Its weakest link, so says the president of macedonia, as he slams eu leaders for not doing more to help his country with its migrant crisis. Tom good evening. We begin in the United States, with republicans sharply divided over frontrunner donald trump, who took on his 2 closest challengers thursday evening for a twohour long televised debate. Marco rubio and ted cruz seem to trying a new strategy, putting up something of a united front, part of the effort to stop trumps march towards the nomination. Instead of challenging each toer, the pair instead chose focus on the billion of businessman, whose dominance of the 2016 race has shaken the gop to its corporate we go to North Carolina, where early voting has begun a head a primary on the 15th of march. Philip, what are people telling you about the race of the moment . Philip the favorites are doing well here, as you can see behind me. A few Hillary Clinton supporters. She is ahead in the pulling in North Carolina. This is one of the states of will be voting on march 15, along with ohio and florida. Example of aou one conversation i had here today in North Carolina, maybe a sign of what this race is really like. We are asking people who they are voting for and one man said he wasnt entirely sure between on one side potentially voting for donald trump, who is doing very well here, despite or because of his debate performance last night. He was between donald trump and on the other side, Bernie Sanders on the democratic ticket. He was not entirely sure who to vote for. That is something we have encountered over the last few weeks and months throughout the country, voters who are not sure who to vote for and are ready to go to the extremes, what is considered the extremes come on both sides of the ticket. On the democratic side, Bernie Sanders, a man who described himself as a democratic socialist, and on the other side, donald trump, who is seen as an extreme by the Republican Party itself. The reason some people are fluctuating between these two extremes is simply because they are doing and antiestablishment vote. They are angry, and angry as donald trump is on the debate stage. This is a president ial candidate, donald trump, whose reputation has not been hurt by the kinds of things he is saying on stage and he is very popular throughout the state that will be voting next. 5 more primaries coming up this saturday and plenty more, North Carolina being one of them. And last night we saw cruz rubio trying something different, ganging up on donald trump. A little bit more about the tactics that are being employed within the ranks of republicans right now. Well, there are the tactics that are being worked out behind the scenes right now, and that is essentially the tactic to vote for anybody other than trump. There is a hashtag out there, nevertrump. What you see publicly is the likes of donald trump and ted cruz attacking donald trump is rubio and ted cruz attacking donald trump as much as they possibly can. Notthe super pacs officially aligned with candidates are spending a tremendous amount of money. Florida being the key one on the fifth of march, all of these are adverts against donald trump. Voters arecan party not getting behind one single candidate who might be able to oppose donald trump. There is ted cruz, marco rubio. , of course, is in the race as well. You have to look at what voters are doing. For donalden masse trump on super tuesday and it looks like that will be the case again this saturday when 5 states and to the polls in the primaries. There are tactics tennesseans of the republic tactics behind the scenes with the Republican Party establishment but that does not mean it is filtering through to the electorate. Tom philip crowther, thank you so much for that update. We had to brazil now come with the countrys former popular president Lula Da Silva was questioned by the authorities today amid a probe into a huge theuption scandals with welcome any petrobras. Welcome any petrobras. The scandal is believed to be the biggest ever in modernday brazil. We go to rio with more on the public reaction to these developments. Reporter brazils anticorruption inquiry finally arrives at former president lula. Big news in brazil. We went down to the street in the center of Rio De Janeiro to see the reaction. This is an historic day get to they managed to the biggest thief in brazil. Im very happy with everything that is happening. Frankly, we were outraged. We trusted him. I voted for him. Now there is all the stories about corruption. What a coward. I just want justice to be served, if there is still just as at all. Justice at all. It is not a surprise. We have been hearing about these investigations for a long time. Honestly, my heart is in pain. The brazilian people are sad. What a shame. There are no more limits. Now lets wait and see what happens. Streetsould take to the to defend our democracy and defend lula, who was the most brazilian of all our president s. He did so many things for people, lifting people out of poverty. He is a good leader. President lula has my support. Tim reflections of brazils highly polarized political climate. A hero tosident lula some, village to others come as handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment charges. All this and the backup of economic decline. The gdp contracted 3. 8 last year, the biggest decline in 25 years. A Huge National demonstration expected against her government on march 13. Eight organizations and say they are stretched to the limits on the border between greece and macedonia. Numbers of the cams are housing some 12,000 people and keep on rising. The heavily overcrowded camp lacks proper sanitation was ladies Drinking Water an adequate supplies of food. Many arriving there are from wartorn syria. The macedonian president had strong words for you leaders for eu leaders. This comes as the french and german leaders met today in paris ahead of next weeks eu summit. European leaders are united on syria, the image, at least, that Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel were hoping to send as they met in paris. The talks began with a Conference Call with british Prime Minister david cameron, a time for Prime Minister renzi, and russian president vladimir putin. Lande this conversation was useful. It helped us to remind folks that the ceasefire must be adhered to everywhere. The only actions that can be tolerated are those in the fight against Islamic State group and al nusra. The 2 leaders urged refugees to seek asylum first with a serious neighbors, turkey, jordan, and lebanon. The german chancellor said her priority is to protect europes external borders and convincing turkey to dissuade migrants from making the perilous trip across degrees. Merkel it is in turkeys interested to find a solution to the Syrian Crisis so it will not have to welcome more refugees. This would provide a solution for millions of displaced syrian. Reporter the eu has pledged to turkey 3 billion euros and promises to ease visa restrictions for turkish nationals in exchange for keeping refugees at bay. France and germany have not always seen eye to eye on the migrant crisis. Prime minister manuel valls criticized the opendoor policy during a visit to munich. Germany in turn accused france of being slowed to react. A record 1. 20 5 million refugees arrived in europe last year. Germany has received the largest number of migrants during the course of the past year or so. We will take a closer look at how they are settling into their new surroundings with a particular focus on the prospect of mining work. Jessica saltz sent us this report. Jessica the training began a few days ago. For refugees is a chance to begin a professional career in germany. The manager believes they have real potential. We see a great opportunity for the company. The refugees are underestimated. They are young, engaged people who grab a chance to start training here. Jessica if all goes well they will receive vocational training. It is the First Public Company in the region to recruit asylum seekers. No easy task but one that could prove beneficial in a country with an aging population. We just have to get approval of the Immigration Office couldnt we want to be able to use the skilled workers and generate jobs on the borders for our own benefit. But not all German Companies share this optimism. The chief of staff here remains cautious. The german Industry Needs highly qualified staff and there remain significant barriers. Employees require 3. 5 years of initial training here. It is quite a consideration. There are the formal barriers for the integration of refugees. Then comes the question of how long they are going to stay with us. Can we include them in our plan . If we dont have the answers, is it ethical to integrate people for longterm . Jessica experts agree that integration of refugees into the labor market is a longterm project. According to research, it would take 310 years for German Companies to feel the benefit of the labor force. Tom Jessica Saltz reporting there. Opposition figures in syria say that the assad regime is not respecting the terms of the u. S. Russian ceasefire deal from last saturday. Pockets were reported to be fired at a rebelheld town in it live problems idlib province. Despite the claims of violations, the pace of the more is reported to have slowed down since the day on the deal came into effect last weekend. Doubts now hangover next week plus next weeks planned peace talks. The envoy crew tried and failed to bring both sides together a few months ago in an interview with france 24 today hailed some of the achievement as far as the aid effort is concerned. How many besieged areas were actually being breached . Do you want to know what . Do you know it . Zero. 0. How many people were reached by two men carrying a by humanitarian aid . Zero could what happened in the last 10 days . 220 truckloads of humanitarian aid reaching seven of those areas. Not enough, more needs to be done. But 115,000 people saw a difference and we are planning airdrops to where 200,000 people are. Is that enough . No. But it is movement. Tom the u. S. Special envoy. You cano france 24 watch the full interview online. The Turkish Court sentenced 2 syrian nationals to 4 years in prison for their role in smuggling migrants. Amongst them, a threeyearold boy whose body was washed up on a beach in Southern Turkey last september. Images of a lifeless toddler sparked a global outcry with calls for more to be done to help migrants fleeing warfare. The shot they cant assimilate the plight of millions are kurdish taller rhyme lying facedown in the surf on a beach. Now 2 syrians in prison for people smuggling over the matter. Images of the little boys body wash up a short look very dramatic, on television both in turkey and around the world. Turkey didnt want to give up the image of a country involved in crime. Perhaps because of these reasons it seems the father was legally distanced from the case. Reporter he had initially been implicated for driving the vote in question last year. 4 other people drowned in the accident, including the mother and brother. Prosecutors had sought a maximum 35year term on charges of causing death through deliberate negligence but it didnt stick it the pair will be appealing against the sentence of 4 years and 2 months. Carried out in just over three weeks, the trial is apparently a turkish not to you pressure over clamping down on increasing numbers of asylumseekers making their way to europe from its shores. Mps in spain are voting on wednesday get out of the current physical deadlock. Today the socialist leader was put forward to form a government after 2 months of stalemate. We just learned that the Spanish Parliament has voted it down that socialist bid. Sarah morris joins us from madrid. Bring us up to speed on what has been happening this evening. Reporter it is the second vote in the parliament. But lost the vote, 290 mps against Pedro Sanchez, compared the governmented between the socialists and the centrist party. Mps had hoped to get the to abstain, which would have been enough to grant this government the power. Unfortunately for Pedro Sanchez come that hasnt happened. He put a brave face on it after the vote, saying he would continue to work to form a majority to reject the conservative from power. Wanthey said they did not they want a leftwing coalition and they want jobs, the austerity leader wants to be the deputy Prime Minister. He wants a leftwing coalition. Rajoy says his party was the most voted party and he should remain in power and he will be calling Pedro Sanchez to propose a german style grand coalition. Tell us then, sarah, where do we go from here . Andh the clock is ticking there is too much for the parties to get together and propose some sort of government to win a confidence vote in parliament. If that doesnt happen, the parliament will automatically dissolve and we will see first selection at the end of june. They will start to talk to all the Party Leaders and he will really take the temperature of who is the most likely to be able to form the government. He may decide that Pedro Sanchez is still the man to do that, because he has more likelihood of attracting the leftwing votes that he may decide to give the most voted party another chance. Those talks are likely to start from next week. He will then nominate the next candidate and the whole thing will start again. This is a stalemate. It depends on the party moving depositions. Pedro sanchez does not want to have it packed because then he will have to on the nationalist parties in the socialists have decided they dont want to grant a referendum on whether catalunya should break away from the rest of spain. The socialists are not happy. At the moment the numbers are very, very tricky and he could need the Party Decides the best course of action is to seek fresh elections. So much fornk you that update, sarah morris in madrid. Lets get cap of the top stories on france 24. I have nothing to fear so says former brazilian president Lula Da Silva as he has restaurant on a Corruption Scandal involving petrobras. Europe is the strongest and weakest link, so says the president of macedonia as he slams eu leaders for not doing more about the migrant crisis. Republicantrategy hopefuls marco rubio and ted cruz put up a united front in a televised debate as they stand up to donald trump. Time for a check of the top business news. Good evening to you. Lets start with some news from facebook, which are telenav has not been paying a huge amount of tax in the u. K. , but that is about to change. Reporter millions. The tech giant seems to have bowed to pressure from the british government. Its as major Advertising Sales team rather than putting them through to island. The social networking giant paid 4370 pounds in Corporate Tax in 2015. The structure will likely see facebook paying billion millions of pounds in Corporate Taxes. Weree United States next, in place greeted 242,000 jobs in february, significantly more than analysts had expected. The u. S. And implement rate remains firm at 4. 9 . Two weekseport comes before meeting by the Federal Reserve and there are strong expectations the central bank will hike Interest Rates at least once this year. Jobs data for the months of december and january were also revised higher. Lets get a check of the markets now and over in the United States, the main indices seem to. Ave reversed earlier gains flatter this hour. The s p is marginally in the green this power. Positive jobs reports confirm gains at the close. The ftse and over 1 . Slightly lower gains on the dax in paris. A federal investigation into a vast corruption scheme at petrobras entered a new phase on friday, after former president Lula Da Silva was questioned for three hours. The Public Prosecutor said it is clear the beneficiaries of the corruption scheme were lula and karen president Dilma Rousseff. Kathy clifford looks at the scandal that is poised to become one of the most politically explosive in brazil. Biggest it is brazils Corruption Case since the end of military rule in 1985. With 2 billion paid in price by businessman to obtain petrobras contracts. Investigators say some of the money made its way to politicians, paying the expenses of the ruling workers party. A group of some 30 Construction Companies under the umbrella p were overpaid by petrobras executives for contracts. The money was skimmed from the contracts and passed on to politicians in a stage where their support of the government. The scandal goes all the way to the top. Former president Lula Da Silva finds himself at the center of the controversy after police said they have evidence he was benefiting from this game in the form of payments and luxury properties. Last year he spoke out in defense of the company. Those want to show it is a corrupt government, but in petrobras theyre forgetting to say something. This company is a company of high governance. The corruption was not of the company as a whole, it is of a few people who will have to pay a price for deceiving the brazilian people. Reporter with allegations mounting against lula, it brings the scandal one step closer to his successor and protege, current president Dilma Rousseff. She was chairman until 2011 but claims no foul play on her part. Delano more tech giants have been rallying to apples side its fight with the fbi. Rivals including google, facebook, microsoft said the Government Order to unlock the iphone of the San Bernardino gun man exceeds the bounds of the law. Reporter the battle over encryption over tech giant apple and the fbi has gone international. Leading companies publicly supported apple on thursday. The uns top human rights official warned that if the complete case into fbi demands, the consequences could be severe. A successful case against apple in the u. S. Would set a president that may make it impossible for apple or any other Major International i. T. The clientsafeguard privacy anywhere in the world. It is potentially a gift to authoritarian regimes as well as the criminal hackers. Apple refused the court order issued in february to help the fbi decrypt an iphone handset belonging to one of the attackers from the San Bernardino shooting last year. The company ceo, tim cook, set the action would threaten apple customers rights, setting a dangerous precedent with wide repercussions for privacy and data security. Apples refusal to comply with the court order means the case is currently being discussed in a congressional hearing. Authoritiesernment say encryption limits the amount of evidence that Law Enforcement agencies can gather. Allfbi has invoked the 1789 writs act, which allows federal courts to issue any necessary orders if no other tools are available. Apple has refused to comply in both sides have urged congress to create new legislation more suited to the modern issue of data encryption. Delano lets look at the other stories where tracking for you could the Worlds LargestLuggage Company says it has a deal to acquire a highend rival. It is guided at around 1. 8 billion dollars for the firm. The company is hoping the deal will help significantly expand its presence in the premium market of travel luggage. The Stock Exchange group says pretax profits rose 31 in 2015. The company, which owns the london stocks changes, says merger talks with the german rival are ongoing. The surgeon province has raised the prospect of a bidding war after the owner of the new york Stock Exchange says it is considering a counter offer. And the chief executive of the british oil giant bp saw his pay increase in 2015 to nearly 14 million pounds. Cut year the company thousands of jobs as the price of oil began its decline to it also reported a loss of 4. 6 billion pounds. The chairman of the Wage Committee says that while the price of oil is outside bps control, executives and the committee are rewarded for managing the things they could have controlled. Finally, the sales of luxury super yachts spiked 40 in 2015, according to a Wealth Report which surveyed around 45,000 ultrahigh net worth individuals. Yacht sales are not where they were before at the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. Industry insiders say theyre getting close. A yacht is called the super yacht if it is over 23 meters in length and the annual cost of operating can run into the millions of dollars. That is the business news. Tom some people not feeling any effect of any downturn. Bq 03 04 16 03 04 16 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from pacifica, this is democracy now here is what i know. Phony, aump is a fraud. His promises are as worthless as the degree from trump university. [applause] amy in an extraordinary day for the Republican Party, the gops last two president ial nominees, mitt romney and john mccain, announced the partys current