>> it is 9:00 p.m. here in the french capital. you are live watching "france 24." the islamic state group is losing ground and resources. they say major members of the u.s.-led coalition fighting the militants met in paris tonight. more on the operations in iraq and sir coming up. confusion and questions after at least 20 people were killed in a deadly attack on a university in pakistan this wednesday. and a new bid to cap the number f people allowed to seek asylum in austria after an estimated 90,000 applications

in 2015. lawmakers say they will accept just half that number at most from now on. first the islamic state group is losing ground and resources. but more still needs to be done. that was the main message of a meeting in paris tonight from the core leaders fighting the militants. here is more. >> a meeting between the coalition's core members to lay the ground work for a joint plan of action against the islamic state group. according to the french defense minister, the coalition is making progress, and the jihadist organization is losing ground. our joint efforts and those of the coalition are bearing fruit. that is what we established

earlier today. these past weeks have seen that the islamic state group has been falling back. >> the u.s. unveiled a plan to intensify the campaign against the islamic state organization over the next year, which includes targeting the group's power centers and preventing the spread of the jihadist ideology abroad, a strategy that the french defense inister said requires closer coordination between defenses. ashton carter questioned russia's involvement, hinting that its involvement with assad has prevented it from working with the combs. >> our work with the russians on this subject remains focused very specifically on de-conflicting our military activities. we don't have the basis for broader cooperation as the

minister says, because the russians are on the wrong track stiegally. >> wednesday's meeting was the first in a process that will seek to involve every member of the coalition. all 26 countries are set to meet in brussels next month to continue the talks. >> what exactly is the international coalition doing in iraq and syria, and what is it achieving? we take a closer look. >> buildings are flaten the by recent air raids in mosul. in this video, a missile strike destroyed the islamic state bank sending clouds of cash into the air on tuesday. u.s. central command said the jihadists lost millions of dollars. 21 air strikes destroyed oil facilities and weapons. they began bombing iraq and

syria in late summer of 2014. since then they have launched over 6,000 air strikes in iraq and over 3,000 in syria. the main cities targeted are mosul and several hours. here between 500 and 1,500 strikes have been launched. following november's attacks, france has septembered up its efforts, contributing to% of air strikes. .s. officials said coalition air strikes killed eight civilians in 2015. but another group said hundreds of people have died. military commanders are talking a new phase with an emphasis of targeting infrastructure and supply lines, with a greater focus on syria. >> now, the white house has condemned an attack on a university in pakistan today that has left at least 20

people dead. four men armed with assault the ns and grenades took university in charsadda. katherine has the latest. >> timed for the start of the school day, armed militants in bacha us wallace khan yoofert r- university. they described scenes of chaos. >> i saw three terrorists. one was on the roof. he was firing from there. i saw four university security guards who are injured, and we took them to ambulances. >> we heard gunfire at the back of the campus. we thought maybe some people were fighting. then the shooting intensified. so we said get into the rooms, don't go out. then security forces came. they showed great bravery.

>> police, military and special forces launched a massive air and ground operation, bringing the attack to an end after several hours of pitched battles with the militants. the dead were already being placed in coffins to be handed over to their families. ambulances rushed to the scene earnings ferrying the wounded to hospitals. the army says four of the gunmen have been killed by security forces. the brazen attack shares similarities with an assault by taliban militants on an army-run school in december of 2014. over 150 people were killed, mostly children. >> a suicide bomb attack during rush hour in depaul has left seven people dead. according to local officials, the bomber targeted a mini bus carrying journalists from a private afghan tv channel.

it was close to the russian embassy at the time. kabul has suffered at least six bomb attacks since the beginning of the year. they come as countries meet to try to revise peace talks with the taliban. staying in afghan, the taliban is search fog a man who cut off his wife's nose. there has been outrage around the world after images of the 20-year-old victim started to circulating. she is appealing to the afghanistan government and the international community to help her have her nose reconstructed. >> i want to get my nose fixed. i am still young, and i have a long way to go in life. i am unlucky and miserable. once my nose is fixed, i will marry someone else. >> the taliban has arrested his

father. i have told the finau to hand them over, and i will hand them over to the government myself. >> since getting plastic surgery is not possible in afghanistan, we accept letters the public health minute -- ministry and the turkish ray emery. the turkish ray emery has helped with a similar case -- helped sh embassy before. >> in tunisia, some demonstrators turned out in everal towns to demand jobs. police there firing tear gas and rubber bullets as they clashed with protestors who had set fire to tires. smaller demonstrations broke out in the capital and eight other towns. it was sparked by the suicide of an unemployed man earlier this week. they imposed a curfew to restore order.

that was ignored by many. the number of religious hate crimes in france has jumped by more than a fifth over the past year. ew first quarter -- official hysician shaw attacks due to islamaphobia tripled in 2015. >> a man wearing a yamica or skull cap is attacked by a knife-wielding team. his crime, being jewish. it is just one example of a wave of crimes. in an interview give, the french superior minister said hate crimes are increasing, and such acts must be severely punished. based on complaints logged with police in 2014, there were 144 tacks on muslims and 851

anti-semitic occurrences. and while antisemitic attacks remain high this year, the interior minister noticeded a slight decline of 5%. after terror attacks on a kosher supermarket and the 50'ses of charlie hebdo carried out by muslims, anti-muslim hate crimes have tripled to over 400 instances. he add thad over the past year attacks on christian sex tears and churches have increased by to%. in addition to soldiers guarding synagogues, there is increased sutter at france's churches and mosques. after the deadly terrorist attacks on the capital in november carried out by islamic state group supporters, there are fears of an even greater backlash against the muslim community. >> staying in europe, austria

nts to cap the number of requests. they want to half the unlv. here is the current situation and what the new plan might entail. >> toughening controls on austria's borders, and 500 extra troops are deployed to process migrants. they are attemptsing to stem the flow of people arriving in the country. austria is a key transit point for hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees entering the european union. >> the army supports the police in whatever activity they perform. here that means especially to support the police in the registration and personnel and baggage control on the one hand, and also in the accommodation, giving out food

and also to transport. >> the austrian chancellor announced plans to cap the number of my grants the country will accept in 2016 at less than 37,000, half the figure it accepted last year. >> we have to agree how we proceed to decide measures which will reduce the number of asylum seekers. these will be human measures which will make sense, measures that a european and international level but also in our own country. >> austria is one of a raft of european countries to unilaterally re-impose border checks, a free zone since 1995. following germany's lead, it those.gin turning back

it will limit package to refugees traveling on to germany. news. ng on to top business leaders and heads of state and government thering to talk in the swiss ps, the four day summit in davos. topics include global women an equality and cancer. the announcement of a new $5 million investment to development a vaccine for ebola. the virus killed 11,000 people in the recent epidemic in africa. comes from a public/private investment initiative saying a drug can be developped and proved by the end of next year. >> what they have done in relation to this needs to set the precedent that we

absolutely have to commit ourselves for those epidemics that we know about that we have vaccines that have been in inter-epidemic period. so when we come into a period that impacts people, that we have those vaccines ready to go, and they can go at a moment's notice. >> the plane that redefined luxury travel but ended in tragedy, it is the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the concord. it's record quickest new york to london flight taking just 2:52 back in 1996. the fleet was de-commissioned in 2003 due to safety fears and rising costs. it still has plenty of fans around the world. tickets have gone on public

sale today for a comeback def t by the eagles of metal. they were playing on november 13 when militants burst in killing close to 100 people. survivors of the attack have already been offered free tickets to the gig, which will take place next month. italian cinema has lost one of its de fratus. director scola tied on tuesday. he worked with legends sofia loren and more. he had four oscar nominations in the process. here is a look back. >> he was a director who bridged the golden age of italian cinema with the modern era. the film maker who has died at social ialized in comedies with a subversive

edge. none more so than the 1977 film a special day, which denounced the persecution of how many section wals under mussolini. >> i remember that time was a ery great one. >> scola started his career as a screen writer, pening numerous films, including a 1963 hit. he soon carved out a name for himself as a film mchaler, winning best director in cannes in 1976 for ugly, dirty and bad. he was nominated four times for the best foreign film oscar. >> a one time member of the italian communist party, he used his knowledge of left-wing groups in films such as we loved each other so much, which charted the post war fortunes

of three partisans. evans known for his 1982 film, .hat night in varennes his last film was a documentary released in 2013 about his relationship with his friend and mentor, f erving lini. >> an update on the day's top business news with kate. it has been a bit of a disastrous day in the stock markets this wednesday. things plummeting across the board. what is going on. >> it has been a tough day. wednesday's sharp drops have been dramatic. it is because of continuing slump in oil prices. wednesday's soft began in asia where the nikkei 225 dropped

3.7%. you can take a look at the closing figures for europe. they closed down 3.5%. banking, mining and energy sectors down sharply. in new york, the markets are trying to recover from earlier steeper losses. the dow jones now down by about 300 points, but it plunged as much as 550 points earlier in the session. many global markets are now in so-called bearp market territory. that is a fall of 20% or more from a recent peak. one of the the money reasons is oil. prices are down about 70% in 18 months, about 30% since the start of the year. they have dropped below yet another symbolic threshold. crude futuring dipping below $27 a barrel. trading down 7%. that is the lowest level since september of 2003.

we come back to this problem of over supply, not enough demand. iran is coming back on to the exporting scene, and the international agency says it expects that global glut to last at least until the end of this year. we are hearing this wednesday it has hit the bottom line at royal dutch shell. the oil giant reported a sharp rop in fourth quarter profits, hasselbecked from the previous year. many of them expressed concerns that the $50 billion merger won't be financially viable between oil prices continue their fall. we are set to discuss this more . we are joined by a chief market analyst. what is your take on today's sell-off? what is going on here and why is there such a strong correlation between oil prices and what we are seeing on the global stock market? >> thanks for having me. i think the sentiment is

confined by the cause of plurality we are experiencing in china. this weakness in growth has very much encompassed the entire market. then on the other hand we have this route in the oil market. we have been very vocal when it comes to the oil market. we have seen -- said at the start of the month that oil could be dropping below $30. and it did drop below better 30. this is one of the most crowded trade. if you remember, back in 2015, the most highly traded was the euro dollar. now it is crude oil. everyone wants to go short. no one wants to buy it. now is the time if you wanted to build your long positions with a prospective of three or five years, now is the time to

embark on this trade. i think what we are comprehending right now is within the space of three to four months, you could perhaps see a bottom forming for crude oil. >> let's keep looking to the future a little bit. we have seen, as we have said, this very dull start to the trading year. do you think this is likely to continue? are we in for a rocky few months? >> i think you have to fasten your seat belts. it depends on two detergent policies. the reserves have their incrementals. the e.c.b. is still on the path of easing monetary policy. these central banks, they have to be very acute in order to provide an abahtment. to make e going to any noise, traders have to filter that noise and what is coming from the central bank. these trading sessions are going to be a lot more rocky

and bumpy but do not make space with what happened back in 2008. i think this is a very healthy correction, and we are rubbing our hands for this. >> we have seen this dramatic impact the oil glut has had on markets. how should governments and banks seeing their economies battered, how should they react? >> with respect to central governments, saudi arabia has made a big statement. they said if you are the king of the ring, you want to do it in a signature style. even though foreign reserves are depleting, now they are thinking of doing anotherism p.o. for the biggest oil company on the planet. just to fight this battle. they are the biggest contender in this arena. i think with respect to that, we could see a lot more bankrupt says in the space of the next five to six months,

but perhaps a bottom would be forming, which would pretty much give a little bit of breathing room for central banks who are very much concerned about inflation. >> let's turn specifically to the european central bank. you were here with us at "france 24" last december, and you thought you thought the e.c.b. would announce some new stimulus, but not enough to satisfy the markets. the e.c.b. is set to hold its fist policy meeting for 2016 tomorrow on thursday. what are you expecting there, and are you expecting any stimulus in 2016? >> in december of 2015 we had we do expect some stimulus, but it is not going to be value if you are thinking of enormous stimulus. the economic data wasn't pointing to that. are aybe the efforts different with the enormous route in the oil market. whether they are going to pump that increment with respect to

quantity tative easing, that is beloved among traders. but tomorrow we don't expect anything. what we are expecting are more fireworks coming in march. in march, we will have inflation, and there would be growth as well. it would be just enough gunpowder in the guns to battle any kind of headwinds they will have. >> thank you so much for coming to speak to us here on "france 24." now that slump in oil prices has had an impact on the russian currency, which on wednesday fell to muhammad ali-time low. it traded at 81 cents to the u.s. dollar. that is lower than 2014 when it sparked a bank run. most analysts say it is unlikely to take action to prop up the currency. i.m.s. has forecasted more

contraction for oil this year. western sanctions have been taking their toll across russia, and many families are struggling to stay afloat. >> her cabinets have been so bare. imported products are gone, and now every ruble counts. >> we have to go shopping with a calculator and take note of the cost of everything. i never did this before. i knew i had enough cash. but now i must calculate to know if i can afford something or not. >> maria was made redundant from her social worker job last year, well sergi is an architect who hasn't had work in months. they are income is now just 350 euros a month, a fifth of what they were making in 2014. the kremlin puts companies under pressure to not reduce staff, prefering that salaries

and working hours be you cut. more than 21 million russians now live below the poverty line. that is 15% of the population. >> our government did nothing to develop the country when oil prices were high. it is a sad situation, and we are ashamed to see that our country has become a pariah in the international arena. it is going badly. >> the couple has already survived several periods of recession since the fall of the soviet union. this time they admit they are afraid for what the future holds. >> another thing to keep an eye on, the continuing falling oil prices and the market mayhem. >> thank you for the business headlines.awúwóóóóó/ñ>x>xxú÷úlú

01/20/16 01/20/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> one of the things happening that people don't see, there are two of the richest people in the world, the koch brothers, who have gathered around them a group of about 400, 450 billionaires and multimillionaires to put together a jackpot of the most $900 million and they're going to try to spend that to influence the election on so many levels that people cannot