"reporters" on "france 24" and france24.com. ."nie: welcome to "france 24 these are the headlines. the u.n. is hoping to raise for this$8 billion year alone to help close caught in the conflict. the negotiations on syria have been put on pause two days after they began. russia ofccused

torpedoing the peace efforts. choreographer benjamin millepied the paris opera ballet. that on the way. theill start first with conference for syria that is on in london today. the event is hoping to raise billions of dollars in funding to help those worst affected by the syrian civil war. pridgeon, norway, and germany have already pledged to combine britain, norway, and germany have already pledged to combine billions of dollars. in five years, this

refugee camp has turned into one of jordan's biggest cities, home to 80,000 refugees. since the war began, 4.6 million syrians have fled their country. most children are out of school. adults are unemployed. >> i hope jordan will get enough funding at the london conference. i hope the financial aid will help create jobs for the syrian refugees, because life conditions are very dire in jordan. u.n. gives us money, but it isn't enough. lebanon is also under severe strain. it closed its border a year ago after taking in more than one and 2 million syrians -- more than 1.2 million syrians. the london conference goal is to give all these countries financial support, hoping to stabilize the refugee situation where they are to keep them from fleeing to the eu.

ki-moontary general ban says leaders gathered in london not only to get money, but to show solidarity. >> the crisis in syria -- the international community bears a heavy responsibility for failing to end it. $8.5 billionleast are necessary to assist were victims -- war victims. norway has pledged more than $1 billion over the next four years. if world powers do not step up now, the world -- refugee crisis could get worse. genie: for more on the conference today, let's bring in lucy fielder in london. what more can you tell us? lucy: this has been a day of somelarge pledges so far,s 8 billion euros required.

merkel has said this could be a day of hope everyone contributed their share. unhcr has warned that last year its projects were funded by just 50%. there was a shortfall in funding. a lot of the funding came in at the end of the year, making it difficult to implement plans. the pledges are there, but will it be delivered? this conference is aimed at not just supporting the neighboring communities, the refugees in lebanon, turkey, jordan, but also those in syria. with the peace talks being suspended in geneva, there is a great challenge in delivering ,id on the ground in syria given the raging conflict that is still happening there. hope of2genie: is there any rel this money, if they get it,

actually making a difference? well, there does seem to be a bit of an impetus this year toward alleging money toward long-term goals. the focus today is on education and work opportunities. david cameron pledged 1.5 billion euros for work and education projects, mainly for those projects. lebanon's prime minister was here and he was saying the dispossessed syrian community could become a hotbed, a fertile ground for extremism, and i think that's one of the keys. this conference very much links into two of the big concerns in europe at the moment, one is the refugee and migration movement. withare trying to deal the problems of the syrians to prevent them from coming to europe. dealingr is they are

with the growing fear of extremism and dispossession. i think that's why there is this focus on education and work and why there might be more impetus to carry out those pledges this year. genie: lucy fielder reporting from london. just before the donor's got underway in london, peace talks rs got underway in london, peace talks put on hold. armen: is being presented as not a failure. the u.n. special envoy says it is not the end of the process. it will resume on february 25. whether it does resume will be dictated by events on the ground, not by the u.n. special envoy. on the ground are

very much working against the resumption of this genomic -- this geneva process. the regime finally is eyeing a victory in aleppo, as we heard in catherine clifford's report. it had been waiting a long time to have a breakthrough in aleppo province. immediate not be an victory. the regime, by cutting the rebel supply lines, is going to be able to prevent resupply from slowly therefore suffocating the rebels into submission in aleppo. there's no reason the regime would stop now, given that it appears to have the military momentum after having been on the defensive in the previous years of this war. the main opposition umbrella group, the agency, is not going is notack -- the hnc, going to go back to the table in

geneva while these bombardments continue. it looks as the western powers are positioning themselves for the failure of these talks by blaming the aside regime and, in the case of -- the assad regime and, in the case of france -- genie: in germany, carnival has kicked off in the city of cologne. tight after the series of assaults mostly targeting women on new year's eve. women symbolically take charge of the city. organizers are urging revelers to report any harassment to security personnel. the number of police patrolling the streets has been doubled compared to last year. back ine, people are the streets for another strike, this time over government plans to slash their pensions. that sparked by maker back -- major backlash.

how bad are things today? reporter: it is not looking good. rightn hear the bangs behind me. we had anarchists who were .hrowing bombs this is right in front of parliament. would have the anarchists fighting -- we have the anarchists fighting. they are retaliating by throwing heavy canisters of tear gas. you can hear it behind me. these bonds are targeted against bombs are targeted against the -- many of them have scarves.

the police are trying to contain the situation. most of the crowds have tried seek shelter in the neighborhoods and sidestreets. we can expect this to carry on, based on previous protests we've seen in greece. lenders and the government are locked in talks to try to come to a compromise to save 1.8 billion euros for the government. not an easy task. it doesn't look good for the syriza-led coalition government. genie: we can hear the explosions and see what's going on. similar to what we've seen. that withhought alexis tsipras, things would be different. why isn't? -- why isn't it? itorter: although he tried,

is hard to change tactics, implement different measures. he presented a referendum to the what people to ask them, do you want, should i continue with austerity, and they voted an overwhelming no to austerity, yet he is right here, cornered prettycreditors, still much implementing the same austerity policies. six years of austerity has wiped off 1/4 of the economy. 1/4 of greeks unemployed at the moment. there is a sense of fatigue that has overcome the greeks. we expected bigger crowds. this is just a fraction of the anger we can see here. the youth really taking charge. they are still chanting and screaming, despite the bombs and tear gas.

still, it is a very small fraction of that anger and anguish greek families feel today, six years on in the financial crisis. there is a big disappointment for greeks. that's what we are seeing in the streets of athens. genie: to stay safe as you are reporting -- do stay safe as you are reporting from athens. brazil's president says the zika virus has gone from -- to a real -- from a distant nightmare to a real threat. brazil has been hit the hardest in the outbreak with more than 4000 babies already affected. should pregnant women found with zika-afflicted babies be given the right to have an abortion? we have more on that story.

reporter: brazil, home to the largest catholic population, faces a crisis of newidence -- conscience, a debate over abortion rights. the group is urging the supreme court to ease restrictions on abortion for pregnant women affected with zika. >> if the blood test is positive for the zika virus, we want these women to have the right to choose whether to continue the pregnancy or not. inorter: abortion is illegal brazil, except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk. this group is pushing for early diagnostic tests for women who are poor. in the absence of exact scene -- of a vaccine for zika, brazil has no other recourse but prevention. the army is cleaning up villages

where mosquitoes transmit the virus. president dilma rousseff has promised assistance. withtn 4000 babies born microcephaly have died so far. >> we will do everything, absolutely everything we can to offer support to the children affected by microcephaly and their families. recenting our necessary -- all nessary rources t helphe childn. reporter: 2 million people are expected in rio de janeiro to the opening of the olympics in august. there are fears that could accelerate the disease's transmission around the globe. experts will start work on developing a vaccine. genie: there has been a real shakeup in the art world here in paris. the head of the city cost prestigious ballet has stepped down. -- city's prestigious ballet has stepped down.

that's benjamin millepied, the husband of american actress natalie portman. his wife says she does not feel safe in paris. is it the difficulties he has had reforming the ballet's old-school hierarchy? we take a look back at millepied's rapid ascension. reporter: i just 38, benjamin millepied has risen -- at just 38, benjamin millepied has risen to the top of the dance world like you before him. he was a principal dancer at the new york city ballet. he became a household name beyond the dance world in 2009 with "black swan." hehoreographer on the film, fell in love with and later married the star, natalie portman. he was busy behind the scenes, building a dance company, the l.a. dance project.

as the choreographer of numerous valleys around the world. balletsrous around the world. " he was"france 24 working to reform the french institution. to see an institution that resembles paris, that is not elitist, more diverse. that also means for the company also it has to be that way. reporter: in just over a year as the head of the paris ballet, he .versaw multiple performances, he also faced numerous critics and roadblocks. just two months before he announced he was leaving, he said, "if i cannot do it here, i will go elsewhere." genie: time for our business

news with stephen carroll. you are starting with the transpacific trade deal that was signed in new zealand. stephen: it's going to be a big deal for all the countries involved in it, including the united states, japan, and mexico. together, they account for 40% of the economy. the deal was announced to cut trade tariffs and set common standards in areas from workers right to intellectual -- workers rights to intellectual property. it is still a long way from being implemented. reporter: they shared the traditional maori greeting before signing one of the biggest trade deals in history. 12 countries are part of the transpacific partnership, and they hope the agreement will bring business and growth. but first, each country has to ratify it. >> tbp is just a piece of paper just a piece of paper,

16,000 pieces of paper, until it comes into force. we need to ratify tpp. tradeer: the free agreement will eliminate or lower import taxes on some 18,000 products. the idea is that everything that goes from agricultural to industrial goods will be easier to sell. the u.s. representative believes that the tpp is so promising it will eventually pass. >> i'm confident at the end of the day because of the strong benefits to the u.s. economy, which have been estimated to be over $130 billion per year of gdp growth, as well as more than $350 billion of additional exports, that members of congress will see the benefits from their constituents -- for their constituents. reporter: some say that money will only benefit big business. in the u.s., multinational topanies will use the tpp

move their operations abroad, destroying jobs. next, another big oil company is publishing its results today. this time, it is shell. stephen: the company confirmed it is cutting 10,000 jobs because of the slump in oil prices. profit fell by 80%, the biggest drop in 30 years. cost of supplies -- the company made $3.8 billion in 2015. shell is just the latest oil company to report big falls in profits due to the drop in oil prices. jobs afterusands of losses of 5.7 billion euros for the last three months of 2015, much of that linked to its purchase of a bank in -- is speeding up a

3.4 billion euro cost-cutting program. shares have plunged in europe, where they were down 10% a short time ago. genie: european commission has been giving -- the european commission has been giving its perspective on -- stephen: posting new challenges for the euro zone economy. it has warned anti-refugee sentiment and the reimposition of border controls could hurt economic growth. it downgraded its forecast slightly to 1.7% for next year. france's forecasted to grow by 1.5%. some good news for grace. it will only see a slight dip -- good news for greece. it will only see a slight dip. on the unemployment front, no increase predicted. small falls for the good for both grace and spain -- greece and spain.

let's take a look at how the market are taking all of that news in europe -- how the markets are taking all of that news in europe. getad seen energy companies a bit of a boost as the oil prices home onto the gains -- prices hung onto the gains. the london ftse 100 leaving the gains. genie: you have another sign of the financial power of taylor swift. stephen: more than $75 million added to the value of a mobile games developer after it announced a deal with the singer. it is best known for its kim kardashian app. it is banking on swift's popularity and social media presence to boost sales of the new game set around her. the company is yet to release details of what it will entail. genie: thank you for that look at business news. it's time now for the press review.

catherine viette is here with us to take a look at the papers. lots of focus on the temporary halt of the syrian peace talks in geneva. it'srine: not surprising, the lead story on lebanon's daily english newspaper. lebanon is home to a massive number of syrian refugees. one in five people in lebanon is a syrian refugee. the paper is reporting that those talks broke down after russian airstrikes helped the syrian army to advance on aleppo. "the independent" is running a ,ather scathing editorial asking "what hope is there for progress in syria when assad uses these negotiations as a cover for a brutal offensive in syria?" even if they manage to reaching

agreement between all parties, the civil war is unlikely to end and it may even get worse. the conflict between the she has, represented by assad's government and his allies -- the assad'sepresented by government and his allies, and others -- those peace talks are breaking down, there is another conference underway today. that's in london. it's a big donors conference. catherine: world leaders are gathering, hoping to raise $9 billion for syrian refugees, money that would used toward work and education opportunities to the syrians who are in turkey, lebanon, and jordan. officials realize these refugees need to be offered the possibility of a better life, otherwise they may fall prey to ideology or to decide -- or

decide to continue their journey to europe. "the new york times" has followed up on this with some pictures and rather shocking numbers regarding the migrant crisis. 67,000 migrants have arrived in europe at the start of the year, compared to 5000 last year at the same time. at least 10,000 unaccompanied minors have disappeared in europe over the past year. they are putting interpol -- quoting interpol. genie: you found an interesting story about a troop of british actors bringing shakespeare to a refugee camp in france. refugees: most of the are hoping to make their way onto the u.k. this group of actors from shakespeare's globe theater performed "hamlet." play foris the perfect this audience because it is relatable to those at the camp.

depressed, young, unsure what to do, struggling to make a decision. with france,stay where amnesty international is accusing the french government of violating human rights due to the state of emergency. "le figaro" is reporting on this. they are set to expire at the end of this month and the french president would like to extend them, so the government is debating that. they give the government the right to conduct raids, place people under house arrest, ban gatherings. theseing to the report, sweeping measures have been applied with little or no explanation, and sometimes with excessive force, and they tend to be discriminatory in nature. genie: the papers also focusing on the presidential campaign in the united states. some papers are saying even

though hillary clinton won the iowa caucuses for the democrats, she should not breathe a sigh of relief. catherine: a big postmortem on what to the figures from the iowa caucus mean. "the new york times" is reporting that, while she won, she really should have trounced bernie sanders, not just eked past him. clinton is talking about her experience. while that is good, it can come across like she is collecting an iou when addressing crowds. language of drudgery and duty rather than inspiration." we have a cartoon from "the washington post" that may shed a little bit of light on clinton's problems. "how the news media portrays the democratic presidential candidates."

it's a .gif. the images are moving when you look online. newie is a bright, shiny uniform. clinton is a tired,

>> my name is kennedy kagiso kalo. >> my full name is kennedy, the other name is senegal. >> kennedy malibusha. he gave me this name because he wanted me maybe to live like a king. >> my name is robert kennedy