♪ free two hostages threatened with death by the islamic state group unless a massive ransom is paid by tomorrow. this as an international counterterrorism meeting is underway in london. at least 13 are killed in eastern ukraine as shelling hits a city bus in donetsk. the ukrainian army seven has withdrawn from the part of a local airport. the territory has been fought over four months. and a cofounder of the german anti-muslim group pegida resigns after posting a selfie of himself as hitler.

also coming up for you this hour, stephen carroll is and in davos. and orthodox christians in ethiopia celebrate one of the most important religious events of the year. otherwise known as the tiffany. -- as the epiphany. stay with us. ♪ i am genie godula and paris. sorry about the technical difficulties. the u.s. and british foreign ministers are hosting counterterrorism talks in london. john kerry and philip hammond are meeting with some of the countries aligned with the u.s.-led coalition that plans to drive the islamic state group out of syria and iraq.

the focus today is on fighting islamists extremists in the middle east and at home. those talks, as japan is trying to save two hostages believed to be held by the i.s. group. militants have threatened to execute the two japanese men by friday if they are not paid $200 million in ransom money. >> japan doing all he can to save these hostages. journalists are being held under threat by the islamic state organization. back in tokyo after cutting short his trip to the middle east, prime minister shinzo abe condemned the actions of the hostage takers. >> the acts of making a threat in a strange for people's lives is unforgivable, and we feel a strong ends of indignation. i want to again urged the islamic state organization to not harm these two japanese sentences, and release them

immediately. we will use every diplomatic route available to ensure the release of the hostage. >> the group's 72 hour demand is due to expire -- due to expire in the morning. the same amount japan led to support the coalitions against the group. people remain split on whether or not the payoff should be made. >> even if we except the ransom demand, it is not guarantee be safe return of the hostages. it is horrible to say, but japan seems to have no other choice but to say that we do not given to terrorists. >> i know we should not yield to the terrorists, but these two men are hostages. i just cannot imagine that we truly have no choice. i think all japanese people are struggling with this dilemma. >> japan's please come as u.s.

secretary of state john kerry and british foreign secretary philip hammond talked in london on monday. >> in ukraine, at least 13 people were killed when city us was struck by an artillery shell. the bus was hit in donetsk with a force that knocked out windows of the building their by. catherine has more. >> residents gathered around the damage remains of the bus. it was hit by shells, killing several people on board. a car driving past was caught up in the aftermath. blood and bodies littered the pavement. >> we heard the blast and ran here, and we saw a car had exploded. lots of dead bodies. there was a wounded man on the bus asking for help. there was also a dead body behind us, lots of wounded people. >> the force of the blast blew

out the windows of nearby shops. the shelling comes just hours after peace talks in berlin called for a cease-fire. ukraine has blamed rebels for the attack. >> the russian terrorists have today committed another horrible act against humanity, and responsible before that lays on the russian federation. >> kiev is fighting an ongoing insurgency by pro-russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. in recent days, clashes have intensified and i next -- in donetsk. forcing troops to withdraw from the hotly contested airport. >> the cofounder of the german anti-muslim to get a movement resigned after images of him posing as image. lutz bachmann says the pictures

were taken as a joke. there were also reports that he was calling the refugees "comeback," prompting investigators -- calling the refugees "scum bags," prompting an investigation. does his resignation signal the end of the movement? >> well, it is hard to berdych how this will affect the forget a movement. mr. bachmann was the heart of the movement, and thanks to him so many people came down to the streets. -- support for him is not very clear. a spokeswoman for the movement has been present on tv in the past week, but she has called a timeout for mr. bachmann, and it will be harder to convince people that she is not connected to the far right scene and the entire movement, to the far

right scene. -- more or less signaled by these photographs, so we're waiting to see how many people show up for next monday's rally. >> julien clin, we will have to jump in on this, sorry about that poor quality of the line. we will try to get back to that later if we can this hour. the u.s. and cuba are meeting in havana. >> there are only 145 kilometers apart, and with the bilateral talks taking place in havana, cuba and the united states are seeking to close the gap that separates them. at the top of the grievance list for cuban officials is washington's so-called wet foot dry foot policy. cuban immigrant sending on u.s. soil are allowed a silo more as those intercepted in boats on cr sent back.

they also blame -- are allowed essilor silo as those intercepted in boats are sent back. >> we reject ongoing policies against cuban health professionals and technicians to abandon their posts in third cut -- in third-party countries. >> both sides agreed the first of the two days of talks was productive and constructive, but u.s. secretary of state john kerry says many topics remain. >> we have to negotiate lifting travel restrictions on diplomats, we have to negotiate lifting caps on numbers of diplomatic personnel. we have to have unimpeded shipments to our mission in order to be able to function correctly. we need free access to the mission by cubans just as we will provide free access to the cuban mission here in washington. >> associations continue on

thursday, this time with talks on restoring diplomatic relations 55 years on. >> in argentina, protesters have gathered in buenos aires over the death of a prosecutor who had accused the president of trying to hamper investigation. the lead investigator into the 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a jewish center in the capital was found dead on sunday, hours before he was set to present his case to congress. authorities at first said nisman's death appears to be suicide, but it has now come out that his apartment door was not properly locked. >> amongst the protesters, families of those killed in the 1994 bombing and members of windows aorist -- of buenos aires jewish community met on sunday, hours before he was due to resent his case. they claim alberto nisman's

death was not suicide as authorities for set, and they are calling for justice. >> his death is a blow to the investigation however, despite of this and in these difficult times, we want to emphasize that we will not allow the death of the man to also mean the death of this case. >> the protest took place at this jewish community center where two decades ago a car bomb ripped through crowds, killing 84 people. argentine courts have accused iran of backing the bombing, which the iranian government denies. in it, he accused president fernando of agreeing to swap oil with grain with iran. the argentinian government's dismissed nisman's accusations

as flimsy and baseless. much of his case was based on testimony from two witnesses he was tricked into believing were government spies. nisman's death and print -- and continue protest has set off a crisis. >> witnesses in the democrat of republic of congo now say police have fired on demonstrators in the eastern city of goma. two students have reportedly been hurt. when organizations as 40 people have been killed in three days of protest in the drc. people are angry over move by the president to external -- to extend his term in office. a court in egypt has ordered the release of the two sons of ousted president hosking must -- austin mubarak. the lawyer told reporters that

they had served the maximum trial detention period. they are on trial for corruption. also in egypt amnesty international has, with a report that says violence against addiction women is still as bad as ever. reforms of the government undertook to curb sexual assault have been entirely ineffective. >> a bouquet of red roses and promises to change. last year, the president of egypt paid a nationally televised visit to a sexual assault victim. she had been gang raped while attending his inaugural celebration. he vowed to end a systemic sexual harassment. >> we will take strict measures was up we will stand strong in the face. i came here to tell you had to tell every egyptian woman that i am sorry, and i offer my apology. >> while he was the general

al-sisi had come out in favor of force virginity tests on women in custody. fast-forward to today, and he -- and his promise for new women friendly egypt has fallen flat. that is according to a report by amnesty international. they say little has changed. for the first time in egypt's history, sexual assault was made a crime punishable with fines or up to five years in prison, but rights groups say judges frequently favor of aggressors and a multitude of cases have been ignored. human rights groups are calling for a long-term strategy to protect egyptian women in a country where their rights are routinely violated. according to a 2013 united nations poll, 99% of egyptian women said they have been sexually harassed before. more than 90% of them have undergone female genital mutilation according to unicef

and a reuters poll says egypt has been rated the worst country in the middle east to be a woman. >> on a lighter note now and in ethiopia, the ep iphany celebration is going on. it celebrates the baptism of jesus and the river jordan. for orthodox ethiopians, it is the most important religious event of the year. let's take a look at our headlines for you this hour on "france 24." japan is trying to free two hostages threatened with death by the islamic state unless a ransom is paid by tomorrow. this as an international terrorism meeting is underway in london. at least 13 are killed in eastern ukraine as shelling hits a city bus in the net -- in donetsk. the ukrainian army has withdrawn

from part of the local airport. the territory had been fought over four months. andy cofounder of the german anti-muslim group pegida resigned after posting a selfie of himself posing as hitler. all right, now let's turn our attention to the world economic forum in the swiss outs where political and business leaders have gathered for their annual meeting to discuss issues facing the global economy. our business editor stephen carroll is therefore "france 24 ." lots of focus on what the european central bank might announce later today. what are people expecting? >> mario draghi is not a hero and iin davos, but he is expected to enact a fresh round of monetary stimulus quantitative easing. that announcement could come soon over the next half an hour. we are expecting the interest rate decision by about a quarter to 2:00 paris time, and about 45

minutes afterwards there were be a press conference with mario draghi. he is expected to enact this program of monetary stimulus to the tune of 50 billion euros a month for the next year at least. the idea being to try to kickstart the european economy and make a difference to those european countries that are struggling to create growth. it is not a policy that is universally supported, but one of the proponents is here in da vos, they finished prime and it's her. he says he will welcome any decision from the ecb with a smile. the ecb is likely to drive down the value of the euro. let's take a listen. >> it will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the economy because of the fact that it will put more liquidity on the market. the fact remains that interest rates at a record low is in the

right direction with regards to growth and industrial activity and the automotive industry in particular. >> we can talk about this a little further now with my guess, the chief executive of ida ireland. martin, thank you for joining us on "france 24." driving down. you of the euro good news for exporters. >> good news for exports. and it for an investment into europe and ireland. last year, we had 197 investments, one of the best years we have had to date and many of those were new investments coming into our lives, so many of those investors are coming because of the european market and anything that promotes growth is good for ireland and direct investment. >> ireland is a star performer and europe, the fastest growing economy in 2014, only a year after the bailout. how has a -- how has ireland

managed to turn around so quickly? >> a lot of things, but mainly the pulitzer prize policies we have in vague -- we having gauged in. we have all seen a growth in exports. overall, i think it is a positive environment that we have created, the talent pool that is available in ireland, the tax rate, the ease of doing business in ireland has all helped in both attracting foreign it direct investment in helping indigenous companies to grow. >> tax has been on and off contentious for ireland, and the issue of these double iris. -- issue. the changes to the tax regime. >> i think the changes to the residency rules will have little impact. we made a number of changes in the last budgetary cycle. some of those lovely positive impact. we will introduce knowledge development.

we also made some other pro-enterprise changes. the residency rules i do not think will impact foreign investment in ireland for number of reasons, talent being the key one. tax also comes into play for all jurisdictions. i do not see it having a significant impact. >> how do you attract companies to ireland? i'm sure other european countries would be keen to replicate your success. >> essentially we have a value proposition, which we think is very attractive to companies. it is based around their ability to set up quickly in ireland to grow their businesses in ireland. we try to improve that every single year. the ability of talent as i said in our development and research and development. >> trying to get companies to move into ireland and europe are you finding you have hurdles to climb to convince those companies to come? >> obviously there is a lot of

competition from all parts of the growth -- the glow for foreign direct investment, but we have been very positive and have managed come as i said, to attract 190 investors into ireland. we see that cycle continuing in 2015. >> you talked about the job expansion, the record year you had in 2014 and creating jobs. is that a pace you will be able to maintain? >> i believe so. if anything, we want to ramp it up. we will injured as a new strategy for foreign and -- foreign direct investment, and we will take it to a new level. >> do you see great companies getting ahead of the irish? >> there are competitors all over the world come and we take nothing for granted. all investments are hard-won and we look at our value propositions to be sure we state ahead of the curve. >> martin shanahan of ida ireland, thank you for joining us on "france 24." the european central banks markets pretty wary, no great

change in either direction. we will have to anymore from davos. -- we will have plenty more from davos, but for now, back to you, genie. >> stephen carroll, thank you. next up on "france 24" for you, the press review. it is time to take a look at what is grabbing headlines in the weekly magazines. florence villeminot is here. >> a lot of papers focusing on the attacks in paris over two weeks. it has been over two weeks since the "charlie hebdo" attacks. what lessons can we learn from those attacks in paris? that is where a lot of magazines are wondering. the spotlight has been put on french society, and this has revealed a lot of deep crack for a lot of people. one says we mayust must now

face forward. some of the main actors, you have got the president, françois lawns, the prime minister, and the interior minister, after the shock and trauma, it is now time to make some decisions according to "paris match," and we did see the government announce an arsenal the anti-terrorism measures, essentially a string of measures to boost to the human and material resources of the police, but "paris match" says the government is quite a defined away a way to really defend freedom of expression and its secularism. these are being threatened by fundamentalism. >> other papers of course are focusing on what are being called these "crocs"acks" in french society. >> the french faultlines basically you can see in this drawing, a terrorist hacking away at a french flag, which is a pencil that looks like it will be broken into two. "courrier international" and

several foreign papers have identified these graphs in french society. the jewish population of feels threatened, the muslim population that feels stigmatized. clearly france has failed to integrate its muslim populations, but there is some hope and "courrier international" quotes the "new york times," that this is a golden opportunity for france come into quoted, it says "the decline has been real, but the future is unwritten. if there is a real history yet to be made in europe, for good or for ill in my be made first and france." >> other papers in the world are focusing on the international fight of terrorism. >> that is right. an italian magazine point that it is not just a french problem. sure cartoonists at "charlie

hebdo" may have paid the ultimate price, but this is a global threat. and then the international jihadist you can see the map of the world here, leaders from across the world were very quick to voice their support for france in the wake of the "charlie hebdo" attacks, but some of the west's friends whether it is turkey, saudi arabia, or qatar, are actually playing a double game. they're cultivating a very ambiguous relationship with radical islam and this is a miggy jihadists i -- and this is something the jihadists in the region are taking advantage of. >> the shooters resulting for the paris attacks, some are taking a look at that. >> "der spiegel" says these are the faces of losers, and it really tries to understand the

reason why these young men and others would want to declare war on europe. now, another french magazine focuses on the wife, how yet boomer hayat boumedienne. >> let's wrap up on a different note hollywood legend is on the french "vanity fair." >> at is right, clint eastwood is on the issue called legacy of legend. he gets an exclusive interview to "vanity fair" in in which he talks about politics love, and war. his latest film is called "american sniper," and it has been making records at the box office. it has been nominated for six oscars, but it has

contributed to scandal and bickering full stop it based on the relies of an american -- bickering. it is based on a real-life of an american, chris kyle, something he is a hero, others sayp÷