responsibility for the attacks that left at least 31 people dead. >> this bus was packed with commuters this morning but hours later the area was sealed off. investigators are gathering clues to allow them to identify those who carried out the attack. according to russian police, a suspect got on board with the bomb and explosive device of about four kilograms. say the device was triggered by a suicide bomber. fragments of his body were retrieved and taken for identification. one has taken responsibility for the blast. according to russian investigators, the same people may have planned both the bus attack and one carried out on sunday at grand central station. >> the bomb was filled with striking elements, the same as the ones we found in the grand

central station device. this is new proof showing the two attacks were of identical nature. president vladimir putin has stepped up security across russia. residents need to carry their id at all times. russian authorities want to show they can guarantee security as tens of thousands are expected in sochi in six weeks for the winter olympics. investigators looking for suspects are likely to focus on the russian caucasus north, where they hope to create an islam estate. the leader has launched rebels to launch terror attacks to disrupt the gains. -- to disrupt the games. expert on me is in russia and central asia. thank you for being with us here on france 24. as we just heard a few months ago, a threat to carry out attacks to disrupt the olympic

games. we don't know who was behind the two attacks. no one has claimed responsibility. would he have the capacity to be able to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack at the olympic games? >> no, i don't think so. his forces really declining. the leader cannot survive more than one year. there is a huge turnover of leaders. it is important to say that belongl attacks do not itself.incident with only a few limited resources available for fighting , they would not waste them like

that and send them to random targets. >> the chechen struggle in general has been largely forgotten by the world over the past few years. you are saying the conflict in syria has changed that. how is that the case? >> in syria there is no well- known chechen leader. is related, or claims to be [indiscernible] hefar, for a few months represented the struggle against russia. they are fighting in syria to fight against russia.

sense, the world is reminded of the chechen struggle. link only.is >> you have also argued that despite atrocious attacks like similar have seen attacks carried out by chechen rebels. you say that russia is actually winning this war in chechnya. >> you say that the chechen rebels have been substantially weakened by russian operations. >> yes, of course, but it does -- everythere is no week there are people wounded and dead, military and civilians , workers and policemen. every week there is still low intensity fighting.

russia appears to be unable to solve politically and definitely this problem. theoes not mean also that to stay inare able russia. >> moving to a series of attacks in the democratic republic of congo. today the headquarters of the state tv network, the international airport and a the government- says at least 52 rebels have now been killed by security forces. >> the assault occurred on live television for transmission was shut down in the state tv headquarters. gunman shouted what appeared to be a political message against the president. security forces circled the building, but shortly afterward,

two other attacks were launched, one on the airport, the other on the congolese army headquarters. authorities said they had regained control of all three sites a few hours later. hit bycity has been three terrorist attacks. >> unknown gunmen have targeted the security forces possibly who are in charge of these three strategic sites. >> according to government sources, 40 of the 70 in the capital were killed. on the ground, the situation is still very confused. >> peep or in a panic. everybody was scared to stay at home. we could hear gunfire in different parts of the city. especially in the district around the army headquarters. >> authorities still don't know for certain who carried out the attacks, but some are already to oneg the finger

religious leader who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2006. >> staying in africa, fighting continued in south sudan. the government battling rebels loyal to the former president. violence has been centered on a town north of the capital, people have been killed there since fighting broke out earlier this month. other leaders in the region have been trying to end the crisis. >> it took four days to respond. >> early results from the madagascar are presidential runoff show the candidate supported by the former strongman is in the lead.

95% of the vote from the december 20 vote counted. candidates locked in a bitter election campaign. ballots from more than 19,000 polling stations have been tallied so far. ,ictory may be close at hand even if the results may be temporary. he has secured more than 53% of hasvote, while his rival taken 46.7%. the latter contender failed in a beingile ballots were expected. madagascar was hit by crisis following a coup in 2009 which paralyzed much of the government and caused foreign donors to cancel aid. many hope the election of a new president will end sanctions.

anotherl needs to free 26 palestinian prisoners as part of efforts to resume the peace process. all were convicted of murder or attempted murder and observed between 19 and when he eight years in jail. palestinianving prisoners are to be freed as part of the agreement. lebanese troops have fired on syrian warplanes, violating the country's airspace. it is the third time lebanon has since three years ago. lebanon has been increasingly drawn into the war. strikes have frequently been carried out near the border. the lebanese shiite manager openly supports syrian president bashar al-assad. adam, run us through exactly what happened today.

northeastok place in lebanon around midday today, as the lebanese army fired at a syrian warplanes was violating its airspace. , too syrianr that helicopter gunships fired four rockets from the outskirts of the town. it is unusual to have a direct exchange of fire between the militaries of lebanon and syria. it is a complicated situation there. there has been fighting between the lebanese army and syrian opposition fighters trying to cross the border as well as clashes between the lebanese army. talk about spillover, it might theore accurate to describe

area as something of a hinterland to the war. arabiaerday, saudi agreed to give lebanon millions of dollars in missing -- and military aid. how will this affect what you just described, this very complicated relation already? contacts,ted in some up until now -- to put it in some context, the total foreign military aid is $100 million. even if it is spread over some , this is still considerably larger. army -- armyanese is often seen as a unifying , you might have thought everybody there would be happy.

the prime minister delegate has described it as giving him hope. if you think where the money is arabia openlyaudi supports the armed opposition in syria. if you talking about the semi- shia divide, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. while many will greet this as an act of benevolence design to support and bolster the state, there is pressure from all sides. to look at itely

with a strong dose of skepticism. >> adam, thanks very much indeed, reporting from beirut. chancellor angela merkel and tennis star boris becker are michaelose wishing shoemaker a speedy recovery. he is battling for his life after suffering severe brain trauma in a skiing accident in the french alps. dr. sadist too early to say whether he will pull through. -- doctors say it is too early to say whether he will pull through. in thehis head on a rock french out. the 44-year-old german was airlifted to a local hospital before being transferred to another facility for further examination. he had he arrived suffered a serious head injury and was in a coma and required immediate surgical care from the neurological unit. last night he was in critical stage, he and at this

will remain in the critical condition. >> doctors added that it was still too early to make a diagnosis on the patient. the former motor racing world champion was with his teenage son at the time of the accident. he was flown in from paris to oversee the treatment. onpreviously operated shoemaker after the british grand prix in 1999. news of the accident has quickly gripped the world. he first developed a passion for racing here. >> now he has had a skiing accident. is regarded as one of the greatest formula one drivers of all time. he won a record 91 victories before retiring from the sport in 2012. >> it's time to get an update on

the day's top business news. taking a looke back at 2013. was it a good year for the stock markets? 4013 is really ending on a high note for those stockmarkets. in the u.s. for example, the best year since 1997. looking at some of the gains, the dow is up around 46% so far this year with one more trading day to go. the year is already over for the german dax index. they ended with 26% and 57% gains recep -- respectively. a very good year indeed for all three main indices. earlier i spoke to brenda kelly, a strategist, and she said central banks a played a major part in 2013.

>> were recently with the , they havevernment tried to weaken the japanese yen which has led to higher equity prices. the eurozone has really surprised. thinking ago, we were the demise of the euro was somewhat inevitable but those worries seem to have abated and few months have seen an inflow of equities in a bid to catch the upside. ofhas been a combination growth expectations, and a lot of fears have dissipated, and of course that additional liquidity has been giving the markets the push they needed in the right direction. >> let's look at how the markets are trading this session in the

united states this hour. docs pretty close to a flat line , the dow jones industrial average, it appears to be a quiet session before the new year. in europe we saw similar pick your on the side of the atlantic as well -- a similar picture. crocs --e on, francis constitutional court have given the green light to attacks rotted -- to a tax rise. tax hike the only facing france. 2014 will start with higher taxes on a whole bunch of products and services. it has gotten harsh criticism. hotel stays and consumer goods set to become more expensive from january 1 as new added taxes kick in.

one sector especially apprehensive is the construction injury. the cost of renovating this paris flat, for many small entrepreneurs the fear is they will be undercut by rivals who don't officially declare their activity and so can offer lower prices. i can't compete with that. it is sure to hurt my turnover. >> is part of the intermediate which will rise to 10%. that will hit hotels and restaurants. the owner of this parisian ment has already seen a drop-off in customers. if we have to raise the prices even further, we will have even

less working with currently do. >> shoppers in retail stores will feel the impact with the tax rate rising to 20%. so-called essential products, food and energy will be spared, but vat stays at five percent. the goal is to raise up as of 6 billion euros a year. an effort to invigorate the jobs market. >> we will finish up with this bit of news. teaming up with the german carmaker audi. the google android operating system will be essential to the buses and they say will boost google's credentials for the entire industry. uch, marcus.ry m

we will find out what has people clicking and sharing over the last 24 hours. stay with us. >> welcome to today's web news where we look at some of the stories making online headlines. , at thep on today show center of heated debate in france. the barbie controversy on facebook. this gesture was invented higher french comedian. ineverse not see salute and -- nazi salute and anti-semitic gesture has been french --

featured highly on a french website. some shots have been taken in front of synagogues like this one showing french soldiers in uniform. launched anvocation attack on the site, bringing it down for over two weeks. the identity of those doing it were published on a separate log. he has huge support online with over 400,000 fans on facebook, for example. youtube videos garner 1.5 million views. the leagueling for against racism to be disbanded. interiorter of the

could have his way and the shows will soon be banned. >> should the barbie doll show a fuller figure? thishave been asking question on a facebook page, using a photo montage from 2011 showing a plus size version of the famous toy doll. there are some 40,000 likes and 5000 comments. most appear to approve of , they said could have a negative influence on young girls. there are number of critics who don't like this extra large version. one feels the double chin translate to saying obesity is acceptable.

some say it sends a message to children saying it is ok to be overweight and unhealthy. some suggest a happy medium average, created, an healthy size, not too fat, not too thin. i barbie that looks like a real woman is not a new idea. one wanted to demonstrate with 3-d images that if she was human, these unrealistic measurements would mean barbie is totally out of proportion. german mps are being encouraged to share and publicize their encounters with lobbyists. it is hoped it will help illustrate the impact of lobbying on political decisions.

several lawmakers have joined the push for more transparency in german politics. two suites and vegetables over -- fruits and vegetables over sweet and fatty food. the fast food giant is suggesting its staff should avoid the food served in its own restaurant to maintain a healthy weight. the reason for shutting down the site officially is closed for maintenance. artist benjamin radford specializes in large format. he is asking web users to get involved in this upcoming using kickstart her.

he is gathering donations toward fulfill request, however crazy day may seem, from web users. you control what you want, a cosmonaut, for example, or a used match, or a robot reading a book. it is difficult to believe that this cardboard team >> is not moving its head in front of the camera. it is an astonishing optical illusion using a breast pop. and isaled his secret giving web users the opportunity to download and experiment for themselves.

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12/30/13 12/30/13 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> a child born today, will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. they will never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, and unrecorded, unanalyzed thought. and that is a problem because privacy matters. by this he is what allows us to determine who we are -- priva