24/02/2018 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Duncan Golestani.

Our top stories: After three days

of haggling, the United Nations

finally agrees on a ceasefire

resolution for Syria.

The Security Council,

including Russia, backs

a call for a 30-day pause,

as the number of dead

from government strikes

on a rebel-held enclave tops 500.

We may not know the faces that we're

talking about. We may not know their

names, or these people, but they

know us. And we all failed them this

week.

Two major US airlines,

Delta and United, become the latest

firms to cut ties with the powerful

National Rifle Association

in response to the Florida

school shooting.

China calls for the withdrawal

of the new US sanctions package

against North Korea,

described by President Trump

on Friday as the "largest ever".

And, archeologists

discover a 2,000-year-old

burial site in Egypt.

We've found jewellery, amulets, part

of the finery... Furniture, pottery,

wooden coffins. It's only the

beginning.

Hello, and welcome

to World News Today.

After days of delays,

the United Nations Security Council

has unanimously agreed

on a ceasefire in Syria.

The hope is the resolution

will allow some respite

for civilians in the rebel enclave

of eastern Ghouta,

who have been bombed

by Russian-backed Syrian forces.

The resolution calls

for the ceasefire to last 30 days

and begin without delay,

but we are already hearing

reports from activists that

jets are still overhead

and air-raids are continuing.

More than 500 people have been

killed in the last seven

days in Eastern Ghouta.

There is a desperate need

for humanitarian assistance.

Here's US Ambassador

to the UN, Nikki Haley.

The Syrian people should

not have to die waiting

for Russia to organise

their instructions from Moscow.

Or to discuss it with the Syrians.

And why did the council allow this?

There is no good reason we shouldn't

have done this Wednesday,

or Thursday, or Friday.

We may not know the faces that

we're talking about.

We may not know the names of these

people, but they know us.

And we all failed them this week.

Russia's ambassador to the UN,

Vasily Nebenzya, said the ceasefire

would achieve little

without concrete agreements

between parties at war.

TRANSLATION:

This will in no way help to address

the pressing humanitarian situation

in Syria.

The demands of the

security Council must be underpinned

by concrete, on the ground

agreements.

Let's go to Kuwait and talk

to Panos Moumtzis, the UN

Regional Humanitarian Coordinator

for the Syria Crisis.

Thank you for joining us. First of

all, your reaction to this

resolution being passed.

Finally, of

course we very much welcome the

anonymous decision of all 16 members

of the Security Council to pass the

resolution. It was long overdue.

It's really excellent to have it

now. What is really important is the

implementation of this reveller so,

resolution. Having all council

members on board is great, but how

will it translate? We very much want

to see an immediate effect where the

hostilities really do come to an

end, and for routes to open for us

to be able to bring in humanitarian

assistance, food, medical supplies,

and also to be able to evacuate the

people who need medical evacuation.

This is where the resolution really

will be fantastic to see it lamented

immediately.

From your point of

view, what's the plan? How quickly

can you start getting aid into these

places once you know it is safe?

From our side, we're ready. We have

people on the ground, we are ready

to follow all the steps to bring it

whether it is. East Ghouta is about

a ten mile distance from Damascus.

It's not the distance, it's really

very much to have the access to be

able to see the hostilities subside,

to be able to safely go inside.

Eastern Ghouta is an area that has

had really no electricity, no water,

food is very low, health facilities

have been overstretched to the

maximum. Several of them were

destroyed, hospitals. People are in

desperate need. What needs to happen

now is to implement this resolution.

What is designed in paper needs to

be translated into action. It is not

just East Ghouta, it talks about the

totality of the Syrian territory. We

want to see the same cessation of

hostilities in Idlib and all areas,

for us to be able to reach all areas

where there are people who are

besieged or hard to reach. There are

2.9 million people who wore in the

card to reach areas. Really we want

to see a cessation of hostilities in

the totality of the country.

I

understand you want to read all

areas, but the situation on the

ground, as you know more than

anyone, is so complicated, so

confused, as our correspondent put

it, there is war is going on within

walls. How difficult is it then your

workers to get to these remote

places? -- wars going on within

walls.

It is a very complex

situation. There are multiple

actors, multiple groups, multiple

countries. We are driven by the

humanitarian imperative, as

impartial, neutral, independent

humanitarian organisations, our role

is to talk to everybody and reach

everybody, reach the civilians in

all of these locations and bring

assistance to walk these places. Of

course, well manoeuvring the

extremely complex situation on the

ground.

OK, Panos Moumzis, we'll

leave it there. Thank you very much

for joining us from Kuwait.

Thank you very much

for joining us from Kuwait.

US Airlines, Delta and United have

joined a growing list of companies

cutting ties with the National Rifle

Association.

The two airlines have ended

discounts for NRA members

following the Florida school

shooting last week.

Car rental firms, a computer

software company and a bank have

also responded to an online boycott

of businesses with links

to the pro-gun lobby group.

Let's cross live to David Willis,

who is in Washington for us. David,

this movement seems to be really

picking up momentum?

It does,

Duncan, yes. It started last

Thursday and it's been gathering

steam, picking up momentum ever

since. As the hashtag boycott NRA

has trended on Twitter. And the list

now includes banks and hotel chains,

car hire companies, an insurance

company, a household moving company,

a software company. The most recent

being Delta Airlines and United

Airlines, who, as well as severing

their marketing ties with the NRA,

they are also asking for their

company logos to be removed from the

NRA website. As well as the NRA

boycotts, there is also the

possibility of some sort of

financial squeeze being imposed on

the NRA's members, as the gun

manufacturers and the Bank of

America issued a statement saying,

we are joining other companies in

our industry to examine what we can

do to help end the tragedy of mass

shootings, and an immediate step we

are taking is to engage the limited

number of plants we have that

manufacture assault weapons for

non-military use. We didn't see this

sort of vault, if I can put it that

way, after the Sandy Hook massacre

just five years ago, Duncan -- this

sort of revolt.

How are the NRA

taking this? They don't take these

type of threats lying down, do they?

They don't. The NRA boasts about 5

million members, it has been heavily

supported over the last few days by

President Trump, of course. The NRA

has yet to comment on these

boycotts. But earlier in the week,

the organisation said that this was

the work of opportunists, as it put

it, who were using the Florida

tragedy basically to make Americans

less free. But this is the sort of

thing that must be troubling to the

NRA, particularly as it shows signs

of gathering momentum, of the back,

really, of these very voluble and

articulate students who survived

that killing in Florida last week.

David Willetts in Washington, thank

you.

Nigerian parents who fear

their daughters have been abducted

by Boko Haram jihadists have

released a list of 105 names.

The militants attacked

a boarding school on Monday,

but until now it hadn't been clear

how many girls were missing.

Our correspondent in Lagos,

Stephanie Hegarty,

is following the story.

We know that Boko Haram attacked

this, suspected Boko Haram Allott

and attacked this town and entered

this school on Monday night. After

that point, things got very

confusing. On the one hand, the

authorities were saying that no

kidnapping were taking place. They

didn't admit until Wednesday that

some girls had been abducted. Even

since then, they've been very

confused in their account of the

numbers. At one point they said 51.

Yesterday it seems they are saying

84. Today, the parents who have come

together as a kind of advocacy

group, the parents of these missing

girls, they have put together their

own list and they say there is 105

girls and they have listed each of

their names. That's their definitive

idea of who is missing, and that's

the clearest line we've really had

on how many of these girls haven't

been found.

So, if they can't even

get the numbers right, I have two

was, how effective are the

authorities and the government in

looking for the girls -- I have to

ask.

Well, we heard from the

president last night, at least four

days after this happened. He said

earlier he had sent an investigative

team to go and find out what

happened in the town. Last night he

issued a statement that was intended

to reassure people. It said that

this is a national disaster and they

were taking it very seriously and

the army Warren pursued of the

girls, their wrist surveillance

aircraft monitoring the region 24/7.

Aside from that, no information on

where these girls are. Also, another

very conflicting and devastating

line during the week on Wednesday,

the State government claimed that

some of these girls had been

rescued. Then on Thursday they said

that that claim was false. Parents

of course were very angry. The

governor had addressed them in the

town. And after he said that this

rescue hadn't happened, they

attacked his convoy and pelted it

with stones. A lot of bad feeling

between the authorities and the

parents themselves. A lot of

confusion, and of course anger and

devastation. These 105 families that

are wondering whether girls are.

Stephanie Hegarty Lagos.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

The American billionaire

Warren Buffett says tax cuts

introduced by President Trump

boosted his company's earnings

by $29 billion last year.

Many Democrats had argued

that the tax package was a huge

and unaffordable giveaway

to the wealthy.

Mr Buffett, who is chairman

and chief executive

of Berkshire Hathaway,has long

argued for higher

taxes for the rich.

Rival demonstrations are taking

place in Italy, a week ahead

of the general election.

The anti-immigrant party is holding

a rally in the city of Milan,

while several thousand took part

in an anti-racism protest in Rome.

Security has been stepped

up across both cities.

Three days after an attack

on a South African police station,

officials say they have shot dead

seven of the suspects

in a gunfight at a church.

They say those killed had been

hiding there since carrying out

Wednesday's attack in the Eastern

Cape.

The armed gang killed six people

and stole weapons and a police van.

Today, ten other

suspects were arrested.

Stay with us on BBC World News.

Still to come: In sport,

Scotland rejoices after beating

Rugby Six Nations champions England.

Prince Charles has chosen his bride.

The Prince proposed to Lady Diana

Spencer three weeks ago. She

accepted, she said, without

hesitation.

As revolutions go, this

had its fair share of bullets. The

name of the sanctuary itself

symbolising one of the cruellest

regimes in modern Asia.

The world's

first cloning has been produced of

an adult mammal. Scientists in

Scotland have produced a clone of a

sheep, called Dolly.

Citizens are

trying to come to grips with their

new freedom. There is joy and relief

today, but the scars are everywhere.

Zero for 20 years, have posts been

seen in such numbers, some of the

swarms have been ten miles long.

This is the last time the public

will have seen this Pope. Benedict

XVI world, in his own world is a

much words, be hidden from the world

for the rest of his life.

This is BBC World News Today.

The latest headlines:

The UN Security Council has

unanimously adopts a resolution

calling for a 30-day humanitarian

ceasefire in Syria.

And two major US airlines, Delta and

United, have become the latest firms

to cut ties with the powerful

National Rifle Association in

response to the Florida School

shooting.

Hugh Woozencroft has all the sport.

Hello, Duncan.

In rugby union's Six Nations

Championship, Scotland pulled off

a shock to beat defending champions

England at Murrayfield.

Fly half Finn Russell put in a man

of the match performance

in the 25-13 victory,

which meant the Scots inflicted just

a second defeat for England in 26

Tests under head coach Eddie Jones.

It also saw the Scots lift

the historic Calcutta Cup

for the first time in ten years.

I was really surprised, we had a

game plan and we executed it really

well. If you look at that Tests that

we had, they've been outstanding. We

managed to get back on that type of

form, and it was awesome.

Do you

think Scotland can get back on track

with yellow it will definitely be

tough, but if we keep performances

like that, we have got a chance and

we can build on it next week.

Ireland stayed on course

for the Grand Slam after running

in five tries, in a thrilling

victory over Wales in Dublin.

The final score was 37-27,

as result that makes it three wins

from three for Ireland

in the tournament.

I think when we went ten points up

with less than five to go we sort of

felt, keep control of the ball, keep

control of the defence and the game

was over. As in France, we don't

like to do things easy. But again,

great character. Wales are great

outfit. And we look at this game

and, I think on one hand there are

some unbelievable positives, some on

attack and some the way we went

about playing. On the other hand, we

give up far too many points so

easily. I know that the coaches will

have a lot to look at. But at the

same time, I think if you'd asked

us, would you take a 5-point win

today, there would be no doubt that

we would have taken that.

Liverpool have moved up to second

place in the Permier League

after a 4-1 win over

West Ham on Saturday.

Egyptian Mohammed Salah

was on the scoresheet for the sixth

game in a row for Liverpool.

Emre Can, Roberto Firmino

and Sadio Mane were Liverpool's

other scorers to move them one point

above Manchester United

who play on Sunday.

It was an all-round performance,

we defended well and attack well and

counter pressing was outstanding.

Just outstanding.

It always helps us a lot,

because whatever the opponents

do, if they defended

or

whatever, David Moyes, fantastic

manager, he organises his teams

really well.

So they made a big step back

on track since he is there, and

we knew how difficult it would be.

West Bromwich Albion are now six

points adrift of second

from bottom Stoke,

who earlier drew at Leicester.

Swansea drop into the relegation

zone after losing 4-1 at Brighton.

Elsewhere Watford beat

Everton, while the matches

between Bournemouth and Newcastle,

and Burnley and Southampton

were both drawn.

Over to the Republic of Korea now,

where Ester Ledecka completed

an historic Olympic double

on Saturday romping to snowboarding

parallel giant slalom gold to add

to her shock super-G title

in alpine skiing.

The 22-year-old world champion

became the first woman to capture

gold medals in different sports,

at the same Winter Games

after beating German Selina Jorg

by almost half a second

in the Pyeongchang final.

Ledecka becomes just the third

Winter athlete to do a multi-sport

double at the same Olympics.

Norway secured a record 38th medal

at a Winter Olympics with bronze

in the inaugural alpine skiing mixed

team event as Switzerland took gold.

Norway passed the United States'

tally of 37 medals, won

at the 2010 Vancouver Games,

with victory over France

in the bronze-medal decider.

Switzerland beat Austria for gold

in the event which sees

four-strong teams compete

in head-to-head slalom races.

In the men's big air,

Canada's Sebastien Toutant won

gold, with United States'

Kyle Mack taking silver.

Great Britain's Billy Morgan,

at 28 the veteran of

the field, took bronze.

And that's all the sport for now.

China has asked the United States

to withdraw sanctions imposed

on Chinese firms and shipping that

Washington says are

trading with North Korea.

Beijing said it was responsible

for investigating and

punishing its own companies.

The United States said on Friday

it was imposing its largest package

of sanctions aimed at getting

North Korea to give up its nuclear

and missile programmes.

The new sanctions target

businesses and ships

from several countries -

including China,

Singapore and Panama.

But China's Foreign Ministry says

the government absolutely did not

allow any of its citizens

or companies to contravene UN

resolutions on North Korea.

And it adds: "China demands the US

ommediately stops such

mistaken actions to avoid

harming bilateral cooperation".

Let's speak now to

Oriana Skylar Mastro -

she's an Assistant Professor

of Security Studies

at Georgetown University

and Jeane Kirkpatrick Scholar

at the American

Enterprise Institute.

Thank you for joining us. So, is

China justified in being so angry,

do you think?

Well, I think China's

response is very predictable. They

are against any government is taking

actions that intervene in their

internal affairs, and they think

that this action meet this criteria.

They are generally against sanctions

in the North Korean nuclear case

because they think they won't work,

so they only look at the downside,

which is potentially destabilising

the North Korean regime.

In your

opinion, have Chinese businesses,

individuals and entities been

complying with the existing

sanctions on North Korea?

Well, I

don't have independent information

to be able to say whether the

Chinese have comply to the degree

that they are claiming that they

have. But the United States'

unilateral sanctions put China in a

very difficult position. Either they

are unwilling to comply, because 99%

of North Korean trade is with China,

or they don't have the capability to

do so. Either way, it doesn't make

China looks very good, which is why

we don't see a lot of the talk about

the Sangchan is an Chinese social

media sites, because this would be

an unpopular point to put to the

public. I think in general, there is

a lack of appreciation for how much

domestic political factors do impact

the Chinese regime, given the fact

it is an autocratic regime, but it

is very responsive, particularly

when it comes to the Chinese public,

Chinese companies and overseas,

there is an increased pressure on

the government to ensure that they

are protecting their citizens and

other countries aren't negatively

impacting them.

Of course, we have

had rounds of the rounds after

rounds of sanctions in order to make

North Korea comply with what it is

that the United States and South

Korea wants to achieve, but to no

avail. Do you think the latest

sanctions will do the trick?

No, I

don't think any amount of sanctions

will convince Kim Jong-un to give up

his weapons. But I think the United

states know that, it is symbolic.

President Trump mentioned phase two,

a second option, a military option,

suggests the seriousness. If I had

to choose between more aggressive

sanctions or a limited strike or

what is referred to as a bloody nose

option, I definitely would choose

the former.

Now, China is saying

that this will hurt China- US

relations. Do you think that's

accurate?

China has always

corroborated with the United States

when and to the degree that it

benefits Chinese national interest

-- has always corroborated. They

have never done any thing more just

because the United States has asked

them to or for the sake of a

bilateral relationship. I understand

China saying that it will be

harmful, but in my view, the Chinese

are going to continue to cooperate

for it suits them and they won't

cooperate when it doesn't.

Have you

been keeping an eye on the Olympics

in Pyeongchang, I wonder's do you

think anything will come out of that

seeming slight thawing in relations

between the north and South?

It is

always beneficial when we have a

reduction intentions and improved

inter-Korean relations, but it

doesn't change anything from the

perspective of the United States.

This administration has to decide

whether it is willing to live with a

nuclear North Korea and pursue a

containment option, or the United

States is not willing to live with

that and will pursue military

options. Either way, I don't think

that the handshaking and even the

drawing teams at the Olympics is

changing that more significant

calculus -- the joint teams.

Thank

you for joining us.

Thank you for

having me.

To Egypt now, where

archaeologists have discovered

a 2,000-year-old necropolis.

The site, just south of Cairo,

consists of dozens of burial shafts

dating from the late Pharaonic

period to the early Ptolomaic era.

The area is so large,

experts say it'll take five

years to fully excavate.

Egypt's Antiquities Minister

says he hopes the site

will help revive tourism,

which has been affected by unrest

in the country in recent years.

Today we found... You can see the

jars, more than 1000 amulet statues.

And we found jewellery amulet, part

of the funerary furniture. Pottery,

wooden coffins... It's only the

beginning. I think we need at least

five more missions to work. But we

are going to add very soon a new

archaeological attraction in Egypt.

Just time to take a look at some

pictures from a plus size model

competition in Thailand. The people

looking like they are having a lot

of fun. To take part in this beauty

pageant, you have to be at least 80

kilograms, and it's also open to

transgender participants. They are

judged and dance technique,

personality and confidence, and the

winner is crowned Miss Jumbo,

because it is an event to promote

elephant conservation. And that's

the way it's looking this hour.

And you can get in touch with me

and most of the team on Twitter.

I'm @Duncan Golestani.

Stay with us on BBC News. For now,

thank you very much for watching.

Bye-bye.