27/03/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

A suicide attack kills more than 60 people near a children's

The Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility.

Far-right protestors storm a square in Brussels dedicated to the victims

Syria says its forces have recaptured the city of Palmyra -

famous for its ancient ruins - from so-called Islamic State.

Also coming up - Dublin marks the one hundredth anniversary

And in one of the highlights of the British sporting calendar, Cambridge

beat Oxford for the first time in four years in the men's Boat Race.

More than sixty people have been killed and hundreds injured

by a suicide attack at a busy park in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Police say a suicide bomber detonated explosives close

to a children's playground, some families were celebrating

Many of the victims are women and children.

A state of emergency has been declared at all major hospitals

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility.

Here's our correspondent Shaimaa Khalil who is in Lahore.

A senior police official has told us that this appears to be a suicide

bombing, a man has detonated explosives in the middle

In. It is a popular bar. It would have been crowded. It is a

residential area. It is very near a playground. -- it is a popular park.

People talked about horrific scenes, pools of blood in the park,

scattered body parts, bodies were being collected by rescue workers.

Quite consistently we have been hearing sirens as ambulances have

been rushing to the scenes, trying to get casualties to hospitals. A

state of emergency has been declared in the hospitals in Lahore. Families

rush to these hospitals trying to find their loved ones and find out

what has happened to them. This is Easter Sunday. We understand that

many Christian families would be out and about celebrating. We were just

out on the streets driving around. It was very busy. This is just

speculation that this could be targeting the Christian community.

Another speculation connects this attack to the man who was the former

police guard who killed the governor of Punjab because he spoke out

against blasphemy law. He was hanged 40 days ago. Today is the

commemoration, the 40 day commemoration, of his death.

Police in Belgium have carried out 13 separate anti-terror raids,

in the hunt for more suspects after last week's

Also riot police used water cannon at far right protestors in a Square

Some confronted Muslim women, paying their respects to 31 killed.

Our Europe Correspondent Damian Grammaticas reports.

Belgians of all creeds and colours, Muslims, Christians,

Jewish and more, they all came together today.

They had been told not to march so they gathered quietly.

Suddenly, the serenity was shattered.

Far right thugs seizing the opportunity.

A couple of hundred had come from outside Brussels

to spread their anti-immigrant message.

This man tried to stop them trampling the memorial.

Officers here are overstretched already by the terror alerts.

When the riot squad moved in and there were cheers.

I am really shocked. It is a place of mourning and showing respect. I

suspect they are football hooligans. They don't have to show up here.

Calm has returned here and people are actually

restoring the tributes they had left here which were damaged.

The scenes we saw here were exactly what the Belgian

An increase in tensions following the attack.

In Brussels Cathedral, they paused, as well.

The city's Archbishop said that the attacks

TRANSLATION: They attacked the very foundations of our society,

Across the continent in Italy, another arrest.

An Algerian man accused of providing false

identity papers for the Brussels and Paris attackers.

The far right thugs gone, Belgians formed a human

chain to show that they stand together against both fear

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the recapture of Palmyra

by Syrian government forces shows the success of the army's strategy

seized the ancient city in May last year -

drawing international outrage when it destroyed ancient

The three-week battle for Palmyra appears to be all but over.

Syrian state television and other local channels have been showing

soldiers patrolling the streets of the modern city today.

As with other IS-held towns, progress is cautious,

navigating the bombs and booby-traps the jihadists have left behind.

It's not only a major strategic victory, but also a big propaganda

coup for the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his Russian backers.

Mr Assad was quoted on state TV as telling a visiting French

delegation that the recapture of Palmyra showed the success

of the strategy pursued by the Syrian army and its allies

World attention was focused on Palmyra for one reason -

the fabled ruins of a 2,000-year-old city on its outskirts.

The colonnades and columns are still standing, but no one yet

knows how much damage IS has done since it seized control

The jihadists taunted world opinion by carrying out and filming a mass

killing in the Roman theatre, and the destruction

For IS, the loss of Palmyra follows that of one of its main strongholds

It's yet another big blow to the jihadists' aura

Well let's get more - we can speak to Diana Darke

Palmyra, historically important, but strategically important, as well.

That's right. Across the ages it has always been in this strategic

location on a desert oasis. The largest oasis in Syria. Halfway

between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates valley. Weather controls

that strategic crossroads can control is so much of the country.

-- whether controls. The Isis strongholds are in the east. So

Palmyra opens the road up to that. You have visited Palmyra. How have

you experienced the city? I have been many times. Since the 70s I

have been going. Before the revolution began five years ago

Palmyra was the crown jewel of Syria's tourism industry. It had a

bigger concentration of hotels there than anywhere outside Damascus. It

is very important to the future economy of Syria. To rebuild it and

come you know, it is a massive propaganda coup, however you look at

it, whatever your view is on how President Assad lost it. This timing

is fitting his narrative. The perception is he is the good guy,

bringing back the crown jewel of Syria to the Syrian people. As you

point out, it is good PR for President Assad. Does this shore up

his position now? It is bound to, inevitably. The timing is spot on

for him. The Russians were helping him to secure his position by

bombing the moderate opposition up in Adan and the Northern areas. Now

with the ceasefire that has been agreed, the Russians are not allowed

to do that any more, but they can now with the eyes of the world upon

them focus entirely on Isis. Moderate opposition up in --

moderate opposition up in Idlib. The timing now is absolutely spot on for

them. Thank you very much for being with us.

Religious and political leaders have used their Easter messages to call

for hope, in the face of terror and violence.

In Rome, Pope Francis said people shouldn't let fear imprison them,

a thought echoed in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury,

And David Cameron says the UK should stand together,

Here's our Religious Affairs Correspondent,

On a square bathed in sunshine, the pilgrims gathered to hear

a message of hope after a week in the shadow of death.

At this, the Easter celebration of the risen Christ,

Pope Francis reminded the faithful not to forget the migrants,

the men, women and children fleeing from war.

Then, from the balcony, he urged the faithful to use

the weapon of love, as Christ did, and fight the evil of terrorism,

TRANSLATION: May he draw us closer on this Easter feast

to the victims of terrorism, that blind and brutal form

of violence which continues to shed blood in different

It was a theme echoed by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby said that after Brussels, hope could seem far

away, with fear and natural human reaction.

But, he told worshippers, Jesus Christ overcame death,

Easter proclaims to us in flesh and blood that fear and death

God has spoken life, hope and purpose.

The Royal family attended their Easter service

at Saint George's Chapel in Windsor, with an Easter bouquet for the Queen

Stay with us on BBC World News, still to come:

The 100th anniversary of the Easter rising. It has been commemorated

with the largest public event in the country's history.

The bodies of three people have been found at a house in Leeds.

They are believed to be those of two women and a man.

Police said there had been a small fire at the property.

East Park Street in Leeds where the bodies of a man and two

Emergency services arrived here, there had been a fire

in the property behind me, it is understood

there were no signs of violence in the house but police have

stressed enquiries are at a very early stage.

The fire is thought to have started in the living room and later burnt

out, police believe the three people may

have died in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Detectives don't yet know exactly what happened that night.

Forensic postmortems will take place to determine how the people

died and West Yorkshire Police is asking anyone with information

A bomb blast in a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore has

killed at least 50 people and wounded many more.

Far-right protestors have stormed a square in Brussels where people

have been paying their respects to the victims of last

Hundreds of thousands of people have lined the streets in Dublin to watch

commemorations marking the centenary of the Easter Rising.

The failed rebellion against British rule left almost 500 people dead,

but is seen as key stepping stone - to the creation of the Republic of

Our Ireland Correspondent Chris Buckler reports.

In 1916, O'Connell Street was at the centre of conflict.

100 years later, it has become the focal point

for the commemorations, a place to remember the Rising.

Its leaders made Dublin's General Post Office its military

It was here they declared a rebellion, a republic and the end

of British rule with these words, the proclamation.

We hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a sovereign independent

And we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades

Today people lined the streets of Dublin for a parade that passed

some of the sites where there was battle, honouring those who died

during six days when the city was engulfed in chaos.

By the time the revolt was defeated, much of Dublin was destroyed.

But just years later, a republic did emerge.

In part, that was as a result of the execution of some

of the Rising's leaders at Kilmainham Gaol.

We cherish, 100 years later, the principles and ideals contained

in our proclamation for which they fought.

Among those remembering the events of 1916, relatives of those who took

The century since has seen the city change and the birth

Our correspondent Nuala McGovern is in Dublin where commemorations

In the rebellion took place here in the GPO 100 years ago. I won't

introduce you to my guest John Connelly, the youngest grandson of

James Connolly, one of the signatories, one of the seven, on

the proclamation that declared an Irish state. Just a few steps away

from where we are now. Absolutely, just up the road. Tell us about your

grandfather and how he changed probably the tide of history in

Ireland after he was captured. My grandfather was a general at the

Dublin forces in GPO. After he got wounded he was taken not to Dublin

Castle. He was taken to a hospital. Then after he was taken away. This

was one of the turning moment in world opinion for the sympathies to

go with the rebels and the fighters. Whereas a week before they were all

being castigated. With that it has to be said that that moment has been

dramatised. It is something people find incredibly poignant, the death

of James Connolly. What about all of the people who came out today. They

say a quarter of a million people lined the streets, something your

grandfather stalked -- started. Thank you to everyone for coming

out. It was great. The Army did its duty well. They performed admirably

as they always do. What is next? They want people to reflect and

reimagine. Is there a lot of work to be done to reach the goals of

proclamation? Of course. Democracy is a work in progress. You have to

go step-by-step, step-by-step. We will get there eventually. Denied

you are going to Dublin Castle, also up the road, the seat of British

rule at one point, but tonight? It is the seat of Irish rule. And you

will? Be there. And it is a state function for the descendants of...?

Yes. Thank you. One of the grandsons of James Connolly. One of the

signatories who took part 100 years ago. Ireland will continue to

commemorate this moment in the days and weeks to come.

India are through to the semifinals of the world the 20 cricket. The

hosts produced a late surge of runs to beat Australia by six wickets.

Skipper Virat Kohli finished unbeaten. India chased down

Australia's total of 260-6 with five balls to spare. Our correspondent is

in India. Can one man and one cricket bat lift

the nation of 1.3 billion? Answer is, if it is Virat Kohli definitely

yes. You may get a sense of the fireworks going off around Delhi

this evening. They are all for Virat Kohli. India's progress has had this

country transfixed with cricket, even more than normal. India were

outplayed in their first game, beaten by New Zealand. Then all the

tension from the game against Pakistan. Against Bangladesh they

had somehow lost but somehow came back to win. And now this

performance against Australia. The semifinal is also a dream scenario

for the organisers. The only other team which attracts crowds to

anything like the same level as India is the West Indies. Especially

when Chris Cairns is playing. Virat Kohli against Chris Gayle, I am sure

that is the way the media will sell that match if it needed selling. --

Chris Dale is playing. One philosophy which I think will exist

throughout India, when it comes to the final the T20, just set India

any target, if Virat Kohli is at the crease they can chase it down.

The semifinals take place in Mumbai on Thursday.

England's women set up a semifinal with Australia at the women's T20

after finishing at the top of their group. England made 148-5 and

Pakistan were bowled out for just 80 with 13 balls to spare. West Indies

women secured their place in the semifinals, beating India in a tight

game. The home side falling just three runs short of their target. It

is Australia against England in Delhi on Wednesday. The second

semifinal between New Zealand and the West Indies takes place on

Thursday in Mumbai. The annual Oxford Cambridge boat race has taken

place. The first was held in 1829, it has been held annually since

1856. Cambridge, the heavy abode in both races, won the men's. But for

the women's eight nearly meant they went underwater.

It seemed anyone watching, never mind taking

part in the boat race, would need oil skins and an anchor.

By the time the women's race started in its

second year on the famous course the skies were clear.

But the wind kept the water turbulence.

In such conditions it is about plotting

-- a path as much as producing power.

Oxford headed for the safe shallows, Cambridge almost succumbed

By the time Oxford crossed the line for a fourth straight win,

Cambridge were more concerned with staying afloat.

The men could use that as a cautionary tale for their race.

Cambridge have lost the last three so made their move over

At times it became about hanging on and hoping.

These are not waters to keep chasing.

Oxford fought their bodies and the waters to keep in touch.

It is a feeling like nothing I've experienced before.

These were the boat races when the river fought back.

To all crews credit, there were no sinkings,

but tradition has it that not everyone can stay out of the Thames.

That is all of your sport for now. Thank you very much. Let's go back

to that victory by India in the world 2020 semifinals after they

knocked out Australia. -- the world T20.

A great victory for India, especially given the fact it has

been played on Indian soil. Yes, that's right. You join me in a

GB did and somewhat relieved Delhi. It is always said that cricket is a

religion here. -- in the capital, fans are, as you can

imagine, packed around TV sets, moved by the drama unfolding on the

pitch. They had an extra interest because it was a local boy Virat

Kohli, who we heard was the star of the show tonight, he was born and

raised here in Delhi. He once again proved India's here on the pitch by

backing up that unbeaten 80 runs leading India to the victory and a

place in the semifinals. We were looking at some of the

reaction by Indian fans. What has been the mood there?

As you would expect, the mood was nervous early in the evening. India

went into this tournament as favourites but hadn't really found

their gear in the tournament up until now. As a result, it got more

and more clear India would do this, they were safe and in the

semifinals. It became very excitable. Delhi is never quite at

the best of times, but it was particularly noisy. We had a routing

of horns, cheering fans and even if you fireworks. I think these were

probably seems echoed right across the country.

Have they got a chance of winning this?

Chances of winning? Well, they face the West Indies next in the

semifinal on Thursday. The West Indies suffered a shock against

Afghanistan. West Indies fans thought it would be theirs for the

taking. There is a cent in India that maybe, whisper it quietly,

India could be peaking just at the right time to do this. Take this

title in front of their home fans. Imagine what the reaction would be

if that happened. -- there is a sense in India.

Thanks very much. A bomb blast in a crowded park in

the Pakistani city of Lahore has killed at least 60 people and

wounded many more. The explosion took place in an area popular with

families. It is thought it may be targeting Christians celebrating

Easter. The Pakistan president has strongly condemned the act of

terrorism and has said that such cowardly acts could not shake the

nation's resolve against the menace of extremism and terrorism. That is

it from me. Thank you very much for being with us.