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>> the final day of campaigning before elections. a quarter yet to make up their mind and make a prediction. >> allegations in china. a murder has been covered up because it was linked to a senior politician. welcome. i am david. >> a shooting of 69 people. in a protest will culminate in a day of a rage to coincide with sunday's grand prix.

>> hello. thank you for being with us. france is preparing for presidential elections this weekend with nicolas sarkozy suffering from the lowest approval ratings of any president. his been gaining ground on his main challenger of the socialist party. 10 candidates standing in all with a second round do two weeks later. live now to paris. my colleague is here. >> absolutely. it is cold, blustery and overcast. that is paris in the spring. that is the national mood. 51 countries around the world -- france was the gloomiest, most

pessimistic. never have they felt so bad about their economic outlook. there are huge numbers of people who are undecided. people have gravitated towards the extreme left and the extreme right. that makes any prediction very difficult. here's our paris correspondent. >> this image defiant every election. democracy at work. how many french people will vote in the first-round ballot? polls predict a low turnout with over 30% of voters. principally it is the young, those under 24. and those in the most deprived suburbs, and the unemployed. and nor is there greater -- than

in paris. each week, an activist group -- the gilded corridors of the national assembly, hoping to inspire. >> we feel angry. they voted in 2007. it does not change anything. >> in this campaign, there is unprecedented door to door operation to get out the socialist vote. >> is run by three former harvard students inspired by president four years ago. >> it is easy for anyone to say i have two hours to get to the campaign.

immediately this person would be put in a relationship with them. >> president nicolas sarkozy is focusing on the housing estates of the suburbs. >> the working process of this is affected. in 2007, a 53% of them voted for nicolas sarkozy. it was worth more to earn more. this is how was critics interpreted the new order, work less to earn less. >> traditionally, a low turnout among the old and the working class tends to work against the left. in recent months, a huge sympathy around france, at his success in transforming that support into votes will determine what momentum he carries.

>> i am joined now by the editor in chief of a leading magazine. thank you for being with us. the final day of campaigning today. what will happen on sunday? >> seven-day we will be in trouble. >> serious trouble? >> he will get into the second round. of course. he will have its own boats. on the second ballot, it will be very hard for him to find new votes. the main point in the french election is the rejection of nicolas sarkozy. because of the disappointment he has produced. >> to talk about unemployment, economic policy, there is something more it seems to me. there's almost a hatred of

fiscal reaction when you say nicolas sarkozy's name. >> summit do. on the extreme right and extreme left. -- soem do. some do. he did not achieve them. there is resentment against him. >> there has been a strong resurgence of the strong left and the extreme right. is that a rejection of mainstream politics in a sense? >> yes. the mainstream have governed the country for 15 years. you still have a crises. that went to work.

it is a huge thing. not only to this establishment. you have more french people outside of the system. >> how about the people who of not made up their mind? a lot of undecided voters. does that mean -- >> it is always possible. it is a merkel for nicolas sarkozy to win. but sometimes a miracle happens. -- it is a miracle for nicolas sarkozy to win. >> a lot more still to come on the final day of campaigning. but for now, back to david in the studio. >> thank you. get in the warm quickly. bbc will have special coverage.

17:30 gmt. and you can keep up on our website. now, a senior journalist for chinese state media told us that the authorities covered up the murder of business of british men when they realized was connected to one of tschida's top politicians. chinese officials said that he would have died of excessive alcohol consumption. but his wife was detained as a suspect in his murder. many of the details are still a mystery. >> said it is an extraordinarily complicated story. i spoke to a senior journalist last night. his chinese purity worked for the chinese people a day late.

-- he is chinese and he worked for the chinese party. they knew immediately that he had been murdered. regionally they thought he had died of excessive drinking. -- or originally. it led to the downfall of one of the country ' most powerful politicians. >> there is a murder inquiry now. how far as the progress? >> we do not know. u.k. government has been asking for transparency, for the chinese authorities to ask if they need any help from the british. the fact is, all we know is that the police here knew that the murder took place four months

ago. it took the chinese authorities for months to announce that neil hayward had suspected his wife is the prime suspect in the the murder. the chinese authorities -- there will be eight throw investigation of the british businessman. but with so much political intrigue and so little transparency surrounding this case, i think many people think that -- >> u.s. secretary of state, hillary clinton, shoes on foreign arms embargo. the u.n. says to the ceasefire is still being broken. clinton says a harder line needs to be taken. she does it meant that such measures could be vetoed. the ousted president has arrived

and dakar. she has reportedly taken refuge in a city. and there are 22 army officials detained earlier in the week. the prime minister silvio berlusconi is to continue and japan, expected to testify over his alleged abuse of power, the police are expected to testify. for having sex with an underage it dancer. he is asked police to let the woman go from jail. he denies the charges. the members of a compound in ohio under the leadership of sam, a breakaway bishop carried

out five assaults. all pleaded not guilty. >> absolutely. >> have we got to the change? >> there has been a shakeout. let me take you back. back in october, the british c.e.o., mr. smith, there isn't investigation. it uncovered $1.7 billion account fraud. they put the scandal behind them. they will vote and a new board. that did happen. however, michael was at the meeting and he says he was very unimpressed with the new shakeup. other angry investors -- afterward, he said that he would possibly get to the meeting annulled, it is in his view,

time to put the scandal behind them. >> at the moment, we're waiting to see what will happen with the election in france. what is their take on at? >> we will see more but the economic credentials of nicolas sarkozy and others. nicolas sarkozy -- his challenger, some of his pledges to include renegotiating the hard one at eurozone fiscal compact to install some much tougher fiscal measures. of course, nicolas sarkozy, he says his gross forecast, many say they're optimistic and his budget plan is based on that. there's a lot of uncertainty around at the moment. >> thank you very much.

>> i want to take you over to cairo for a moment. there are an increasing number of people gathering. both liberal and islamic groups doing so in protest over a number of grievances all about the presidential election there. they're coming up pretty soon. the ultra-conservative groups especially. they're angry the disqualification of some of their major presidential candidates from the election. also among the candidates disqualified -- at the same time there's still those protests demanding that anyone associated with this regime may be kept -- must be kept out of politics. we will keep our eyes on that. thank you for being with us.

plenty more stories to come. including protest being planned for monday. -- protests. >> police in york have renewed a long-term search. that was in 1979. there was a national movement to put the faces of the children on milk cartons. >> it is then 33 years since he was last seen in manhattan after leaving his family's apartment. his picture was taken months later showing his parents on the fire escape of the street where he vanished. now, the search has resumed. investigators are planning to look in the basement along his route. >> and about 7:00 a.m. this

morning, the fbi and the nypd, the forensic department from both organizations, they have been searching a basement area on a prince street -- he went missing on that street in 1979 when he was 6 years of age. >> criminal charges have never been brought over his disappearance. but in 2004, his family won a $2 million civil judgment against a friend of the boys babysitter who denied any involvement. police have not said what led them to the prince street site, but an fbi bill says there are on britain human remains there. his disappearance grew national attention. the publicized missing children.

national missing children's day -- the day of his disappearance, it was declared. his parents are hoping to finally find out what happened to their son. >> you are watching bbc world news. nicolas sarkozy is competing during the last few days before the election. correct coming up, practice goes ahead for the grand prix despite security concerns. and it is an emotional time for

him, but he stays on course to challenge his opponent for the title. >> killing 77 people last year. he is to phase detailed questioning. he told the court a little bit earlier that he trained himself to be humanized his victims. it aimed to kill more than 500 people on the island. steven rosenberg is covering the story. he adds details. >> day 5 of this trial began with them asking him about his shocking testimony. he said he had understood. he acknowledged that he admitted a barbaric act. i cannot begin to conceive what it may be like for others to

listen to this. he spoke about how we tried to distance himself from the horrific acts he committed and to use a technical language in describing it. he claimed that he was a nice person in other circumstances. they asked if he could feel a sadness or brief? >> he said yes. give the example of a funeral of a friend's brother in which you went to where he cried more than anyone else. he said that was the saddest day yet experienced. remarkable comments from the man who had killed 77 people. >> was expected and the rest of the proceedings? will he run through moment by moment what he did on the island? >> i think today will be very difficult for families of those people who are killed, and those who survived. most of today will be devoted to

the attack on the island, to those minutes of terror when he moved around the island trying to kill as many people as possible. >> the first practice section ahead of the grand prix is now taking place. india has announced in the last few minutes they will only run of their cars for a short period in the second practice session. due to ongoing security concerns, according to the principal bob. police did crash on a thursday. that was involving and in the it team member as well. they wanted the race cancelled. they say there is suppression of the majority population and of those issues must be dealt with. security consultant is with us now.

it is clear, the teams are not comfortable. >> i think some of them are jittery. were the race is taking place -- it is in the middle of the island, not in the desert. it is not near the villages. they're likely clashes between razors and police. those who got involved -- between racers and police. there were not targeted. there's a degree of funnies. and morally. there is due to be a protest outside or near to the racetrack. it will be a nightmare for the

drivers. >> throw themselves into the event? it is understandable given all of the attention, there is bound to be an impetus for the activist to say that, this is our opportunity to show ourselves -- seized the moment. no matter how far with the race is taking place. >> in a way, the grand prix should be a happier times bennett is in the past, it brings in a lot of money, it brings and jobs. it is being used to the government to say, we're back to business. barring everything is ok. it is not. they want to spoil its. >> obviously, it is a difficult

for people to know a fair position to be in. compared to last year, we hear less about the troubles going on. what is the situation of regard to some of these human rights claims? >> they're better now than they were last year. but they're not out of the woods yet. they still have a human rights crisis. there are good intentions and reforms being launched by the king and the international advisors and international policeman, there have been reforms. at the practical level, i am hearing people being dragged off of the streets. let us be clear, these are people who are involved in civil unrest. they're taking a battery.

>> we can now speak to one op division -- opposition activist. thank you for joining us. i want your perspective. here we are on the verge of the race itself. will you be out protesting? >> i will be out. i believe that we need to use this to promote awareness of problems facing the country, human-rights on the one hand and political issues on the other. >> presumably would prefer to see the race cancelled for the sake of achieving your names? >> i think it is good to have the race. it is an opportunity for us to

show the issues we're having. >> is a difficult balance. the race goes ahead, the authorities will say, we're back to normal. we can hold the race and get back to life. that is in a way, the last thing you want. >> the good thing is that the people here very peaceful. the country is fine because of the people. it is largely peaceful. the violence we have is mostly one way. it is in government. >> in 10 seconds, if the race were questionecancelled, what wd happen? >> it would be very hard.

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