ed fire on them during one of about a dozen raids as the group was about to launch a terrorist attack on a grand scale. at third was attacked. the information was revealed via an emergency news conference. let's take a listen. >> several people who we think are an operational cell, certain people came back from syria. during the investigation, we

found that this group was about to commit terrorist attacks in belgium. during the search warrants certain suspects immediately opened fire with automatic weapons on special forces of the police. they opened fire for several minutes before being neutralized. >> belgian police say that there is no direct connection to last week's attacks in paris. good evening. what more information do we have? >> for the moment, there is no direct link to the paris shootings. but, they are treating the case very seriously. the terror alert has been put up from three out of four.

the federal prosecutor, afterinvesti an investigation into possible terrorist that had gone to syria. when the police tried to enter the residence in the center of the town, the suspects fired on the police and they were then neutralized. two people will killed in that incident. another man has been injured. >> thank you very much. keeping us up to date. we can take a listen now to local residents explaining what they heard.

>> the police comment by with all the sirens up. couple of seconds later, i heard three explosions. 10 seconds after that, there was a strong sound. the smell was stronger. i knew it wasn't firecrackers. >> we are joined now. the facts are slowly emerging. what kind of challenge, we are hearing that they came back from syria, these people. what kind of challenge does this pose? >> they have been very active because it has the highest proportion of its nationals joining the european jihad. it has the highest number of jihadist of any european

country. so, while france has the biggest number belgium has the most worrying situation in terms of returning jihadist. in terms of the overall population, it is much denser. so obviously, elgin jihadist have been on the radar of counterterrorism for a long time . there was some pretty shocking images which belgians will member very well of a 13-year-old boy from brussels who joined the jihad and the pictures of him with a kalashnikov amherst on social media back in may. of course, there was the brussels museum shooting which killed four people. the shooting at a jewish museum.

interestingly, so far, any major' has been averted on belgian soil. this is really stopped at the last minute. this you mentioned the syrian connection. there was a statement from the police saying that they searched the houses of people who were suspected of coming back from the jihad in syria. experts suggests that the high command in iraq is now looking more actively at bringing -- asking jihadist back to europe in order to refocus the activities on european soil

rather than simply attracting them to fight in iraq in syria but to have more of a stringing of jihad it's going back to europe to bring the fight to the europeans. >> thank you for keeping us up-to-date on the story. if we go do you have extra information? >> i would be keeping an eye on social media as this breaking story is moving. couple of comments that i will not guilty show on the screen. people need to close the shutters at the moment. clearly there is a sense of panic or concern on the streets. what i would say as with every breaking news story on social media is that the information coming online, that is not

verified. this is one of the hastags ventas being used online. this is based on unreliable information. all that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. >> that has we have been saying no confirmed link between the paris attacks. information about how the perpetrators obtained their weapons is emerging. the arms came straight from brussels. >> for the past 40 eight hours a man held by belgian police. he turned himself in when he realized that they were attacked

-- responsible for the attack. they sold him a car for his wife. according to belgian media coulibaly wasn't just buying a car, he was buying weapons. he was believed to have made the stop where all sorts of trafficking takes place. >> brussels is known for being a hub for illegal weapons. the border with antwerp, as well as the presence of organized crime, especially from the balkans. >> coulibaly brought his own personal. he is said to have bought the kalashnikov and the rocket launcher used by the kouachi brothers. coulibaly and the brothers had a ready trying to buy weapons in

2011. belgium has often been used as an operating base for french jihadist. the 2013, one of them was killed during a car chase on a belgian road. the police later found this large arsenal at his home. he was reportedly planning a terror attack and had ties to mohammed america -- >> funerals were held for five people killed at french magazine charlie hebdo. people pay their respect to georges wolinski and bernard verlhac. john kerry has arrived in the french capital to pay his respects after those attacks. >> people gathered to pay their respects to cherif kouachi

police for a cherif kouachi i -- i people gathered to pay their respects to police officer franck brinsolaro i franck brinsolaro. >> i came to pay tribute to a colleague in his family, to show support. to support the profession. >> i franck brinsolaro was one of two people killed in the attacks. the cartoonist was buried at said kouachi -- the cartoonist was buried at pere lachaise in harris. -- in paris. >> they killed people who were deeply kind. we will continue to do the same thing. thank you. >> at pere lachaise, the

cremation ceremony for georges wolinski, intended by those who came to pay their last respects. >> i'm trying to keep upright for my daughters and for everyone who has come and all the people who have helped us, supported us sending messages. we are alive, we will not die. >> another charlie hebdo contributor, elsa cayat was buried on the other side of paris. >> islam is compatible with democracy, the message from french president's francois hollande. pain and unscheduled visit, he said all of france is united in the face of terrorism. he urged it will not confuse the actions of the gun man with islam or french muslims.

>> radicalism exceeds all of the contradictions of society and the world. all of the influences, miseries, inequalities. all of the conflicts that have remain unresolved for too long. and it is muslims who are the first victims of fanaticism, of fundamentalism, and intolerance. >> the french interior ministry is to give the french nationality to the man who hit shoppers during an attack on a jewish supermarket. he told several people to hide before turning off the lights and telling them to stay calm. speaking to 24, lassana bathily described the phone call he received. >> francois hollande called me.

he asked me if i don't he tried to obtain the french nationality. i told him i had four or five months ago. he said, that delay was normal. he said to me, don't worry, i will look after this case. i felt french for a long time. even when i just had my residency papers. i felt good here. even if i encountered harsh problems. i have nothing bad to say about the french. ever since i arrived here, i have been supported. everything has been fine. >> those charlie hebdo attacks have sparked debate and tensions in some french schools. some minors were arrested for allegedly promoting terrorism. this has brought debate over

secularism. >> last week's attacks have caused serious tensions at the school north of paris. on monday, a high school senior calling for moderation was beaten up and several pupils praised the attacks. >> we heard them screaming to hell with charlie, long-lived al qaeda. >> several miners were arrested for advocating terrorism. the situation which has the french education minister expressing deep concern. course we need to instill our values on a daily basis. that means teaching them critical thinking, how to debate and work together. on some level our schools have failed until now. they have not been able to do this for our children. >> the first step is to give teachers the tools to teach students about french laws and values. she noticed the creation of a

book list the scsi creation and secularism as well as one on how to detect and prevent radicalization. -- free speech and secularism, principles that francois hollande says has to be part of the french education. >> this is a place to ensure that several people can forge their own conscience and become a free citizen. that is the meaning of the school of the republic. >> after the attacks, some teachers managed to discuss these issues successfully. they're hoping to make these a of french education. >> away from school turned france, legal proceedings are continuing against those that have found to glorify terrorism.

the comedian is expected to see the outcome of this trial at the beginning of next month. >> out of police custody, and anti-semitic comedian. he was rescued after making a reference to the attackers in paris. >> he may appear before the court and he could go to further details regarding the controversy will expression was led to him being held in police custody. >> he's not alone. authorities have pursued legal action against those suspected of glorifying terrorism. there are more than 70 cases already including one man sentenced to 10 months prison. he claims solidarity with the kouachi brothers.

another is facing four years. in france, charges of glorifying terror can get you seven years and a hundred thousand euro fine. >> to talk more about french law concerning hate speech, a professor at the studies institute of lyon. describe for us the current french laws on hate speech, if you can encapsulate them. >> there really aren't french laws against last for me. there are a couple of laws on the books in the east of france which has a very special status. that is not something against the law in france. that is often confusing for people. there are laws against speech against free speech of certain kinds and i would say that there are really two kinds to keep in mind. the one is more traditional

what we think of as hate speech laws. laws that forbid certain kinds of statements against people because of their race or their religion. most people don't think of as hate speech response, these are the laws that ban apology of certain crimes. so you cannot exalt or glorify or say it is a good thing that certain crimes happened like murder, war crimes, or crimes against humanity, or terrorist crimes. so, there are really two kinds of laws restricting speech in france. one is hate speech and the other is the apology of crimes. >> we touched earlier about the controversial french comedian who is set to stand trial on charges of condoning terrorism after saying je suis charlie

coulibaly. does this extend to everyone? >> applies equally to everybody. the challenge these days, i've been talking to some muslims on the streets and they often say things like, why is it fair that he says something against the jews and his punished by the law but charlie hebdo says something against muslims and they are not arrested. to challenge the ideas of religion or religious leaders. it is not just the prophet mohammed who has been caricatured and ridiculed in charlie hebdo.

it is also been the pope. there are catholic organizations taking charlie hebdo to court, trying to get a punishment for them for saying insulting things about the pope. they were turned away by the courts of law as well. insulting and religious leader or calling into question religious beliefs or doctrine is protected speech in france. what dieudonne has done which has gotten him in trouble is promoting speech against jews as a people, not judaism is a faith. to target people and not of faith, then you can get in hot water with french law. >> ok, thanks for talking to us this evening. >> my pleasure. let's take a look at what is happening in the world of business now. markus karlsson joins me now.

>> we will talk about currency markets and stock markets as well. they have gone into a tailspin. this is switzerland's central bank has ditched its effort to limit the rise of the swiss franc. the euro is losing 30% also in just minutes. it is the one of the most genetic moves we have seen in currency markets in decades. the swiss national bank has kept the euro from trading below one francs 20. the measure was aimed at in swiss exports to the eurozone as the european union is switzerland's main trading partner. i spoke to the senior currency strategist about the story earlier and asked her why the swiss national bank is moving now. >> i think over the last few weeks, it was very clear that the euro has accelerated its down trend. there has been some very

aggressive commentary. the market is anticipating that we will have plenty from the ecb which could pressure the euro more. that might make it more difficult for the smb to protect that. since the start of the year, we have seen market indices down across the board. we have had safe haven demand. more demand for safe haven. a long-standing safe haven. more movement into the swiss franc. that makes it difficult to protect when the balance sheet was becoming very top-heavy.

>> we just have time to bring you up-to-date with how the stock market has reacted to all of this. we saw shares in swiss exporting companies tumble on the back of this decision. as you can see, it was a pretty good day for other stock markets, with the ftse 100 and the dax gaining. zurich was down almost 9% at the close. it could have been a lot of -- a lot of worse. at one point it was down 13%. exports suffer in swiss stock markets. swatch close down more than 16%. we just have time to show you the u.s. markets. take a look at wall street. the dow jones industrial average down about a quarter of a percent. we have seen banking shares weighing on the u.s. markets.

disappointing earnings from wells fargo, jpmorgan chase. the business check for that matter. >> thanks for that business checks. a reminder of the top stories. belgian police say they have killed two men, they opened fire on them in one of a dozen raids. a third man was arrested during the operation. the information was revealed via emergency news conference. this take a listen. >> several people who we think are an operational cell research and people came back from serious. during the investigation, he found that this group was about

to commit terrorist attacks in belgium. during search warrants, certain suspects immediately open fire on special forces of the police, they opened fire for several minutes before being neutralized. >> but simply say for the time being there is no direct connection to last week's attacks in paris. you're keeping us up-to-date with everything that is being said on social media. >> there are some amateur footage videos that have been put up online that have been picked up by some major elgin media. this is one of the big newspapers. the suspects were preparing imminent attacks, the state broadcaster, one of the towns where this one.

deaths take place during operation. amateur video taken in the southeastern belgian city. that has had quite a few cliques online. it claims to show that assault. so there is some amateur footage that has been taken. it has been picked up by major news outlets. , so i think that we can trust them and having verify that information. amateur images taken up by member of the public claiming to show what was assault that took

place. the belgian media is reporting that is the

m pacifica this is democracy now! it was a night of june 9, 2006 when three guantánamo prisoners mysteriously died. >> they are smart. they are creative. there committed. i believe this was not an act of desperation, but rather an act of warfare aged against us.