♪ ♪ this is al jazeera. welcome to the al jazeera news hour. coming up in the next 60 minutes. john kerry arrives in france as funerals are held for more of the victims killed in last week's attacks. pie jeer yeah's president visited parts of north of the country facing attacks. the u.s. announces further measures to losen trade and travel restrictions with cuba. and flying to the faithful, pope francis gets a warm welcome in the philippines on the

latest day of the asia tour. first let's fete you some breaking news, that's where we are getting reports several people have been killed in what is being tribed as a counter terrorism raid. the operation took place in the town in the province in the east of the country, we will bring you more details. in fact, we do have a photo now where the local journalist who is joining us from belgium first of all explain to us what happened in this operation. >> well, we don't have all the information because it is really a good looking story buzz the latest news we have, is that we have two people dead and one wounded. this happened in not far from the justice building.

where there was an anti-terrorist operation. it is a town where it's one of the islamist hot spot of belgium. request a lot of influence. local as well, and there are a number of radicals centers. but we don't know more than that at the moment. >> things are a little bit clearer. let's move on now to france where the u.s. secretary of state has arrive misdemeanor the capitol. john kerry is in paris to pay his respects to the victims of last week as attacks. john that is live for us in paris, so his presence there, making up for some of those -- some of that criticism of the u.s. absence, in earlier ceremonyies. >> john kerry arrived here in paris in the last

hour or so, in a visit that was only announced on monday that was taken in germany switzerland and bulgaria. before he left, he said that his visit was not intended as an apology to the french government to the country of france, for the lack of a presence a high profile presence of the obama administration at that march here, instead he said it was an opportunity to express america's affection for france, he also said he had no intention of explaining the lack of a high profile presence here among 40 world leaders and the million or more french people who turned out on the streets. there had been a great deal of criticism that the u.s. didn't send the vice president of a cabinet level official to stand shoulder to shoulder with france in it's hour of need, something the white house has acknowledged was a

mistake. and also the mayor of paris. >> france continues to bury the dead, and to remember what they lived for. in the suburb, this was the memorial service that are known as charley hack doe cartoonist continues. >> he was really a great cartoonist. >> what they lived for the slain cartoonist of charlie hack doe the right essentially, to offend equally all religions, and positions of power. in doing so, they

contributed to deep rifts in the multiculture society which includes the largest muslim population it has sold out in great numbers with the cartoon of the prophet on it's cover a depiction that muslims believe is blasphemous. we muslims it hurts us. i have a message, stop it. >> so francoise speaking at the arab world institute, deliver add message of unity and inclusivety, and he said this about attacks on religion. >> that must not only be denounced but seriously diminished. i want this fight to become one of our

national causes. >> a national cause with legal limitations. >> nobody said we should protect freedom of expression at all costs under french law there are a certain number of restrictions which must be strictly interpreted which are necessary in a democratic society such as defamation, and apology for the most serious crimes. but there is no blasphemy law. >> many may wonder whether there schaub a blasphemy law as the dead are buried and with charlie hebdo still very much alive. >> as france continues to bury it's dead, the fellow cartoonist was also layed to roast on thursday as well as two other staff members at charlie hebdo and the bodyguard who was assigned to protect the editor.

he was also killed his memorial will take place on friday. >> thank you so much. joan there from paris. now the united states and britain say they are working on a special initialtive to help tackle the boko haram group. the nigerian president who has been heavily credit sized for not doing enough is reported to have visited survivors of the attacks in two towns in the north. amnesty international has released images of what it says shows the devastating impact of those attacks. this was example on january the 2nd before the group allegedly moved in, shading in red for you. now all around, you can see streets and clusters of buildings. now, here is the same town on january the 7th. an estimated 3,000 homes have all been destroyed. a similar scene three-kilometers away here it is another

thriving town, and this is how it looks five days later, after attacks by boko haram. let's go to the nigerian capitol, where they join us -- first of all the government is being credit sized for how it handled the challenge how is the president's visit being -- the visit to the north in the area which is have been attacked. >> well, basically, the president as seen by his handlers as a visit to boost the morale. recent violence in normal state, however they could be political and this is an election year, and it goes to the falls in the next one month and so the president has been criticized severely. both in nigeria and from outside the country is struggling in terms of

putting up a bigger issue, putting up that image that he is achieving the arms forced and he is trying to deal with the problem definitely what is hatching and getting mored the l deadlier, than definitely the popularity is taking a hit. >> they seem to be getting more deadly, and i understand that you have been speaking to some of the survivors tell us what they have been telling you well, many of them are talking about horrific incidents. we have spoken to men women, and children, some of them have this to say they caught us as we were leaving town, they separated the children from the adults. who are asked to lie down. they were shot dead, we were taken back to their catch. we escaped when they were busy burning homes.

they followed us on motorcycles and trucks. we were trampling on dead bodies. we kept on for two days before we reached the main road. we lost more than 1,000 people. >> this is not the first time we have seen attacks like this, where is the army. >> well basically, they have been attacked in the past and this time around -- even before they took baghdad, there was a military base there, belonging to an international contingent, for troops from nigeria chad, and niger, they are around that military as they have in other parts of the country cases of parts of the state the mind before they attacked the civilian communities. the military says it is trying all it can to deal with the situation but the situation on the ground. it is like the military

is struggling to deal with the crisis. now in syria the army and rebels have starting a ten day truce. they want both sides to stop fighting for long enough to allow aid in. the real test though is can opposition fighters turn the ten day truce into something that will hold? like a lasting cease fire. >> the dend mas of

civilians to the more a activities from the area and protect civilians i cannot confirm whether the fighters will stay or leave. >> they managed the cease fire in the the rest, in the march injured civilians got out a few months later the rebels surrendered and we given safe passage. but in the rest of the country, the syrian observatory says the government carried out 113 air strikes on wednesday. 43 of these used barrel bombs full of explosives, nails. they hit rebel areas in aleppo la turk yeah, ham ma. the rebels are not gaining ground, if anything they are in retreat. under pressure from the army on one side, and fighters from isil and the front on the other. despite all the talk of

local cease fires most people can only see another long winter of war stretching ahead. al jazeera, beirut. the fight is having a dramatic effect on the global economy. it is arguably good news for consumers but bad news for producers in june, brent peeked at around $111 a barrel. now, it is sitting around the 48-dollar mark, of 55 pest drop in since monos. some of the more efficient producers a better place to weather the storm. but it is the bigger oil producing nations that are the hardest hit. it's average breaking point is around $98 per oil. just to break even, canada's energy minister says the government will be able to balance it's budget this year. danielle has more.

>> the world is having it's biggest impact so far in that part of canada that actually produces energy, the western province there in the oil sands or tar sands as they are known there are a couple of thousand layoffs have been announced sun core, the largest producer is laying off 1,000 people, and also curtailing investment that is true of shell and others. here in the financial capitol, toronto, of course, it is stock markets are reflecting this energy stocks are huge here, and the stock markets are off so far about 5%, by the beginning of this year. if you look around, you can see mostly red on the stock ticker at one of our major banks. financial institutions are also expecting problems. some say that falling energy prices obviously have a upward effect on some parts of the economy, cheaper fuel prices petrol prices at the pump, they are good for motor zest the retail sector. good for the ever manying

economy, that this part of the country depends upon in the end falling oil prices are probably bad news. budget deficits are expected to reappear after years of trying to balance the budget, and there's even talks of a recession. everyone is waiting where they will go next. >> in the the energy sector, despite falling prices the ones are being effective. carolyn reports. >> a recent report suggests that every country that is producing energy, will stop some projects in oil and gas. making it one of the richest in the world but it has also had to cancel projects. they have canceled plans for a 6.4 billion

project, which would have been one of the big nest the world, it was agreed upon when oil prices were more point. according to the investment authority there are $130 billion of funds earmarks for investment. behind the other investments are domestic like the rail system, as well as in health and education. cool tarr has major property investments. many are being built for sports projects like the 2022 football world cup. and there's ever ex-nd paing around the world such as money in london, into tiffany the jewelers into sports teams like paris they have invested stakes in banks like credit suisse. they have also invested $1.2 billion in the biggest mobile phone carrier.

>> an independent oil analyst, he joins us now from london. i know it is different for each country, how long can some of the biggest members of opec, the billest ex-porters go oon making a loss. >> i think it is going to -- another maybe two. whether it is kuwait, saudi arabia, we can live for two to three years in the level of -- even because we have enough enough sufficient funds whether it is local banks, or lack in the region of $500 billion so that should be enough. enough to carry us for the next two to three years. and i don't see personally that the oil prices will continue to slide. i think it will pick up, when, i don't know, but

maybe it will maybe by the end of this year, most likely. >> what is the strategy of some of those countries you pensioned? letting oil prices stay where they are not cutting their production at this point are they waiting for the newcomers to the market, those that aring from tissing fracking to break to be the ones that blink first. >> no, honestly, i think and i strongly believe that russia should blink first. russia today is the biggest oil producener the world so why shouldn't they start the economy is down, the local currency is down by more than -- it lost more than 55% of it's value and the interest rate in the range of 16, 17% i

think they should -- this is really actually it is very nice question because russia is sending it's allies to saudi arabia. why don't they ask russia to reduce? as you remember, before the meeting last month before the 27th of november so again venezuela, mexico, russia met. they really met. but they wanted this. they wanted russia to cooperate. and they didn't. so in my opinion go ahead. >> i was going to say i am glad you arenings manying that because i wanted to get your take on how much of this is politics not just economics and the suggestion that some of the major countries want to see countries that they have difficulties with. in foreign relations such as russia and iran. come to a negotiating

position on some of the difficult issues. honestly, i don't see it that way because in the beginning after the meeting and after they agreed not to touch the ceiling, the protection, it was -- saudi arabia, is collaborating with u.s. aid to harm iran, to harm russia, but we know that's not the case. because america doesn't like it's oil producer. to get out of the market. they want them to stay because they are representing the national security. so that theory has gone now. the sawed yeas all the time what about russia. why russia doesn't reduce it's production, why russia doesn't cooperate. they have always been attending as an on

server, why don't they act this time. >> all right. >> why do they always stand on the sideline. >> all right. >> questions to be answered as we go forward, for now thank you very much. >> bye bye. >> a lot more still ahead. state of emergency as tens of thousands are displaced by severe flooding and the nominations are out we will have the latest on who is in line for top honors at this year as oscars. and in sport, one day play with renaldo at real maderize we will hear from the coach later on. where the u.n. is saying there has been a initial agreement. talks between some of the countries political

figures began on bend they are asking the abe rabb league, israel froze the handover of $120 million of tax money, after they signed up to join the criminal court. they also spoke about trying to get the u.n. security council dend maaing israel ends it's occupation. >> canada's foreign minister is pressed for the release of al jazeera journalist a a meeting with his canadian counter part. he has spent more than a year in prison, peter greste and bahar mohamed. political pressure builds as the foreign minister visits. canada has come under

criticism for not doing enough to pursue his case. who holds canadian citizenship. by coming here today by meeting with the minister by having constructive dialog, we will resolve this issue. >> so far the ordeal of the journalists has lasted more than one year the strain it has placed on the families is clear, the wife of bahar mohamed says the lack eau clairety and information is a big worry. >> where, we are frustrating. no critical steps have been taken to release my husband and the other journalists, nothing has been settled. regarding the pardon, or whatever, they have only accepted his appeal and that was it. >> on january 1st, the appeals court ordered a retrial, but so far no date has been sent. s according to sources the deportation is possible. but depends on their

country, australia and canada respectively, reaching an agreement with the egyptians. al jazeera. >> thousands of people turned out to welcome to the philippines. he was treated to a rapture rouse reception. the first visit since 1995. harry faucet reports. >> pope transition was welcomed by a greeting party headed by the president and leading figures of the catholic church here. rainstorms are forecast to hit huge open air events over the weekend. millions are expected on friday and sunday. west hit by the high fan and deliver a message on man mind climate change. he will also focused on the philippines call.

but right now the church and state are at logger heads about how best to serve them. they have three children, so a fourth died two years ago and at 23, has decided to use contraception for the first time the her life. every year i gave birth she told me about family plans because i was getting pregnant every year. >> last year the health bill guarantees access to contraception became law but it was fought every step of the way by the catholic church. the thing that strikes me is the sheer number of children. staff at this nearby clinic providing contraceptives and advice, say no matter the

new law priests still tell women it's immoral and the side effects dangerous. >> smoking is dangerous to your health, but. >> well, it is similar. it may p less, but you have to inform people. >> the vatican gathered reaffirmed the teaching on contraception for now tensions over the roll in political life will be set aside as the country celebrates the first visit for 20 years. up to 50,000 police and soldiers will be on hand to to have security. 6 million people are expected. al jazeera manila. >> now coming up, detroit diversities the motor city, changing gear to attract small businesses with big dreams. history is made in the

u.s. as two men complete what is known as the world's touchest climb and they have done wit their bare hands.

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welcome pack. you are watching the al jazeera news hour. two people have been killed and what is being call add counter terrorism raid. the operation took place in the town in the province. good luck jonathon is visiting an army base in the north. boko haram is become blamed for destroying the towns and killing hundreds of people. they have reported legreeed to lift their siege on several cities and create humanitarian passages. the deal mark as break through in stalled negotiations but members of the tripoli based parliament aren't represented at the u.n. sponsors meeting. let's go straight now to geneva joining us on the

line, first of all put this into context for us, if one side wasn't there has there been a road map that's been agreed to by all sides. >> sami, this is the biggest question, how meaningful are these talks. that the united nations launched the building. it is trying to broker peace, it wants to help the warring some kind of political solution, what we understand is that the parties in attendance have agrees on the number of steps that they say will trust the libyans. lifting on the siege open humanitarian corridors, now not all groups are here. the parliament which is based in tripoli and not recognized. by the international community is not here, neither are powerful armed factions. i spoke to or managed to

speak to a number of the parliament which is internationally recognized, i asked him how is this process going to work, achording to him, the united nations will be in touch with other parties the parties that are got here, and inform them of the decision a i cording to him, sanctions will be imposed. again, this is according to the member of the civil party like you said the real question is how meaningful will this be, but what is clear is that the international community considering it. >> were any of the grievances that they have of the other solved or addressed? comprehensive peace agreements if we can say that is this the exactly the gmc expressed reservations.

they didn't have details of the mechanism they wanted to be consulted more by the united nations. but really yesterday waywe heard from the envoy. i really use strong words when they say they are here to talk. which is war and this is not acceptable by the international community which is relieving patients but really strong words with some questioning whether the u.n. and the international community plans to apply pressure on folk whose are not here whether there's a possibility of international intervention. but what is being here as of late, is that libya is at the doorsteps of europe which is being exploited by groups how

they can come together, because the octoberive of these talks is to form a national unity government. and if not all parties are onboard following the situation in northern nigeria. >> it was also a former chairperson for the foreign correspondent association, of southern africa good to have you with us, first of all i want to take up with you this line we got only a few hours ago there will be a joint u.s. initiative. we heard 4s in the past of extra western support for the fie jeerian government and the army. one of the options that can be considered. well, i think boko haram

from the air is not effective. the other countries in west africa. but to expect that to use air power to suppress boko haram. while they are saying to a certain extent, it's always been the case, that a majority of victims have been muslims. and it seems increasingly that the attacks are coming bloodier, and targeting more similar muslim villages. >> why? >> and they try to the barrel of the gun and they need to remember that nigeria has the most

number of muslims in africa. they are fighting against the people, who happen to be majority of muslims. so so they plan to oppress the people, and make them succumb in order to control and dominate certain territories that they currently holding. the strategy, the baffling attempt how much evidence is there for the allegations which we have heard of collusion of state collusion behind boko haram and it's acing thats. >> that is the change because the more the security state or status of nigeria you have all

of these other l.es from benefiting from that stability. >> so yes, there are a lot of people, marly officials very high levels are involved, or have been accused of being involved with -- enganging with some of the limits within boko haram. >> thank you for coming in. >> you're welcome. >> more than 70 people have been killed in southern africa after severe flooding, 48 people have died and more than 70,000 have remain homeless. 25 children have been killed and more than 20,000 have been forced from tear homes. stronger river currents like this one have forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes. debt place villages could do nothing if the water washes away, dozens have been killed. we have unconcerns reports that more than 25 children and their

godfathers were washes away, but we are not able to cross the river to get to where this happened so we have yet to confirm this information we also have reports the two elderly people were washed away. >> for days rainstorms and strong winds have hit the two countries the rivers have burst their banks and more than half of it has been declared a disaster zone, many people say the intensity of the rains tomb them by surprise. >> it started around midnight they came to wake me up they lost a lot of things, their houses their goods really a lot of stuff that they lost. governments are struggling for the scale of the disaster, many have been destroys the waters have also washed away roads. it has been hit by massive flooreds in the past the 2000 and 2007

floods effected more than half a million people, and opening the gates of overflowing dams worsen the damage for the downstream. it took years for the rehabilitation of the people that lost everything. the government has issued a red alert and the appeal for humanitarian assistance to deal with the crisis and there are warnings of flash floods over the next two to three weeks. has ordered an investigation into what it call as conspiracy by former president roger defies allegations he attempt add coupe to remain in office, charles has more. >> a fascinating development in the politics of this country the new government launching a police investigation into what it says was a diabolical conspiracy to try and stay in office. it says it has reliable information that just as those results were coming

through, they had meetings with his brothers who was running the defense ministry at the time, and the chief justice, discussions that looked at ways in which the military could be deployed a state of emergency declares and the election commission raided. where those results were being counted and even the election commissioner being arrested now they have denied these claims say he has no want to go against the will of the people but certainly an indication that the new government is determined to deliver on it's patrols, of giving good governance and transparency to this country. >> the new travel and trade rules between the united states and cuba are set to come into effect on friday. the measures will led to citizens use their credit cards in cuba, and some business wills be able to export some technologies, president jordan has more details from washington d.c. the changes in u.s. regulations regarding economic and personal contacts with persons in cuba have long before

expected. now they take effect on friday. what happens is that cuban americans will be able to send up to $2,000 at a time to harrell tiffs in the island nation there will also be i believe proved business and telecommunications contacts. and finally for people who fit into one of 12 general categories, educational, journalistic humanitarian, as well as some smaller low level business categories, they will not have to ask the u.s. government for permission to visit cuba as long as they are following other general rules. all they have to do is ask the cuban government for a visa to travel to that country. what this means is that the u.s. is very much committed now to the process of normalized regularses with cuba, which has not been in effect for more than five years the obama administration believes there is a joint benefit to improving and

expansing ex-casual and business ties because it says that the cuban people deserve to have a better quality of life and they also believe that the u.s. population has been missing out on a relationship with a neighboring nation just over 100-kilometers away the motor industry is detroit's largest industry but high rates of unemployment mean the city has had to diverse fighter it's job market, now it is atracking a different kind of entrepreneur. allen fisher reports. it is a place where businesses are born, a community of workers and dreamers. a start to small businesses. here advice is not far away the community supporter.

they are able to open up space, and allow people to come in and be creative and think about fulfilling their dreams. with low risk, low risk barriers are lower. to see what can happen. and that's really the point, at a very affordable cost. >> for years detroit relied on heavy industry, but down sizing hit more than just the car workers. stores restaurant, everyone suffers though detroit is diversitied it still wants big employers but a wider job base, they say it is about changing a culture. >> they are talking about making it something that high school, is about an option. and that involves not only encouraging the school, but also trying to encouraging small businesses to grow up around them. so they see the role

models. it is now planning a shicker version, but the offense the support particularly in the difficult which made it a you can is recess. pause of that and the city around us, i didn't really have to worry about those things. other cities are looking al similar operations. there are 20 here that created 80 jobs in just three years. there's a waitle list to come in, and plans to make more space it will never replace the big employers that still sit on the edges of detroit. a fresh start. a new opportunity.

allen fisher, al jazeera detroit. >> still ahead in sport the u.a.e. footballers make history of the asian cup, coming up.

iran's football has qualified for the quarter finals.

it was a special movement. of the center forward the level of some of the best i work in my life. and some of them it is brilliant goal. >> the irhinians will be weary, they manage to make history at the asian cup with the fastest goal in the. co tis history it took just 14 seconds to get them going. they had the ball in the net once more, unfortunately, it was their own the game win this 2-1. >> now real madrid and

barcelona are both here later. that kicks off p just a few minutes time. the two h nil down following the first leg. they have even give his opinion about the continuing rumors leading barcelona. and the great argentinian would be a fearsome prospect. having them both play in one team, would be great for that team. because they are a similar poll of barcelona, so it is hard to believe they may change that they are also in action, he was one of the scorers in the 5-nil thrashing. in the first leg.

ones again, they insist he is going absolutely nowhere. >> i am focused from having the team under control, we all think and he has expressed the same thing several times so he is going to stay there for many years. i don't understand why there's so much talk about it, why we aren't even considering it. >> now, guess who is coming out of retiement former star who hasn't played since february 2011, will now feature for the strikers. the soccer league team, the owner of the club, and he has promised to shed the unwanted kilos and return to the pitch soon. it is easy trying to train against that, but to play.

they are in very good shape, so i will try for myself and start another challenge and i am sure it will help the league, help the team, and have america. >> now two men in the the united states have completed what is known as the world's toughest climb elise reports. >> seven years the planning 19 days in making and one never achieved before. friends reaching the summit of what is known as the dawn wolf of el captain in california's yosemite national park.

none like this, they scaled the summit, harnesses in robes only there to stop them from a deadly fall. tony managed with just nine after losing one during a home renovation. he has persevered his whole life, and this is kind of like a long time coming, i don't know. other things like this, not the first time. i really say release is a

stronger emotion the whole world is just -- learning about the person that i have known for his whole life. previously called impossible is that no longer. alysse, al jazeera. >> absolutely incredible, now, one of kenya's star athletes has appeared before a hearing of the country's athletic commission. who is winner of both the chicago and boston marathons tested positive for a banned substance in the home country in september last year. he is facing a possible two year ban subsequently also showed traces of the blood booster, epo. >> well, elise yeah is the sports editor at the national media group in kenya, he told al jazeera that the doping story has caused the country's athletic image considerable harm. >> it is the biggest ever caught using bans

substances and the effect is that now everybody is looking at kenyan with a lot of suspicion. the government also do good p.r. to get us back on track. >> former world number one leads. the current u.s. open champion and a three time winner. that gives him a one stroke lead. caught under five, and it is three behind, rickie fowler. >> i played well, and made ten birdies. but i hear a lot of fair ways, they are quite sharp. so it is very difficult to score when you play

like this. >> nfl player has been charged. the attorney says it is client all the allegations against him. well one known cricket has decided to call it a day, former australian brett lee. the fourth highest taker he will finish homicide career at the end of the 2020 season for the sidney. more sport on our website. more sport for now now in the u.s. the oscar no, ma'am faces have been announced at a ceremony

in hollywood. there were some predictable choices but also some surprises. now the golden globes on the way. and then it is the oscars the big one and now we know about which actors and movies are up for awards. so there are 24 categories but there are some that get more attention than others. first of all best director. we have the boyhood bennett miller, wes anderson here. morton till done for the invitation day and hardly a surprise he is the favorite to win for this. >> you were a movie star, remember? bradley cooper for

american sniper. for the imitation game and up against him another britt eddie for his performance as steen hawk canning recently earned him a golden globe. >> called -- why do you know that? the universes is expanding. >> best actors closely follow two. we have felicity jones for her role in the theory of everything. wild has reese witherspoon and the favorite and she is a strong favorite, julian moore for still alice. >> no, i want to put it in, and where is it? >> can you spell that. >> yeah it's -- >> s-a-u -- >> let her do it. >> and then there is best picture, this is the big one, not always the most popular, in fact rarely that but the most popular with the academy and battling it out

eight films. here they are. interesting here, because selma has been neglected by the other award ceremony is, and this one which is the strong favorite to win, this is boyhood. >> i see your point. so we should just let it happen more naturally? okay. that's what we will do. starting now. >> and that is it so now the movie world will go crazy waiting. and the red carpet prepared but there is still quite a wait, more than five weeks winners will be announced in hollywood on february the 20 second. stay with us here, we have another full bulletin of news, that's coming up in a couple of minutes. with all the news head over to our website aljazeera.com.

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reports that two people have died during a police downer terrorism raise in belgium. hello there you are watching al jazeera live from london p also coming up, new images are released that are said to show the devastating impact of boko haram attacks on nigerian towns cheap