Those are the top stories we will be covering for you. Also on the program, a look at how the press is covering the crisis in ukraine. Plus, time to talk french politics. Municipal elections are around the corner with the president suffering from dismal poll ratings, we ask which way french voters will go. But first, there will be no war between russia and ukraine according to the speaker of russias upper parliament. He called the complete nonsense. The Federation Council says it will support the results of crimeas upcoming referendum. In just nine days, the region will decide whether or not to join russia. Escalationthursdays of events in the Crimean Parliament when the Crimean Parliament voted to do that. The move has been criticized be ukrainian and international officials. To discuss this, im joined by leila. We have been focusing on reaction from washington from brussels. They are not the only ones closely following the situation. How our regional countries reacting . The Foreign Ministers of poland, hungary, the czech republic, and slovakia met with Foreign Ministers of the northern and Baltic States in a border town in estonia. They have been monitoring the situation was alarmed because many of these countries share borders with russia or ukraine. They have a living memory of soviet dominance and have large ethnic populations. They have been pushing for a strong European Response to the crisis because they are very alarmed at the situation. It must be said what happen in crimea is not likely to be repeated in these countries. Many of them are e. U. Member states and belong to the nato alliance. Now that Vladimir Putin appears to be extremely frustrated with the lack of russian influence. Russia is losing influence in the region. Rhetoric as and well as his actions are putting the entire region in alarm. Rush is a vast country. It shares many borders. That ishe countries extremely alarmed but has to play a tricky role in response is kazaksthan. Russian sizable ethnic composition. The response from kazakhstan has been tempered but definitely alarmed. The justification putin has given of protecting ethnic russians is seen with deep disquiet. We have focused on the west of russia. Lets turn to the east. What are we seeing from china . China has a 3000 kilometer border with russia. Beijing and moscow have been very close the past few years on interventions, the intervention in syria, the intervention in libya. Beijings policy has been one of noninterference in the National Affairs of others. Beijing has its own ethnic problems. What has happened in crimea has put beijing in a bind. Initial reactions were softer from beijing. But this is contrary to what beijing to beijings longheld principle of noninterference. What we are seeing from china is coming to grips with the Foreign Policy. Buta is an emerging power, Foreign Policy has often been dictated by being almost a developing nation. The lack of foreignpolicy strategy is obviously showing. China is having a very muddled response to this, but you can be sure they are watching the moves in crimea with deep disquiet. Thank you for that analysis. The diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis continued. Is togation from kiev meet with the french president in paris this friday. The president ial candidate among those who will attend the meeting as they seek to defuse the crisis. For the second time in a week, the president s of russia and the u. S. Have spoken by phone. On thursday, barack obama urged Vladimir Putin to again except the terms of the diplomatic solution to the standoff. Before the conversation, obama announced the first sanctions against russia since the start of the crisis. Visas blocked. From across the atlantic, president obama sent the strongest message since the sayingf the crisis attempts to destabilize ukraine would not go unpunished. Executive order authorizes sanctions on in todays those violating the sovereignty of ukraine or stealing assets of the ukrainian people. The state department has put in place restrictions on the travel of certain individuals and officials. The sanctions are targeted at russians and ukrainians responsible for a russian push into the crimean peninsula. It is not clear whose names appear on the blacklist. The white house has already said sanctions will not apply to russian president Vladimir Putin. The state Department Said further sanctions were an option if russia fails to play ball. The announcement today and the signing of executive order provided authority to put a range of sanctions in place. Whether that is individuals or financial institutions, we may start with a list and can expand it. To can apply more broadly. The u. S. Has already said it has pulled out of preparations for the g8 in sochi and has suspended all talks with russia discerning trade and investment. It is still determined to seek a diplomatic solution, but the message was clear. If russia and allies take further steps to undermine ukrainian democracy, or will be further political and economic isolation. As the standoff drags on, it is overshadowing what should be a celebratory event. The Sochi Paralympics kickoff today. It will be short of foreign dignitaries in the wake of the russian incursion. German delegation will attend. The u. S. , u. K. , and france opting to stay away. Foreign minister says, the boycott should only be on the diplomatic level. I hope punishing the athletes will be out of the question. They have worked very hard to be there. Theyve worked for months. It is normal for french athletes to be allowed to be there, but it would be inappropriate for french ministers to attend, so they wont be there. The ukrainian paralympic chief says its delegation is going, but it will leave in the event of a russian invasion. To other news now. To thes no quick fix crisis in the Central African republic according to the united nations. On thursday, top officials met to discuss how to send a peacekeeping force to the country where African Union and french troops are already on the ground. Head set a 12,000 Strong Security force is needed to stabilize the country. The high commissioner for refugees warns thousands of so billions risk being killed before our eyes civilians risked being killed before our eyes. For more on this, we speak with the head of the Doctors Without Borders mission. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. You are in the capital. What conditions you are working in and what youre seeing on the ground. We are working under very difficult conditions. What we are seeing is still a significant amount of Violence Toward the population. We might have seen signs of reduction of Violence Toward the violation. Unfortunately outside, within the provinces, there is still much violence ongoing. Ist we must deplore as well International Humanitarian organizations have been the victims of some of the violence or attacks or robberies on our bases. This saturday unfortunately, we had two attacks in the same night on the same base. Unfortunately, our teams have had to evacuate leaving about 57,000 people without access to health care. Dowhat can your organization in the face of the mounting violence . We can only continue working very hard. But we need to have all of these , the localal actors groups, armed groups, as well as the International Forces on the ground to ensure the protection of the civilians as well as humanitarian workers, ensure the protection of Health Workers so they can do their work. We are not part of the politics of this country. Yet we seem to be targeted by it. We are asking these armed groups responsible for these acts do not do these attacks on humanitarian organizations. Can you tell us where youre seeing the worst flareups of violence . Mostly what we are seeing art two different patterns. One, a lot of violence with movement as they are trying to leave certain areas of the country. Then you also have the violence being committed by these groups against pockets of muslim areas. Ions in many it is extremely difficult to manage at this point in time. The head of Doctors Without Borders mission in the capital, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. The congolese warlord has been found guilty of crimes against humanity. The International Criminal court delivered its verdict against the former militia leader this friday. Countsyearold faced 10 of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It is the iccs second conviction in its 11year history. Warlord on trial over a brutal attack on innocent villagers. Germain katanga was accused of directing his militia group, the Patriotic Resistance force, when they went on a rampage on a village in northeast democratic republic of congo in february of 2003, killing at least 200 people. It is alleged he used child soldiers in the attack while girls were forced to be sex slaves. He was charged with 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual slavery, a first for the International Criminal court. In his first appearance at the hague in november of 2009, the militia leader denied all charges. His lawyer said he was nowhere near the village when the attack took place. In december 2012, his coaccused was acquitted over the same rampage. Judges of the time criticized prosecutors for failing to check witness statements and visit the site of the attack. Latest on the Oscar Pistorius trial and a doctor who was one of the first people on the scene after the track star shot his girlfriend is continuing his testimony this friday. On thursday, a neighbor said he entered the whole minutes after hearing screams and shouts to find the distraught South African sprinter kneeling over. The body of Reeva Steenkamp he told the camp he told the court he said he thought she was a burglar and shot her. If found guilty of intentional murder, he is likely to spend 25 years behind bars. A Malaysian Court has convicted the Opposition Leader to five years in jail for sodomy. Ruling upholds the governments appeal of the acquittal. Some say the move is politically motivated. The court ruled he committed the homosexual act which is a crime in the muslim majority after country in 2008. His lawyers are excited to it couldm a but affect his plans to run for a local seat. The paralympics get underway this friday. We take a closer look at team france. Johan will be flying the flag. He lost the use of his legs in you asked in a paragliding accident 12 years ago. Hehurtling down a ski slope, is 33 years old and a paraplegic. He skis seated. This is one seed that won him a place in the sochi games. A wheelchair in the snow could make someone more handicapped than they already are. But for me, it means freedom. The ski resort lies in the heart of the franco swiss region. The slopes here were a second home to him before 2002. It would have taken more than a paragliding accident to keep this athlete off the slopes. In 2006, he played his parts in the pair the big games in turi nj. Training today is a world apart from when he started out. If this is what i have to do to win, th i do it with a smilen my face. He works to improve his balance on the chair that is fitted over alpine skis, the same ones used by olympians. Skiing helps with my upper body a great deal. The bottom does not work anyway. I do everything with my arms so we can say my arms are my legs. It has been four years since the 33yearold completed competed in the winter paralympics. The favorite to win the downhill race, he finished in sixth place in 2010. This year, his back to reclaim the french dream and his golden metal medal. There will be no war between moscow and kiev. Upper parliament calls the idea nonsense as the u. S. Issues sanctions in response to the crisis. International criminal court finds the congolese warlord guilty of crimes against humanity for his involvement in the 2003 village attack which left 200 dead. Ones there is no quick fix to Central Africa republics instability. It says 12,000 troops are needed to shore up the situation. Those are the headlines. It is time for our press review. West andns between the russia over ukraine continue to dominate the press today. Lets start by looking at the french paper. It has just one word on the front page today. This comes after the parliament in crimea voted to join russia and set a date for referendum in a couple of days. Crimea is throwing itself into russias arms. The key question is how far the russian president will go in the arm wrestling match with the west. In the editorial, they wonder what Vladimir Putin really wants. This a prudent is signaling he is not afraid of anybody. This is an affirmation of power and authority in the face of the international community. Others are focusing on what is driving the russian president. A lot of papers are getting psychoanalytical today saying maybe emotions may be driving the president. I brought up two articles. In the International New york times, we read a sense of betrayal is driving putins actions in ukraine. They say he felt betrayed by the downhe standoff went in that he withdrew from kiev, this made him very angry at european and western diplomats, so that is what is driving him. They sayndependent, emotions may be at play well. The question is more of a cry to be heard than an attempt to invade a sovereign nation, basically this is a tantrum. All russia really wants is to be treated as a participant with a seat at the table. Lets move on to news in france and french politics. We have key municipal elections coming up. The municipal elections we have been hearing about for months and years are coming up at the end of the month. Yesterday was the last month for parties to declare candidates in various races. Analysts say the far right National Front party could do well in these elections. They have quadrupled the number of races they will be taking part in since the last permissible elections in 2008. They will be running a 570 races versus 120. They wonder if the National Front is ballooning figures. It seems they scrambled at the end to put candidates on their lists. Some are very old. There is a woman over 100 running. Some of them are very young. Just outside paris, there is a 17yearold still in high school. A big age gap. Some people say the party signed them up and they did not want to run for races. Wasuple in their 90s signed up even though the wife has alzheimers disease. Wereople thought they signing a petition when they were signing a declaration to become a candidate. Incredible stuff. While years are taking a closer look to see if all this is legal lawyersu bloggers are taking a closer look and see if all this is legal. Tomorrow is International Womens day. Today theres a controversy of film about women that has come out in india. They talk about how today is being day. They talk about it coming out today. You get a good sense of what the movie is about. It is a film based on the real with aory of a woman in 2006, kinded of a Vigilante Group she set up with friends. S andwould wear pink sari protect women who could not protect themselves from violence and abuse. Because of this, she became somewhat of a national celebrity. Now comes this movie. What is interesting is she did not want the movie to come out. She says the movie wrongly portrayed her and damaged her reputation, so she brought the movie to court. The High Court Ruled the movie can come out, but there has to be clear disclaimer it has nothing to do with her. It seems the cap is already out of the bag. I hope the movie will come out in france someday. Sports. Time for we start with results from the world cup giant slalom race. Hshewalpine skiing, won closing the gap. She let off in the first leg. Olympic super champion was seventh after the first run but climbed to the top of the second. Won the last race in december and continued the form of the sochi olympics where she won silver. She was quickest on the second one to land her second world cup win on the season. 21 secondsman was slower. Pointsses the gap to 67 in the overall standing after the german finished 21st in her least favorite discipline. He recorded his first world cup victory since 2011 in the sprint race in the slovenian resort. He missed a target on the shooting range but maintained impressive pace on the skis. He fought off the challenge of the russian by 1. 5 seconds. It was the second world cup victory of his career. She caused a bit of history in the womens sprint as she became the first austrian women to win a biathlon event. She shot flawlessly before crossing the finish line nine seconds ahead of her nearest rival. The russian doing enough to beat the belarusian. Or previous best had finishe thed place previous ye. He has been talking about his decision not to retire. He struggled twice last month to take a late to take eight titles. Ahead of the games, he announced this would be his final campaign. With great form this season and in russia has resulted in a change of heart. I change my mind. I saw i had a chance to ski three yearstwo or of bad results that were difficult for me. Dont want to go away i want to be the best in the olympics so i will continue with this focus in the olympics. After the olympics, i will sit down with my trainer and the rest of my team and decide with warriorsll continue to two more years. He has won a record 19 world titles and 39 medals dating back to 1998. Is oslootivation now 2016. I look forward to try to be focused on that, make really Good Progress in my shape. Endink youll be a better to make the end of my career in oslo. That is one of the reasons i also continue. If the next two years pan gg hello, and welcome to the health show. Today, its all about india. The worlds second most populous country, with its billion plus population, is facing some of the most Serious Health challenges on our planet. Coming up, indias growing epidemic of diabetes, and the steps being taken to reduce it, both hitech and tradio