Hello, I am Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.
The United Nation's special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has called for the ceasefire in Syria to be revitalized, before new peace talks in Geneva can be held. He urged the US and Russia to launch an urgent initiative at highest level so the talks could be relaunched in May. Mr Dermisdura said the ceasefire in Syria agreed in Feburary was in danger of collapse, In the last 40 hours, we had an average of one Syrian killed every 25 minutes, one Syrian wounded every 13 minutes. Reports from the Syrian city of Alepo say at least 16 civilians have been killed in strikes in a hospital and nearby buildings by government forces. Civil defense volunteers told the French news agency those who died include children and the only paediatrician in rebel held areas in Alepo.
The Taxes senator Ted Cruz who’s competing for the Republican US presidential nomination has named Carly Fiorina as his running mate, she is a former chief executive of the technology cooperation Huler Parkard and was also a presidential contender before withdrawing in Feburary. Mr Cruz's announcement is seen as aimed at weakening the momentum of the Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Mrs Fiorina told supporters she and Mr Cruz could win the Republican nomination. I've had tough fights all my life. Tough fights don't worry me a bit, What matters is the fight worth having. And this is a fight worth having. This is a fight worth winning. And with your help, we will win this fight!
Profits of Facebook have tripled in the first quarter of 2016 compared with a year ago, rising to 1.5 billion dollars, the munber of people using the social network continue to grow. David Lee reports from San Francisco.
It's been a deflating couple of weeks for Silicon Valley, with Apple, Google and Twitter all failing to impress investors with their earnings, but not so Facebook, Once again, the social network has managed to grow both its user base and its revenues, 97% of its earnings came via advertising, the majority of that for mobile users. Investors are excited about the potential of newer project such as Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Internet access to the developing world. Facebook also announced its new share structure which to allow funder Mark Zukerburg to give away his stock while still retaining control of the company.
Japan's stock markets have tumbled after the central bank decided against new measures to boost the economy. The Nikkei average end the day almost four percent down. A fresh stimulate has been expected to help tackle the weakening inflation and highsoaring spending. But the Bank of Japan voted to take no action, spooking investors as well as triggering an unwelcome rise in the value of yen against the dollar.
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The appeals trial is beginning in Italy of the skipper held responsible for the Cast Concordia cruises ship disaster in 2012, in which 32 people were killed. Franchesco Scutino was sentenced to 16 years in prison last year. He has not began the sentence yet, turn to seeking to overturn his manslaughter conviction.
Reports from western Russia say the sister of a jailed Ukrainian helicopter pilot Nadia Savchenko has been prevented from returning to Ukraine. The sister's lawyer says that after being blocked by Russian border guards, she’s now in the Ukrainian consulate in the Russian city of Rusto Fondon, it's unclear why she is not been allowed to leave Russia.
A study in Britain said smokers should be encouraged to quit by switching to e-cigarettes, the Royal College of Physition says concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes should be laid to rest. Here is Aton Bremelo.
The growing popularity of e-cigarette has prompted debate about their safety and potential to help people quit tobacco smoking and the risk they may encourage some people to take it up. The Royal College of Physicians concludes that impact so far has been very positive. They’ve helped many thousands of people to quit and the switch from tobacco smoking is a dramatic stepping towards better health. It says any possible harm from long term use is likely to be very small and it concludes fears that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking are unfounded.’
A BBC poll has found that about half of the people in countries across the world see themselves as global rather than national citizens. This trend is driven by emerging economies, such as Nigeria, China and India. While in industrilized countries, a majority see themselves as citizens of their own country.Russia and Germany score lowest of eighteen countries surveyed in the question of identification as global citizen. They also score lowest when asked about approval of marriage between races or ethnic groups.