>> here are the headlines. numeral's for bank and the eu summit ticks off in brussels. we will have the latest from our correspondent there. overrun in south sudan. officials say they fear a number of casualties. in recent days, hundreds have betweenled in fighting rival factions of the army. and long considered russia's prison,serving clinical -- longest-serving political prisoner, he will be pardoned.

x also coming up this hour, after losing out on a multimillion dollar defense contract, what are the prospects for france's fighter jets? more on that in business. but first, make the banks pay for failing lenders, and not the taxpayer. that is the thinking behind a new set of rules by eu leaders meeting in brussels. 55 billion euros will be used to save failing banks. we are covering those talks in brussels. christophe, what exactly has been agreed today and how it has it helped?

>> what has been agreed is that there will be, as you said, a new fund, financed directly by the banking industry. raiseders are hoping to up to 55 billion euros over the next 10 years. they want to use this money to bankers.ankrupt this time it will not be taxpayers paying the bills is there hope, but the banks themselves. -- their hope is that this time it will not be the taxpayers paying the bills, but the bankers themselves. too weak tois survive, in portugal, germany, any of the eurozone members, it will be brought to a brand-new agency with special powers to shut these banks. the eurozone members will have to make a decision, maybe to shut the bank once and for all

him a and to put an end to what could be contagion within the eurozone. echothis work effectively critics tell you -- worked effectively? critics tell you there are problems. theamount is too tiny for eurozone bank. more than 700 billion euros have been spent so far to shore up banks. and you have a lot of institutions. it can take time to make decisions and can be cumbersome. looking at it, i have to say this is by far the largest transfer of sovereignty from euro move -- eurozone members to europe. nothows that leaders may like it, but they have understood one thing. if they want to preserve the euro and if they want to preserve the single currency, they will need more cooperation and a stronger euro -- stronger union, rather than less as some have suggested.

>> and this only applies to countries that use the euro. >> absolutely. they would have been a hard sell to britain. >> also on the agenda, coordinated defense bending. this is a pretty controversial issue. there is some common ground, but again, david cameron not very happy with the idea of cooperating further in defense and security policy. on the whole, europeans are worried about the defense. world,in a multipolar the europeans are -- the americans are less inclined to intervene in europe. we saw that in molly and we saw that in the central african republic. are trying to come together and see where they can cooperate to find common ground and boost

their defense. as you said, we are headed for s.ng and difficult talk it is difficult to come up with compromises. >> you are in for a long night. theristof just mentioned, issue of defense is pretty divisive for eu members. chief and his foreign minister was also at today's summit. here is what he had to say. >> there is no such thing as a european army. only national capabilities. getit all -- in order to more value for money, we need more cooperation among individual nations. that is smart defense. >> and the issue of european personal at the moment. france deployed troop to the central african republic. it wants more help from a south african allies -- from its

african allies. >> amnesty international's new report reveals that two weeks ago, most -- mostly muslim x rebels killed more than 1000 people in bondi. deadlya rampage of unknown tor crimes most of the world. >> in the interior, in the bush where there are few observers, our researchers have been able to go, risking their lives. they have documented violent acts, children getting their throats cut before their mothers, fathers killed in front of their families. can barely describe. >> after sending 1600 french troops to the central african republic, france has called for its european partners to make a military contribution. can from -- can

confirm given the steps france has taken, that our european colleagues will soon be putting troops on the ground. i want to emphasize that. it is one of the first times this has happened. >> some european nations have begun to come forward. a belgian officials said the country will send 150 troops for what it calls a protection mission. the spanish government plans to send military transport aircraft. germany and britain say they are considering sending troops to the former french colony, but have yet to make a firm commitment. aside from france, no other european country has put boots on the ground. >> a u.n. base in south sudan has come under attack. thereals say they fear may be some fatalities, but it is not clear how many people, or who has been killed. a refuge forbecome civilians fleeing the rival factions of the army.

the president accused his former deputy of trying to mount a coup, and observers say they are now being targeted because of their ethnicity. thehey were once part of government of africa's newest nation. since then, bashar has been sacked as south sudan's vice president. he is in hiding. he has been accused of putting a coup. on thursday, he told radio france internationale of his plans to overthrow the president. but he cannot unite people. he killed them like flies. >> more than 400 people were left dead from clashes that broke out on sunday between government forces and rebels loyal to musharraf. rebels linked to the former vice president seized a town.

both soldiers and rebels have executed people based -- based on their ethnicity. soldiers from the majority deemed that -- think that tribe are said to be pitted against fighters loyal to mush are -- mashar. tensions have been mounting in south sudan since the president fired the vice president and his -- as his deputy in july. it could throw the world youngest country into civil war just two years after its birth. >> russia's president vladimir putin said he will pardon his number one political opponent. mikael khodorovsky was once russia's new richest man. but then he was jailed. some 20,000 prisoners will be freed ahead of the olympic games. >> he spent more than a decade behind bars. now, mikael khodorovsky is said

to be a free man after vladimir putin appeared to pave the way for his release. wrote atly, khodorovsky letter and addressed the pardon to me. he cited humanitarian reasons because his mother is ill. taking into account all of these circumstances, a decree to pardon him will be signed very soon. >> lawyers for karate -- four khodorovsky could not confirm a pardon had been made. formerly the world -- the country's richest man was arrested and charged with fraud and tax evasion in 2003. this was after a spectacular falling out between putin and up arovsky, who had built fortune from his oil company. he had used some of that money

to support russia's opposition group, making the fatal mistake of mixing business and politics. along with his business partner, khodorovsky he was -- khodorovsky was convicted in 2005. both sentences were widely condemned by the west, seen as being politically motivated. khodorovsky had been due for release in august of next year, amid rumors of a third trial related to money laundering. for that case, though, the door now looks to be shut. >> i spoke to our correspondent in moscow, joshua. i asked him what was behind putin's surprise decision. >> the surprise for all of us forthat putin was holding for almost four hours as part of his press conference with journalist. he did not speak at all about the issue of the pardon. he talked about khodorovsky

briefly, but did not mention his early release. it was only after that four hour with journalists in a kind of informal session with a few correspondent on the floor of the hall when food and had finished, -- when vladimir putin had finished, that is where he suggested, again come out of the blue, that khodorovsky had submitted a letter for pardon, and that he was planning on signing it. a shocking turn of events. it has been long said by analysts in and out of russia that khodorovsky seemed destined to sit in prison as long as putin was in the kremlin. those two facts of russian life seemed to be inexorably linked together in the last decade. >> stay out of our political crisis am a that is the message for the european union from the ukraine's president. he spoke just days after securing a $15 billion loan from russia to help this country

stave off bankruptcy. but it did nothing to quiet the protesters still in the capital, kiev. they have been there more than a month. to another city in the ukraine and there he found people were relieved the president was repairing ties with moscow. 1.5 million inhabitants and trade with russia is crucial to the economy. sign with moscow then with the european union. risk thats a very big our industries would not find new clients in europe, but would lose long-standing clients in russia. that could lead to a sharp rise in on him plummet and falling revenues for the regional budget. industrialist very

doubtful as to whether the ukraine needs to be rushing toward european integration so fast. >> more than 30,000 people demonstrated on the square recently in favor of the pro- russian policy. they did so, mr. never cough usd us, -- mr. nabokov told out of fear. >> nearly 30 years after french -- many arecomedian suffering the effects of the economic downturn. >> a all know the drill. gearing up for the morning distribution. >> we are preparing the tables, organizing food supplies, the vegetables, the fruit. >> some 20,000 packages are handed out each week. milk, vegetables,

but more and more families also count on the charity to provide them with basic care for their children. temperatures dropped earlier this month, the number of beneficiaries increased sharply. within the next few weeks, hundreds more workers and retirees are expected to sign up. >> if we have more beneficiaries, the only solution is to give them less to spread out our supplies. we will have to improvise. with the cold in january and the increase in beneficiaries, there is a risk we could start running out of food. between november and march, the french charity helped 160,000 people. many expected the numbers to grow this year, but clearly not this fast. the charity is counting on as regular donors, but also on regulators to lift all administrative barriers, preventing farmers, for instance, from donating their produce.

bring you up to date with all of the latest business news. some worries here in france about when the government will ever be able to sell. >> the government has been playing down the last of a $4.5 billion defense contract with brazil. now looking to other emerging markets as it tries to sell what many insiders described as the most sophisticated technology in the industry. michelle has the story. >> a fighter jet has been built -- dubbed the best in the world. the failure to sell the out craft -- sell the aircraft to brazil could be massive to the firm, who spent tens of years developing it. is it destined to remain in the

hangar? after losing the brazilian contract, it is now pinning its up on other markets. >> we have reason to believe that soon, there will be good results in india and the gulf. >> the french entered negotiations with the united arab emirates, qatar, and kuwait. united arab emirates. qatar and kuwait have also shown interest. >> they have confirmed their interest, so a deal should come through in 2014 or 2015. >> at the moment, only the french air force is equipped with these planes. they have not sold the military planes be on the french birders -- french borders in more than 30 years. >> european union leaders are meeting in brussels, where they are expected to sign off on final details of a banking union.

the youngapply to all -- eurozone countries, and those to join.ed the ideas that they will not spend taxpayers money to bail out banks. and a new agency backed by a 55 billion euro fund will be funded over 10 years. hundreds of protesters have been blocking traffic around the summit, demonstrating against austerity measures, as well as a free trade deal currently being negotiated with the u.s. a look at how the markets have been faring. theets rallied a day after announcement by the u.s. federal reserve that it will maintain lower interest rates and gradually start tapering back it on buying program. all the major indices in your closing in the green. wall street not faring quite so well this trading day. the market did soar in the immediate aftermath wednesday.

investors reacting to new economic data showing jobless claims have increased and new home sales have fallen. gold has now fallen to a three- year low. cuba is to open up its car market and allow citizens to buy imported vehicles. for about 50 years, government had the monopoly on the sales for imported and used cars. and has required any potential buyer to obtain special permission. difficult tos obtain an black car sales have flourished. in the streets of a finite, vix reactions to the move -- in the streets of havana, mixed reactions to the move. nowt is great that we can buy cars without authorization, to modernize the system. these cars are falling apart. we are working as taxi drivers, but our cars are in that state. >> we are allowed to buy it, but with what money?

unfortunately, our economy does not allow us to save money to buy these things. if it was 300 pesos or 500 pesos, fine. but how much will a car cost me? >> moving onto other big stories, the american big superstore target says the information of millions of people who shopped at target stores over the busy things coming weekend may have been compromised. facebook founder mark zuckerberg is to sell for the million shares in his company, reducing his voting power to just 56%. raise overto pay -- $2 billion to pay his tax bill. firm -- a $2.9 over a drug for

cancer in norway. back to you. but we will take a short break. when we come back, the latest international headlines for you. we will take you to the central african republic where french troops continue to try to disarm rival militias. and there is more in africa news. >> hello and welcome to today's web news, where we take a look at the new -- the main headlines. the spying program is rolled unconstitutional by a u.s. judge. highlights the most searched for topics of 2013.

a to needy and architect is 29 years old. on his facebook page, he addressed the new prime minister . thes putting himself up for position of minister for public development. a number of young tunisians have posted their cv online. the argument is that politics there is dominated by older citizens and they believe they have the necessary skills to lead the cabinet. many committed their applications by facebook groups like this one. most of them are willing to work for a year without pay. thosectivist is one of volunteering her services.

this one recommend giving lawyers and human rights campaigners unimpeded access to to needy and prisoners. to to to needy and -- needy and --to tunisian prisoners. people say that no... what they have to say. they want to take a political response ability. there will be a platform for those citizens willing to serve the government and help the country. the nsa suffered a significant setback on monday when a federal judge in washington ruled that the bulk collection of metadata belonging to american citizens is likely to violate the u.s. constitution. his ruling is a claim in a 60

eight page document available on the new york times website. he says the orwellian practices seriously infringe on people's privacy. the court's decision was immediately appealed and has set up lively discussion on media platforms. -- social media platforms. although the judgment comes as no real surprise for many, they do say it is a victory for ordinary citizens against the nsa. and like the people who posted these tweets, they say it was evident that the nsa monitoring programs went against the law. for a large section of american itiety, it is obvious that is unconstitutional. some are wondering about the impact it will have on the agency's practices. judge leon decision will do little or nothing to change the situation. and there was more than a hint therony in saying that

government has always by noncitizens and always will. it takes roughly 6000 800 euros the800 euros to keep average person pounding the pavement for just one day. this was to visualize the financial side to the protest across the country. the white house has posted this photo of barack obama holding a sign reading "nobody should go broke just because they get sick peer co--- because they get sick."

opponents of obamacare have seized the opportunity to decide the reform and mostly

12/19/13 12/19/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! nsa and the intelligence community in general is focused on getting intelligence wherever it can, by any means possible. >> and what has been called a rebuke to the national security agency and vindication for edward snowden, a white house- appointed panel urges sweeping changes at the nsa