to live a from berlin. >> great to have you with us. our headlines this hour -- in pakistan, the death toll has reached 141 from a taliban massacre at a school in push. scores more were left injured. >> the russian ruble has crashed after an interest rate hike that was supposed to shore up the currency. >> and we report from nigeria how local militias are trying to defend their villages against boko haram attacks.

>> 141 people have been killed, most of them children, after taliban militants stormed a school in pakistan. >> it was one of the most -- one of the worst attacks in a decade. >> the prime minister called the massacre a national tragedy. >> the pakistani army quickly sealed off the school, evacuating as many of the 500 students and teachers as they could. but it took more than seven hours of fighting until all the attackers were dead and the situation was fully under control. >> i am the physics lab assistant. we were sitting in the canteen when we saw people sitting on the wall. at first we thought they were students, but then we saw the weapons and they started firing at us, so we went in to the classroom. >> as soon as the firing

started, our teacher told us to sit in the classroom and get our heads down. army personnel came and rescued us after it subsided. later, we saw our friends in the core doors will stop some were dead and some were injured to stop >> the school is run by the army. many of the pupils are children of military personnel. most of those killed were under 16. the wounded were taken to local hospitals where panic parents gathered desperate for news. locals have been called on to donate blood. many of the injured are in critical condition with gunshot wounds. >> we were taking a chemistry exam when it started. militants first in and killed a two-year-old child who was visiting. >> the prime minister of

pakistan promised to oversee the situation personally and vowed to continue to hunt down the taliban. >> the government and army have become the operation against militants in north waziristan and the results are good. this will continue until we banish terrorism from our country. >> he also announced three days of national mourning to honor the victims of the tragedy. >> we have a correspondent from the guardian on the line with us. what is the latest you can tell us? >> as your report said, the attack is now over with all of the gunmen killed. either they were shot by security personnel or decimated the -- detonated the body bar -- body arm -- body bombs they carried on them. there are a lot of people in

critical states in two hospitals . the country as a whole is struggling to come to terms with this incident. there is an enormous degree of shock, the store -- this sort of which we have not seen with other large scale terrorist attacks in pakistan. >> the taliban has claimed they were instructed not to kill minors. how credible is that? >> their spokesmen did say that early on in the day. they were to spare the children. [audio difficulties] >> we are having trouble with the connection.

we are going to move on to another report will stop thank you for your reporting. >> hopefully we will be able to get the john -- the lion john straightened out. hope -- now we want to take a look at the taliban path history of violence in pakistan. >> the country has been gripped by an insurgency for more than a decade. violent attacks have left tens of thousands of people dead. here's a look back. >> malala yousafzai on -- this pakistani teenager is largely the taliban's most high-profile victim. she was awarded the novell peace prize days ago after surviving a taliban attack in october 2012 will stop when the islamist militants shot her, she was just 15 years old will stop she is an advocate for the rights of girls to go to school. admired in the west, but hated by the taliban.

the pakistani taliban's strongest here, in the country's northwest frontier province. the taliban is actually an association made up of any militant groups fighting against the pakistani government which it views as to close to the west. the group has carried out numerous attacks. since the summer, it has stepped up its campaign after the army launched an offensive. in november 2014, a young suicide bomber attacked a pakistani checkpoint on the border with india. around 50 people died. in june of this year, a group of taliban militants disguised -- disguised as police officer's attacked karachi airport. thousands died as they battled attackers there. in september of 20 13,000 of people protested against the

taliban after it's bombers struck a church with at least 60 christians killed. in recent months, islamic state has reportedly been recruiting jihadi's from pakistan. islamic state has repeatedly made global headlines for it beheadings and bombings. but now, the taliban has upstaged the competition by carrying out an attack being condemned around the world. >> let's go back to jonathan boone. what this pakistan need to do to counter this threat? >> the army is already engaged in major operations against the pakistani taliban. they launched an operation against their safe havens where they -- that they enjoyed near the border with afghanistan.

that was launched in june and is what the pakistani taliban and they were trying to avenge today if attacked. many analysts and critics will say it needs more than that. it is not enough just to go one-on-one against a particular group in the country as a whole needs to go after militants, their sympathizers and ideological supporters. many of him are tacitly supported by the pakistani state because their goals sometimes parallel those of pakistan. critics will say nothing will change until these people take it on. >> a complicated situation there. thank you for your analysis.

>> to the arabian peninsula and in yemen, 20 car bomb attacks have killed at least 15 people, including 15 children. >> two car bombs were detonated at different locations in central yemen. a school bus filled with primary school students was traveling nearby when the first bomb exploded at a checkpoint manned by a shiite militia. the second device detonated near his home of a local official. the russian ruble is in freefall following oil prices together with western sanctions. >> the ruble plunged more than 11% this tuesday and has lost more than half its value against the u.s. dollar this year. next the central bank has reacted by drastically hiking interest rates but the measures bailed to halt the ruble's slide and there are concerns the high interest rates could choke economic growth. >> the ruble's freefall appears

to have no end in sight. on tuesday, the russian currency sank two new record lows against the dollar and the euro. this is the steepest incline since russia defaulted on its debt in 1998. >> at times like this when volatility is so high, our top priority is serving our clients needs. if they can't make payments, panic will break out. right now, things are painful for people, but at least they can make payments and that is crucial. >> the currency collapse, despite the central bank has dramatic intervention at midnight when a raise rates to 17%. that failed to halt the slide. the hike in -- the hike in interest rates seem to accelerate the ruble's all. it has lost half its value since the summer. >> of course this is worrying, but this is russia, what can i add? we are not protected and that is

that. >> it affects those who still have something to protect. if you don't have much, it won't hit you. everything on earth is cyclical. today it's bad, tomorrow it will be good. everything will be fine. look how much the price of bread has risen. i'm not talking about a slight increase. the situation is difficult. the government ought to think about what to do about it. >> if sustained, the central bank has great rise also threatens to hurt russia. western sanctions in the following price of oil has slammed the brakes on the russian economy. >> after six days of losses, european shares rebounded on tuesday and recorded their biggest flaw -- biggest jump since the fifth of december. >> the massive slide of the russian ruble was shaking the

german mark and traders were worried because even the russian central bank spoke of a critical situation. russia is mainly suffering from the slump in oil and gas prices, something the german economy can profit from. investors are getting more optimistic. investor sentiment rose to the highest level since may because this has the same effect like a huge stimulus program helping consumers and companies. the dax went up and down but rally at the end. >> in frankfurt, weekend stay for a quick look of numbers -- the euro stoxx 50 doing fairly well. the dow jones trading up by about .5% and the euro slightly higher.

>> has become far more dangerous to be a journalist and conflict zones. that is according to the annual summary of journalist abuses. >> 66 journalists were killed in the line of duty this year and the number of kidnappings increased substantially from one year ago. 119 journalists were taking -- were taken hostage. >> in august, the fate of james foley shocked the world. the militant group released a video showing his beheading. two weeks later, the organization executed his colleague. both men had been kidnapped in syria. the number of journalists kidnapped around the world is on the rise. this year, 119 have been seized.

>> the kidnappers want to show they have no respect for te principle observers in war zones may not be hindered or harmed. >> 66 journalists have been killed in connection with their work. the most dangerous country within the -- with syria followed by the palestinian territories and ukraine. >> in syria, we are faced with a series -- with a civil war without clear battlelines. journalists often don't know which side of the line they are working on. what's more, the most dangerous islam a group is there, islamic state, which does not feel bound by press freedoms or human rights. >> reporters without borders is concerned the increasing brutality will have an intimidating effect. twice as many journalists fled into exile as 2013. >> we are going to take a short break, but coming up, the second part in our series about

terrorism in accra ghana -- in africa. >> more on that to come. we're back after a short break. stay with us. >> welcome back. what started off as a small sect just over a decade ago has become the biggest threat to nigeria's future. >> the islamist militant group boko barometers blamed for the death of over 10,000 people. >> in the second part of our series on the rise of terrorism in africa, our reporters met a man who wants to stop the advance of boko haram. >> the atmosphere as tense as it

is every day at checkpoints in northeastern nigeria. this 22-year-old is the member of a local civilian militia and a boko haram suicide bomber could be sitting inside any of these cars. >> it is a dangerous job, but given the current security situation, we have to do it so people in the city can live in peace. >> since the islamists began their campaign of terror, the civilian militia have been patrolling the main roads together with the nigerian military. the young men are locals and then they can trust. they live from donations. many drivers are grateful for the job they do. >> even if it means everything takes longer, it's good for security.

>> suicide bombings happening on a regular basis here. the group also launches frequent raids on villages in the northeast of the country and have managed to seize important towns. their leader often speaks of his hatred for the nigerian state and his desire to introduce sharia law. but the islamists precise aims remain unclear. they kill muslims as well as christians and most of their victims are civilians. the nigerian government is struggling to cope. experts doubt whether the civilian militia can help tip the battle in its favor. most of their thousands of members are unemployed young men. some of them are now armed, which analysts say could be a potential problem. >> if you don't know what to do with them after the insurgency is over, you can create a problem because if they are

having some benefits from doing that activity, and after the game is over, they are unable to make ends meet to other alternatives, there could be another problem to society. >> he's finished for the day. after six hours in the sun, he is glad to be home. he and his brother originally come from the state where boko barometers even more active than here. he says he's not afraid of anything happening to his brother even know two of his friends have already been killed on the job. >> i am happy and proud my brother is doing this job. he's doing it for the community and for our country. >> he's also happy to be in the militia. more than half of all young men here are unemployed, but he

hopes he will not have to do it for long. >> god will help us triumph over boko haram. together, with the security forces, we will defeat them. i hope this is over soon and i can look for another job. but i don't know what the future holds. >> boko haram is missing its offensive. that means muhamed will have to carry on risking his life checking cars here at the check point. >> australia is in mourning after a 16 hour siege in central sydney ended in a barrage of gunfire in the deaths of two hostages. >> the sound of gunshots inside prompted you to storm the inside and killed the gunman. the gunman had a violent and unsettled pass but no -- no ties to terror groups did claim to represent islamic state.

next the attack has rocked the nation to its core. the country has long prided itself on its peace. >> as darkness fell, crowds of people continued to come and pay their respects. a sea of flowers now lies in martin place in downtown sydney near the cafe where the hostage drama unfolded. earlier in the day, prime minister tony abbott and his wife came to express their solidarity. numbers of the muslim community also came. >> we are here to show our support, not make a statement. all muslims are for australian -- are for australia and we support that. >> one of the dead was a barrister and mother of three and children. the other was the manager of the cafe. reports say he was killed while trying to grab the gun from the hostage takers. he is being hailed as a hero.

>> i can't say enough about it. it doesn't surprise me. he never would have left his staff. >> a memorial service was held at st. mary's cathedral, close to where the siege occurred. these events have deeply shocked australians with people saying they have lost their innocence as a nation stop -- as a nation. >> in the united states, presidential elections are still two years away but jeb bush has announced he's actively exploring the possibility of running in 2016. the son of one president and the brother of another, the 61-year-old republican made the announcement with a facebook posting on tuesday. >> he is also the former governor of florida and is considered a moderate republican with a strong chance of garnering the support of the establishment. he has championed immigration reform which could win support from hispanic voters, but could

lose support from the tea party wing of the gop which would like to draw fire in the primaries. here in germany, thousands of people turned out for another anti-immigrant demonstration in the city of dresden. organized by a white -- by a right wing group, a drew support for many ordinary germans. >> there was a counter demonstration as well, but it was much smaller. german chancellor angela merkel has warned germans not to fall prey to xena phobic rabble rousing. >> each demonstration draws more people onto the streets. a record 15,000 supporters rallied interest in on monday to protest against what they say is the ongoing islamization of germany. we are patriots. we love our fatherland and we want to protect it. >> the protesters say they are disenfranchised in the political system and want a more restrictive policy and tougher

line on islam. mainstream parties has condemned the demonstrations. >> we have to listen to their concerns, but we have to make it clear some of the group's leaders are exploiting many people's baseless fears. that is unacceptable and i think it is a disgrace for germany. >> the german interior minister also distanced himself from the protesters calls, but said the government should address the underlying concerns and stressed the benefit migrant workers have brought. >> there is no real danger of our country being islamized. there are millions of muslims who work here and pay taxes here and are good neighbors to us. >> that call is unlikely to sway the group's supporters. they have promised to hit the

streets of dresden and other cities next monday as well. >> two young photographers have one unicef germany's prize for photo of the year. >> they were recognized for their photographs of children fathered by sex tourists in the philippines. >> the recognition for a labor-intensive project, the two photographers spent weeks documenting the lives of children in the philippines. >> she's a filipino girl whose father was philippine -- whose father was australian. he spent his vacation with her and turned -- and returned to australia. >> it is a story shared by many children living in the philippines -- father was sent with limited opportunities. mixed children and their mothers are often ostracized. >> it is always reflected in the child's parents. they don't look like other

children in the philippines will stop there's virtually no immigration, so they stand out. it is a very catholic country, so they are stigmatized and discriminated against. >> according to estimates, roughly 100,000 children in the philippines are exploited in the sex industry. >> the women and girls are often forced to seller bodies. they hope the mostly wealthy and white men will bring them out of misery. next few of the photographs show happy children stop the majority reflect tragedies. this entry shows to blind girls in india, another example of hardship endured by so many children around the world. >> finally, the holiday season in northern hemisphere has delivered a hot debate -- namely where does santa claus actually live? in north america, people say it is clearly the north pole. in europe, many people as father christmas resides just north of

the arctic circle in lapland. >> in fact, right here in finland. with less than two weeks until showtime, santa is pouring over hundreds of thousands of letters from boys and girls, but he says everything is on schedule. >> and at the top of his own wish list, a chance for every child to go to school. isn't that where lap tops come from? >> that's what mine said on the box. that is going to do it for us. >> more news at the top of the hour. keep it on dw.

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>> our headlines this hour, schoolchildren the target of the deadliest terrorist attack in pakistan history. the taliban claims responsibility and are condemned around the world. even the taliban in afghanistan have called the attacks u nislamic. al qaeda link rebels in theory have seized to keep bases and now control a major highway. australia mourns the victims of yesterday's 16 hour siege at a café in sydney.