oç >> this is your world news in berlin. >> our top story this hour. 12 people are killed in an attack on a french satirical newspaper. gunman opened fire at the offices of charlie hebdo with automatic rifles. two police officers and a number of newspaper staff are killed. a live coverage from paris. -- we will have live coverage from paris.

>> at least 12 people have been killed in paris where unidentified gunmen opened fire at the editorial offices of a french satirical weekly. nine people were wounded, four of them seriously. french president francois hollande has described it as an barbaric act. >> charlie hebdo is known for reporting on diversity with the trademark for articles and cartoons that target the political establishments, religion, the extreme right, and everything in be -- everything in between. usually protective of the rights of free speech, the left-wing magazine does not shy away from publishing stories that are likely to inflame passions. >> confusion and shock after the attack on the offices of the satirical newspaper charlie hebdo. rescuers raced to bring victims to safety. at least two police officers are among the dead. witnesses said two masked men armed with assault weapon storm

the building in central paris late wednesday morning. shooting continued for minutes before the attackers escaped. president francois hollande arrived at the scene of the shooting which he called a terrorist attack. >> an extraordinarily barbaric act has just been committed in paris against a newspaper. that means an attack on freedom of expression and on journalists , who have always wanted to show they can freely speak their minds in france. >> france has raised its terror alert for the paris region to the highest level. the attackers remain on the run. the newspaper had been attacked before. it was firebombed in 2011 after publishing an issue it said was guest edited by the prophet

mohammed. >> our correspondent joins us now live from paris. one witness at the scene said the attack was like a massacre in the offices of this newspaper. what updates can you give us about the attack? >> i had the opportunity to speak personally to the police. the police are outlining that it was a very well-prepared attack. they explained that the gunmen before opening fire shouted very loudly precisely the names of several journalists before shooting them down. so this is one indication for the police that it was really well -- very well-prepared and the gunmen were well-informed as

well. they suppose that the government -- the gunmen perfectly knew who were in the building, at what time and on what day. wednesday is not an innocent day, it is the day the weekly journal comes out. there is a big conference in the morning on how to run the next week and what -- it means the editor-in-chief was present, all of the cartoon drawers were present, so everybody who are the leaders of the journal every wednesday they are there. this was perfectly the day for the gunmen to do this -- planned this attack. >> so the aim was to cause maximum damage. what is known about these gunmen? apparently a manhunt hunt is on for them. there are some picked her spinning ciculated. >> right now the police

according to the police there are two gunmen or three, maybe a driver is involved as well. that is not a confirmed right now, but it's definitely -- what is certain is it's not an individual or two it is a group of at least three persons for right now. they don't really know who it is, the identity or something like that, but i think right now they have confirmed that there is an islamist background, a fanatic background. >> there is one detail backing the theory, before they entered the building, they were shouting something like, now we took revenge.

>> tell us about this newspaper charlie hebdo. it is a controversial newspaper. it was also attacked in 2011. >> this newspaper is controversial. in media terms it is a left-wing journal which has a lot of cartoons, cryptic cartoons about every societal level and political level in france. so there is a critique about the current resident, critique about religion, about society and happenings. of course it is controversial but it's very appreciated among the french. it is a really old journal. they knew perfectly that they had all the time, they worked under pressure and they had

threats, but now it has really gotten serious. >> thank you very much for now. we will come back to you later in the program. >> the deadly shooting has drawn a strong international response. the european commission president called it an act of barbarism. the white house issued a statement condemning the attack in the strongest possible terms. british prime minister david cameron said his country would stand side-by-side with france. >> mr. speaker, i'm sure the whole house will want to join me in condemning the barbaric attack this morning on the office of a magazine in paris in which it is reported that 10 or more people may have been killed. while details are still unclear i know that this house and this country stand united with the french people and our opposition to all forms of terrorism, and we stand squarely for recently -- free speech and democracy.

>> that was british prime minister david cameron condemning the attack in paris. peter is standing by for us. we just heard from david cameron. is there any reaction from herman chancellor angela merkel? >> i would just like to say that president holland of france talked about the profound sense of shock for the french people. in the last hour or two since the news has broken here in germany of this attack, from everything i am seeing and hearing here in germany people here are profoundly shocked by this attack. the german chancellor is scheduled to meet with david cameron later today. she has sent a telegram with

written condolences to french president francois hollande and to the french people. she said this despicable act is not only an attack on french citizens and security in france, it's also an attack on the freedom of expression. a core element of the freedoms enshrined in our democratic culture. nothing, she added, can justify this attack. we heard about these targeted attacks on journalists. we understand how perfidious this attack has been in that way. that was picked up on very much by the head of the social democrats in germany. he said a murder of 12 people in the editorial offices of a satirical magazine is in unbelievably brutal crime. to the families of the victims and all journalists, writers, an artist need our full solidarity. >> in the past couple of months, police have stepped up security.

what are the growing security concerns? >> people and security -- authorities have become more concerned in the second half of the last year because of the emergence of islamic state. they have called for attacks against countries around the world, including germany. germany has not seen the kind of attacks we have seen elsewhere but people will be reminded in the most immediate sense of that terrible attack of the museum in brussels last summer. people will also be remembering attacks on railway trains here in germany. people are aware the threat is there. the authorities have responded to this attack in france by not

stepping up security. >> thanks very much, peter. >> joining us from our social media judesk what are people on social media sites saying about this attack in the heart of paris? >> we are seeing a flurry of activity across the web ever since news broke today. social media desks have been actively following what is happening. it rose quickly to the trending topic in europe and internationally. we are just seeing so much in terms of eyewitness accounts, in terms of politicians celebrities, everyone is expressing anger and outrage and horror over what has happened. just an amazing amount of activity out there on twitter

facebook and everywhere socially. >> what about this satirical weekly, charlie hebdo? the paper price on controversy and has a strong niche following. it feels very strongly about freedom of speech. >> we heard earlier in some of the interviews you just conducted that really am a politicians across europe are standing up and showing solidarity on twitter. david cameron not only spoke out on the issue but tweeted saying the murders are sickening, we stand with the french people. journalist in germany france, and they are coming out saying this is an assault on press freedom. charlie hebdo has an extremely long history of political satire. it has made a name for itself and france provoking mainly through its caricatures.

many have poked fun at the muslim community. in 2011 they posted a caricature of the prophet mohammed and that turned out to result in a firebomb not long afterwards at their office. the magazine is not a need to criticism but this is not anything that could have expected at this level. that is what many are outraged over on twitter. also appearing more in more in photos being shared across twitter is the statement, we are charlie. we have seen in german media the slogan is now appearing in headlines. that is something we will be following the rest of the day. the display of support and solidarity. unfortunately we are also seeing some criticism. some have said -- the smaller

numbers are saying that maybe charlie hebdo provoked the attack. maybe they were asking for it with their caricatures. that is something we need to watch carefully. >> thank you very much. >> of course we will continue to monitor this story very closely for you as it develops. let's get a check of other world headlines making news at this hour. >> the kurdish peshmerga forces have made some advances with the help of us-led airstrikes. one focal point of the air campaign has been the syrian border town of kobani. the battle to control these strategic town has been raging for four months now. international observers say the kurds managed to retake 80% of the city but the battle is far from being one.

>> they fight with everything the have, risking their lives. for months the battle has raged around kobani. now kurish forces have driven back islamic state militia. these images were released by the kurds. thanks also to u.s. airstrikes, they are back in control of about 80% of the town. kobani are hidden in iis fighters. the jihadist control much of the region. the self-declared caliphate extends from the northwest of serious the middle of iraq and has support in many parts of these countries. battle zones are everywhere especially near baghdad, where iis attacks are frequent. but the pentagon says the jihadist are losing ground. ever since us-led airstrikes on

iraq began in august, more than 1300 sorties have hit the region. >> we know we have killed hundreds of their forces. and we know simply by virtue of where they are on the map and how little they are moving now that we have blunted their momentum that they once enjoyed. they are not as free to maneuver around. they are not taking new ground necessarily, and they are in a more defensive posture. >> fighters are also being trained on the ground. as early as this brain, a force of syrian rebels were trading in arms. the pentagon hopes to train around 5000 fighters per year. >> we have three countries that have agreed to sponsor sites. turkey, i just talked about that qatar, and saudi arabia.

there are other regional partners where talking to as well about contributions and might be able to make. >> france is boosting its military contribution. media reports say the aircraft carrier charles de gaulle and its complement of four planes is headed for the gulf region. the u.s. and its partners are girding for elong fight against ias. >> a karma -- car bomb has killed 30 and wounded dozens more. >> know it has claimed responsibility but one group has been targeted. >> this group has taken over large parts of yemen, including the capital. >> injured but alive, this man is one of the lucky ones awaiting an ambulance. the bomber plowed a minibus into

a crowd of police recruits gathered outside the academy. >> we heard a violent explosion. it turned out to be a car bomb at the police college. when it went off, there were students coming out of the doors. most of the victims were students. it blew people through the air. people were lining up for roll call, so the death toll was high. >> yemen has been repeatedly rocked by attack since the overthrow of the longtime ruler in 2012. troops have bought for supremacy in the country. al qaeda has carried out similar attacks in the past in yemen. it is a sworn in any of the shiite dominated police. >> the worst ever oil spill in

nigeria destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and fishermen. initially the oil giant was offering just over 5000 euros in total compensation. >> today's agreement ends a three-year legal battle with shell accepting its pipeline failures were to blame for the oil spill. >> huge areas of the niger delta are contaminated. hundreds of oil spill from pipelines have poisoned the region's mangroves and fish. in some areas contamination levels are 900 times the legal limit, a disaster for fishermen and farmers. over 15,000 people filed suit against shell. under the terms of the settlement, each person will receive payment of about 2900 euros. for years, shell refused to take

any responsibility or pay compensation. it said leaking hot blondes were not the cause of the contamination. shell blamed criminals for illegally typing cap lines -- tapping pipelines. they say they have little choice. >> this is too dangerous. two or three times fire has broken out. >> schill says the pipeline loses 10 million liters of oil every day. if payments will not repair the environmental damage. the u.n. has estimated it would cost billions and take as long as 30 years to clean up the contamination.

>> this is the first time shell has given compensation to the affected villages in nigeria. justice has been a long time coming to the people who are affected the most. are they satisfied with this payout? >> most people are happy that finally a conclusion could be reached. they had asked for much more money. as you look at the region as a whole, this compensation will not really have a strong impact. were talking about to oil spills that happened in 2008 but hundreds of oil spills happen every year in the niger delta and nothing really happens. it's always the same story. the oil companies are saying it happened because there is a lot of sabotage going on, locals are stealing the oil. on the other hand the locals claim it's not true, it's the

oil companies that don't maintain their pipelines. u.n. reports came out and it was a strong report. they are saying it is $1 billion needed to clean up all the mess there and it's the biggest cleanup exercise in the world. and that has to be financed by the oil companies, but nothing has happened so far. give us a sense of how bad it is in this region. >> as i said, it was six years ago that the two oil spills happen and today the catastrophe is visible. you can clearly see the oil on the water. for many fishermen that means they cannot do their job. farmers cannot farm. there is a lot of impact on the health situation in the region. if you look at life expectancy numbers in the niger elder, it is 40 years. the average in nigeria is 50 years.

>> thank you very much for talking to us via skype democrat stivers have located a tail section of the air asia jet that crashed into the java sea 10 days ago. authorities have released underwater images of the fuselage. they may soon find the crucial flight recorders. the flight went down with 162 people on board. >> let's get a quick check of the markets. conrad is standing by at the frankfurt stock exchange. we open our broadcast with so shocking events in paris. have financials had any reaction to those events? >> there was no reaction in terms of asset prices but of course the news has added to the nervousness of the trading floor. 2015 has begun with a lot of follow-through trading due to

the oil price and now of course the murders in paris adding to the nervousness by reminding people of the potential terrorist threats. >> let's talk about the euro having its longest losing streak in two weeks. is that good news or bad news for investors? >> it is good news if you are an investor betting on further monetary policy action. it is bad news if you bet on the economic fundamentals of the eurozone. today the euro plunged to the lowest level in six years, cause by the news that consumer prices have been declining in december. that is a bad sign for the economy but it makes more monetary policy action more probable.

the euro traded at a low level. >> thank you for that. >> we are coming to you live from berlin on dw. police in paris at least 12 people have been killed in a gun attack on a french satirical weekly. >> the gunmen are still at large. the dead include the pump -- publications editor-in-chief two policeman, and three cartoonists. paris has been placed on the highest level of alert it quits let's return to our correspondent who is following that story for us in paris. we know that a huge manhunt is going on to look for the people behind this attack. what is the latest update you can give us on the situation?

>> there is some news regarding the identity of the victims. you mentioned the editor-in-chief among the big m's. this shows the close link to the mohammed issue, all of the drawers of the journal are dead. this is something i just learned right now. once again it confirms this well targeted attack. it was really the editorial team which was the target of the gunmen. this is something that is horrible if you know that the staff of charlie hebdo had around 20 people. it is more than half that were killed in this attack. you mentioned already as well

the police are searching the whole territory. now all other school activities have been stopped right now for the rest of the day, so i'll outside school activities kindergarten activity has been stopped. the message from the police is day in the buildings because the gunmen are still on the run. this will continue until the end of the day. >> thank you for that live update. we will have more for that story right here ondw. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

s across france to show their solidarity for the victims of this country's deadliest terrorist attack in decades. a massacre of the paris offices of the satirical newspaper charlie hebdo. it includes the magazine's editor several cartoonists, a regular commentator on this channel and two police officers. gunmen stormed the building shouted god is great in arabic.