quick hello and welcome to the "journal" coming to you live from dw in berlin. the fbi says north korea was behind an unprecedented cyber attack against sony. u.s. president barack obama is expected to comment on that any moment now, and there is a reaction from north korea. we'll go live to washington for details. >> kurdish forces say they have broken a cease-fire on islamic state fighters in northern iraq. >> and eva -- fifa decides to release a report into alleged corruption within.

what do they not want us to see? we begin with a developing story out of the united states. the fbi says a hacking attack that led to the cancellation of the movie "the interview" was the work of north korea. the f the a's says it has information that conclusively shows the north korean government was behind he cyber attack on sony pictures -- the f b i says. hackers also threatened moviegoers who went to see the film in cinemas. the movie tells the fictional story of journalists recruited to assassinate north korean leader kim jong-il and -- kim jong-un. >> we want to go now to us and 10, d.c. u.s. president or barack obama is speaking out about this cyber attack situation. -- we want to go now to

washington, d.c. >> in this interconnected digital world, there will be opportunities for hackers to engage in cyber assaults, both in the private sector and in the public sector. our first order of business is making sure we do everything to harden sites and prevent those kind of attacks from taking place. when i came into office, i set up a cyber security interagency team to look at everything that we can do at the government level to prevent these kinds of attacks. we've been coordinating with the private sector, but a lot more needs to be done. we are not close to where we need to be. one of the things in the new year i hope congress is prepared to work with us on is strong cyber security laws that allow for information sharing across private sector platforms as well as the public sector so that we

are incorporating best practices and preventing these attacks from happening in the first place. but even as we get better, you know, the hackers are going to get better, too. some will be state actors. some will be non-actors. all will be sophisticated, and many can do some damage. -- some will be state actors. some will be non-date -- non-state actors. we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the united dates. because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they would start doing when they see a documentary that they don't like or news reports that they don't like. or, even worse, imagine if

producers and distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship because they do not want to offend the sensibilities of somebody who's sensibilities probably need to be offended. so, you know, that's not who we are. that's not what america is about. again, i'm sympathetic that sony as a private company was worried about liabilities and this, that, and the other. i wsh they had spoken to me first. i would have told them, "do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks." imagine if instead of it being a

cyber threat, someone had broken into their offices and destroyed a bunch of computers and stolen discs. is that what it takes for suddenly you to pull the plug on something? so we will engage with not just the film industry, but the news industry and the private sector around these issues. we already have. we will continue to do so, but i think all of us have to anticipate occasionally there will be breaches like this. they are going to be cost the. they are going to be serious. -- they are going to be costly. we take them with the utmost seriousness, but we cannot start changing our patterns of behavior because there might be the possibility of a terrorist attack. any more than boston did not run

its marathon this year because of the possibility that somebody might try to cause harm. so let's not get into that way of doing business. >> would you consider taking some sort of symbolics that like watching the movie yourself -- some sort of symbolic step backward >> i've got a long list of movies i'm going to be watching. [laughter] i never released my full movie list, but let's talk the specifics of what we now know. we can confirm that north korea engaged in this attack. i mean, it says something interesting about north korea interesthat they decided to have

state mount an all-out assault on a movie studio because of a satirical movie starring seth rogen and james flacco.\ [laughter] i love seth, and i love james, but the notion that that was a threat to them, i think, gives you some sense of the kind of regime we're talking about here. they caused a lot of damage, and we will respond. we will respond proportionally, and we will respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. it's not something that i will announce here today in a press conference. more broadly, though, this points to the need for us to work with the international community to start setting up some very clear rules of the road in terms of how the internet and cyber operates.

right now, it's sort of the wild west. right now, the problem is you've got weak states that can engage in these kinds of attacks. you've got non-state actors that can do enormous damage. that is part of what makes this issue of cyber security so urgent. again, this is part of the reason why it will be so important for congress to work with us and get an actual bill passed that allows for the kind of information -- kind of sharing of information you need. because if we don't put in place the kind of architecture that can prevent these attacks from taking place, this is not just going to be affecting movies. this will be affecting our entire economy in ways that are extraordinarily significant. by the way, i hear you are moving to europe. where are you going to be? >> brussels. >> our correspondent brits would

-- our correspondent richard walker in washington has been following this press conference like we have been doing. obviously, we did not hear what everyone was at least hoping. we wanted to find out if the u.s. is going to do something right now to respond to this attack, and we are not getting that. >> yeah, that's right. all obama would say on that point is that we will respond at the time of our choosing, but he would not give any details of what kind of response that might be. there has been talk of various options, but it appears that the u.s. does not really have any very good options. first of all, it could of course mount a cyber attack of its own, and the u.s. is extremely strong in this area. it is widely thought to have been against the attack against iran's nuclear program, which is said to set back iran's nuclear program by some years a few years ago. but north korea is not thought to have some in the sophisticated targets at you

could go for with that kind of attack. alternatively, the u.s. could let some additional sanctions on north korea, but north korea is so isolated from the world economy already with so many sanctions on it already, there's not an awful lot of headroom. after all that, the fact that north korea is, of course, effectively the world's number one pariah state and sometimes acts like a delinquent child, the u.s. will not be wanting to+ do anything that gives it an excuse to retaliate and a far more damaging manner. for now, the u.s. is saying it is appealing to other countries in the region to try to help it to at least rein in north korea at this point. >> did you get the feeling, too, that the president was scolding executives at sony? he said he wished they had talked to him first before deciding to pull the film. that caught my attention. correct me if i'm wrong, but the reports i've been reading said that the white house and washington actually consulted with sony -- did not put

pressure on them, but they did consult for the decision was made to pull that film. >> yeah, well, obama making it very clear where he falls on that argument. as you just said, saying he understands their concerns but wishing they had called him first. of course, he was making the argument effectively that this sets a very damaging precedent, that it first of all sends a message to dictators that they can impose censorship on the united states, even at the moment it might be just some silly movie, but in the future, it could be something much more serious. also that self-censorship might be the response from some movie studios and some journalists. effectively saying that, you know, you have allowed a big company here to be held to ransom, and you can win. >> richard walker covering the

story for us in washington. thank you very much. curtis peshmerga forces say it's their biggest victory so far in the fight against islamic state and iraq. >> they say they have broken a siege. the yazidis have been trapped on that mountain since august. >> the u.s. has been supporting the peshmerga with airstrikes. germany has sent weapons. >> these pictures are from before the battle took ways. it took two days and thousands of troops to push the islamic state militants back. while the u.s.-led coalition struck islamic state targets from the air, kurdish ground troops advanced into territory held by the militants. together, they broke the siege.

militants have targeted them for months, forcing them into the desert where they faced extreme heat and cold, cut off him food and water. this week's battle has opened up a cord or. kurdish fighters say the families who have been trapped will now finally be able to leave. the u.s. military called the airstrikes a success, saying top islamic state officials had been killed, but the pentagon has warned the fight against the islamic radicals is far from over. >> i still think we are in terms of building some of the capabilities required they're probably about three years down the road. >> at law mcstay trip still control massive swathes of territory across syria and iraq. kurdish fighters have reagan most of the ground they lost, but they are only interested in protecting kurdish regions. other parts of iraq, including the i.s. stronghold of mosul are

the responsibly of the largely ineffectual iraqi army. >> a political rival of the turkish president. >> the turkish president has accused him and supporters in the police and judiciary of trying to overthrow him. the movement was key in making public one of the largest corruption scandals in recent turkish history. >> people close to the turkish president were also implicated in the scandal. >> the german foreign minister is in ukraine for talks with the country's leaders. he met with the prime minister and president petro poroshenko. >> after the talks, he called for more action to end conflict in the country posses and called for pushing harsher sanctions against moscow. the visit follows the news that five ukrainian soldiers have been killed in clashes with

separatists in the east. >> lots of breaking news today. stay with us. when we come back, we'll have the rest of the day's news. >> stay with us. >> welcome back, everyone. a horrific story coming out of australia -- eight children have been found dead in a home. the mother of at least seven of the children survived the incident and has several staff wounds -- stab wounds. >> police have not made any arrests are identified any suspects in the attack. the prime minister called the killings heartbreaking. >> residents in this suburb are shocked. eight children were found dead inside this house, aged between 18 months and 15 years. a woman was taken to the hospital with stab. she's the mother of seven of the children.

>> i'm really shocked, too. yeah. because, you know, i just saw her this morning. really, on the veranda with the kids. >> neighbors say the alarm was raised right and older brother of the dead children after he returned home. according to police, there's no risk to the public. so far, they have not named anyone as a suspect. >> we do not have any persons that are formal suspects at the moment. we are speaking to anybody that has even had associations with this family in the last two or three days. >> locals have been gathering to honor the dead. the killings come as australians are still reeling from a deadly siege at a sydney cafe earlier this week. in a statement, prime minister tony abbott called the deaths and unspeakable crime. >> the chief of the most

powerful tuareg tried in northern mali is that, and that at a time of stalled peace talks between separatists and the government. could this suddenly spark progress in those talks, or could it just mean further deterioration? >> a number of african nations are dealing with similar problems right now. in the last art of our series on terrorist groups and their rise across the continent, we start with a look at the tuareg's and >> in january 2013, french porters began their intervention in mali. the country's troops were trying to stop advancing tuareg rebels, trying to establish a new homeland in the countries north. conflict opened the door to other more extreme groups, hoping to bring down mali's government. radical islamists brought a reign of terror and sharia law to the region. at that point, the north of the country had all and into rebel control. mali's former colonial master,

france, was the first to intervene. >> what is happening is not just a challenge for the country's authorities. it is a met to west africa, to northern africa. >> it is also a risk to the whole international community. >> nigeria has also requested military support to help drive out extremist group boko haram, which has claimed responsibility for attacks and mass kidnappings in the countries north, including a suicide bombing in november that killed almost 50 children. >> boko haram is an attempt by people living in the poorest parts of nigeria to -- well, in their case, to destroy the nigerian state, but i would say that the basic issue is the type of state or the type of

political rule you're going to have after the failure of so many nationalist governments. >> this video shows boko haram militants mocking the nigerian government for failing to protect its own people. in april, the group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from their classrooms. some of the girls were reportedly sold into marriages with the militants. nigerian soldiers are fighting boko haram in the countries north, but the group continues to capture new territory. >> it's possible we might see some of these movements actually creating political entities that are new, which is really what is happening in syria and iraq, and something similar to that could happen in africa, or it's possible one of these groups could take over some sort of existing state, which i suppose

-- i mean, it could happen in somalia. >> somalia is a ailed state. lawlessness have in -- lawlessness has been rife here since the early 1990's, which has made it a breeding ground for the al-shabaab militia. in october, african union soldiers helped the somalian army to retake the poor. it was one successful battle in the fight against terrorists, but there's no end in sight to the conflict. >> you can see more on the terrorism in africa series on our website, www.dw.de. on to business news now, and european markets ended the week by continuing the santa claus rally. this week rocked the biggest four-day rally in four years. our correspondent sent us this summary from frankfurt. >> a tire trading session, but

finally, the german benchmark index ended the day with minor losses. essentially, the russian crisis still weighing on individual shares, but also, rwe because here, a major deal might also be at risk because of the political tensions in russia, but also looking at the bright side of things, the consumer morale among germans is at the highest in eight years, and that is mainly due to a lot of german thinking that the economy will actually recover in the months to come. >> we stay for a look at the closing figures, and as we see, the dax did drop right at the end of training, finishing down by .20 5%. euro stoxx 50, similar story, finishing the friday session at 3141. the dow trading up to slightly. the euro trading lower against

the dollar at a value of $1.2227. soccer's world governing body has responded to widespread criticism by announcing that it will make an internal report on corruption public. >> there has been a lot of controversy over the bidding process for the next two world cup finals in qatar and russia. >> the president of the organization says they have decided to publish the investigation in the "appropriate form." >> fans in marrakesh are looking forward to the world cup final, but across the city, the focus is on the darker side of football. the sport's governing body has agreed to make an internal report on corruption public. the president announced the decision after a meeting of the organization's executive committee. they previously said it would be illegal to publish the reports

into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 world cups, but that stance was criticized by many, including the man who led the investigation. u.s. lawyer michael garcia resigned as the chief ethics investigator on wednesday after saying that fifa's ethics judge had misrepresented the findings in his report, which led to accusations of a whitewash and calls for the full report to be released. that is now set to happen, but questions remain. fifa says parts of the report will have to be redacted for legal reasons, and it will not consider changing the venues for the world cups due to be held in russia and qatar. >> were joined now by oliver moody from the sports desk to talk about this report. we were talking about this even before the world cup this past summer. why is it being released now? >> it has been around for a

while, but pressure has been building, not just from the outside, but also internally. michael garcia quitting earlier this week was really the spark for all of this. he said that he had lost confidence in the ethics committee and basically questioned its existence. after that, the vice president of fifa admitted that this is a new low. fifa can ride out a lot of storms, but when even their own functionaries are saying things like this, they have to look like they are doing something. >> critics will be seeing a version of the report, but it is censored and redacted. will there be any satisfaction here? >> that question. we really need to see what is left after the editing is done. a cynic would say that the reduction is an opportunity for them to take out parts they do not want people to read. it's heads don't role as a

result of this report being published, i really cannot see anyone taking it seriously. also, he said that the bidding processes for the world cups will not be reopened. qatar and russia are the venues, and that's that. >> exactly. it would take an earthquake to move the world cup from qatar, right? so, i mean, why should we expect anything seismic to be in this report? >> to be honest, i don't think we really should. i cannot see any kind of consequences from this report being published. you know, the executive committee of the for -- of fifa voted for this, and turkeys do not get in trouble -- turkeys do not vote for christmas. if they thought they were going to get in trouble for it, they would not have voted on it. >> most of central europe is still waiting for the first snowflakes to fall, but still,

the magic of christmas is in the air. parisians are enjoying an ice skating rink directly underneath the eiffel tower. children of all ages having a bit of winter fun in the city of lights, and once daytime returns tonight, another phenomenon appears -- some 3000 santas on motorcycles cruising through the city collecting contributions for orphaned children, a deed really worth hohohoing for. but i like turkeys don't vote for christmas. thanks for watching, everybody. we'll see you again at the top of the hour.

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>> good evening. the u.s. president barack obama has packed his bags and he's ready to fly to hawaii for his annual christmas holidays. well, he has managed to end 2014 ton an upbeat note a-- on an upbeat note, lifting several travel and restricted