Guru in india sentenced to 10 ofrs in jail for the rape followers. Protests following the guilty verdict two days ago left 40 dead. Here in france, flowers are appealing to the palate as well as the eye now. Details on that in our business update. But first, our top story, live from paris. Start is toll houston with the unprecedented flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm harvey. Two people have been confirmed dead so far, but the number looks likely to rise. It is unclear how bad the damage will be from the most powerful years,o hit texas in 50 but it is not over yet. The heavy rain is expected to last for days. France 24s Elizabeth Walsh reports. With emergency workers these two men, went on a mission to save 80yearold mrs. Bartlet. The worst flooding in 40 years, that the water has come up to this house. Reporter the evacuation went smoothly. I did not want to leave now. Others, sheke many will be headed for an Emergency Shelter for the next several days. The miami red cross will arrive in houston with food and critical supplies. Over the weekend, governor avid distributed food at a shelter in austin. Abbott this shows texass response to tragedy. We come together in a bipartisan way to support our fellow texans in need for a just because a hurricane hits the state of texas does not mean we will not all come out and respond. Seen ar the region has years worth of rainfall in the space of a week. Authorities are asking people not to leave their homes because the streets have become waterways. Donald trump, who signed the disaster proclamation allowing for federal aid, is expected to visit the state on tuesday to survey the damage. Andhen, tidal surges tornadoes are expected to make the storm rise even further. The uns secretarygeneral has begun a visit to the middle east. He is meeting with israeli and palestinian leaders what he is there, trying to find ways to revive the long stalled Peace Process. For more, lets go to jerusalem with france 24 correspondent uris mackler. There is a storage history. Did he address that going into the talks . Yes, he did. Bestressed there will impartiality. He says he will be even more evenhanded, especially addressing antisynergism, which is increasing worldwide. Is important that the diplomatic segments are seen in the context that israel campaigned on this issue, against unesco, which israel feels does not recognize israels history in this region, particularly jerusalem, and other areas where the united nations, israel feels, are not treated fairly. What we hear from the new uns secretarygeneral is he understands those concerns and is committed to being evenhanded and i am sure that was a welcome message to israeli ears. What other subjects are due to be raised today, apart from the Peace Process . i think israels Prime Minister, benjamin netanyahu, finished speaking with the secretarygeneral, has been addressing what most concerns him, and that is syria and the uranium presence in syria. It was a message he gave to the iranian presence in syria. It was a message he gave to president tin putin. He says that there is no a vacuum, as isis is cleared out of syria, there is a vacuum. Iran is placing missiles in that area. They are building militias there and the only target once isis is israel. L be israel, he says, cannot accept that. He wants world action. He wants you win action, and that is something he will be bringing up, without doubt, with the u. N. Secretary. Rris, thank you for that. Meanwhile, muslims are gathering for the annual hajj pilgrimage. It has been teed of your since worshipers were killed in a stampede in the holy city. Tens of thousands of Iranian Muslims are set to return this year. Muslims are also returning from qatar after the prince reopened the Border Crossing to pilgrims. Reporter it is a gathering in mecca. Every muslim must complete because at least once in a lifetime if they have the means to do so. Shows that we are very happy we holy mecca toeach do the high, which is obligatory to every muslim. Reporter 10 years ago two years ago, it is estimated more than 2000 were killed during a stamp aid stampede. Sparked a wave of protests in tehran, where authorities blamed organizers. Agreeing two countries to increase security measures. Pilgrims were unable to go to mecca, and instead attended commemorations at home. They are returning for this pilgrimage. N allies closes arab to the air, sea, and land links oha after accusations of being too close with iran. A court in india has ar just sentenced to an influential guru accused of his followers. Fears of new rioting are high. Protests following the guilty verdict against gurmeet ram to 40 dead over the weekend. He has been given a sentence of 10 years in jail. Prosecutors asked for life in prison. It looks like the judge has h eeded reports describe a tearyeyed man with folded hands begging the judge for lanyards. There you have it. 10 years in jail. Meanwhile, outside, the ec and is described as resembling a war zone. Troops from the police, state forces,paramilitary troops from the indian army on standby. Outside the prison complex and outside his face on the border, given have been giving shoot on sight orders. They have been told to use their weapons if there is any hint of violence. There have been reports of arson today. The state is highly embarrassed that they were not able to on friday. His today will be a taste for both of these states, keeping things under control and preventing violence is really on everyones mind. Indeed. Tell us more about this guru. How popular is he really . Is incredibly popular. Some of it may have to do with coercion. One of the conditions for anyone who wants to become his disciple is to hand over all property and land to a trust that he runs. He claims to have over 60 million followers. Thats a definite exaggeration, but he certainly has enough followers to swing large elections, because he can convert these followers into voters. He has been and courted by Prime MinisterNarendra Modis ruling party and the congress and has endorsed both of these parties in the past and this is really the reason he is so, so popular. He describes himself as a rock star, an actor who has longlived, but behind all of that he is also accused of murder, for instance, of a journalist. It looks like the law is finally catching up with him. Brexit is back on the table today for a third round of talks. For the brits, the pressure is on theresa mays conservatives into the opposition labor party, announcing a shift in its Brexit Strategy over the weekend. Afterer more than a year it pledged to leave the eu, brexit negotiators on for a third round of talks. Both sides of accused each other of stalling. They want to focus on future trade relations. The eu wants to work out the separation deal first that would address the rights of eu citizens, the border, and the exit bill. The talks kickoff after britain fell Opposition Labour Party backs the u. K. Staying in the Single Market and Customs Union aftertransition period march 2019. The shadow secretary also address the option of leaving for good. This is likely to alienate voters. Votersut of 10 labour voted for brexit. I believe completely. That is what we voted for. They should get on it. Labour party from position is unlikely to speed up negotiations in brussels. Begins to gonce back to work after the summer break, it is crunch time for macrons government. It needs to push through a number of controversial reforms, including transforming the countrys labor laws. The plans are taking their toll on the french president s popularity, three and a half month after his first term began. Been ar it has disappointing summer for emmanuel macron, after facing ratings, itproval in 40 , just over three months into the job. Feels a testt now in autumn. He needs to pass key policies, chief among them, labor reform. Thursday, the Prime Minister looked at the government plans which are expected to make it easier for the employers to hire and fire and give them more power to negotiate at the company level. The reforms are said to be enacted by decree by the end of the month. But the government is still facing opposition from the streets. They have called for a day of action, and on the 23rd, the party will leave lash lead lead illustrations in paris. Budget is likely to be a bitter pill to swallow. Monaco , leaving will initially be loaned to the club, with an option to buy for 100 80 Million Euros. It has been a recordbreaking transfer window. He will be joining neymar, who was bought earlier this season for 222 Million Euros himself. Reporter hes only 18 years is, but Kylian Mbappe already at the top of his game, set to become the most expensive french player in history. The star striker snapped up, even before the official announcement. He was welcomed by his future teammates. When top players join the team, they strengthen it, bringing the level of. Its positive change. Reportedlysg has Million Euros150 for the player. Concerns over regulations means the purchase has to be delayed. Rules stipulate that football clubs cannot spend more than they earn. Psg has already been sanctioned for overspending back in 2014. It will be the second recordbreaking purchase for the club. Earlier in the summer, they spent 220 Million Euros. Genie lets look at todays top stories for you on france 24. Massive flooding unleashed by monster storm harvey floods much of southeastern texas, americas fourthlargest city, houston, among the worst hit. The human secretarygeneral in the middle east, try to find ways to revive the long stalled Peace Process. And a controversial guru in india sentenced to 10 years in jajail for the rape of two of hs followers. Protests after the guilty verdict two days ago left 40 dead. Time now for a business update. Hi. Hi. Genie you are starting with uber where the board has finally chosen a new ceo. That is a surprise . That is right. Khosrowshahi. Ara uber has suffered a series of scandals including a criminal investigation that forced foundered Travis Connick to step down back in june. They also have a host of executive vacancies, including chief Financial Officer and operating officer. Genie we talking a lot about Hurricane Harvey and that has left a trilogy of a station on the u. S. Gulf coast that is oil prices . Cting it will take days to assess the damage, but financial losses could be significant as the storm hit the heart of the industry. A quarter of production has gone offline. Gasoline forgers were at a twoyear high. Now worries over the hurricane, but also a stronger euro waiting on european stocks. You can see the stock market is closed for a bank holiday. Now more of the business headlines for you at this hour. China has announced it will coal two of its biggest and Power Companies as it looks to make its Energy Sector more efficient and profitable. Guodianbring together and shehua. A tough new ban in kenya anyone carrying polythene bags could face 10 years in jail or face fines. It took the government over three years to pass the toughest plasticd at reducing pollution. 80,000 jobs could be lost or due to the ban. Buy australia the former financial Rupert Murdoch ambers gordon had also want to buy a 50 stake each in the network. Genie and a fun story to wrap up. More and more french chefs are turning to flowers, nudges to decorate, but to give a touch of labor to their dishes . Ad willse of dove flowers is not new, but it has toome more popular, using it move from the edge of the plate into the center of culinary creations. Reporter as pretty and gardens as they are on your plate, edible flowers have invaded french gastronomy. The market for these flavorful florals has bloomed over the last decade, going 3 year. Arechef says the flowers indispensable for his signature dishes, like this plantbased biscotti, that has 17 flowers. The first flower brings out the second flower from flavors. The third brings consistency, the fourth brings tenderness. They help balance the dish. Are crafted the oldfashioned way outdoors. Do not try to force it. I create the best possible conditions for my plants. Nature eventually decides. Reporter for largescale producers, a more can turn controlled environment is preferred. Flowers per 150,000 week. They are packaged in house and shipped to restaurants and grocery stores. 18 is exported to italy, denmark, even as far as dubai. We began producing these flowers 10 years ago. We have noticed today the product has maintained its popularity. This bouquet of flavor does not seem to be fading anytime soon. Story,that is a great just in time for lunch. Pressuretime for our deal. Are looking at what the papers are saying today. Hi. Hi, genie. Genie lots of focus on Tropical Storm harvey that has slammed southeastern texas. Thats right. Lets look at the houston frontpage. Swamped by harvey and what it calls widespread, catastrophic flooding. Just to give you an idea, 29 inches of rain water dumped in two days, so it is quite considerable. The disaster has claimed some lives, including a man trapped in his Burning House during the height of what was a hurricane and now has become a Tropical Storm, according to usa today. Is a lot of criticism about the way authorities are handling the disaster, particularly given past tragedies. Reporter theres a lot of criticism about the opposing directives given to residents in use of the review of the texan governor good buys them to evacuate, but local authorities overrode that order and told him to ride the storm out essentially. As a result, thousands have been city withded in the 911 lines jammed. People struggling to get out who cant get out now. Just to give you a sense of the people trapped, this picture has been widely shown on social media, residents at a retirement home waste deep in water. They were thankfully evacuated. Genie it is really scary when you see those pictures, to see what that represents, all that water. Disaster,rom the tales of hair was in. One truck driver saved by a tv crew. Story. Is a really nice he was stranded amid high rising waters sunday. A journalist and her cameraman were broadcasting live from the theway when they noticed trucker slipped and she and her cameraman ran to his aid. They managed to fly down a passing rescue truck that managed to evacuate the truck driver through the window. All of this was captured on the camera. Who says journalists are bad people . Genie indeed. Lets leave the United States for africa with a very stark warning from the u. N. About Ethnic Violence in the Central African republic. Wondersrench newspaper if africa could be headed into his next genocide. Political instability has rained in the Central African republic for some years now. Stephen obrien, the undersecretary for humanitarian affairs is sounding the alarm. Ethnicarned about cleansing, possibly even genocide. He met with 2000 displaced muslims. They were chased out of their homes by christian militia. The fighters came back and destroyed mosques and burned houses to ensure that the Muslim Population would not come back. He says there were similar cases of violence perpetrated against christian groups by muslim fighters. So you have a going both ways. Concerns at the security council, saying if we wait for proof of violence, it will be too late. Genie and there is success in choosing out the Islamic State group . Just but it is making headlines in lebanese newspapers. This is the french language paper. It says relief at daybreak, grief at dawn. It is a bittersweet success. Indeed the army is poised to expel the Islamic State, but it fateat a huge cost as the of eight missing lebanese soldiers was revealed. They have set leaving killed. The editors have written they really pay tribute to those soldiers, saying lebanon should stand in all and take pride in knowing that our army and Security Forces have been nothing but generous and sacrificing their lives. Up on a letterap no. Politicalll were more than musical awards. It was a pretty boring show if not for the politics. The big draw card was politics, not music. It was an extremely woke ceremony. They brought back an iconic hatteberg, best video with a category, best video with a social message. Link tv presents earth at risk. [ applause ]. Thank you. Thank you very much. Weve gathered to discuss the earth at risk. I believe the earth is too big, too grand, too selforganizing to be put at risk by one species. What we can do is put other species at risk and