♪ collect the united states and -- >> the united states and cuba are restoring diplomatic ties after nearly half a century of cold war hostility. president barack obama says he is ending what he called an outdated approach to the island. five people were released, including allen gross, who spent five years in a cuban jail after he was accused of overthrowing -- trying to overthrow the cuban government. >> we want to send a message to all the people who spoke up

subjected themselves to my ranting. to all those who tried to visit me but were unable to. thank you for trying. as soon as i get new teeth, i hope they will be sharp enough to make a difference. >> the decision to restore ties with cuba has been met with some criticism in the united states. republican senator marco rubio from florida says the u.s. has given everything to cuba but got nothing in return. obama disagrees. he says the decade-old policy toward cuba simply was not working. >> the united states has supported democracy and human rights in cuba through these five decades. we have done so primarily through policies to isolate the island. although this was rooted in the best of intentions, no other nation joins us in opposing the

sanctions -- imposing the sanctions, and it has little effect beyond providing the cuban government a rationale for restrictions on its people. >> a correspondent who used to be a journalist in cuba but who is now based in miami, florida a city where over half the population is cuban. an awful lot of cuban-americans still have family back in cuba. they are among the groups most impacted by today's news. what kind of reaction from the cuban community tonight? >> well, as always miami tends to be a place full of contradictions. we are seeing many, many reactions. what's most interesting is that you have the old guard of cuban-americans, many exiles that flat the regime, and after

the revolution also came to the united states. they now are the minority, kind of in the same line as senator marco rubio, that what we are seeing is younger cuban-americans and also recent arrivals from the last 10-15 years, they are reacting favorably to the possible end of the u.s. embargo on cuba. >> one impact that springs to mind is a lot of people will be able to go and visit family, or have family, to visit them. >> well, that has been in place for some time now. there hasn't been actually -- in 2008, president obama returned to allow travel. they have been traveling much easier, and the cuban government has lifted certain sanctions and certain migration policies that have allowed cubans to visit family members in the united

states over the last couple of years. however, what it does do is end the u.s. travel ban for the rest of american citizens that, unless they have family on the island would not be allowed to travel. it opens up the market so that you can, you know, by your ticket on orbitz or any online service and not have to use charter companies with licenses given by the department of treasury. it completely changes the model and opens it up for cubans and for americans. >> that could obviously be a big boost for tourism in cuba. we are also learning that for now there's a limit on the amount of money cubans living in the united states can send to their relatives in cuba. that's not going to be scrapped which will also have an enormous impact on a lot of people's lives, i imagine. >> correct. there are, it is changing absolutely, everything. from travel to remittances to

collaboration between the two countries, it is also -- it is also going to change the ability cuban americans have two be directly involved in any kind of transaction or business project undertaken in cuba. i was just speaking on the phone to a long time scholar at new york university, and he said that what this does is signal a germanic shift -- dramatic shift between the supporters of the embargo and the rest of the cuban population in the united states, over 60% that favors reestablishment of relations. there is a disconnect between congress and the old guard and its constituents.

>> thanks very much indeed. to talk more about that, our guest is in the studio. obama unveiled this policy today. very eye-catching policy but in practical terms what does it really mean? >> diplomatic relations will be established after more than 50 years. that's obviously a huge step. beyond that, obama is using his executive powers to expand measures he announced in 2009 to ease the embargo, so this really builds on that policy. it is not a radically new policy. what we see is this is further facilitating travel to cuba. it means also allowing cuban-americans to send more money back to cuba, remittances raising the level of remittances and allowing more imports and exports.

business and commerce looms very large in this revised policy. it's also a significant move toward taking cuba off the u.s. terrorist blacklist. it was clear from obama's speech today that he hopes these measures will encourage democratic reform in cuba but that notion was brushed off very quickly by rosa castro, the -- raul castro the cuban president. he said that the u.s. and cuba would have to learn to live with their differences in a civilized manner. >> why is this policy so important to obama? >> it has been in the works now for a few years. the immediate trigger was the prisoner swap, which meant both sides could announce this normalization without losing face. and it's something the white house can spin as a foreign-policy success at the end of a very difficult year. in april, the u.s.-brokered

middle east peace talks collapsed, then in june the spectacular rise of isis in iraq , the u.s. off guard. on other fronts, u.s. sanctions against russia failed to change russia's policy on ukraine, and the asia pivot is under huge pressure amid rising tensions in the south china sea. >> thank you very much. moving to other news now mixed signals coming from brussels this wednesday. the european union is scrambling to clarify its position on the palestinian movement,. the eu still rules them as a terrorist group, according to the group. but earlier this week the european union said it is removing hamas from its terrorist group on technical grounds. they chose a watered-down resolution that recognizes the

palestinian state in principle. 498 members of the european parliament voted in favor, 88 against. joining me now is a member of the european parliament for the green party. thank you for being with us. israel's prime minister said that today's vote shows europe and europeans have learned nothing from the holocaust. what do you make of that? >> thank you very much, first of all, for having me. i don't make much of that. i am no historian, but i can't really see what is the relationship. >> i think he is saying that europe is choosing not to support the world's only jewish state. >> europeans negotiating in these positions are supporting exactly the kind of two-state solution to which israel itself agreed. >> are you blaming israel for the lack of progress in these talks by choosing to bypass

negotiations and recognize the palestinian state unilaterally? >> this is not a question of blame. it is simply leveling the field. almost everybody who has been there will say that. making recognition completely conditional on peace negotiations. >> israel said that this will encourage and embolden extremists and saying that this will in fact make israel less safe. what would you say to that? >> i'm hoping exactly the opposite. one of the reasons why the european union and europe has very little clout with palestinian authorities is because of the different status. now that there is a clear message that the european parliament supports recognition of the state of palestine, we can say that now it is your time to deliver, go back to the

negotiating table. >> all right. thank you very much for joining us. the diplomatic push continues. palestinian leaders are taking their case for statehood directly to the u.n. security council. a draft proposal gives israel two years to withdraw from landis sees following the war in 1967 -- land seized following the war in 1967. france is pushing for a softer text calling for peace talks within two years. israel is counting on the u.s. to block the tax. our correspondent in new york joins us now. what is happening? are the palestinians putting this on ice for the moment? >> it was expected to go ahead this morning but there is no consensus on this resolution.

there has been a meeting of arab nations today about what to do on it. the meetings are ongoing. some of those nations are saying this is bad timing. they are trying to avoid another clash with the u.s., who said they will be so that bill. but the language is also considered to threatening. the idea the israelis would be forced to withdraw from the west bank is considered by many as far too ambitious. you have the second resolution that the french are drafting which is not yet ready. apparently, the palestinians are studying that text and trying to incorporate it into their own to try to kind of water it down and make it into something more acceptable to the united states. >> thanks for a much. -- thanks very much. people in pakistan are burying their dead after the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history. dozens of children were slaughtered by taliban gun

men at a school in peshawar. the pakistani prime minister vowed to bring back the death penalty for anyone involved. collect blood stained schoolbooks -- >> bloodstained schoolbooks, broken furniture. the walls are peppered with bullet holes. this is the aftermath of the deadliest terror attack in pakistan's history. a group of taliban gunmen climbed over the back wall of the army public school in peshawar. they then made their way inside and began shooting students and teachers indiscriminately. >> six of them were killed here. so, they were wearing suicide jackets. that is why you see all the splinters on the walls. >> over 100 bodies were

recovered from this auditorium. students had been listening to a career advice talk. as these families bury their dead pakistaniss are observing three days of national mourning. hundreds gathered for the burial. >> i am proud of my mother. she sex vice or life when she had the chance to escape -- sacrificed her life when she had the chance to escape. >> the taliban said the attack was revenge for a six-month long campaign against their hideout close to the border with afghanistan. pakistani politicians have long been criticized for not doing enough to stop the armed group. prime minister nawaz sharif promised to step up the attack -- campaign. >> we will continue as long as there is a single terrorist on our soil.

>> he said he spoke to the afghanistan president to discuss how the countries could work together. >> australia's prime minister promised to find answers following the deadly siege at a cafe in sydney. tony abbott spoke about how the man was able to take 17 people hostage. he had been on a watchlist, but was later removed. he was killed along with two hostages when police entered the scene. tensions are running high in greece after parliament failed to elect a president. the first of three votes. polls suggest the election would be won by radical left-wing party syriza, which has promised to end the bailout that is

propping up the country. the prime minister warned that could result in a disastrous great exit from the eurozone. our top story this hour -- the united states and cuba have decided to restorative medic ties, bringing an end -- diplomatic ties, bringing an end to 50 years of the poetic isolation. some republicans and democrats are opposing the move. we heard earlier from allen gross, a u.s. citizen jailed in cuba for five years after being convicted of attending to overthrow the government. three cuban spies were also released. looking at the economic impact of the decision to restore ties between the united states and cuba. >> 50 years of embargo, more than 50 years, really. 50 years of blocked exports. president obama said in recent years the embargo has had little impact. the chamber of commerce

estimates the embargo has cost the american economy at least $1.2 billion a year. other estimates give it an even higher cost. the cuban government set its economy -- set its economy loses $685 million a year. a major change is in the telik medications sector. the embargo has left the island nation fairly isolated. have an a has -- havana has promised to allow more internet access. telecom firms will be anxious to set up business in cuba and export equipment. other changes, banking between the two countries will be resumed. u.s. credit and debit cards will be allowed in cuba, and more companies will be allowed to apply for licenses to do business in cuba. we also know that americans will be able to send more money back to cuba. legal remittances will be changed from $500 every three months to $2000.

there are about 2 million cubans or cuban-americans living in the u.s. the money they send back is one of the top contributors to the cuban economy. travel will also become easier. americans will be allowed to bring back $400 worth of cuban goods. cigar aficionados will be interested to get their hands on the previously banned products. it is interesting to know that president obama cannot single-handedly left trade restrictions. he can liberalize trade, but it is up to congress to overturn the embargo. the other business stories we have been following, following the plunging of the ruble. russia says they may take more measures to prop up the currency a day after the ruble lost 11% of its value despite a 6.5% increase in interest rates. the central bank said it could

provide additional capital to banks and financial companies and the finance industry said it was ready to sell up to $7 billion of foreign currency reserves. earlier today, we spoke to an analyst in london and asked if he thinks the ruble can recover. >> the one benefit that russia has over the 1998 crisis in which we saw much larger swings much greater depreciation relative to the time, is it has a lot larger foreign currency reserves. it does have the capability to intervene, which they did not have before. that is definitely a major factor. obviously it has not played into it so far, because they really recently chose to make the ruble a more freely floating currency. bad timing, you might say. but if they are choosing to take a more interventionist approach and use the reserves, it does give you an idea of how far this can go. >> the federal reserve is edging

closer to raising key interest rates, a sign the u.s. economy is finally getting better. it promised a patient approach in determining when to hike interest rates from near zero. the hike is expected to come next spring or summer. fed chairman janet yellen said it does not represent a meaningful change in policy. the fed said it expects u.s. unemployment to drop in 2015, but inflation will remain below the 2% target. that will impact when it decides to raise interest rates. let's see how the markets have been faring amid all this up people. with the ruble recovering a little bit, but volatile, gaining about 10% against the dollar. it is still down 13% for the year -- for the week. the cac 40 ending up nearly 0.5%. wall street is trading higher at the moment. not sure if that is related to

developments in the u.s. and cuba. but we saw a boost on the relatively upbeat comments from the fed. about 45 minutes left in the trading day now, so we will be following those developments to see how wall street finishes the day. >> thank you very much, indeed. time to bring you the best of the internet over the past 24 hours. time for web news. ♪ >> welcome to the web news, with our pick of the stories making the online headlines. coming up on today show -- australian web users show solidarity with muslims in the wake of the sydney siege. indian users react to the arrest of an alleged isis propagandist. emotions are running high in australia following monday's

hostage siege in a downtown sydney cafe. there has been widespread commentary online, with messages of condolence flooding into the families of the two people killed by the hostage taker, a heretical islamist who moved to australia in 1996. while it was a time for reflection some took to the web to show solidarity with members of the muslim community. thousands have been posting under ata hashg -- a hashtag responding to people who are afraid the hostagetaking will cause an islamic phobic i -- i slamophobic backlash. they offered to ride with people to work to prevent any form of abuse. many sydney residents follow their lead.

as we see from these photos shared on twitter. scores of people from brisbane and melbourne have also shared support with the muslim community, offering anyone who needs company on public transport. they hope these actions will prevent anti-islam sentiment spreading across australia. the twitter handle has a lot of followers in india. it is also pretty controversial. the man behind it tweets extremist propaganda in english, declaring his support for the islamic state terrorist group. the 24-year-old was finally arrested by indian police on saturday, sparking heated debate online. bloggers posted, defending their fellow citizen.

many say it is unfair to jail someone on the basis of what they have written, saying that this is a thought crime and an instance of bias against muslims in india. a sentiment that has annoyed some indians. they have also praised legal authorities, saying that hate speech is a crime that should be severely punished. some found it surprised -- surprising they could defend freedom of expression for someone supporting a fundamentalist movement when they have no respect for basic human rights. every year, an estimated 225 million women worldwide have an unmet need for modern contraception. this is just one alarming statistic in this info graphic put together by theguttmacher

institute. access to contraception would prevent unwanted pregnancies and maternal deaths. this type of tragedy could be avoided. he took to his facebook page two confirm his retirement from football. people have been paying tribute to the european cup champion and his brilliant career for the french national team. he played for some of the world most bridges this -- prestigious clubs. he will now be working as a commentator for a u.k. sports network. an israeli artist has been giving some historical leaders jf kennedy ganddhi, and others

a modern makeover. it reimagines the rulers who shaped our world in a modern context.

by democracy now!] >> my family and i are heartbroken after hearing the news that hundreds of innocent teachers have lost their lives. we stand with those families and the children that are injured right now, suffering through the trauma. >> that was the nobel peace