13/02/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today, broadcasting in the UK

The headlines: A war of words between the US and Russia -

Secretary of State John Kerry warns Moscow it must stop targeting

legitimate opposition groups in Syria.

A big turnout to welcome Pope Francis in Mexico

as he challenges the country's leaders to bring 'true justice

Brazil's President insists the rapid spread of the Zika virus will not

compromise this year's Olympics in Rio.

Why there will be no celebrations of romantic love

on St Valentine's Day in a district in the north west of Pakistan.

A war of words has broken out between Russia and the West -

a day after they agreed a pause in the fighting in Syria.

At a security conference in Germany, Russia's Prime Minister said

the West was rekindling the Cold War.

NATO responded by accusing Moscow of intimidation -

while the US said Russia was bombing civilians in Syria.

Russia's jets, still in the skies over Aleppo, still bombing targets

in the rebel-held East in a divided city. In west Aleppo, President

Assad and his best friends are in control. And they are popular. The

Russians are our brothers, this speaker says. They are honest and

stand behind us along with Iran and Hezbollah. There is praise for Putin

from this taxi driver. He said he changed the balance of power here.

And that is the point made here in Munich, too. The vast majority, in

our opinion, of Russia's attacks have been against legitimate

opposition groups. To adhere to the agreement that has been made, we

think it it a call that Russia's targeting changes. Nato's policy

with regard to Russia remains unfriendly and opaque. One could go

as far as to say that we have slid back to a new cold war, almost on an

everyday basis. Last year at this major forum, the main crisis was

Ukraine. This year it is Syria but the issue hasn't changed, the

growing power of Russia and how it is calling the shots. The big

question for world leaders is if they can't resolve major crises

without Russia, can they find ways to work with it? And they are moving

on some issues. Trucks are being loaded with aid to ease the

suffering. If the Munich agreement holds, more aid will soon be on its

way. But if fighting doesn't stop, and even more terrifying chapter

will start. As we heard in Lyse's report,

the agreement reached includes allowing more access

for humanitarian aid agencies. The BBC has filmed this footage

of the Syrian Red Crescent leading four trucks into the

Damascus suburb of Douma. Which is currently controlled

by opposition forces but besieged The district has seen fierce

fighting between the two sides. The opposition says there is a dire

shortage of food and medicine in Douma but the Syrian government

disputes that and says it has Here's what the Syrian Red

Crescent had to say. We have in our fourth trucks, as you

see, these trucks, we have chronic diseases, it is coming from WHO. And

we have vaccinations. From the Ministry of health in Syria. Add we

have other things. And we have meat powder for children.

On his first full day in Mexico, Pope Francis has called

on the country's leaders to combat drug crime.

He warned that a society driven by greed and selfishness was fertile

The Pontiff was cheered by huge crowds as he travelled

After a day of making history in Cuba, Pope Francis was

enthusiastically welcomed by the Mexicans. The screams of excitement

has not abated. Is that it is morning talking to the crowds

outside his residence. He made his way to the National Palace, streets

lined with Mexicans charting his name. This is Pope Francis first

trip to Mexico. As a fellow Latin American, many people here see him

as one of their own. But more than that, big expectations are being

pinned on this trip that what he says and does could have a big

impact on the country's politics. We love the Pope! Later on Saturday, he

will make his way to the Pacific of the virgin of whether Lupe. This is

the highlight for many, people travelling from farther away.

Carmine slept overnight to get a good spot to see the Pope.

TRANSLATION: I cannot explain it, it is incredible. For us, he is a

representative of Christ and he has come to give us a message of peace

and mercy at a time when our country is giving a different time. Ritter

was given six months to live. But she survived, thanks to a miracle

and has travelled to Los Angeles to give thanks to the Pope and the

virgin. For many here, the excitement masks a wider

disillusionment among Mexicans, the feeling that the government has not

done enough to curb the violence and corruption that has become such a

problem here. We Mexicans are fed up with violence and corruption. We are

looking for alternatives, both Catholics and the non-X. We hope the

Pope can be an ingredient in the creation of this huge coalition. The

Pope talked about the dangers of a society driven by greed and

selfishness. TRANSLATION: Sooner or later, society becomes fertile

terrain for drug trafficking, the exclusion of different cultures,

violins and even kidnapping and death. The journey for some pilgrims

have been harder for some than others. It is a long night for some

who waited in the cold but that is not important, everybody here is

celebrating the Pope. Brazil's president has insisted

that the Zika virus will not More than 220,000 soldiers have been

deployed across Brazil to warn Authorities are investigating almost

4,000 cases of birth defects in babies - which could be

linked to the virus. Speaking in Rio, President Rousseff

said that everyone must play part in fighting the mosquito

responsible for spreading Zika. The government is going to do its

bit and so is the mayor, the governors and the armed forces. But

none of our actions will work if the population is not with us. Fighting

for the sake of our children. Our Brazil correspondent Wyre Davies

gave us more details It is interesting that a

disproportionately large of the 200,000 troops on the streets of

Brazil have been focused on the city of Rio de Janeiro and that is

because of the Olympic Games later this year. The president is adamant

the Zika virus will not be out to jeopardise the league games. That is

why so much of the effort the government is putting in to try and

combat Zika virus and the mosquito which carries the violets is being

focused here in Rio de Janeiro. Any suggestion that the gains could be

called off, the president is keen to avoid that. The outbreak has caused

considerable alarm. How much confidence is there that it can be

dealt with by the Olympics games? That is a good question. I think the

limits are taking place in the winter time here. They are putting a

great deal of faith here and that the mosquito will be less active

during the winter. They are a long way off finding out exactly how the

virus works on the human body. They think, but they are not sure, but

this causal link between Zika virus and microcephaly, the damaging

condition in infants. Also another condition which is paralysing. All

of these things are being blamed on the Zika virus and they haven't yet

got a vaccine. Developing and producing a vaccine can take a long

time so they are hoping they can keep the mosquito down by the time

the lyrics are here. But any suggestion that it will be

completely eradicated and the Zika virus will be defeated by the time

the Lebanese comes around, is rather fanciful. The government has come

under criticism for not getting on top of this virus earlier. What are

your thoughts? It is difficult to criticise them for not getting onto

but the virus because it has only been imprisoned for just over a

year. In that space of time, more than 1 million resilience have been

infected by it. You cannot blame them for the appearance of the

virus. But they can be blamed for not getting on top of the mosquito

which carries Zika virus because it also carries the dinky virus. The

government deserves criticism for not having got on top of that virus

which we knew was around and we need the mosquito was carrying that, the

same mosque either that also delivers mosque Ito -- Zika virus.

The Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab, says it was behind a bomb

attack earlier this month that blasted a hole in the fuselage

The suspected bomber was the only person killed by the explosion

Hundreds of people have gathered at a hospital in Australia,

to show their support for doctors, refusing to release a baby girl

They say the child will not be discharged until a

She suffered serious burns at an offshore migrant centre

The US Senate has supported a plan to name a plaza in Washington

after the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo.

Mr Liu is a pro-democracy dissident and the plaza lies in front

The White House said that President Obama would

A medieval ship has been raised after half a millennium of resting

A team of construction workers stumbled upon the 20 metre long

vessel when they were preparing to excavate the port

From the Netherlands, Anna Holligan sent this report.

Buried deep beneath the sand and silt, a 15th century trading vessel

that once sailed the North and Baltic Seas. This animation shows

how archaeologists used a specially constructed metal frame and straps

to act as a harness. It is rare to find a medieval vessel so remarkably

well preserved. Even the brick oven and glazed tiles on the Maria deck

are still intact. Experts say the metal joints make her more robust

than most ships of the same Iran and meant they could use a remote

control to slowly bring her to the surface. Once we lifted it enough to

measure the weight which was 40 times, we knew we had a stable

situation and could carry on lifting. The delicate wreck has been

called something after the River Delta where she lay undiscovered for

500 years. She has been taken to a heritage centre where she will be

restored to her ancient glory and kept wet at all times to ensure she

never crumbles. Still to come:

Latest sports news this time at the hands

of struggling Sunderland. This is BBC world News. The latest

headlines. A war of words between the US and Russia as Secretary of

State John Kerry warns Moscow it must stop targeting legitimate

opposition groups in Syria. Let's stay with Syria now -

thousands of people are still stranded on the border with Turkey

and in desperate need of help. Let's just remind ourselves how

this latest humanitarian The Munich agreement should make it

easier for humanitarian agencies to reach the people

in need inside Syria. But the situation on the ground

makes access difficult, as Misty Buswell from the charity

Save the Children explains. It is really unclear how this is

going to work. We need to have a lot more detail than we also need to

make sure that this is not just going to be one-off convoys. A few

weeks ago, we actually had people starving to death and two convoys

able to get in, so not sufficient to help the situation there. What we

need is sustained humanitarian access and not one-off convoys but

right now we don't have any idea what this will look like. What is

your thought that a humanitarian access is being agreed alongside a

pause in the fighting, very much part of the political bartering

here? It is unfortunate that it has taken this kind of agreement to

ensure or even discuss aid getting into besieged areas. Aid should not

be used as a bargaining chip. People have a right to get food when they

are starving, they have a right to health care, basic humanitarian aid.

So, it is very worrying that it has taken this kind of political

negotiation to get the issue a few and tearing access on the table. We

are talking about quite dangerous conditions that aid workers with no

guarantee that all sides will honour this pause and fighting. That is

right. We just don't know what this will look like right now. Anything

that brings a pause or stop to the violence is potentially a positive

thing but we don't know what it is going to look like. We don't know

whether all parties are going to agree to this. And we don't know

whether it is actually going to make a difference on the ground. Over the

last few weeks, we have seen a massive escalation in the conflict

in the north, around Aleppo, but also in the South, with lots of

people forced to move to flee the fighting. And the situation has

become so insecure that aid agencies have even had to stop their

programming and have not been able to respond in some areas to the

people who really desperately needed. So, you know, at this point,

we just don't know what is going to happen.

Now let's get all the sports news. Sunderland have beaten

Manchester United at the Stadium Of Light for the first

time in the Premier League era - boosting their survival hopes

and increasing the pressure Wahbi Khazri put Sam

Allardyce's side ahead after three minutes

with a free-kick. Anthony Martial levelled

but the Black Cats won it when Lamine Kone's header went

in via a deflection off David de Gea In the late game Chelsea thrashed

Newcastle 5-1 to pile A big blow. I said we have to win

this match because we have to be in the race for the top four positions

in the league. And then you have to win these kinds of matches. But I

think we can only blame ourselves. In the late game Chelsea thrashed

Newcastle 5-1 to pile Elsewhere today there

were wins for Stoke, Norwich threw away a two goal lead

against West Ham with it finishing In Spanish football,

Gary Neville's Valencia are playing The home side trailed

at half time but now lead 2-1 in what would be Neville's

first league win for the club. Earlier Real Madrid were 4-2 winners

over Athletic Bilbao to move a point behind leaders Barcelona,

who have two games in hand. And a meeting of the top two

in Italy at the moment, with Juventus taking

on leaders Napoli in Turin. Ireland's hopes of a third

successive Six Nations title are all but gone after a 10-9 defeat

to France in Paris.Ireland posed most of the attacking threat

in the first half but poor handling meant they had to settle for a 9-3

lead courtesy of three Johnny Sexton Maxime Medard's 70th minute try set

France up for victory, their first over the Irish in five

years to take them top of the table. It was hard having no wins for the

first two games. I think Fox ask, we are probably looking at the second

half that we just didn't quite get the dominance we had in the first.

It is hard, you know, with the question. But we look at that as a

massive missed opportunity for us. Wales came from behind in the second

half to beat Scotland 27-23, in a great match under

the roof in Cardiff. Wales move into second

on the table with three points, Big when new Scotland would turn up.

We knew it would be a tough challenge. It is a tough six Nations

this year. I think it is wide open. And that's because Australia's

Adam Voges has bettered Sir Donald Bradman's

test cricket average, for now, to more than 100

in the first Test against Usman Khawaja hit 140

as Australia closed on 463 for 6... Voges is 176 not out and moved ahead

of Bradman - whose career average of 99-point-94 from 52 Tests -

WAS the best of all time. Voges' average is 100.33,

although that will drop if he doesn't score any more runs,

in his 19th Test innings. To Pakistan now: The President,

Mamnoon Hussain, has denounced St Valentine's Day, saying

the festival has no connection He was speaking a day after Kohat

district in the conservative north-west announced a ban

on all sales of Peshawar has also

banned celebrations. But the moves have divided

opinion in the country. Our South Asia Editor,

Charles Haviland reports. The day which originated in the

Christian church and celebrates romantic love is celebrated this

Sunday. Conservative Muslim Pakistanis view Federico 14th as

detrimental to traditional marriage. One newspaper report called at a

festival of 70. The local authorities in co-hat on Friday

ordered police to stamp out any sale of Valentines merchandiser in the

nearby city of Peshawar, where Valentine's Day is perhaps

surprisingly popular, the council passed a resolution to ban

celebration of what it calls the useless day. Then, the president,

seen here on a recent visit to China, told a student gathering that

Valentine's Day belonged to Western tradition and convicted --

conflicted with modern culture -- Muslim culture. We don't have to

express love on this particular day. Love for your mother, wife,

brothers, etc, that is an everyday thing. Why should we wait until

Valentine's Day to express such love. This day comes only once a

year. Those who are in love get to meet and sometimes get chance to

propose on this day so we should celebrated and that is why I'm

celebrating. Disagreements over St Valentine's Day in the past spurred

violence. But it has continued to appeal to many Pakistanis, including

for commercial reasons. Indeed, late on Friday came the news that both

the ban and the resolution in Peshawar are being disregarded.

Police and civil officials say the anti-Valentine measures are both

unpopular and illegal. A reminder of our top story. The US

Secretary of State John Kerry has said Russia needs to changes policy

are best legs in Syria to keep an agreement to end the war. He told a

conference in Munich that Russian forces were mainly bombing

legitimate opposition groups. If you want to get in touch with me, Du

Cann, via twitter. That is it for now. Thank you for being with the

programme.