Just one year. First then, 10 billion worth of aid for syrians impacted by the war has been pledged today at an International Donors conference in london. Thatdavid cameron saying the money would pay for lifesaving supplies, food, medical aid, and shelter. Meanwhile, there is a warning from turkey that tens of thousands of syrians are fleeing fresh bombing around the city of aleppo. Thomas waterhouse reports. Thomas a day after peace talks warring factions failed in geneva, the focus shifts to london. Leaders from 70 countries pulled out their check books in support and raised over 9 billion euros. The United States is announcing our latest contribution which is over 925 million. Britain will commit at least 280 Million Pounds per year from 2017 to 2019. Thomas it will pay for food, shelter, and medical supplies for the 6 Million People still syria as wellin as Fund Economic and education initiatives for those who have taken refuge from the conflict in neighboring countries. Syrias biggest donor, the eu, warned that throwing cash at the problem wont be enough. , you you have the money have the humanitarian aid, you dont have access, we will meet here again next year with more money and no solution. Agrees. France foreign minister Laurent Fabius said world leadership focus on the causes, and not just the. Onsequences with hopes of a ceasefire and a political solution to the civil war still far off, turkeys Prime Minister told the conference that tens of thousands of syrians are still fleeing the recent regime and russian airstrikes in the aleppo region. They are now waiting at the turkish border. Catherine for more on the humanitarian needs inside syria and among its refugees, we has a guest we have a guest. This was a huge amount of money pledged, thought to be a record. Considering the scale of the crisis, is this as much as you have hope to see you had hoped to see . We are very happy about that, but we are still a bit skeptical. It is just now pledge. We need commitment. We need some protection. We are afraid it would just be words without any action. Catherine indeed, in the past, money has been pledged to various causes, including syria, but has not materialized. Do you think that could be a risk here . It might be. I dont hope so, of course. Given there are many needs in syria and neighboring countries, i do believe and hope that this money will be used for refugees and syrians. Fighting we know that on the ground is making it very difficult to reach civilians. Some areas are cut off entirely by sieges. Madaya, one of the most notorious examples. Can you give us any insight on the situation on the ground from contacts in the humanitarian community that you have out there . Things improving at all . Are things improving at all . Unfortunately, it is not improving at all. It is very difficult to work in syria. The main concern for everybody is security. We cannot access everybody, unfortunately. Especially the hardtoreach areas. Most people dont have any access to humanitarian assistance, unfortunately. Catherine as you mentioned, there is the situation of the millions of people who are refugees outside of syria as well. We were talking about food, medical aid, shelter, all very welcome, of course. However, these people have been there for a very long time. Is there a danger that the situation of these People Living in camps could start to become more permanent . That is one of our concerns. Just to specify, there are not so many camps. In lebanon, there are no. Camps. Most of the people live in an urban area. It is difficult to provide aid. Food, emergency response, shelter, health, access to education, but we also have to think about the future. Unfortunately, people are there for four or five years. We need to find a way for them to have a livelihood. Now, nothing is done. People are dependent strictly on aid. Catherine as we know, tens of thousands of people are fleeing the region, thinking they might have a better chance if they get to europe. As we know, they face a lot of dangerous when they do that. Europe is trying to convince turkey, lebanon, jordan to keep people in the region. Considering the numbers that are already there, though, is there the possibility we are getting close to a sort of Maximum Capacity . Lebanon has had 1 4 of its population added on top. Turkey, jordan, and lebanon have almost 4 million refugees right now. It is a huge pressure on their resources. Also, because we have geneva convention, the European Countries have to post refugees to host refugees. First, needs are in syria, then neighboring countries, then in europe. Catherine let me ask a question thats not entirely in your sphere. We know the fighting has been continuing. It has been particularly fierce around aleppo. Just yesterday, the effort to get peace talks going were penned put on temporary pause. It seems that piece is quite fough peace is quite far off. How optimistic are you . Frankly, we are not very optimistic at care. We work with countries defined solutions as soon as possible. Thats really urgent countries to find solutions as soon as possible. Thats really urgent. Catherine thank you very much again. Tw israeliow, teenagers who murdered a palestinian boy in 2014 have been handed tenses of life and 21 years sentences of life and 21 years in jail respectively. The murder was one of the things that led up to violence between israel and gaza that summer. The parents are not satisfied with the sentences. Oliver farry has the story. Oliver a small group of palestinians stand beside the jerusalem outside the Jerusalem District court, calling for justice for a boy kidnapped and murdered by two israelis 18 months ago. One was sentenced to life in prison, the other 221 years. Unacceptable save the other to 21 years. Unacceptable, says the family. Im sorry to say that the Israeli Court is playing double standards by dealing with arabs in one way and israelis in a different way. If these murderers were punished by demolishing their homes in the beginning, we could have prevented this. Oliver 16yearold Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and taken to a nearby forest, where he was beaten and burned alive. The familys lawyer intends to take the case further. To ask the court to give the harshest punishment for those killers. We asked them to be charged with life sentences. This is only the first round in a legal battle we are taking here for the family of Mohammed Abu Khdeir in the Israeli Court before we go to the international courts. Oliver Mohammed Abu Khdeir was fored supposedly in revenge the kidnapping and murder of three israeli teenagers whose bodies were found in the west bank three days earlier. Israel accused hamas operatives of being behind the killings and launched an offensive on gaza, in which over 2000 palestinians and 72 israelis were killed. Catherine the United Nations is removing more than 100 peacekeepers from their duties after more allegations members of the force were involved in sexual abuse. Human rights watch revealed allegations earlier today from a 14yearold and an 18yearold that they had been gang raped in Central African republic. The u. N. Commission is launching an inquiry. They have already identified seven more possible victims. The troops are being repatriated and they will be confined to their barracks while they wait to be sent home. Here in france, hundreds of lives have been turned upside down by the ongoing state of emergency. Amnestyhe assessment of international. It has today published a damning verdict on the use of emergency lost since the paris attacks in november. The government confirmed it will ask our limited to extend the state of emergency for another three months. Thomas waterhouse has the story. Thomas upturned lives, thats the title of amnesty internationals latest report on frances state of emergency. Measuresdog claims the are vaguely formulated, providing scope for overbroad theycation, adding that have been used for purposes other than those which were the basis of the declared state of emergency and that they have had a disproportionately negative impact on human rights. The watchdog also found that some of the measures discriminate against specific groups, especially muslims on the grounds of their religion or belief. after novembers after novembers paris attacks, the state of emergency was issued for just 12 days, until it was extended by parliament until the end of this month. Amnesty International Claims over 3000 homes and premises ofteneen searched, without authorities providing the People Living or working there with a clear reason. They spoke to one man who runs a mosque in the north of paris. The search was very violent. For us, it was a desecration. It hurt our feelings and it scared us. They broke the doors, came into the mosque with their shoes on, and through the crown and th rew the quran onto the floor. We recorded between 3000 euros and 4000 euros of damage. And just he has concerns that this has restricted the freedom of movement and private has concernssty that this has restricted the freedom of movement and private ny. Es of ma the National Assembly is set to discuss an extension next week. Now, schools, private businesses, public transport, and normal life in general have been disrupted in greece today. Tens of thousands of people turning out for demonstrations in athens, the main target being pension reforms. The government says payouts of pensions need to be cut as part of austerity measures that have been agreed to form new bailout funds. Reporter fairies, trains, and planes ground to a halt planes, trains, and grounds to a halt. Tens of thousands took part in the countrys third general strike in as many months. The measures they are trying to pass cannot go through. How can people be expected to shoulder this pension burden . Its not possible. Reporter protesters are furious over government plans to lower the maximum pension to 2300 euros, merge pension funds, and introduce a minimum pay of 384 euros. Businesses and employees are furious about plans to increase Social Security contributions. Some weary greek protesters have seen their retirement allowances d 11 times in six years, since austerity measures were imposed in 2010. After 40 years of working, i receive a pension of 740 euros per month. 40 years of working. Thats why the government should be strung up here. Reporter some protesters through threw petrol bombs at police. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras was elected last year on the premise of not getting into creditors and not touching retirement funds. He is facing intense pressure from greek voters over reneging on this key promise, but, at the same time, creditors want the government to save 1. 8 billion euros in order to meet its bailout conditions. The parliament is expected to vote on the reforms later this month. Catherine looking across to germany, twice as many police as normal are on patrol in cologne this thursday as the annual carnival gets underway. Today is the first of six days of revelry in the city. Authorities are keen to show they are taking things are easily after hundreds of complaints of Sexual Assault, taking things seriously after hundreds of complaints of Sexual Assault on new years eve. Reporter the police are leaving nothing to chance this carnival season. More than 2000 Police Officers will be working over the next few days, and shoring not only the safety of partygoers, but also keeping a night out few not only theg safety of partygoers, but keeping an eye out for problems. Some women told us they were concerned about coming to cologne after the attacks in the city on new years eve. Atmosphere here today is the size of the crowd is noticeably smaller than in recent years. There is speculation it may not only be the bad weather dampening it, but some people fearing been put off, repeat attacks. Catherine now, a bit of drama in the arts world, almost worthy of the stage itself. The star director of paris prestigious opera ballet paris prestigious opera ballet has resigned. Said today hepied was quitting to focus 100 on creating. He is due to be replaced later this year by another former dancer. Lepied has only been on the job for a year, making his resignation somewhat of a shock. There have been months of that feelings between the bit the former dancer and opera house. Benjamin millepied it has risen to the top of the dance world like few before him. The son of a dance teacher, he made his mark in america, becoming the principle dancer of the new york city ballet. He became a household name beyond the dance world in 2009 with black swan. A choreographer on the film, he fell in love and later married its star, the Actress Natalie portman. With the spotlight focused on his private life, he was busy behind the scenes, building a dance company, the l. A. Dance project. And as the choreographer of numerous ballets around the world. In october, 2014, he took over the reins of the paris opera ballet. A year into the job, he told was working on reforming the prestigious institution. I long to see it resemble s, that is not elitist, but more diverse. That also means for the company it has to be that way. Year as in just over a head of the paris ballet, he oversaw multiple performances, created a digital platform, and raised considerable funds, but he also faced numerous critics and roadblocks. Just two months before he announced he was leaving the paris ballet, he said, quote, if i cant do it here, i will go elsewhere. Catherine lets give you a reminder of our top stories. 10 billion of aid pledges have been made for syria at todays conference in london. This, amid warnings that continued bombing inside the wartorn country is making the humanitarian crisis worse. Hundreds of extra police are patrolling cologne for the first day of carnival. Authorities are on high alert after hundreds of claims of sex ft inlt, attacks, and the the german city on new years eve. As we have just been reporting, the ballet world is a flutter is aflutter as Benjamin Millepied quits after just one year on the job. Time for business now with kate moody. We are going to take our viewers back to a bit of a shocking instance in france in 2014. It was when employees from their bossres held hostage for more than 24 hours. Emotions have been running high at the company again today. Kate no one has forgotten about that rather shocking incident. Union members have gone on strike to protest the jail sentences that were handed down to those eight former employees who were found guilty of bossnapping. Service hours on two of the ofys services on two the citys main train lines was cut in half. Chanting let our colleagues off, more than 1000 Union Members gathered in solidarity with their eight jailed colleagues. In january, 2014, workers at the Goodyear Tire plant went on strike after the company decided to close its factory. Kidnapped twothen executives and held them hostage for 30 hours. Last month, the french Court Sentenced them to nine months in jail and a further 15 months suspended sentence in what was an unprecedented ruling for a labor dispute. We were all fired. We all lost our jobs. We were having a hard time finding other jobs in these economic times. We want to turn the page without the added weight of eight employees going to jail. Reporter five of the eight men charged were members of frances powerful trade union, including this 1, 1 of the leaders of the goodyear protest. Ive been sentenced. Really, i have been sentenced to act. Everyone feels that way, that we need to change things for ourselves and our children. Reporter thousands have signed a petition asking the court to change the sentence. This could set a precedent for coming trials. Shirtany hr boss had his ripped off last year. Kate more challenges ahead for the euro zone economy. Decrease to the forecast. France is expected to grow at a rate of 1. 5 , while greece will see only a slight dip. Unemployment rates are expected to fall slowly. The eurozone average is likely to stay above 10 . Affairs chiefmic said a number of external factors were largely to blame. We dont have the muska vinci there. Erre moscovici he says that all these factors pose risk to the growth of the euro zone economy. Investors largely shrugged off that forecast during a volatile session on the european markets. That led to a mixed finish. A rally in mining stocks helped put the ftse 100 up. Wall street struggling to turn upwards. The dow added 100 points in midmorning trading. Weaker than expected data Holding Things back a little bit as the number of americans filing for Unemployment Benefits 8000 last week, more than expected. We will be getting monthly figures on friday. Lets take a look at some of the other business headlines. Credit suisse will cut 4000 jobs after reporting pretax losses of 5. 7 billion euros for the last three months of 2015. That is due to the purchase of an Investment Bank back in 2000. Last years net revenue dropped by nearly 1 5. Shares fell to their lowest level in 24 years, losing as much as 13 on thursday. Shell confirmed it is cutting 10,000 jobs because of a slump in oil prices. 2015 profits fell by 80 , the biggest drop in 13 years. The company made 3. 8 billion last year. Shell is the latest of the Major Oil Companies to report big drops in earnings because of that fall in global oil prices. Japanese electronic giant shark is expected to accept a buyout offer giant sharp is expected to accept a buyout offer. It lost more than 900 million in the first in the nine months that ended in december. Protesters gathered outside the signing of the Transpacific Partnership deal this thursday. The massive freetrade agreement , which still needs to be ratified by lawmakers of all 12 are dissipating countries, aims to link about 40 of the Global Economy on either side of the pacific. The tpp has sparked huge controversy. We take a look at the opposition. Signed,troversial pact but not yet sealed or delivered. The Transpacific Partnership will link 12 countries to boost business and growth, but opponents have highlighted its corporate agenda. [inaudible] whether they are signing up here or somewhere else, there are thousands of us out here. Reporter the u. S. Led Initiative Aims to denver influence from china, which, notably, is not included in the influencems to divert from china, which, notably, is not included in the pact. Opponents say the agreement outlines loopholes in labor laws and rewards outsourcing, which could lead to job losses and lower wages. Others are worried the tpp will affect access to affordable medicine. Forces equal pricing, pharmaceutical Companies May be forced to drive up prices. There is anger between about the secretive nation secretive nature of the discussions behind the deal. The transatlantic freetrade agreement could bring benefit of up to 100 billion to the United States and european union, but still has hurdles to overcome. Refusedrtin shkreli has to answer questions from a u. S. Congressional panel that is investigating huge price hikes at his formal former pharmaceutical company. He laughed and played the fifth the fifth and pled amendment. Take a listen. Thatat do you say to single pregnant woman who might have aids, no income . Prim in orderara to survive. What do you say to her when she has to make that choice . On t 02 04 16 02 04 16 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from pacifica, this is democracy now the bbc is reporting a United Nations panel has ruled in favor of wikileaks founder Julian Assange who says he has been arbitrarily detained in the past 3. 5 years. He has taken asylum in the ecuadoran embassy. We will speak with one of his lawyers, jen robinson. Then the transpacific