>> hello and thanks for joining us on "france 24." these are our top stories. the evacuation of thousands of civilians and fighters from aleppo is currently suspended following reports of what syrian officials call obstructions. extremely scurrilous is how the kremlin is describing accusations from the white house that vladimir putin personally meddled in the u.s. presidential race. and authorities in china warner

levels,ic pollution putting operations on hold. also coming up in the next 30 minutes, a one-of christmas gift or it the greek government questions a bonus for the debt ridden country's poorest citizens. the greek prime minister is talks today with chancellor angela merkel. we are going to begin in northern syria, where the evacuation of thousands of civilians and fighters from rebel-held areas of aleppo has been suspended. amid reports of explosions and obstructions to the evacuation process.

many of those fleeing the area had been heading to camps to stay with friends and relatives in other parts of the country. hundreds are thought to require medical attention. our correspondent joins us now from lebanon. adam, tell us the latest your hearing on the evacuation process. adam: different sources are giving different reasons as to why the evacuation has been suspended. in the first place we know there have been blasts and gunfire near buses that have been used to evacuate people. there is no indication that they are firing at the buses. at least it is not clear. and there are also reports that at checkpoints, one of the exits from the last rebel held enclave was fired at by both opposition and government forces. each have blamed the other for that. on top of this, syrian state tv is saying opposition fighters

who are being evacuated had tried to smuggle with them prisoners who they have taken. in other words, captured syrian army soldiers or captured iranian militia, irani and-backed militia men. -- iranian-backed militia men. now, some 8500 people have been evacuated. we know the syrian government and the russians were talking about an evacuation which they a figure of 5000 people, whereas the u.n. is saying there could be as many us 50,000 people who need to be evacuated. the syrian arab red crescent, they say they would be happy to carry on conducting them until everyone who wants to leave has left. so there are clearly differences as to how many people are going

to be evacuated in the first place. nobody really knows. nobody is really certain. tom: there are conflicting reports coming out of aleppo. the whole world has had its eyes very much focused on aleppo. that focus is also shifting to the next door province, the province of idlib, a major concern right now. adam: and also tied in with what is happening now with the evacuations because there are two towns there that are pro-government, largely shiite towns. part of the second arrangement that was reached, the final agreement, the syrian government that theyad insisted carry out evacuations from these two towns. they say the opposition is now not allowing those evacuations

to take place, yet another reason why the evacuations may have been suspended. also this may well be the area where the syrian government forces next turn their attention. it is where the people who have been evacuated from aleppo are being taken. it is contiguous with the rest of the idlib province that is opposition held. we heard this warning saying unless there are urgent peace talks, a nationwide cease-fire, aleppo could shift. tom: adam pletts reporting from lebanon. the obama administration says that the russian president, vladimir putin, personally gave the green light for the email accounts of democratic officials to be hacked in the run-up to

the presidential race, something the white house says helped 'sesident-elect's trump campaign. russian authorities called aeschylus. >> -- call that scurrilous. in an interview with national public radio, president obama said, -- pres. obama: when any foreign government interferes with our elections, we need to take action, and we will. some of it may be explicit and some of it may not they. as vladimirks come putin has been blamed for russia was accused of involvement in the theft and release of emails from the

democratic national committee in the months prior to the election. the cia believes the actions were aimed specifically at helping donald trump win. that view is not unanimous among american agencies. trump himself has ridiculed the assertions, recently claiming incorrectly that complaints of russian interference only began after he won in november. russia dismisses claims of its involvement in the hacking. know, i was shocked when i saw this news on the television. i have nothing to add. i think the stupidity and hopelessness of attempting to convince people of this is obvious. >> there will be a public hearing in early january. tom: for more, we are joined now by i -- by a cyber security expert. thank you for coming to see us. how likely do you think it is that the kremlin really did orchestrate those cyber attacks? >> it is difficult in cyberspace

to be 100% sure because encryption is a tricky business. i think if you look at the effects of what i have done, and what the obama administration said, the probability that the kremlin is involved is quite high. tom: hacking the mel accounts of democratic officials -- is that the extent of it, or could it be for the reaching than that? gerome: if you look at the world picture of cyber attacks, you can go a lot further. for that specific case, to destabilize the democratic backing -- tom: but doesn't every country do sign -- do some kind of cyber hacking? isn't the onus on the united

states to protected systems properly rather than for us to point the finger of blame at the kremlin? ome: we had some announcement last monday saying that we are forming a specific cyber fighting team. everybody is doing it, but after most of the time, behind the scenes, you know it is for intelligence reasons, so you do not know about it. there are real ethics in the real life of people, and then, yes, everybody should protect himself, but you have to know that when you are against the state, it is nearly not possible to protect yourself. the big question everyone is asking now is, where is the evidence? butproof is absolutely key, i'm wondering -- i am not a computer expert eye so -- i am

not inexpert myself in computers -- what form with the evidence and the proof take? gerome: it is difficult to be 100% sure of who is behind a cyber attack. what we do generally, we have teams dedicated to forensics, to cyber forensics. what we do when we are doing -- when we are working on cyber attacks, we try to align all the technical information that we have. with what we have left on the systems, who will connect at one time, where do they come from, what type of tours do they use to build the center building and things like that. so the stream of evidence, with all the technical evidence, you can have a picture, a probable picture.

but it is difficult. it is complicated. tom: there are not many days left in the obama administration to compile a report. can it be done quickly after these occurs during the summer. so they have time to collect the evidence and reach a conclusion. the question now is, will we retaliate, and what timeframe, what resource? you aboutt to ask retaliation. what can the united states do if he wants to harm russia by way of returning the favor? what sorts of things? >> there are two things -- in of physical world, plenty problems with the russian regime already. that is one solution. the other one is to go for cyber retaliation, where you can do --ngs that are like

destabilizing the government. making also think about a very slow or shutting it down completely for the country. go to more difficult action to do, like disrupting electricity distributions, shutting down a town of -- disrupting the transportation system, the health system, or the financial system. but you have to think about it because these types of attacks can be done i russia, for instance -- can be done by and thisor instance, can be used against you. so you really have to think about it and what could be the next step. tom: so it could escalate a lot more in the days ahead. thank you very much indeed for sharing that with us.

environmental authorities in china have advised 23 cities in the north of the country to issue red alerts, the highest possible air pollution warning. this as chinese media is reporting the worst smog the country has experience in months. catherine viette has this report. catherine: a six--- a thick smog blankets beijing, prompting authorities to issue its first red alert in a year. four-tiereda's color coding system, severe smog is expected to last more than 72 hours. to combat the smog, half of beijing us private cars are being ordered off the road, implementing a license plate system for drivers. construction sites will be closed and industrial plants will be asked to limit or stop production. the alert is expected to stay in place through december 21. in addition to beijing, 23

cities in the north are also being encouraged to issue red alerts. china's smog problem mostly stems from the burning of coal for electricity and heating, which tends to spike during the colder winter months. the issue, however, is a source of public anger. many feel the government has prioritized economic growth at the cost of widespread environmental problems. as france gears up for an election, the former prime minister, manuel valls, is leading the race to become the socialist candidate, and the outcome will ultimately be decided by two rounds of primaries at the end of january. on your screen are the contenders that are expected to be rubberstamped tomorrow. minister --conomy all of them are in the running. catherine clifford has more on what to expect from manuel valls on the campaign trail. catherine: less than two weeks

after the his post as premier, a new makeover from manuel valls. the presidential hopeful six a softer image, fighting to turn around phone socialists' view of him. taking a tough stance on law and order, his recent support for --ning the burqini, and his and he has also ruffled feathers by sweeping aside the opposition from bank measures -- an executive degree known as the 49-three in parliament. a highly controversial recent labor reform. he has now said he will abolish that very thing if elected president. >> i know all too well the -- itse effects of the

use has become outdated and aggressive. >> rivals for the left-wing candidacy says such an abrupt change will not go well with the people. dekedds must not build words must not go against acts. valls is also riding on the current wave of antiestablishment sentiment. in a recent interview, he described his candidacy as a revolt or in a recent poll showed that despite the divisive figure he cuts, he was the favorite to win the left-wing primary print even if he does, polls suggest he would be eliminated in the first round of the 2017 presidential election. tom: the french capital remains eiffel towerat the being closed for the fourth straight day because of over pay

and working conditions there, the staff of that monument. the eiffel tower receives 6 million visitors every single year. it is otherwise open every day of the year but not this week. time now for a check on top business news stories. fernande is here. japan and russia have just competed that had just completed a two-they summit. they did not walk away empty-handed, those leaders. did not therethey have been 17 deals signed, varying from the development of national gas to the senses. it was signed at the end of the two-day visit to japan by russian president vladimir putin. -- opes the japanese putin said he hoped the expanded cooperation with help explore

trade loans. without close cooperation years, wea in 70 survived. can we live without it in the future? yes, we can. but is it the right decision? no. our economies will multiply, and that is what we should aspire to. alexis tsipras is in berlin today, where he is meeting angela merkel. on the agenda, refugees and the state of the greek economy. the meeting comes just hours after the greek parliament voted for a simple christmas bonus, a payout to pensioners that was not part of the approved budget. e.u. creditors want to increase debt, and any it -- any this month will be paid out -- and 86 you -- and $86

million your -- and 86 million euro bailout. the country possums bank is urging prime minister alexis tsipras to stick to the terms that allow bailout. approving a boost from more than 1.5 million lower income pensioners. the christmas bonus was announced just days after a new debt relief package was renewed last week. now berlin has frozen the funds. germany has been the most reluctant of greece's creditors release.ce the >> release. we will, of course, be discussing the greek debt program. all i say is that this is not the place to be making decisions , and that greece is in the good hands of the euro group and the financial institutions. the bank of greece says the

bailout program is in a crucial stage. creditors want the government to continue implementing a theory -- income cuts and tax heister not reduce spending. let's take a look at the markets. this is in europe, trading in the green this lunchtime. markets adjusting to their rate increase or in several deals also making waves. sanofi is an advanced talks to actact italian -- to buy kelly and -- actelion. there business -- now taking a look at other business stories. six truck makers have accused -- lawsuit overed a

inflation of prices third one democratic senator claims the price of 500 fighters have been -- in the u.s. from $20 to 1800 donors in just seven months. johnston press is to sell 13 of its reason newspapers in the united kingdom. it will buy the titles for 17 million pounds. johnston ends 200 million publications and will -- lawmakers in switzerland will vote today on a bill that aims to prioritize swiss market's along with others in the e.u. and then job seekers for -- response tored down a 2014 referendum in which those who voted for quotas on e.u. workers brought contradictions

collateral agreements with the edu finally, facebook will work harder to come back fake news. they have announced new features newslp combat fabricated stories. it will outsource the fact checking of flagged content and tweak its news feed out the rhythm based on these external rulings. facebook was widely criticized after news that fake news influenced the u.s. presidential election. tom: a story we have a close eye on, a lot of fake news around. thank you very much for that. with your business news. time to look at what is grabbing international headlines. let's start, shall we, with the latest on the evacuation of rebels and civilians in eastern aleppo. the press is rather critical of that operation. >> look at the newspaper from

brittany. aleppo is being evacuated. can i ask what cost? the newspaper reminds us that the evacuation operation comes after weeks of heavy bombardment by russian and syrian warplanes, which has killed thousands if not tens of thousands of innocent civilians. people -- a lot of people are asking, what is happening next? where are they going? >> some could be held in camps in turkey. others could be staying in the province of it lip. you would hardly call it a save place. bush al-assad oust to recapture the area. the biggerok at picture, though. does the fall of aleppo mark the end of the syrian civil war?

>> news. unanimous in are saying that this represents a new phase of the conflict. the full of aleppo is undoubtedly a major situation. it is not the end of the war by any means. bashar al-assad plans to recapture all rebel held areas in settling. he cannot do it alone. he has had to rely on help from russia, of course. but also shiite militias and even iranian special forces. >> you mentioned the key role that russia has played in retaking eastern aleppo. could that same of your hand -- though -- so that we cover others of the country. sa" says moscow times put russia's fate in her hands. by helping to what about the

syrian opposition completely or accusing the four of aleppo -- the russian paper says the second option would allow moscow to cash in politically while minimizing the risks of mission creep. tom: russia is very much in the news during the course of this friday. these claims that moscow somehow meddled in the u.s. presidential elections are really capturing a lot of headlines. how is the press reacting to that? >> it is the front page of "times" this morning. the cia says it has gathered overwhelming evidence that russian hackers linked to the kremlin hacked the emails of the democratic party and earlier this year. tom: president obama is vowing to take action. >> "the new york times" says and have to see evidence

russia has also been quite indifferent to public shaming in the past. the u.s. has arrested a few dozen hackers. one of the fbi officials cited in the article says you can indict 400 people. they do not care. there are thousands of potential hackers with a certain set of skills in russia. you cannot arrest them all. tom: let's send it closer to home. yesterday was the deadline for officially announcing running in the socialist primary. the press today is rather critical of the front runner in that race, none other than former prime minister manuel valls. take a look at the left-wing newspaper. political convictions are a farce, a joke. he is criticized saying that he wants to change the

constitution, and in particular abolish an article that allows the government to bypass parliament to implement controversial reforms. liberation reminds us that he has used that twice in ñgñgñgññ1

announcer: 2007, and little samba kuli bali is on his way to make medical history. he's one of the first children to take part in a trial for a new vaccine against deadly meningitis. marie: many countrtries in sub saharan africa have called for these vaccines because of this dreadful and devastating disease which is called epidemic meningitis which was