catherine: hello. it is 9:00 p.m. in the french capital. you are watching "live from paris" on "france 24." i'm catherine nicholson. the islamic state group leader's claiming responsibility for the attack in jakarta -- the islamic is claiming responsibility for the attack in jakarta. two weeks before the first vote in iowa. of thebutes to a star

stage and screen, british actor and director alan rickman, who of 69.d at the age first, in indonesia, militants are believed to have killed two civilians today. the islamic state group think responsibility for the attacks this thursday morning -- the islamic state group takes responsibility for the attacks of this thursday morning. reporter: an uneasy calm has descended on the capital in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack. jakarta is notoriously -- jakarta's notoriously traffic jammed roads were deserted.

street vendors say hardly anyone was out. >> since the explosion occurred, very few people are around. the usual customers left the area, so my income today is less than usual. reporter: a few hours earlier, the area looked very different as attackers from the islamic state group carried out a paris-style assault on the city. it started out with an explosion. the police post was destroyed. security forces traded fire with the attackers before securing the area. indonesia's president visited the scene of the first explosions after calm had been restored. earlier, he urged the public not to panic. >> there is no need to be afraid. people should not be defeated by

these terrorist attacks. i hope everyone remains calm. indonesia has been on high alert since receiving threats from the i.s. group. several suspected militants were arrested in december, accused of planning attacks in jakarta over the christmas and new year period. hundreds of indonesians are thought to be among the foreigners who have joined the i.s. group's ranks in iraq and syria. catherine: we spoke to our correspondent who told us how this attack differs from others that have come in indonesia. reporter: this is a significant departure from the terrorism that has been witnessed in sporadic incidents over the last , like, 14 years, since the bali bombing in 2002. much of it is focused on smaller targets, sometimes police

stations, and this is more of an international target. the new drive to attract international headlines, a nature whichf isn't just simply about indonesia or vendettas with the police. it's an international area of the capital among five-star hotels, the u.n. building. it's a very different style, very much indicative -- indonesian fighters returning from syria who are fighting for i.s. catherine: the number of reserve troops in the french army is set for a massive rise from 28,000 to 40,000. that's the major announcement from the french president today. francois hollande paying his traditional greetings to forces. this comes after the attack that left 130 people dead and the country in a state of emergency.

-- ithollande: reinforces the active military against the strongest of threats. minister, jean-yves le drian, has been instructed to increase the number to 40,000. the goal is to have 1000 reserve deployed for the protection of our citizens. catherine: a five-year-old child has been killed in a truck bombing in turkey. 30 adults died -- three adults died in the attack. authorities are blaming kurdish militants for the attacks. the conflict between the turkish state and its kurdish population is taking a heavy toll on certain towns. our correspondents have been seeing what life is like on the border with area -- syria. kurdish residents have declared

semi-metonymy from the government in ankara -- semi metonymy -- semi autonomy from the government in ankara. reporter: it looks increasingly like a war zone. in some areas, streets have been cut off by craters and cobblestones have been torn from the payment -- pavement to build barricades. >> we will take it down ourselves. it is a problem, but it is also a protection. reporter: we feel safer behind these walls. here, the kurdistan workers party has declared autonomy. young members of the armed group no longer recognize the turkish government authority. their motto is syrian -- their motto is syrian -- their model is syrian kurdistan, which sits just across the border. >> they can come and kill us if they want. we are not afraid.

we are all going to die someday. reporter: turkish forces are preparing for yet another eighthy operation, the such intervention in five months. each time, families run for cover, trying to avoid the violence. >> when there is a curfew, we don't get electricity, water, or read. we live in missable -- or bread. we live in miserable conditions. we need peace. reporter: he's seems like an increasingly -- peace seems like an increasingly distant dream. much-needed food and hygiene products are among the supplies that have been allowed into the besieged syrian town of madaya today. this is the second convoy to reach the 40,000 people who have been trapped there by government forces for months. dozens have already died of starvation. water supply trucks have reached -- more supply trucks have reached two villages in idlib

province that have been besieged by antigovernment forces. a former british soldier has been convicted of child endangerment for trying to sneak a four-year-old-girl into the u.k. from france. he has been handed a suspended fine. he had faced a much more serious charge of people smuggling, which would have covered -- carried much tougher penalties. reporter: spared jail after choosing compassion over the law. this is one of the meetings that would lead to 10 weeks later to frenchearance before a court, charged with aiding illegal immigration. he had a four-year-old girl in hid an -- he four-year-old girl in his van. french border police stopped him, finding two eritreans and the girl, who was returned to

her father. speaking ahead of his trial, the former soldier insisted that his decision was not premeditated, that no money changed hands, and that he acted out of compassion in a moment of madness. >> she fell asleep on my knee. i remember it was freezing cold that night in october. looked down -- how can you leave her? lawrie has been given a 1000-euro suspended fine for child endangerment with the tougher charge of smuggling dropped. this, after his lawyer successfully argued that he had a legitimate defense. >> in french law, you have part of the legislation which says that if you help someone in danger and you are not being paid by giving them food or

or safeguarding their physical integrity, you can't be charged with anything. reporter: the trial comes at a time of bitter debate across europe about how to tackle the continent's worst refugee crisis since the second world war. catherine: let's look across the united states now, where elbows are likely being sharpened and cutting jibes honed among the republican presidential candidates as they face their six the debate -- their sixth debate. the first contest for the party nominations will take place in iowa on february 1. the top seven runners taking part, including the outspoken front-runner donald trump. a bit of a preview now of what we might expect tonight from david adelman, foreign affairs columnist from "usa today." what are we likely to learn from this sixth debate?

david: what we are going to hear tierlot of the second candidates, the challengers to hetmp band -- and cruz, challengers must make their case tonight. chris christie, jeb bush, john kasich, marco rubio, and so on -- they have to make their pitch tonight. there is only one word to the after this one before the first voters go to the polls. catherine: some figures we have seen, it looks like donald trump and ted cruz are net and neck -- on iowa-and-neck polling. how significant is this first vote in iowa going to be? david: probably less significant than the vote in new hampshire. the vote in iowa has rarely

produced a presidential winner. rudolph giuliani was the winner the last time in iowa. significant,less but it is still part of the whole momentum game, which is what is being played right now. it's the momentum game because immediately after new hampshire, which comes after iowa, then we get into the southern states, like south carolina. catherine: you mentioned momentum. it's almost also about the money, isn't it? how quickly could the picture change in terms of support and funding? if cruz does come out ahead in iowa? david: both of the leading candidates, trump and cruz have had no real money problems. the big question is how long can some of the other candidates stay in when the money shifts to the clear front runners. that's what's very important. trump has said he is self financing his own campaign. as a billionaire, he can do that.

cruz cannot do that. big problem, how his previous senate campaign was financed. there are some questions now arising about that. catherine: back to the debate happening today, a lot of people are predicting a fair amount of bickering. couldn't that go against the candidates in the eyes of the public? it's not always very dignified, is it? david: it's not very dignified. our public has somewhat accepted that fact. there are some issues that will be raised. ted cruz's nationality. he was born in canada of an american father, but nevertheless born in canada. they may question his ability to run as a natural born american, which is required to be president. the funding of his last senate campaign -- a big loan from goldman sachs. also, other important issues are coming along. for instance, iran and the iran nuclear deal.

the first sanctions will begin to come off as early as tomorrow, friday. catherine: one last question for you, on the other side, the democratic party, it does still look very likely that hillary clinton will be the candidate. in terms of the republicans, who would you say looks best placed to take her on in a final presidential election? david: well, right now, it is becoming much narrower between bernie sanders, the senator from vermont, and hillary clinton. it is by no means a slamdunk. the last time around, clinton did not win iowa. she had a lot of trouble from barack obama. she lost to barack obama at a point in time when she thought she had a slamdunk win. that's a very tightening race. there are only a few points separating the two of them, and there is a lot of momentum for bernie sanders right now. whether that will carry through is a question.

in any event, the republicans say they can handle either candidate and that they are very happy to take on both of them. catherine: tonight is all about the republicans. thanks so much for giving us your thoughts, david andelman, foreign affairs columnist for "usa today." he was known as the velvet voiced actor who excelled at playing baddies but could also show his lighter side. the family of alan rickman has announced the actor's death from cancer at the age of 69. condolences have come in from across the world of entertainment. the creator of "harry potter" paying tribute to a terrific actor -- magnificent actor and a wonderful man. andeguiling baddie shakespeare stalwart, alan rickman has taken his final bow. he died surrounded by family and friends at the age of 69, leaving behind a rich and memorable cast of characters.

he made a name for himself in the theater. it was in 1988 at the age of 41 that the actor shot to international fame, playing villainous german terrorist hans gruber in "die hard." charisma off his to play the sheriff of nottingham in "robin hood: prince of thieves." rickman was by no means a one-trick pny. -- pony. >> i was an actor once. now look at me. will remember him -- many will remember him best as cverus snape, by turns cruel, aped, and cunning. and then there is his turn as

"lovehompson's husband in actually." he recently directed kate winslet and himself in "a little chaos," the film that was to be his final curtain call. catherine: could 2016 b leonardo -- be the year that leona darted -- that leonardo dicaprio finally takes home an oscar? is film that got him the nod leading the nominations with 12 in total. also please in the academy this : fury road,"x which is in the running in just over 10 -- in 10 categories. -- winnersindsors will be announced on february 28. puntersthe three lucky

who are set to share the biggest lottery jackpot in history. the powerball rollover drawn on wednesday night. catherine clifford has the story. c.: it's the 7-eleven store identical to some 10,000 across the u.s., but it was in this store in l.a. suburb chino hills that one of three winning tickets was sold. as the news spread, regulars crowded into celebrate. >> they won it over at that 7-eleven. everybody was going nuts. pretty exciting, pretty awesome. >> it's exciting to know that somebody from our little city won. i'm excited for them, and i don't even know who it is. c.: the employee who might have sold the winning ticket was thrust into the limelight. >> i'm very proud. c.: the store is

expected to earn a $1 million bonus for selling the tickets. lottery jackpot ever seen in the world, and the chance of winning was 1 in 292 million, less likely than being struck by lightning. the jackpot will be divvied up between three winning ticket holders, from tennessee, california, and florida. and a fourth winner, the tax man. 39.6%vernment will take in tax. catherine: let's move on with a look at some of the day's tops business -- top business stories with markus karlsson. it has been a rocky day on the markets for rental -- for renault. markus: it has been a roller coaster for rangel -- renault stocks. they were down more than 20% at their lowest point.

the steep fall came after it was revealed that some of the carmaker's sites were rated by investigators in france. there were concerns that renault would be drawn into an emissions scandal like the one at volkswagen. shares ended thursday's session more than 10% down. llano desousa -- delano d'souza has more. delano: it has been their worst day on the market since 1994. their share prices tumbled. the headquarters and two technical centers in the greatest paris -- greater paris area were searched. the carmaker said that the raids were connected to an ongoing investigation in france. >> regulators all across europe and in the states are taking a very close look now at the laboratory results, how they compare to emissions tests,

which, at the moment, are not legally binding or legally required in europe. renaultthe checkup at vehicles volkswagen cheated in mission tests. renault indicated that it is not worried. >> we are confident the investigation will prove our vehicles are not fitted with defeatevices -- with devices. delano: no defeat devices have been found on renault models. >> i want to insist there was no fraud on renault models. delano: the french carmaker is set to address a special commission set up by the government to detail how it

plans to bring its emissions in line with european standards next week. markus: the carmaker fiat chrysler is also in the spotlight this thursday, denying accusations it had been inflating monthly sales figures in the united states. two car dealerships made the claim. the lawsuit comes two weeks after fiat chrysler reported record sales for 2015. shares have limited. they were -- shares have plummeted. 9% andre down as much as they are still in negative territory. let's take a look at the bigger picture. in the united states, shares going from strength to strength. indices near session highs. the dow jones is up almost 2%, ands&p 500 up more than 2%, the nasdaq doing very well indeed. we have seen shares rebounding as oil prices are also rebounding. that is boosting energy shares.

we are also seeing banking shares trade hider as j.p. morgan chase has come out -- trade higher as j.p. morgan chase has come out with better-than-expected results. we've seen signals from the fed official that the bank could rates. hike interest let's talk you through the european markets. on this side of the atlantic, it was a very different picture with the cac 40 losing as much as 1.8%. higher oil prices failed to bring much relief to european stocks. the auto sector weighed on the and fiatas renault chrysler dragged down there peers. greece has agreed that the imf will take part in its third bailout program. financethe eurozone's minister. the eurogroup agreed to send greece and 86 billion euro lifeline last august -- greece an 86 billion euro lifeline last

august, but athens did not want the imf on board. the imf is offering a tougher bargain than other creditors. he confirmed to me that the greek government accepts that the imf needs to be part of the process. admit it absently clear it was part of the agreement we had this summer. absolutely clear it was part of the agreement we had this summer. markus: we're going to stick to the eurozone. the french president is set to unveil his latest plan to cut unemployment. it is close to record highs. that has led some french politicians and business leaders to suggest unemployment benefits are to generous -- are too generous and should be reduced. mark thompson reports. mark: france must make changes

to the benefit system, that's the message from the minister of parliamentary affairs. >> both for financial reasons and to mobilize resources to train people who are unemployed, we will have to make changes to the parameters of unemployment benefits. a proposal also put forward by prime minister manuel valls only a year ago. currently, those who are unemployed can claim jobless benefits in france for up to two years if they are under 50 and three years if they are over 50. they can receive between 57% to 75% of their salary during this time. example, a 30-year-old who has been working at the same job for five years being paid minimum wage at almost 1500 euros a month would receive 1100 euros month in benefits if they lost their job. that is too much, according to employers who are calling for

the system to be reformed. >> this would encourage job seekers to return to the labor market faster. every other country in europe has implement it an incentivized system which declines over time and increases market mobility. mark: unions have rejected the current proposals. all sides will sit down in the spring when negotiations are expected to take place. until then, france will continue to count the cost of its near record high unemployment levels as the country tries to reduce its 70 billion euro budget deficit. markus: we will finish up with news from germany. we saw shoppers boosting the economy last year. official figures show the economy expanded by 1.7% during 2015, the strongest reading in four years. local employment and rising wages helped domestic consumption, which was the main growth driver. asre are warnings about 2017

china may slow because of -- as germany may slow because of an economic slowdown in china. we wrap up the business news for now. catherine: thanks very much.

01/14/16 01/14/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> i want to thank the iranian authorities for their cooperation and quick response. these are oh situations, as everyone knows, have an ability if not properly guided, to get out of control. i am appreciative for the quick and appropriate response of the iranian authorities. amy: this week is not looking