he will indeed allow francois fillon to go ahead. ——a lane juppe.an. this is their lead story. epidemic of sex all harassment in universities. the guardian has dug up universities. the guardian has dug up all the figures here. —— sexual. it is being claimed that a significant number of allegations of being made in the last few years are of such a great number, at least 169, that it amounts to an "epidemic" of sexual harassment amongst education and what is described as gender violence. these are very serious accusations. they must all be taken seriously and anything that occurs should absolutely not be tolerated. 0ne however might raise questions about the language of the report. for instance, the use of the word epidemic the described sexual harassment. it is not like a virus ora harassment. it is not like a virus or a cold that people catch. do they have some comparisons? they seem to. 169 allegations against, this is university students complaining against staff, although that seems a small figure, they compare it to a survey in the states which

francois fillon's seeking the presidential bid. the conservative candidate is refusing to budge. a campaign spokesperson is the latest to call it quits. jeff sessions removes himself from campaign investigations. top lawyer is under pressure for speaking with the russian ambassador twice during the campaign. an art collector and philanthropist, spencer hayes, has died at the age of 80. the american businessman donated his extensive art collection, with hundreds of millions of dollars. we begin with the political hemorrhage that is continuing for francois fillon's campaign. the chief spokesperson has responded -- has resigned. elysees has the been rocked by financial scandal. he faces questions for paying his family for nonexistent work. sections within his -- factions within his political party are growing. we have the latest on his resignation. not a prominent politician, but he is organizing the primary in which francois fillon won handily four months ago, now seeming like ages ago. he is the latest and probably not the last for francois fillon because since the news that he is

the republican party, are theyjust hoping to get shot of francois fillon?have moved dramatically since then because they've just come out of a meeting and more or less endorsed francois fillon so another chapter has just unfolded in this story. i think this is the definitive one, basically the quick way of telling the story is francois fillon has won the battle, w011 francois fillon has won the battle, won his internal battle inside the party, he is going to be the candidate for the republicans in this election. i think the rest of the party have given up. alainjuppe said this morning he was not going to run and really there was no other option. francois fillon made it clear he had the legitimacy and base of support and he feels he is legally innocent of charges against him so here's every intention of going on. the party does did not have the means or options or the ideas to come to him. so theyjust had a meeting at the top level within the last five minutes i have seen them coming out on television and the head of the senate said, we're with francois fill

francois fillon is the centre—right candidate in the french presidential election.ge is going to place him under formal investigation over allegations he created fake parliamentary jobs for his family. you might think that's enough to sink his chances — and you'd certainly have thought so when he called a last minute press conference today. but no. translation: a number of my political friends, and those who supported me in the primaries, and 4 million voters, are talking about a political assassination. it is an assassination because it is disproportionate and unprecedented. by disproportionate and unprecedented. by the choice of this timetable, it's not only me being assassinated, but the presidential elections as well. the vote will decide who will be the next president of the republic. i will not cede. i will not give up. i will not withdraw. i will take it to the end, because it is democracy that's being challenged. straight after that a senior member of mr fillon‘s posted this statement on twitter: "i believe in keeping one's word. i therefore resign." that's

francois fillon at a big rally in paris.plex for new readers. the french political system, it has a series of run—offs, everyone comes forward and says they would like to be president, they vote and it is the last two who go into the final. at this stage francois fillon is the principal conservative contender but it turns out he has been paying his wife and two children, ranging for them to be paid forjobs they might not have done, via the taxpayer. that has caused a scandal forced he doesn't deny that it. -- he doesn't deny that bit. he says there is a political assassination against him, as opposed to something which any modern political debate would focus on because your wife and children have been paid for work they have not done by the taxpayer. they need a standard bearer in french politics because they have marine le pen coming up on the bike hand side and michelle wie one on the left. —— right hand side and then we have macron on the left—hand side. right hand side and then we have macron on the left—hand sidem right

as you can see in your line, francois fillon if francois fillon -- in your line, if francois fillon weree will be some folks who don't show up to vote for macron and marine le pen would gain a little bit. but a 34% probability is still scary for marine le pen. it is high. it happens one every three times. so it is not good. more chaotic than the united states of america? we will continue with erik nielsen. in the next hour, on "bloomberg excuse me, i lost track of the clock here. in the next hour, john silvia from wells fargo on the president and the american labor economy. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ tom: this morning, from carnage to removal of the american spirit, president trump response .o republican ovation democrats sit on their hands. now the hard part -- a trump wishlist of austerity. in this hour, kevin cirilli. a stronger dollar. we speak with john foley, and a report that was a wrong report but was corrected. he isle bit of chaos and due to speak very shortly. good morning, everyone. this is "bloomberg lacqua,ance." francine basically it's chaos within the campaign, correct? franc

he did also attack francois fillon directly.y unusual if you are in the same party a couple of months ahead of the presidential election. he says his candidacy is now a dead end. moec ands is gilles stephen gallo. how much can actually move on the back of it? >> at this stage we haven't reached the point where people can crystallize around a campaign. i see all these interesting notes about probabilities but truth is we don't even know the lineup right now. as long as we don't have a lineup we're going to stay with an extraordinary very high member of certainty in the polls. that less thanal 50 days ahead of the election the lineup is not complete. by the 20th of march we will have the first round. then i guess the people will start to really make up their mind. we might take any sort of info from the polls. i am a bit surprised on the energy spent analyzing and over analyzing the data. vonnie: do you trust the polls? >> i do trust the polls. it's just that they say this all the time, polls are snapshots. the stateyou what is of

prime minister, alainjuppe, has rejected calls to step in as a centre—right candidate to replace francois fillon being carried out in the uk at any one time and 13 potential attacks have been thwarted since 2013. councillors in cumbria are to decide whether to issue a new licence for the south lakes safari zoo where nearly 500 animals have died in four years. events are being held in the uk and belgium today to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the zeebrugge ferry disaster. one hundred and ninety—three people died when the passenger ferry capsized within minutes of setting sail for dover from belgium. the future of the arsenal forward alexis sanchez looks uncertain after it has emerged he was dropped after a row with his team—mates. arsene wenger claims the decision to leave him out was a tactical one. he took pa rt him out was a tactical one. he took part in training this morning ahead of their match against munich tomorrow. ian wright said he would leave the club. it's when you are united as a team. i'm not sure that money will keep and then at the moment because from what i've seen, if he's s

this is the definitive one, that francois fillon has won the battle.nternal battle, and he is going to be the candidate for the republicans in the selection. and no other option, francois fillon has made it clear that he thought he had a legitimacy, a base of support and he feels he is legally innocent. the partyjust did not have means, options, ideas, to counter. they have just had a meeting at the top level, and president of the senate said that we are with francois fillon, the chapter is over and we move. but the real battle is what lies ahead. and he has lost the republican party, it has been such a disastrous month for the republican party since the affair broke out. nlc francois fillon has shot down, maybe too far but he has gone down found as we know, whoever gets second, is most likely to win. unless you get some sort of major turnaround, a gaffe, u nless sort of major turnaround, a gaffe, unless somehow the republican party can find it within themselves to get to the united front, and these allegations and charges against francois fillon quart

despite the temporary comfort of a crowd, francois fillon is an isolated man. by some as a collective suicide mission. after weeks of pressure to step aside, mr fillon today turned the fire back on his party colleagues, telling them it was time to make up their mind. translation: i have examined my conscience, and to the men and women of my camp, i say it's your turn to examine your conscience. will you let the interests of factions and careers prevail over the greatness and coherence of a project that has the support of millions? he's lost political allies and campaign staff, but francois fillon has stayed defiant through it all. now, with party figures closing ranks against him, he's gathered his supporters for a last, desperate show of force. 0nstage behind him, his wife penelope. paying her was a mistake, he says, but not illegal. translation: i'm convinced by fillon even more when i see people giving up and leaving the ship when we actually need someone like him. but his supporters are now mainly voters from the hard right of the party. polls suggest that

he does still have some support from some french papers. >> the catholic paper says francois fillon didot give in. really haley i guess what they called his courage on sunday. the right-leaning paper says sunday's demonstration was a success despite the fact that it was a risky for fillon and his -- bet for fillon and his team. that it's somewhat redrew the battle lines between those who have abandoned him and those who continue to stick by him. genie: james comey is asking for answers from the president after trump alleged that his predecessor tapped his phone. >> these comments from the u.s. president came addictively via a tweet on saturday. for the washington post it is wasof that trump steaming mad. his presidency has existed in a perpetual state of chaos and at the center of this turmoil is the fact that he can't seem to shake off the shadow of russia that loomed over his campaign and presidency. his comments have taken the presidency into uncharted territory. i rode with no center line or with no center line or guard rails. it also wiped out any goodwill he managed to muster with

earlier i spoke french journalist about francois fillon's day.ber of people he was saying it in front of. he called this rally and it was organised into and it was organised in two and a half days and, in a sense, if he hadn't managed to fill out the squarer than his candidacy would have been dead. they said they had 200,000 people, i don't think it is possible to fit them on the square but they had close to possibly 70 or 80,000 people which, in paris, is a great deal. he had people who said the election has been taken from us and he was playing to that. he said i apologise for things that i ought to have done otherwise, but by and large he is pushing the idea that, because he has a clear mandate from his core voters, before million people who voted for him in the right—wing primary last december, that he has legitimacy according to party rooms and election rules. how has he dealt with these allegations about the way he employed his family? what he says is that he has employed his wife, he has employed his family, this is legal. he realises that

while francois fillon, once the frontrunner, is lagging behind on i9%. mer prime minister alain juppe replaced mr fillon, the same poll puts him in the lead at 26.5%. marine le pen also faces legal issues. her national front party accused of misusing eu funds. as mr fillon‘s campaign knows it's struggling, he strongly denies the fake jobs for family claims and fights on. let's round—up some of the other main stories. the united nations says the syrian government and a number of opposition groups have agreed a clear agenda for the country's future, during a week of talks in geneva. it's the first time for over a year that the two sides have attended talks. they are due to meet again later in the month. the us vice—president mike pence says there's no comparison between his use of a personal e—mail during his time as indiana governor and hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server when she was secretary of state. he contacted advisers on terrorism and homeland security via an aol account during his four years as governor, though he did nothing illegal.

personhors said the only who believes there is a hidden surveillance service is francois fillon. oes not exist. francois hollande shot back. televisede the interview concluded, the president's office condemned in the strongest terms the allegations. the justice ministry chimed in by saying the candidate has a history of voting against political transparency and an independent judiciary. in the united states, president trump is taking a gamble on health care, demanding a make or break boat this friday. the vote was originally set for yesterday, but delayed because there is not enough republican support. ♪ setback for donald trump as a vote on his new health care till in the house of representatives has been delayed. hours before the announcement, the u.s. president said he was optimistic his bill would pass, though he admitted it would be a very close vote. ofclose, not because politics, they know obamacare is no good. it's only politics. because we have a great bill, and we have a very good chance, but it is only politics. >> the plan is now for a houseboat on friday that both mod

francois fillon tries to keep his campaign alive after another of his homes is raided. another low in the relationship between malaysia and north korea, the north korean ambassador is told to leave kuala lumpur. we have all the sport including a fractious showdown between manchester united and bournemouth. welcome to the programme. there is never a dull moment in washington politics. donald trump took to twitter claiming the obama had tapped his phones at trump tower during the election campaign. the president offered no evidence for the claims and a spokesman for barack obama the claims and a spokesman for ba rack obama has the claims and a spokesman for barack obama has strongly denied the allegations, saying neither president obama or any white house official ever ordered surveillance official ever ordered surveillance of any official ever ordered surveillance ofany us official ever ordered surveillance of any us citizen and any suggestion otherwise is simply false. it comes after a rocky few weeks for the trump administration which has seen the sacking of the nation

francois fillon insists he will not pull out of the french presidential race.campaign goes on despite the defections. nobody has the power to force me to withdraw my candidacy. it is my decision and i have been reassured by this show of support. everyone thought it would be a failure and it was a success. thought it would be a failure and it was a success. iraqi forces are trying to retake muscle from islamic state reported to be closing in on the main government buildings in the city. in sport, harry kane scores twice as spurs close the gap with chelsea at the top of the premier league. the former us director of national intelligence, james klapper, has denied there was any wiretap on donald trump what this election campaign. president trump has alleged that his phones were tapped by the obama administration without offering any evidence and has asked congress to examine the claims. for north america correspondent, nick bryant, reports. on the sunday talk shows this morning one main topic of discussion. trump claiming the trump campaign was wiretapped by presi

franÇois fillon confirmed that he would be put under -- formal investigation following his families fakes scandal. i my lawyer has informed me have been summoned by court on march 15 to be questioned. had been fillon expected at the agricultural fair, but canceled at the last moment, calling a press conference. he denounced the smear campaign to discredit him. yet said earlier he would quit if question, but surprised many by saying he would carry on to the very end. >> yes, i will be a candidate for the president. and we will take the good with the bad. to put our country back on track. despite his show of determination, the fillon camp is already splintering. the candidates foreign affairs adviser resigned. macron said the democratic vote should not be used to pardon fillon. >> regarding the public in politics, the french people will judge franÇois fillon for themselves. but let us not consider a democratic vote for the political party. reporter: he decided not to express his opinion on the proceedings. others voiced disapproval. are incredibly provocative toward the magistrates and the

these are the combative words from francois fillon.he swiss paper reminds us that the point of this election is not to defend family honor or settle accounts. it's to lead a country and inspire its people. something they feel he is completely not doing right now. the guardian says he is playing his last card. he is in bunker mode avoiding the public. quote, once again he has refused to quit, but badly wounded and with his party divided, it remains to see if it will even reach the finish line in may. the right-leaning paper speaks of a call to people. this is one of the few papers that defends him. saying, judges are not above the democratic process and he held his own pretty well yesterday at the press conference. genie: for many people in the international community that is really baffling that he would continue to run despite being plagued by so many allegations. the new york times really explains this quite well. in france you have the separation between the public and private sector. even if french people are becoming less tolerant

and this name he has been given francois two—suits fillon. this name he has been given francois two-suitsng more and more difficult for him yet he says he will stand, despite all these allegations, some are sticking, some are not. he is sticking, some are not. he is sticking his heels in, but at the end of the day, if you were advising him, you would ask him, why are you doing this? think before you talk and tweet and accept 30,000 euros suits. this is interesting. capital controls will be lifted on tuesday, i believe, something that was announced hurriedly late on sunday. think about iceland and it is pretty much collapsing. the economy collapsed. it was not they'll doubt. it did not have, you know, money pouring in from all over the place like greece had and other nations had. —— bailed out. yet it is back on its feet. no more curbs on investors taking money out of iceland. it is the son of a few things. one, 2008, as far back as that, in some respects, things have changed. and also the emergence of iceland as an economy weirdly, they have a separate problem. tourism is a big deal in ic

>> yes, in the beginning this was one of the first statements of francois fillon, if i'm under formal investigation, i will step down, drop my candidacy. more eventually, though, fillon gets very sharp, very tough position, which is i will go to the end whatever. so it is just that the party, they have not a plan "b," and it looks like francois fillon is under formal accusation it will be a cadisaster for the party. >> what if he is forced to pull out, if we get the confirmation of the more formal investigation. who would benefit the most? >> it could be that the most benefit would be for marine le pen. marine le pen, she's leading the voting, more eventually she got 27 for the first round of the election and the climate, the mood of the campaign, which is obviously in the benefit of marine le pen, she's claiming the system is against them, the system has a conspiracy against them. the second who could benefit from that is emanuel macron. >> bruno, thank you very much. bruno cautres a political science professor. >>> here to talk more about what's taking place is carolyn simmons, depu

in france, leaders from the main centre right party have backed francois fillon as their candidate in election, despite his troubled campaign. mr fillon has been accused of misusing public funds, but this evening his party colleagues "unanimously" renewed their support for his candidature, following a discussion about the allegations which have clouded the fillon campaign. here's our paris correspondent lucy williamson on how this could affect the presidential race. well, it probably will not make things any easier for marine le pen. she might have hoped to inherit some of his most loyal supporters if he we re of his most loyal supporters if he were forced to stand down. on the other hand, the party has quite a lot of work to do to drop back some of their most centrist voters who may have gone towards the manuel. that could be difficult. —— emmanuel. —— macron. it is still a gamble. they find themselves hemmed in with two problems. they're running out of time to confirm presidential candidate by the end of next week. and the other fundamental problem is that francois fillon simply wou

at a rally in paris, the centre right presidential candidate, francois fillon, has admitted to his supporters wife to work for him. mr fillon has repeatedly denied paying taxpayers' money to family members for little or no work. senior politicians in his party are due to discuss his continued candidacy tomorrow. the former premised he has been touted as an alternative said he will be giving a news conference tomorrow morning. we can speak to anne elisabeth moutet, french journalist and columnist at the sunday telegraph. good evening. what did you make of what mr fillon said today? what he said was as important as the number of people he was saying it in front of. he called this rally and it was organised in two and a half days and, ina organised in two and a half days and, in a sense, if he hadn't managed to fill the square than his candidacy would have been dead. they said they had 200,000 people, i don't think it is possible to fit that many people in the square, but they had close to 70 or 80,000 people which is a great deal in paris. he had people who said the election has been taken from

that was francois fillon.nt mike pence has insisted that there is no comparison between the way he used a private e—mail account when he was governor of indiana, and how hillary clinton used a private e—mail server when she was secretary of state. it has emerged mike pence contacted advisers on homeland security via a private account during his four yea rs private account during his four years as private account during his four yea rs as governor. private account during his four years as governor. democrats have accused the vice president of gross hypocrisy and mike pence insists that all his e—mail activity, flight with the law. we issued a statement on that. i am confident our e—mail practices were in full compliance with all of indiana's laws. and in my service —— my service as vice president will continue. inaudible. .. my service as vice president will continue. inaudible... there's no comparison whatsoever between hillary clinton's crack this in having a private server, this handling classified informati

francois fillon takes to the stage at a rally outside paris. backing of faithful supporters. but within the republican party, that support appears to be fading. translation: my friends, this campaign is a straight fight. you are courageous and they want to intimidate you. i am being attacked. but what they are looking for is to defeat the recovery of the nation. and the will for change that you represent. so i am asking you, do not abdicate, never renounce, your commitment must continue. facing allegations he used taxpayer money to pay his wife and family members for work they did not do, senior members of his campaign are heading to the exit. in the past few days his campaign manager and spokesperson quit. there are now calls for him to step aside. translation: we are in a countdown. it is the stopwatch or the detonator. this is likely to explode our politicalfamily and i do not want it. on monday, the republican party will meet to discuss his failing campaign. many believe the door could now be open for the ex— prime minister to step in. he wa

the french presidential candidate francois fillon has suffered another setback after the small centristdi said it was suspending its support for his campaign. mr fillon is refusing to quit the race, despite now facing a formal investigation over alleged fraud. he denies any wrongdoing. greg dawson reports. the report contains some flash photography. it has become a staple in the calendar. the paris agricultural show. in france, winning the rural vote can be key to winning the rural vote can be key to winning office. but before francois fillon could sample the cheese he had to deal with the awkward announcement that he is under investigation. allegations that his wife was paid for years for work she did not do. he insists he is staying in the race. translation: i will leave it up to the french people because only the popular vote and not a one—sided procedure can decide who will be the next president. i will not give up. i will not with drawer. i will go on until the very end. but a ready political ally has suspended its support. the centralist udi party has suspended its support. the yo

while francois fillon, once the frontrunner, is lagging behind, on i9%. e minister alain juppe replaced mr fillon, the same poll puts him in the lead, at 26.5%. marine le pen also faces legal issues, her national front party accused of misusing eu funds. as mr fillon‘s campaign knows it is struggling, it strongly denies the "fake jobs for family" claims, and fights on. a north korean man who was a suspect in last month's murder of the estranged brother of north korea's leader says he is the victim of a conspiracy by the malaysian authorities. speaking in beijing after his deportation from malaysia, ri jong chol accused the malaysian police of threatening his family and trying to tarnish the honour of north korea. translation: afterwards they showed mea translation: afterwards they showed me a picture of my family, asking if i considered my daughter, by wife and my precious son, saying they we re and my precious son, saying they were all arrested in and imprisoned. if you deny it you will live, if you deny it ever one will die. that's when i realised that a

in the scenario that the former prime minister replaces francois fillon, the same poll puts him in thehe fake jobs forfamily claims fillonstrongly denies the fake jobs for family claims and fights on. mps have launched an investigation into the ecological impact of takeaway coffee cups and plastic bottles. the commons environmental audit committee said the situation needs to be looked at because only 23% of the 2.2 million tonnes of plastic used in the uk in 2014 was recycled. the committee is concerned there could be more plastics in the oceans than fish by 2050. sir bruce forsyth has reportedly returned home, after spending five nights in intensive care. the 89—year—old was being treated for a severe chest infection. in a statement released by his agent, sir bruce said he wanted to "say a special thank you to all the nhs doctors, nurses and staff" for their "kindness and ca re". we are going to cross to the balcony where philip dave debris is there for us. i've got blue screens behind me and over here i have wet weather which is the sort of mishmash on offer, all coming round and are

in france — leaders from the main centre right party have backed francois fillon as their candidate inhis troubled campaign. mr fillon has been accused of misusing public funds — but his party colleagues have unanimously renewed their support for his candidature — following a discussion about the allegations which have clouded the fillon campaign. here's our paris correspondent lucy williamson on how this could affect the presidential race. it probably won't make things any easierfor the marine le pen. she might have hoped to inherit some of francois fillon‘s most loyal supporters if he were forced to stand down but on the other hand, the party has a lot of work to do to draw back some of its most centrist voters who might have drifted towards emmanuel macron. that could be difficult. francois fillon is still under investigation and is still under investigation and is still something of a gamble. i think the party tonight found itself somewhat hemmed in between two major problems. the first is that they are simply running out of time. they have to conserve their presidential candidate

france leaders of the right wing party have given unanimous backing to presidential candidate francois fillon. after an emergency meeting in paris the party said it had taken the step after a wide debate. fillon had been under pressure to drop out of the race over allegations that he used taxpayer money to pay his family for work that we know now they did not do. oh, yes. our correspondent is covering the story for us and is standing outside the republicans' headquarters in paris. good evening to you, barbara. so, unanimous support for mr. fillon from the party leadership. now, that sounded different in the last few days. how did he get this u-turn? barbara: oh, we can't call it anything but the miracle of paris, because what must have happened during this evening behind these closed doors here, behind me, is that they all embrace and kissed, at least they made up, and we don't know how and why. what did emerge, though, during the day, however, is that the republican party is incapable of getting rid of the candidate francois fillon. he arrived here earlier this evening and was full of confid

the wife of the embattled french presidential candidate, francois fillon says that the work she had carriedants him to continue his campaign. in a newspaper interview, penelope fillon says she carried out "very varied tasks" as parliamentary assistant for her husband. francois fillon has called on his supporters not to give up, in a campaign that he said was becoming an unusual battle. he will try to stabilise his campaign at a mass rally in paris on sunday. ben hennessy reports. under fire but defiant. francois fillon takes to the stage at a rally outside paris. mr fillon enjoyed the backing of faithful supporters. but within the republican party, that support appears to be fading. translation: my friends, this campaign is a straight fight. you are courageous and they want to intimidate you. i am being attacked. but what they are looking for is to defeat the recovery of the nation. and the will for change that you represent. so i am asking you, do not abdicate, never renounce, your commitment must continue. facing allegations he used taxpayer money to pay his wife and family members for wo

of course, that didn't go well with any of the opponents of france will fillon -- franÇois fillon. manuel macron from the agricultural fair, who said that fillon has lost his grip on reality. we heard from the socialist candidate saying he was shocked at the incredible violence fillon's press conference. even the far left wing candidate reacted, saying he was sad for the right-wing, who deserved a real candidate. only one has not reacted personally, marine le pen, who is also facing, as you know legal troubles. vonnie: caroline, nothing majorly different from yesterday, but how will this impact of the other players in the election now and what are the polls saying? caroline: it will be absolutely decisive to see what kind of impact the attacks on franÇois , what kind of impact this will have on the opinion polls. then -- at the moment, whole established before the press conference shows the gap is narrowing between marine le ,en at 25% and emmanuel macron just one point behind at 24%. franÇois fillon is still the third man, but we will have to measure the impact over the next few da

live to paris, francois fillon has just started to speak.oned on 15th march by the investigating magistrate for questioning. this is unprecedented in such an important affair, that a summoning should be launched just a few days after the appointment of the judges. without having taken appointment of the judges. without having ta ken knowledge appointment of the judges. without having taken knowledge of the file and the necessary supplementary investigation, based on the report of the police, which means to condemn. the sole cases which we know are the persons who recognise the fact but do not recognise the fa ct. the fact but do not recognise the fact. i haven't embezzled public money. i have counted on the confidence and trust of my collea g u es confidence and trust of my colleagues who have assisted me and prove it and it comes within the lies since the beginning and contrary to what‘ been said. i haven‘t been treated in fair way like the others. the investigation was open within hours and the procedure, according to the law was immediate

alainjuppe has ruled out stepping in to replace the embattled centre—right presidential hopeful francois fillonof public funds for little or no work. our correspondent hugh schofield is in paris. he spoke to me earlier. the clock is ticking on this one, everybody will be relieved to know. the country is now frankly getting a bit bored with it. the clock is ticking and by the end of next week, the list closes definitively. if the republicans have not saddled on the candidate by later this week, they will not have the time to do the paperwork to get that candidate properly registered. so, yes, all sorts of meetings going on today. crucially, this morning, we had alain juppe on today. crucially, this morning, we had alainjuppe pulling out, and that was a key moment, because he was seen as a possible alternative candidate. but does that necessarily mean that francois fillon will be going ahead without any challenge? not necessarily. there is talk of another alternative candidate emerging. there are going to be meetings tonight and another one tomorrow, of supporters of the camp surrounding douglas

and new allegations in the job scandal surrounding france president candidate francois fillon. thousands of euros that his daughter earned as a parliamentary assistant were then transferred back to her father's account, the same amount used to pay for her wedding. more to come in the press review. also coming up, are driverless cars really the future? computer chip maker intel is willing to bet $15 million that they are. more on that coming up in business. and a sport you may have never heard of before, underwater hockey. more on its big following in hong kong underway. first, our top story from paris. the british parliament has finally approved the brexit bill that would let prime minister theresa may officially trigger the country's exit from the eu. she facedown attempts from the lower and upper houses of parliament to add condition to legislation giving her the right to use article 50 and start the divorce. there is a new complication on the horizon. monday, the scottish first minister said she wants to have a new independence referendum to keep scotland from being dragged

the french presidential candidate francois fillon has temporarily lost the support of the centrist udimr fillon is now facing a formal investigation into allegations of fraud, and despite an earlier promise he would quit the race if that were to happen, he says he's going to carry on. this report from greg dawson contains some flash photography. it has become a staple in the french election calendar — the candidates, the cameras, and the cattle at the paris agricultural show. in france, winning the rural vote can be key to winning office. but before francois fillon could sample the cheese he had to deal with the awkward business of tellinbg the country he had to deal with the awkward business of telling the country a judge is placing him under investigation over a fake job scandal. it involves claims his wife was paid for years for work she did not do. the centre—right candidate insists he is staying in the race though. translation: i will leave it up to the french people because only the popular vote and not a one—sided procedure can decide who will be the next president. i will not g

we will start with mr francois fillon, his flat has been raided, senior defections, is it toast for him gets much closer toast for him? it gets much closer to toast every day, there is a large rally that is planned for him just on the other side of a cent from the eiffel tower on sunday, and more and more people are saying no, we are not going to show up. it looks like it is curtains this time. let's go one to his challenger, and is emmanuel macron. pique today with a lot of policy suggestions, pique today, trying to say that he is a bit more substantive than a lot of people like giving him credit for. what do you think of the platform he has laid out? he has always been substantive din that he is a tough mandarin comedy runs as an independent outsider but he's nothing like that at all. he was the economy minister under francois hollande, before that he is the graduate of the most prestigious graduate of the most prestigious graduate school in france that shapes bosses and politicians and top mandarins. and a great deal of those proposals, they have been dusted up, and a bit of glitter

francois fillon. wouldould like to say it about the organization. 11 candidates are standing for the presidential election. five are present, which raises the question of democracy. i know opinion polls were interesting for commentators. i wouldn't be able to participate in the primaries of the right and center. i want to be the president of the national recovery. free thedent that will french democracy, that will free the french from excessive taxes and regulations that prevent them from fulfilling their dreams and blocks their ambitions. i'll be the president of places france on a path that will lead us to being the top european power in less than 10 years time. i will be -- insecurity has continually risen domestically and the state must resume its responsibility and a broad, because we are living in a more uncertain and dangerous world with a very unpredictable american president. the world trade dominated by china, and the immediate mortal , the development of islamic totalitarianism, which is a

the french republican party has vowed to unite behind its presidential candidate, francois fillon, in's election, after the former french prime minister alain juppe, ruled out stepping in to replace him. pressure is growing on monsieur fillon, to stand aside amid allegations that he paid his family out of public funds for little or no work. with me is dr rainbow murray, from the school of politics and international relations at queen mary university of london. and i should they made it clear he was not going to run. as a result the republicans were in a corner. they had to go with a man facing corruption allegations. they are a bit of a bind, juppe was referred to as planned b and if they start to look for a planned seed they are looking even more desperate. that would be nicolas sarkozy. i do not think he is coming back either. it would've been a lesser—known figure who could have offered a clean break. but a0 days to the election, they had a primary election and bringing in someone else who did not even stand in someone else who did not even standard that would just be too little an

francois fillon, the right wing candidate to become the next president of france, says he will fightormal investigation. he has been summoned to appear before magistrates on march 15th, facing allegations he paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros of public money for parliamentary work she might never have done. one of mr fillon‘s closest aides resigned from the campaign today. he said the candidate had gone back on his word to withdraw from the election if he was placed under formal investigation. translation: a number of my political friends are talking about the political assassination. political friends are talking about the politicalassassination. it political friends are talking about the political assassination. it is in fact an assassination, because it is disproportionate, unprecedented, by the choice of this calendar, it is not only me who is being assassinated by these presidential elections, too. let's get more from benedicte paviot, uk correspondent for the french network, france 24. there will be many people who will point to that speech today and talk about the ar

also in the next hour — francois fillon faces a crucial test of his presidential bid. supporters of the scandal—hit french presidential candidate gather for a rally in paris. these are the live scenes of the gathering in the centre of the french capital. boxer tony bellew, upsets the odds by beating david haye, in a thrilling heavyweight contest in london. coming up after this bulletin, click is in europe's biggest tech conference in barcelona. that is in half an hour. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. the chancellor, phillip hammond, has said the government will not spend heavily in his budget on wednesday, because it needs "reserves in the tank" as it prepares to leave the eu. mr hammond said hisjob was to ensure the economy was resilient. he's also warned the eu that britain will not slink off like a "wounded animal" if it does not secure the brexit deal it wants. our political correspondent, susana mendonca, reports. don't expect bundles of cash to pop out of his red box on wednesday. the chancellor is not planning to go on a spending spree. he is under pres

emmanuel macron has launched his manifesto and francois fillon has had more bad news today, a property of his raided by police. we'll have the latest on the french presidential election. if you bought shares in the company that owned snapchat you probably had a good day, the stockjumping by more than 40% just since the company floated. there were a few hours after donald trump's speech to congress where something resembling calm had descended on washington, dc. but it didn't last long. there is now huge pressure on mr trump's attorney generaljeff sessions and what relationship and connections he has had with the russians. mr trump has been talking about this in the last few hours, he says he has total confidence injeff sessions, that he thinks there's no need for the attorney general to recuse himself from an investigation into contact between the trump campaigner russian officials during the election. he told reporters he wasn't aware mr sessions had these two meetings with the russian ambassador in washington. that is the president's analysis. there are a significant number of people

. >> french presidential candidate francois fillon has caught his party to rally around him. a corruption investigation -- -- y a crisis fillon told members he was the only credible candidate. france 24's claire williams has more. >> the party has made it clear that it will stand behind francois fillon and his bid to next president of france. the meeting was less than two hours, francois fillon left with a bit of victory to a certain extent. he now has the backing of his party, but that party, which is reasonably divided, some of the top brass heavyweights of the party said they were no longer able to support him. runningppe ruled out instead of fillon in the race. but he had some criticism for fillon three at he said fillon should have never tried to criticize the justice system and say he was the victim of some kind of assassination from france's justice system. he said fillon got into a self-imposed dead-end. and juppe was not the one to help him out of that. today is going home knowing he had to back up his party. >> fillon hoping they can focus on the campaign. >> absolu

and another blow to francois fillon. falling further behind in the polls after allegations of financial ties to the russian government. good morning, this is "bloomberg surveillance." tom, we have the french election, brexit and i know looking at your president in the u.s. and pullback on stocks. tom: the pullback on stocks is correlated. the trump reflation trade -- we will show a chart later -- it has come back to critical support over the next few days. they really matter and the reflation.on trump francine: i have a chart questioning whether this has to do with donald trump. first, the bloomberg first word news. u.s., morethe attacks on the republican proposal to repeal under place of obama care. major medicated sugar say they have serious concerns about the bill, which cut $880 billion from the medical program for the poor. some republicans are worried about state budgets. vote tomorrow. north korea's latest missile test has failed according to military officials. they stated missile appears to have exploded within