:00:12. > :00:16.Hi, guys, Ayshah here with news of Murray's worries down under on the
:00:17. > :00:20.way. Plus, the amazing story of the winter Olympian forced to walk on
:00:21. > :00:23.her hands until she was six. This is Newsround. First, peace talks aimed
:00:24. > :00:27.at ending three years of war in Syria have started today. They'll
:00:28. > :00:29.bring the country's government and the opposition they're fighting
:00:30. > :00:33.against face-to-face for the first time. But already there've been
:00:34. > :00:36.angry scenes with representatives of both sides blaming the other for
:00:37. > :00:39.what's going on. I've been looking into whether these talks have any
:00:40. > :00:44.chance of bringing real peace to the country. Three years since it
:00:45. > :00:49.started, the war in Syria has devastated lives and landscapes.
:00:50. > :00:53.Almost 2.5 million people have fled the country, including more than a
:00:54. > :00:58.million children. And it's claimed the lives of more than 100,000
:00:59. > :01:00.others. It started when people began protesting against the way the
:01:01. > :01:05.country's president, Bashar Al-Assad, was running things. His
:01:06. > :01:12.family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years and people have never been
:01:13. > :01:15.able to vote him in or out. His army forces reacted violently to try and
:01:16. > :01:20.stop the protests and the rebels fought back. The battles have been
:01:21. > :01:28.raging ever since, and have seen many of Syria's towns and cities go
:01:29. > :01:31.from this... To this. Now, after lots of negotiating, the two sides
:01:32. > :01:34.have been brought together for the first time, here at a special
:01:35. > :01:43.meeting in Switzerland, organised by the United Nations. The fact that
:01:44. > :01:46.these peace talks are taking place is hugely important. It's the first
:01:47. > :01:48.time the government and the opposition have met face-to-face
:01:49. > :01:52.since the conflict began. Alongside Syria, 30 other countries are also
:01:53. > :01:56.at the talks, all hoping to have a say on Syria's future. But will
:01:57. > :02:04.these talks lead to any kind of peace in Syria? The opposition wants
:02:05. > :02:08.Syria's President Assad to leave power. The government doesn't want
:02:09. > :02:12.to discuss that at all. So everybody here is saying these negotiations
:02:13. > :02:16.will be slow and difficult. There's no quick fix. But for the real
:02:17. > :02:19.victims of Syria's walk, and especially for all those children, a
:02:20. > :02:23.simple cease-fire would be at a start. The peace talks are planned
:02:24. > :02:26.to carry on in Switzerland until Friday. But back in Syria, ordinary
:02:27. > :02:31.people wait, and the fighting continues. And you can check out
:02:32. > :02:41.loads more about what's going on in Syria over on the Newsround website.
:02:42. > :02:46.In other news, America is in the grip of another big freeze. New York
:02:47. > :02:49.City has had up to 12 inches of snow and Washington is expecting its
:02:50. > :02:52.heaviest snow fall in three years. It's just two weeks since the polar
:02:53. > :02:55.vortex caused freezing temperatures in the same areas. Andy Murray's
:02:56. > :02:58.hopes of winning the Australian Open are over. He lost his quarterfinal
:02:59. > :03:02.with Roger Federer in four sets, despite a brief comeback in the
:03:03. > :03:10.third. Federer will now play Rafa Nadal in the semis. Meanwhile, Team
:03:11. > :03:14.GB has named their biggest Winter Olympic squad in a quarter of a
:03:15. > :03:16.century for the Sochi games in Russia next month. There's a record
:03:17. > :03:19.19 skiers and snowboarders, including freestyle silver medallist
:03:20. > :03:28.James Woods. Former Olympic sprinter Craig Pickering has also been picked
:03:29. > :03:31.for the bobsleigh crew. And the Sochi Paralympics are likely to
:03:32. > :03:35.feature one of the most inspiring athletes the world has ever seen.
:03:36. > :03:38.Tatyana McFadden may not be a name you've heard before but I promise
:03:39. > :03:41.you, her story's one you're unlikely to forget. Like thousands of other
:03:42. > :03:45.winter Olympic hopefuls Tatyana McFadden is training hard. But her
:03:46. > :03:49.base in Utah in America is a long way from where it all started. Born
:03:50. > :03:53.in Russia and put in an orphanage as a baby, she had a condition called
:03:54. > :03:58.spina bifida, which meant she had to walk on her hands until she was six.
:03:59. > :04:03.Then she was adopted and taken to America where her amazing talent for
:04:04. > :04:07.sport was discovered. Last year, Tatyana won every wheelchair race
:04:08. > :04:13.going, including a record six world titles and all four major marathons.
:04:14. > :04:18.And now she's decided to swap the track for the slopes and add winter
:04:19. > :04:28.medals to her summer successes. She puts her determination down to her
:04:29. > :04:32.early life experience. Life is about winning the mental battle. So
:04:33. > :04:35.whether you put that in sports or your personal life, I think that
:04:36. > :04:38.makes me who I am. In her first full-season as a cross country skier
:04:39. > :04:42.she's already won the US national Championships, which should see her
:04:43. > :04:45.picked for Sochi. And she's already planning for life after the Winter
:04:46. > :04:51.Games - she's due to defend her London marathon title ten days after
:04:52. > :04:54.they finish. And you can watch more of Tatyana's amazing story over on
:04:55. > :04:57.the Newsround website, along with some of the most amazing pictures
:04:58. > :04:59.from America's big freeze. Newsround is back at 6.50pm. I'll see you
:05:00. > :05:02.then.