26/01/2014 BBC Weekend News

There's been significant progress and the peace talks on Syria. It's

been agreed some in the battered city of Homs, will be allowed to

leave tomorrow. Women and children in the besieged area in the old city

are welcome to leave immediately. Opposition groups are yet to respond

to the offer. The other main stories, Ed Balls defends Labour's

plans to increase the top rate of tax to 50p The Shadow Chancellor

denies the move is anti-business, following accusations it will deter

investment in Britain. Pro-business, pro-investment, but

pro-fairness. Let's get the deficit down in a fairer way. It is great

politics but lousy economics because it does not work. In Ukraine,

thousands of people pay tribute to a man killed during clashes with

police,as protests build around the country And did Chelsea do enough to

progress to the next round of the FA Cup? Oscar shoots! He finds the

corner. What a stunning goal. At the Syria peace talks in Geneva,

there's been significant progress on the humanitarian situation in the

country. In the last hour, the United Nations Special Envoy

announced the Assad regime has agreed women and children can leave

the war torn city of Homs immediately. Our Diplomatic

Correspondent Bridget Kendall has the latest from Geneva.

War-torn ruins in Homs today in this amateur video. Hundreds are trapped

in rebel held enclaves in the city am a besieged by government forces.

Desperately hoping that peace talks might secure safe passage for a UN

aid convoy. TRANSLATION: We want to Geneva to break the siege and make

us safe roads to get out of here. You need an operation on my leg. --

I need and operation. We fill our stomachs with stones. We do not want

food or water any more. We are worried about the wounded people.

The opposition say that their fighters would observe a cease-fire

and at the end of the two of the Geneva talks, what sounds like

encouraging news. Women and children in the besieged area in the old city

are welcome to leave immediately. And the other civilians are also

welcome to leave but the government needs a list of their names first.

Also on the agenda today, the thousands of people in Syria in

prisons, kidnapped or missing. The government delegation has asked the

opposition for a list of those they are holding. The opposition asks the

same thing. We will see today, with the help of the United Nations, if

we can release the prisoners in the jails of President Assad, tens and

thousands of them being tortured systematically, many of them are

women and children, dying under torture. An imposing venue for

talks, which once housed the league of Nations. It is too early for

these talks to make history. There have been peace negotiations

in this building for decades but this time it is unclear whether the

two sides have got past the first hurdle and are really prepared to

engage in dialogue. So far, even when they are in the same room, they

are trading accusations and talking past each other.

Despite today's hopeful sign from Homs, it is unclear what will happen

when the rival delegations meet tomorrow to discuss the contents is

question of transferring power in Syria. A subject on which they have

very different views. The Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has

insisted that Labour is pro-business, after criticism of his

party's plans to increase the top rate of income tax to 50p in the

pound. Some industry leaders have suggested the policy could

jeopardise the economic recovery. And today a former Labour Trade

minister dismissed the plan as "lousy economics." Our Political

Correspondent, Ross Hawkins, is at Westminster.

A 50p top rate of tax, a way to make dealing with the deficit fairer. Or,

as one former Labour minister says, lousy economics. It might play to

socialism and tribalism and if you are in a zero hours contract on the

men and wage, it is going to be very attractive indeed. -- the minimum

wage. But the economics are that it does not actually raise the money

that people hope. Ed Balls does not accept that. Digby Jones was never a

Labour member. The party says it is not going into battle with business.

It is not anti-business. It is anti business as usual. When we have such

a big deficit and such a problem with the cost of living. What impact

would be 50p rate have on the deficit? When the rate was cut from

50p, it meant ?100 million less money for the Chancellor, according

to an estimate that the independent office for budget responsibility

says was reasonable. But they also say that there were uncertainties

about the sums because there is no way of knowing how taxpayers will

react. When Labour said they would bring in the 50p rate, people

arrange to have an estimated 16 billion pounds of income paid early

to avoid paying the tax. Labour think that a 50p rate now might

raise more than expected because top ratepayers paid more than was first

thought when it was in place. And the Chancellor who put the tax up

last time says that doing it again make sense. Ed Balls is right. This

is the last full year before the election. It is right to lay out a

proposal immolation to deficit reduction. One poll suggests that

voters like be 50p idea but in Leeds, mixed views. I'd pay 40% tax

and I am just a welder. Why should they not get higher tax on higher

earnings? I agree that it is right that people who make more pay more.

In France, they tend to move abroad so they pay no revenue. I don't

know. In the 90s, Labour would the city. Not any more, says the

Tories. Ed Balls is sending the signal that if this was a Labour

government, we would go back to high spending and high borrowing. That is

an anti-business, anti-job creation agenda.

Those are the opening shots of a fight over a 50p rate that is

starting now and will not finish any time before the general election.

And a key question tonight, our labour worried about the business

critics? Rachel Reeves has told five live this evening that some of those

critics are not representative of the business community. Labour will

live with this but the question is, will that concern voters or impress

them? In Ukraine, thousands of people in

the capital Kiev have been holding prayers for a 25-year-old man,

killed during the on-going violence between police and anti-government

protesters. In other parts of the country,it's being reported

thousands of people have besieged government buildings and clashed

with the security forces.Our correspondent in Kiev, Steve

Rosenberg, has the latest. This report contains flash photography.

In Kiev, they paused their protest. To honour the dead. The dead man was

one of two protesters who died on Wednesday from gunshot woodlands. As

his coffin passed through Independence Square, the crowds

shouted, revenge. Ukrainians are praying that there will be no more

victims. But there has been more violence. During the night,

protesters the siege and exhibition centre near Independence Square.

They had received information that 200 police officers were stationed

inside. They used fireworks and rocks to break-in. The police

retreated. Later, citizens streamed into the captured building. The only

exhibition on today was a display of people power. TRANSLATION: We wanted

a new government. One that will care about the people. President

Yanukovych has offered concessions to his opponents. He has offered to

make one of the leaders of the opposition Prime Minister. But these

protesters do not trust him and they are continuing to take power into

their own hands. Earlier this week, men in masks

occupied the agriculture ministry. And briefly, the Ministry for

energy. The minister there told me that the intruders were terrorists.

TRANSLATION: I'll meeting orders from the President, not from the

street. -- I only take orders. And the armrest is spreading with town

halls and governors offices being attacked and seized in many parts of

Ukraine. One of the biggest countries in Europe is in a state of

siege. Some customers of the Lloyds Halifax

and TSB banks have been unable to use their debit card this afternoon.

Our business correspondent Joe Lynam is here. Joe, what do we know? We

remember the technical glitches that affected NatWest last year. Now it

seems that many thousands can use -- cannot use their debit cards. The

company says they can use online services, and the Chief Executive

has tweeted this evening saying that he is apologising to TSB customers.

He says he is working hard with his team right now and he's coming into

the office to do exactly that. Selling electronic cigarettes to

anyone under 18 is to be outlawed in England.

Ministers are also going to make it illegal for adults to buy cigarettes

to pass on to children. Daniel Boettcher reports.

Alec Tronic cigarettes are growing in a polarity, designed to help

people stop smoking traditional cigarettes. -- electronic

cigarettes. But most contain nicotine, although not Tobacco.

Health professionals argued that there has not yet been enough

research into the long-term effects on the government is now changing

the law so that in England they cannot be sold to underrate teens.

The change has been broadly welcomed. Tobacco products are

already banned from sale to those under 18. E-cigarette is should be

considered in the same legislation. -- e-cigarettes. The electronic

cigarette industry welcomes the change, saying that manufacturers

have been clearer that the products are not for underrate teens. Jodie

and her friend are over 18 and buying their first e-cigarettes in

Leeds. He thinks that the iconic devices should be available to young

people trying to wean themselves off tobacco. If you are already smoking

at a young age, then it would be better to be weaned off at a young

age. But if you do not smoke and you are buying one, it is pointless. At

the same time, tighter restrictions are being brought in to ban adults

from buying conventional cigarettes for children. At the moment, shops

selling cigarettes to anyone under 18 can be prosecuted but adults

buying one on behalf of a child cannot. It has long been argued that

the rules for tobacco sales should be brought in line with those for

alcohol. But campaigners say that while they support the receptions,

they may be difficult to apply. We know that adults buying cigarettes

to give to children is a major source of supply to underage

smokers. It would be a good idea to do something about that and we

support the move in principle but the problem is that you need to make

sure that it is enforced. Similar restrictions are already in place in

Scotland where the law was changed in 2011.

Now, with all the sport, here's Olly Foster at the BBC Sport Centre.

Many thanks, Clive. The Fourth Round of the FA Cup has passed without any

major surprises this weekend. Chelsea beat Stoke 1-nil at Stamford

Bridge to reach the last sixteen. League One Sheffield United are

still in the Cup after they forced a replay against Fulham. Emily Croydon

reports. Sheffield United already had one

Premier League scalp to their name after beating Aston Villa in the

last round. Plenty for the Premier League strugglers, Fulham, to fear

in the awful conditions. United looked confident and took a

first-half lead. Chris Porter got the finish. But they made things

harder for themselves when the captain was dismissed for this off

the ball challenge. The ten men resisted well but could not hold

out. Hugo Roddy Eger salvaged a replay for Fulham. -- Rodillega.

There was a birthday gift for Stoke. Oscar made this stunning free

kick, showing why Juan Mata was allowed to leave the club. But a

second goal just would not come for the home side. It did not spoil Jose

Mourinho's day. A place in the fifth round was his perfect present.

The draw for the fifth round has just been made. Chelsea will be at

Manchester City. Arsenal have been drawn at home to Liverpool. Full

details on the BBC sport website. Celtic have stretched their lead to

15 points in the Scottish Premiership after beating Hibernian

4-0 at Easter Road. Kris Commons scored twice but Virgil

van Dirk's brilliant free kick was the pick of the goals. That's

Celtic's 11th straight league win. It's been a bad day for England's

cricketers in Australia. They have lost the one-day series 4-1, beaten

by five runs. They restricted Australia to 217 49. They appeared

on course to victory but collapsed and were all out for 212. Alistair

Cooke's one-day future is also in doubt as he revealed he will sit out

next month, at the West Indies tour. Stanislas Wawrinka is the new

Australian open Champion. He beat Rafael Nadal in four sets to

claim his first major title, although Nadal, the World Number one

,was hampered by a back problem. Alex South reports from Melbourne.

Rafa Nadal's Australian open win was supposed to be a formality. But with

the Swiss star as reliable as his country's clocks, he shocked

everyone. For fans of the Spaniard, it was painful to watch and then

painful for Nadal to play. Medical time-outs to not go down well with

the crowd or the brink. It was soon clear that he was in trouble. --

Wawrinka. Pride seems to keep Nadal going, or was it the power of

painkillers? Somehow, he launched an unlikely comeback. If Nadal was

physically at 50%, Stanislav Dyfrig Owen was about the same mentally.

But the mind unscrambled enough to make a decisive break and put Nadal

out of his misery. That is not the way want to win the match but it is

the final. At the end, eye one in four sets and I think I've finished

to get the win, and that is amazing. -- I want in four sets. An

extraordinary win for Wawrinka in one of the strangest matches you

have ever seen. And that is all the