:00:15. > :00:20.From here in the world's newsroom, we send out correspondents
:00:21. > :00:23.to bring you the best stories from across the globe.
:00:24. > :00:37.Steve Rosenberg joins Russian forces in North
:00:38. > :00:45.Syria as they come under fire. As we have seen, it is only partial. It's
:00:46. > :00:54.only in some places. This is no ceasefire. On the front line of
:00:55. > :00:59.America's war against the Zika by -- virus. We report from platter
:01:00. > :01:02.recode, where there are hundreds of thousands of cases.
:01:03. > :01:08.They've been spreading dengue for many centuries importer recode.
:01:09. > :01:13.After this year, Zika came along. And, Dawn of the age of humans. We
:01:14. > :01:18.go on a geological journey into a new Epoque. Your hand is sitting on
:01:19. > :01:27.the boundary... I'm touching the boundary? Yes, of two technological
:01:28. > :01:33.periods of time. -- ecological. It may be largely holding her now,
:01:34. > :01:37.but the temporary truce in Syria brokered by the United States is
:01:38. > :01:42.plagued with fault lines. The so-called Islamic State is excluded
:01:43. > :01:46.from it, as is the Al-Qaeda leader linked Al-Nusra front. The role of
:01:47. > :01:54.Russian forces that support the Assad regime is unclear.
:01:55. > :02:00.A commander has accused Russia of helping the Syria government creates
:02:01. > :02:02.the migrant crisis as a result of war.
:02:03. > :02:09.Our correspondent has been in northern Syria, this is his report.
:02:10. > :02:16.The Russian army is taking us into the hills of western Syria. The
:02:17. > :02:21.Russians say that they are using a pause in the fighting to encourage
:02:22. > :02:28.peace and reconciliation. Judging by the armoured vehicle that we are in,
:02:29. > :02:32.progress is slow. First stop, this town. Five years of civil war left
:02:33. > :02:38.the village empty. Now we are told people are starting to return home.
:02:39. > :02:47.Like this lady. Do you believe that there will be peace? In your
:02:48. > :02:52.country? We hope, we hope from God. We hope so. It was Russian air power
:02:53. > :02:57.that helped the Syrian army retake this village from rebels. Today, the
:02:58. > :03:06.Russian military has brought aid, not air strikes. We drove to this
:03:07. > :03:12.town, Turkey is just over the hills. Moscow accused Turkey of allowing
:03:13. > :03:15.weapons to be smuggled into Syria for rebel fighters, and of a
:03:16. > :03:20.provocative military build-up that could damage Syria's fragile peace.
:03:21. > :03:24.What happens next fits the Kremlin's narrative. There is an explosion.
:03:25. > :03:39.And another. A Russian general radios for an
:03:40. > :03:42.armoured personnel carrier. It is supposed to provide cover for us as
:03:43. > :03:51.we and the other journalists retreat.
:03:52. > :03:58.Now, run for it, shouted the general.
:03:59. > :04:04.After five years of civil war, you can understand why many people here
:04:05. > :04:09.are sceptical about the chances of peace. As we've seen, the halt in
:04:10. > :04:14.fighting is only partial. It's only in some places.
:04:15. > :04:18.This is no ceasefire. Later, the general claims the blasts were
:04:19. > :04:21.artillery shells, fired by terrorists from close to the Turkish
:04:22. > :04:24.border. We cannot confirm though what those
:04:25. > :04:30.explosions were, or where they came from.
:04:31. > :04:36.Syria's president accused rebels of violating the agreement to halt
:04:37. > :04:42.hostilities. The Syrian army are freeing themselves of retaliations
:04:43. > :04:49.to survive. But everything has a limit. It depends on the other side.
:04:50. > :04:54.Syria's are tired of war. But real peace seems a long way out --
:04:55. > :04:59.Syrian's. It is America's new health
:05:00. > :05:03.nightmare. The Centre for disease control is warning hundreds of
:05:04. > :05:06.thousands of people in the US territory of Puerto Rico could
:05:07. > :05:10.becoming affected with the Zika virus in the coming months.
:05:11. > :05:13.It means the possible spread of the virus within America itself has
:05:14. > :05:16.become a very real threat for the US authorities.
:05:17. > :05:24.Our correspondent has been given rare access to the CDC's situation
:05:25. > :05:26.room in Atlanta and two side contests battling the Zika virus in
:05:27. > :05:31.Puerto Rico. It may not look like it, but this
:05:32. > :05:36.tropical island is in a state of emergency. Welcome to the front line
:05:37. > :05:40.of the US's fight against the Zika virus. Millions of American tourists
:05:41. > :05:45.come here every year, a major concern though is what they are
:05:46. > :05:53.taking back with them. These are the Zika transmitting mosquitoes. It is
:05:54. > :05:58.feeding time. On the menu is pigs blood, at skin temperature. They are
:05:59. > :06:04.being bred in this laboratory for research intellect -- into
:06:05. > :06:07.insecticides. They've been here in Puerto Rico
:06:08. > :06:12.spreading dengue fever for many centuries, but a couple of years ago
:06:13. > :06:16.they began to transmit a new virus. After that, at the start of this
:06:17. > :06:23.year, Zika came along, with a link to baby's being born brain damage.
:06:24. > :06:28.Worryingly, the insecticides being used to kill these mosquitoes are no
:06:29. > :06:31.longer working as well as they used to. The mosquitoes are resistant to
:06:32. > :06:40.one of the most commonly used insecticides. It is an insecticide
:06:41. > :06:44.that has been used in Puerto Rico and the rest of the Americas for
:06:45. > :06:48.many years. Scientists are racing to find other chemicals that can kill
:06:49. > :06:55.musky toes. The insects can breed and pride in just a few drops of
:06:56. > :06:59.water. -- musky toes. 1500 miles away at the Centre for
:07:00. > :07:02.disease control headquarters in Atlanta, the man advising the
:07:03. > :07:08.president on this global health emergency is preparing for the
:07:09. > :07:12.worst. In Puerto Rico, we expect that there will likely be hundreds
:07:13. > :07:15.of thousands of infections, and potentially hundreds of thousands of
:07:16. > :07:21.women who are pregnant to become infected. What is new and different
:07:22. > :07:26.and frightening is the rate of birth defects. There is a lot we don't
:07:27. > :07:28.know. Back at the lab, scientists continue the fight against these
:07:29. > :07:40.blood thirsty insects. They need answers fast, to stop the spread of
:07:41. > :07:44.this potentially devastating virus. We don't often talk must about
:07:45. > :07:48.geology but there is a geological debate going on at the moment that
:07:49. > :07:56.could be as important as the meaning of life, it represents the Epoque we
:07:57. > :08:00.are in. For the last several hundred years, we've been languishing in the
:08:01. > :08:05.Holocene period, but many geologists believe that the Earth has entered a
:08:06. > :08:10.new Epoque, the age of humans. But they cannot work out exactly when it
:08:11. > :08:17.started. Confused? Rebecca morale explains exactly what is being seen
:08:18. > :08:21.as a turning point in history. If only it were this easy to define
:08:22. > :08:28.where one bit of the Earth's history ends and another begins.
:08:29. > :08:31.Traditionally this is done with hindsight. Now, scientists are
:08:32. > :08:39.itching to declare that we are in a new Epoque. Geologists love to do
:08:40. > :08:44.the uptime, they've done that the entire history of the Earth. From
:08:45. > :08:49.the year dot to now, 5.4 billion years later, that is divided into
:08:50. > :08:56.units of time called aeons, then into errors, then periods, and
:08:57. > :09:01.finally into Epoque 's and ages. They mark turning points in the
:09:02. > :09:08.Earth's history, one of those can be found here, Dobbs Lane in the
:09:09. > :09:12.Southern uplands of Scotland. We've arrived at this boundary. Your hand
:09:13. > :09:16.is sitting on the boundary. I'm touching it? You are, the mark
:09:17. > :09:20.between two geological periods of time. The rocks here record a
:09:21. > :09:25.colossal change in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans that triggered
:09:26. > :09:32.a transition between two periods of time or than hundred -- 400 million
:09:33. > :09:38.years ago. Fast forward through time, scientists think there is
:09:39. > :09:43.reason to agree that we are in the age of humans. What we see at
:09:44. > :09:47.present, the degree of change to the Earth's system that is being
:09:48. > :09:51.conducted by humans is a significant -- as significant to some of the
:09:52. > :09:57.major changes in the geological record. If we define this period of
:09:58. > :10:03.time and say that humanity is a geological superpower, on the same
:10:04. > :10:10.league as plate tectonics or meteorite impacts, it means the
:10:11. > :10:16.environmental distantly manacled destiny of the planet is down to us.
:10:17. > :10:21.-- destiny of the planet is down to us. What is needed is a moment in
:10:22. > :10:25.human history that leaves a long lasting signal for future
:10:26. > :10:30.geologists. Some say nuclear tests leave that, with the legacy of
:10:31. > :10:35.radioactive elements. Some say the dawn of the proper scene should
:10:36. > :10:39.further back. Ultimately, the real birth of this new Epoque will be
:10:40. > :10:47.marked by a show of hands. It is due to go to a vote later this year.
:10:48. > :10:58.That's all from Reporters this week. From me, goodbye for now.