>> welcome back to the "france 24" newsroom. we are broadcasting live from paris. i'm aurore dupuis. annual fireworks in paris and brussels have been canceled. york, madrid, and moscow have boosted security. storm frank keeps battering the u.k. hundreds of homes have been

evacuated and thousands more are left with no electricity. the french journalist expelled from beijing is flying home today. chinese authorities refused to renew her visa, accusing her of supporting terrorism. first of all, let's wish a happy new year to those of you who are in new zealand. the clock has already struck midnight there and the annual fireworks display has kicked off. take a look at these impressive pictures coming to us from auckland. there, luckyrks and, because here in paris in belgium, in fact, the fireworks have been canceled. major cities across the world are on high alert.

we have a tour of the security measures that have been put into place. reporter: while parisians celebrate, security services will be hard at work. in a city on edge since deadly terror attacks last month, security has been stepped up for new year's eve. 60,000 troops have been deployed across the country and, here in the capital, festivities have been toned down. the annual fireworks display has been canceled, but a light show at the arc de triomphe will still be held. in brussels, too, new year's eve fireworks have been scrapped. the belgian capital is still on hiler after two people were arrested on tuesday, suspected of planning -- is still on high alert after two people were arrested on tuesday, suspected of planning a new year's even attacked. the analysis, we thought it was a good idea to

cancel. reporter: meanwhile, berlin has decided to go ahead with its fireworks display. officials have tightened security around the brandenburg gate. several checkpoints have been set up around the area. >> after recent events, we have surveillance, added more security guards, and stricter entry inspections. reporter: extra security measures in madrid, the end, vienna,- madrid, moscow. festivities in new york are on track. organizers were carrying out final checks for the annual ball drop. authorities say they are ready for the big night. >> new york city is the best prepared city in this world. inorter: finally, bamako mali, the target of a recent attack, has scaled down its celebrations.

authorities have decided not to impose a curfew. saw in thatou report, authorities in brussels are not getting any rest during this holiday season. the general prosecutor says that, in all, eight people are being held for questioning regarding a terror plot on new year's eve. let's go straight to "france 24 who joins usltz, live from brussels. what more can you tell us about the new arrests? teri: there have been seven raids carried out this morning, bringing in six more people for questioning in connection to this alleged plot on new year's eve in downtown brussels. we don't know much about posts six people yet, but a judge is due to decide today whether they will be held over into long detention. about an hour ago, we learned two suspects arrested earlier this week, alleged to be members of a motorcycle gang linked to an islamic group who had threatened --

they are charged with threatening an attack, because they are the planners of the attack. one of the men is also charged as a recruiter. they will be held in detention for three months. they are allowed to appeal. prosecutors appear to have quite a bit of evidence on them. they have material from these homes, computer equipment, cell phones, and equipment used in is n that -- in a game that a replica of warfare. aurore: what about the other investigation? the man who was arrested yesterday who is allegedly linked to the paris attacks? teri: authorities continue. on the paris attacks -- authorities continue full-steam on the paris attacks. we have just gotten word in the last half hour or so that another man, who was arrested in his detentionhad

prolonged another three months. both of these investigations definitely not taking a break on new year's eve. aurore: thank you very much for that update. teri schultz, reporting from brussels. more details have emerged about the profile of the two terror suspects arrested in turkey on wednesday. according to turkish police, the suspects were plotting suicide attacks in central ankara. they found a backpack full of explosives and a suicide vest during house raids. ourmore on this, correspondent in ankara. sources in the security services are leaking the information that the two turkish men detained have frequently gone to syria, and one is believed to have fought for the islamic state group in syria. the national intelligence organization have been monitoring them for four weeks,

ara the and cara -- the ank chief prosecutor's office has said we caught them before they took action. that's exactly what did not happen in october, when two i.s. bombers exploded themselves and killed a hundred people. those bombers had been under surveillance beforehand. the day before, they had driven from close to the syrian border to ankara. it's about a 10-hour drive. ifryone is saying, well, they were under surveillance, why didn't they police arrest them en route? the prime minister said at the time we cannot arrest terror suspects until they commit a crime, but that was scoffed that -- at. because a lot of the time, the government is arresting pkk suspects before they have committed a crime. the security lapses in the past

due pose the question whether there are more potential bombers the questiono pose whether there are more potential bombers out there now, people who have not been arrested. aurore: let's move on to the united states. to that weather has left more than 50 people dead over the bad weather has left more than 50 people dead over the past week. the mississippi river in missouri keeps swelling. it is already more than four meters above the flood stage. volunteers are forming human chains to lay down sandbags in a bid to prevent the flooding from engulfing their town. lefte u.k., heavy rain has thousands of households with no electricity. storm frank is the third storm to hit the country in a month. alexander aucott reports.

of destructionve sweeping across the u.k., many felt powerless. >> we can only hope it stops raining and the tide turns. that's all we can do. >> we've never had it as high as this before. the house has never been flooded. i suppose it it is a wee bit disconcerting. dropped sandbags and plugged holes in embankments. they worked day and night to hold back the inundation. high winds and further rains are expected in the already ravaged north of england, where many people were told to leave their homes. >> what we have faced is really severe rain falling on top of already wet ground, which is simply unprecedented in this part of the world.

alexander: britain has faced an ofraordinary -- a period extraordinary weather. the latest losses could be above 4 billion euros. journalists innt france are outraged over china's decision not to renew the visa of a french reporter. she is a correspondent for a magazine in beijing. chinese authorities accused her death she is expected to fly back to france later today. reporter: a longtime beijing course on -- beijing correspondent, she will now have .o pack up and go she needs to leave the country by the end of the year. on saturday, beijing decided not to renew her presley sent over an article she wrote -- her press visa over an article she wrote. >> there are arguments on what

was said in my article, which was wholly distorted. that's why when they asked me for apologies i cannot accept that. chinese authorities have accused her of supporting terrorism and they demanded she apologized. gautier herself recognizes her mistake -- ursula gaultier herself recognizes her mistake. >reporter: the article that created the issue is this one. journalists suggested beijing had ulterior motives in expressing solidarity with friends -- season journal ist suggested beijing had all three are motives in expressing solidarity with france. stepped on the red

line, so this is the punishment and a warning to other beijing-based correspondence not to repeat her so-called mistake. reporter: notoriously tough on not theeedom, this is first time china has expelled foreign journalists. by not renewing press releases, it has become a -- press hasase -- press visas, it become a yearly occurrence. aurore: it's a well-known fact that freedom of expression isn't fully respected in china. how are reporters expected to do their jobs in these conditions? william: i think that is the right west and to ask. china has said she make mistakes, she should have been more objective, she should have done a better job reporting. the irony is whenever reporters try to go to the region, the

region she was reporting on, they are either followed by security police, they are often intimidated. if they try to talk to people on the street, oftentimes, they are interrupted. this is incredibly difficult circumstances to report in. and where she went, where there was a violent attack and it appears 50 people died, that was not even reported in the state press for almost teed up months -- almost two months. there are double standards. it would be unthinkable for people in the paris attacks to think that the french government could suppress the news for two months and not allow the media to report on it. aurore: we are hearing the

chinese newspapers have been mocking that french reporter. what do you make of this? william: the newspaper in question that has been the most harsh on her is "the global times." it is associated with the mouthpiece of the communist party. they are often an attack dog against foreign media journalists and other international entities. her. an attack against they want to scare foreign media into submission, so they won't have any sort of critical reporting. it is a very important region, where china is scaling up its so-called war on terror. and -- e many deaths it is an area that needs better reporting. at the same time, they want to clamp down on coverage.

they are even shutting up their domestic critics. foris in prison for life speaking his opinion. uygura weaker -- a academic. china's most famous lawyers was put in detention for 19 months and finally released. he was also in trouble for criticisms of the region. thes an important time for government to step up and ensure that their journalists can have good press freedom in china. aurore: thank you very much for being with us on "france 24," william. william hilderbrandt is here with me in the studio. ringing inging in -- 2016, and that means some goods in france will become more expensive. "whine" there is more

in france from people complaining with the cost of living. january 1 is synonymous with these price rises. we take a look at what changes. reporter: new year festivities quickly wear off in france on january 1, when many planned price hikes go into effect, and this friday is no exception. from january 1, 2016, fuel taxes will go up. the price of diesel increases by three cents and unleaded by 1.7 cents. posting a letter will also cost french people more. they will pay between $.70 and $.80 for stamps, an increase of 2 cents. more than 80% of french banks will be applying account handling fees. on average, customers will have perork out 16 euros extra year. from friday onwards, companies must provide supplementary health insurance for their employees with 50% paid by the

company and the rest paid by the employee. there will be no new year suffices for minimum wage. it will only go up -- new year surprises for minimum wage. it will only go up 0.6%. tries toh government combat pollution. supermarkets can no longer give out plastic bags. all cars must be affixed with color stickers that identify how polluting the vehicle is. computing -- commuting to work, their expenses will be exempt from tax at a max of -- shares are lower on thursday ahead of the last trading session of 2015. in germany, italy, ireland, switzerland, all closed for new year's eve. trading likely to remain very thin throughout the day. investors are eyeing oil prices,

which were making mild gains after a volatile session. overnight, oil prices tumbled over 3%. time now for a look at other headlines, beginning with concern in the north sea, where a drifting barge has missed a bp oil rig. they ordered a complete evacuation after the nearby barge broke anchor during a storm. it is unclear when production will resume. earlier in the day, a big oil onewas hit by a wave and person was killed, two injured. that has since been evacuated. two class-action lawsuit in the u.s. allege that there were debuted before facebook in 2012. revenue projections on mobile devices -- facebook has filed an appeal as it says shareholder should

pursue their claims individually. puerto rico will default on a small portion of a bond payment due january 4. officials had to dip into cash set aside to pay other debts. the move will buy time as the u.s. congress could restructure its debt burden. the u.s. territory has suffered from a decade-long recession that has shrunk tax revenue. microsoft will begin warning its e-mail users when it suspects a government is trying to hack into their accounts. two former employees said china was behind a 2011 hacking campaign. earlier today, china responded by saying it is a resolute defender of internet security. here is a lesson in advertising. use oprah winfrey, and preferably have heard an emotional pitch about a product she believes in. shares shootrs saw up 19% after it released a one minute ad with her sharing about

her only loss troubles -- struggles. oprah: because you have loss buried in the weight that you carry. william: why are we talking about this? shares shot up 19%. oprah winfrey bought a 10% stake in weight watchers, $43 million. today, that share is worth $148 million. wise, a -- oprah, a spokesperson as well as a savvy businesswoman. a company has a reasonable excuse for losing its paperwork. china animal health care, whose accounts are under investigation, said it was looking for five years worth of financial documents that were lost. the company says that the truck carrying those documents was stolen while the truck driver was eating lunch. aurore: i bet you would use

similar excuses for your homework. that was the business news with william hilderbrandt. it is time now for the press review. let's take a look at what is grabbing the headlines in the weekly news magazines. florence villeminot is with me. a lot of focus on the new year and what to expect in 2016. e: there is a focus on what the new year will bring in africa. au can see on this front page group of people who are going to make and perhaps break 2016. you can see a majority of men. there are some women on the list. rent gbagboone -- lau is accused of crimes against humanity. also in this group, the leader of the jihadist group -- a jihadist group which operates in

mali. presidentph kabila, of the democratic republic of congo. where will he be in the year. presidential and legislative elections are held for an event -- are scheduled for november. this could make 2016 of potentially dangerous year for the drc. president hollande is in the spotlight in france as we ringing in a new year -- we ring in a new year. florence: this is over the controversial move to strip people of dual nationality. it is kind of overshadowing a lot of other big debates, which we should probably have as we go into a new year.

you can always count on "charlie hebdo" to have a funny take on this. you can see francois hollande making his traditional e nd-of-year speech. aurore: and we will stick to "charlie hebdo," as they mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. on january 6, there will be a special edition of "charlie hebdo" to mark the anniversary of those attacks which took place on january 7 last year. it will be a double issue and run one million copies. they will reprint some of the best cartoons from some of the cartoonists who died in that horrible attack. you will be able to see some of their best cartoons, as well as cartoons from surviving staff

members and messages of support from other celebrities, tributes to these heroes of the political cartoon world. that is essentially how they are being remembered here in france. let's move on to a feminist magazine, which is paying tribute to other teachers -- other heroes, teachers. on the front page, they talk about teachers are major heroes. the islamic state group has issued a threat against french schools and french teachers. pays tributes to what it calls the key resistance. they are fighting for peace and waging a war of words, knowledge, and tolerance against these people who want to stop the spread of understanding, knowledge, and education. so, they really are heroes. aurore: speaking of school, one french politician is apparently a very good student, economy minister emmanuel macron.

that has been picked up on by "le point" magazine. he has had a stellar career and he is already the minister of economy. why not him? why not him what? that is kind of unanswered in this issue. you can imagine that perhaps they are saying maybe one day he could be president of france. the economy minister is part of the social party -- socialist party and has ruffled a lot of parties -- feathers because of his pro-business policies. remember the one about working on sundays? "le point" says he likes to break the system. rarely has nice things to say about socialists. macron tends to be a little more

right wing. aurore: and he is definitely more photogenic. a story that has been buzzing on social media this week. actor carrie fisher has hit out against those who have criticized her appearance. florence: she has drawn criticism from fans who say that she looks too old in the movie. she has hidden back -- bitten back in a hilarious series of tweets. "please stop debating about whether or not i have aged well. beauty and youth are not accomplishments." and she has a hilarious photo of her dog. is my brainy body bag." her response has drawn a lot of support online and in the media.

there is somewhat of a double standard here. carrie fisher gets judged for her aging. but another actor in the movie, harrison ford, is also looking a lot older, but no one is saying anything about his age