x welcome to the journal and dw. >> great to have you with us. our headlines for you this hour. a historic breakthrough in the cold war standoff between the u.s. and cuba. president barack obama calls to an end to the embargo. protests and vigils held across pakistan today after the preshow or school killings. the first -- after the peshawar school killings. >> in a major foreign-policy

shift, the u.s. and cuba have announced they are planning to normalize their diplomatic relations. president barack obama and cuban president castro announced the move and simultaneous public statements on tuesday. three cuban spies are being released from u.s. jails in return for two high profile individuals, one of whom is a cuban national who has been in detention and cuba for nearly 20 years on charges of spying for the u.s.. the other, and american contractor, has now been reunited with his family in the >> allan gross arrived back in the u.s. after spending five years in prison in cuba. the 65 euro was jailed for trying to set up internet access to communities in cuba. president obama said his release, together with an unnamed u.s. by held in cuba for two decades, was a condition for the u.s. restoring diplomatic relations. washington released three cuban

spies. in an address to the nation, obama defended the controversial decision. >> i believe that we can do more to support the cuban people and promote our values through engagement. after all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. it's time for a new approach. >> as obama spoke, keep the cuban president addressed his own nation from havana. he said profound differences still remain between the two nations, but said it was time to learn to live at those differences. in the u.s., many republicans are outraged. >> today by conceding to the oppressors, this president, this administration am have let the people of cuba down. >> the changes include the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the communist run island and the easing of economic sanctions imposed in the 1960's, as well as some travel restrictions.

but lifting the u.s. economic embargo will require the approval of congress. >> joining us now from washington is our correspondent. this is a watershed moment in u.s. cuban relations. what led to the breakthrough? >> there are two main factors that brought both sides together. first, obama's willingness to change u.s. foreign policy with cuba. america has had no diplomatic relations with cuba since 1961. i think it is a very risky move by obama. second, the willingness of the castro regime for political and economic reform. they have not only released ilan gross but will also release 53 political prisoners. so the castro brothers probably realize that their time is coming to an end and reform will come sooner after they are gone. both havana and washington are

willing to turn the page in the u.s. and cuban relations. >> is everyone happy with this development? what has been the reaction in the u.s. so far? >> you will find both positive and negative reactions to the obama announcement. while most democrats support this move, many republicans don't. for example, republican senator marco rubio strongly opposes the change. he gave a press conference right after obama's speech. senator rubio was very emotional. he called obama -- he said obama is the worst negotiator that he has seen in his lifetime, the worst negotiator in u.s. history. he said cubans deserve liberty and democracy. the policy move by obama still leaves cubans under communist

regime. i think this is important to know, rubio's family is from cuba. that makes his voice faerie powerful in this debate. >> we are talking about normalizing diplomatic relations between cuba and the u.s. alan -- how soon do you think we will see the u.s. embassy in havana? >> president obama is moving faster reestablishment him busy in havana. in his speech, he said that negotiations will start in january 2015. that means in a couple of weeks. his goal is to set up an embassy in the coming months, so nobody really knows how negotiations will move forward in the months or weeks to come. this debate depends very highly on the cuban leaders, are they willing to continue on the path of reform? this is really hard to predict. i don't have a crystal ball. >> thank you very much for that story from washington.

the european parliament has voted to support the recognition of the palestinian state. a majority of lawmakers backed the resolution that shy away from outright recognition of palestinian statehood. they opted for compromise to have -- and said progress with israel needs to be made first. each member state can ultimately decide on the issue for itself. >> he came hours after a court order the removal of hamas who used -- the eu says is still considers hamas a terrorist organization. earlier we spoke to our european correspondent in strasburg. we asked why the european parliament decided to hold this nonvalid -- nonbinding ballot at this time. >> a lot of members of the european parliament are not happy about what has been happening in europe in the last couple of weeks, with parliament

endorsing palestinian statehood, for example france and spain or great britain. one country outright recognizing palestine as a state, that being sweden. i think there should be a european approach to the problem , represented by the high representative for foreign policy of the eu. in order to give her something to work with, they are trying to throw their weight behind her with this resolution. >> thank you very much. pakistan is a nation grieving for victims of the school massacre in peshawar. vigils are being held as three days of national mourning are being held. 100 32 children and nine staff members were killed, including the principal of the school and taliban extremists stormed it on tuesday morning. seven more teachers succumbed to their injuries overnight.

the prime minister has about a tough response against the taliban in. as a first move, he has announced a moratorium on the death penalty will be lifted for terrorist crimes. >> in pakistan, the grief is turning into anger. in the city of karachi, hundreds turned out to protest the massacre of schoolchildren. acts of terrorism are nothing new here. the latest violence has not terror into the hearts of pakistanis. >> this is not the first such incident in our country. before this, countless attacks have taken place. but this one was particularly painful because the attackers targeted children. >> the army public school in peshawar, the day after one of the bloodiest attacks in pakistan's history.

seven gunmen stormed the building. one of the first lease is that targeted was the auditorium where children were taking exams. students tried to hide anywhere they could. under furniture, in air-conditioning ducts, but many had no chance. prayer vigils and memorials have been held across the country. this funeral was for the school principal who was among the big. >> i'm proud of my mother because she sacrificed. she had the chance to escape, but she did her duty. she stayed with the children and gave her life for them. it's in the wake of the attack, many parents are nervous that their children could also be targeted next. >> we are sending our kids to school, but we are concerned and i'm afraid that if my child goes to class, something like this

might happen again. exit violence has provoked a crackdown from pakistan's government. the prime minister has ruled out future talks with the taliban and and lifted a moratorium on the death penalty. the army has retaliated with airstrikes on taliban positions in one province. >> we should not forget what we saw yesterday. the militants shot our children and fired at their faces. i had to say that what they did is the biggest tragedy in the history of pakistan. >> the first of three days of national mourning ended with candlelight vigils in cities across the country. but it will take people far longer to recover from the massacre. >> peshmerga fighters battling insurgents in northern iraq will soon be getting on the ground training from the german army. approval was given following a

heated debate on wednesday. around 100 troops are expected to participate in the training. the government is stressing that it is not a combat mission. externally is stepping up its involvement in iraq after for sending aid supplies and weapons, the government is now also sending troops. the defense minister said the 100 soldiers will only help train kurdish fighters battling islamic state extremists. >> in agreement with e li, we have decided that we wil eour responsibility andocus on northern iraq. we have good experience with the kurdish peshmerga there. they are reliable and motivated, but they need good equipment and good training. >> both the defense and foreign minister said the german deployment was necessary to stop the violence and brutality of islamic state, also known as

isis. >> i'm convinced that the cabinet's decision will be a gr hp for those on the ground fighting against isis. at the same time, it's also a responsible decision, seen from the german standpoint, that doesn't involve any unnecessary risk. >> the opposition was quick to condemn the decision, calling it unconstitutional. still, the mission is expected to win wide parliamentary approval in january. the russian ruble is still hovering around record lows against the dollar and the euro. now russia's central bank is stepping in again, selling millions in reserves to prop up the currency. that is despite a massive interest-rate hike on monday of this week. the oil dependent russian economy is at the whim of plummeting crude oil prices and is straining under the weight of western sanctions over ukraine. the value of the ruble has dropped by half since the start

of the year and russian consumers are now feeling the pinch. >> people line up outside currency exchanges outside moscow to change their rubles to more stable currencies like the u.s. dollar. others went shopping. refrigerators and televisions him a what is affordable today might be too expensive tomorrow. >> now people will go to withdraw cash and buy everything , but we won't have enough goods. we will be bankrupt. it all shows that the americans want to topple our president. >> we were caught off guard. it's all because our politicians started a game should not have started. and unfortunately, the people are those who suffer, as usual. >> many luxury stores remained closed on wednesday. companies have been forced to recalculate their prices since the ruble's sudden slide.

they are seeing products from abroad becoming more expensive. the ruble has lost about 17% on the u.s. dollar in this month alone. it recovered slightly wednesday with small gains. despite the currency's dramatic slide this week, the russian government says it is not planning to place restrictions on capital flow in and out of the country. the finance ministry has now announced the program worth up to $7 billion to prop up the ruble and will continue to do so as long as needed. >> a short break coming up in a moment. when we come back, a computer hacking scandal targeting sony pictures has taken on an entirely new dimension. the new york premiere of a long-awaited film is put on hold due to hackers. stay with us.

welcome back.

we pick up whereupposed to be a, but not everybody thinks it's funny. the computer hacking scam targeting sony pictures is taking on a bigger dimension. the film interview in its world premiere have been canceled following threats from hackers. they have threatened to carry out september 11 style attacks on any place that shows the film , which is a satire on an attempt to assassinate north korea's leader. >> you are entering into the most dangerous country on earth. if people believe anything he tells them. >> the movie has not even been released yet but it's already becoming the stuff of movies. the new york premiere canceled, under threats of violence.

the hackers call themselves already and the peace. they say people who go to see the film can expect terrorist attacks reminiscent of 9/11. federal and state authorities are seeking to play down the threat. ask people should not be afraid to go to the movies and los angeles. we have no credible threat. we are well aware of the e-mails that have gone back and forth and will take precautions and make sure our movie theaters are as safe as we can make them. >> in the film, to unsuspecting journalist are commissioned to assassinate the leader of north korea. >> take him out. >> north korea said earlier this year it would be an act of war if the film was ever released. still, pyongyang denies all involvement in the hacking. now the lead actors have called off all upcoming media appearances. one major company that operates

nearly 250 movie theaters across the u.s. has canceled plans greening. the film is not sony's only problem. information leaked by the hackers has led to two separate lawsuits and former employees. it could cost the company millions in damages. >> are entertainment and media correspondent is joining us now for some analysis. scott, we have hackers dumping the premiere of the movie. movie theaters are now dropping the movie after the threats. what are the implications of this? >> they are huge. this is really unprecedented. we will just have to wait to see how the story plays out. the fact that an anonymous hacker -- and we have no idea who it is. it could be anything. an anonymous hacker group can take on one of the richest, most powerful movie companies in the world and essentially bring it to its knees is phenomenal.

hollywood now is just running scared. they are scared to send e-mails. they are going back to pen and paper and blackboards and so forth. essentially if someone can do this to sony, then no one is safe. >> over the past couple of weeks, details have been filtering out slowly about what exactly was stolen. what are the hackers doing and what are they threatening to do with this information? >> the threats have not been very specific. we have heard recently about the threats to theaters that are scaring off theaters who are pulling the film. what the hackers have done already is a number of things, they grabbed a number of films that were on the sony service and put them out on the internet. and you brad pitt film and a christmas movie and so forth. that could cause millions of dollars of damage retire a c.

perhaps more insidious is they attacked private e-mails of the company and put those out. private e-mail exchanges from heads of the company to studio executives, producers, and so forth. there was a damaging e-mail released that seem to be racist jokes being made between the head of sony pictures and a prominent film producer which has caused a lot of problems. they have thrown out business plans of sony, salaries and negotiations and so forth. we don't really know how much is out there and how much is yet to come, but the implications are huge and the damage could just keep coming. i'm not sure what's going to happen in hollywood with sony. the film business is a trust based business. i'm not sure who will want to work with sony in the future and do business with them. quick sony is one company among many.

is the entertainment industry bracing for more attacks of this kind? could these attacks become commonplace? >> i don't think it is the last attack and it will be subject to discussion for years to come. already security measures are being increased. we will have to see if it has broader implications or if it will change the culture of hollywood. if we go back to the smoky backroom deals, we will have to see. rick scott, i think everyone is really curious about this film now. does us -- does this mean we're never going to see it? quick sony has made it clear that they are going to release the film. they are letting theaters decide if they want to show it, but it's definitely going to go out there in some shape or form. if you want to see it, you will be able to. they are not completely running scared. >> thank you very much. >> the parliament of greece has failed to elect a new president.

the former european commissioner received only 160 votes, well short of the 200 required for an outright win. the final two rounds of voting are scheduled for later this month. >> failure to elect a new head of state would trigger snap elections. if that happens, opinion polls suggest the left-wing party which wants to renegotiate the financial bailout could emerge as the big winner. there is growing concern about the rise of terrorism in many parts of africa. most attention is focused on islamist groups in a number of nations, but in uganda, the biggest threat is from a group calling itself the lord's resistance army. founded 25 years ago, its leader wants to create a christian fundamentalist state. our reporters visited the country in the third part of our series on terrorism in africa.

>> backbreaking work in the sweltering heat. it's the only way sonia can make enough money to feed her child. it also helps her to forget her past. one day sonia and her family were abducted by the lord's resistance army and forced to commit terrible crimes. >> they forced us to steal from other people. we went from village to village plundering. it was a terrible time in my life. >> the lord's resistance army formed in 1987. it waged a brutal war against the president for two decades. it's infamous leader, joseph kony, is one of the world's most wanted war criminals. the nra is estimated to have it up -- to have a ducted nearly 2 million people. the group has now withdrawn into the vast jungle of neighboring

central africa republic. they traffic in ivory, diamonds, and gold. many of those deals are done here in the ugandan capital of kampala. our reporters meet someone who helps the lord's resistance army launder money. she said she would be compared to talk about the group's activities on the condition that she remain anonymous. she says the militants smuggle gold from war-torn democratic republic of congo to uganda. her job is to bribe officials with document saying that the gold comes from uganda. that way it can be legally sold to customers in europe. she meets lra representatives under strict security arrangements. the deals involve hundreds of kilograms of gold worth several million dollars.

she said the european buyers often just want to make a quick by. money is the main motivation for all parties involved in the transactions. >> on your side, you're looking at helping a transaction go through. you want to help them have things sold because they need the money. >> people here in her village cannot understand why people are prepared to work with the lord's resistance army, even though the terror group is no longer active in northern uganda, sonia is still haunted by her past. she said some people don't trust her because she was once an lra captive. >> i had a good relationship with the father of my child. everything was good, but then a

neighbor asked him, how can you be with a girl like that in the jungle? one night she will try to kill you. after that, he left me. >> sonia wants her son to have a better life. she wants him to become the first member of the family to go to school. more on that series coming up later in the week. returning to our top story, the united states and cuba have announced they are planning to normalize their diplomatic relations. the historic breakthrough is set to end the cold war between the u.s. and cuba which has lasted more than half a century. u.s. president a rock his cuban counterpart announced the major foreign-policy shift in televised beaches. they agreed to a prisoner swap and the u.s. will ease economic

sanctions and lift some travel restrictions to the island. alan rose, the american citizen who was released from a cuban prison today after five years as part of the deal, said he supported it. reactions are coming in from across the globe. in the united states, the usual divide between democrats and republicans have people at on over this breakthrough. more on that story coming up. stay with us on dw.

in november 2013, typhoon haiyan devastated the central philippines. the city of tacloban and