Put forth his plan to unlock business potential. We will have more on what is missing. The greatest animator may have retired but his art lives on in a new show in paris. First this news just in. The last hostage held by a terrorist group has been free. He was held by al qaeda in north africa. Francois hollande has announced the release of that man, Serge Lazarevic. More on that story as we get it. Sue do stay tuned for that. American embassies around the today preparing for a possible fallout link to a new report on torture. That report from the u. S. Senate committee will have graphic techniques of torture used by the caa after 9 11. The report is the first Public Accounting of the use of torture during the war on terror in the aftermath of the september 11 attacks. The u. S. Use socalled enhancement techniques. The work was often outsourced at secret black sites to secret governments. Waterboarding was one method of torture use directly by the cia. George w. Bush said it had to be done. In the war on terror, intelligence is one of the most crucial tools for our defense. They captured terrorist has information about a plot against our homeland, we need to know what he knows. The Bush Administration rarely use the word waterboarding. Barack obama acknowledged the u. S. Had used unlawful means. After 9 11, we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. Tears come in for strong criticism himself. Defenders of the bush era actions say torture brought about information. No intelligence was obtained that could not have been gotten by noncoercive means. The u. S. Defense secretary is on likely his last overseas trip before he steps down. He is in baghdad today for meetings. Allies have announced they are ready to send in some 1500 security personnel to try to help baghdad government better fight the jihadists. The first ever visit to new york for Prince William and kate were rocked by protests yesterday. The royals were watching a game. There were a series of demonstrations across the u. S. The movement has increased in recent days. White Police Officers were not indicted in the deaths of unarmed black men. President obama gave an interview to b. E. T. He stressed the importance of peaceful protests, saying they were necessary to help you about social change. Return to ukraine. Peace talks planned for today have been postponed. The president says the ceasefire is holding. A ceasefire that has been violated many times. Now the attempt by ukraine to make it stick. We are always ready for the silence and whatever rusher and the terrorist groups declare tomorrow we will look to them to see what they want. But negotiations between you cane and separatist between ukraine and separatist remain uncertain. The peace talks will probably not be held until friday. One cannot be too optimistic. In vienna, there were small signs we could achieve some small deescalation in the coming days and weeks. The talks would be the first since the 12 point ceasefire plan in early september. The death toll in the conflict has continued to increase. More than 4000 range of people have been killed in Eastern Ukraine since april. For more on the situation, we bring in our journalist. Tell us what it is like where you are like. Doesnt seem like the ceasefire is holding . The ceasefire was supposed to start at 9 00 this morning. We spoke with a rebel leader. He does not believe anything ukraine says. Rebels will not fire if they are not attacked. They had said they have laid down their arms. Unless it is attacked, that will not fire. There was heavy shelling yesterday. Whether the ceasefire can hold the on today will be a major question. There also hopes of peace talks being held today. Those have now been postponed. What more can you tell us about those talks . It started with uncertainty. It was supposed to be tuesday. Rebel leader said that was too early. Russia has started sending in gas. It might be with the time, people are more motivated to have these negotiations. The foreign minister said the rebels are ready to have some comment days, and that might be for this region. They continue to accuse russia of having fighters in this region. They have seen homes have been shelled. Some have been killed after the ceasefire. Whether a final ceasefire could be implemented remains a huge question for many. Thank you so much for that. Now to the philippines. The typhoon has weakened but left behind a trail of death and destruction. At least 27 lives have been lost. 90 more are missing. It is in stark comparison to the 7000 who died or went missing during the typhoon last year. Mark thompson has more. For the hundreds of families sheltering in this school, the way is finally over. The typhoon has passed and now they are rates return home to assess the damage it caused. We cannot wait to go home already. And the children. We are told it is safe to move. We are waiting for the vehicle to take us back. The government spearheaded what the United Nations called one of the biggest peacetime evacuation efforts ever. 1. 7 Million People were taken to shelters. Thousands of homes were correct. To me and were left without power. When island was the hardest hit. Large parts remain in accessible. Strong winds have left farmers struggling to rescue what they can. We can still gather some of the crops, even if there is not a lot left. We tried to harvest everything we can. Even the crops which have been destroyed. The philippines was left traumatized i last years typhoon, which left thousands dead and more than one million homes damaged. The storm has now we can to a tropical depression and is expected to exit by wednesday. Officials have given activists two to clear outdays the massive protest camp that has been blocking traffic for the past two months. They cant will be physically cleared out failing that. Barricades and tends will be moved out. Setting the stage for one last showdown with the activists, who are demanding greater democracy. There has been significant progress in the fight against malaria. The number of people dying from that disease has been cut in half. Those gains could be reversed by the outbreak of ebola. Some 4. 3 million lives have been saved in the global fight against malaria. That according to figures released by the world health organization. They believe the majority of those were children under five years old living in subsaharan africa. A reduction in malaria case incidents. That is indeed extraordinary progress. The 47 reduction in malaria deaths. Having the deaths over the last decade. Only 3 of those at risk had access to mosquito nets. More needs to be done. 97 countries are still reporting cases of malaria. 3. 2 billion people remain at risk of infection. The international donors. A Broader Partnership has meant there has been a steady increase even in the increase of the financial challenges in the resources made available to fight malaria. Funding has tripled since 2005 2. 1 billion euros. That number still needs to double for it to receive global targets and elimination. The last french hostage held by a terrorist group has been freed. Serge lazarevic has been held for the past three years. Lets bring in katerina horse. Serge lazarevic was taken in mali. What more can you tell us . We havent got a lot of information at the moment. We know that Serge Lazarevic has been freed by the group al qaeda. For over three years and the last sign of life has been a video a couple of months ago. We are just getting the news he has been released today. The French Embassy has not been reached here. That is all we have for the moment. Lets go back three years ago. Tell me about the circumstances when he was taken. November 23, almost three years ago in central mali. He was taken at gunpoint by al qaeda. He was taken together with another french hostage, Philippe Verdon who unfortunately was killed in mali last year. That is the information we have at the moment. He was the last french hostage after another frenchman was killed or murdered in captivity. He was also abducted in mali thank you so much from that report. Thank you for joining us. Tell us more about what we might know about the conditions under which this hostage might have been released. At the moment we know very little. The government is going to release as Little Information as possible. There have been negotiations through back channels. An intermediate may or may not have been malian. Most likely from a regional ally has been negotiating through indirect channels with the jihadists operating in this region including northern mali. The president ousted president has been the gotto negotiator and have been concerns that the recent ouster may have put and end to those negotiations. We dont know whether that was the channel that was use. We will probably never know the truth. The french government negotiates not directly but via proxies with the jihadists. What do they negotiate about . The question of money and ransom money. There are two answers about whether or not france paid ransom money. There is the governments answer, which is no ransom money is ever paid in these situations. It has been a strict policy. That is the official answer. What we can gather from sources that have worked on these negotiations these release scenarios via northern mali or syria is that the french government has a reputation for paying. It is a reputation. Several sources have been involved in various hostage release scenarios that say money changed hands. It is not necessarily direct. Their might be regional proxies who managed to find a way to find something the jihadists want. It may be releasing jihadist held in jail. For one of the earlier french hostages, he was released in exchange for several jihadists who were being held for their release. There are also avenues that might be explored. Lets take a look back at the surrounding of the circumstances of Serge Lazarevic the last french hostage held by a terror group to have been freed. He was reportedly on a business trip when he was kidnapped. He stayed at a hotel in central mali. In the middle of the night gunman abducted him and his colleague, Philippe Verdon his body was found in july last year. He had been shot in the head. He was a strong man. In the latest video, he had lost weight and had grown a beard. He said he feared for his life, and said he was suffering from asthma and high blood pressure. He was urged to secure his release. The president was in permit contact with authorities to use all form of dialogue to achieve the release of the hostage. It has been confirmed that Serge Lazarevic was released, the last french citizen held in captivity. Give us some background on al qaeda in north africa. They pledged allegiance in the early 2000s to al qaeda. They were a terror group from algerian. We presume their structure is still physicallybased in the mountain this remote parts of algeria. That is not to say theyre only algerian fighters within their ranks. They attract fighters from abroad who believe in the causes of jihad. They have prospered in that region, the south of algeria northern mali, chad, mauritania. That prospered across this lawless desert. There are several borders. It is difficult to police them because of the size of the territory. Experts have witnessed that al qaeda has been able to cross vast stretches of desert within that region pretty much unhindered. That has made them such a threat. There is little in the way of army or policing in that region. That was the case until 2013, when the french army decided to intervene. The threat posed by al qaeda has become so big, it pushed the french army over the brink to intervene. That drive was led by al qaeda and other jihadist groups in the region. Al qaeda has a history of hostagetaking. It is part of their business plan. It is one of the way they raise revenue. They sell their hostages for money. That is undisputed at this stage. They have struck in about half a dozen countries in this region, always in this vast area that is difficult to police. They release them in exchange for money. Thank you for that. Lets listen to the french president making the announcement. Our hostage, Serge Lazarevic our last hostage is now free. Ive just been informed of this having news by the president of niger. He will provide more information when the hostage arrives. He is not there yet. I would like to thank the malian president , who was very involved in this affair in securing this liberation. This is an important moment. It means that france has no more hostages. Francois hollande announcing that Serge Lazarevic, the last remaining french hostage has indeed been released. Lets bring in a security specialist. Thank you for joining us. There had been rumors that Serge Lazarevic would be freed. What are the reasons behind this release . Look, is pretty obvious it was a very important sign for the french to release their last hostage. Different from other negotiations. This was likely an exchange of prisoners rather than of payment of hard cash. Namely terrorists that was held in mali in a prison. That is why president hollande thanked very warmly mali and ni ger. What makes you say this is more likely an exchange of prisoners . Sources on the ground for the past two three days. The fact that i asked specifically for release of prisoners. Some of their recent videos. We were speaking about this branch, al qaeda in north africa. Would you say now they have lost their influence, giving up their last bargaining chip . Not really. Weve seen the most sophisticated way of kidnapping is their main business. They are the forefathers of that kind of tactic. They can grab some other hostages anywhere in the region at their own will. I do not think it is much more seeing them on the wane, but rather they got what they wanted. They can go back and possibly kidnapped other people. Im going to pass it over to ask you something. What oliver has been saying. It is an open question as to how much influence he still al qaeda still wields. They still have occupational capacity. They have carried out several attacks in the recent past. They are still able to recruit competence. The picture has changed drastically over the last 18 months or so, since the french army has intervened in northern mali. That the question i would like to put to oliver. How strong do you think al qaeda still is in the region . I take your point there has been a little bit to undermine what happened in mali. They have regrouped and moved into tunisia someplace they were not for. One concerning aspect is when they were kicked out, and moved into tunisia or even into syria. There are some elements in cnonononononoqm . Xq p