25/02/2018 World News Today

Nemtsov,

This is BBC World News Today.

Our top stories:

A suspected chemical

attack in Syria.

Activists say these pictures are

from a hospital in Eastern Ghouta,

an area that's been under intense

attack for a week.

The political crisis in

the Democratic Republic of Congo -

security forces open fire on a rally

calling for President Kabila to go.

China's Xi Jinping could remain as

president for many years, and

proposed constitutional changes.

A team from Poland trying to be

the first to conquer the world's

second-highest peak in winter -

so why did one of the climbers

strike out his own?

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

There are reports from Syria

of a chemical attack

in Eastern Ghouta, an enclave

on the outskirts of Damascus that

has been under intense bombardment

from the Syrian regime

for a week now.

The region is the last major

rebel-held area near the capital,

and the Assad regime is now

determined to take it back.

These are pictures we've

just received of that

suspected chemical attack.

The reports come a day

after the United Nations Security

Council demanded a Syrian

ceasefire "without delay".

But clashes between Syrian forces

and the rebels have continued,

as have the airstrikes.

Russia has accused the rebels of

attacking Syrian government forces.

Caroline Hawley reports.

In Eastern Ghouta today,

a measure of calm after a week-long

storm of airstrikes.

In small numbers, people ventured

out from underground shelters

to assess the damage.

But there were reports of airstrikes

continuing in some parts

of the rebel-held enclave.

Once again, children

were among the dead.

Today is the first day

of the ceasefire resolution.

Still there is warplanes

in the atmosphere, still shelling,

but it is less bad than before.

The vote last night for a month-long

ceasefire didn't specify exactly

when it would start or how it

would be implemented,

and there's another problem.

In Eastern Ghouta, it's a disparate

group of rebels fighting the regime,

including some extremist elements

that have been linked

to Al-Qaeda, and the ceasefire

doesn't cover them.

Government forces are massed around

the edge of the enclave,

with reports of clashes

as they try and advance.

Tonight, we spoke to the most

powerful group on the ground,

Jaysh Al Islam, which claims to have

killed and kidnapped dozens

of government troops today.

TRANSLATION:

When the regime is not

abiding by the UN resolution,

I cannot stand still and watch

and not defend myself

and our families in Ghouta.

In one hospital in Eastern Ghouta,

victims, activists say,

of a suspected chemical attack,

suffering symptoms of a possible use

of chlorine gas.

If there's one thing all sides agree

on it's that the conflict,

and the agony of Syrian civilians,

is very far from over.

Dr Mohamad Katoub is

the advocacy manager

from the Syrian American Medical

Society.

He is originally from Ghouta

but joins us live from Turkey.

What more do you know about this

suspected attack?

Good evening.

Today we received information from

our hospital in Eastern Ghouta, one

of our hospital is there, that

received 16 patients with symptoms

indicating chlorine. The doctors who

treated the patients are

well-qualified and they experienced

chemical victims before, so they

know what they are talking about. We

don't have any way to identify the

agents other than the symptoms they

described. All the patients were

treated, they came in with moderate

symptoms, so we have only one death

between the 16. It's a child, and we

are not sure if the death is because

of the chemical attack or because of

other injuries, because it seems

that the missile which was loaded

with the chemical agent also caused

some destruction in the building

where this family lived.

If it was

chlorine, what with these people

have experienced and felt during the

attack and afterwards?

Suffocating,

mainly. Chlorine causes respiratory

problems. This is the main issue.

While other chemical or legends --

chemical agents cause other

symptoms. This is how we verify it,

in addition to the treatment we

provide to the patient. Actually,

six children from those 16 don't

know what's happening to them, why

they are in the hospital. The

doctors were very frustrated, that's

not enough to explain what they

feel, because they feel like this is

only an alarm and it will bring more

chemical attacks, because no one is

doing anything to stop them. This is

attack number four in 2018, and

number seven in Syria which is using

chemical agents against civilians.

This is a chronic issue. Chemical

weapons have been used since 2012 to

now. Almost 200 chemical attacks,

exactly 197, that have been reported

through our medical staff, and we

are just hearing about deadlines and

stopping this and the UN Security

Council, but this didn't happen,

especially in this area, which has

been under siege for five years now.

There is a shortage of medicine, no

capacity to face such attacks, no

protection gear even for some of the

rescue team, which pulled the people

from the attack area. Even they were

contaminated. Thank God that until

now, only one death since the

beginning of the year by chemical

weapons. But we expect more and more

as there is no action.

We appreciate

you joining us,-ism Mohamad Katoub.

Thank you.

Let's take a look at some of

the other stories making the news.

Nigeria's government has

deployed its air force to help

in the search for a group

of schoolgirls missing

since an attack by Islamist

militants on a school

in the north-east of the country.

The information ministry says 110

girls remain unaccounted for.

The National Rifle Association

in the United States has stressed

that it's opposed to any gun ban,

appearing to go against

President Trump's recent comments

that some gun controls

should be considered.

Following the deadly

shooting in a Florida

school earlier this month,

Mr Trump proposed raising

the age limit for buying

certain types of guns,

and banning modifications that

enable semi-automatic rifles

to shoot more rounds per minute.

Police in Leicester have declared

a "major incident" after reports

of an explosion this evening.

Leicestershire Fire Service said

they were sending six fire engines

to the scene and were treating

the incident as a search

and rescue operation.

There are no reports

of any casualties.

The cause of the explosion

is not known.

One person has been killed

and several others injured

in the Democratic Republic of Congo,

as people have taken

to the streets to protest

against President Joseph Kabila.

Mr Kabila has stayed

in power despite his

mandate expiring in 2016.

Demonstrators defied a ban in many

parts of the country

to protest after Sunday mass,

and were met with live

bullets and tear gas.

Clouds of toxic gas and a hail of

bullets. These protesters defied a

ban on demonstrations, taking to the

streets after Sunday mass. They say

president Kabila should have down --

stood down in 2016.

TRANSLATION:

We are determined

because we are suffering. We will

march even if the police stop us,

even they have to understand that

Kabila's mandate is finished, he

must go.

Reports say police quickly

turned to using live ammunition to

try and end the protests. The

violence has claimed the life of at

least one person. The campaign group

human rights watch has identified

him as this 36-year-old, a

university lecturer turned activist.

A relative said he was shot outside

a church in the capital, Kinshasa.

This Facebook page has been set up

in his memory. The police done I bet

anybody has been killed in the

protests. -- the police deny.

Our

goal was to have no threat because

we are here to provide security for

our population, our compatriots. I

told the police men not to shoot at

any non-civilians.

Authorities

missed a deadline to hold national

elections last year and a new vote

is slated for December, but

officials are already hinting that

what they called financial and

logistical issues might get in the

way. With opposition parties

crippled by infighting and many of

their leaders forced into exile, the

Catholic Church has become the main

force opposing Kabila's rule.

TRANSLATION:

As long as we don't see

goodwill and good faith from our

leaders, we will not stop

demonstrating. Maybe we will be able

to change the way we do it, but

we'll stick with it.

Mr Kabila's

opponents are now focusing on

stopping him from changing the

constitution in his favour. He wants

to remove the presidential term

limit altogether, meaning that he

could stay on legitimately. If he

succeeds, there could be many more

days like this one.

The Chinese Communist Party has

announced plans that could allow

President Xi Jinping

to extend his role indefinitely.

Under the current constitution,

he can only stay as President

for two terms, until 2022.

The party may now change that rule.

Le'ts speak now to an author

and expert on China, Ann Lee.

She joins me from New York.

What do you think this is about? Do

you think it is about one man and

his personality wanting to

consolidate power, or is it more

about the people at the top of the

party saying that collective power

doesn't work when you want to drive

change?

Well, it's a little

difficult to tell. What is certain

is that this change will give him

unprecedented power, but the real

question is is it going to be used

for positive impact or selfish ends?

And so what we do know is that China

right now is at a very critical

period, transitioning into an

innovation economy, and emerging as

a world power on the international

stage. It's a tricky situation, and

China knows that they need to have a

very strong leadership in order to

steer this ship through these very

uncertain, challenging, turbulent

waters. And so, it's very possible

that they feel that they need to

rely on someone that they know and

who has been trusted by a number of

folks, and they will be hoping Xi

Jinping can stay the course and

provide that leadership. They

probably worried that having

leadership changes during critical

periods might be inviting too

much... On the other hand, having

too much power concentrated in one

person can also bring corruption.

And this could lead to dangerous

outcomes, as we've seen with

Chairman Mao which led to

unnecessary deaths of civilians

during his rule. And so there could

be negative outcomes if Xi Jinping

does not use his power in a

benevolent and positive way. I think

that we need to just observe and see

what happens, whether this is a

calculated move by the Communist

leaders. They don't know in the end

what Xi Jinping will turn out to be

in the years to come, and nobody

will know.

Thank you very much.

Stay with us. Plenty more still to

come, including all of the sport,

with the latest from the English

Premier League, including Manchester

United's victory over Chelsea at Old

Trafford.

As revolutions go, this had its fair

share of bullets. A climax in the

night outside the gates. The label

itself symbolising one of the

crudest regimes in modern Asia.

The

world's first clone has been

produced of adult mammal. Scientists

produced a sheep called Dolly. The

citizens trying to come to grips

with their new freedom. Although

there is joy and relief, scowling is

everywhere. Not for 20 years have

locusts been seen in such numbers

here, some swarms have been ten

miles long. This is the last time

the public will see this Pope. Soon,

for the sake of credibility and

authority of the next one, Benedict

XVI will be hidden from the world

for the rest of his life.

This is BBC World News Today.

The latest headlines

There are reports of a chemical

attack in Syria. Activists say these

pictures are from a hospital in

Eastern Ghouta, an area that's been

under intense bombardment for a

week. Security forces in the

Democratic Republic of Congo opened

fire on a rally calling for

President Kabila to go.

The UK's opposition party would keep

the UK in a customs union

with the EU after the country leaves

the bloc, its party's Brexit

spokesman has confirmed.

Labour's Kier Starmer told the BBC

that the arrangement would be

best for the economy,

but still respect

the referendum result.

The policy shift marks a clear

difference with the UK

Prime Minister, who is committed

to leaving both the EU's customs

arrangement and the single market.

With me is BBC political

correspondent Ben Wright.

In the UK, the Labour Party is in

opposition, but they could have an

influence on government policy,

couldn't they?

That's right, and the

reason is because Theresa May's

Conservative Party doesn't have an

overall majority in the House of

Commons. Over the next year, really,

leading up to the date of Brexit,

there will be many opportunities for

Members of Parliament to vote on the

Brexit process so it doesn't take

many, a handful, even, of Tory MPs,

Conservative MPs, to vote with the

Labour Party to defeat the

government, and the backdrop to the

whole of Brexit over the next year

or so. Labour's policy position on

the customs union is one of the most

significant moves we've seen for

months. Bcentral planks of the

government Brexit strategy is to

take Britain out of the central

market, but also the customs union,

sharing tariff free trade across the

EU. The Labour position has been

evolving slowly over the last few

months and they confirmed that, were

they to be in power, they would want

Britain to create a new customs

union with the European Union to

maintain tariff free trade as much

as possible. The reason this is

dangerous for the government is that

there is highly likely to be a vote

in the house of parliament at some

point in the next weeks or months

that would allow Tory MPs who are

critical of their own government's

policy to join forces with the

Labour Party and potentially inflict

a defeat on the government and

potentially change the government's

preferred option on the customs

union, which changes the course of

Brexit. That is why these policy

choices that Labour is making are

significant.

Thank you.

A Polish expedition attempting

to become the first to conquer

the world's second-highest peak,

K2, in winter has confirmed that one

of its climbers appears to have

launched an unauthorised solo

attempt to reach the summit.

Denis Urubko struck out alone,

reportedly refusing to discuss his

plans with base camp on the radio.

We can now speak to the expedition

spokesperson, Michal Leksinski.

He's in Warsaw.

Just explain to me, why is it so bad

for somebody to strike out on their

own? You are all competitive

climbers, aren't you?

Well, I must

say...

PROBLEMS WITH SOUND.

Without any discussion and without

any consultation to make his

attempt. It's an international

expedition, 13 people have worked so

far for two months to establish

camps to fix the roads on the route

to the summit of K2, and without any

consultations Dennis attempted, or

is attempting for the summit push,

so this changed a bit the tactics,

because of the fact that he went

solo without any connectivity and

without any radio with himself. We

have to prepare other teams, which

are now currently at an altitude of

6200 metres in a camp, and 6700

metres in a camp also, they have to

be prepared for supporting Denis

Urubko, his summit attempt.

Currently, he's probably at altitude

of 7200 metres in camp three, from

where tomorrow probably he'll go

further and higher for the summit,

probably, we don't know his plans,

but maybe he'll try and do it in one

day, so he will try and go from 7200

metres to the summit.

Am I right in

thinking that you are very politely

trying to say he is being selfish,

and he is being dangerous?

Well,

this decision probably, we can't

say, but it is dangerous, because

when you go solo without

consulting...

PROBLEMS WITH SOUND.

Without any other members of the

team... It creates a dangerous

environment, especially all K2,

which is a very dangerous mountain,

however we will be assuming that

Dennis, being very known and

experienced climber, he will know

whether the weather will allow him

to go for the summit, and he will

judge and assess the situation in

the proper way, so he will not

create any dangerous environment,

both for him and also for the team

members.

OK, and no doubt some words

when he gets back down. Thank you

for joining us.

Now all the sport.

Manchester City have won their first

silverware under manager

Pep Guardiola with a comprehensive

3-0 win over Arsenal

in the League Cup final at Wembley.

It was a dominant performance

from City, who took the lead

through Sergio Aguero in the first

half - his 199th goal for City

in all competitions.

City made sure of the trophy

with two quick strikes in the second

half, the first from Vincent

Kompany...

And then another from David Silva,

as Arsenal looked in danger

of being overrun, but no

further goals followed.

Arsene Wenger's search

for a League Cup win goes on,

while Guardiola lifted what he hopes

will be the first of three

trophies this year.

City manager Pep Guardiola may draw

further attention from the FA

after he wore his trademark yellow

ribbon, which he displays in support

of imprisoned politicians

in his native Catalonia,

despite facing a charge from English

football's governing body

for "wearing a political message".

In the Premier League,

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United

came from a goal down to beat

Antonio Conte's Chelsea

2-1 at Old Trafford.

The win keeps United in second

place behind runaway

leaders Manchester City.

After going behind to a Willian

goal, Romelu Lukaku equalised

for the home side five minutes

before the half-time interval.

The winner came from Jesse Lingard

15 minutes from the end,

as Chelsea drop to 5th place.

Earlier, Tottenham beat

Crystal Palace 1-0 -

the only goal from Harry Kane

in the 88th minute.

That win stretches Spurs' unbeaten

record into 15 games

in all competitions,

and also takes them fourth

after Chelsea's loss

at Manchester United.

In Spain, Diego Costa

and Antoine Griezmann goals

for Atletico Madrid see them lead

Sevilla 2-0, heading towards the end

of their Primera Division match.

The win would take them

to within seven points

of leaders Barcelona

while Sevilla would drop

a place to 6th with a loss.

Elsewhere Villarreal held

on to a 1-0 win over Getafe ending

a five-match winless streak

and moving to fifth place.

Athletic Bilbao beat bottom side

Malaga while Valencia were 2-1

winners over Real Sociedad.

Now to golf, and Eddie Pepperell

edged out fellow Englishman Oliver

Fisher by one shot to secure

the Qatar Masters.

It was his first title

on the European Tour

athough he had come close before.

He lost a play-off at

the Irish Open in 2015.

Here, he finished on 18 under par

overall and faced a nervous wait

but Fisher couldn't catch him.

Meanwhile, Jessica Korda held on to

win the LPGA event in Thailand.

The American led by four shots

heading into the final round and it

stayed that way as she won her first

title since 2015 in what was also

her first appearance this season

after recovering from jaw surgery.

At one point, I was in the trees on

nine, and I hit this punch out into

the bunker, and I felt like Tiger

Woods! All of these crowds coming in

behind me. I was like, this is

really cool. It's always really fun

playing in front of crowds like

this. I really enjoyed it.

Movistar cyclist Alejandro Valverde

has won the Abu Dhabi Tour

after claiming Sunday's final stage.

The Spaniard went head-to-head

with Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez

after the pair broke clear

with four kilometres remaining.

It was Valverde -

who was lying in eighth place

before the final day -

who came out on top,

to win the stage and the overall

race, finishing 17 seconds ahead

of Team Sunweb's Wilco Kelderman.

The Winter Olympics came to an end,

and our dreams of curling or

bobsleigh gold came to an end for

another four years.

And that's all the sport for now.

A reminder of the developing story

we are following, and reports coming

in to us of a suspected chemical

attack in Eastern Ghouta. This is

coming from the Syrian American

medical society, telling the BBC

that one of its hospitals has been

receiving patient Lee suffering from

symptoms indicating a chemical

attack, possibly chlorine.

Meanwhile, Russia has criticised

rebels, saying they are still

breaking the ceasefire.