foreign country. france's yet a few months ago -- correspondent: yet a few months ago, bytedance admitted its employees had access to data from american journalists, raising questions. with the company now under investigation by congress, tiktok's chief executive continues to deny links with the chinese government but failed to convince lawmakers. >> tiktok collects nearly every

data point imaginable from people's location to what they type and copy them who they talk to, biometric, and more. tiktok surveillance assault -- surveilles us all. it recently overtook twitter youtube and instagram as the most used app in the world. >> western countries fear this massive data collection potential could be used as a weapon by china in the global information war. correspondent: moving on to the latest in the market turmoil. shares and deutsche bank dropped almost 15% before closing the day down more than 8.5%. germany's largest lender has seen around 3 billion euros wiped off its market value in a week as the cost of insuring its debt against the risk of default, known as a credit default swap, skyrocketed. jen socialist tried to calm the

stem. >> [speaking in foreign language] translator: deutsche bank's business model has been reorganized and modernized, and it is a very profitable bank. there is no reason to worry about anything. correspondent: some analysts have described what has been happening as a virus of insecurity spreading quickly. the recent turmoil was triggered by the collapse of silicon valley bank with fears of contagion spreading to europe, even though the situation surrounding the u.s. regional bank was unique. it failed partly because it held a lot of assets and long-term government bonds which lost market value after interest rates started going up. local central banks have decided to keep raising rates, but to bring down inflation, while supporting the financial sector. it said it led to nearly 66 begin dollars from a special lending program it set up earlier this month -- $66

billion from a special lending program it said earlier this month. the bank and dropped 5% this friday but the main indices closing the day off by more than 1%, as you can see. wall street shares ended the date mainly in positive territory after federal reserve officials played down fears that the u.s. banking system could be facing a liquidity crisis. now, concern and the banking sector was high on the agenda as eu leaders discussed economic issues in brussels peered the european central bank precedent on leaders to press on with their banking project and to set up a block wide deposit insurance scheme with leaders anxious to send a message to jittery markets. correspondent: following the bankruptcies of several regional american banks and credit suites -- credit suites bank, there is no need to worry about the banking system but that is the message from christine lagard

and echoed by eu leaders. >> for the moment, we see no reason to be worried. >> the european banking and financial system is robust unstable. the fundamentals of european banks are solid and we can be pleased that our rules are so demanding. correspondent: while the paris and berlin are on the same page, they are at odds on two other subjects discussed during a bilateral meeting. the first, the question of nuclear power. france wants to see it play a greater role in european industrial policy, while germany is opposed to granting financial advantages to the sector. the second point of tension ending the production of new combustion engine cars by 2035, a rule already approved by member states in which that -- and which the germans went back on at the beginning of the month. >> the negotiations are progressing. this is the will on both sides

to resolve this topic. correspondent: eu leaders also discussed a future overhaul of the european market to make it compete more effectively with the united states and china. french president emmanuel macron will visit beijing in april, bringing along the eu commission president. the parent company of a major french chain says it intends to hand over control of its assets in russia the local management after 18 years in the country. russia is the retailer's largest market after france, counting for 20% of global revenue good at says the 45,000 jobs in the country should be reserved. it had suspended all new investments in the wake of the full-scale invasion of ukraine by moscow. it is owned by a family which is also behind a french sporting goods store and grocery store,

both of which continue to operate in russia. prosecutors in montenegro have charged a fugitive south korean cryptocurrency businessman. he and his companion were arrested thursday at the airport after being found traveling with fake passports. he is wanted by south korean authorities in connection with a 37 billion euro crash of two tokens. south korea said it will press for his extradition. that is it for business. anchor: ok. that is it for now. stay for more world news coming up on "france 24." stay with us. ♪ ♪ >> t world is ever-changing. the news does not wait. >> france 24 gives a global perspective viewers want to

fully understand the issues of the day. >> that is why we will be there to make sense of world events. >> [speaking in french] >> [speaking in french] >> for the best international coverage, 24 hours a day know matter what, france 24 is with you everywhere, all the time. >> [speaking in french] ♪

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03/24/23 03/24/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are here today because it is out of the question 22 raisi retirement age. it is tough for them to understand people want to enjoy their lives. we're not here to die on the job, we want to enjoy life one day, too. amy: as many as 3 million people take to the streets of france as