every country would have to allow brussels to make decisions about its soldiers. that includes germany where only parliament can determine whether to do ploy troops abroad. >> kurdish forces have begun an offensive against islamic state forces in northern iraq. >> there by heavy airstrikes from a us-led coalition. there was also fighting west of and dad. the iraqi army is preparing to launch an operation to retake falluja which has been under islamic state control since january. >> now to cricket where england have crashed out of the world cup after losing to bangladesh. >> hundreds of fans celebrated in the bangladesh capital after their side stunned england. it was their third victory in five matches and they will now play in the world cup quarterfinals for the first time. some happy people there. it was a scandal that rocked the cycling world. tour de france icon lance armstrong, admitted to widespread doping two years ago. >> and now an independent commission says two other former president of the international cycling unit tried to protect armstrong to save t

our correspondent is in brussels following this meeting. max, we've been talking for years about the european union's dysfunctional immigration policy. we heard that story right there that there is just not the will to fix it. are you hearing anything different this time around? >> the commission insists there is a will to fix it. but talk is cheap here. as you say this problem has been around for a long time. many think it is almost integral to call this new effort and orientation debate. that is what they had on wednesday. they asked themselves why the commission needs orientation with this problem when it has been around for such a long time but it's true -- they are trying to speed things up. they rely on member states here, and what they are trying to do is get everybody on board, but the problems surrounding europe are getting worse. you have failed states like syria, like libya. no matter what europeans say it's always better for these people to come to europe, no matter what awaits them here. for now europeans are just trying to see

it depends on brussels and the ecb. if they decide to give them more time and they believe there is some sort of reform proposal from athens, then it could go on for another 12-18 months. the problem is, this is just kicking the can down the road. user you go for a full debt restructuring or greece has to do something the electorate didn't vote them in for. those are some big decisions to be made. jonathan: the clocks went forward in the united states over the weekend. the early birds are waking up on wall street. i guess they are asking questions on the other side of the atlantic. one of them being, what does this mean for me? what does greece mean to me in 2015 if i'm outside of europe? guest: 2012 was a completely different year in terms of the whole greek situation. draghi in late 2012 said, i'll do whatever it takes to keep the euro together. that has worked beautifully for the whole eurozone in reducing sovereign bond yields across the board. it doesn't matter at the moment. if the ecb and brussels were to fund th

european leaders meeting for a second round of talks in brussels. russia and greece remain very much top of the agenda. on russia, the group has pledged to extend sanctions until the end of the year. for greece the eu has asked the government to submit a more solid reform plan. let's bring in our reporters. caroline connan joins us from brussels. marcus joins us from athens. caroline, let's start with you. caroline: on russia, which was on the agenda like greece in brussels, they decided to put off the decision to aging summit. -- a june summit. the eu sanctions expire in july. they might extend these until the end of the year. which would match the timeline of the minsk agreement. [no audio] guy: we seem to be having technical difficulties from brussels. you are looking at live pictures from brussels as leaders gather in enter the building. we will monitor what they have to say. we will get a sense of where we stand on two issues of russia and greece. let's go to athens. marcus is standing by. how would you characterize last night's minisummit? wha

alix: are people nice to each other in brussels? it depends how tired they are how many meetings they have had and what sort of meetings they are in will stop alix: -- meetings they are in. alix: do they like talking? >> they have not spoken to each other as far as we are aware. i think the tone, maybe you can see from some of the comments you saw the belgian prime minister saying i'm angry not to be in this meeting. this is our money to. and from luxembourg you had the prime minister saying we need to stop making this so personal. alix: thank you so much. the rhetoric will continue. great to have you. just a reminder that we will be bringing you the eu news conference with the next hour live from brussels. coming up on "street smart" -- the snb saying the swiss franc is still overvalued and officials are ready to intervene again. are there more swiss surprises in store? ♪ alix: this with national bank is keeping rates at record low. thomas jordan said the currency remains overvalued and officials are ready to intervene if needed.

eu leaders are gathering in brussels in a few hours. they are still far apart on whether or not to extend the sanctions. the countries in the east generally there is a block that wants to extend them. other countries in the south and west would rather leave things the way they are and see if the cease-fire holds in eastern ukraine. they are looking to see if that takes hold and russia abides by it. they are willing to give a little more time and make sure that happens before making a decision on sanctions. anna: a little bit more time perhaps. what does the greek prime minister hoped to get out of his meeting in brussels today? there is this general gathering of leaders and then a site meeting of tsipras and merkel. jones: that's right. greek prime minister tsipras has requested a special meeting on the sidelines of the summit. he wants to meet with merkel, with draghi,, with juncker, and also with hollande of france. i think he's trying to get some impetus behind the technical discussions that are taking place on greece's bailout progr

go into talks with creditors in brussels today. the eurogroup is putting pressure on the country to open its books before the credit is released. guy: now to brazil. more than $10,000 cash confiscated is apparently missing. a judge was caught driving one of the former billionaire's cars. where is the money? francine: i love that story. it just keeps on giving. apple unveiled its first new device in five years. the smart watch. the starting price is $350. the company also released its macbook which weighs 900 grams. guy: that brings us to our twitter question of the day. it is about the apple watch. would you buy one? more importantly, why would you buy one? francine: would you buy the first version? i'm thinking i will eventually buy one. guy: it is pretty big. tweet us. we are back in a couple of minutes. ♪ francine: welcome back to "the pulse." guy: let's get back to our top story. credit suisse's appointment of tidjane thiam. what does this say about cs's future in investment banking? some people are surprised. others are surp

let's get the latest from caroline connan in brussels. this ellis in athens, what exactly was agreed yesterday, if anything at all? >> good morning, jon. it feels like it is february 20 all over again. basically, we have to go back to the eurogroup meeting on february 20 and greece has to move forward a certain set of structural reforms that its creditors need to review, and agree on financial aid. prime minister tsipras said they will manage to put the limitations back on track. so far, there is one thing really different than before. that is that the cash liquidity problem in athens is much more serious than before. state coffers are running dry. more payments need to be dispersed today. the next couple of weeks are going to be very challenging. a group of people said, we have liquidity until april. that needs to be addressed very quickly. jonathan: just to follow up, you are a markets man. you analyze the markets. you see the greek three-year note. i asked the question maybe a little bit blase. does it even matter anymore when they don

molly: that is the greek prime minister speaking following his meeting today in brussels. iceland has announced it is dropping its bid to join the european union six years after first applying. membership seemed attractive in 2009. that appears to have changed. thomas waterhouse tells us why. thomas: choosing to stay out in the cold. iceland informed the eu of the government's decision to cancel its application to join. >> iceland's interests are better served outside the european union. thomas: one key obstacle was the difference of opinion between brussels and iceland about the fishing quotas. it is vital to the island's economy. talks began in 2009 when the elected government felt euro zone membership could help them cushion the blow of their economic woes. hours after the announcement dozens braved the chill to voice their anger outside parliament. >> who does this government think they are? do they think they can just and the negotiations without asking parliament? it is nothing less than an attack on parliamentary democracy. thomas: the government has said it wants t

greece is back to brussels. alexis tsipras heading to the city today, sparring between yanis varoufakis and wolfgang schaeuble continues threatening to widen the greek-german divide. the greek prime minister meets the european parliament president as well. for more, let's bring in marcus bensasson in athens. and hans nichols brings us the german angle from berlin. marcus, what are we expecting out of the tsipras trip today? is the bar high, low? >> there's nothing particularly concrete. we aren't expecting announcements of any breakthrough. but juncker has been seen as an interlocutory between greece and the hardline elements in the eurogroup. it comes after a trip to paris yesterday at the oecd where tsipras has tried to bring on board the oecb's assistance to gain more credibility to the reform proposals that greece is making in the hopes that this review can close by the end of april. jonathan: stay with us. hans, talk to me about the standoff between varoufakis and schaeuble. they seem to have heated up once

and, back to brussels. will greece and germany find a compromise? could russia's see more sanctions? a high tension summit as eu leaders had to belgium. that's what we are watching this morning. european markets just opening up, getting a first chance to digest what we heard from the federal reserve. let's check in with manus cranny. manus: u.s. equity markets really surged. the s&p of over 1.4%. europe just a little bit hesitant. the markets have been surging. when i was reading the notes from janet yellen, i thought, you go on there. you just lit the torch paper of volatility. you mentioned communication. that doesn't mean we are going to be impatient. volatility in equity markets dropped yesterday. pulling the french market back a little bit. saffron and

eu leaders gathering in brussels. the cease-fire in eastern ukraine is tenuous. ukraine's prime minister says he must not let down his guard. >> we can talk about the rollover, and how to scale up sanctions in case if russia is not eager to implement the deal. cory: leaders that expected to announce any new sanctions at the brussels meeting. the most popular makers of the early cyber software in the world, the moscow-based firm generated $670 million in revenue in 2013. the software is loved by the best buy geek squad. the firm also has close ties to the russian government. american cyber security firms have similar issues. how does this impact the business these companies do? that story is featured in this week's issue of "businessweek." jordan robertson is in washington, d.c. this company is so fascinating. you have known it for a long time trade what have you learned in your story? jordan: it has been an object of fascination for a lot of us-based security folks for a long time, primarily because it's a moscow-based company, and the founder was once affiliated

. >> iran's foreign minister is meeting european ministers in brussels after four hours of talks with the u.s. to try to reach a deal on his country's nuclear program. it appears no major break through was made in lausanne but as our diplomatic editor james bays reports there was slight progress. >> the u.s. secretary of state relaxing. after an intense afternoon. >> secretary, good afternoon. >> is that thumbs up, the reaction of the latest nuclear negotiations? they were intense the latest negotiations led by secretary kerry and the iranian side, zarif, as he left mr. zarif made his most upbeat comments today. cameras had been kept a long awaywayaway finally we're getting something. meetings in brussels with european foreign ministers the diplomacy is underway, at a hectic pace. >> if i'm john kerry my hard work is paying off. u.s. iran bilateral relationships and the nuclear negotiations more generally in aan unprecedented phase. we are in the home stretch in the 11th hour. he more than anyone else with the possible exception of president obama wants to seal the deal. >> secretary

libya dominated this sum it in brussels. and although short on detail on how the european union is going to get involved in trying to secure the peace in libya, everyone was pretty much singing from the same hem sheet, this institution is very much willing to stand by the libyans, but only in the event of a political deal and once a national unity government has been put in place. the european union is partly funding the talks going on in morocco, and feel they have an investment in the outcome. we're not talking about a huge military commitment, but we are talking about observer status missions to build up the libyan national army. we may see troops on the ground helping board the border oil installations, that kind of thing. which would be quite a departure from its normal activities. now, why you might ask that this is such a big priority for the european union? i guess it's the situation deteriorating so rapidly and the realize in capitols across europe that libya is very much on the doorstep of its borders to the south.

we will be talking more about the situation that is currently underway in lozan and indeed in brussels, these negotiations are very, very complicated but significant progress we understand has already been made. talks taking place in geneva in january and iran agreed to stop enriching uranium beyond levels needed for power and in return international sanctions worth $7 billion were temporarily relaxed but the two sides remain at odds. how large a nuclear program and iran will be allowed to retain and iran is skeptical over whether the u.s. can be trusted to lift sanctions and that is because the power to permanently lift most sanctions lies with congress, not the president and many republicans you will remember that the republicans control congress now and they are against a deal with iran and some allies including israel also oppose a deal senior member of saudi arabia family prince turkey elal-fizal in the region and we have the assist and professor at the study here in qatar at the university here and joins us in the studio and thanks for coming in to talk to us and the world attent

we are live in brussels and athens with the details. >> apple goes for the gold with its range of tech savvy to luxury smart watches. will customers go for the price tag? bloomberg has been hands on with the gadget. we bring you our verdict. >> and germany's biggest power producer reports earnings just a week after it has sold its north sea business. will economic sanctions way on its bottom line? we bring you those numbers in just a moment. ♪ >> welcome to "countdown." i mark barton. >> and i am anna edwards.

rebecca christie joins us from brussels. where do we stand with the view of the proposals that are put forward? there is a sense that they are not enough. >> today there is a meeting for discussion between the finance minister and his counterparts. it is not expected to be a decision day. there will not be a thumbs-up or thumbs down at the end. they can hope for signals that is moving in one direction or another. the greeks alike to get signals that people are receptive to the measures they are offering. the euro area would like to get ideas from greece that it will follow through on its commitments. if there are no signals, they will go the other way and people will regroup and think about what they will do next area --. guy johnson: what do we make of the relationship in terms of the gap that exists between athens and the rest of the eurozone right now? how would you characterize it? >> are reporting shows that how one characterizes it depends very much on who one is. if you are in the euro area, the greeks say they are go

leaders gathering in brussels. the cease-fire in eastern ukraine is tenuous. ukraine's prime minister says they must not let down their guard. >> what we can talk about, we can talk about the role over knowing how to scale up sanctions in case russia is not eager to implement -- cory: leaders not expected to announce any new sanctions at the brussels meeting. the most popular makers of cyber security software in the world the moscow-based firm generated $67 million in revenue in 2013. the software is loved by the best buy geek squad. the firm closed ties to the russian government. american cyber security firms have similar issues. this story is featured in bloomberg businessweek. i'm joined by one of the writers of the peace. -- writers of the piece. what did you learn? >> thanks cory. it has been an object of fascination for a lot of us-based security folks for a long time. primarily because it is a moscow-based company and the founder was once affiliated with the kgb. what we discovered through our reporting is the ties are much deeper than that. one of the

don't expect miracles on greece in brussels. angela merkel says not to expect any breakthrough at all. european leaders want greece to come up with a plan to reform its economy before it receives any additional emergency loans. greek officials agreed to a framework. key economic figures out today. the philadelphia fed factory index came up short. leading economic indicators rose in february. the rise reflects high stock prices and an increase in building permits. the .2% increase is well short of the average. that is a look at the top stories we are following at this hour. janet yellen indicated yesterday that there is no rush to raise interest rates and the pace of tightening will be slower than previously anticipated. cheap fixed income strategist at -- joins me from philadelphia. welcome back to "bottom line." the door is now open for the fed it to move on interest rates. how flexible will cherry ellen and her colleagues be -- will chair yellen in her colleagues be? -- and her colleagues be? >> it all hinges on inflation at t

let's get out to julia live in brussels. is it becoming a blame game rather than a solution game? >> well there's a lot of talk and there's been a lot of noise regarding what the situation is in greece. a lot of tension between the finance ministries of greece and germany. the hope today is we can bring together them and come up with a political solution. that's the hopes on the greek side. certainly as far as they're concernedly quiddity liquidity provision was something they gained and that's the comment i have been making each time i have been in brussels and greece has been the topic of conversation. we know they have to make debt repayments and roll t-bills and right now the situation as far as they're concerned is tense. we also had the president of the euro group comparing the greek situation with see press and the fact that capital controls remained in the euro zone. that inflating concerns in greece that this is not the situation that greece finds itself in. the question is can they rise above some of the noise and come out with a solution but of course as you mentioned a

hans: the latest from a greek official says that the talks will continue in brussels today. officials are heading to athens and they are already there. the question is, are they actually going to have meetings? that was the question coming out of yesterday. it does not look like any scheduled meetings. they are looking at the books poring over the accounts receivable and what is coming in and out. it is important in order to entertain any possibility of getting that total. he started to hand that his credibility is on the line and that we can only start discussions when people are welcome in athens. if that remains an issue, it will continue to take. i told the greek minister that it will have to start tomorrow or i will lose credibility. there are questions on how long greece's government can fund itself. two-three weeks according to an official who refused to give his name. to get the additional bailout money they have to implement the reforms. before they do that everybody has to look at what the books are saying. anna: hans nichols keeping an eye on all things greek. let

once it gets hot that gets going, what i like to do next is the brussels spots i've already charred. >> and i brussels sprouts they're always cook in like bacon fat it is like a sweet taste. >> gives it so much more philadelphia international airporter. >> is that good, the bacon fat? you're about the health. >> i that's true. maybe a no-no? >> moderation, moderation do it on saint patty's day. this is smoked, not cured little better, not much, but bacon is bacon, when it is turkey bacon or not just bacon next thing that goes in are the leaks. you just set them around a little bit. >> i hear the sis. >> i good week. >> studio smelling so good. >> yes. >> and now pear cider irish cider. we got about 30 seconds here. >> so this is pear? >> oh, i thought we would drink it, i didn't know we were putting -- >> here, i'll try it. >> give it a try. and how long do you cook this for? >> that will go if there. pretty much is already. >> yum. >> muscles go in. so they pop. >> put the lid on. >> how long will that cook for? >> probably about five minutes or so. >> maybe we'll put this recipe up

potentially the last time he comes to brussels. i wonder if he'll miss it if he doesn't win the election in a month's time. >> he has as much affection for brussels as you clearly do. thank you as ever and i hope you have a lovely weekend. >> on to switzerland, the swiss national bank chief thomas jordan told cnbc the central bank is not facing a crisis of credibility. this after it removed the franc's exchange rate cap in january sending the exchange rate sharply higher. carolyn is live with more of that story. >> good morning to you. yes, yesterday the swiss national bank faced international media for the first time since the shock move on january 15th. it's come under a lot of fire from politicians and from the export sector but also from those investors that got burned so heavily on january 15th. here's his defense. >> well it was the right decision. i think it is obvious now to almost everybody that it was the right decision. it was not any more sustainable. it had no impact on swiss economy or swiss firms so it would have bee

jones hayden in brussels with the very latest on these talks. guy: let's get back to the global head of f.x. research. you look at what's happening at the moment. my sense is that from a personal point of view, we are still a long way apart between the greeks and the euro group. when you talk to clients, what are they telling you about how they are reading it though? >> well, my sense is that a lot of complacency about what's going on investors are clearly ignoring that after all the safety net draghi and his colleagues the governing put in place. it's actually that whatever happens, euro is safe, even if greece were to lead the talk about controls and all that, the come fent effect that was a big risk is no long they are. and that sense of safety if you wish, is i think breathing complacency. they're acting as if the consequence of any disagreement that could ultimately be an accident are not going to be as damaging especially on the creditors' side. francine: when you say it's complacent, is there actually a chance of an accidental happening?

olivia: in brussels, europe possibly to have a simple message for greece. they are telling alexis tsipras his country must submit a more concrete plan so bailout talks can speed up. greece is running out of money and president obama is urging iran's young people to pressure leaders on the nuclear deal. in a youtube video marking the persian new year, the president argued that a deal could lead to a better relationship. crossing the terminal this hour, islamic state and other groups are claiming responsibility for the massacre in tunisia. nine suspects in custody. the attack when stake at a museum killed 22 people. two gunmen were killed in a shootout with police. the fbi investigating the hanging death of a black man in mississippi the victim is identified as 54-year-old otis burns. the body was found there his home. officials not saying whether it was a homicide or suicide. the first nationwide safety rules on fracking could be released today. the announcement is expected p limits would apply only to land and by the government. environmentalists want the p

and foreign policy people in brussels and not get a great deal of this. so now with the attack on the kosher super market, i think it is at last out in the open. and in that sense i'm almost grateful that this happened, that at least i think europe is coming to recognize that it has a real problem with antisemitism that can't be denied or can't be passed off as a function of a reaction to israeli policy. third point i want to make is this, which is my grandmother knew trotsky -- i grew up in mexico city -- so trotsky is a favorite of mine. trotsky had this wonderful line. he said at some point you may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you. well, you may not be interested in the middle east and its troubles and turmoils and ideological fanaticisms, but it is interested in you. and i think that's another lesson that we ought to draw from paris. we can't simply -- we can't simply look away from what's happening in yemen today or in northern iraq or eastern syria and imagine that it's some far-away place. and in this sense i think that the fr

. >> the greek prime minister seeks support for his reform plans in brussels. >> and formula one gears up for the new season. we will check in for the cars to watch. germany's highest court has overturned the ban on headscarves. the country said stopping teachers from wearing the headscarves in public schools is not compatible with religious freedom. >> that has been welcomed in germany as a step in the right direction. >> for students wearing a headscarf at school is not a problem, but for their teachers, it has been a different matter. in 2003, the german constitutional court issued a ban on headscarves responding to the case brought by a teacher who had been denied a promotion because of the headscarf. but they refused to remove the headscarves, and petitioned the top court for redress and now they have won. the judges said it did not constitute a danger by itself, neither for peaceful pro-existence of the school or the neutrality of the state. >> it does not violate students' rights per se, and it does not mean the state embraces the religion. >> the judges said the decision was to

and dana lewis talked with the general in brussels. >> reporter: in brussels general phillip breeklove is on the edge of a conference debating the security in europe with deep concerns about what the future holds. will putin attack a nato country? >> i believe he knows what it is and what article five means but we have to be wide eyed. we need to be open minded to the fact that there have been statements that say that there is the authority to reach out and protect russian speaking people in nations and we have russian speaking people in nato nations. >> reporter: in brussels they call president putin's interference in ukraine a smokes screen and denies troops and weapons are there but nato says it has evidence and say if he tried a similar strategy in any nato conclude including baltics article five would be invoked and attack on one is attack on all and it would trigger mutual defense. no question in your mind putin is lying and there are russian troops there? >> no question in my mind at all. >> reporter: it's not continuing even with the ceasefire. >> today. >> reporter: based on h

secretary of state john kerry lasted for nearly five hours and they now move to brussels, but that does not mean that it stops here. because we've got the political directors of the international community, the p5+1 meeting the iranians. the secretary kerry is going nowhere. he's stay hearing in lausanne, and we're expecting the iranian minister back here. they seemed relaxed after what happened during the talks here, to hit the road and go on a bike ride as he rode past me he gave me a thumbs up. not clear if that is in response with regard to the talks. everyone knows this is a crunch moment because the deadline for trying to come up with a deal is coming up very soon. deadline from framework and talks to be concluded in the end of june. >> how much do we know in the way of detail of what the leaders are talking about and what the main stumbleing blocks seem to be. >> there seem to be indications on both sides. we know among the issues they've been looking very closely in the latest round of talks. if there is a deal, how are they going to check that iran is doing what it says in this

the rules of the stability pact are so complex that brussels has a great deal of room to maneuver all -- to maneuver. >> the uncomfortable truth is the freedom to make decisions is not always applied according to what makes economic sense. politics and power also come into play. >> brussels does give france a lot of leeway but there has been little resistance from other eu member states. >> all right, enough about budgets for the moment. let's forget how equities markets approve -- markets performed on tuesday. the dax lost three quarters of a percent. the euro stoxx fell over 1%. the dow jones industrial average is down more than 1.5%. and the euro taking a downward trend against the dollar at 1.07 even. >> iraqi security forces of retaking a town near the city of two great as they press on with their offensive against islamic state militants. >> iraqi forces attacked and regained full control hours later. meanwhile, to create is the hometown of the late dictator saddam hussein, of course, whose city is a key test for iraqi troops as they try to win back territory from the islamic st

foreign ministers taking to place in brussels in the coming hours. all of this going on because we're really reaching the crunch moment in all of this. the deadline is supposed to be the end of this month for a framework deal. these negotiations began in the long time. they've been extended a number of times. but everyone is saying that this is the time when they have to do the deal. now we couldn't quite make out the words. just a few words when he left here. and left lausanne. he's now on the way to the geneva airport. it sounded positive after the meeting with secretary kerry. and then secretary kerry clearly wanted to relax. watch this. >> we >> yes we're watching the video of john kerry leaving on his bike. but a lot of countries around the world watching very closely what is going to happen with this iranen nuclear deal, not least saudi arabia who has come out and made some comments that any deal could start a nuclear fuel race. what do we make of that? >> it shows you that john kerry not only has to do serious diplomacy with the irans to try t

bloomberg's brussels chief joan kayden joins me now. do you believe that athens will deliver the reform necessary? guest: i believe that they are optimistic on this point. the meeting broke up at 2:00. the leaders were tired, but optimistic area there are a couple of reasons. greece needs the money. it really needs the next payment of its bailout funds. to do that they have to give the details of the reform program they are trying to implement. and the other thing is this meeting last night, it went about three hours until 2:00 in the morning. it really seemed to accrue the tone between greece and its creditors -- germany france, the ecb, and the eurozone officials here. based on that, i think they are going to move ahead. suppress -- alexis tsipras will be able to go back to the voters in greece and say, look, i have taken this to the highest level of our colleagues in brussels and i think we will get this done. alix: if you could use one word to describe the rhetoric among officials, all what would it be? jones: right now it is calm.

juncker in brussels. finance ministers are going to decide what this bailout package looks like and whether greece is satisfying it. anna: hans, thank you very much. mark: moore controversy surrounding her life. u.s. federal officials are investigating possible manipulation of its stock. caroline hyde is here with more. who is this focused on? caroline: at the moment, it seems to be a consultant hired by bill ackman's fund, pershing. they are investigating the consultant. it is all to do with whether false statements have been given to regulators about the business models used by herbal life. so much controversy. so far, we understand that the federal prosecutors have been conducting interviews, requesting documents, to see if the stock was manipulated. so far, bill ackman and pershing square haven't been served with a subpoena. in u.k. language, that means not asked to provide documents, appear in court, or give evidence. this is so important a bill ackman. the ongoing push that person have been making a

talks in brussels. leaders are discussing ways to help unify the rival governments, but it said it would not act without an official request from the u.n. >>> the whole situation in libya, well that dominated the second day of this european union leaders summit in brussels, and although is short on detailed proposals on how the european union is going to get involved in securing the peace in libya, everyone sang from the same hem sheet. only in the event of a political deal and once a national unity government has been put into place. the european union is of course partly funding the talks that are going on in morocco, and they really feel they have an investment in the outcome of those talks. we're not talking about a huge military commitment, but we are talking about status missions to build up the libyan national army. we may see european troops on the ground securing libya's borders. which for the european union would by quite a departure from its normal activities. why you might ask that this is a

they broke up around 2:00 this morning in brussels. they emerged higher but optimistic from the meeting. it seems they agreed greece is going to submit a full list of the proposals it needs to keep its agreement it made on february 20. this was a special meeting tsipras requested with germany's merkel and with hollande and eu officials in order to push forward with negotiations so they could unlock some of the bailout funds they need to keep the economy going. caroline: give us a sense of the other thing that was key in everyone's mind. russian sanctions. what's the latest? it seems they promised to keep them in place for 2015? >> the leaders made a pledge to have the sanctions depend on the minsk agreement. and russia's ability to adhere to the agreement. that says russia is supposed to give up the territory it is occupying in eastern ukraine at this point. they are supposed to give it up by the end of the year. the pledges for the sanction to adhere by the end of the year. it is not a concrete abstention. the leaders have given room

simon mcgregor wood has more from brussels. >> they arrived in brussels earlier monday evening. he had a bilateral meeting that's now being expanded to include the foreign ministers of france and germany we don't know very much about what the so-called gaps are remaining between the two sides. in a briefing with journalists here they know that gaps exist and they will be part of the process to close those gaps. we understand, of course, that in the lead up to these crucial talks they hope this framework deal in place that the principle points of contention like how many center huges they'll be allowed to keep how much enriched you uranium will be allowed in the country. one of the things that we're sure sure they want to talk about is how quickly e.u. sanctions can be lifted once the deal is signed. that is clearly the request of the you rain ones is they do sign these deals these terribly damaging sanctions can be lifted as possible and some of the toughest sanctions are e.u. sanctions. >> two police officers have gone on trial in france over the death ten years ago of two teen

he then flew off to brussels while the u.s. secretary of state flew by here on the lakeside in lausanne. watch this. >> yes james, we can see secretary kerry giving you the thumbs up as he goes by on his bicycle. certainly that optimistic feeling, perhaps not felt by other people like the saudis, for example, where the saudi prince has come out and made comments about iran, warning that an agreement would risk nuclear proliferation. what do we make of that? >> i think this is exactly why there is this real urgency at this stage why nobody thinks they can keep extending these talks forever and why these deadlines will matter. saudi arabia concern about iran near it with nuclear power. iran said it's not aiming to get a nuclear weapon, and saudis themselves saying maybe we need nuclear technology, we did a deal in the last week if with south korea for nuclear cooperation. so the idea that in this region, and there is nuclear power but a nuclear weapon. they won't admit it, but everyone knows they have with, israel has nuclear pow

what happened in brussels last night? >> there was a lot of drama last night, but not too much progress on greece. the main thing that came out of this meeting is that the technical discussions will start as soon as tomorrow. and some discussions on the technical details will also take place in athens. that will determine whether greece can or cannot receive the next tranche of aid of 7 billion euros. the eurogroup head says that the last couple of weeks for greece have been a complete waste of time. last night after the meeting, i asked him whether he could tell me or not whether greece could run out of cash in the next few weeks. have a listen. >> i do not know if and when they run out of cash because i do not control the till in aston -- in athens. that is their responsibility. all i know is that we can formally release further loans from the european funds if there is a full agreement on the package and if they start implementing reforms. so far, two weeks have gone by and neither of the two have happened. at the mome

an eu summit underway in brussels will not bring a breakthrough in the debt crisis. we will go live with our correspondent at the talks. >> a merciless war against terrorism following an attack that left more than 28 -- 20 get. and half a millennium after his death in battle richard the third will soon be laid to rest. thanks for joining us. -- >> and returning it -- >> thanks for joining us. >> prior to the eu talks in brussels, athens called for bold action to in the crisis that has ravaged the country economy. >> the greek prime minister is due to hold a special meeting on the sidelines with merkel and other top u.n. officials. >> tactical win for alexis tsipras. >> so that we leave behind prices and move toward growth. >> joining greece and other lenders at the international meeting will be to others, france and germany. german chancellor angela merkel was keen to downplay any expert -- explanations. >> many of you will be looking very attentively toward the sideline talks with the greek prime minister. i would like to say, do not ask any solution or expect a bre

libya is also dominating the final day of talks in brussels. >> reporter: e.u. leaders are using this second day to discuss libya. they are exchanging ideas essentially on how the european union can help support a post-national unity government in libya. they are partially funding the talks that are taking place in rabat and coordinating very closely with the united nations on this whole issue. the european union's foreign superior if you would like spoke on the way to these talks and said they would be coming up with concrete proposals, they would be both political, how to shore up any post-deal government into libya, and extend into the field of security. does that mean we'll be getting european troops fighting in libya? probably not, but it might mean that they would contribute special missions to do things like secure the borders, train armed forces. guard oil installations and airports and important infrastructure things like that. but don't expect europe to do it on its own. what we're hearing is if the situation stabilizes they would want a libyan invitat

and a major international conference on ebola is now on in brussels. infection rates have dropped since their height in the fall. the official death toll continues to rise. time for the business news on "france 24" with stephen carroll. something fun for car lovers. we will go straight to the geneva motor show. >> that is right, the cars are the stars in geneva today. we have seen them recover in the past year, i suppose we have seen sales increased i .6% in the eu last year to 12 point 5 million vehicles, but that is still well below their peak of 16 million back in 2007. genie, we have the stock market that i will give you before we continue on with geneva, this is the picture of the european markets here at lunchtime, this tuesday, we've seen a fallback to a record high, that is where we saw the american markets hit a record high in trading on monday. i will move back onto geneva motor show, the european car market does need to be recovering, but it is so far off the peak of cars we saw back in 2007, carmakers hoping to build on that progress. among

. >> reporter: brussels banned faroese mackerel. the prime minister was only too happy to take his business elsewhere. >> we were boycotted just before, out of e.u. and if you are boycotted from e.u. where should you go in if e.u. is locking their harbor for us because we're not reaching an agreement, then we need to find other markets, as we are doing business as usual. >> reporter: the faros upped both production and price by year end fres sammon sales to russia has increased almost 700%. and many were happy to see their tiny nation exercising its trade independence from the e.u. >> we are not allowed to sell there. so we look for new markets, and there was russia. >> no one should tell us where we shall sell our salmon. if we decide to sell to russia i believe that is the best. >> it will not help the faroe people the e.u. so why should little nation the faroe island have to do? >> reporter: the farmed salmon thrive in the perfect north atlantic conditions. >> our company is producing salmon to the very high-end consumer market a

. >> african leaders meet in brussels to push a plan to help rebuild their economies following the latest ebola crisis. >> thanks for being with us. in russia, thousands of people have been paying respects to a man who dared to defy the kremlin. the funeral of leading opposition figure, boris nemtsov took place earlier today. >> he was gunned down on friday night and as of yet, no arrests have been made. russian president vladimir putin has condemned the men vowed to find the culprit but the political opposition believes it was his politics played a role in why he died. >> is also controversy surrounding the funeral as well. high-level officials from poland and latvia who wanted to attend say they were died access. the eu is demanding an explanation. >> we will talk to our correspondent covering the ceremony and just moment but first we have this report. >> mourners looked on as churches servicemen laid boris nemtsov's body to rest. around 600 people attended his funeral service at a cemetery outside the capital. just meters away, russian police watched over the crowd. some opposition fig

then on monday we'll travel to brussels to present his documents of elements of what could be a political settlement for the international community. >> all right. thank you hashem. >>> well as you heard there, tunisia is saying that two gunmen who carried out an attack on the bardo museum in tunisia were trained in libya. thousands have marched to condemn the attack. isil has claimed responsibility for the shootings. the european union has agreed to increase security participation with tunisia. >>> leaders are discussing ways to help unify the rival governments in libya. but think e.u. says it will not about without an official request from the u.n. >> reporter: the whole situation in libya, well the dominated the second day of this summit in brussels and although a short on detail proposals on how the european union is going to get involved everyone was pretty much seen from the same hem sheet. this institution is very much willing to stand by the libyans, but only in the event of a political deal and once a national unity government has been put into place. the european union is partly

for "nightly business report," i'm ulia boors julia chatterley in brussels. >> sent the oil higher. west texas crude up $45.72. commodity higher for the week snapping four weeks of losses. in the meantime the oil recount continues to fall. according to baker hugz the number of rigs drilling for cut cut to $8,025. the lowest number in four years. >>> may be more insulated from the moves in the dollars we explained a moment ago is small company shares since those companies do most of their business within the united states and today, the russell 2000 small cap index hit a record there. that's where our market monitor looks for investment opportunities. sandy sandy villery. good to have you with us. do you agree with the guest who in the earlier piece said there are a couple of reasons why she likes small caps now. one of them is the dollar thing. one is they underperformed dramatically far while. at some point, this is probably going to swing back the other way. >> i'm a long-term nvrs for f. you go back to 1926 longer than any of us have but small caps outperformed 2% annually versus

you, thank you for that that is jackie roland speaking to us from a very traffic wrought traffic in brussels. a leaked recording suggests that egypt's military sought to use one of the country's biggest ever construction projects to gain a political advantage in elections, the recordings were made when abdul al-sisi was minister under former president mohamed morsi and joint project with the army aimed to build one million homes for families with low income and land provided by the military and sisi is heard saying he will collect a fee for electricity although it's not clear if he is talking about himself personally or the army. more than 200 people have died in northeastern afghanistan and what is being called the worst series of avalanches to hit the country in 30 years, the military started flying supplies to some stranded villages but other areas are still cutoff and nicole johnston is from the panjir areas one of the worst hit areas. >> reporter: the scale of the disaster unfolds, village after village covered in up to three meters of snow and it's still falling. communities are cutoff

zariff went to brussels and saying a glimmer of hope. we will finally get something. yet, the meeting he went to in brussels with the french and german and british officials, and a source with reuters said the meeting was long but the differences have not been narrowed. substantial gaps remain. the message that is emerging here is one that the iranians still have a lot of ground to cover. we know from the state department briefing yesterday, they still have on the table an enrichment facility and water reactor plant that needs to be designated and changed in purpose. the iranians putting them back on the table as issues potentially that they don't want to adjust and change. the state department describing it like a rubik's cube. you solve one part but other parts fall out of place. at the moment talks underway but the music surrounding it is not optimistic. >> progress needs to happen soon if they will reach the deadlines they set. nic robertson, thanks. >>> iran on another front sending missiles into iraq to drive isis out of tikrit. u.s. actgencies have been trackin

greece prime minister says that he is optimistic after talks with eu leaders in brussels and trying to persuade leaders that proposed reforms are enough to unlock bail outfunds needed to avoid possible bankruptcy and a euro zone exit. european leaders refusing to raise the sanctions until it's working and doneled tusk says that russia has to meet all obligations under the so called minsk agreement before sanctions removed, russia denies military involvement in the fighting in eastern ukraine. 2 1/2 million people in sierra leone will be confined to their homes in an effort to stop the spread of ebola and it will last three days and cover the capitol free town and areas in the north. house to house search also be carried out to identify feel with the virus, over 10,000 people have died across west africa since the outbreak began last year. star gazers across europe have been witnessing a partial eclipse of the son and it will be full dark for two hours and pharroh between ice land and norway and people flocked to see the moment when the moon will block out the sun and we have the resear