why does france care about mali? >> here is why france cares. mali say former colony of france. right? >> stephen: okay. wait, they had colonies? >> they had a ton of colonies. >> stephen: really? there were countries that surrendered to france? [ laughter ] >> and for many decades. >> stephen: no longer colonies. >> no longer a colonies. the french gave up the colonies around 1960 but kept them on a longer or shorter leash depending on which country and how much stuff they had. mali is in the middle of a part of africa where there's natural resources, tons of oil offshore. a lot of that oil gets dealt to the french on good terms. algeria is a place where there's all kinds of stuff the french want and get. >> stephen: is this al qaeda in there? >> it's al qaeda. >> stephen: there a guy like bin laden? is there a name i have to peoplerrize again? >> not yet and i hope there won't be any. >> stephen: my abu and bin this and bin that bin is kind of full right now. [ laughter ] >> think of these groups is a combination of mexican drug organization and islamic terrorist group. how ma

seven-time winner of the tour de france. this is the biggest fraud in the history of sport, the biggest. he couldn't have done it alone. >> armstrong has been stripped of his seven tour de france victories, banned from his sport, left his charity and lost nearly everything. but he hopes comments like these he made on the own network -- >> they are my mistake and i'm sorry for that. >> -- might be enough to help restore his reputation and rewrite his story. >> you win the tour de france seven times, you have a happy marriage, you have children -- it's just this mythic, perfect story. and it wasn't true. >> it's the greatest sports story ever told in many ways. that's why it's been the most traumatic fall from grace. >> yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. my cocktail, so to speak, was only epo, but not a lot, transfusions and testosterone. >> doping, he told winfrey, was just part of doing business. >> we have to have air in our tires or we have to have water in our bottl

so this is still a problem in france and it is hard to resolve even though france is the birthplace of freedom and human rights if your name is different it is still difficult or this is you know. in a film he made a movie called. a you played and they'll jerry and pretending to be an italian yes that's true did you find any parallels with your own life and was there any special message that you wanted to. express to the audience by play or by made making this film. well personally i haven't experienced anything like that my father. my father who. changed his name when he moved to france. and you know he's a reason this work quite interesting. he wasn't charge of a group of french workers i did book and back in those days it was uncommon for an old syrian to be in a position of authority. to do so changed his name to void problems. even though i don't think he faced any particular problems then with the deal. so this story off pretending to be an italian book it is actually about the same thing of all to move you know. there are people who are worried that other research won't like the

come back and where hardass a pleasure to invite her twice in france for holidays and. we proposed to her to stay with us but she didn't want was what was the history in calcutta and most she would not last her our language our town. telephone friends and she want to be buried in russia. how did she make a living in moscow did she work after she were a she was a translator because she longed. french and english at school. were well known to us and she worked and she sort of worked in an institute of translation. for example she translated system. technical things like that in films french films. but did she have any problems with the bolsheviks with the communists because because many people went under repressions especially when stalin years and my father was arrest. and she had some problems she told us that she had to do six months of cover folks that. don't know forced labor. and. then she was free and the worked and the world's a very happy to work and your father was arrested why because they thought he was a pos not my father my facile disappeared one evening we

so this is still a problem in france and it is hard to resolve even though france is the birthplace of freedom and human rights if your name is different it is still difficult or this is either. in a film he made a movie called. a you played and they'll jerry and pretending to be an italian yes that's true did you find any parallels with your own life and was there any special message that you wanted to. express to the audience by play or by made making this film. well personally i haven't experienced anything like that my father. my father who. changed his name when he moved to france. and you know he's a reasons were quite interesting. de wasn't charge of a group of french workers i did book and that in those days it was uncommon for in the old cheery him to be in a position of authority. as he did so changed his name to void problems. even though i don't think he faced any particular problems then with the deal. so this story off pretending to be an italian book it is actually about the same thing. you know. but there are people who are worried that other research won't like them. a

france welcomed immigrants who would later become french citizens. from france and there are generations of french people with foreigner roots you know with on foreign names false and this is still a bit of a problem was what. in terms of our lives all these old you know why i don't know why they feel. that it was oh it's difficult for some to see people who are different from them. you know i always say that if i were president i would encourage every frenchman who is open to travel around the world is with us on the you see other places to see other lifestyles. there is a category of people in france about to the moment when you are afraid of the things they don't know nor what is your and when they come across people with different names different faiths different routes their spirit and yet all false so this is still a problem in france and it is hard to resolve even though france is the birthplace of freedom and human rights if your name is different it is still difficult or this is you know. in a film he made a movie called. a you played a litt

all france has actually increased its internal security just before the invasion of mali as well so we know that they're also expound on some kind of alert in terms of the likelihood of a terrorist attack the crisis in mali is but escalating since it began a year ago the government asked france to step in then is paris expecting anything in return for this military assistance well i think it's important to remember that although the mali and government arsed fronts the step in the region which they're invading is a region which is occupied by the two or it people who don't really see themselves as citizens of mali necessarily they occupy space is on the borders of algeria and libya niger as well as mali and i think the money government inviting france in to help deal with them is not dissimilar to the way in which that on the state asked us assistance to deal with the kurds i think the response that sponsored we hoped for probably be something along the lines of number one. increase military presence in the region france has likes to have a lot of military presence in its former coloni

so france says its aim is to liberate mali from insurgents and is bracing itself for a long conflict after initially forecasting a short operation and murray a few notional reports france could also be aiming to secure vast amounts of natural resources in the west african nation. the french have died headlong into the military operation in mali but the discussion is due on go in as to exactly why the western nation has deep roots on african soil again costing money and people's lives. official rhetoric remains in line with the mantra of the war on terrorism but some statements suggest another layer of france's defense minister has declared total become quest of mali is the main goal with the president echoing french troops twenty five hundred so far who remain in the region for as long as necessary there are ten thousand to militarize huge sections of africa so that they want to monopolize access to the city to the resources this is the that we're seeing this effect the complete specifically in relations view of the states i know we're seeing it with problems in other parts of the eu

as france and germany celebrate their friendship with a show of unity looks likely to stumble over widening divisions between the e.u. true powerhouses. and rock obama kicks off his second term in office with promises to back to mock procedure process with global sparking concerns america's intervention policies are not likely to change during his coming years and on. my from our studios in moscow you're watching r t with me and you so now it's good to have you with us two pm now in the russian capital our top story and it's officially decision time for israel with people across the country heading to the polls in a snap parliamentary election but the overwhelming sentiment is that the outcome will be no surprise benjamin netanyahu victory seems a foregone conclusion this despite discontent with his policies that many believe have led to economic hardship a lack of progress in peace negotiations with palestine and growing international isolation now polls suggest the prime minister will head the government for a third time analysts say that's largely due to the limited time for campaigning

>> >> france sends an more backup as somalia airstrike center if the day. hello, your watching live from our headquarters. also ahead, a cleric in pakistan is given just hours to dissolve parliament. the government targets one of the strongest. understanding the often misunderstood, companies focusing on special talents of those living with gaspers syndrome. france is sending more military personnel, 550 troops on the ground and the flow is speeding up as the intervention intensifies. >> they will not allow them to fall, they wanted to be a quick operation. these transport carriers have been loaded with heavy and sophisticated equipment. they could not prevent the capture, and the government controls on garrison towns. the group that took the area says it is still willing to negotiate. >> we spoke to the mediator telling them we are willing to reach a peaceful solution. the government has nothing to do with what is going on right now. >> france is now on the ground as well as the air. some of the troops will remain, protecting them while others will have fu

france couldn't wait for the ecowas force to get fully operational. there was an announcement friday that that ecowas force would be deployed quicker but when france made the decision to be send troops in they didn't know ecowas was going to speed up the deployment and really mali's government was crumbling. the army was retreating so far and france considered this such an important issue for not just regional stability and security that it decided it had to get involved. >> in the meantime, reaction from the islamists in the area warning that french interests would be put at risk by the actions in mali, that's been taken quite seriously by the french government? >> yes, it has. there are four french hougs in -- hostages in mali and more in the region and france confidently feels that their security is going to be threatened. it also feels, france does, that its security at home is going to be threatened, so hollande did say that he had asked his prime minister to put in place heightened security arrangements both in the capital, pay, and throughout t

the doctor was questioned and later charged under france's anti-drugs act. >> as the 1998 tour de france got under way, the lid was blown off systematic doping in the peliton. >> it was pretty clear it was a major problem. french police are arresting team members or followers with industrial quantities of doping substances and equipment. >> the following year, the tour de france was billed as the tour of renewal. teams were terrified of being raided. but lance armstrong came prepared with a delivery man in tow called moto man. >> it was a gardener/handy man for lance armstrong. to get epo for the tour de france, we came up with a plan. and the plan had moto man involved where he would follow the race, always stayed within probably a half hour drive of our motorcycle drive from our hotel. he basically had the container filled with epo. and he would basically just wait for a phone call on a secret phone. when he had to do a delivery, he would do a delivery. >> armstrong coming up now. can he get off to a great start in the tour de france? he is aiming at 8:09. 8:02.51. lance armstrong with

twenty four hours a day seven days a week this is our duty president francois hollande has hailed of france's military intervention in mali as a success in mali an army has made big advances against islamist insurgents all with the assistance of french troops and early archies aton botton told my colleague and he said now about the progress made so far and the problems that have come with it. campaign starts with french troops about two and a half weeks ago sweeping up from the center of the country up to where these these islamist held areas meeting very little resistance really they are they go on there was an incident here in qana where in fact a french helicopter strike killed some civilians apart from that the french had been welcomed with with street parties and crowds coming out to greet the convoys as they arrived in each of these towns the islamist militants retreating not wanting to stand and fight many people thinking that they have been retreating further into the deserts in the north there's only one town of appreciable size left to capture after the fall of of timbuktu without n

even so, she still misses france a lot. it's a common topic when she gets together with her french friend. both mess life and in particular, the lightness of the french way of life. >> i miss the feeling you get when you go shopping in the markets in france in the summertime and how easy it is to make contact with people, how easy it is for people to approach. >> during those first few days, i had to change. you have to communicate a bit more subtle way. for instance, had to say "no" in a more pleasant way. cut stealing home in both. hoping the countries will grow even closer. >> i wish there was even more cooperation, more joint projects, meetings, exchanges. anything and everything helping us to expand. >> of course there will still sometimes be some understanding. odds are after decades of peaceful coexistence, they have learned how to get over it. >> political and business elite from rome world are gathering in the swiss town of davos for annual talks on the global economy. >> this year's meeting will look at ways of bu

the tour de france will get back the prize money. but the biggest risk he faces is this federal whistleblower suit that was filed by floyd landis, one of the fellow riders, possibly joined by the federal government later. $30 million that went to the postal service team. that's federal money. potentially triple damages. so he is looking at as much as $90 million -- >> does he have that much money? >> i've seen estimates of over $100 million in his account. now i don't know if he's going to have a judgment of $90 million against him, but you are still talking about an enormous amount of money. no lawyer in the world would have advised him to do this. there is -- this was some psychological thing. this was not a legal justification. >> erin it was an incredibly gripping interview. there's going to be more tomorrow night and no doubt a lot more to talk about. >> you say no lawyer in the world. hearing jeff say that, would have advised him to do that. what's going to come next in terms of whether he's going to testify under oath. that's

. >> france's and intervention in mali is raising questions -- france's sudden intervention in diabaly is raising questions. -- in mali is raising questions. >> how can we help our french neighbor and friend with logistical, political, humanitarian, or medical assistance? >> the french are trying to shore up mali's embattled armed forces, which have been in disarray since last year's coup. the rebels imposed sharia law and are suspected of links to the bolkiah -- to al qaeda. german opposition parties are calling for better coordination within the european union. >> when we say that what france has started is a step in the right direction, that does not mean we will just jump in. it must mean that we way what makes sense and what contribution germany could actually make. >> the french soldiers expect to be joined by soldiers from neighboring west african countries. britain and the u.s. are offering logistical support. >> and canada has promised france air transport. there will be a meeting this week to discuss the crisis. i asked our brussels correspondent what sort of support france c

mali insurgents issued a stark warning to france over its military campaign against them as fears grow western nations are now dealing with the fallout from their other campaigns in the region. history repeating itself a source years after the end of the u.s. military involvement in the vietnam war american veterans question that country's current foreign policy leading to similar interventions and more lives and money problems. around enough is enough germans are getting ready for a legal fight with the e.u. central bank and other plans which could see no control other buildings money flowing into troubled states. and around the world this is our see with me your leadership of our thanks for joining us molly islamist militants have issued a warning to france saying it has opened the gates of hell by intervening in the country despite being bombarded by french war planes since friday to help the government it's a mess insurgents controlling the north have managed to grab more territory return and the u.s. are supporting the french operation raising fears of an african quagmire in a new

france -- why a church cannot be turned into a mosque. czech republic -- how german electricity is blocking the grid. and austria -- meet this billionaire, the new man in politics. france has the largest muslim community in all of europe. every 12 person in france is a follower of islam today, and the numbers are growing. more people are currently reading the koran than the bible. the number of christians in europe has been rapidly declining. the protestant church says today it attracts fewer and fewer people, resulting in an empty church pews in many places, but what do you do when a church building is no longer needed? do you tear it down or give it a new purpose? some disused churches becomes hotels or restaurants, but there are limits to the new uses that church authorities are willing to accept. in germany, for instance, representatives of the catholic and protestant churches have officially recommended not to turn churches into mosques. one village in france has discovered that this can certainly be a delicate issue. >> there's a sm

you wanted peace you wanted freedom you wanted economic progress france great britain will always stand by the libyan people. but a regional crisis probably wasn't. until when he was spearheading the military operation to top khadafi although the former french president couldn't say that he hadn't been warned personally i play a significant role in establishing peace in those regions of africa should the situation in libya be unstable al qaida will establish its rule a lot and will return and libya will be another afghanistan the terrorists will flood to europe cut to paris and almost two years later market southeast words could well be ringing in the is equal i saw was the successor francois hollande having just sent troops to mali france's new leader could well be learning that every action has a reaction. secu so not only did the french intervention in libya not help the democrat disease process which is what they said they were after but it is fact if it opened up the floodgates for weapons stockpiles and fighters to leave the country and go south of the border to more to mali where

. >> france's and intervention in mali is raising questions -- france's sudden intervention in diabaly is raising questions. -- in mali is raising questions. >> how can we help our french neighbor and friend with logistical, political, humanitarian, or medical assistance? >> the french are trying to shore up mali's embattled armed forces, which have been in disarray since last year's coup. the rebels imposed sharia law and are suspected of links to the bolkiah -- to al qaeda. german opposition parties are calling for better coordination within the european union. >> when we say that what france has started is a step in the right direction, that does not mean we will just jump in. it must mean that we way what makes sense and what contribution germany could actually make. >> the french soldiers expect to be joined by soldiers from neighboring west african countries. britain and the u.s. are offering logistical support. >> and canada has promised france air transport. there will be a meeting this week to discuss the crisis. i asked our brussels correspondent what sort of support france c

but france is an ally and, yes, we're doing it because of france. >> primarily because of france? >> pry pearl-- >> -- pry pearl-- >> -- primarily-- >> what did lafayette do for the united states? what did he do? >> he was aide to camp to washington. >> what else did he do? >> he almost got his head cut off in the french revolution. >> nato has to do -- if france is attacked, we'd help defend france. it doesn't mean if france goes to war, we go to war. >> it's something that is felt between allies. >> do you think we'll gain everything from helping out-- >> obama doesn't want to get involved but i think we have to help in terms of what we're doing right now. >> u.s. is not involved but these are former french colonies. they have an opgaition and a -- obligation and a cultural history that ties them to those two countries but they don't do anything without the united states making a move. >> it's a thin edge of the wedge. the camel's nose in the tent. you know what i mean? the camel goes in the tent. we're going to go into the mali tent. is that the name of the game? the first thin

france -- why a church cannot be turned into a mosque. czech republic -- how german electricity is blocking the grid. and austria -- meet this billionaire, the new man in politics. france has the largest muslim community in all of europe. every 12 person in france is a follower of islam today, and the numbers are growing. more people are currently reading the koran than the bible. the number of christians in europe has been rapidly declining. the protestant church says today it attracts fewer and fewer people, resulting in an empty church pews in many places, but what do you do when a church building is no longer needed? do you tear it down or give it a new purpose? some disused churches becomes hotels or restaurants, but there are limits to the new uses that church authorities are willing to accept. in germany, for instance, representatives of the catholic and protestant churches have officially recommended not to turn churches into mosques. one village in france has discovered that this can certainly be a delicate issue. >> there's a sm

just wants to forget the stain on its beloved tour de france. most french, though, say that they're just exhausted with this story. they've had enough. and they want the world to move on. victor? >> zain, thanks. let's go back now to randi kaye, live on the national mall in d.c. and we know that there's at least one fife and drum squad there, practicing and preparing. and we've seen all week, all the preps with even the stand-ins for the first family as they prepare for the inauguration. >> yeah, they don't want anything to go wrong here, so they've been practicing for weeks now. and yes, we have a little bit of free music here on the mall, that i'm sure will continue throughout the morning. we'll also have plenty of security here on the mall and around washington, in the days ahead. we'll be talking about that. but do you worry that airport security guards get a little too close? a look at you and your family with those new whole body scanners. well, we'll tell you about some changes the tsa is making after much public outcry. well, i didn. see

they should withdraw the law which now makes it illegal for muslims to pray in the street in france perhaps if they want to better relations with the muslim world they can start by bettering the relations with the muslim community in france itself that would be a far more significant step forward than bombing yet another muslim country now african nations where when will they be left to solve their internal problems by themselves without foreign interference. well i think when they stand up. to the imperial powers i think it's a mistake on the part of the mullahs the mahdi government no matter what its difficulties to call for help from the very people who are responsible since colonial times for so much of the disaster in that part in that part of the world only a small look north and east would tell you that in the middle east the constant attentions of the imperial powers have generation after generation worsen the problem not made it better france is saying of course nationals are threatened there in mali what sort of response and support would it get from the french people do y

i love your administration and what you folks go. >> george: in france -- france is fighting a radical muslim group in the african nation of mali. the islamic rebels took over mali, and in recent weeks began a push for the capita capital. locals fear the imposition of shari'a law. now backed by other nations and the u.s., the french military is beating back the rebels with air strikes and ground action. backed by heavy french military air support, malian and french supporters pounded the rebel targets, in the northern cities of gou and kidou. >> we are facing clear aggression. >> george: france began its military offensive to stop islamist rebels from advancing on the capital of mali. the al-qaeda-linked rebels that control of it since april, and began advancing south, prompting fears they could gain new territory. >> it is the security in the region of france, of europe, which is at stake. >> george: dispike the gains, rebels launched counterattacks, and fighting in the western part of the country has been particularly fierce. the u.n. expects the fighting will drive hundreds of thous

in paris, living in france. and france was worried that these malian nationals would be influenced by the extremists back home and carry out attacks. frantz had intelligence an attack may have been in the active planning stages. >> france's reaction to what happened in mali and the u.s. reaction to what france did is fascinating at the outset. it's going to be more fascinating when we see the extent of how much the u.s. decides to be in support. will cow i don't mean back and talk to us more with a big map? >> bring the map. and will you say bullpucky? >> i will say bullpucky, but never accusingly at you. >> maybe. it depends on what i say. >> that's true. richard engel, nbc's chief foreign correspondent. all right. we'll be right back. >>> president obama today chose the license plates that are going to be on his limo when he driven to the capitol to be inaugurated on monday. they say taxation without representation. at the request of the d.c. council, president obama chose these tags. he did not need to, but h

and france and britain. reluctant to give more and more weapons because they're not sure what's going to happen especially that they have seen the libyan experience having given all the backing to the so-called libyan revolution. with a variety of factions fighting each other. in russia and in the west have concerns about the court and court islamic terrorism and the islamist movement this fear. sometimes i think it's overestimated because they're mixing between the feeling of empty outside intervention whether it's. you have to call a nationalistic front and some of those people who are working on this basis out of religious beliefs you know i don't know it means does the syrian conflict is escalating and is costing you know more civilian lives each day with neither side giving in would a military intervention be the only option left at some point first of all i don't think there is a military intervention coming secondly i don't think. even a surrealistic to do it because you you're going to support what b

independence from france in 1960. more than 100 people have reportedly been stabbed, shot, or potentially burned to death by a massacre in the syrian city of homes. the attack in a poor area of the city's edge killed 106 people, some of them children, according to the britain-based syrian observatory for human rights. many homes were set on fire and some of the victims' bodies appeared to have been burned. it was unclear whether the attackers were part of the syrian army or members of a militia loyal to president bashar al-assad. widespread violence was reported thursday across syria, with continued bombings by government planes and clashes between troops and anti-government rebels. the obama administration is continuing its push to rally support for sweeping plan to address gun violence. on thursday, vice-president joe biden called for action before hundreds of u.s. mayors gathered in washington, d.c. foreign annual meeting. in his address, biden referenced the shooting rampage in newtown, connecticut that claimed th

they have made paris a huge target and france are a target for terrorism. at least but with the prospect of an untapped natural resources needed to keep france eliminated political analysts say that france will promise to stop playing big projects or former colonies isn't going to be fulfilled anytime soon ali boy can see paris. international relations professor mark almond says it's the fallout from the intervention in libya to rigidly led to the crisis in mali. it's extraordinary the complacency about this the british ministry of defense apparently shut down its north african desk in two thousand and ten and then of course in two thousand and eleven britain and france lead the intervention in libya and we're getting kind of an element of this problem is a kind of backwash from that intervention because you have not really looked through what's going to happen if you overthrow gadhafi but you don't actually put anything stable in its place quite contrary spreads and similarly in mali the argument is that france is intervening to stop tails but the risk mus

france pushes to retake mali from islamist militants as battles rage across the country this while the number of victims in the algerian hostage crisis triggered by the campaign rises to forty eight. the german chancellor's ruling coalition saw first defeat in a key regional vote. on the limo pulls christian democrats lose ground to the social democrats opposition in regional elections. and president barack obama officially begins his second term in office with many waiting to see if he will deliver on numerous promises and domestic foreign issues . five from our studios in the central moscow you're watching r t with me and he said now i could have you with us it's two pm here in the russian capital eleven am in years to our top story in twenty five more bodies have been found in the wake of the algerian desert crisis bringing the total number of confirmed hostage deaths to forty eight overall more than eighty people have been killed during the four day standoff between the country's security forces and militants now a jury of says they've arrested five suspected islamist attackers aft

frances dinglasan will have your forecast. she's tracking the >> thanks for joining us on this sunday morning, january 6th. it is 6:41:00 a.m. this is a live look. somewhere there is a hp pavilion, the shark tank. you see it in the distance. did you know that the hockey lockout is apparently over? a teal was reached early, early this morning. is that correct fans rejoice. san jose businesses rejoice. games should resume fairly quickly. >>> buses in san francisco are carrying messages of jihad, but it's not what you might think. it's a campaign to try to educate residents about the real meaning of the word. it began in chicago. it's now reached the bay area. abc7 news reporter explains. >> my jihad is to stay fit despite my busy and he. -- schedule. what's yours? that's the statement on the side of this muni bus. it's part of an educational campaign created by c.a.r.e., the council on american islamic relations. the group has put 35ads on buses rolling through san francisco. >> the intention of the campaign is to educate our fe

with the government in france. with the top stories of the week today this is the weekly tea with me rory sushi i live in moscow the syrian leader has just outlined his vision on how to two years of continued civil conflict and one of the key conditions for peace according to president bashar al assad is for regional and international powers to stop supporting groups. he was following exactly what he said. well there has certainly been rather interesting quotes coming from the syrian president he in fact called to hold an international reconciliation conference. and the violence and the military conflict which is going on be going on for almost two years now in syria and this initiative according to assad will lead to a national wide referendum and fair election which is the only way according to the syrian president that the political landscape in this country can be changed but this initiative can only be possible according to assad if the western countries and some regional countries as he put it stuff investing

dr thank you for being with us so france by looks of it may be getting further support from european nations is the situation too much there for france to handle alone or is there more to it no i don't think it's too much for granted. why should they i mean there's always political houris as well as financial costs that this sort of. intervention and so they're trying to spread that out live bringing in other nato force and do those nato forces really want to get involved well. depends upon who you're talking about in those governments in those populations while it's illegal alien now yeah might be only news that actually there is there's a feeling probably among the foreign policy people that if you don't intervene in this situation you're going to you know this thing's going to spread throughout all of west africa and there's a lot of economic investment in that area and so you want to stop it now the populations the general populations in terms of france and italy and elsewhere will go along with this and it's typical if it's quick and if it's in a lot of casualties i think that's

france wants to stop them from taking the rest of the country. and creating a base for terrorist attacks against the west. and brian, the military action here in mali, the french, the u.s. and others, has triggered the hostage situation in algeria. algerian forces have reportedly surrounded the facility where the hostages have been held. and they're warning they won't be negotiating with the militants. brian? >> nbc's rohit kachroo on the ground for us in mali tonight. thanks, rohit. >>> and still ahead, as we continue this evening. health news tonight on two big fronts. is the flu vaccine safe during pregnancy? plus news about the risk of migraines for women. >>> and later, making a difference by helping a lot of kids get back to doing what they love. >>> in health news tonight, an answer for pregnant women who have been asking if there is any risk in getting a flu shot this year with the flu so far having spread to 47 states. in fact, there's new research that shows the most dangerous course of action is not getting the flu shot. a story from o

saying that this is the place that the allies of france are now paying for supporting this intervention that was quite a hastily planned and a bit of a surprise announcement last week so of course francois london needs to spin the crisis to see to their needs and he said that the behavior of these militants and the very brutal reports that we're receiving from the gas compound in algeria that justifies he says the french military intervention in mali. probably just take us through what led up to the rise in military activity in the region. well of course a number of political analysts are looking at the wider picture and they're saying that this whole situation in mali and now in algeria it's really actually an unintended consequence of the arab spring and in particular of the western intervention in libya just over two years ago because a big part of daffy's omi was formed by toerags and toward fighters who actually once gadhafi was toppled very quickly they returned to northern mali to their homeland they took a lot of good daffy's weapons and a lot of the military arsenal back to mal

our top story the islamic terrorist cell allegedly responsible for the deadly siege in algeria says france is carrying out a crusader campaign in the region thirty eight hostages were killed after militants captured a remote gas plant in retaliation for the ongoing french intervention in neighboring mali is millis claim they wanted to negotiate the release of their captives but the offer was turned down with the algerian military deciding to storm the facility causing a bloodbath more terror attacks have now been promised unless france ends its campaign in west africa some of the hostage takers were militants from libya where paris helped islamised topple colonel gadhafi who had warned of an impending al qaeda surge in the region as poly boy now reports that very very. few wanted peace you wanted freedom you wanted economic progress france great britain europe will always stand by the libyan people. but a regional crisis probably wasn't what mr sarkozy anticipated when he was spearheading the military operation to topple moammar gadhafi although the former french president can't say that h

a retaliation for the french intervention in mali now we've even heard one jihadist leader say that france is quote open the gates of hell unquote so it's a very worrying escalation to what started off as a military intervention just over a week ago the french government reportedly the french government ostensibly just responding to the mali government's request for help in driving out the islamic militants from the north of the country so it's definitely escalating a sense of unease definitely growing in france and looks like public opinion could really shift in relation to the mali intervention it's all come on the streets of paris but with an escalating military intervention in mali and an algerian hostage crisis in response to it french public opinion is predicted to turn against francois hollande pledge to help the mali government once he's really here but the enormity of what they may be taking on in mali. there may be a lot of questions then asked about his judgment and a lot of people who are supposedly supporting him now or move very quickly turn around and criticize it's already