attacks that to come place the attack on charlie hebdo and the jewish kosher grocery in the south of paris. those attacks leaving 17 people dead. let's go to tim friend, who is live for us in the place de la hepublique. tim, the light is going, it's getting darker, but these people show know signs of going away. >> no, it's undiminished. it continues and seeing people from all walks of life here of men religions who have come together to express solidarity. of course, there are differences between them, but for the moment they are suspended in the interest of national unity let's talk to a rabbi who is from paris, itself. you were marching near the head of the march. what was the atmosphere there?

what was the mood as you were marching along? >> today the whole france is a march of unity. the issues of anti- anti-semitism it was not just a jew, but jew of all society. we're fight radicalism, and this is the message that this is today. >> you were with the imam and clearly showing solidarity, but there are people within your respective communities who don't have that sense of community. i mine this, is the reality isn't it? >> the sense of community is clearly shown within the jewish community that a jew today should be able to practice, and live his judaism freely and openly in an open society and

tolerant society and acceptance society. there is no excuse whatsoever of how a jew could be attacked today in france because he's living his judaism. >> i think everyone would agree with that. what do you think of benjamin netanyahu's comments that seem to be suggesting to people jews in france who say if you're afraid here you always have a home in israel. >> i can tell you that we'll do everything and we're dealing with the authorities european authorities french authorities to make sure that jews could continue practicing judaism and that children could be able to go securely in jewish school and get a provided european jewish education. jews can have lunch or dinner at a kosher restaurant and sit in a cafe at place de la republique to go shopping and enjoy sales.

>> it was a direct attack on the jewish supermarket and the threat to some extent remains. france is still on high alert. what would you hope, lastly and briefly, what would you hope would emerge from this huge march today? >> the march is a march of solidarity. the authorities, the governments, need to take the fullest responsibility. this is what we're telling them to, provide security to every citizen in their country. >> you don't think they've been doing enough? >> always could be more. if we're at the stage we are today, for sure more could be done. not just on the french level european level and international level. the hatred must be stopped to all. preaching hatred must be stopped from all sides of the world and which should preach living together in tolerance. >> we'll have to leave it there. thank you very much. well another--yet another heartfelt opinion.

we've had many here throughout the day. as you say night is now falling. for the first time to some extent the crowd is starting to thin out but i think this probably is going to go on for a few more hours. >> you've been speaking to such a lot of people there tim and i think it's been really wonderful how so many people have spoken about wanting to be, wanting to see more unity in france wanting to see more integration with the muslim community. what kind of stories have you been hearing from people throughout the day that have really stuck with you? >> they have been numerous. the one that sticks in my mind is the father who had come down from northern paris with his wife and his daughters and his young son who was on his shoulders. we were talking to him and he said you know, when this all first happened, and when we

started to see it on the television, that is the violence last week, my son and he looked up at his son thought war had broken out. he said, the reason i brought him here today is because i want to show him that war has not broken out and the fact is that the vast majority of the people, for the vast majority of the time get along perfectly well. at the same time, of course, people here would acknowledge that the threat remains and there are people who don't share that point of view about unity. but it seemed to win the day here. there was a rabbi, a woman rabbi from london who had come here with a muslim leader from london. we spoke to them as well. and they were telling us that they realized that the march perhaps was just the beginning

of something here in france, a galvanizing of opinion a realization perhaps that you have to guard your rights very carefully, and also you have to acknowledge the issues. i was asking them, how do you do that? of course interfaith dialogue keep talking and keep meeting each other but then the issue of poverty disillusionment the kind of thing that exists on the fringes of people where people, young men in particular, are hearing propaganda. that is the flavor of opinions we're getting today. >> tim, thanks a lot for that. a lot of color added by tim friend, who is amongst the crowd at place de la repuwpl a

republic. >> at the unity rally interesting faces. all in all nearly 40 countries are represented not just from europe but as far away as the united states, mali. and niger. let's look at the big names. algeria was part of france until 1962. so a huge number of french muslims have links to the north african nation. the kouachi brothers were born to algerian president. and amedi coulibaly also had a algerian family. then there is the u.k. prime minister david cameron up for re-election there soon, there to give his support.

his issue the threat of home-grown fighters who have learned to fight from abroad 37 then benjamin netanyahu. mahmood abbas also there. france once had the largest jewish population in the e.u. netanyahu has publicly invited jews living in europe to move to israel. his presence, to support the jewish community shockenned by that attack on the supermarket in paris where hostage taker amedi coulibaly was shot dead. russia is currently out in the cold due to the situation in ukraine. it was not invited to the recent g-7 meeting, for example nevertheless there is a feeling that differences need to be put aside, be it temperature rare temporarily. and president putin is criticized about freedom of

speech and there are claims that he tries to silence media. and then there are reports that the most wanted to have traveled to istanbul and then on to syria. turkey has been accused of clamping down on free speech and protest itself in recent years with its own attempts to ban twitter. the french are supported internationally. the u.s. representative has used the visit to describe high level global anti-terrorism meeting. these are countries who are determined to protect themselves and to combat a mutual concern and a mutual fear. >> let's get some other world news now. in nigeria two suspected child suicide-bombers, most believed to be young girls have oh blown

themselves up in the market in the north east. the attacks took place in a market selling mobile hand sets. the number of casualties is still unclear but it follows saturday's suicide-bombing by a ten-year-old girl in the town of maiduguri, which killed 16 people. >> sri lanka's newly elected government says it is investigating an attempt by former president rajapaksa to block the vote camps. arguments spokesperson for president maithripala sirisena said that rajapaksa tried to block the vote as it showed that he was heading to defeat. the police refused to back the former president. meanwhile thousands gathered to hear president maithripala sirisena. he pledged to attack poverty and

unite all ethnic and religious groups in the country. and suggested improving relations with western countries. let's get more now from charles strad stratford who is in the capitol of colombo. >> in the early hours of january 9th, just as votes were beginning to come in, it seems that former president rajapaks did not like what he was saying. the army chief was told to come up with a legal means by which he could retain office as president. after discussions neither parties both representatives of the attorney general and the army chief were basically were prepared to play ball, and it was then that they decided to concede defeat to the now president sirisena. the president has been in kandy

he has been addressing the nation there from one of the historic sites in that city. he has been talking about his 100-day plan to end what is described here as the executive powers of the president the executive presidential powers. he also said that this country was in no need of a king, but a leader for the people. he invited all members of the opposition the now opposition to help join in and form an unity, a national government of unity here. he thanked his supporters of what is still sinking in here for a surprise victory what he describes as a new political era in sri lanka. >> delegates all around the world have gathered for an investment conference including u.s. secretary of state john kerry and u.n. secretary general

ban ki-moon. narendra modi emphasized that his government was committed to transparency. we have this update. >> this is the largest avatar of the conference so far. eight foreign countries are partnering this year. some are involved here for the first time. in previous years the other countries had boy contract narendra modi because of his alleged involvement in communal riots in 2002 when he was chief minister. now that he's primary minister many foreign countries are going out of their way to do business with the new government. that can be seen with foreign company hits dignitaries on the other side of the gate there most note notably secretary of state john kerry and u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon.

in the same time for the past three years it was completely the bureaucracy and tax system was simplified making business easy to do. many foreign companies are now hoping that narendra modi has gone from chief minister to prime minister of the country will mean that india will finally be open for business. >> in pakistan, a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker. the bus caught fire, killing 59 people near karachi. most of the dead were burned beyond recognition. initial reports say that the tanker was traveling in the wrong direction on a bad stretch of road. now at least nine people have been killed in northern lebanon. fighters from syria's al nusra front, who are linked to al-qaeda say they're responsible for the attacks. this attack happened at an cafe in an alawite neighborhood.

president bashar al-assad is an alawite and support for him in this area of tripoli has led to violence in this city before. >> now let's go back to paris where a massive unity mark is taking place. organizers are saying that around 1.5 million people are marching in the french capitol. another million taking part in marchs in various cities and towns around france showing solidarity and for peace and unity after a series of deadly attacks in fast last geek. more than 17 people including three fighters lost their lives. world leaders from 40 nations also taking part in that rally. leaders from the u.s. e.u. israel turkey, the arab world has marched along side french

president françois hollande. let's take a look at the roots that the marchs are taking. they start at place de la republique. one route makes its way to the end point place de la nation. the another march going through voltaire boulevard. voltaire said i disapprove of what you say but i'll defend to the death your right to say it. the freedom of speech march taking place right now as well as different communities in france. let's speak to jaime an assistant professor here in doha. remy welcome to the program.

it has been an extraordinary day. not only have we seen 1.5 million people, 2 million people taking part in these marchs. i'm told there are demonstrations taking place in madrid bay root, tokyo sydney, america. what does this say about--i suppose our hopes of a more unified and peaceful world. >> well, it shows that those values are universal and it's not a question of where you're born, it's a question of do you believe in everyone being able to voice their concerns, whether you agree with it or not. it's a basic right to express themselves. do what they want to do whether you're from france, sydney, ramallah another country, it is any possibility when it comes to

this. >> there are communities who feel vulnerable and isolated. do you think anything is going to change regarding those communities in france as a result of what has happened today? >> well, for the moment we have to go step by step. what is interesting to look at the march right now. the number of different flags that you see i've seen flags from romania. >> yes usual piano, arab flags. lots of arab flags flying right now. >> and it is similar to a full cup, when a team won a world cup, there was demonstrations of flag and right now you see different kind of demonstration. you see the kind of more inclusive wherever you're coming from, you're woman if you support the notions those values. in past marchs there have been more sectarian marchs where i would say close to the catholic

church anti-gay marchs, anti-gay marriage marchs, the rallies from the joan of ark our emblem, will gain more support. you see now the progressive side of society the more left wing and center taking over the street and saying the world societies marching together for world ideals. and not just in the streets, but singing the national anthem of france which has been become their chant. i know a lot of people who didn't want to sing it any more because they saw it as a national song. now they're following the chants. and many have sung it for the first time and understanding the lyrics maybe for the first time because the lyrics are terrible

are--controversial if you look at it. it's talking about unpure blood the blood of the people, not the king but people of society. we don't have the true blood the blue blood, we have regular blood. and the singing of the song, the song of value freedom equality and fraternity. >> let me give you a couple of statistics that i found disturbing. a study found 7-10 voters believe that part of the immigrant community has failed to integrate and nearly all of them blame the immigrant for not making the required effort needed to integrate. why is that still this disconnect between people--you know, even second-, third-generation members of immigrants communities who are

still failing to feel themselves part of a society of a big democracy with all the systems in place to look after all parts of the community. >> a little bit has to do with economics and less creation of jobs over the decades and less possibility for a newcomer to benefit from any kind of group. therefore, you have more increased tendency of the population further to take for them and maybe not share. this has maybe changed over the two or three years. the administration of françois hollande is different from sarkozy, but the the number now 63% are now compatible with the french society. in a sense the french society is a secular society. the problem that the french population had with islam is

maybe it was the only religion that was finding difficulty in adapting with a secure system, which is not showing belonging to any specific religion in school whether it's a cross or veil you're not supposed to wear it whether in primary school or high school. same for governmental buildings. therefore, the hatred and the frustration towards fundamentalism has been concentrated to islam. that's a problem we've seen over the last couple of decades. now that you have the muslim authorities in france abdicate ing those actions from last week showing that the values of the republic, of the people, are above the concerns of secularism is a huge step forward. maybe showing in the front line

the new figures of those who advocate for legal way or more private way to practice their religion by satisfying and respecting the values of the society. >> recommend my,remy, thank you. >> now the video of the man attacking a jewish supermarket has been released by a french radio station. in the recording amedi coulibaly pledges his allegiance to isil. he spoke out against campaigns in mali and found osama bin laden as an inspiration. he raided a supermarket and held multiple hostages. four hostages died in that rain. a senior commentator.

>> these people may have been trained in yemen and that they have been under orders has been floated around, but we should be careful because we don't know if these videos are authentic or who put them forward. there are so many videos circulating that must be questioned. there is a proportionate proportionality that needs to be taken in account. perhaps down the line we'll see what motivated these men to engage in this kind of violence. my first reaction when i was watching this on television was i was expecting an assault on all three positions and i knew deep down in my heart that there they would be executed without much of an effort simply because when this whole thing will come out, eventually the question

that needs to be asked is how come france, which is a land of liberty and equality, and fraternity has not been able to integrate these citizens into the narrative of their society? that is, i think the far more important question. >> well, let's go back to the place de la republique rory, the march is still very much in progress. >> yes the march is definitely in progress, and there are still many many people down here in the square below me at the place de de la republique. you were talking about the different nationality flags on

display. there are several down there. i can see the turkish flag and german flag, a sign of the kind much of sense of solidarity of the people who have come out today want to show. this is exactly the message they're trying to put out. it has been a huge demonstration. we've been surrounded by 1.5 million people. that's the figure that the organizers have said have turned out here. we haven't yet had confirmation from the police. the police numbers are usually lower than the organizers of the democrat demonstrations. we'll have to wait and see. the u.s. attorney general eric holder leaders have come to find a shared agreement of how to tackle, how to deal with the

kind of violence that france was victim to this week. they came up with a number of different suggestions. one of which was to meet again in washington, d.c. in february. they were also talking about tweaks to the schengen zone, the board-free area where you don't have to show your passport when crossing between countries. they're not thinking of scrapping that at all but they're talking about increasing the amount of information in that zone, so security forces have a better idea of how people are moving within this free state ideas inside europe. >> rory, thank you very much for that. rory challands overlooking the place de la republique.

we have yet to receive confirmation that they've reached the end of their march. we'll have more after the break.

hello there from doha. welcome to continuing coverage of the solidarity mars across france. organizers say up to 1.5 million people are on the streets of paris to show they are united despite three days of horror. dozens of world leaders are showing support from europe to africa the middle east and the members members. it's a simple message. the pen is mightier than the sword. the cartoonists and policemen killed at charlie hebdo magazine. i am tim friend.