At Least Three Dead In French Alps Avalanche
GORANI: A look at our top stories. A British investigation concludes that President Vladimir Putin "probably approved" the 2006 operation to poison a former Russian spy.</s>GORANI: Alexander Litvinenko was a former Russian security agent who came to Britain in 2000 after becoming a whistleblower on the SFB.</s>GORANI: Markets in the United States are set to close in the next half hour.</s>GORANI: . Here's a look at the Dow now and we're seeing a rebound thankfully on this Thursday. Here's a look at the Dow up eight tenths of a percent.</s>GORANI: Now to a breaking story in the capital of Somalia that armed militants have attacked a beachfront hotel in Mogadishu.</s>GORANI: Somalia special forces are battling them right now at a hotel and restaurant complex. It's not known if there are any casualties. At least some of the attackers arrived by boat. We will keep our eye on this developing story.</s>GORANI: Europe is grappling with an unprecedented migrant crisis, desperate people resorting to very desperate measures to just make it to safety. Norway now is coming under some criticism because it is starting to deport some asylum seekers who made it into the country.</s>GORANI: More than 5,000 have crossed into Norway at this remote northern border point. Now Norwegian officials have begun busing asylum seekers back out, a move that human rights groups are condemning. You might remember CNN's Arwa Damon report from that region back in October. Take a look.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Struggling to pedal on the fresh snow the first asylum seekers to arrive on this day braved the bitter cold. Cycling the last few hundred meters. Though some don't even bother to try. Russia only allows vehicles, which includes bicycles to cross at this border into Norway. We can easily see the Russian border crossing from here but we've been asked not to film it because of sensitivities on the Russian side. The group of asylum seekers we just saw crossing are being processed.</s>GORANI: Well, there you have it. Norway's immigration minister says all the refugees using the arctic route had valid Russian visas so they should go back to Russia. Let's bring in our next guest. Borge Brende is the Foreign Minister of Norway. He joins me now live from Davos, Switzerland. I know you were chairing a panel on Syria designed to provide education for Syrian refugees in the region. But first, I need to ask you a little bit about this decision by Norway to deport some of these refugees who made it across the border from Russia on these bicycles. Why not keep them in Norway? They've fled violence and war. What's the problem with allowing them to get the kind of protection that Norway can provide?</s>BORGE BRENDE, FOREIGN MINISTER, NORWAY: So, thank you for raising that question. We only will refer people that have also lived in Russia before. We have to make a priority of those that really need protection Norway. We are increasing the amount of asylum seeking refugees that we take through UNHCR.</s>BRENDE: And we are one of the countries that are really opening up the last year. But people that are in no need of protection and that have lived in Russia, Russia has to take care of.</s>GORANI: So you're saying that only asylum seekers who have lived before in Russia and made their way to Norway, only those will be deported back to Russia? Just so I'm clear.</s>BRENDE: Yes. And those that have valid visa in Russia, that Russia has given a visa to. Of course, Russia is obliged to take care of these. Thousands of asylum seekers coming over the border to Norway through Russia, we will of course look at their application and if they are in a need of protection, they will get protection in Norway. If not, of course they will be returned as others that are in no need of protection. We have to make a priority of those, for example, from Syria, that are fleeing and need protection.</s>GORANI: But some asylum seekers say they have Russian visas but that they expire in three days. Won't be able to stay legally in Russia. They are also saying it's minus 31 degrees Celsius over there where they'll be bused an dropped on the other way of the border and that Norway is being inhuman in this case.</s>BRENDE: That's very unfair. As I said, we are receiving a lot of asylum seekers. It is also cold in Norway. It's cold in Russia.</s>BRENDE: But Russia is a middle income country it's the G-8 economy. Of course Russia has also responsibility to take care of those who have given visa to come to Russia. We cannot advocate - and we are granting visas and asylum in Norway for hundreds of thousands of people that are coming from Russia with legal status there.</s>BRENDE: We have no chance to give protection to those that really have protection, so Norway is doing our job. Russia needs to do its job.</s>GORANI: So you think that all of these people that will be sent back, they will be -- you're confident that Russia will take care of them properly?</s>BRENDE: Russia is obliged to take care of those that they have given visas. These are, for example, people coming into Russia from Afghanistan, Pakistan. They cannot enter Russia without a visa. Maybe they have worked in Russia for some time. You know, we cannot take all of these asylum seekers in Norway if they are in no need of protection. I think that is very fair, is very reasonable, and if we did so we could receive less, the real need of protection that is fleeing from wars and possible very, very difficult situations.</s>GORANI: So today in Davos you chaired a panel and a discussion including, by the way, Gordon Brown, the former U.K. Prime Minister who is also in Davos, about providing access to education for Syrian refugees, specifically. What were the ideas that you think would be workable ideas to get more Syrian children access to education?</s>BRENDE: We have to step up the support to Syria, the humanitarian support to the neighboring countries. There are now 2.8 million Syrian children out of school. So we're losing a whole generation. And that's why the London conference the 4th of February, this (donor conference) will be so important. We have to double our effort.</s>BRENDE: The U.N. is totally underfinanced when it comes to the support to Lebanon, Jordan, and also to Syria.</s>GORANI: I'm curious because of the lack of opportunity for Syrians and other refugees in the region, a lot of them are coming to Europe. We've seen so many refugees come here. Some very high level officials say they don't believe the passport free zone known as Schengen that your country is a part of can even survive. That in the next few months it might even -- we're already seeing border controls come up between Schengen country. Do you think Schengen can survive?</s>BRENDE: I hope so. The open borders inside E.U., European Union, and Europe is a good thing.</s>BRENDE: But with the migration crisis we're facing now, we need a political solution in Syria. 4 million people have left Syria but there are still 18 million people inside Syria. So if we are not successful in finding an agreement on an inclusive government in Damascus, including all the group, this war will continue, more people will leave. Syria is going to be an additional burden on neighboring countries like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. And of course they will try to also reach Europe. There are limitations for all this country so it's even more imperative than ever to now find a political solution to this crisis war that has gone on for five years.</s>GORANI: All right. The Norwegian Foreign Minister joining us from Davos, Borge Brende, thanks very much for being with us. We really appreciate your time, have a good evening. And don't forget for our viewers, you can get all the latest news, interviews and analysis on our facebook page, facebook.com/halagoranicnn.com. More now on one of our top stories. The U.K. inquiry that found Russian President Vladimir Putin "probably approved" the killing of a former spy named Alexander Litvinenko. He died mysteriously almost ten years ago right here in London. Since then his widow has lobbied tirelessly for justice. Nic Robertson sat down with Marina Litvinenko.</s>MARINA LITVINENKO: It was a difficult day. They just received this report for public. And a lot of comments and we are still just absorb all of this information.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What they've done is freeze the assets of Lugovoi and his associate, what they've done is called the Russian ambassador in to question him about what's happened. Is that a strong enough response?</s>LITVINENKO: I don't think it's strong enough. They had some kind of reaction back in 2007 but we haven't received any cooperation of Russian authorities to investigate this case. Even more, when we received this chance to bring all evidence to public inquiries, they just tried to ignore everything what was said here. And even now all of this reaction from Russia just like it's nothing what you have to talk about. And I believe action from British government has to be more stronger.</s>GORANI: All right. There you have it, Marina Litvinenko, the widow of Alexander Litvinenko reacting today. This the "The Word Right Now."</s>GORANI: If you're planning to travel to the United States on a visa waiver program and you happen to be a dual national of Iran, Iraq, or Sudan, you might have to make some big changes to your travel plans. Find out what they are in a few minutes.