ount sinjar. this is allowing civilians to flee for safety. pakistan cracks down on the country's militants in the wake of a deadly attack by the taliban that left scores of children dead. a hollywood scandal threatens to escalate into a political crisis. the white house calls the cyberattacks against sony pictures a matter of national security. also coming up in the program in business, the latest on the financial hit to sony. it is expected to take a hit from canceling the showing of "the interview."

in france, ski resorts are seeing red as warm temperatures in the alps are keeping the snow and the tourists away. ♪ >> we begin in iraq where kurdish forces a managed to open up a key corridor to the sinjar mountains pared recent days have involved heavy fightings involving peshmerga troops and an increase in u.s. airstrike speared the area has been under siege on the islamic state organization since august, trapping thousands of people and prompting a humanitarian crisis. thomas waterhouse reports. >> in the foothills of the s injar mountains, kurdish troops

assess the the siege of the mountain has been broken, and a safe package has been established, offering hope to the minority population trapped on the hostile slopes. >> our hope is that all the people will eventually be able to go back to their own homes and towns. but those in need of evacuation now a corridor has been opened to evacuate those people. >> two days of heavy fighting involving a thousand peshmergas and a string of fresh u.s. airstrikes have seen the islamic state organization pushed out of this region. bodies of their fighters scattered in ditches. eight villages they once controlled have now been recaptured. after taking control of parts of northern iraq, the militants stormed the mountainous region in august, forcing thousands of ucd's -- yazidis into the hills. the majority came to seek refuge and found themselves trapped

sparking a humanitarian crisis. #a troops have finally reached the mountaintop, and the evacuation operation is set to begin this friday. while the jihadist group's graffiti might still be visible its members or not. a further setback in their grand plan to construct an islamic caliphate. >> staying in iraq but other developments, two senior islamic state group leaders have reportedly been killed. according to one u.s. official who spoke under and an amenity -- who spoke anomalously, one official was killed in the strikes carried out last week. pakistan's military on the offensive. the army continues its assault on the country's militants in the wake of mass goings at a school. on tuesday taliban writers killed 148 people, most of them children in a school mascot. the patient were -- the peshawar

attack has called on the crackdown against extremists. at least 50 seven militants have been killed. operations are shifting from targeted attacks to a wide-ranging crackdown on the taliban. >> old segments of society including all institutions, the government, the military, the police together, we have to fight back. we have to eradicate this curse and eliminate it completely, at all costs. >> meanwhile in pakistan, a prosecutor says the government will try to cancel the bail granted to the main suspect in the 2008 mumbai terror attack speared the decision came down yesterday and has outraged neighboring india, prompting many to question pakistan's commitment to fighting militancy. >> pakistani court has vowed to

challenge a decision to release on bail this man, accused by india of masterminding the 2008 terror attacks in mumbai. the former leader of the pack is down the -- of a pakistani militant group remains in prison but could be set free within days. in neighboring india, the decision was met with fury. >> it is very sad that he has been granted ale. what about punishing him. how long will this be extended for? the case is not getting anywhere and a pakistani court. >> he should not be given they'll die want him to be hanged. i'm feeling angry about the decision. >> relations between india and text and worsened after the mumbai attack. a hotel café, train station, and jewish center were attack. india has long accused pakistan

of dragging its feet over the prosecution, while islamabad says its archrival has failed to provide the evidence needed to move forward. >> now a question of national security. that is the white house's take on the cyber attack on sony pictures to her washington has not officially pointed the finger and north korea, as others have, but if threatening an appropriate response. the hollywood scandal threatens to escalate into a geopolitical crisis, but sony defended its decision to shelve the interview, a movie about a fictional cia plot to kill kim jong-un. >> a movie no one will see. >> the cia would love it if you two could take it out -- take him out. >> take out? for drinks? >> posters for the heavily anticipated release of "the interview" were already being torn down wednesday after the film was torn from cinemas

across the globe. sony made the decision after receiving threats from hackers who targeted the company in an massive cyber attack. >> believe it or not, north korea represents not necessarily the first time anything like this has happened, but certainly at this level, at this scale, that is very much unprecedented. >> sony's pulling the plug on the film could impact the way hollywood handles controversial scripts in the future. >> make no mistake, topic a is hacking, not just on sony people are wondering, could this he me? anything in hollywood touching on geopolitical concerns, their thinking twice about the impact of their movie today. >> internal e-mails published by the hackers also reveal that the sony pictures ceo was already concerned about the movie before the leaks occurred and had considered releasing a toned down version of the film.

the leaks revealed that "the interview" cost over $44 million to produce. with know plans for a dvd or digital release, sony is likely to lose it all. >> experts argue north korea could be testing the united states to seek cyberspace loopholes and that a strong response is needed. for more, let's go to douglas herbert. we are seeing the most recent hacking scandal which is showing once again that u.s. president barack obama is making no headway when it comes to north korea. >> north korea is a tough nut to crack, and understatement of the century. obama has made his brand name is president. he has based a lot of his presidency on his notion of reaching out, trying to reach out to countries that have been historically your adversary, even your enemy. we had the russian reset remember that? that was a policy he cannot really pursue. iran myanmar, china, vietnam --

all of these countries that a lot of people might have written offers that it is impossible for the u.s. to have decent relationships with, there have been efforts made to reach out and engage in dialogue. you cannot do that with george korea. george -- you cannot do that with north korea. george w. bush since of envoys there in 2007 and 2008, and they made very little headway. they set them with officials at barack obama himself sent officials in 2012 just after kim jong-il came to power. no headway there. the regime on several levels, culturally and linguistically, no one speaks english in the top leadership. at least and iran, you have a president who was educated in scotland. you have a nuclear negotiator that was educated in the u.s. there are cultural ties despite all the obvious difference is to north korea, you had the sense that you really have almost no way of making any contact, of really getting in touch. culturally, linguistically, on any real level.

as far as not knowing how to respond, this is a nuclear arms state to a lot of people and charitably call north korea a freak show state. it is so unpredictable. you have no idea what it is about. it is a bizarre dictatorship, to say the least. you have to because his spirit that is one reason the barack obama administration is taking a cautious line, trying not to escalate things too much. it is either above south korea. you do not want a nuclear arms state lashing out and predict bleak. >> the president will have plenty of time to consider a response. i believe he leaves for a holiday today with his family for hawaii. when he comes back, he is going to be facing quite a tough battle. if not over north korea, but of course this week you saw major gains, people saying hailing this moment, a normalization of ties on the way between cuba and the u.s. >> absolutely, but the deal is not done. a lot of t's to cross and i's to dot. you might call this the calm

before the storm. he is going to face storage -- i should use an even more forceful term, very staunch resistance from the soon to be totally republican-controlled congress, both chambers. there are at least three key republicans. one is a senator marco rubio. there are all florida republicans and very anti-castro. they are opposed to this normalization to what can they do? they can prevent the embargo from being lifted. you need a congressional vote. they can prevent americans from being able to go over there and travel. this is not the beginning of americans can now travel to the island. it does not mean there is open university -- universal travel. there is not funding for an embassy. opening an industry with custom money to they could block the potential nomination for a u.s. ambassador have anna. so there is a lot to think 22 hinder and impede barack obama's

agenda as he seeks to normalize relations to one thing, he might have a lot more of the american public fully behind him. a recent poll earlier this year showed that just 5% of americans actually consider cuba to be a "very serious threats to americans." that is down from 20 to 30 years ago, way down. public opinion is changing. the times are a changing, to misquote a song. and barack obama might have the winds at his tells, or that is what he is hoping. republicans will oppose this at their own risk to its barack obama always has the veto power. >> we will certainly have to wait for the new year to find out how things get underway. thank you very much. can you up on to be as president has had a controversial new anti-terror bill into law. the legislation prompted a brawl in parliament on thursday, this as mp's voted on the measure.

some opposition measures say the law turned kenya into a police state. charlotte hawkins has the details. >> pelted with books the speaker struggled to continue the session. voting on a controversial security law, the chamber descended into chaos. >> violence has gone up in the public gallery. our senators have been physically assaulted. i am very sad about that. >> the law was finally adopted it once signed into law, it means terrorism suspects can be held for 360 days without charge. the government will also have more power to tap phones, and journalist could face three years in prison for undermining terrorism investigations. protesters say it is a threat to sever lot -- civil liberties and free speech. the opposition engines to go to court to annul the legislation. >> it is underway. the freedom of kenyans is under

threat. >> the government maintains the measures are necessary for a country regularly attacked by militant groups. the president has faced mounting pressure to boost security sense and al-shabaab attack on the westgate shopping mall last year left 67 people dead. >> a runoff vote in the tunisia presidential poll takes place this weekend at for the first time, tunisians will be allowed to freely elect their leader, the first since independence from france and 1956. on the first vote, a veteran l edition -- politician with a front runner, and he will go head-to-head with the president-incumbent. marinas cap -- let's get the report on the campaign. >> he was a minister and headed up parliament. his political background is

certainly solid. >> firstly i would like a return to the state. but what state? a state of law in which all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law. a fair date in which every human being has the same rights, not a state that promotes favoritism. >> he has strong support from other parties who see him as a unifying force. >> on the one hand, he has a real sense of what the state should be. and he brings people together. the parties that are supporting him do not even dare to do that publicly in the media. >> his party is often accused of being anti-islamic, yet, they describe themselves as secular. >> our party is not anti-islam, but we are against islamism. by that, i mean and exploitation of islam for political ends. we consider errors of a cyclic party.

but we're not against religion at all. we are all muslims. -- we consider ourselves a secular party. >> the politician has said he is a disciple of the father of tunisian independence. yet, many fear that his party will be to influential if he wins the election. >> when it comes to democracy obviously he has not got that far. he tried to do it, but it failed. obvious, and the 21st century democracy is one of the financial elements of any state. greg's at 88 years old, he cannot claim to represent tunisia's new guard, but he is hoping experience will do it. >> 16 minutes past the hour in the french capital. let's check the headlines. making gains in iraq, peshmerga fighters break through the islamic state organization's hold on mount sinjar, along trapped civilians to flee for safety. a mass killing at a peshawar

school prompted pakistan's military to crack down on the taliban. scores are killed in the tribal region. a hollywood scandal threatens to escalate into a geopolitical crisis. the white house calls the cyber attack against sony pictures a matter of national security. time now for a look at what is making headlines in the world. i am joined by florence. we are going to start with the big news coming out of the u.s. and cuba, on the move to normalize relations between the two countries. >> one paper is very excited and that is a french communist paper. you can see on the front age a photo of events celebrating and this headline -- it says that the cuban people are stronger than the american embargo, after obama admitted that the u.s.'s isolationist policy has been a failure and the battle has begun to completely lift the embargo. let's look at the editorial of

china daily today. they also applaud this historic move. they talk about obama opening the restored your, as said in as it is, the thaw in relations is long overdue. it talks about the fact that the 53-year-old trade embargo has been a failure. the china daily really of wads of obama for opening this new chapter in u.s. -- really applauds obama for opening this new chapter with cuba and much of latin america. it says this might be the most memorable legacy of his presidency. >> but not everyone is feeling this announcement. >> absolutely pure republicans in the united states have been very much opposed to it, as well as many cuban-americans. the daily beast talks about another group of critics him and they call this the hipster apologists who want to keep cuba authentically poor. this article says the thawing of the black relations has elicited a lot of patronizing, as an and

fretting, about the imminent americanization of cuba. i must admit, i have been hearing quite a lot of this here in paris. there de gaulle says the internet was quickly flooded with pained tweeds of whining white people lamenting the fact that adorable cuba, charming 1950's cuba, would be hit with the hideous modern consumerism. basically, go to cuba now before it changes. the altar call -- the article wonders where can sophisticated poverty tourists get rest from uniformity? well, it says they can head to pyongyang, a city blissfully free from chain stores and edible food. >> we have seen north korea and the headlines this week, as well, in terms of the hacking of sony pictures. many people pointing the finger at pyongyang. the white house has called the hacking a matter of national security. >> that is right. that cyber attack forced sony

pictures to pull the release of a film "the interview," which has been at the heart of this scandal, a comedy about a plot to assassinate north korean leader kim jong in. "the independent" has a screen grab from the movie. it promises the inside story of the cyber attack that has brought hollywood to its knees. >> sony group has many people wondering what impact it will have further on, the fact that it canceled the movie. it is not a good move and could affect things down the line. >> critics say could be a dangerous precedent that could further embolden a rogue regime. the "wall street journal" has an interesting editorial today that i recommend. it's as if there is evidence that north korea is behind the cyber attack, well, the u.s. should turn the situation back on the north by dropping the "the interview" in pyongyang. they say that the rights should be wasted to the dublin domain

and make it easier to watch and share. it says the cia should actually dove the movie into korean to make sure it hits its targeted audience. this is very serious here because of north korea is responsible, it is a victory and the united states has to show that it will not bow to threats. >> what do have to wrap up? what can article in "the independent." this story is buzzing online. a story about a young canadian back in may that booked and around the world trip with his girlfriend. her name is elizabeth gallagher. they broke up shortly after that, and he was left with this nonrefundable ticket. no passport information was required, so he has launched an online campaign looking for another elizabeth gallagher to travel with him for free. he got hundreds of his sponsors, as you can imagine, and he chose a particular elizabeth gallagher who, turns out, has a boyfriend.

she says it will be a platonic trip, but it is taking them to paris. >> not a bad thing at all. thank you for that look at the day's press time for a business update. all right, let's get that update. we are looking now at the financial impact on sony's decision to shelve the cia plot gone -- the movie titled "the interview," concerning these eia taking out the north korean leader. >> that his ip at movies released ahead of the holiday season tent to rack up millions of box office sales. it has been placed on hold for now. sony pictures spends around 80 miller dollars to make the film the company's decision not to release it will likely cost $200 million. >> sony is taking a hard hit at

the box office and elsewhere. the company is likely to suffer huge losses after it chose not to release the film "the interview." sony studios spent an estimated $80 million making and marketing the movie, an investment it will not get back in to get sales. >> movies are an international business. that is where the real money is made. anything that impacts a domestic release, you rest assured that what is going on internationally is taken very much into account. >> sony has also put on hold plans to release the movie on dvd and video on demand. an earlier attack on sony's playstation network in 2011 forced the committee to shell out some $170 million for security fixes to today, on top of all the other expense is, sony is facing lawsuits from former employees. some have already filed cases arguing the company did not do enough to project their personal data. >> others do, european leaders

agreed on a plan to create a strategic investment fund. it is expected to generate up to 315 billion euros from both the public and private sector. european leaders are hopeful the plant will jump start the economy and create jobs spirit while the prime minister of britain says he supports the plan, he is calling for more. >> we support the investment plan that has been announced and the projects we have for british infrastructure can benefit from that plan. but i have also been pushing hard and successfully for making sure we have an ambitious trade agreement with america, making sure we complete the european single market. both of those aims have been strongly endorsed. >> let's check on how the markets are trading right now. it is a mixed nature this friday. the ftse trading alone in the green. shares in french tech company rose nearly 4% after it announced it acquired the outsourcing unit of xerox for around $1 billion per russia's continues a slum, down 3% at

this hour. let's take a look at some of the other stories we're tracking for you now. the french engineering giant is close to striking a deal with the u.s. justice department or the company has been under investigation over charges of foreign bribery. reports indicated they will pay a fine of $700 million. it is the third profit warning for air france and six months. the group cut the 2014 earnings forecast by 200 million euros. cut that air france were higher than anticipated. air france klm expects earnings at 1.6 billion euros at best. welcome news for the french economy. these statistics agency forecasts a growth rate of 0.3% in the third quarter of 2015. conditions have improved with lower oil prices and a weakening euro. however, the agency warned these factors are not strong enough to bring down unemployment.

and we end with this -- i'll be dobby's national carrier showcase the arrival of its first a-380. the plane has only three-room suite available on a commercial airline. it has a living room, private shower, and bedroom. the aircraft will begin daily operations to london on december 27