this is just another for franÇoisside fillon.every time he tries to get past the suspicion that his wife had a fake job, something else comes up and dragged him back down. this revelation today says that one of his closest collaborators, his spokesman, is suspected of tax fraud. this comes after a letter was yesterday17 mps saying that franÇois fillon should stand aside because it is impossible to campaign for him on the ground. were --those and these mps were close to nicolas sarkozy and were not really part of the fillon camp. he has dropped 19 points in the polls in just one month. with a after he won massive majority in the party last november, beating nicolas sarkozy before even getting into the second round and beating lsu a -- andan shoup beating his opponent. he was nicknamed as mr. cropper. he was seen as a sure thing. he made a big part of his campaign the fact that he had never been charged with any , unlike nicolas sarkozy, who was being investigated in several different cases. unlike his other, unlike nicolas sarkozy

that is the conservative france while fillon -- francoise fillon. french newsmakers broke that story last week and have upped the amount of money allegedly paid to fillon's wife and children. the presidential campaign is now on even rockier ground. conservative candidate francoise fillon is fighting back over applications -- accusations that he created fake jobs for his family. >> i would never, with just election,hs before an trying to get rid of a candidate by other means than a democratic vote. >> the investigative and satirical newspaper that broke the story last week has now upped the ante. that he did not receive 500,000 but over 800,000 euros for an alleged parliament or a job they say she never actually did. that does not include the 100,000 euros from a literary review owned by a friend. of his children received 83,000 euros in payslips. anticorruption investigators searched the candidates office and penelope fillon has admitted she has never had a parliamentary badge or email. the lawyer says there is an explanation. welcomed into her home

despite the backing of his party, some of mr fillon's collea g u es of his party, some of mr fillon'swould be a gamble as well. mr fillon won his nomination through an open primary contest nomination through an open primary co ntest a nd nomination through an open primary contest and the runner—up, alain jupper contest and the runner—up, alain juppe, has so far said he would step in. a week ago francois fillon was a man tipped for president. now a politician no longer fighting for election, but survival. the path to france's top job is already littered with casualties. he may be next. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. more than 100 works by black and asian artists from the 1980s onwards are to go on display in nottingham as part of a new exhibition highlighting their contribution to british art. one artist featured is sonia boyce, whose work explores the representation of race and identity in society. she's been speaking to our correspondent elaine dunkley. this is a work by mobray odonkor. what we see here is an image, a painted and drawn image, she's making a relationship between gh

francois fillon says that i am a politician with years of experience. perhaps i had some difficulties adapting to changes, evolutions in society. in theire politicians 50's and 60's who are not quite used to this new relationship with politician's in the justice department here in france. tom: much more scrutiny today, and as you say, no one is above the law, former president or not. moving on. francois fillon yesterday issued an apology after the damaging reports surfaced that his wife had been paid a generous -- a generous salary over several years for a nonexistent job. he described the matter as an error on his part. he said there is nothing illegal about it. he also added that he has no plans to step down and is intent on winning the french presidency. solidarity for their candidate -- that was the order of the day for senior figures in the republicans' party, after they watched francois fillon's press conference. >> he said what needed to be said. it has been very difficult recently. many people are shocked and disappointed. that is not enough to

claire: francois fillon is a fighter. there is no indication as yet that he might pull out of the race. areeems that his party thoroughly behind him. we might get a bit of a mea culpa in terms of he may provide a few more details on what penelope fillon did while he was in the parliamentary system. some idea that she was payday generous salary. .t was a generous salary perhaps he might get a few more details on what they did and maybe he will step back in terms of how much the salary was generous. but he is going on with it. there is no indication he will pull out of the race. because he has already said that she has always said i have not done anything wrong. and that what i did was legal and family members can be employed. wife and children, they are employed at the moment by various different mp's. he did not do anything illegal. what would be illegal is if they did not do any work. the french people are becoming more becoming -- are becoming more troubled that the politicians are using money in this way. did they do a

mr fillon's popularity has plummeted since allegations his british wife, penelope fillon, was paid mores as his assistant for work she may never have done. and jobs done by his two children are also being investigated. he said he made a mistake, but also said his wife's salary was justified. but in 2007, penelope fillon gave an interview to a british newspaper, the daily telegraph, in which she said: and on monday, mr fillon was asked about that interview. translation: when she made that statement it was picked up by a programme which knowingly took bits of a sentence out of context. it was in english, it was for an english audience and the focus of the interview was actually i will not be sharee blair. the journalist who did the interview actually got in touch with my wife to say how shocked she was at the use of those bits. the journalist who did the interview, though, tweeted this: polls are now showing mr fillon is lagging behind his opponents, independent centrist emmanuelle macron, a former investment banker and the national front leader, marine le pen. and with the election 11 we

she said: and on monday, mr fillon was asked about that interview.tement, it was picked up by a programme which knowingly took bits of a sentence out of context. it was in english, it was for an english audience, and the focus of the interview was actually, "i will not be cherie blair. " the journalist who did the interview actually got in touch with my wife to tell her how shocked she was at the use of those bits of the interview. the journalist who did the interview, though, tweeted this. polls are now showing mr fillon is lagging behind his opponents, independent centrist emmanuel macron, a former investment banker and the national front leader, marine le pen. and, with the election 11 weeks away, mr fillon insisted he would stay in the race. sarah corker, bbc news. romania's government is rejecting calls to resign. that is despite seven days of massive street protests, which forced it to scrap proposed changes in the law on corruption. thousands of demonstrators are still on the streets, as nick thorpe reports from bucharest. day seven of the pro

>> i think fillon was very much in the position he was.ate by virtu of the fact that he'd been the favorite for too long and fillon was default candidate. and it only took scandal or small issue to show you that. >> what kind of ecnauj forgram does france need? >> clearly a number of structural issues in the economy. macron at least showed the ambition to deal with a number of those and had the advantage of having some of the left on his side. so he could immobilize enough to pass this up. marie le pen is promising to close france off to the rest of the world and for us as a house we'd say that was a step backwards, rather than forwards. >> you got to wonder what would happen with franco/german relations as well. >> i think the idea that the eu could function with marie le pen. on the other hand if we get someone like macron, i think that could energize the french/german relationship. he seize the relationshipicize stlin. >>> uh-huh u fune fst pch -- thank you very much for being with us. did you know slow internet can actually hold your b

mr fillon insists his wife and children did the work he paid them for.ntegrity, this no time where words like integrity, this - no meaning for our this has no meaning for our politicians. - all the scandals politicians. with all the scandals between fillon and everyone else, people are more and more losing interest in politics. with three knots to the election, his main interest in politics. with three knots emmanuelon, his and| interest in politics. with three knots emmanuelon, his and marine 777 clear**::' " "”"” 44 “7 clear winners. ”if" w mg?" was 77" 7777" 7 w‘s“ was 7" thew" ’ era?f to polls. quantities of cannabis. the plant itself for medical use. our italy correspondent james reynolds has been fig g 413g approved drug fel’%§: on ""' ' " " ‘5'12‘ on his ' ' ~ ~ he has orders to roduce laboratory, he has orders to produce 100 kilograms of cannabis every year. one of his soldiers even has the title, must grow. a do a double take. glizgz £5; if: 3:53:45 24? e, 511,151 155 1:5 115111115 14? :5, some plants don't eel“; iix‘i iirri c if torsome ma'or il

presidential candidate francois fillon had a fake job of the taxpayers expense. ♪ good evening, we beginn iraq where government forces continued their -- retaking the airport from the islamic state group. the army says it is now going to use that airport for its operation. expect the battle foror ththe west of the city to be muh more complicated, not at least because of it being densely populated. reporter: iraqi forces pushed into westernmost of -- western most so -- western mosul. >> we are fighting the islamic state group at the southern edge of the city. trancesrying to breach -- breach trenches they used. being drivenfter out of eastern mosul -- there were bombers, mines, barricades, trenches and tununnels. jihadists were completely surroundeded in west mosul, so d little choice but the fight too the death. i iraqi forces carried outt airstrikes overnight, headed a ground attack on the city itself. most of the fighting will be done house to house. it is believed 750,000 civilians are trapped inside the city. losing mosul could spend the end of the extremist caliphate. the jihadists

francois fillon 60 his guns and hisses -- fillon sstticks to guns and refuses to drop out of the presidential race. province inthe pakistan where at least 72 people have died. a popular sufi shrine came under attack after a suicide bomber blew himself up. the shrine was crowded as thursday is considered an auspicious day for muslims who pray there. the attack has been claimed by the islamic state group and it has been condemned by prime minister nawaz sharif. pakistan has been disrupted by attacks claimed by the islamic state and other islamic militants. today, the iraqi capital, where at least 40 people have been killed and 50 others wounded, after a car packed with explosives went off in the southwest of baghdad. the vehicle went off in a crowded street full of grudges and used car dealers it is -- of garages and used car dealers. the attack has been claimed by the a linux -- islamic state group. it is the deadliest attack in iraq so far this year. we are joined on the line by our correspondent. thank you for joining us. why are car markets specifically being targeted question mark -- targe

meanwhile, fillon's approval ratings continue to plummet.rting to one poll, his popularity is con down by 19% in one month over allegations his wife was paid hundreds of thousands of euros for a job she didn't do. .nother allegation has emerged a satirical newspaper which first broke the fate jobs story said that his spokesperson was being investigated for tax evasion. complaint forr public defamation. >> police in malaysia have arrested a woman in connection to the death of the estranged half brother of north korea's leader. kim jong nam is believed to have been assassinated. according to malaysian authorities, he was poisoned with a chemical spray. north korea once the body released immediately and has objected to an autopsy being performed. --the ambassador to malaysia according to malaysian sources, spent hours trying to stop an autopsy from being conducted and asked her the body to be handed over. authorities rejected the request. ambassador's move reinforces suspicion voiced by south korea and the u.s. that kim jong's estranged half-br

and an attempt by fillon to concentrate his campaign's message on law and order. from paris's agricultural affair, he called his words irresponsible. >> even during the campaign politics should be dignified and based on the truth. some candidates like to present

fillon's news conference this morning. >> live now to the campaign headquarters of francois fillon who will be addressing the french people amid allegations funds. ed francois: ladies and gentlemen, i am speaking to you and all french citizens because a legit mate sentiment has pushed me to do so. i understand the questions i will be asked. i understand the need for clarification and i will do so. i will do so because i have nothing to hide. i will do so because i cannot accept the accusations, the baseless accusations that have been targeted at me after 32 years of political life. 32 years without any judicial problem. 32 years of irreproachable, ethical behavior. i would like to tell all my

francois fillon's campaign is crawling. his once spotless record is tainted by allegations he paid his wife for a fake job. supporters say he has been thrown to the wolves, but the tide is turning against him. 70% of voters, according to one poll, want him to step down over the scandal. an institutional coup d'État, of whom, of what? what needs to play out is francois fillon must explain what has happened here. each person should assume responsibility for their part and tell the true to the french -- the truth to the french people. reporter: the french people and his own party. mp's of his party are questioning whether penelope gate has turned the hope of clinching the presidency into a liability. 58% are standing firm while 42% want fillon out. it is a tragic fall from grace. the right-wing nominee was considered a favorite to win the presidential election starting in april. now he's lagging behind far right marine le pen and been overtaken by emmanuel macron. there are concerns that debate over policy has been drowned out

how confident really are you this evening that this —— mr fillon can make it?et people and then you express yourself. this campaign should not be made byjournalists. and this is why i am confident. i even can tell you, i think the french are fed up by this kind of attacks against fillon. it has been said it was a political assassination, political murder to fillon. so be careful, when it is too much, things can reverse and i think that will do. let's return now to the words of thejohn bercow — speaker of the house of commons — who's said in the last hour he doesn't want president trump to address parliament. john bercow told mps that opposition to racism and sexism were hugely important considerations in the house of commons. i would not wish to issue an invitation to president trump to speak in the royal gallery. and i conclude by saying to the honourable gentleman, this, we value our relationship with united states, if a state visit takes place, that is way beyond and above the pay grade of the speaker. however, as far as this place is concerned, ifeel very s

fillon passage that fillon's children have been under investigation after francois fillon went on tv and in an attempt to transparency he revealed -- twot so happened that i had of my children do specific projects because of their expertise. -- therewere holds were holes in his story. they were just students when they were paid handsome salaries . 's news interests, the embattled politician embraces allegations of conflicts of interest involving his consulting firm. hiringalso accused of one of his parliamentary staffers to be a part of his presidential campaign, a clear violation of french elect moral rules. had presented himself as a clean-cut family oriented politician with promises to slash public spending. fighting to save his political career. marching tove been -- the victim of an alleged assault by police. four officers have been suspended. they carried out a brutal attack on a man. he has to be hospitalized for his injuries and it is not the first time they were accused of using excessive force. >> in this amateur video shot thursday night by an eyewitness, a police officer

that would be the best case scenario for francois fillon. or she could open a formal judicial investigation. she could even send the case straight to trial. caps off he own has said if he is placed under formal investigation, -- francois fillon has said if he is placed under formal investigation, he could step down. genie: is this really sustainable at this point? , but timeline has been set it is likely to hang over his head in the next critical weeks of the presidential election campaign. in thebeen slipping opinion polls, and the main beneficiaries of that slip seem to be marine le pen of the far right national front, and the centrist emmanuel macron. right now fillon is trying to divert attention from this. he has adopted a hard line on law and order. he said yesterday the age of criminal responsibility should go down to 16 years of age, so he is clearly hunting on far right territory for votes and also trying to move on from this scandal. but it keeps coming back, and that is really the problem he has going forward. genie: that is franc

fillon was quick to respond. then in a statement, fillon he claimed the figures were incorrect. despite that, the voices of opposition could still be heard against the candidate. >> pay back your debt, you'd see f. you thie >> i think he is an honest and and his wife also. it's unfortunate that honest people like these are met by such scandals. isimpression is mr. fillon friend of the other candidates and we have to shatter that in every way. 's this wednesday, fillon campaign continues. this while call returns to the candidates camp, for now. laura: back to our top story, the british parliament has voted in favor of giving promised or theresa may the power to officially begin the process of leaving the european union. this is the second vote in the lower house and the final vote and it will now pass to the scrutiny.ords for it will either pass into law or be passed back down to the house of commons for more debate. some business news, kate moody is with us. we start in the united states. kate: we had a quote from donald trump a few minutes ago saying, how do you know i'm doing

mr fillon needs to fight back hard if he's going to get that second place.retary of state, rex tillerson, has said america will work with russia, so long as moscow keeps its promise to try to defuse the conflict in ukraine. mr tillerson, who's president trump's most senior diplomat on the international stage, was speaking after a g20 meeting in germany with the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov. well with me now isjeremy shapiro, director of research, european council on foreign relations. in terms of that brief comment we heard from rex tillerson, that specific comment about ukraine is presumably what other members in the t20 really needed to hear. they need some reassurance. t20 really needed to hear. they need some reassurance . yes, t20 really needed to hear. they need some reassurance. yes, this is part of the reassuring store. i think rex tillerson probably doesn't really know what the policy towards russia is, since nobody seems to know it. he's been repeating what the policy has been trying to tell the allies what they want to hear. he's hoping

francois fillon has been disclosing everything, assets and bank accounts he has.s been saying that the salary of his wife, while working as his assistant, was perfectly justified and that his two children were perfectly legal. he said he will give more disclosure of all his assets tonight online. really, it is a transparency operation. he says he understands the moral obligation of a presidential candidate like him. he wants to stay in the race for now and he is also apologizing to the french for the lack of transparency. meantime, the void that has been left is being and le pen.. macron they had big rallies over the weekend. leading in the first run of this presidential election on april 23. they both had a separate competing meeting in the second-biggest ct in france over the weekend. we have more details on marine le pen who unveiled a program with more than a hundred proposals. it is most worrying for investors, the promise she made to hold a referendum for france to leave the eu and the euro single currency. she said she wanted to curb cutting countries from

fillon's news conference this morning. >> live now to the campaign headquarters of francois fillon who will be addressing the french people amid allegations funds. ed francois: ladies and gentlemen, i am speaking to you and all french citizens because a legit mate sentiment has pushed me to do so. i understand the questions i will be asked. i understand the need for clarification and i will do so. i will do so because i have nothing to hide. i will do so because i cannot accept the accusations, the baseless accusations that have been targeted at me after 32 years of political life. 32 years without any judicial problem. 32 years of irreproachable, ethical behavior. i would like to tell all my fellow country men and women that over all these years, i have worked for my country without ever breaking the law and without ever contradicting my values. today, as a candidate for the presidential election, i'm facing an incredibly violent attack. to my knowledge this has never occurred before. this is unprecedented under this republic. and i would like to say strongly that it's for the preside

penelope fillon is tainted by scandal, casting doubt that you out among their compatriot. we have many family members. as far as a number of birds are concerned, if the scandal would have happened in the u.k., fillon would have been kicked out of the race. >> if there is lack of transparency there is a norm is enormous pressure to resign. reporting until now france while fillon had everything he needed to be a winning candidate. i probably would have bet on the french guy running for the president -- he's married to the englishwoman. affair brokece the out, fillon has dropped into third place, dropping behind -- the bookmakers even reinserted already illuminated candidates -- already eliminated candidates onto the ballot. >> promising to investigate, telling the human rights chief the country's security services would launch a query into violence against the muslims. the government said the allegations are invented. in a report released this friday, the u.n. says hundreds of people have been killed and women gang raped in an ongoing -- aign that made ongoing campaign. the

and an attempt by fillon to concentrate his campaign's message on law and order.rom paris's agricultural affair, he called his words irresponsible. >> even during the campaign politics should be dignified and based on the truth. some candidates like to present controversies. >> a few hours later, he doubled down. >> it is his responsibility to oversee the presidential election and make sure it happen in the atmosphere of calm democracy at stake. the latest polls show fillon may not make it to the second round as he continues to be weighed down by the penelope affair, a job scandal involving his wife. >> next the u.n. human rights council open its annual session in geneva. time the united states will claim defeat under the presidency of donald trump. the president international agenda remaining murky for now. reporter: don't trump has been an outspoken supporter of israel and criticized united nations for treating it as a second-class citizen. there is a definite feeling times have changed. the u.s. president has stirred up controversy by promising to move to the c

it reminds us power —— francois fillon. it reminds us to be careful?of power. some would argue saying that president assad should be removed before any change in syria happening, for five years ago, but to say even if he stays in power, or does not commit you have a security of power, where you've been involved in such worried atrocities committed cannot ignore them and keep them there. but everyone for turkey to there. but everyone for turkey to the usa are changing their tuned but in the end, if it stops the killing and this kind of massacre, then anything could be acceptable. it is difficult to believe that the person in charge of this is capable of turning a page but we will have two c. staying with the times newspaper, more homes for new buyers in housing plans. i was on duty here in the newsroom yesterday and there was a suggestion that the conservative party was moving away from the idea that everyone should own their own homes, and they would push the idea that renting was a good thing because you cannot get a decent house in this country, ther

fillon means the bureaucracy. traditionaln means parties -- socialists and recover guns.t is a slogan to be against the system and france. tony: another thing and le pen -- in le pen's favors that the party has undergone a makeover since they got rid of jean-marie le pen. they got rid of the anti-semitic stuff, at least as densely. they had this new person behind the throne who has been the mastermind the -- ththe mastermd of the front national, which has made the party appealing little bit more to a wider spectrum of voters, and i think possibly y isti e fact that the really moving, addressing the problems of this so-called underclass that has developed across europe in a lot of societies, that is helping it. is what mayctor play against her is the fact that the socialist candidate, hamon, may take away some of the vote that would go to le pen. peter: i would like to hear what you have your say as the german correspondent for "the independent" newspaper. how important is it that emmanuel macron is forthrightly, ? gorously pro-european tony: he has to take on the anti-eur

and francois fillon is on the front page of le figaro.aper says that the former prime minister is determined to continue his fight in the french presidential campaign. that is despite an investigation into his financial affairs. the guardian reports on comments from the british defence secretary, michael fallon, warning that nato must now compete on the cyber battlefield, and do more to counter russian hacking. would you donate cash, jewellery and gold to bail out your government? the gulf news writes that citizens in mongolia are doing just that, to help pay off a near—$600 million debt. and camp out under the stars for a better night's sleep. an article on the front of the daily telegraph reports on a new study that suggests the great outdoors could be a solution for insomniacs. another solution is to get up early and do the paper review. joining us isjonathan charles, who is managing director of communications at the european bank for reconstruction and development. to see you. let's begin with trump. this is particularly about this re

isus: francois fillon seeking to save his bid for the presidency.us go to caroline who following all things in paris. francois fillon maintaining his candidacy and asking for two weeks to fill or kill his bid. caroline: that is what he was asking last week. two weeks to go in order to fix his credibility. the press conference was very much on the french radar last night. it was operation transparency. he disclosed everything go bank account he has, every single real estate and the value of the houses. that he owns. he says his wife paid -- his wife's pay was perfectly justified. and the jobs he asked for his children were perfectly legal. acknowledgedhe that this created a lot of ethical questions in the minds of the french people so he wanted to apologize. : my working with my wife and children, i prioritized a trust relationship that today is met with defiance and it was a mistake that i deeply regret. i want to present my apologies to the french people. caroline: and when francois fillon was asked if he was worried about his recent drop in the op

mr fillon was asked about that interview today. here's what he said.y a programme which knowingly took bits ofa programme which knowingly took bits of a sentence out of context. it was in english and for an english audience, and the focus of the interview was that i would not be tony blair. the journalist got in touch with my wife to tell her how shocked she was at the use of those bits of that interview. the journalist who did the interview, though, tweeted this: @kimwillsher1 "no, mr fillon! envoye special did not take the statements out of context. it didn't shock me." naomi grimley in paris told me more about today's statement. it was very combat if and only a partial apology, to say that maybe in the modern age or did not look right to employ your family members. but as you said, he absolutely stuck to his guns, that the money that his wife penelope has earned over a period of about 13 years is still hers, and that she justified that salary, and she did things like sort out his diary, his visits, and open his mail. so, he really contests the key b

so with fillon gagged, she is ina them. so with fillon gagged, she is in a better position. is an independent who came out and one would usually say it is very bad if you are independent and have never run a campaign but you know what? in these days that may be an advantage. so what is going on with china, what is the ft‘s take? advantage. so what is going on with china, what is the ft's take? this isa china, what is the ft's take? this is a report from baker mckenzie talking about foreign investment from china from the rest of the world, and there are two ways of looking at this. a huge amount of money invested once again in 2016 but the financial times looks at the huge amount which was blocked, which wasn't invested, which was intended for investment it wasn't. and part of it was blocked because the chinese said we cannot have that much money, there is no strategic rationale. some of it was locked because in germany, in the us, companies said no. —— blocked. but there were some very strategic deals as well, one of which gives china the ability to control nearly 30, 40% of

fillon came in through a side entrance. refusing to answer any questions from waiting journalists. inside the visit was a chance for the right-wing candidate to bear credentials on policing and security, although he couldn't get away without at least some reference to the situation outside. >> when you want to prevent someone from campaigning, it is not really a democracy anymore. easier.ple may find it families deployed the ploy to keep the protesters in line. fillon,or the embattled the ongoing financial investigation pulling any attention from the campaign message he wanted to say. anchor: following last year's closure of the migrant camp, the cam's former residence living on the part of france. youen by the university of -- among this group are some highly qualified of fish -- qualified individuals. a lawyer from sudan, a footballer from sudan. >> lawyers, engineers, and footballers. all with a common goal. the students are taking language lessons at the university in northern france. this iranian men spent a year at the jungle camp that only got as far as learning the alphabet

francois fillon needs to fight back hard if he is to get second place. —— emanuel makron.her death in order to claim life insurance. officers say the woman's teenage son and his guardian tried to make the claim last may. 0ur correspondent helena lee is here. helena, what more can you tell us? the city of london police has told us the city of london police has told us that this 18—year—old and his guardian claimed that the woman had died ina guardian claimed that the woman had died in a car crash in zanzibar in east africa last year. it is alleged they tried to claim against a life insurance policy worth £1a0,000 in her name. it is also alleged that. humans including a death certificate and also accident reports were produced. —— alleged that falls documents. they couldn't verify the woman cars death so they refused to pay the claim. they passed it onto police and they found that the woman was alive and living in canada. she to the uk, she was arrested and questioned by police. her son was also arrested and questioned and both of them have been bailed and they are expected

he's not that many points behind fillon and macron.he gets to the second round and he's up against le pen, i presume he would beat her, but no one has tested that. francine: thank you so much. gregory this cozy in paris. with just over three weeks until the netherlands head to the polls, the far right freedom party candidate launched his election campaign by calling some moroccans scum. >> if a dutch person driving in a car drives five miles too fast, he will be fined within a minute, whereas the moroccan scum -- not all are scum, but there's a lot of moroccan scum that make the streets unsafe, mostly young people, and they are not taken seriously. we are making them and the people unsafe. in thee: let's bring chief economist at standard chartered bank. we were listening to mr. builders. it seems his popularity even by talking in this language doesn't wayne. what are the chances that europe gets engulfed by a populist wave? does the that not only popularity not wayne, it could actually end at increasing. this is the world we are living

emmanuel macron opening up his biggest lead yet over francois fillon. let's finish up with gold, down 0.2%. gold will head towards $1300 in as inflationmonths expectations pick up real interest rates turned negative. that is according to ubs wealth management. let's get the bloomberg first word news. nejra: the london stock exchange said its $13 billion tie up with deutsche boerse is unlikely to proceed after a new regulatory hurdle signaled a potential end to the effort to create a dominant european exchange. officials had requested that the nsc divest its trading platform, but the nsc said it couldn't commit to such a move. the u.k.'s house of lords starts a detailed examination of prime minister theresa may's exit legislation today. a number of amendments are expected to be put forward, including one which would give parliament a binding vote on the final brexit deal. the pound is down against all its major peers after a report said may's office is preparing for sultan to call another independence referendum. the independent french presidential candi

recent polls show macron and fillon battling neck and neck for first place in the final round.macron is seen support slide in recent days. he controversially has said that france's opponents to gay marriage had been humiliated by the socialist government. he said the aim of the alliance create an electric shock in french politics and bring hope to the country. laura: earlier i spoke to paul smith, the french politics expert at the university of nottingham. 'sask him how much bayrou support really was for emmanuel macron. >> it gives him perhaps not the figure, certainly a very important figure, the centrist rallying to his cause. bayrou is clearly decided that he doesn't see himself as part of the fillon set up, so he decided to run in the first round and risk macron not being the one who goes there to the second round, to stand back to try to influence macron in some way, but nevertheless to give heron of free run because would probably a picked up more votes from macron than he would from fillon. this reduces the risk. laura: 2016 was one of the worst on record for human righ

we have more fallout over the scandal with francois fillon and his wife. dheepthika: the guardian reporter who interviewed him in december, that has been the focus on the new fall out from the scandal. she has written a piece explaining how it all came about. that interview has really become the smoking gun in the alleged fake jobs scandal because it was dug up in the wake of the scandal. in which penelope fillon says she never worked as her husband's assistant, this despite him saying that she was euros toly a million be his assistant. a seeminglywas induced -- a seemingly innocent interview back then, obviously one that has taken a life of its own on now. molly: super bowl sunday in the united states will be coming up. a lot of focus will be on the halftime show. dheepthika: the halftime show will be watched by over 100 million people, so it is no doubt one of the big highlights of the super bowl -- this year, lady gaga is highlighting the 15 minute show. she is tightlipped about what she has planned. many wonder if she will use the show as her own pulpi

mark: a very exciting race, if fillon dropped out, what his plan b?e first time in the history of french politics, a republican nominee dropping out but a scenario that we now have, we cannot exclude any more, if you look at the front page of le monde, fillon, can he still hang on? at the moment, this is a real question. lawmakers publicly questioning his situation. b's are being discussed, one option would be the runner up in the primaries -- hevember, the mayor said he did not want to step in, but some observers saying he could change his mind. another option is the former president nicolas sarkozy, he came in third in the primaries. other names -- including the former finance minister, and the head of the north region, who already has an advantage, he has beaten marine le pen in regional elections in 2015. vonnie: lets the a with the candidates we have now, how does campaigning work in this next stage? , the campaign is in two rounds, the first round is april 23 and the two candidates who will come with the best result in the first round will face

do you agree that it's over for fillon? yes, he's probably toast. not illegal, on the contrary, it's totally legal to employ a member of your family to be a parliamentary assistant. what is illegal is to get the taxpayer to pay for it. and for the member of the family not to do the work. what is worse is that we should remember that there is a history of doing good investigative work. the people who exposed this particular story it wasn't just this, there has been a sequence, a drip, drip, drip. she was getting paid by a billionaire‘s literary publication. that's right. and the staff had never seen her. police raided parliament the other day. this is not a surprise to french people about penelope fillon. they are calling it penelope—gate. it kicked off nine days ago. she has always been very reluctant and says she's a wife first and a mother to their children and is there to support her husband. that's never been a problem. what has surprised and stunned everybody, notjust in their own party but across france is to discover that she had a full—time

mr fillon denies claims that his wife and two of his children were paid for non—existent parliamentaryreview. the telegraph leads with the decision by a federal appeals court in the united states to refuse to reinstate president trump's ban on travellers from seven mainly muslim countries and all refugees entering the us. the ft looks at proposals by german chancellor angela merkel to speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers, with other reports indicating that attitudes to migrants are hardening throughout europe as a whole. the telegraph business pages report that according to a group of large banks paris has no chance in capturing business from london post—brexit without radically overhauling france's strict labour laws. also in the ft, twitter has posted the slowest revenue growth since it went public four years ago, sending shares down more than io%. the fall comes in spite of the election of prolific tweeter donald trump as us president who failed to produce a "trump bump" in twitter‘s results. the times has carried out its own investigation into how taxpayers and charity don

francois fillon needs to fight back hard, if he's going to get that second place. unite's len mccluskey has been meeting the business secretary, greg clark, and president of general motors, following news that peugeot's owner — the psa group — is in talks to acquire gm's european operation. the deal would include vauxhall, which has plants at ellesmere port and luton, employing 11,500 staff. the unite leader said he wasn't prepared to accept a single job loss in britain. we've made the call that we want the government involved in the issue of general motors because of course the french government owns a considerable stake in peugeot and one thing is for clear, they'll be arguing and fighting for french jobs. basically i'm going to be saying to the government today that that's what we need to do. we need to work together. the government needs to make it clear that we're not prepared in the event that peugeot buy vauxhall and vauxhall opel, we're not prepared to accept a singlejob loss here in britain. an increasing number of patients are having to wait more than 12

francois fillon and emmanuel macron holding their biggest rally held up by the rivals legal trouble. sterling is left out of all major currency. with bloomberg paris reporter. when i woke up today sterling was down, give and take. was that times referendum story nothing? >> it might have been. it didn't go up that much so obviously the debate over scotland remains at the forefront of people's minds. it is important to note that among the banks, if you look at the polling data, it hasn't created as much for independence. mark: the other big event is the house of lords, inc. on --

mr fillon insists he did nothing illegal, and that his campaign will continue.r company representing david beckham has told the bbc it was subject to a blackmail attempt by hackers threatening to leak his personal e—mails. a spokesman for david beckham says the e—mails were tampered with, and are deliberately inaccurate. time now for reporters. welcome to reporters, i am phillipa thomas. from here in the world's newsroom we send out correspondents to bring you the best stories from across the globe. in this week's programme. i think god led this country to put donald trump in office. divided america. after week two of donald trump's unique style of diplomacy, further splits in opinion. nick bryant travels to the bible belt of tennessee and finds his supporters fully behind their new president. there are two americas right now and how you react to donald trump determines which one you inhabit. i am 12 years old. 12 years old. the children of la forced into prostitution. angus crawford gets exclusive access to the us police operation to rescue them and meets the g

the french collections and the scandals around francois fillon -- and the scandals around francois fillon the reason there is a rise in interest rates? there have been discussions and leaked comments last week from the bank of england talking about moving rates higher. we doing it as a really —— reaction to brexit? there is a lot of areas that we have to look at but we have to remember that in the us, in the uk and in the eurozone to a certain degree, economies are improving. we will skirt over the - marriages in will skirt over the gay marriages in the church of england because we only have about one minute to go. vitamin d can prove to prevent your risk of catching a cold and flu. how often do you go on holiday to a sunny climate? once a year? it takes a few weeks for the vitamin d to benefit your body. you need to go more often. what the story actually saysis more often. what the story actually says is that we should be putting vitamin d into food and slipping it into food so we don't get so much cold and flu and of course the big buzzword which is relieve the burden of the nhs. who kn

we do not know whether fillon or to thewill make it second ballot or a leftist coalition and that is pause. we see the tenure france-german spread around 75 basis points, as white as 80 basis points a week or two ago. mark: the widest sense 2012. >> still lingering around there so political risk is elevated. mark: final term, bloomberg pound index, is today going to be looked upon in months to come as the day where the data terms -- turns? >> we have sat on this program over the past few months and been surprised at how resilient the u.k. economy has been but if you look at the data this week, inflation weaker than expected, wage increases were lower than expected, the retail sales were weaker than expected today and you may be right, i do not want to overplay it because the pound has not come crashing off, falling two of the past three weeks but it may be the point where we are seeing a change in the u.k. -- chink in the u.k. economic armor. early be a little bit too to call it a change in trend but looking that way a little bit. mark: have a good weekend. richard jones. it is frida

a securicor newspaper, has claimed that francois fillon pages wide for hundreds of thousands of euross for his french parliamentary system. the problem is that there is no evidence, that is why did any work and there is now reports that he did payments for his children too. he was the presidentialfrontrunner children too. he was the presidential frontrunner but now it is his rivals who seem to be having the last laugh, marine le pen in particular, who leads the right front national party, she says that she believes that francois fillon has lost the trust of the french people. speaking at a rallyjust a little while ago, all of this is a conspiracy to break the left wing. it is not justice conspiracy to break the left wing. it is notjustice that some looking for, their aim is it is notjustice that some looking for, theiraim is to it is notjustice that some looking for, their aim is to break me, it is notjustice that some looking for, theiraim is to break me, and beyond my person to break the left and steve its vote. what is at stake is the presidential elections is to choose before it i

the embattled republican candidate francois fillon earlier held a news conference and here's what heing your family members as parliamentary assistants is a perfectly legal practice but what was acceptable in the past is no longer acceptable. by working with my wife and children, i was mindful of this relationship of trust but today, it causes mistrust and that was a mistake. i regret it profoundly and i apologise to the french people. jacques myard is a centre—right republican mp who supports monsieur fillon — he says it was important that he addressed the allegations swirling around him: first of all, it was time to react and to launch again his campaign. i think that from what i've known until now, the reaction has been pretty good. better than you could have seen before. i do not think there is an eternity, he regrets what has happened. it was legal but people do not understand any more. now we're going to the merits of this presidential election, meaning the campaign for france, for the french. this is the best way to react. as i've said very often, the battle you lose are those

before we go to our final item, the telegraph, french toast, francois fillon feels the heat over wife the heat over wife pass back row. he is a leading contenderfor the french presidency but problems concerning over whether his wife was paid for what she did not do has stymied the entire thing. it is a complicated story but it is very important because he was seen as the most likely candidate to prevent marine le pen, the leader of the far right, at the sickest campaign is toast, whether he has to pull out or whether he limps on. it is good news for a centrist candidate, a sort of blairite candidate. he is impressive and has no outperforming francois fillon somerby things could get better for france. financial times. trump, it is time for tough call. he is having a barney there. he fights everyone. he is angling for a fight with arnold schwarzenegger who took over hisjob as with arnold schwarzenegger who took over his job as the host of the apprentice. viewing figures are plummeted. arnold schwarzenegger hits back by saying, but us swap jobs. let us hear the very clip from mrtrump job

we talk about the different candidates here, when you look at the conservative candidate, francois fillon he is a champion of labor reform, economic reforms that would take the stickiness out of the employment codes. a fresh development this morning around his candidacy, the french prosecutor said reports by investigators contain numerous elements which means the fillon case cannot be dropped at this time. that will be seen as a blow for his campaign. they were pressuring the financial prosecutors to drop the case. if the case worsens for him, there's big question marks as to what the party will do to find a replacement as we get ever closer to the first round at the end of april. big question marks facing these companies, but the message from airfrance-klm is that we're moving forward and encouraged that ultimately voters will fight for the candidate that encourages globalization that is friendly to the exchange of passengers across borders, because that is crucial not only to airfrance-klm but their competitors as well. >> nancy, thank you very much. fantastic being in paris. every corn