Has turned into a ghost town. Is greece moving closer to ending at that standoff ending its debt standoff with europe . We will look at the details in business. As the countdown continues to this Sundays Academy awards, well take a closer look at some of the pictures and people hoping for oscar gold. First, french president Francois Hollande took directors drastic action on tuesday to ram through a package of businessfriendly economic reform. He gave the for the green light to Prime Minister manuel valls to stamp out the rebellion within his own ruling socialist party. To do so, he used socalled article 49 13 of the french constitution 49. 3 of the french constitution. It will automatically pass unless the government is ousted in a noconfidence vote. Until tuesday it had been years since article 49. 3 was used to pass legislation on equal opportunity. Mr. President , i am proud to put my government on the line. Even Francois Hollande criticized the decision at the time of pushing decisions through. Article 49. 3 is brutal. Article 49. 3 is a negation of democracy. It is a way to restrict parliamentary debate, but this debate will happen no matter what. Under popular pressure, the government finally repealed the bill and the labor market reform was abandoned. Another Prime Minister used article 49. 3 twice. It was invoked to pass a law on social security. After discussing it with my cabinet, i have decided to use article 49. 3 of the french constitution. The opposition once again called a noconfidence vote, but the government only backtracked because of street and stations. Street demonstrations. Leftwing governments have also used article 49. 3. One Prime Minister used it 28 times in total as his government lacked a clear majority in the national assembly. For more now, lets bring in our correspondent at the president ial palace where the cabinet wrapped up its first meeting since that decision yesterday. Clovis what more can you tell us . The macro law the macron law and article 49. 3 were at the heart of the meeting. This shows you that the situation has taken is taken extremely seriously this on the eve of the vote of confidence in parliament. The party is divided, but the government will not back down. Thats what ministers said as they left the palace. They want reforms to go forward they want to push things forward, and they want to go fast. The Government Spokesperson also explains why they decided not to put the vote to the floor. The decision which was taken was taken to go quickly, because we dont have time to waste. Thats why it was chosen to pass this bill using article 49. 3 of the constitution. There is no alternative majority. There will be a vote tomorrow evening. It is very unlikely that the vote of confidence set for thursday evening will bring down the government. It seems that socialists will get together. Even the more leftleaning socialist mps those who oppose manuel valls views in terms of economy, dubbed too liberal by them, they are in favor of voting for the government. They cant afford to see the Prime Minister resigned. It would be a huge failure for the socialists. Thank you for that report. Now, to eastern ukraine, where Government Troops have been pulling out of the strategic town of debaltseve. President Petro Poroshenko denied claims that his men had in surrounded had been surrounded. Germany has condemned the rebels advance calling it a violation of the ceasefire signed over the weekend. Ukrainian tanks retreating from debaltseve. It follows days of fierce street battles with prorussian rebels. They say they now have control of debaltseve. The president admits most Government Troops have left, but denies rebel claims that any troops are encircled. On the ground, exhausted government soldiers. They have suffered heavy losses. They were unclear what the overall strategy was. I dont know. Our commanders didnt tell us whether it is ritchie or just it is retreat or just rotation. Have quite a lot of losses. We took the decision that we should leave a position. Leave opposition. We were praying all the time and said goodbye to our lives one at a time. They have really good and heavy artillery. Hundreds more ukrainian troops are believed to be trapped in debaltseve. Kiev has admitted some of the soldiers were ambushed and taken prisoner by separatists, but refused to state how many. After further ammunition was spent any armored personnel carrier was destroyed the group was taken in by superior forces of the enemy. Debaltseve, with its key railway junction, is seen as a rise by both as a prize by both sides. It is being fought out on the ground. As Government Troops are first to retreat, it would be a blow to kiev. Now, the leader of nigerian militant group of boko haram has sworn to disrupt the general election six weeks from now. In a new video message, he says the vote wont be held even if we are dead. On tuesday two suicide attacks left 38 people dead. In niger, people took to the streets to protest boko haram. The militant group attacked in niger two weeks ago. The border village has now turned into a ghost town. The crop lies rotting. No one left to harvest them. The people have deserted the village ever since boko haram attracted earlier this month attacked it earlier this month. We are from the town. People have abandoned the town because of the recent fighting. The conflict there left more than 400 people dead including four nigerian and eight chadian soldiers. It was total carnage. Just over there is the river that separates the town from the former boko haram stronghold. Nigeria is 600 meters away. It is too dangerous to go any further within hiring range. Firing range. The men over there are chadian military. They are spotters positioned to warn other units if anything happens. Thousands marched in nigers capital on tuesday, the population and its soldiers all too aware that the militants could return at any time. The u. N. Mediator on syria says the government is ready to stop its bombing and shelling campaign on the city of aleppo as part of a trial ceasefire. Aleppo is at the heart of clashes between progovernment forces and a range of insurgents including alnusra front and other rebels backed by the west. U. N. Mediator the u. N. Mediator said Opposition Forces would be asked to suspend their mortar and rocket fire in exchange. The Un Security Council is meeting to talk about a possible military intervention in libya. There are growing fears that the Islamic State group is taking advantage of the countrys political vacuum. That comes after egypt pounded i. S. Target in libya this week following the mass beheading of 21 egyptian Coptic Christians. Kate moody has the details. Optimism on the streets of tripoli as libyans marked four years of the beginning of the uprising that toppled muammar gaddafi. Behind the celebrations is a country on the brink with a week internationally a weak internationallyrecognized government. Many fear libyas future is being threatened by the growing presence of the Islamic State group. They brutally beheaded 21 egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped from a coastal town, which prompted cairo to launch airstrikes on i. S. Targets across the border. On wednesday, president Abdel Fattah Elsisi ahead of the meeting, egypts foreign minister felt it was important to take a coordinated stance on military operations in libya. What happened in the initial intervention of nato has, in some ways, being a participant in creating the political vacuum that has resulted in the repercussions and threats we currently face. Egypt is asking the arab league to endorse a joint force to combat the growing terrorist threat it sees across its border in libya. On a lighter note, we will go to the United States to take a look at one of the biggest parties there, if not in the whole world the annual mardi gras celebration. People took to the infamous bourbon street for what is known as fat tuesday, the day before lent kicks off lent being the name for the weeks in the runup to easter. Mardi gras started as a small religious event started by French Colonial settlers, and it has spread out across the country, but nowhere is the party as big as in new orleans as Charlotte Hawkins explains. A giant smoking how. Cow. Every year, new orleans goes large. The heart of the city beats to the rhythm of brass bands. The king of the carnival Takes Center Stage in his chariot closely followed by the parade. Despite the cold, spectators were quick to trade coats for costumes some taking the streets in nothing but tutus. This is the party capital. This is what im talking about right here. Raw nola. Youve got to enjoy life when the party starts, and you start the party. Everyone is real nice, real friendly. Its a great time. In the French Quarter on bourbon street, people honored tradition by throwing beaded necklaces from balconies. The goal down below is to collect as many as you can, a symbol of good fortune or, more simply, a sign of a successful carnival. You are watching france 24. The french Prime Minister pushes through a controversial economic reform without a parliamentary vote. It sparks criticism that the government is too authoritarian. Hundreds of Government Troops pull out of the key ukrainian town of debaltseve after prorussian rebels storm in, breaking the threedayold ceasefire. Close to 40 killed in attacks in nigeria. The leader of boko haram says his group will do everything to make sure elections scheduled six weeks from now dont go ahead. Time now for the days Business News with our business editor, stephen carroll. Greece is going to formally request a temporary loan from its european partners. We are expecting the formal announcement from athens at any time now. The government spokesman said earlier that it will happen this wednesday. The word they are using is a loan extension, not a bailout extension. Greece needs temporary funding while it carries out a wider renegotiation of its debt. What is not clear is what conditions athens will be seeking for that loan. Kate moody has more. Time is running out as negotiations drag on between reese greeces government and its creditors. Yanis varoufakis called for an extension. We need to extend the Loan Agreement for a few months, so as to acquire the stability we need. It will have to be conditional. It is understood that greece will try to extend its 240 billion euro bailout along the kinds of compromise deal suggested by the eus Economic Affairs minister pierre moscovici. Under the framework, the eu would extend greece loans six months after they expire on february 28. The government would agree to maintain Economic Reforms, continue to run primary budget surplus, and pledged to pay its creditors back in full. In exchange, it would gain some leeway in terms of what reforms that could alter or do away with. They wont agree to crippling austerity measures. They wont give into psychological blackmail, he tells parliament. Euros on finance ministers said they are not getting eurozone finance ministers said they are not getting a clear message from athens. No one among my colleagues is sure what greece wants, in the end. It is also a question of whether greece even knows what it wants. The clock is ticking. Eurozone countries have to submit a plan by the end of the week. Without their approval, athens will be plunged into further financial chaos. In the midst of all of that, greeces banks are in focus. European central bank is set to decide whether or not to maintain emergency funding to greek lenders. Two weeks ago, they stopped accepting group greek sovereign debt as collateral, which squeezed the banks. Over 20 billion euros have been taken out since december. Greek banks can still access emergency liquidity funding via athens a lifeline that is keeping them going. The ecb is not expected that to cut that off, but is reviewing that. How are the markets . There is some optimism on the deal. The banks got a boost in early trading. They had been hit hard in recent weeks, so they are glad of the game. There is optimism that some progress might finally be made on the greek question. The ftse in london as close to a 15year high. In london is close to a 15year high. Lets take a look at some of the other top business stories. Hsbc is part of a Money Laundering probe. There have been recent accusations. The investigation began following the swiss leak investigation. Peugeot citroen has been returned to profit. It had losses of more than 360 million in 2013. Cash flow improved dramatically after ending the program that caused thousands of job losses. They collapsed portuguese the collapsed portuguese lender caused a writedown of more than 700 million. Some controversial changes to chocolate in the United States. Nestle will remove all artificial colors and flavors from their chocolate bars on sale there, this based on response to market research, which says consumers are finding their decisions influenced by whether products are free of special flavors. The company says they will not optimize on taste or appearance but caramel coloring is one of the things they will change because of this. What color does not artificial caramel turn out to be . I have no idea. Time now for the press review. We will talk about the press today. Lots of reaction in the french papers especially about this decision from the Prime Minister yesterday to us through this package of new Economic Reforms yesterday to push through this package of new Economic Reforms. They were facing opposition from the right, center, and from within their own osha list party own socialist party. Thats why Prime Minister manuel valls got permission to use the ultimate trump card, article 49. 3, which allows the government to pass a law without article 49. 3 which allows the government to pass a law without a parliamentary vote. This is a drastic measure. It is a measure of last resort. It is very controversial. It is not used very much. The last time this was used was back in 2006, quite some time ago. They are talking about the d thunder clap. It is a turning point for the government. Why is that . The government is now facing a very open crisis within the ruling majority at a moment when it was not expecting this to happen. The government has been surfing on a wave of unity in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in paris last month. Many of the french papers are focusing on what that might mean for the ruling socialists, the big breakup in the party. We are witnessing a very public breakup. You can know exactly what it happened. Yesterday at 4;25 p at 4 25 p. M. Is the moment when the majority blew up and the president gave the Prime Minister the permission to use this trump card. They say the reason that manuel valls had to use this drastic measure is because he could not pull together a majority within his own majority. That is what is so drastic about this situation. The rightwing papers are having a field day with this, in particular le figaro, which calls it a disaster for manuel valls. The fact that he had to use this measure is proof of his weakness. Le figaro predicts we will now see a merciless war within the majority, the leftleaning between the various factions within the left. We will see a divorce between two lefts, in fact, one that wants to stick to a more traditional socialist stance and one that wants to go down a more centrist social democrat path we have been seeing with the Prime Minister and the economy minister. How about the wall street journal . They are focusing on their front page on the situation in france. A rowdy session in parliament. Talking about a storm in french parliament, in fact. The wall street journal, a conservative u. S. Paper, is usually very critical of the socialist government. They had words of praise for the president , Francois Hollande and his Prime Minister, manuel valls, kudos to Francois Hollande for having courage. It is critical of french politics though. It points out that the fact that the government had to use this drastic azure, this this drastic measure is proof of a deep assumption deep dy sfunction in the government. You have found a lighter story about afghanistan about how the country is preparing to make its first big appearance in a world event. The cricket world cup is being held in australia right now. In the wall street journal, it says afghans have found a passion for cricket. The rise in cricket is astonishing. Two decades ago, the sport was not even known in the country. In all they have gone through, the love of cricket developed. Several learned how to play cricket in pakistan in refugee camps. The independent is also focusing on this love of cricket that has developed in afghanistan. It says cricket transcends ethnic and tribal divisions and says, for once afghanistan is talked of as a nation. The whole country will be watching the afghan team as it takes on bangladesh. Just to wrap up, a word on this incredible snow that will not stop in the u. S. We should start by looking at the washington post. It is the best headline. It talks about the mayor is urging knucklehead bostonians not to jump out windows and into the snow. This is the latest trend you can see online. I have one vine that i pulled out that is getting a lot of attention. There have been so many snowstorms that people have started doing things like this quite literally diving into the snow. The mayor of boston, marty walsh, was forced to address the trend. He said, im asking people to stop this nonsense right now. There are adults jumping out of windows. It is a foolish thing to do