the police manhunt for the "charlie hebdo" killers converges on an area north-east of paris. the prime suspects of cherif kouachi, and said kouachi - brothers in their early 30s. hello there. you're watching al jazeera, live from london. also coming up standing firm. thousands rally in the center of paris in memory of the victims. >> and also ahead - thousands flee a nigerian town captured by boko haram. there are reports of mass

killings and homes destroyed. hello. french anti-terror police are staging a massive manhunt for the heavily armed gun me who killed 12 people during an attack on the satirical magazine "charlie hebdo". two police officers are among the dead. these are the suspects. cherif kouachi and said kouachi. the search for them is centered around the north-east of paris, they are in their 30s. they were spotted at a petrol station. a house to house search is underway. thursday morning an unknown assailant opened fire on a female police officer on the southern edge of paris. the french interior ministry called the attack terrorism, but warned against connecting it with wednesday's killings. barnaby phillips has more details.

>> reporter: to the north of paris a search is under way for the men that carried out wednesday's attach after a sighting in this garage in the end region of the north-east of the capital. they are hunting two men, cherif kouachi and said kouachi, brother of algerian decent are armed and dangerous. cherif kouachi has a previous conviction for helping to send jihadist fighters to iraq. france is grieving people and not just for the dead. but they know their country will struggle to overcome the wounds and fear what will come next. this is place de la republique in the center of paris, but the silence was observed across the country. a long poignant parliament house. [ sirens ] . >> reporter: even as this country mourned there was another attack on the streets of

paris. south of the center two police officers shot. shortly afterwards they heard the news much one shot a police woman, died of her wounds. yet again the killer got away. we don't know that there's a direct link between this attack and wednesday said on "charlie hebdo". the gupman here according -- gunman here according to eyewitnesss used an automatic weapon and deliberately targeted officers in uniform, adding to the sense of crisis in the french capital. president francis hollande says it's a time for national unity. >> translation: france has been distruk struck directly in its heart, a place where we breathe freely. spontaneous gatherings shows that the great france those how to come together and defend the ideals of the public and peace

against those that think they can attack it by killing journalists and police. >> despite the president's words, many on the streets feel numb. >> i'm so empty. it's something so unbelievable. they were like my family. like me they like laughing against the silly innocence the world. -- silliness in the world. >> reporter: whatever the consequences of these ept, there's something of a political truce in france. for the authorities the priority is to catch killers on the loose. and, in fact barnaby phillips joins us live from the north of paris. barnaby, a confuseing day. the two main suspects are on the run at the moment.

>> they are very much on the run, and it does seem that the focus of the chase, if you line has moved to the bicca di region -- pica di north-east of paris. i'm in a sound soisson and police have moved through the town, and we have heard of two villages, really to the east of here where there has been extensive searches by counterterrorism police. all of this is close to the garage, the place i mentioned in the report the petrol station, villa couture where the two suspects surfaced. if you forgive me i'll go no the realm of conjecture a little bit. i imagine the french police in this urgent search must be thinking that if the two men do not have an extensive support network - in other words, if

they do not have people that will hide them feed them then eventually they are going to have to surface again. they'll probably need fuel for a vehicle, they'll need food to keep on moving and that i suppose, must give the french police some heart. on the other hand it is clearly very distressing for the police the government and the vast majority of people in france that the killers are still on the loose. what are we now, some almost 36 hours after the attack. >> barnaby phillips live for us there, north-east of paris. thank you so much jacky rowland can join us live from the square in paris where another vigil for the victims is taking place now. tell us more about the vigil. it is yet another vigil taking place today. what is the mood like there this evening? >> it is and it's been going on for two hours.

the mood evolved during this rally. at the beginning we saw, again, the sombre scenes of reflection contemplation and remembrance. people lighting candles, sitting silently or standing silently contemplating the candles thinking about the 12 people that lost their lives and the attack on the offices of "charlie hebdo". as the meeting evolved, we saw the sadness giving way to defines. i'd say a mood of resistance people were singing the national anthem. people were chanting "long live france", and the slogan "charlie is alive, charlie is not dead", suggesting the spirit of "charlie hebdo", this irreverent provocative, challenging journalism will live on and that is not just

metaphorically speaking it literally will live on. the news was announced that despite the gunning down of the editorial staff, the cartoonists on wednesday the next issue of "charlie hebdo" will be published. we are told the print run will be 1 million copies. far from silencing the newspaper, by carrying out the attacks, the assailants increased its reach and attracted hundreds of thousands of people who may not look at the magazine and may buy a copy. there's no surprise if that edition of the magazine is sold out. i gather in paris the eiffel tower has been blacked out as a symbol of remembrance for those that died. >> the eiffel tower is the

iconic landmark the symbol of paris, the beacon for visitors around the world. at the top of every hour the night-time hours the tower twinkles. in stark contrast to that at the top of this hour. 5-10 minutes ago, the tower fell bloc. bloc. -- fell black. it went into darkness plunged into darkness a symbol of mourning mourning for the 12 killed in the city yesterday. >> jacky rowland live in the center of paris for us with the latest on the vigil continuing into the night in paris. thank you very much indeed. now, witnesses in north-eastern nigeria report that more than 100 have been

killed and dozens of homes burnt in a town seized by boko haram last weekend. fighters attacked the town of barga on the shores of lake chad after overrunning a military base. hundreds are fleeing the area to escape the violence. boko haram controlled large areas of in north-eastern nigeria, where the group wants to set up an islamic state. fighters are expected to step up the activity in the run up to the elections, which are six weeks away now al jazeera learnt the international criminal court may be close to opening a criminal investigation into last summer's gaza war. we can go live to new york and speak it our diplomatic editor james bays at the united nations. tell us more. >> at the end of last year you and i focussed on palestine and president mahmoud abbas signing the rome statute leading to the

international criminal court have jurisdiction over territory of palestine. at the same time he signed this document to the international criminal court, a declaration. now, this declaration means that he wants the court to look retro actively at what happened in palestine from june the 13th 2014. that's a time period taking in all the summer's gaza war. if you look at the court's open internal procedures and in particular this the policy paper of the office of the prosecutor, when someone files a declaration, she then starts a preliminary investigation. it's here in article 76 on the receipt of a referral or declaration, the office will open a preliminary examination of the situation at hand. these are the words that are in this policy paper. unless the chief prosecutor at the international criminal court changes her own policy she'll start the preliminary examination. that is not a formal war crimes

investigation. what it is is her open inquiry to see whether there should be a war crimes investigation. she needs to look at whether the crimes that are being alluded to are serious enough for the international criminal court to take jurisdiction. whether car crimes she believes were committed and it's worth starting an investigation, and whether there's competent and credible investigation under way by national courts. so it seems likely if she follows her own policy she'll apply the questions to the event of last summer and the gaza war. >> james bays the diplomatic editor live at the u.n. still to come on al jazeera - we'll look at the french media's response to thursday's attack on "charlie hebdo". . >> suffering through the storm, how syrians fleeing war are

facing a battle against the

elements. elements. hello again, a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. french anti-terror police are staging a manhunt north of paris a day after heavy armed gunmen killed 12 people after an attack on "charlie hebdo". the two main suspects are cherif kouachi, and said kouachi, brothers aged in their 30s. the lights on france's most famous landmark the eiffel

tower have been turned off. demonstrations are expected across the country on sunday in other news thousands are flying in north-eastern nigeria after hundreds were killed by boko haram. the attack happened on wednesday night in the town of barga. let's talk to our correspondent in northern nigeria. tell us more about the attack that took place on wednesday, we gather. >> well basically the attack on wednesday was more like boko haram trying to finish what they couldn't finish over the weekend when they attacked the finishing community of baga. it's on lake chad bordering nigeria, chad and cameroon. basically they attacked the village over the weekend and killed lots of people. some are talking about hundreds of people killed. many of them drowned on the lake

chad trying to flee or cross the water into a neighbouring country. they came back on wednesday, went into the town and started killing again. the other people who couldn't flee - they were killed. those that could escape escaped. they burnt the town. then they moved to other villages and attacked the villages some of the villages have been completely burnt. those 16 areas, including baga town are effectively under the control of boko haram or suspected boko haram fighters. >> update there on the latest attack in nigeria. thank you for that now, the next issue of the "charlie hebdo" magazine comes out on wednesday. a million copies are to be printed. usually it sells about 50,000. laurence lee takes a look at the french media's attack.

>> reporter: the words don't just mean "charlie hebdo" is in our hearts but they have the support. that is the sentiments by this artist. the next day is a deeper analysis. the "charlie hebdo" flag over the presidential palace. the dove of peace with newspapers for wing and the armed men described by a signature mouse. he had known the men killed for 30 years. and your readers say if you want to kill them, you should kill us as well. >> we have to continue the battle. >> reporter: lamond france's most respected newspaper described it as their open september 11th. it is etched in the national

memory. as vigils show support and defines in the national mood the media says the spirit of the magazine its right to say what it wants will be financially and physically supported by the media. >> when you attack liberty of opinion, freedom, speech press freedom. we are going stronger and more cellular. we will be - "charlie hebdo" will resume and the freedom of the press will be droppinger in france. >> reporter: outside the building the words talk of depth of night and human spirit armed police stands guard. journalism is under attack here. they are fighting back. france says its press and democratic values have come under attack. in the days and weeks to come the french media has an

important roll to play. simultaneously to argue that people should be able to say what they want without fear of being attacked. at the same time not pandering to bigoted and anti-islamic values. the staff held their own silences at la monde. there's a lot of shock and fear and a realisation that there is an opportunity in all of this to further isolate those that would kill people whose opinions they are disagree with well, a senior advisor at the tony blair faith foundation joins us thank you for coming in. what do you think was the motive the aim of the attack not just that they wanted to a venge the car took place, but assuming there's a wider context. >> there is a wider context, and that is among the extreme

muslims, there's a feel of humiliation, a greater conspiracy against muslims and islams and a feeling that the cartoons and other forms of mockery are designed to insult and needle muslims in france. all of that is a grieve apps if you like in -- grieve apps, if you like in the background. how do you respond? to go to scripture. it's not the koran, but the alleged report saying where there's one reference to where he said if anyone insults a profit, any profit kill him. most muslim scholars say that's in contradiction with the koran and the region. the aim is to keep peace in the society. none of that matters to the mind of extremists that takes literature and acts on their own grievances of humiliation, by taking the lives of innocent people. the third point is they don't

see their lives in this case who are prepared to die in the pursuit as ending. they have a version of their life continuing in the afterlife. they believe they are prominent and famous in this world and rewarded in the next world. >> how do you counteract that ideology but is ideology that men and women subscribe to? >> the good news is this has not been an ideology that had purchase among the vast majority. this is an ideology that has appeal among young modern muslims. we have to ask where does it come from. we see it is financed and exported from saudi arabia and young muslims from campuses and prisons and on the websites are lured by it. the response should be two fold - one where it happens, prisons, university campuses

websites and two to uproot it where it's taken a hold inside the heart of islam in saudi arabia in mecca and medina where universities announce where this kind of extremist is taught. this is a manifestation of a literalist approach towards scripture. the vast majority are not in the space, and ordinary muslims taught be encouraged to isolate and eliminate the extremism in our midst. >> it's important to emphasise many muslims will be insulted humiliated if you like bit the cartoons, they wouldn't want to see the cartoons more than the extremists want to see the cartoons. it's about acting on the feeling that you will - your religion is being defaced, if you like. >> it's an interesting question. i'm muslim and find those cartoons offensive, but i realise the proceed some allowing for the cartoons to be

published are the same that allows me to prophetize my faith, observe and talk openly about my faith. most of the muslims in the west realise it's parts of a free society, where we have to ignore the ignorance of those that want to insult our profit. now other are insulted. our believes and convictions and faith ought to be strong enough not to be insulted by a tin pot magazine publishing a cartoon in paris. >> good to get your thoughts. thank you for coming to the studio windy weather in syria brought a lull in fighting much wednesday, in fact was the first day since the conflict began 3.5 years ago. no war casualties were reported to the syrian observatory for human rights. freezing temperatures are not good news for everywhere as jane ferguson reports. >> reporter: if the snow comes, tents will collapse.

syrian refugees in lebanon try to avoid being entirely submerged. they are running out of everything to survive. >> we don't have bread or heating oil look at me. we don't have socks everything is in these tents. no relief aid, no food no water, nothing. absolutely nothing. >> reporter: snow usually hits the areas in the beqaa valley in winter. a storm on wednesday has been cruel to the hundreds of thousands fleeing war during syria. >> translation: we need heating oil and bread. >> sickness is setting in. the cold hits the children the hardest. the united nations has handed out food and heating supplies. lebanon has no formal examples for syrians, they are scattered throughout a huge area and reaching everywhere in the snow is difficult. >> refugees are scattered over 1700 locations.

this time last year we estimated 30% were living in insecure dwells, this year it's around 50%. people are living in the informal settlements that can have four tents or 50 or 100. they hive in unfinished buildings, animal sheds and storage facilities. the storm is affecting multiple countries. syrian refugees in lebanon are the most vulnerable. having endured war and homelessness, they must battle nature for their survival. police in yemen arrested six suspected of wednesday's bombing of a police college in sanaa. 40 are confirmed dead and 71 wounded in the car bomb attack. al qaeda has been blamed by the authorities. more suspects are being pursued.

the brother of al jazeera reporter peter greste is hoping the journalist will be deported now that a retrial has been ordered. peter greste has imprisoned in egypt for more than a fear along with mohamed fadel fahmy, and baher mohamed. imran khan reports. >> reporter: 376 days and counting. that is how long peter greste and his colleagues mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed have been behind bars in egypt. their only crime is to report. on january 1st egypt announced a retrial but no date has been sediment andrew greste says the egypt government should deport his brother. >> immediately after the announcement into a retrial was ordered peter submitted an application to the - to have - to get him deported. under the guise of the a presidential decree announced in november. we see it as an opportunity for

the president to exercise his powers upped the decree and deport peter. now that he's an accused person going from being an convicted to an accused person. we are hopeful that egyptian authorities will consider this in a timely manner and come to a decision that sees peter deported and will benefit all parties. mohamed fadel fahmy's brother recently said deportation documents have been signed and lawyers and government officials are figuring out what will happen when he arrives in canada. an expert on egypt's legal affairs says it's not just legal issues keeping the three in gaol. >> the whole thing is political. it is not any more reason. and, of course the court, when it revert the case back that is

giving hope that they could be acquitted or released at least. but that is - that depends on legal grounds, but it will depend on political basis. egyptian president abdul fatah al-sisi came under criticism from governments globally for the court's handling of the men's trial. abdul fatah al-sisi said he would have preferred the journalists be deported giving many hope that that may happen now that a retrial has been announced. [ chanting ] >> reporter: protests have gone global demanding the release of the three, and many other media organizations stood firm saying the detention is an attack on press freedom. all three insist they have done nothing wrong. evidence presented at the trial included sheep herding videos

and examples of peter greste's works from kenya and just time to remind you you can find out more on the website. the address to click on to is aljazeera.com. aljazeera.com to get the latest news and sport from around the world. >> today on "talk to al jazeera" jazeera," norman lear , political activist and war veteran. >> who knows, god could be a woman, a president who would help us look in the mirror and see ourselves honestly. >> he is the man behind the iconic is it sit-coms