City hall after a failed standoff with protesters. Over 10,000 affiant emma slater stood up to the police after officials took down barricades site. Nts from the protest the protest continues. Right now, there is music on the stateside on independent square. The three main sites were not taken by the police. The Stage Company headquarters in the union building, and of course the city hall, which is occupied by demonstrators. I believe there are rather fewer demonstrators in there now than there were. Nevertheless, the opposition clearly views this as a great success. When the last police ulcers were leaving, demonstrators were cheering and waving. There even cheering the Police Officers because the protesters have taken the attitude of asing to be as resilient possible to these Police Officers and reminding them constantly that they are also ukrainian citizens and that this process is for all ukrainian citizens p or theyre trying to persuade the police and the special forces to come over to their side. That has not worked exactly so far, but it has certainly contributed to the protesters success in maintaining the entirely peaceful character of this action from their point of view. As soon as there are any suggestions of violence, from the protesters side, it has been very quickly apprehended by organization that the protesters have organize within their own ranks. They are very careful to avoid provocation. Gulliver, what if they were level of support not just there but across the country . Support for the protest movement is very widespread and probably getting more. Brutal the more Brutal Police interventions, the more people tend to support appeared 70 of people in one survey i read said that they thought standing up to police, to the use of force by police was now the number one reason for protesting behind the campaign for european integration. Outside of kiev, it is a bit of a different story, certainly in the east and south of the country. One poll conducted by a think tank that is considered close to the government, even this think tank says half a lease of ukrainians fully supports the protest movement. Half got intothan this poll against it. Theyre mostly located in the east and south of the country where people do not necessarily , butwholehearted support they do not like the opposition either. Lets bring in our european editor. Good to see you outside. Is there inthe eu the eu minister is there in , police areme day to break up the protest. That seems to say a lot about ych has todent yanukov say. Yes. Facilitating talks between yanuk ovych and the opposition. What happened basically she met the president for more than three hours. A large independent square were our correspondent is standing, were protesters have been rallying for more than two weeks now. You are right several hours later, a decision by the ukraine authorities to send in troops in order to try to take the square by force. Propping a very lot of angry reactions across europe, including from ashton who tweeted that the authorities did not need to act under the coverage of night to use force. Even harsher words coming from sweden, the British Foreign minister was very instrumental in trying to bring ukraine closer to the European Union saying this morning this is versus, repression reform, power versus people. Very radicalized here coming from european leaders. Christophe, and the last hour, i spoke with a proputin analyst to 70 longterm, 30 years down the line even he had eud had agreed that the could help, but the short term, it would b be financially devastating for ukrainians. Is that a viable argument . That is certainly what the ukrainian president , Viktor Yanukovych has been using to sign the deal with the union. Ok, you want a deal, we will sign it, but we want in exchange 20 billion euros. Why is he saying that . Ukrainians are in a very difficult Economic Situation on the brink of bankruptcy. The big the president also says that the problem is if you want to sign a freetrade agreement with europe, you need to upgrade ukraines basis. Will cost billions of euros he believes. He wants to point out that there might be losses in a trade with russia because we know that russia is likely to ban the import of some ukrainian goods if the ukraine were indeed to sign an agreement with europe. May cap delay because this is not about the figures you are talking about. Lets think ukraine would get access to the largest integrated market in the world, the European Union. , it iseard from gulliver not only about money. I do not think protesters are so interested in these figures. Theyre more about values. The message from these protesters is we belong to europe, this is our home, this is where we want to go, and we dont want ukraine to sign a Customs Union agreement with russia. To why for that, he thank you for that, christophe. French president Francois Hollande has paid tribute to two soldiers killed in the Central African republic. They were part of a military intervention that is just five days old. Some of the with 16,000 soldiers now in the french colony to help disarm rebels there. Himself came to pay his respects before the soldiers caskets. Nicolas vokaer and Antoine Le Quinio were shot. The president made it clear the mission will continue. There will be more and more of them. We will help our troops on the ground and on the same time our troops, depending on the outcome, will be later withdraw. We would not be here if it was not difficult. The armed operation is highly volatile. Gunfights still break out regularly. On tuesday, a mob armed with bats and machetes destroyed a mosque. In an interview on sunday, Francois Hollande said the current president had led his country slide into chaos. Both leaders met behind closed doors, but the french president told her list told journalists in elections should be held as soon as possible. A potential election should take place at the beginning of 2015, but it is clear that we can, in my opinion, shorten this period and to do it during the second semester of next year. Over the past week, more than 500 people have been killed in sectarian fighting. About 100,000 people have been forced out of their homes. For more now, lets bring our International Affairs editor. For its lawn has called this mission dangerous but vital to avoiding a Francois Hollande has called this mission dangerous but vital to avoiding a bloodbath. Mostly what he had to do yesterday was convinced the french and that will be something of an uphill battle. Thisre opposed to particular military intervention. Youve seen his action, the intervention broadly a product. Applauded. We are a million miles from the 2003 when the french were being mocked. Foreign affairs now, Francois Hollande, is at the forefront of humanitarian intervention mentions missions. He will have launched not one but two this year, which is extraordinary. We see him at the forefront of a number of different over the course of the last few years. The libyan strikes, you will remember, were announced from paris. Nicholas. Under thecoise lott has been on front to push for strikes against damascus until the russians brought the idea of negotiations back to the forefront. The american conservatives found themselves applauding Francois Hollande and his efforts there. There has been a real transmission and point of French Foreign affairs. Francois hollande isnt seen as somewhat of a hero. Imaginations are relayed with whispers of the word genocide reemerging, Francois Hollande could logistically get there quickly chosen to do so, but convincing people back home is a whole other matter. French are opposed in the majority. There will be deep financial cost, which were now is principally by the eu and the united states, they have together offered 100 50 million. But the human lives, the human cost, as it grows it will get harder and harder for friends while lines four Francois Hollande to sell it to the french. Troops ench about the size of france is that enough to do the trick . The human cost is going to be undoubtedly in danger of fast. It is a very difficult period for the french. Even if they wait for these 6000 troops at the African Forces need or are looking to get on the ground here in the meantime, the french are almost single handedly with those African Union forces that are already there trying to get stability returned to a country that has nothing terribly much of it ever since the coup detat last march. It is a tall order and one that he will be keeping a close eye on. Thank you so much, melissa bell. Next to south africa where the body of antiapartheid iconic Nelson Mandela is lying in state in the capital of pretoria. Thousands of people are lining up to say their final farewells to their former president hero. His body will be transported to and from the union bodies, pretorias seat of power, for the next three days, head of his funeral sunday. Wayinging and dancing their to final tributes. Crowds headed to pretorias Union Buildings where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the countrys first black president 19 years ago. His body will lie in state for three days to give South Africans a chance to say goodbye. He is the father of our nation. Here today, tomorrow, and on friday. [inaudible] earlier, mourners lined the streets of pretoria to watch as the hearse was escorted by a motorcade to the Union Buildings amphitheater, which has been renamed after Nelson Mandela. The procession passed landmarks of mandelas life including Central Prison where he was jailed in 1962 and the palace of justice where he stood trial for treason. Mandelas widow, his exwife, children, and grandchildren were the first to attend the viewing of the body along with South African president jacob zuma. They were followed by World Leaders as well as the celebrities. The public will now be allowed to view the casket each afternoon and general procession will be repeated every day. Mandelas body will then be transported to his childhood home where he will be buried on sunday. A budget deal has finally been reached in washington. The u. S. Congress came through in order to avoid another crisis on capitol hill. The 85 billion package will finance the government through september 2015, but it is not a full budget. As all of our very explained, there are many areas, including taxes not in the package. It has been held in washington as a welcome return to compromise and could save the u. S. From another brush with the brink. Congressional democrats and republicans announced a budget deal that will supply until january 2015. The deal will increase spending by 63 billion and reduce the deficit by 23 billion. Both sides hasselbeck to be happy about your republicans both sides have something to be happy about. The publicans have tax no tax reases, and it replaces some of the arbitrary across the board spending cuts with smarter, permanent reforms that pay for this release. There were things left out of the deal. Certain tax credits for the rich will not go, there will be no welfare cuts, and the federal debt limit has not been raised. Which means the u. S. Could still default on debt payments in february. Democrat said they would settle for the part for now. I was disappointed that we were not able to close even a single Corporate Tax loophole. I know many republicans had hoped this would be an opportunity to make some of the kinds of changes to medicare and Social Security they have advocated for. Has setressman ryan aside our differences. The budget will still have to pay its congress, likely to meet opposition from hardline republicans in the lower house, and it cannot risk alienating minority democratic representatives. 25 two i for watching france 24 thank you for watching france 24. Hello, and thank you for joining us for the week in the middle east. Here is what we have lined up for you. Wars between egypt and ethiopia aftert slightly reassuring cairo that it will not be left high and dry. Israels Prime Minister notably absent from mandelas memorial service. A decade of movie magic in dubai. We take a glitz of the Film Festival that is now taken its place on the world stage. Tensions between egypt and ethiopia continue to ripple, but ministers say progress is being met after talks about the future of the nile river this week. 85 of the nile water originates and ethiopia, but most of its low is used to satisfy cairo. Egypt fears that the stem, eight dam, will giant leave its waters in jeopardy. The nile river, one of the most important waterways in the world, with egypts economy in tatters after three years of political crisis, the life light of egypts agricultural economy has become more valuable than ever. The lifeblood of egypts agricultural economy has become more valuable than ever. But a project will redirect the now river 500 meters off the scores and spark intense and inae in egypt anxiety egypt. This water has been given i got to us. We use it for everything. But now if the ethiopians build a dam, we are not sure if they will give us water or not. Maybe they will keep it from us. Egyptian mystery of Water Resources and irrigation, leaving egypt without water is sadly not an option. The National Security of egypt depends on this water. The amount of water that flows to us is not enough. It has flowed like this for tens of thousands of years continuously. This civilization it has been built on it. We cannot cover my face single cubic meter of it. This is the red line. We can negotiate on anything else. Ethiopia, a nation more populous than egypt, insists that the dam will not affect egypts water access. In dam said to be completed 2016 is for them a muchneeded step toward energy development. Farmers view the river as critical to the and are not biting the assurances. Only god knows who will come next. They will control egypt, and we will be lost. If farmers face shortages, they may turn to limited underground wells, which is less rich in the nutrients found in the vast rivers silt deposits. Other troubled waters as israel joins in the Palestinian Authority for white water sharing agreement. The deal was the the building of sea with thee red source being close to the dead sea. The dead sea a famous taurus spot has been receiving at the rate of over a meter every year, as population increases in the region, diverted for drinking and agriculture. Too expensive to travel to pay his last respects, Benjamin Netanyahus decision not to attend Nelson Mandelas funeral has raised a few eyebrows. Because of security and travel would waste or the equivalent would race to the equivalent of 1. 5 million euro, which was simply too much. The whole world will be attending hurt everyone, that is, except israel. Benjamin netanyahu says he will skip the trip for Nelson Mandelas general. Over a series of scandals over his highflying lifestyle and expensive habits, he says he cannot justify spending be someone. 5 Million Euros needed to make the general. He the journey. He offers his tribute. Nelson mandela was one of the seller figures of our age 30 with the father of his nation, a man is a vision of a Freedom Fighter who rejected any violence. Last week, records obtained by Civil Liberties groups showed netanyahu spent 1200 euros in Government Funds on scented candles, 16,000 they wanter 16,000 euros on a water bill at his holiday home. Commentators say the scandal was a convenient excuse. Spends tens ofh millions on settlement construction, has nothing left over for Nelson Mandela . But netanyahu is sending an Even Stronger message this is where i stand on this palestinian lover, mandela, and this is where i stand on his penicillin on his palestinianlover heirs. Some of the socalled rainbow nation have gone so far as to call israels occupation of the west bank as apartheid. As helationship echoed paid his respects. It was he who said when south africa celebrated its freedom that liberation will not be complete until we have the liberation of the Palestinian People as well. It is aptom its sentiment palestinians have not forgotten. We came to say to his family nelsone whole world lost mandela, and we palestinians lost a real friend of our palestinian cause. Willl and the mandela lie in state for three days. The 1000 day of war in syria since the uprising 2011. In march thousands in lebanon are living in makeshift shelters. Many are living in apartments or staying with families. Fled to damascus from beirut are finding reflections of the harbors of war. Is referred beauty seen, but that the syrian wardrobe and beirut lester, last year, it intrudes evermore on his art. Deadstarted to pay women or bloody, to paint our children dying, i see it as a kind of archive. Paintings depict foreign them ass and secularize players on the world stage. Was not just a danger that promote that prompted him to leave damascus six months ago. Was becoming extremely difficult to transport the paintings from damascus to beirut, which is the only way we can send them abroad. It could take two or three months, or the border could close altogether. Thriving art scene is a magnet for the new arrivals. At this gallery, they receive many new artists portfolios, collected and also stored. Coming out of the syria it is very strong. Conceptually, they are writing the history. People are responding to it. In the mountains above beirut, syrian markets created the sanctuary for artists from the country last year. During their monthlong residency, i tried to introduce to the people to take an interest in their work. The galleries and cultural organizations. Not all stay in lebanon. Her time away has reawakened her creative feeling. On the first day, i was just experiencing the silence of the place because it was such a change for me. Ideas without noticing, started to flow into me. I started thinking to myself of art and all the things i could do. It is nightfall, and time for her interactive performance during the earth is darkness, the earth is cold, she says. A cry of anguish that echoes through syrian art today. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the dubai film possible offered up a world of glamour and a strong selection of multilanguage films. Now recognized as an International Festival the andble to sundance cannes toronto. It is to showcase arab cinnamon. This year, it opens with omar, the firstever palestinian film to be tipped for an oscar. It is a tale of love and Israeli Occupied territories for the 10th annual Dubai InternationalFilm Festival opened with omar. It follows the story of three childhood friends and a young woman torn apart in their fight for freedom. Taken a lot already of awards and is tipped for an oscar. That, youve truly know, the more we make international movies, the more we will have recognition. I am happy that i am part of this recognition. A total of 174 movies will be screened at this years festival. Half of those by arab filmmakers. Girl by egyptian director mohammed con is generating a lot of Mohammed Khan is generating a lot of buzz. Said the egyptian revolution had an indirect influence on his story. Artist is always reacting to the environment he is living in, so of course for example in my film i did not say a word about the revolution, but the revolution is in the background hum of the sirens of ambulances, the tear gas. A film, closer to home, premiered at the festival. It is a documentary that pulls back the curtain on life in the united air of him or its labor camps United Arab Emirates labor camps. A singing competition open to everyone living in camps across the emirates. The film alternates between the composition to be daily life and