from berlin. kind words for china and a stern warning. visiting beijing, u -- ursula von der leyen warns against arming russia. also on the program, tensions rise on the israel lebanon border after rockets fly into israeli airspace. several are fired into the north of the country but israel's

military says they were intercepted. as belarusian and russian meters -- leaders meet, tactical nuclear weapons in belarus is a response to nato's expansion. that is the same justification used to invade ukraine. and the journalists and socialites who helped artists escape nazi germany. we look at the new netflix series transatlantic and how its producer was inspired to tell their story. ♪ i am nicole frolich. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, welcome. european commission chief ursula von der leyen and french president emmanuel macron have called on china to use its influence with russia to wendy war in ukraine. t-- to end the war in ukraine.

they had a warning for chinese president fusion bank not to send weapons to russia. reporter: a clear message from the eu chief to chinese president xi jinping. user leverage with moscow to help end the war in ukraine. >> china's position on this is crucial for the european union. as a member of the un security council, there is a big responsibility. and we expect that china will play its role and promote a just peace, one that respects ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. one of the cornerstones of the u.n. charter. reporter: it was a message echoed by french president emmanuel macron, who joined the two for talks. >> the russian aggression in ukraine has dealt a blow to the stability. it ended decades of peace in

europe. i know i can count on you to bring russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table. reporter: whether they chinese president will heed that call is unclear. he had agreed to talk to ukraine's president zelenskyy when the time is right, although xi made no mention of this. there were words of warning from von der leyen. you chief told xi not to arm russia against ukraine, but she also had praise for xi's statements on nuclear war. he has urged both sides not to use nuclear weapons without tension in russia specifically. on trade, xi said beijing and paris had agreed to deepen cooperation in fields like aerospace and nuclear energy. human rights concerns, particularly the persecution of the uighur muslims, were also

discussed. the eu chief called the european chinese relationship a complex but interdependent one. the war in ukraine is certainly putting the test. -- putting ye partnership to the test. nicole: i asked what can realistically be expected from beijing. >> very little. the idea that china might play a positive role has been around practically since the first day of the invasion. and xi jinping has not seen fit to attempt to play that role. there is nothing about the current status of the war and he is likely to find now is the time to do it. china's position is still that it is neutral, that it is not contributing. so there's is very little leverage and very little that china can offer to putin to get him to stay his hand. nicole: would you say they are wasting their time in beijing right now? >> it is a good idea to go.

they can set -- they can put some pressure on xi jinping. but they have very little leverage. acron as come with a number of french ceo's into and they are signing deals. this will not be lost on xi jinping or on the chinese people. it looks like they are coming perhaps as supplicants because the value that the trade relationship as highly as they do. i think that this stage in the war, at this stage in china's relations with europe, that is going to carry the day. china is hoping economics will still be the ballast, what xi jinping calls the ballast of his relations with europe. nicole: relations between china and the u.s. have deteriorated recently. beijing wants to see the eu take a different route. how much freedom does the eu have to choose its own approach here? robert: well, europe has been shifting its approach over the

past several years. there had been considerable space from china's point of view between europe and the united states before the invasion of ukraine. but europe had been coming around to a more skeptical view of china. it was before the invasion that the eu had named china as a systemic rival. the eu had made that decision as a function of its strategic sovereignty, its strategic independence. they made that change not because the u.s. was so convincing, but because of what beijing, in fact, had done, and its coercion of lithuania and the czech republic and some scandinavian nations. so, europe has a considerable amount of -- it has been europe's strategic judgment that china is a growing threat. nicole: there is a sense it s eems in china that anything interpreted as a russian defeat would be seen as a win for the united states.

so one could think it is not necessarily in china's interest to end this war. robert: that is correct. when we go to xi jinping and ask him to try to end the war, china has no special wisdom or magic that gets them around the fundamental dilemma. and the dilemma of course is that putin must not be rewarded for his aggression, but unless he gets something for all the sacrifice that russians have paid, he is unlikely to stop. right now that is a truly insoluble problem. xi jinping, as you suggest, does not want putin to fail or pressure to be weakened. the worst chinese outcome would be that putin falls and once again turns war towards europe. it's not unthinkable. china's major goal is to keep a strong russia as a partner in its competition with the west. nicole: interesting stuff. robert daly of the wilson

center, thank you so much. several rockets have been fired on northern israel from lebanon. it is not known who was behind the attack, but lebanese reports say the salvo was launched from palestinian refugee camps. the rocket appears to have damaged a car in an israeli town. the israeli army says it successfully intercepted more than two dozen missiles. the escalation comes after clashes this week between israeli police and palestinians inside jerusalem's mosque, their third holiest site. our correspondent tonya kramer is standing by in jerusalem. talk to us about what happened today. tania: shortly before 3:00 p.m. local time in the afternoon, there was a barrage of rockets being fired from southern lebanon into israel.

the air raid sirens went off almost across northern israel. the israeli army said it had identified 34 rockets being launched and 25 of them had been intercepted by the iron dome defense system. two people were likely injured. no group has claimed responsibility by the israeli army said to reporters that they believe it's palestinian militant groups in lebanon that have fired this barrage of rockets, and that comes of course just a day after violent escalation in east jerusalem when police stormed -- when israeli police stormed inside the compound and inside the mosque. they were videos coming out of beatings inside the mosque, palestinians there, a lot of arrests being made. in response to that some rockets have been fired from gaza into

southern israel on wednesday. nicole: a to israeli media reports, this was the highly -- according to israeli media reports, this was the heaviest bombing since 2006. tonia: media here have described this, as you said, as one of the most serious escalations since 2006. we also heard from the u.n. that they see this situation as extremely serious. currently the israeli security cabinet is meeting and we are expecting them to decide how they will respond to that, who they will retaliate against and how, what scale we are going to see here, possibly in the coming hours. this is also seen in israel as a test for the far right government. they are very much under pressure already domestically, they have been for three months.

mass protests in israel against a very controversial judicial overhaul. to the defense minister had actually been fired some time ago, but he is still in his job. all this escalation is related to what happened here in the past two days in jerusalem, and we have to wait and see how the next hours will play out. nicole: tonia kramer, as always, great speaking to you. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has arrived in turkiye for talks with his counterpart and president erdogan. the future of a key deal to allow grain exports from ukrainian ports through a safe black sea corridor is up for discussion. iran and saudi arabia signed an agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations. it comes after china brokered an agreement between the rivals last month. the signing in beijing is the

first time foreign ministers of the two countries have met for more than seven years. in india, opposition lawmakers from more than a dozen parties have held a rally against the government of prime minister narendra modi. demonstrators accuse the government of using its agencies to intimidate opposition leaders. the standoff follows the disqualification and conviction of a leading opposition figure four mocking the prime ministr. china has unilaterally begun a patrol and inspection operation in the taiwan straight, a move that includes attempts to board vessels. taiwan has denounced the decision and says it will not cooperate. it comes amid heightened tensions between china and taiwan. taiwan's president held talks with u.s. house speaker this week, the first to take place in the united states in decades. the brief visit went ahead despite warnings from china, which rejects taiwan's

self-governance and views the island as chinese territory. reporter: tsai ing-wen was on her way back from central america when she made the strategic stopover in california. she was welcomed by u.s. house speaker kevin mccarthy, despite china's explicit warning that the meeting should not take place. but they used the talks to perceive a united front against chinese aggressive posturing. >> the friendship between the people of taiwan and america is a matter of profound importance to the freedom. it is critical to maintain economic freedom, peace, and regional stability. reporter: they also discussed speeding up arms deliveries from the west to taiwan, and highlighted the threats the island faces. >> unwavering support reassures the people of taiwan that we are

not isolated, and that we are not alone. however, it is no secret that today, the piece that we have maintained and the democracy that we have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges. reporter: china's foreign ministry was quick to condemn the meeting, saying washington had crossed a line and acted provocatively. beijing mourned the u.s. not to go further down, quote, the wrong path. nicole: the kremlin says the leaders of belarus and russia did not discuss the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons during their talks thursday, despite being widely expected to do so. the belarusian leader is in moscow for a second day of meetings with russian president vladimir putin. discussions have focused on defense and economic ties. russia earlier announced plans to place its tactical nuclear weapons in belarus, a move that

has drawn condemnation from the west. the kremlin has dismissed the criticism, saying that the decision is a response to nato's expansion. nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg said the deployment contradicts a recent russian chinese statement saying countries should not station nuclear weapons beyond their borders. reporter: this is russia's missile system, able to fit targets up to 500 kilometers away. it could soon be stationed in belarus near the polish border, carrying nuclear warheads. moscow says the system has already been transferred to the belarusian military and troops have reportedly arrived in russia to learn how to use it. russia claims the move is response to nato increasing its combat readiness and adding finland as a member, made official earlier this week. >> under these circumstances, we are taking retaliatory measures, defending the security of the union state. reporter: belarus has been a

close ally to russia since the invasion of ukraine, which was partly launched from belarusian territory. since, the russian and belarusian militaries have carried out multiple joint exercises. russian nuclear warheads are scheduled to arrive in belarus in july. belarus's authoritarian leader alexander lukashenko says nuclear weapons were not just for show. >> ukrainians believe that they will win. this is nonsense. it is impossible to defeat a nuclear power, and the russian leadership -- the most awful weapons will be used. reporter: united nations disarmament affairs chief has warned that the risk of nuclear war in europe is higher than at any point since the end of the cold war. nicole: senior fellow at the center for non-pluripotent studies in washington, d.c., i asked him what russia's decision to place nuclear weapons outside of its borders means for european security. >> in a military since it does

not mean much because all the targets russia could hit from belarus it could hit from russia itself. this is more of a political gesture. it is trying to, one, fight the european public that has long had strong anti-nuclear traditions. two, it's trying to send a signal to poland which has been one of the most outspoken supporters of ukraine, by placing weapons close to the polish borders. and three, this is for the russian domestic audience, showing that somehow putin is using nuclear weapons. you saw the quote from lukashenko say nuclear power will not be defeated, so here is a sign that we really still have nuclear weapons. nicole: putin has said that belarus has long been requesting the deployment of new cure weapons. but looking at the power dynamics, is belarus really in a

position to say no to russia? miles: not really. they have been talking about this for a year. i think the russians were probably more reluctant to place the weapons than lukashenko. this is also about lukashenko's domestic politics. remember, he recently crushed a very strong opposition movement and still worries about that. having russians on the territory with these systems will be another guarantee for his regime. i think it is for both sides. nicole: of the united states has nuclear weapons that nato bases around europe and belgium, germany, italy, the netherlands, and turkiye. russia could say it is doing the same as its -- with its ally now. miles: yes, that's true. the united states does have weapons there. russia is not right, in the

sense, to do this. the reason it is doing it though has little to do with the military sense. again, it is a political act. it didn't have anything to do with, for instance, finland joining nato. this was discussed over the last year. that was just an opportunity for russia to try and counter the narrative is losing. nicole: so you don't think russia has any intention of using these tactical nukes? miles: no more intention than it had in using them from russia. it does not change their calculus and using the weapons were not. that is a separate decision, and that will not occur unless either nato enters the war directly, or russia's direct security is threatened. but the open question here is what happens if ukraine is able to start launching an invasion

of crimea, trying to recapture crimea, and does russia feel that is so much in its interests that they should use nuclear weapons. that is probably the biggest question mark out there. nicole: miles pomper, thanks for your time. in other news, russian prosecutors are calling for a 25 year prison sentence for opposition politician on trial in a closed court on charges including treason. use accused of spreading false information about the russian army. he was a close aid to assassinated opposition leader boris. dozens of demonstrators have stormed offices of a major financial multinational in paris to protest against the government's planned pension reforms. they are angry about president macron's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. the proposals have fueled weeks

of nationwide protests. former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi is suffering from a rare type of blood cancer. doctors say he is being treated for a lung infection linked to leukemia. the media magnate is currently a senator and leader of the right wing party. it has been called one of the great untold stories of the second world war. how a group of american journalists and socialites help to some of europe's greatest artists and intellectuals escape nazi germany. now the history of the american emergency rescue committee has been turned into a netflix series. transatlantic takes its inspiration from the screwball comedies of the era to tell a tale filled with drama, romance, and quite a few laughs. reporter: jewish and left-wing artists and intellectuals on the run from the nazis are trying to escape to the u.s.

a ragtag team of amateur americans and the emergency rescue committee is trying to help, even as their country remains determined to stay out of the war in europe. >> have it people been through enough? no one here is breaking any laws. >> they are all criminal aliens. reporter: she was inspired to tell the story after experiencing the 2015 refugee crisis. >> downstairs in the first point of entry for the refugees coming mostly from syria. so we were all volunteering down there. my daughter, what the time was a 12 or 13, said these are just people like us, except people like us used to have to leave berlin and now these people are coming here seeking refuge. reporter: they helped more than 2000 refugees escape nazi terror .

transatlantic tells this history not as docudrama, but as fictionalized romantic adventure. it focuses on an american socialite who helped finance the operation, and a german jewish refugee who stayed to help others escape. stylistically, transatlantic is inspired by 1940's romantic dramas and screwball comedies. >> we take the jewish problem very seriously. >> there is only one great country in europe. >> i think that is, in a certain way, the truth of difficult times. there is a reason why people in ukraine are keeping up their s pirits so strongly at the moment. it is because they are not willing to say, i give up. they are willing to say, i will

continue, and i will stay, and you cannot take away my humor because it is stronger than you. reporter: like those old hollywood movies, transatlantic is infused with a sense of optimism. however dark things get, the possibility of a happy ending seems just around the corner. nicole: a short while ago i asked scott roxborough what set the series apart from other shows about the second world war. scott: two things. one is the story itself. it is incredible this story has not already been made into a dozen movies. it has allhe components of an incredible adventure tale. t story of these amateur americans who gathered together and just with their wits tried to rescue some of the greatest artists and thinkers of the 20th century from nazi terror. that there has been an

incredible amount written about the events of the emergency rescue committee and these events in the 1940's, because almost everyone rescued was an artist or writer so of course they wrote about it. but for some reason until now it has never been turned into a fictional tale like this. the other thing that is really interesting and unique about this show is the style. the fact that it does not take a docudrama approach, it does not try to review the historye furby, but instead takes inspiration from these 1940's hollywood films, many of them made by these emigres who escape from europe. and in doing so it gives a whole light feel to the history, which i feel makes it good and a little easier. nicole: a serious topic told in the style of his screwball comedy. just that -- does that juxtaposition work? scott: it depends on how much you know about the story and your history, and your tolerance for that kind of style. i really liked it, i loved those movies, and i love the fact that does not try to just's lavishly

tell the history. instead, it tells the whole story as an adventure tale. it is not the actual tale of what happened in 1940. four that you have to go to the books any documentaries made about the emergency rescue committee. but for a light adventure tale that touches on the events of the time and gives maybe a feel for the period, i think this is really great. it is not casablanca, the writing is not up to that lel, and lukas is no humphrey bogart, but it is still a really nice way to approach this story. nicole: another thing approaching is the long weekend, so would you recommend it as one to watch over the easter holiday? scott: definitely, especially if you do not know anything about this story and about all these incredible artists and thinkers who were rescued in this really daring way. this is a great entry point for

it. is a lovely, fun a few hours to spend with them. then after you get in, you can go back to the actual history and find out what really happened. because the actual story behind the series is even more incredible than what we see on screen. nicole: a fascinating rabbit hole to dive into over the easter holiday. thank you so much, scott roxborough. stay with us now. after a short break i will be back to take you through the day "the day." hope to see you there. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> hello and welcome. you are watching france 24. coming up, no than israel hit by salvos of rocket fire from lebanon. israelis say they suspect palestinian militants. china's president will call his ukrainian counterpart when the time is right, so says european commission boss ursula von der leyen. turn out slightly lower for another national day of protest here in france against pension reform has been marred again by

sporadic clashes ahead of next week's ruling of the legality of the pension reform bill. due to strike action, no france 24 debate later this hour, but we will be talking about if crimea is in the mix. kyiv suggesting the status of the russian-annexed peninsula is part of eventual discussions. that's coming up a little bit later on during this hour here on france 24. hello, everyone. israel's prime minister staging a securitcabinet meeting this after salvos of rocket fire from lebanon. itomes after a second night of police rates, a second day of

tit for tat rocket fire between israel and the gaza strip regarding the iron dome that was deployed at israel's northern border. officials say they expect palestinian militants. for more, let's cross to our correspondent in jerusalem. what is t latest? >> the latest is that they do suspect -- authorities here do suspect or name, actually, palestinian militants in lebanon related to hamas they make that leap for two reasons. they were also firing rockets during the gaza war from lebanon into israel, and someone who was in gaza was in lebanon only yesterday. they link those things. they say while it is interesting

also to link it back to hezbollah because israel says hamas is to blame. hamas has not said a word in the foreign a half urs since e attack. hezbollah says they did not carry it out, but they support palestine. who israel will react against is still up in the air. >> with attention particularly high, we are smack in the middle of ramadan, second night of the jewish feast of passover. >> yes, it is very tense. most of those rockets from lebanon, the largest barrage since 2006 when there was actually a war with lebanon, most of those were intercepted by the iron dome. i spoke to someone who said it was like fire in the sky. where they did land, many of them at any rate, was a village made up of christian arabs. they are sweeping up, tidying

up. there were no serious injuries, but there was quite a lot of property damage and fires caused by this. so it is a very tense night. >> you have been warning us for a long time that this ramadan period would be particularly sensitive with the tension spiking with palestinian militants both in gaza and in the west bank for months now. how far could this all go? what are we expecting, first off, from this securi cabinet meeting? >> i don't know. i heard an israeli analyst saying that the hand of iran is behind this and that israel should not respond at the time of iran'shoosing. will there be military response tonight in a week against iran in syria, against hamas in the gaza strip? all of these things are up in the air, so i don't know what we expect. i do know what people here fear.

people were member the gaza war of two years ago, and it began exactly with this set of circumstances, violence at the mosque during robin on which coincided with passover, as it does now. it began as a relatively quiet ramadan, suddenly turning into something else in ont of their eyes, so it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow during friday prayers. >> after that first night of clashes, there was international condemnation of what was deemed to be heavy-handed and spy police. -- heavy handedness by police. >> you would think that perhaps both sides could pull back a little when they see where it goes, but we have not seen that yet, so perhaps we will see a third night of clashes. it is not impossible. i have to say, the first night's clashes with those pictures of

muslim worshipers being beaten that went all around the world, the second night was not as violent, not as many protesters --ot as many palestinians, sorry, in the mosque. it is interesting, too, that israel has imposed a closure on the west bank for these first three days of passover. the exception will be friday prayers tomorrow. they have set worshipers can come to prayer despite the closure. there will be a large amount of people tomorrow, which is why i say all eyes are set to israel tomorrow. >> many thanks for that update. iran-backed hezbollah staying mostly under the radar during this crisis. this as tehran's foreign minister met his counterpart earlier in beijing, a further step on the road to a

chinese-brokered normalization. >> in beijing, a historic handshake between rivals as the foreign ministers of iran and saudi arabia meet for the first time in seven years. it was a photo op for china as well, eager to show itself as the broker of peace and challenging the united states' role is the main outside powerbroker in the middle east. >> china welcomes and appreciates the continuous improvement of the relations between saudi arabia and iran. we will continue to contribute chinese wisdom to the stability, security, and development of the ddle east. >> saudi arabia cut ties with iran in 2016 after an attack on the saudi embassy in tehran, an act of revenge by the iranians following the execution of the shiite dignitary in riyadh. the hostility between the nations has fueled conflicts across the middle east,

including yemen where the rival powers have waged a proxy war and where tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions are on the brink of starvation, but in march after a series of meetings mediated by beijing, the countries surprised the world, announcing they would restore diplomatic relations. after the foreign ministers met on thursday, they released a joint statement, laying out plans to reopen embassies and consulates within two months and plans to resume flights and facilitate visas. the talks are expected be followed by a trip of the iranian president to riyadh at the end of the month. >> in beijing where it is all happening, what with france's president in the middle of a three-day state visit, emmanuel macron welcomed to the great hall of the people by his chinese counterpart, xi jinping,

in the company of the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, who told the press afterwards that she will be picking up the phone and speaking with ukraine's volodymyr zelenskyy at some point. >> we also count on china not to provide any military equipment directly or indirectly to russia because we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law, and it would significantly harm our relationship. >> xi jinping did not himself confirm that he intends to speak directly to the letter mere zelenskyy of ukraine, as had been speculated two weeks ago when he went to moscow -- directly to volodymyr zelenskyy. however, he did talk up the calls for peace.

>> together with friends, we are calling on the international community to maintain reason and restraint and maintain from any act that could worsen the crisis. it is important that human rights are respected internationally and that attacks on civilians and institutions are avoided and that women, children, and other victims of the conflict are protected. >> following emmanuel macron's visit to china is our correspoent. >> i know i can count on you to bring pressure to its senses -- the words from emmanuel macron addressed to his chinese counterpart -- i know i can count on you to bring russia to its senses. he is encouraging xi jinping to put more pressure on russia.

president xi did mention the importance of the protection of civilians, perhaps in reference to the kidnapping of ukrainian children, but he never mentioned who was the aggressor and who was the victim in all of this. the men also sat down with eu commission president urszula von der leyen this thursday. she was invited to beijing by president macron, afterwards she gave a solo press conference to journalists and said it was positive that president xi told her he would call president zelenskyy of ukraine when the conditions and the time are right. the eu is also encouraging china , much like france is, to use its responsibility as a permanent member of the united nations security council, to try and influence russia, influence the kremlin on this issue. it is not all over for president emmanuel macron. he is continuing the state visit with president xi.

the two are headed to gong show on friday where they are headed for another high-stakes face-to-face sit. >> can europe speak with one voice on how to handle china and its relationship with russia? we saw on wednesday lithuania's foreign minister say that china could not be a credible broker. lithuania, which has sparred with beijing over vilnius' close ties with taiwan. thank you for being with us here on france 24. >> thank you for having me. >> what is your reaction to the double act we have seen in beijing? the french president alongside the president of the european commission? >> probably some of the

situation for the time being as too early to judge. i don't s any results being extracted from the chinese side, though the european presence is very valued. it shows that the french president isot speaking on his behalf, but it is kind of the message from the european union, but the chinese side, from my mind, tries to avoid any commitment when it comes to its role, its future role in pressure's aggression against ukraine, and it might be many reason why china behaves this way. >> go ahead. finish your thought. what are those possible reasons? >> i think generally speaking,

china plays its own game on a global scale and have barely committed to conditions under western request might damage china's reputation. nobody knows how those negotiations might end up. i think china is very cautious being involved directly even in peace talks not knowing exactly what the outcome or feedback china might receive. i believe china is looking forward not only to the resolution of this military conflict, which is not in favor of china, but in fact, we should look a bit broader because

china's interest -- political and economic interests -- are much more comprehensive. that's why i think china wants to extract some economic benefits, even from the european union side. let's not forget that the so-called investment agreement is stuck. china needs this much, so that's why i think we should look at a broader and more comprehensive picture in front of us. >> china and ukraine are big trading partners. they export coal. ukraine was before the war began a big breadbasket for the world, so would it be a good thing if volodymyr zelenskyy and xi jinping speak on the phone for starters? >> definitely. if that contact is established

and president lenskyy and presiden xi are speaking directly, i think it would be indeed a step forward, knowing that president zelenskyy is very powerful sending a message explaining the situation and requesting for some engagement, cooperation, or distance? i think it would be very powerful. how much it might change the situation remains to be seen. as i said before, i think china is very cautious to give any commitments so far, not knowing exactly what results and benefits it might extract out of this. >> your foreign minister told the bloomberg news agency that china and russia align themselves and in their world order, "ukraine is not able to

maintain its full sovereignty." is that something you think china wants, for ukraine to be diminished? >> if we look at the so-called 12-point peace plan or positions presented by china, i see it as a document not speaking about the right of ukraine to choose its future or ukraine sovereignty. i see it as a set of abstract principles calling for abstaining from military access and sustaining civilian support. that's why i think it is not much about ukraine but probably some policy line about russia and may china to steal the

global order and get something out of the situation for better of china, first of all, and maybe russia. >> china looks at ukraine and the way russia is handling it with an eye to its own standoff with the west over taiwan. we saw wednesday the taiwanese president meeting with u.s. speaker of the house. how hard has china come down on your country, and what would you like to hear ursula von der leyen and emmanuel macron tell xi jinping on that score? >> i do hope president macron and ursula von der leyen made a clear and sent a clear message to the chinese side that those actions has china behaved against litania once they

started to advance relations with taiwan, which is e right of each and every country -- it is not about politics but about economic cooperation, about projects of common interest for many countries, globally speaking, but the chinese acted unilaterally in a most aggressive way, sending again a clear message that china is promoting its interest as much as needed. that's why i think we see hey changing china. if we don't mo appropriately and make it very clear and i would say even drop deadlines for china so we might meet china in a different corner.

>> many thanks for speaking with us from vilnius. >> the pleasure is mine. >> in france, 400,000 in the streets of the capital, part of yet another national day of action against pension reform. the bill that was passed, railroaded through parliament, argue critics, now goes up before the constitutional council. it will rule next week on its legality. if the protests come as a dialogue between the unions and the government seem to be over as quickly as it began earlier this week. >> the blockades began in the early hours in northern france with trade unionists bringing morning rush-hour traffic to a standstill before police arrived to move them along. >> we are still determined to have the law repealed. we block this road between 6:00

and 7:30. now we will going occupy somewhere else. >> similar scenes in eastern france on the 11th day of national protests against pension reform. cars could pass, but hdv's were blocked. >> quite an annoyance for us, because we are stuck during working hours. i have things to deliver today and now i will not be able to. >> outside paris, airline passengers had to finish their journeys to the airport on foot after protesters blocked all routes to the terminals. >> everyone should be allowed to strike, but what sort of image does it give up france went it is and international airport? it is appalling. >> i'm from canada, and i cannot believe this is happening in a civilized country. >> sure, it is bothering me today, but they are right. >> in the city center, meanwhile, protesters briefly invaded the office building of the international investment firm blackrock because of its

private pension fund activity. high schools were also blocked in a northwestern city by pupils and some teachers. >> it is about much more than just pensions for them, and you can see the kind of effect it has on their parents. >> asked thousands marched in the capital, some radical protesters sent a message to emmanuel macron by briefly setting fire to a restaurant known to be one of the president's favorites. >> for more, let's cross to your correspondent. tell us where you are. >> i'm getting towards the end of the march now. as you can see where i am at the moment, it is a pretty fun, friendly atmosphere. music blasting out of the loudspeakers. people dancing. people cheering. what we are hearing most at the moment is that particular slogan

-- 64 is no and will always be no. that referring to the french government's plans to increase the retirement age to 64. everyone here on the streets today is absolutely certain that they do not want that to happen, but as you know, there's deadlock when it comes to the dialogue between the government and the trade unions. in terms of numbers today, it does feel like there are a lot of people out in the streets. the official numbers have not yet got into hands, but it does seem like the trade unions have managed to mobilize today. >> they have managed to mobilize on the tail end of talks that went nowhere. >> absolutely. yesterday, at the official residence of the prime minister, i was there, and it did not last very long, the meeting between the trade unions and the prime minister. it lasted 55 whole minutes before the trade unions walked out.

they said the government is not going to budge when it comes to this reform on pensions. the government would like to change the conversation. the government would like to talk about other matters, working conditions, career prospects of people in their 50's who find them selves pushed out of the labor market, but trade unions say if the government will not discuss this pension reform, they are not going to talk at all, so now, of course, they are hoping they can mobilize and get as many people out as possible onto the streets here in paris, but across france in other cities, too. >> a lot of younger people out there. >> absolutely. look around. i would say people in front of me now cannot be more than 20, 21. i have seen people who were in high school out today. most of the students i spoke to tara, eric law student i spoke with earlier on told me he was hopeful perhaps the constitutional council, which is meeting at the moment to decide if this reform is constitutional

or not, he was hoping the ruling we are expecting at the end of next week will mean there will be some changes or suggestions to this reform bill. a lot of young people have been telling me they have got their eyes on that constitutional council. when i asked them, well, you are not going to retire for a long time, why is this so important to you? they say to me this is one of many things they don't agree with with the government. there's climate change, the environment, lots of other policies, and this pension reform is something they just don't agree with. of course, their mothers and fathers will be effective, and that's one thing and a lot of young people have been telling me today. >> many thanks for that update. france's public health watchdog warns about the mass testing of drinking water, reviewing a band pesticide in half the samples.

a lot of them here in the paris area. this was a fungicide, which was sold by a swiss chemical group that was banned in 2019, and it is still appearing in residues in the water at high levels. theesults likely to raise questions about the presence of other undetected chemicals in drinking water. finally, the opposition green party in this country has table a bill to ban private jets in the country. france has the most private plane rides of all of the eu with the co2 emissions that go with it. >> a private jet and it's as much co2 in four hours of flight as an average french person over a year -- a private jet and mitts -- a private jet emits.

>> everyone is being asked to take an effort, and yet, there's still people who can fly around in private jets, drink champagne, and play golf while most french people are not allowed to water their gardens. >> from taylor swift to elon musk, the jet setting habits of the rich and famous have increasingly come under fire over the last few years with flight-tracking social media accounts exposing their outsize environmental footprint. the french transport ministry says private flights contribute zero point 09% of the country's emissions, which is still more co2 than any other eu country. the number of private jet flights more than quadrupled in france between 2020 and 2022, even as the consequences of climate change come into sharper focus. nsidering a ban.one i just months after environmental

activists occupied an airport to prevent planes taking off, the dutch proposed personal aircraft will no longer be welcome there, no later than 2026, arguing that there are more than enough commercial flights to meet the demand for these passengers. >> nope france 24 debate this hour, but coming up next, we will be asking if crimea could be in the mix. kyiv suggesting the status of the russian nx peninsula be part of the eventual discussions only after ukraine's counteroffensive succeeds, as a top aide to president zelenskyy. the focus on crimea is coming up here on france 24.

04/06/23 04/06/23 ." [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> in my mind, there is no doubt he is being wrongly detained by russian, which is what i said to foreign minister lavrov when i spoke to him over the weekend and insisted that evan be released immediately. amy: the united states is denouncing russia for detaining