>> this is france 24. i'm genie godula. these of the headlines. david bowie has died after an 18 month battle with cancer. the music icon turned 60 93 days ago on friday, the same day he released his final album, blackstar. -- the music icon turned 69 three days ago on friday, the same day he released his final album, blackstar. -- starving people have been

reportedly eating their pets to survive. a group of pakistanis and a syrian attacked in cologne, germany. tensions are high after a series of assaults on new year's eve. employers called for sweeping new measures to help them create jobs as president francois hollande prepares his plan to cut unemployment. and the winds for leonardo -- and big wins for leonardo dicaprio at the golden globes. hollywood on the way, but first our top story. genie: tributes to music icon david bowie have been pouring in

following the news of his death. a statement on his facebook page says the british superstar passed away peacefully surrounded by his family after an 18 month battle with cancer. hailed hisy pop friendship with david bowie, calling it the light of my life. madonna called him a game changer. kanye west said, he gave us magic for a lifetime. career spanned 50 years. he released his final album on friday, the same day he turned 69. bowie's death came as such a shock, especially as he just released his album three days before. >> that's right. blackstar was his 25th album. it came out on friday, his 69th day. it featured only seven songs but it was extremely well received

by critics and it ground an amazing career that spanned -- it crowned an amazing career that spanned 50 years. he experimented with styles from glam rock to avant-garde pop to soul and funk. he was always reinventing himself and his wound. geniesound. genie: he had such an influence on so many people of different genres. >> he didn't fit into any one box. that's really what appealed to so many people. he was a real visionary, innovative, always cutting edge. his biggest hits reflect the diverse career from his 1969 breakout space oddity to the cowrotee fame, which he with john lennon.

era was thefavorite 80's, when he took a new pop direction. he achieved a new level of fame with ashes to ashes and duets with queen and mick jagger. there's that fantastic clip with mick jagger in dancing in the street. his biggest album to date, let's dance. that spawned the hit single of the same name, let's dance. which we are going to take a listen to now. ♪ let's dance put on your red shoes and dance the blues let's dance to the song they are playing on the radio let's sway while color lights up your face

♪ >> i vividly remember that. i saw that concert in chicago when he was in his big suit phase. remembered for many flamboyant looks over the decades. genie: indeed. i'm actually wearing my glam an oh mhomage. ist you are seeing there an illustration by artist helen green of all his different looks throughout the years. he had many alter egos. ziggy stardust, aladdin sane, the thin white duke. he also reinvented himself as an artist, painter, and sculptor during a stint in berlin. also as an occasional thespian with roles on broadway and the

1976 film the man who fell to earth. and more recently in movies like the prestige and zoolander. he did keep a low profile in the later years. in last live performance was 2006 at a charity concert in new york. genie: thank you so much. age 69.wie, died at in, eight convoys are making their way to a besieged town. -- in syria, eight convoys are making their way to a besieged town. reports say people have been eating grass and their pets to survive. let's bring in our regional correspondent. can you confirm the convoy has reached the town? reached they has

town. some 50ff from damascus kilometers away. there was another convoy earlier in the day on a much longer journey. ,p into the north province where two towns are under siege by opposition forces. is to just get food into those affected areas for some 40,000 people. in the next couple of days there will be a second delivery bringing in other much-needed goods including medicine and basics given that it is winter. heating will now be very difficult. warm blankets and other such things that they desperately need.

genie: tell us more about this area that has been cut off. it's not just this one town under siege. across the country as a whole , as we speak, a number of towns and suburbs of damascus have been under siege. and perhaps not as seriously affected as this one. it is like the situation in the camp where people were also on the point of starvation, similarly eating leaves and whatever they could get their hands on. majority of instances such as these, agencies simply haven't been able to deliver any relief because they haven't been granted access.

and as very serious number of ways. not only the humanitarian cost but also because it could affect the peace process. the syrian national council has said they will refuse to sit down and talk with the governments. these sieges are not lifted. those peace process are looking at the moment very unrealistic. adam: thank you for that, reporting from beirut. four way talks have opened in islamabad to lead the groundwork -- to lay the groundwork for warring factions of the taliban. it brings together afghanistan, pakistan, china and the u.s.

progress will be down to pakistan, which is accused of harboring some of the fiercest factions of the taliban. julia kim reports. >> a new year, a new opportunity for peace in afghanistan. the afghan government along with pakistan, china and the u.s. gathered to renew peace efforts amidst increasing violence in afghanistan after the withdrawal of u.s. forces. activity, do this they will have more visibility. show them as one of the main actors for the peace process. >> kabul is aiming to establish a roadmap to peace with the goal of convincing the taliban to come to the table and consider giving up violence. but the process has been complicated with the death of the taliban founder in 2013, which has fractured the group.

>> it was not being accepted by most of the other telegram. they were saying he could not be our leader. -- it was not being accepted by most of the other taliban. they were saying he could not be our leader. >> since the beginning of the year, the insurgent groups have multiplied their offenses against the government and foreign targets. on new year's day, a french restaurant in the capital was targeted by a car bomb followed by suicide attacks near the international airport a few days later. genie: let's turn to germany, where the scale of the attacks on women at new year's eve celebrations in cologne continues to grow. police say more than 500 criminal complaints have been registered with nearly half of them related to sexual assault. here's more on the investigation into what happened in cologne and elsewhere in germany that night. >> new year's eve revelry's in

cologne. in the fray, hundreds of women were being attacked. local authorities say the number has jumped from 379 reports on saturday to 516. 40% of the cases related to sexual assault. over 100 similar incidents were reported in hamburg. both the justice and interior ministry said on sunday that the attacks were probably planned in advance. least, runningt the gauntlet and then disappearing and doing the same thing somewhere else suggests it was organized. >> police say the majority of the suspects are asylum-seekers and illegal migrants, a development which sparked angry protests by the far right. authorities used water cannons and tear gas to quell violent protesters. the incident has sparked debate about refugees. including fast

tracking the deportation of refugees for crimes in germany have been announced. can be taken away if somebody is convicted on probation or if they are jailed. over oney took in million refugees in 2015, the most of any european country. but the new year's violence has and couldfidence reduce support. been madeh has recently of an interview by u.s. penn with el chapo. the escapee has been arrested once again. many people are started to ask questions. here's kyle brown with more on that story. >> it is worthy of becoming a feature film and probably will.

this photo taken it a secret hideout shows actor sean penn shaking hands with the most wanted drug lord on the continent. keen to make a movie about his life and talk about how he got mixed up in the drug trade as a child. >> unfortunately where i grew up, there was no other way. and there still isn't. actress kate del castillo, who has played tv roles as a drug trafficker, was in a position to help. contacted by the drug lord, she set up a secret meeting in the mountains of mexico three months ago. how the now wonder actor could have interviewed this infamous drug boss while he was on the run. this just shows that the media is infiltrated by organized crime. the media is all mixed up in it just like the government. >> there are lots of interests

involved so this actress had contact just like the politicians and mexican authorities do. unfortunately. >> mexican authorities are investigating the actors to determine whether they broke any laws by interviewing a dangerous criminal. it is 15 past the hour. david bowie has died after an 18 month battle with cancer. the music icon turned 69 three days ago on friday, the same day he released his final album, blackstar. eight convoys finally make their way to the besieged syrian town where starving people have been reportedly eating grass and their pets to survive. and a group of pakistanis and a syrian attacked in cologne, germany. tensions are high in the wake of hundreds of assaults on women on

new year's eve. attacks that have largely been blamed on foreigners. time for our business news with stephen carroll. you are starting in brussels, where the european commission has said belgian must recover hundreds of thousands in tax. >> these are companies benefiting from excess profit schemes, a deal done with the belgian government. 35applies to some international firms. the country says those deals were illegal under eu law. substantially reduced their tax bills in belgium. belgium is called on to reclaim 700 million euros in tax. the companies are mostly european. genie: let's take a look at the markets. a lot of people are having a particularly bad monday. >> particularly in china. marketsbad day on the after we saw shares finally rally on friday. shanghai closed down more than 5% after the central bank moved

to strengthen its currency. no trading in tokyo today, but the rest of the asian markets all finished in the red as well. those china jitters have an effect on the price of oil. it is down around 12 year lows. ae index fell below $33 barrel. experts say big producers will have to take action before oil returns to a higher price. genie: how about in europe? >> a little bit better on the european markets today. things have opened slightly down but turned into the green now. but markets still down fairly heavy after that big selloff we saw last week. small gains. genie: has been a call for a new plan to cut unemployment in france. >> this time it's coming from major employers. it includes tax cuts and making it easier to hire and fire workers.

the president will unveil his job creation plan this week. georgina robertson reports. jobless figures have been on the rise for a decade. over 3.5 million people are without a job. that's a rate of 10.6%. in a letter published by one of france's leading newspapers, -- called for a number of change. among their proposals, giving businesses and exemption from paying social contribution on new powers for their first two years. it's a solution which works wherever people are learning. this is 5% unemployment in germany and austria. the apprenticeship system -- >> other measures, the creation of flexible work contracts with limits for redundancy payments based on experience and the company's situation.

it would allow employers to dismiss employees on the signing of a contract. this is controversial in france, where workers are heavily protected. employers tollow lay someone off immediately without any ground for challenging the decision. that is a flexibility that is precarious. >> french people are divided. some believe the unemployment rate is not caused by a lack of training. plan tore keen on the retrain some 500,000 people who are currently unemployed. >> the air france group says the november terror attacks in paris cost it an estimated 70 million euros. dear friends so a 1% rise in passenger traffic in december. a humble entrance from

the boss of folk volkswagen. >> he tells an audience in detroit that volkswagen is committed to making things right after installing software that cheated emissions tests. he will unveil the plan for fixing american models to regulators this week. the company will invest another $900 million in its production facilities in the united states. his main message was to reiterate an apology for the deception. >> we all know that we have let down customers, authorities, regulators, and the general public here in america, too. we are, i am, truly sorry for that. and our most important task in 2016 is to win back trust. it is not only our cars we have to fix.

we know we have to repair our credibility, too. genie: one of the most famous hazards in los angeles is going on the market. >> that's right. the playboy mansion is for sale. the company that owns it is looking for $200 million for the estate. that is believed to be up to four times its actual value. hugh hefner bought the house for $1.1 million back in 1971. it has since become famous for the many parties held their. re. the sale apparently includes the right for hugh hefner to stay in the house until he dies. genie: thank you. you can see our top stories on france 24.com. reaction to the death of david bowie has been pouring in.

we have been taking a closer look at reaction on twitter. >> that's right. avidbowie has been trending this morning following the news of his death. it was announced by his family, notably his son, duncan jones. he posted a very sweet photo of him and his father. producerook post by a friend of david bowie says his close friends knew that he had been sick for some time. >> a music producer and friend of david bowie posted on facebook that he and bowie's entourage new that he was dying of cancer a year ago. he says, he made blackstar -- the album that was released on friday -- he made blackstar for us, his parting gift. i knew for a year that this was the way it would be. i wasn't prepared for it. genie: there has been reaction from a lot of high-profile figures. >> that's right.

from the predictable to the unpredictable. the archbishop of canterbury tweets, i remember listening to his songs endlessly and called him an extraordinary man. cameronish pm david bowie a master of reinvention who kept getting it right and said his death is a huge loss. genie: and there was a death from outer space. >> the british astronaut tweeted calling' ss bowie's music and inspiration to all. genie: what about the entertainment world? >> his music spanned generations and genres. said, david bowie was one of my most important inspirations. so fearless, so creative.

he gave us magic for a lifetime. tweeted, gervais calling him a hero. eddie izzard called on all radio stations around the world to play david bowie's music all day long. genie: a lot of average twitter users have been paying tribute as well. >> there is a wonderful mix of poignant, funny, hilarious in some cases. let's start with this great tweet from brendan evers. he says, no other singer has deconstructed hyper masculinity and redefined male gender roles like david bowie did. that speaks paris match to his personality. , wethis one says we were very lucky you chose our planet. this one says, he turned down a knighthood. you can already make folks call

you ziggy stardust. why would you have them call you sir? he also declined the royal honor of commander of the british empire. genie: there is a video making the rounds on twitter. >> it's a photo mashup of david bowie's different looks and style throughout the years by an artist named helen green. it works really well with this tweet i found. it says, people say he was a chameleon, but he wasn't. chameleons change their colors to fit in. the charismatic one of a kind david bowie marched to his own tune. genie: thank you for that look at david bowie. david bowie died at age 69. the news of david bowie's death broke just as the golden globe ceremony was wrapping up in los angeles. prizes are handed out each year by the hollywood foreign press

association. is the award ceremony that gets award season underway in hollywood. the big winner at this years 73rd edition was the survival thriller the revenant. and motion actor picture drama, boosting the film chancesardo dicaprio's of oscar glory next month. >> welcome to the 73rd annual golden globe awards. >> it's hollywood's golden night. this year honored one of the film industry's golden boys, leonardo dicaprio winning the the 19thr award for century survival epic, the revenant. >> i want to share this award with all the first nation people represented in this film and all the indigenous communities around the world. offhe film also fought strong competition to win the best motion picture drama and best director award.

won best actress for in which she plays a young in which she plays a young mother sññóóóóawúwóóóóó

- hello, i'm john cleese. now, have you ever wondered what makes sacred art really sacred? i mean, does the so-called creative spirit lie within the artist, or is it something channeled through the artist that comes from somewhere else entirely? in either case, prepare to be totally delighted by what follows: the first-time meeting of a tibetan lama and a navajo sculptress. so settle back, take a deep breath, and let your creative spirit float in the wind as we join our host, phil cousineau, with his esteemed guests for this colorful, art-drenched episode of global spirit, the first internal travel series. [percussive music]