17/01/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

The headlines: Both the US and Iranian presidents have praised

the new nuclear deal and lifting of sanctions on Tehran.

President Obama says the agreement guaranteed Iran would not

So-called Islamic State is accused of killing and kidnapping hundreds

of people in the Syrian city of Deir al-Zour.

Also coming up: The 29 victims of the gun attack in Burkina Faso

include Canadians, Americans and Libyans.

Campaigners in the UK welcome new marine conservation zones

but fishermen are worried it will affect their business.

A day after international sanctions against Iran were lifted,

the presidents of both the United States and Iran have been

praising the deal, saying it's an opportunity to improve relations

Whilst most sanctions have now been eased,

the United States Treasury has imposed some fresh sanctions

against Iran, in response to a recent ballistic missile test.

Meanwhile, three out of the four Iranian-Americans released

in a prisoner exchange have now flown out of Tehran and arrived

This is the first photo of one of those former prisoners -

the Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian -

greeting US officials during a brief stop-off in Geneva.

Our Diplomatic Correspondent Bridget Kendall has

Less than 24 hours after, the first reaction directly

from the American president to the latest breakthrough with Iran.

Sanctions have been lifted, but the key, he argued,

is that Iran no longer poses a nuclear threat.

If Iran tries to cheat, if they try to build a bomb

So the bottom line is this, whereas Iran was steadily

expanding its nuclear programme, we have now cut off every single

path Iran could have used to build bombs.

New sanctions slapped on today by the US

Treasury to punish Iran for testing a ballistic missile last year.

Clearly, the Americans held up until yesterday's deal

In Tehran, the Iranian focus so far has been on the bigger prize.

In Parliament, President Rouhani greeted his Foreign Minister who had

just returned from Vienna to lift sanctions enthusiastically.

TRANSLATION: It is true that the Zionists and hard-liners

inside America campaign against this deal, but we all know that the world

has realised that sanctions are not a good solution.

Everybody has realised that Iran is reliable.

Though he did add that any new measures imposed

by the Americans would receive an appropriate response.

But on the streets of Tehran today, the mood was quietly jubilant.

Newspaper headlines spoke of a great agreement and a new era for Iran

The United States delayed any fresh sanctions until now -

the prisoner swap, including among others, Iranian-American reporter

Colleagues in Washington were already celebrating.

This afternoon, it emerged he and fellow detainees had now

flown out of Iran and were on the first stage

Reportedly flying first to Geneva and then onto an American military

It is here at the US Ramstein air base, near Frankfurt in Germany,

that these prisoners who were being held in Iran

will get their first taste of life after the nightmare.

American doctors will be assessing their health

and they will be meeting relatives who have flown

This breakthrough with Iran is not just a diplomatic triumph.

For several Iranians-American families, it is a very personal

Amir Paivar is from the BBC Persian Service and told me more

about what the lifting of sanctions will actually mean to Iran.

Three main sets of sanctions, UN sanctions, those of the United

States and those of the EU, they will all be removed, but these will

be sanctions which were in place because of the nuclear programme.

Those that were imposed because of terrorism watch human rights

violations will remain. These sanctions are broadly all economic,

so energy, trade, finance, and King, shipping, insurance, sales of

precious metals. -- finance, banking. They will be permissible.

In case of US sanctions, those will apply to non-US persons or

companies, so the US companies, and US persons, will still not be

allowed to do business with Iran. In terms of the nuclear programme,

President Obama said the deal meant that Iran would not be able to build

a nuclear bomb but Iran insists it still can continue with its nuclear

energy programme. As I understand it, its capabilities have been

reduced. Its uranium stockpile has to be reduced by 98% over the next

15 years, but they can maintain their nuclear facilities for energy

purposes. That is right. The Iranians nuclear programme will be

limited and there will be a cap on how much uranium Iran can enrich and

to what a degree. Basically, the idea is to block every route which

is suspected of leading Iran to have a nuclear bomb, whether by enriching

uranium to a very high degree or by converting a heavy water reactor

by-products into plutonium, which can be used in a nuclear bomb. They

all do limit Iran's ability of dashing towards a bomb, but it will

keep Iran's basic facilities to enrich uranium enough for its

nuclear power station. How has the deal gone down inside Iran? The deal

has been embraced with jubilation in Iran. It had, in July in Vienna. The

difference this time is, against all the odds, this deal, as President

Obama said, is a done deal. In July it was all about what Iran will do

as its commitments. Now, it is all about what Iran has done.

And you can keep in touch with all the latest to do with Iran

and the lifting of international sanctions by visiting our website.

You will find analysis, background and reports

from our correspondents around the world.

Alternatively try the BBC News app for mobile and tablet devices.

At least 400 civilians in a Syrian village have been kidnapped

by militants from so-called Islamic State.

That according to the UK-based monitoring group the Syrian

Syrian state media is reporting that IS has also

It said most of those killed in the attack near the city of Deir

al-Zour were women, children and the elderly.

Jim Muir has been monitoring events from the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

This stems from an attack on the outskirts of Deir al-Zour. The

attack started on Saturday. It seems IS were using militants who blew

themselves up, they overran the area. The government is saying that

300 people were massacred in the wake of that attack. The Syrian

Observatory for human rights, which tracks events on the ground in a

pretty neutral way, says the figure was 135 killed, of whom some died in

battle, they were soldiers, but others were killed, they were family

members or bath party officials. 85 of them were put to death, according

to them. But it also says that 400 of the family members and relatives

of pro-government loyalists were taken away, rounded up and taken off

in the direction of Raqqa, further to the north-west, up the Euphrates

river, and is the head quarters of IS. It says there are very real

fears for their fate because in similar circumstances people have

been massacred. So a lot of anxiety about what is happening to those 400

people. Let's take a look at

some other stories now. A man who was left brain-dead

after taking part in a controversial Five other volunteers who became

unwell following the trial are said They are being treated

in the western city of Rennes. The trial was conducted by Biotrial,

a company who are based in France and are trying to establish

exactly what went wrong. Pope Francis has become

only the third leader of the Roman Catholic church

to visit the main synagogue in Rome. It's being seen as an official sign

of 50 years of improving relations His trip follows the Vatican's

declaration in December that it did not support efforts to convert

Jews to Christianity. At least 13 people have been killed

by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan who attacked the home of a prominent

local politician in the eastern Obaiduallah Shinwari's brother had

recently been released from Taliban captivity, and people had gathered

to welcome him back. The Taliban has denied

responsibility. More details have emerged

about the attack by Islamist militants on a hotel

and cafe in Burkina Faso. Among the 29 killed in the attack,

there are now thought to be people from nine different countries,

including six Canadians, Meanwhile, Australia says

it is working with the Burkinabe authorities to try to secure

the release of an elderly couple kidnapped by suspected Islamists

in the town of Djibo in the north Our correspondent Thomas Fessy

is in the capital Ouagadougou. some of the bodies have yet to be

identified. Investigators working at this scene in the Hotel behind me,

including a team of French forensic experts. What we know is that people

from Canada, France, the Ukraine, United States, Portugal, the

Netherlands, Switzerland and Libya were among those who died during the

attack. Clearly, the Al-Qaeda militants targeted a hotel where

they knew they were going to find Westerners. They actually stormed

the cafe right opposite the hotel before they entered the hotel. At

the cafe, that is where most of the bodies were found. They were able to

take their time there before security forces arrived to shoot and

to kill people inside the cafe. So quite clearly, the Westerners were

the prime target for those jihadists. We also understand that

an Australian elderly couple were kidnapped near the border with Mali.

They were working there on medical facilities since the 1970s. They

were quite popular among the locals and, in fact, quite a strong show of

support in social media, with the local setting up a page to call for

their release. It's been described as Britain's

"Blue Belt" and is made up of protected areas under the sea

around the coastline. Campaigners are welcoming 23

newly-designated marine conservation It means there are now around

20,000 square kilometres But, as our Environment

Correspondent Claire Marshall reports from Cornwall,

there are concerns about how it could affect those who make

a living from the sea. A glimpse of the remarkable

world beneath our waves. These images were captured

on a recent expedition to a deepwater canyon

off the Cornish coast. Designated as a marine

reserve two years ago, Now, 23 new zones have been added

to this conservation network. A lot of what we're doing

is protecting what is already there for the future and trying

to enhance the status of these habitats, and the truth is,

as we have ever more intense uses in our marine environment,

in renewable energy, digging in cables, fishing

activity, for instance, we need to make sure that we protect

the vast array of marine habitats Some 20% of English waters are now

considered protected. The reserves range from Cromer

in the North Sea to Cumbria and down The waters around Newquay lie

in one of the newer areas. We went rock pooling

with a representative It is not just about

the colourful and charismatic, it is about conserving the familiar

wild places, like this. We have been damaging our

seas for centuries now. Overfishing and polluting

and using the protected area networks is one way

to start to look after it. To give our species and our habitats

the space and the time to start to recover, and hopefully they can

then start to thrive again. These waters may now be part

of a marine reserve, There are no rules or regulations

in place to say what you can And that is what concerns

the fishermen who work They don't yet know what the impact

will be on their way of life. The worst-case scenario

is complete closure, stopping fishing and we're hoping

that there is a far more nuanced and realistic measure in place that

does allow the fishing activity that The marine world needs

to be protected. And a balance must now be found

between the sea and the humans Some breaking news just coming in.

US authorities are saying that they are aware of reports that a group of

American citizens are missing in Iraq. A State Department spokesman,

Dominic Kirby, said the US is cooperating with Iraqi authorities

to try and locate and recover the individuals.

Still to come, it was the Battle of two old rivals in the Premier

League. We will have the details of the clash between Liverpool and

Manchester United. The Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn,

suggests there could be a future for the Trident submarine fleet

without nuclear warheads. He said that protecting defence jobs

was his "first priority" and there were "options" for doing

this while taking a lead Defence Secretary Michael Fallon

said Labour would weaken the UK's Labour have set up a review into the

long-term viability of Trident submarines. Defence Secretary

Michael Fallon said Labour would weaken the UK's defences. Mr Corbyn

said he didn't believe nuclear weapons were still a solution.

The nuclear weapons system is something of the Cold War

I don't believe, in the insecurities of today, nuclear weapons

Look at the problems in the Middle East and elsewhere, were nuclear

weapons any help? No, they were not. We have achieved a fantastic step

forward with Iran. That is the way forward. Diplomacy comes first.

President Obama hails the nuclear deal with Iran. He says it will make

the world a safer place. So-called Islamic State are accused of killing

and kidnapping hundreds of people in Syria.

Arsenal have returned to the top of the Premier League this evening,

after drawing 0-0 with Stoke at the Britannia.

They were without Mesut Ozil, who has a foot injury,

and they missed him, lacking their usual creativity

But they move ahead of Leicester at the top of the league

We needed to be strong physically, to have a great spirit, and we did

that very well. They did fight very hard for 90 minutes and we could

take our chances and in the end, it was hard-fought, where we came out

having done better than it is before. We have shown again that we

can fight, even though we missed many players.

It was a big day for this man Wayne Rooney, he fired

Manchester United closer to the Champions League

qualification places, after he scored the winner against

It was his first goal at Anfield in 11 years as United move to fifth

in the table, two points off fourth placed Tottenham.

It was a vital win for United and manager Louis van Gaal,

who has come under pressure in recent weeks with just two wins

We have survived but, in the second half, it was a match, we are coming

in the match was we could keep the ball much more and we have created

chances and we have scored the winning goal, so I am very happy,

the players are very happy and the fans are more happy.

We lost a game which we shouldn't have lost. That is the situation.

But, yeah, the goal was to defend, and we didn't. That is our

responsibility. We have to change it. So we have to do it better and

then we can win games. Staying with the Premier League,

and Swansea City are set to appoint former Udinese manager

Francesco Guidolin as head coach. He'll be alongside Alan Curtis

until the end of the season. Real Madrid remain four points

behind their city rivals Atletico Madrid but they enjoyed an emphatic

5-1 victory over Sporting Gijon. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice.

Gareth Bale also scored. Gareth Bale went off injured. Barcelona error a

point behind but they could leapfrog them.

Lord Coe says the reputation of athletics is unlikely to be restored

during his reign as IAAF president. An independent report earlier this

week said corruption had been embedded during the governing body.

On the BBC, Coe said public trust might return but it would take

longer than his stint in charge. I hope that they see that we were

unflinchingly on the changes we made. I hope they are able to look

at athletics and say it has now become a well-run federation, that

it may even be an exemplar, a road map for other federations, but I

don't necessarily think they will be sitting there being trustful about

everything we have done. In the Australian open, that begins on

Monday. Victory for Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams in Melbourne

last year kick-started an incredible run for both of them, as they went

on to win three of the sport's four majors. Both showed off their

trophies to the media. Serena Williams has struggled with knee

problems and she has not played competitively since the US open

semifinal last year. Djokovic is in search of a record sixth title in

Melbourne. That is all of the sport. The most effective form

of protection against contracting In Kenya, almost half of new HIV

transmissions occur between couples where one is HIV positive

and the other is negative. But for those who want children,

a new project is helping them have a family without

risking their health, There are over 250,000 couples

in Kenya where only one partner is positive for HIV

and the other one is not. Condoms are the best ways

to stop transmission, but they cannot solve

the problem on their own, so a new generation of drugs that

can block HIV transmission has Josephine is HIV-positive, and lives

with her HIV-negative partner, Throughout the trial,

John took drugs known as preexposure prophylaxis, or PREP,

which act as a barrier I found out in 2007 that

I was HIV-positive. In a situation like that,

when your partner is HIV-positive, many people I think

would find it difficult. A condom sometimes

is cumbersome to use, I think, throughout your life,

so if there was another solution, maybe like the one

we were looking for, Once inside the body, the virus,

represented by a red sweets, hides in areas around the body,

creating reservoirs, which means it can

never be flushed out. The drugs, represented by blue

sweets, attack the virus. If a non-infected person

who already has the drugs, when the virus enters

their system it gets killed. This means it does not have a chance

to hide in reservoirs, so that person does

not get infected. The team behind the trial monitor

the couple's progress, together with a number

of other case studies. This was one of many studies

conducted in Kenya and Uganda, We gave them the retro viral drug,

to provide enough for the negative We were able to demonstrate to 75%

lower risk of acquiring HIV among those who took the drug,

compared to those who did not This year, the drug was approved

for prophylaxis in Kenya. Very exciting news, so we feel

that this will open the door and we are hoping that the next step

is that the government For couples like John and Josephine,

achievements of such weight reignite The main news. President Obama says

the implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran and the release of US

prisoners has vindicated its policy of direct engagement with Tehran.

Stay with us.