>> france is ramping up security and intelligence amid the threats of islamist violence. the prime minister said the government will create more than 2500 jobs to help track potential terrorists and keep the public safe. his plan comes two weeks after 17 people were killed in attacks here in paris. >> nearly 3000 people to be put under surveillance. they are all linked to terrorist networks and are creeping across france. after the bloody attacks in paris two weeks ago, the french government has vowed to prevent further violence. >> taste with controversial

individuals, groups, and terrorist networks, there are risks -- dozens of risks -- but our duty is to take action. >> amongst the new measures, the creation of more than 2000 jobs within the police department and in intelligence service. france could fork out an extra four hundred 25 million euros to provide better equipment bulletproof jackets, helmets weapons, and more police cars, as well as computer programs to fight against cyber jihadists. another priority -- preventing the spread of extremism in prison. five separate areas will be dedicated to radical detainees to stop them from recruiting others. >> a file placed under the control of a judge will be created. anyone linked to you or found guilty of terrorist acts will be

on the list. these people will have to provide contact details regularly. if there is a change of address or they travel abroad, they will have to inform authorities. >> was also suggested that convicted terrorist could be deprived of their political and civic rights. a debate is expected to take place in parliament in march. >> for men have been charged in connection with the attack on a jewish supermarket that left four people dead. if they are convicted of association with a terrorist organization, they could face up to 20 years in jail. >> the men behind simultaneous hostage sieges and the murder of 17 people in paris were known to the police. they had previous records, and what's more, they were not alone. details as to who may have helped them are starting to emerge. for men brought in for questioning last week have now been placed under formal investigation.

>> concerning the men between 22 and 28 years of age, they have been placed under formal investigation. one of the four has been placed under investigation for the possession of weaponry. in connection with a terrorist operation. and transporting at least two people in relation to a terrorist operation. >> after trading desk treading through months of home records a clear link was established. dna belonging to the suspects were found on weapons in the apartment he rented on the outskirts of paris and also in the kosher supermarket. >> the investigation also allowed us to establish that they when multiple times to

weapons stores at the end of december. weapons shops in and around paris in order to purchase material for the gunman, tactical jackets, multiple knives a taser, and teargas canisters. >> three out of or suspects had previous convictions mostly for robbery. none had any prior terrorist offenses. it remains to be seen if they were aware of the plan for the january attack. >> the state news agency in yemen is reporting that a deal has been reached to end a siege by shiite militias. the president has been holed up in the presidential palace surrounded by fighters after two days of the year's gunbattles that left at least 35 people dead. secretary of state john kerry from the united states says that the u.s. believes yemen's president has agreed to most of the demands by the military. they had been seeking a power-sharing agreement with the

arab-supported president. they were accused of attempting to stage a coup. we will keep you updated on that story when we get more details. now to israel where police say they have arrested a palestinian man after he stabbed several people on a bus in tel aviv. it's the latest in a string of similar so-called lone wolf attacks in which israelis have been assaulted with guns, knives, and meet cleavers. at least 11 people were injured today. it has been described as a terrorist attack. >> ambulances and police vehicles blocked off central tel aviv. the number 40 bus was traveling through the city with a man -- when a man on board took out a knife and began stabbing his fellow passengers and the driver. police identified the suspect as a palestinian who they said had entered israel illegally. authorities said the attacker

fled the scene but was followed by special patrol units. >> he was shot in his leg and is now in police custody. there was heightened security in and around the area, and we're still searching to make sure there are no terrorists in and around the area. >>, stood not claim responsibility but praised the attack as brave and heroic. similar attacks have killed a dozen israelis and recent months with perpetrators using knives, acid, or even vehicles as weapons. in november, five people were killed by two men armed with a meat cleaver and a gun in a bloody assault on jerusalem. >> there's been further unrest in the democratic republic of congo with an accusation of trying to cling to power indefinitely. ngos say dozens of people have been killed in looting and rioting in and around the capital kinshasa. elections are supposed to take place next year, but the government has it wants to organize a census before the polls can take place.

the opposition says such a move could take years. and african nations must act together if they are to defeat boko haram -- that's the leave from the african union as the islamist group continues to gain ground in northern nigeria cameroon and chad. a video emerged today reporting to show the group leader claiming responsibility for the recent massacre in a nigerian town where some 2000 people were murdered. the warning is that more violence will follow. u.s. president barack obama said he will stand up to the republican-controlled congress during his last two years in power, pledging to make the united states a fairer country. obama says he will resist republican efforts to overturn his reforms, including the controversial health-care package obamacare. we have more on what was obama's sixth straight state of the

union address. >> the president of the united states. >> he said the shadow of crisis for america has found a safe of the union -- the state of the union strong. >> tonight, after a breakthrough year for america, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the asked the space since 1999. >> obama proposed taxes on the rich to end the rich man/poor man america. >> we don't mind paying our fair share of taxes as long as everybody else does, too, but for far too long lobbyist have rigged tax codes with loopholes that let some corporations pay nothing. they are riddled with giveaways the super rich don't need while denying breaks to the middle class families who do. >> the u.s. president is bruised after losing midterms in november to republicans, who now control the house and senate.

his polls are up. he vowed to veto several republican measures. while the economy dominated on foreign policy come he asked congress to approve and fund a military campaign against the islamic state group. >> tonight, i called on this congress to show the world we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against isil. >> he called for better politics and pledged to work with republicans. he said congress must begin the work of ending the embargo on cuba. he said when it does not work, it is time to try something new. >> obama touched on foreign policy in that speech as well, and he called on congress to authorize the use of force against the islamic state group. he also said he strongly believed a deal could be reached with iran to prevent the country

from gaining nuclear weapons. he promised to veto any new sanctions against tehran if they would jeopardize hopes of a deal. to discuss that in more detail, i'm joined on the line by an iran expert over in sweden. thanks for being here over on "france 24." in terms of his legacy, obama wants to secure an agreement with iran before he leaves. is that feasible, in your view? >> i think it is absolutely feasible. i think both the iranian side and the american side want that to happen. >> is it wise for obama to say that sanctions are off the table, that he will veto any sanctions republicans put forward? because if a deal is not reached at the next deadline which is in march and that kind of her moves any leverage the united states might have. what do you think of that strategy? >> i think republicans in congress are misunderstanding the process. the united states is not to does

not supposed to impose sanctions while negotiations are ongoing. they want to prepare for new sanctions in case things don't work out. the problem is that can disturb negatively the atmospheric negotiations. at this point, adding new sanctions is more about destroying the process rather than healthy. >> how much is iran willing to concede? do you think that they will concede much more in the next round of negotiations? >> that is the million-dollar question. it is a question of the sequencing of how they concede and what they get in return. if both sides can give the upper side enough, i think both the u.s. president and iranian president might actually succeed. >> do you think that the west's

focus on the islamic state group has given around a stronger hand ? it was talked about at one stage bringing iran in to help defeat the group. >> i do not think they have made in a room on negotiations. it has kind of been contained from everything else that is going on. but what the problem in a sense indicates is that iran is a regional powerhouse and has been ignored, and that has negative effects as well. it's difficult to see how the iraqi situation can be resolved without iran. >> thank you very. >> thank you. >> foreign ministers from russia and ukraine are meeting tonight in berlin amid fresh accusations that moscow has been sending more soldiers and more weapons to its war-torn neighbor. petro poroshenko was at the world economic forum in dabo swinney are today and said he wanted russian troops out of

ukraine immediately -- petro poroshenko was at the world economic forum in dov -- davos earlier today. >> close the border and withdraw troops from my territory. we have more than 9000 troops of russian federation on my territory. including more than 500 tanks and heavy artillery and armed personal carriers. if this is not aggression, what is aggression? >> moscow has rejected those accusations. lavrov said there's no evidence to suggest any russian troops are inside ukraine at the moment. let's get a reminder of our

headlines this hour. france is cracking down on jihad is him. hundreds of police and investigators are being hired to monitor suspects as schoolteachers are being told to put the focus firmly on republican values. signs of a deal to end a violent standoff in yemen. local news is reporting the president has reached a deal with the rebels who have kept him imprisoned in the presidential palace for the last two days. and hopes running high in havana tonight. a u.s. delegation has arrived in cuba to hammer out the details of a new era of diplomatic relations. this as president obama announced the u.s. is ending its policy of isolating the communist state. let's get to business news for you now. william hildebrand is with us in the studio. hi there. we are going to start with the european central bank. they are due to make an important announcement tomorrow and investigators will be watching that with a kenai.

>> they will. it is a big day for everyone involved, and a lot of speculation from the markets. expect them to finally announce its monetary easing program. this comes after switzerland lifted its cap on the swiss franc against the euro last week. multi-that multiple media reports have said the ecb is likely to buy a few billion euros of bonds per month. some say that could go until the end of 2016. the idea is that fresh liquidity could write deflation and encourage people to start spending money again, but, of course, not everyone is on board. we look at the lay of the land here in the eurozone. >> a new attempt and at tackling debt in the eurozone. an announcement of plans to start quantitative easing would involve the ecb buying up government debt from across the eurozone using newly created money. markets are prepared for that announcement in the region of 500 billion to 600 billion

euros. >> the ecb is under pressure to do something. or there would be some huge disappointment, which could trigger higher interest rates which is not helpful. it could trigger a stronger euro which is not helpful for the current economic recovery. >> the end of 2014 saw the euro suffer from deflation with interest rates looking at zero. the interest -- the ecb hasn't much room to maneuver. that is a concern for germany. after years of austerity, berlin worries that fragile european economies could return to overspending. >> for me as a politician, it is important that that be -- the signals be avoided that could be perceived as weakening the structure in other eurozone countries. >> there are other concerns over the effectiveness inside the program. some say that if it is too

small, it could reduce market confidence. in the face of such fears, investors have been looking to put their capital and so-called asset havens like gold, which has seen prices shoot up ahead of thursday's meeting. >> germany is worried some countries would abandon their austerity measures. that is exactly what italy is urging prime minister matteo renzi to do. last month, the italian government said the slowdown in the economy had ended. italy has been the most sluggish country in the eurozone for more than a decade without posting a single quarter of growth over the past three years. now that it has turned the corner renzi wants to turn the page. >> i believe for my children, italy will be a lab, not a museum. the traditional country is very beautiful but the best moment

for italy is not yesterday. it will be tomorrow. >> news of the ecb stimulus is pushing up stocks. a room at 600 billion euros is beyond most analyst expectations, and it's having a positive effect on wall street. dow jones, nasdaq, and s&p 500 all trading up, less than 1%, but still getting positive the back so far. >> time for a brief look at other news making headlines. international monetary fund said oil exports to the middle east and croatia will reach up to $300 million this year. zynga about iraq, libya, qatar as being the hardest hit by the economy. the imf added oil importers in the region will must-see major games because their economies have been hurt by slower growth in europe and russia. bnp paribas is can -- has announced cuts. the french bake will hold -- bank will hold talks.

this is months after they paid a new in $9 million fine for breaching u.s. sanctions. workers are already bracing for smaller bonuses, but some employees speculate that payouts will be have -- halved. toyota kept the top spot in global automotive sales. they sold more than 10 million cars, narrowly beating rival volkswagen. the company says it could see a sales slump this year, the first since 2011, as volkswagen is adding actor reese. good news for britain. in the three months since november, the number of unemployed fell by 58,000 to 1.9 million people, the lowest figure in six years. the jobless rate stands at 5.8%, but the fall was the slowest in 15 months, raising fears that the u.k. hiring spree could start to slow. time now for one last story --

european football has wooed another foreign investor, a chinese billionaire has agreed to buy a 20% stake in spanish champion madrid, amounting to a much-needed $52 million injection of capital. he is number 42 on "forbes" magazine of the world's richest able with a fortune estimated at $18 billion. i don't know -- if you had that type of money, would you be spying a spanish football club? >> probably not. that is something to think about, anyway. thank you very much indeed. we are going to take a look back at the last 24 hours on the internet. now it's time for weight news. >> hello there, and welcome to the web news with our picks of stories making the online headlines. coming up on today's show, web users in argentina react. controversy over zimbabwe's plan

to sell elephants to global buyers, and the military helicopter takes on the mythical dragon. late on sunday, or early monday, several hours before he was due to speak to a special committee of congress, a federal prosecutor was found dead in his when srs apartment -- his buenos aires apartment. he had leveled accusations at top argentinian officials who conspired with a rack to cover up its responsibility for the bombing. lively commentary was sparked online. thousands of web users have been posting sharing their sadness over the prosecutor's that and paying tribute to a man they say had great integrity. a lot of social networkers have been questioning the circumstances of his death. government officials they all signs point to suicide, but the

people behind these twitter posts that to differ and suggest the lawyer was murdered before he could expose any government secrets. while many have taken to the web to share their sorrow and indeed their anger, others have taken to the streets. as you can see from these photos making the rounds on social media, thousands of demonstrators gathered across argentina on monday night to publicly pay their respects and to also demand an immediate and independent investigation to establish the circumstances of his death. zimbabwe is planning to sell 62 elephants to buyers in china, the united arab emirates, and also france at a price of 30,000 euros per animal. a great source of income for the country's government, but it has raged -- raised outrage.

these above a task force posted a statement late november denouncing the growing number of baby elephants being captured for export. the nonprofit also shared photos on its facebook page highlighting the appalling conditions in which they are held, crammed into tiny enclosures until they are sold on. the photos have sparked reactions from web users the world over, disgusted by what they described as a hideous trade. over 30,000 people have signed this online petition to stop the sale from proceeding. the document says the baby elephants are being sentenced to a life of inhumane treatment, and that it is highly dramatic both for them and their families. as reported on the online version of u.k. paper "the daily mail," the campaign has reached the ears of zimbabwean authorities. the ministers responded by

saying that exporting elephants is not illegal, claiming zimbabwe needs to reduce its 80,000-strong elephant population in order to protect its national parks and dwindling wildlife. kenyon web users have been posting under the #occupied no's -- "occupyplayground. police fired tear gas at a group of protesters including children during a protest of plans to tear down a playground to make room for a construction project. an inquiry has been called for. this info graphic looks at all the events that could spell an end to the human race and rates

the likelihood and when they might become a reality. alien invasion -- you can take a closer look at all these things which could potentially destroy mankind on the bbc website. a japanese filmmaker and artist has inverted the traditional relationship to between museum goer and artwork and in match what exhibits new york's metropolitan museum of art might see, taking photos from perspectives strictly respecting the direction and angle in which they are looking. you can check out the entire collection on the what they see blog. could a military helicopter take down the mythical dragon if need

be? u.s. scientific research group the smithsonian institution has explored this very question in a video. a spectacular clip, which you can watch in its

m pacifica, this is democracy now! >> we are 15 years into this new century. 15 years with terror touching our shores and with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. it has been and still i