27/02/2016 World News Today

The first pause to the fighting in Syria in five years appears to be

97 groups signed up to the two-week ceasefire -

but there have been reports of some sporadic clashes and a car bombing.

Here's our correspondent Mark Lowen, who is close to the Syrian border

This is what five years of hell has done to Syria.

Homs, once a historical jewel, now a ghost town.

As the ceasefire came into effect, a moment to breathe and play.

There have been some incidents today.

We do not believe the Assad regime will stop its attacks.

We have had so many disappointments in the past.

We all wish for the best and that national unity

Everyone was waiting for the ceasefire.

Today the streets are busy and people are relieved.

The truce does not apply to the Nusra Front or

These pictures showing another strike by coalition jets.

If the other side's ceasefire holds, peace talks should begin on the 7th

There are plenty of reasons for scepticism.

Even under the best of circumstances, the violence

All parties must end attacks, including aerial bombardment.

Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach areas under siege.

continue their advance against the Kurdish militia.

A reminder that this war has so many factions on so many fronts.

Five years of war have crushed that but

at least it is relief from the daily barrage of bombing and hope

that this might provide a window of opportunity for people to come

Even if the ceasefire holds, there is still no

long-term plan on how to end this war and how a broken country can

Early results in Iran's parliamentary elections show

reformist supporters of President Rouhani have

They have also advanced in elections for the body that chooses

President Rouhani has said the poll has strengthened his government.

Dr Mansour Farhang, Iran's first ambassador to the United Nations

after the revolution, joins us now from the US

The first time in a long time that the reformists have done well in

these elections. This is not the first time but it is a significant

achievement in the sense that reformists have 3000 candidates.

Only 30 of them are qualified to run. They managed to create

coalition with supporters of the president and independent

candidates. They have ended up winning the election in ten rounds.

Of the 30 delegates, 29 are on the list of the reformists. There is

only one radical or hardliner included in the list. This is a very

significant achievement. If reformists do indeed do well, will

it lead to warmer relations with the West? There is no question that the

president and his supporters want to improve relations with the Western

world. Today, the reformists, under the best of circumstances, based on

the vote count up to now would constitute only 30% of the 290

member parliament. They will still be a minority because they are not

permitted to have candidates in the vast majority of the locations

throughout the country. The fact that in the assembly of experts the

leading three candidates were critics of the hardliners clearly

demonstrates that the public opinion is very much wavering the president

and the reformists. Through the influence of public opinion, the

reformists might have the strength in their hands but not because they

have a majority in parliament. You were ambassador during the US

embassy hostage crisis. This must be significant from your experience of

Koran's -- Iran's journey it has been on to this date. I resigned my

position and did my best efforts about hostage negotiations with the

UN. It failed. I submitted my resignation, protesting an illegal

and immoral act, the hostagetaking. There is no question there is an

evolutionary process in Iranian society. 70% of Iranians today are

under four years old. That means they were babies or not born during

the 1979 revolution. These people are not really identifying with the

radical idea that the early revolutionaries had and are having

an impact on public policy, public opinion, and the gender orientation

of the state. The first generation leaders of the revolution, it seems

they have a very difficult time to understand this dramatic change in

public opinion and take action in the direction of normalising Iran's

relations with the rest of the world. It is a matter of time before

reformists and more moderate elements take the upper hand. Thank

you very much. The latest round in the battle

for the Democratic Party nomination in the US presidential election has

moved to South Carolina. Hillary Clinton is favourite to win

but her rival Bernie Sanders will be hoping to get some momentum

ahead of "Super Tuesday". That's when 11 states

will hold their primaries next week. Well, our correspondent Kim Ghattas,

is in Columbia in South Carolina. It has been a slow but steady

trickle of voters in Colombia The Democratic primary race is under

way. with her Democratic

rival, the senator from Here, she is leading

by a wide margin. She is certainly

hoping for a big win. In 2008 she lost big

against her then rival, This time around she

has had a difficult start to her campaign but she won

the caucus in Nevada. The mood in the Clinton

campaign changed. They are hoping with

a big win in South Carolina, they will be able to book

momentum in all of the big states For Mr Sanders, it

has been much harder. He has had trouble

connecting with minority If you go to his big

rallies in other states but you will see crowds

of excited young voters. In South Carolina it has been

a smaller crowd of mostly In essence, he has come

to the conclusion that he has gone ahead to Texas,

hoping to rally excitement and rally his supporters

ahead of super Tuesday, the day when 11 states vote

across the US on March Ballots are still being counted

after Friday's vote in the Republic Exit polls suggest the governing

coalition will fall well short of getting enough seats

to keep its majority in the lower At the moment we're getting around

18, 19 results on the election in this immensely complex process of

counting single transferable votes in multimember constituencies. This

is a camp for five of the seven Dublin constituencies. Between three

and five members each. They'll be well into tonight and possibly

tomorrow before we know for certain who has been elected for the

constituencies and four constituencies across the country.

The big story is that the ruling coalition, which campaigned on its

record of modest economic recovery, has been trounced is too strong a

word but has failed to produce the increase in votes it is hoping for.

The Scherer the vote has fallen considerably. Many people outside of

Dublin and the big cities are not experiencing that economic recovery.

Equally, no other party is a key close to the 79 seats which would be

required to form a government in the Irish parliament. As a result, there

is going to be a great deal of horse trading. There is talk of a grand

coalition between two parties, the traditional big guns of Irish

politics, whose rivalry goes right back to the Irish civil war of the

1920s. There is talk of them coming together and a rainbow coalition. It

seems there will be weeks before we know whether or not there will be a

government or whether there might have to be another general election.

Why is the result of this election is so important? It is important for

Ireland because the country was put under considerable pressure in the

wake of the banking crash by the European Commission, the European

Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund. It embraced a series

of posterity measures, tax increases and so on. In some ways it is being

held up as a success for austerity. The problem is, across much of

Europe, it has been difficult to persuade voters. They see a lot of

pain and see unemployment. Huge number is the people from Ireland,

particularly young people, have emigrated in search of work. Lots of

families are looking at the sons and daughters having left the country

with no guarantee they'll be able to come back. It is something of a test

case for other European countries. Berry interesting to see whether the

pattern in Ireland is repeated elsewhere in the coming years.

Finance ministers from the world's leading economies have warned

of a shock to the global economy if Britain votes to leave

the European Union in June's referendum.

The G20 finance ministers also said the global recovery had fallen short

of their expectations and called for individual and collective

They're in charge of the world's biggest economies with plenty

Volatile markets, the falling price of oil and how to speed up growth

But as G20 finance ministers meet in Shanghai there are fears

to about what happens next in the UK.

And for the Chancellor arguing for Britain to stay in the EU,

it has given him something to smile about.

The financial leaders of the world's biggest countries have

given their unanimous verdict and they say that a British exit

from the EU would be a shock to the world economy and if it's

a shock to the world economy, imagine what it would do to Britain.

It's an unusual move to highlight the UK referendum among global

economic risks but those voting for Britain to leave say

they would be a more powerful player over the world if we step out

I am not surprised that big government gets together to back

David Cameron but the reality of life is that there is a great big

world outside Europe and only by divorcing ourself

from the European Union can we enter our own trade

To stay or leave, it is not long now until the UK gets to have its say.

The world and its economic leaders will be watching.

Reports from Afghanistan say at least 21 people,

including women and children, have been killed in two suicide

The first blast in the eastern province of Kunar killed 12

A further explosion in the capital Kabul left at least nine people

The Taliban said they had were behind the attack

which was outside the defence ministry building.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Poland's

new right-wing government in the capital, Warsaw.

They say it is becoming increasingly authoritarian,

and is threatening the judiciary and free media.

The European Commission has also raised concerns about the rule

of law in Poland, but the government has rejected all criticism.

Thousands of supporters of the murdered Russian opposition

politician, Boris Nemtsov, have marched through Moscow

and Saint Petersburg to mark the anniversary of his death.

Nemtsov's family claim the killing was politically motivated

as Mr Nemstov was a fierce critic of President Putin.

Five Chechen men accused of carrying out the killing are expected to go

The bizarre architecture it you can find in China, the ruling, this

party is out of patience with it. 25 year old Beth Anderson and 19

year-old Izzy Squire both died It remains unclear exactly how

the three British holidaymakers died, but it has been claimed

that they were not with Police in Vietnam have launched an

investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Our correspondent Andy Gill has the latest.

The officials have told the BBC One may have slipped and take on the

other two with them. South Yorkshire Police said they are supporting the

family here in Sheffield. They and the officials from the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office are trying to find out the exact circumstances of

how the three young British people came to be killed.

The first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war appears largely

Partial results from Iran's parliamentary elections suggest

the reformists have done well in Tehran.

Robert Mugabe has celebrated his 92nd birthday. He has thrown a huge

party attended by thousands of people, including some heads of

state. However, not everyone saw this as a cause to celebrate.

Critics say the festivities were inappropriate in light of the

current drought in the country. Traffic was brought to a San -- a

standstill as thousands turned out to celebrate Robert Mugabe's

birthday. Not even the rain has stopped thousands of Zimbabweans

from coming here to celebrate the birthday of the 92-year-old leader.

Not many people can argue about the contribution by Robert Mugabe to the

liberation struggle. People here are also expecting to address the

tension and infighting in his ruling party. Now, together, we must find

our way to the problems that we face. We cannot lead such misguided

youth. No. Why tapping he is in the Mark of the good shape for a

92-year-old who has outfoxed his rumours about his death. -- He is in

very good shape. He will be encouraging young people to do the

best they can, to develop their own country, and protect our

independence. Many have criticised the ruling party, accusing them of

being sensitive to the work as the country faces its worst drought in

decades. They could not contain their excitement as celebrations

continued throughout the day. Leicester have stretched

their lead at the top of the English Premier League

to five points after an 89th minute Substitue Leonardo Ulloa came

on with 15 minutes to play Norwich remain above the relegation

zone only goal difference. Leicester's unbelievable

season continues. I told before the Arsenal match, it

is more difficult than the Arsenal match. Norwich, in the last 20

minutes, I think, every action. Both teams could have scored a goal.

Fortunately, it was Leicester to score a goal, just at the end of the

match. Champions Chelsea remain unbeaten

in the league under Guus Hiddink. Their late winner against

Southampton moves them to eleventh Here are the rest of

Saturday's results. Aston Villa remain bottom

after losing 2-1 to Stoke. Goalless between Watford

and Bournemouth. Real Madrid were dealt a blow in La

Liga. There were wins away from home.

The former Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, has given his support to

Gianni Infantino. He was elected on Friday and has promised to reunite

the game, while reforming it might be his most important job. He has

the backing of his predecessor and fellow Swiss. He is the man comment

coming from the football organisation, he is a young man, he

is powerful. He has a lot of energy. I am sure that he will do the right

job. It is important for Fifa to have a change. If the majority of

the 207 national organisations so clearly indicated they wanted to go,

I can only say to Gianni, good luck and do it. England are any team to

win a grand slam in the Six Nations championship after a third victory

in three under the head coach, Eddie Jones. They'd be Ireland 21-10. --

they beat will stop they broke a losing streak going back two years.

They beat Italy 36-20 in Rome. India had beaten Pakistan by five wickets.

In a rare match between the two, the first of the Asia cup, a warm up

tournament, India could only make three in their innings. India

started at the start of their reply. They eventually won with 27 balls in

Bangladesh. That is the sport. Modern China has become famous

for its spectacular skyline. They're bristling with skyscrapers

and oddly shaped buildings - from teapots to donuts

to spaceships. But now it seems the

authorities have had enough. The ruling Communist Party has

issued a new regulation. There's the skyscraper

affectionately known And then there's this,

a replica of the China has been on an extraordinary

and imaginative building spree. A year ago, President Xi Jinping

began expressing his concern, The Chinese President objects

to these kinds of buildings That they're "weird"

and that they're Western. And so the Communist Party's

suspicion of malign foreign Alongside democracy and universal

human rights, we can now add In future, new buildings should not

be oversized or out of keeping with Chinese culture,

the new regulation says, I think the Government should not

forbid or shackle the development Maybe in the future,

we could see more buildings When China has more

home-grown architects? Because right now, all those

buildings are built Local planning chiefs will have

to interpret the new guidelines, leaving some room for

variations in taste. But doughnuts are

probably off the menu! An American surfer has won

more than ?50,000s - after successfully riding a 60 foot

wave at a competition in Hawaii. 23-year old John John Florence

is one of the youngest winners of what is said to be professional

surfing's most prestigious event - of an unusual

highway chase kind earlier today -

involving an apparent unicorn. Officers initially believed

the caller who reported the fairy-tale creature

on the loose was on drugs. But when they got to the scene -

they found this - It took them three hours to chase

and coax the animal out of hiding. thank you for being with us. Do join

us again. Hello. There may be a few days left

of winter according to the meteorological calendar. Things are

feeling wintry as we head into the