you are watching "live from paris" on france 24. los angeles closes all of its public schools after officials received a threat via e-mail. we're getting the latest with our correspondent. the united states and russia are looking for common ground ahead of critical peace talks over syria. spendingan president three hours meeting the u.s. secretary of state at the kremlin. cease-fire begins in yemen as peace talks get under way in switzerland amid a conflict which has killed close to 6000 people in the last nine months.

first, then, in the united states, six hundred 40,000 children in the los angeles area are being kept home from class today. authorities closing public schools because of a security threat they received via e-mail. take a listen to the los angeles mayor. i had been in immediately on the phone when we learned of to ensure students could travel free on our buses and rail lines today so they could get home safely to make sure that they are able to get through the city without having to worry. because we know a lot of parents still have to get to work and cannot even afford to miss one day. we will continue to hope that

this is nothing and that our children can be back at school tomorrow. on the east coast, meanwhile, new york police say they have received the same threat and no schools there are being closed. i asked our correspondent if these closures are being seen as an overreaction. >> los angeles unified school district officials and police officials talked to the press. they have said the word abundance of caution many times. most of the press conference will be spent defending their decision to close the schools and lighter of the fact that new york city decided not to close their schools because they received a similar threat. they do not want to take any chances especially on the heels of what happened here in los angeles teen weeks ago in san bernardino. 14 people died because of a terrorist attack. they do not want to take any

chances. see how this transpires today. in the meantime, many officials as you mention, making sure no suspicious theages, backpacks as e-mail quoted, are there and do not pose a threat to anybody, including teachers or students. while police officials physically search for schools and look for suspicious packages, we will say that the e-mail itself has been analyzed and has been tracked to a computer in germany. two authorities have any idea about who might have sent it? >> that is what they are investigating. they do say that the ip address was traced to germany, but they are not sure if that is where the e-mail was jerked -- was generated because, as you know, a lot of these hackers and people that generate e-mails, especially coming from a terrorist entity, have a lot of

different methods they use so that they are not traced easily, but that will be one of the things that police and authorities and the fbi will be investigating in the coming hours. anchor: this is affecting an enormous number of children and their families as well. how are parents actually coping? did they all get the message in time? >> the threat was sent to los angeles unified school district orton members at around 5:00 a.m. local time. parents started getting phone calls two hours later. unfortunately, a lot of students and parents leave their home at about 7:00 in order to be able to take their children to school to then make it home or their jobs. a lot of kids ended up at school . there is a little bit of a disorganization, some students waiting for parents to pick them up. said tookrities have place is that in order for a

student to be picked up, the parent has to show identification. most of the parents were reached via robo call, but a lot fell through the cracks, so there is a little bit of chaos. however, metro and other transportation authorities are giving free rides to students so that they can in fact go home safely, but they do have to be identified by a parent in order to leave the school. saudi arabia has been giving more details of what has been dubbed an anti-terrorism force of 34 nations. the coalition is to be headed by saudi arabia. saysaudi foreign minister if necessary, these members would share intelligence and also deploy troops. notable exceptions include riyadh's longtime foe iran as well as syria and iraq.

the fight against terrorism to a new level. the countries will combat not just the islamic state group that terror threats around the world from africa to afghanistan. gulf states in and turkey are some of the members. however, iran is not part of the coalition, nor are syria and iraq. the saudi foreign minister has led. this newour hope that coalition network that was put together among islamic countries will be able to provide a in the capacity and effectiveness of countries in the islamic world in their efforts to confront terrorism and violent extremism. syria, all options to fight the islamic state group are open. nothing is off the table. there also has to be a military component to this because we have to deal with the terrorist

at three levels -- the men, the money, and the mindset. >> the coalition will train and equip security forces and also address the roots of radical ideology. announcement was welcomed by the united states. washington had been urging gulf countries to play a greater role in the campaign against militants in syria and iraq. >> let's take a closer look at the coalition. this is billed as an antiterrorism force. by far the biggest militant threat right now is from the islamic state group in iraq and syria, of course, but those countries are not included in this coalition. given that, how our operations in this country is likely to be launched? >> first, what you have to understand is that this force, this proposal is from an

initiative that failed nine months ago. with the intervention of russia and syria, there had been , but also for authorities to take their position on the ground. in addition to that, the attack made europeans much more willing to intervene against isis than , andwere before the attack that pressures saudi arabia to deliver as well. therefore, this initiative should be seen in this context. -- when we have so many participating, 34 countries

participating, it will be very difficult to coordinate, so probably what will happen is a coalition of states with similar interests. , iran,er your question aaq, and syria are not contributor, it's not really surprising because if you look at the contributors, they are mainly or mostly sunni and muslim countries. >> would you say it is more of a symbolic coalition? or would you expect it to deploy troops? >> i would not say it is symbolic. it's just too developed a kind of force, you cannot do it overnight. joint to deal first with training and joint operations. it has to do with intelligence sharing. in order to get that level of troops ton, you need have trained previously. that is not yet the case. proposal is not for a

ready-made force, but it will be authorities in saudi arabia and other states could rely upon. >> thanks very much for giving us your point of view. fresh announcements now from moscow as the russian president and foreign minister emerged more than three hours of talks with the u.s. secretary of state . john kerry has already told reporters that international peace talks over the future of syria will take place on friday as planned. russia had previously cast doubts over that meeting taking place at all. he sees differences with the u.s. on key issues including the role of president assad on any transition out of civil war.

>> if it's common ground or if put theirdecided to differences on the back burner is an open question. perhaps it's both. there's a certain level of compromise, but it looks as though these representatives, the secretary of state, john kerry, the foreign minister, vladimir putin, it looks as though they have decided that this very rocky path towards peace in syria is worth more than their individual differences at this point. as you mentioned, two key issues on syria that threatened to to happen ontalks friday. assad, what will happen to the future of the president, the syrian president, what will happen to him in the future. the u.s. has read -- john kerry the u.s. is not looking for

regime change, but he said bashar al-assad cannot wait any role in the country's future. that aligns with what more than 100 opposition groups said in riyadh and saudi arabia the other week. they said the same thing, that they cannot abide by a solution in syria that would involve bashar al-assad. the second critical point here that will allow the meeting to go ahead on friday, this meeting that will include almost all the major powers and is considered absolutely crucial is the list of terror groups. which terror groups will be blacklisted is the question that russia wanted apparently going into these talks. a clear list of which terror groups would not be allowed to take part in negotiations. it appears to have put that to one side in the name of negotiations at the end of this week. berov has said that would

brought back up at a later date when those terror groups will be put on a list. at this point, it looks as though these talks in new york on friday will be going ahead. what has come out of the press conference, and that is crucial to striking some kind of peace agreement in syria. thank you so much. a cease-fire is now officially asplace in war-torn yemen peace talks get under way at the same time in switzerland. according to the united nations, more than 5800 people have died in yemen since march, half of them civilians. >> a critical first step towards peace -- those were the words of the u.s. envoy to yemen as a cease-fire came into effect in the war-torn country. >> you have taken the first

urgent step in this direction by agreeing to cease hostilities. there's no doubt that this is a real achievement. thats more important is you concentrate your efforts ais week on reaching comprehensive and lasting cease-fire. >> any round of un-sponsored peace talks opened this tuesday in switzerland with senior delegates meeting face to face. the conflict has been putting -- pitting pro-government forces backed by a saudi-led coalition against hutu shiite rebels loyal to former troops the former president. after months of violence that killed nearly 6000 people, residents of the capital have the hopes for these new negotiations. >> my message to the negotiators engineer that is to come out of this meeting with solutions to our country, and to use reason and hopem and logic that there's more solution

except a political solution. >> the main goal of these talks is to agree on how to implement rebelsution calling on to leave the capital and other cities they have ceased in the last year, but reaching an agreement will be hard. the previous round of talks collapsed in june with both sides blaming each other for the stalemate. anchor: earlier on, our international affairs editor give us more about how these peace talks have come about. >> previous talks collapsed in june, and after that, the united nations put a lot of pressure on the warring parties, using an argument that appeals to their self-interest -- basically, the u.n. said if you go on like this, there will be no country left or you to govern, and the u.n. special envoy at the talks in geneva in his opening remarks today returned to this theme asking what country was ever built on bruins and rubble. that is really the argument, but

there is also a grim realization in riyadh that this cannot be won militarily and had the coalition prevailed and presumably, the coalition would not have bothered with this peace initiative. >> and it's by no means a two-way fight. we know in remote parts of yemen, jihadists have for years set up shop. >> that's right, and this is difficult for saudi arabia to handle. both al qaeda and the islamic state group had declared war on saudi arabia. they have carried out bombings in the kingdom, but at the same they those two groups -- have a common enemy with saudi and that is the rebels. perhaps because of that, there have been reports of the saudi's being very careful not to challenge al qaeda in the arabian insula in certain

sectors of southern yemen. , in some cities. it's a very difficult balance for riyadh to strike. it does not want the jihadists ,o win, but they are a buffer and riyadh certainly cannot allow pro-iranian regime to take power in yemen. claims that a nazi train has been discovered hidden in a tunnel in poland have then dismissed by geology experts. a team from krakow pass science and technology university has today revealed the results of a test conducted in the country passed southwest. they have revealed that there may be a tunnel at the site, but there is no trace of a train. the claims were backed up by two explorers earlier this year who said they had finally located it. he is boldly going where no

british person has gone before -- well, not before -- not for a quarter of a century, anyway. he has joined an american astronaut and russian cosmonaut in the latest mission to the international space station as the latest representative of the european space agency and the first brick in space since 1991. the team will stay there carrying out scientific their plannedtil return to earth on june 5 next year. very best of luck to all of them. let's move on now with some top business news headlines with kate moody. the team posting themselves off to space while people around the world are posting christmas cards and packages. there are a bunch of countries that have been accused of wrongdoing at this very crucial posting time of year. >> anyone who has been at the post office this time of year knows how expensive it can be to

post a parcel off. have been accused of colluding on how much to charge customers for their passengers -- for their packages. they have been fined a record 672 million euros. >> and unwelcome delivery for transport friends in france. the companies agreed to artificially hike prices in secret meetings occurring between 2004 and 10, a practice the union president recalls only in part. >> i acknowledge there were discussions of a secret nature, but it's all relative. they happened in the room behind me, and there were notes from them published. these were not discussions held secretly in the back room of a

restaurant. >> 20 delivery companies have been sanctioned, the biggest fine being 196 million euros, followed by part of a french-government owned postal service, and dhl at 81 million euros. regulators discover the activity thanks to tipoffs from whistleblowers and have said that price rises were especially damaging for smaller businesses. >> ultimately, it's the clients of these delivery businesses who had to absorb these price hikes. this would have affected their prices and management. are not thefirms first targets of france's regulators. 2014, the cosmetic industry was fined over 900 million euros for similar illegal practices. france,making waves in a railway service has bowed to a partnershipnded

with airbnb that lasted just a few days. travelers who booked train tickets on the website were to receive a follow-up e-mail suggesting that they rent their house or apartment on airbnb for the duration of their trip. complained train tickets had become too expensive. the deal sparked anger among hotel owners that it put unfair pressure on their already struggling business. >> how can a state-owned company have a partnership with a private company that uses all of the fiscal tricks that, while being legal, allowing not to declare its revenues in france? >> let's check in on the markets now. european indices saw a strong recovery on tuesday. sector reported a nearly 14% jump in new car registrations last month while oil prices covered -- recovered

from seven-year lows seen on monday. wall street also trading upwards, each of the major indices of about 1.3%. investors very much focused on wednesday's big announcement from the u.s. federal reserve, which is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time since june 2006. the long-delayed rate hike would normally mean the central bank believes the economy has finally emerged from the damage caused by the financial crisis. the increases are expected to be slow, starting by raising the key return rate from its current level between zero and .25% between -- to between .25% and .5%. there are tiny changes that are unlikely to be felt for some time. it will also most likely strengthen the dollar. many analysts believe the market is prepared for the move. >> we are coming off this zero

balance for one thing. we think the tightening cycle is going to be extremely gradual still, a real lack of inflation. some disinflation very pressure. we see that exacerbated with what is going on in energy. i think the u.s. market is probably going to be choppy, but gradual tightening is not a death knell for equities. what is more encouraging as if we look historically at how european equities have performed, emerging-market equities. two european pharmaceutical giants are in talks on a giant asset swap. the proposal would see one group take over a large part of the consumer health care business. the unit worth 6.7 billion euros. in return, they would hand over and animal health division valued at about 11.5 billion euros and receive a cash payment. japan airlines is suspending its andy flights between paris

tokyo for most of january and february same demand had fallen 60% on november said the terror attacks in the french capital. meanwhile, french business giants are uniting in a social media campaign to restore the city's image and attract tourists. are promotingnies #parisweloveyou. the marketing campaign is designed to show solidarity but also boost tourism and spending a month after those terror attacks. wars" film made its world premiere monday night, and it's already a big money center. expectations are sky high. it's estimated that between box office sales, merchandising and eventual tv rights, it could make in almost $10 billion.

the host of brands signed up to cash in on the buzz around the film as jennifer explains. jennifer: it's not a "star wars" premiere without masks, light sabers, and storm trooper costumes, but these are not just fancy dress items. they are cash cows. merchandising is expected to bring in $5 billion, more than twice the anticipated box office revenue. that's in line with the previous six star wars episodes. disney is profiting on the success after buying lucasfilm. the demand for memorabilia does not seem to be dipping. >> the second film that he actually went to install, on from then on, we started collecting all these toys. are dealing the force of the star wars publicity machine.

the likes of chrysler and duracell buying into the franchise with their latest advertisements. even france's postal service has succumbed to star wars fever. this is disney $10 million in advertising. finally, a company in canada is cashing in on natural resources and china's smog problem. vitality air has been selling aluminum cans of fresh, clean air and oxygen straight from the rocky mountains, each can selling between $10 and $20 apiece. the founders of the company said the project started as a joke with a $.99 bag of air that was put up on ebay.

since then, it has become something of a must-have product in beijing. >> we could do with some of that in paris. thanks so much. always a breath of fresh airó

12/15/15 12/15/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> we are hitting isil harder than ever, the coalition of craft, our fighters, bombers and increasing been strikes, your lord 9000 up-to-date. isil leaders cannot hide in our next message is simple, you are next. amy: president obama claims progress in the fight against the islamic state. but isil vows more attacks like paris for every single country involved in bombing it. asma