. hello you're watching gamt on bbc world news. our top stories. ukraine's cease-fire beckons, the fighting and killing continue. at least 15 people reported killed in the east. the eu and u.s. say more sanctions will be imposed if this peace plan doesn't work. the last al jazeera released from jail and reunited with his nearest and dearest as he's released on bail in cairo. is there anybody out there?

or anything? come to think of it, should we even be trying to get in touch? also ant program aaron's here, having a big look at a u.s. conference on cybersecurity. >> david, president obama is traveling to stanford university in silicon valley today and he's expected to order companies and the government to share more information on threats from computer hackers. some say it sounds good but the question is can this be done whilst at the same time protecting our privacy? it's midday here in london 7:00 a.m. in washington, 7:00 p.m. in ukraine where there are still some 36 hours to run before that cease-fire is due to come into effect in the east of the country. and the sounds of conflict well, they continue to be heard in the cities of donetsk and luhansk. government forces say 11 of its

soldiers are being killed and more than 40 wounded since the deal was signed in minsk on thursday. there are unconfirmed reports that civilians have also been killed. fighting goes on for control of the key town of debaltseve that's still held by 8,000 government troops, but which russian-backed rebels say they have now surrounded. the main way in or out is through this key village of loqvanove. it cities on the important e-40 road and both sides are fighting over it before the cease-fire itself comes into effect. well, bbc's james reynolds gave us this update from donetsk. >> reporter: the cease-fire has yet to begin, and here in donetsk, we continue to hear the sounds of war. the sounds of explosions in the distance of artillery fire. we've also seen footage posted online from the rebel-held city of luhansk, which shows heavy fighting at night. and the ukrainian army has said

in the last 24 hours, it has lost a number of its own service men. in other words, in the run-up to this cease-fire, this planned cease-fire, the conflict does continue. and we know that all sides are now looking at the practicalities, at the details of implementing that agreement, including withdrawing heavy armor from both sides to create a buffer zone and looking very, very closely at that demarcation line. ukraine's president, petrov poroshenko, has said that his military commanders will meet russian military commanders to go through details and to begin looking at implementation. the cease-fire is due to start at the end of saturday, but few here in donetsk and perhaps few on the other side in government-held territory expect a complete or sudden end to war. >> we're joined now by philippa thomas, who's in brussels for us. philippa, you've heard what all the eu leaders have had to say. and of course, keeping those

sanctions on the table, if i can put it that way, as the americans are doing as well, they must recognize presumably those, that up until saturday night, this is what's going to happen. >> reporter: and you know a good way to put it david they're keeping the sanctions options on the table. what leaders here did not want to come out of yesterday's informal meeting was a threat against russia. we will impose sanctions if you don't jump, if you don't get the deal at midnight on sunday. there are options but they want to keep president putin on side. they know that he has, let's say, to put it mildly, influence if not control through military lines on the rebels in the east. it's very important for them to try to make this cease-fire happen to create at least a breathing space, where they can begin to talk more about the politics. so what they say, quite carefully, to quote the eu counsel president, we are ready to take the necessary steps on sanctions.

what that means is that officials here in brussels are looking at what might happen next, who they could extend sanctions to, how they might ratchet them up. just as that advice can be ready pretty swiftly if european union leaders decide there's no cease-fire and no good faith on the part of russia. >> and obviously, the heat is in eastern ukraine. we get that, philippa. but in terms of the broader picture. it's interesting why the german chancellor finds himself isn't it? she's got to reassure other eastern and central european states as well as try to broker this deal. she has a lot of credibility riding on this now. >> reporter: she does and she's put in an awful lot of legwork to get here. it's something like 20,000 kilometers that angela merkel has covered over the last eight days. kiev munich minsk that 17-hour negotiating session and back here to brussels.

so, she's really worked hard partly to say to the americans don't make the move yet on splig arms to kiev and let us try to make diplomacy work, but then she does have to reassure those, especially in eastern europe and those in the states bordering russia, that this is going to be a robust enough response. but as we were saying david all eyes for the leaders at the moment on the ground in eastern ukraine. >> indeed. philippa, thanks very much. we want to get our eyes back on the ground as well. the ukrainian military spokesman has said in just the last hour or so, that rebels are still building up their forces in the key conflict zones. let's head to one of those now because stephen is a journalist in donetsk and joins me on the line. stephen, thanks very much for joining us. can you just give us a feeling as to what is going on in and around donetsk, as far as you can ascertain? >> reporter: good morning. as of now, i'm heading east of

donetsk, i just witnessed a military convoy of tanks which is quite common. the situation is quite -- well, it's unrealistic to hope for peace on sunday. on the day of the summit, 39 people were killed. this actual morning artillery fire was shot from the ukrainian position. the people through there, they don't even think there will be a cease-fire, let alone peace. it's quite a tense situation. >> are they even aware, you think, of the deal that is being brokered in minsk? is it something they're talking about and hearing about and is it being reported on properly? >> no, not at all. i've spoke to both and they were

quite surprised about a cease-fire. they haven't heard about it. they were quite skeptical about it as well. and some of it might be that people that are watching news here the only blames ukrainian government for all the bloodshed and the minsk summit in donetsk. >> stefan we're showing some pictures, which are yours, in fact, some scenes dotted around donetsk, and they're a mixture a flavor of what's going on some of which are very calm. we've got one or two playing a guitar and that sort of thing. do you think that the people in donetsk are of a mind now where we just want an end to this, or are there still plenty who say we need to clarify the position however we do it, with force if

necessary, before we reach a cease-fire or a truce? >> well most civilians have already done that. i don't get the sense they are actively supporting the [ inaudible ] they just want their life to go on which is impossible right now. so [ inaudible ] the governing of donetsk they are really tense situation. >> i'm going to cut you slightly short there, stefan, but the quality of the line has deteriorated a little bit. thank you very much, nonetheless, though, for giving us a firsthand account of the situation in donetsk itself. let's move on to some other stories. at least 19 people have been killed, dozens more injured in a

suicide attack at a shia mosque in peshawar in northwestern pakistan. police say four militants stormed the mosque, they opened fire before blowing themselves up, while hundreds of worship worshippers were gathered inside for friday prayers. the pakistan taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack. it's the second in two weeks on a shia mosque. in myanmar 47 soldiers have been killed and 73 injured in three days of fighting against a small rebel army. reports say the soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels from the cocong ethnic group and air strikes had been used in response. >> reporter: the ethnic group and their armed wing is a remnant of the burr musemese communist party which disintegrated in 1989.

for a long time, they have administered or had a large degree of autonomy over a stretch of land on the northeastern burmese border with china. now, what appears to have triggered this latest bout of fighting is the return of one of the leaders from five years of exile in china. he was forced out in 2009 by the burmese and he's now returned, talking about restoring respect and restoring real autonomy to the people. and that has seen several attacks on government positions. the information which we've been given about the fighting comes largely from the burmese government side, in one of the burmese-owned or largely owned newspapers today, it reported 47 casualties from the burmese army. it's likely that that is an underestimation of the situation. in one of the military newspapers today, it talks about a situation in which they have grenades, rocket launchers, even

some anti-aircraft equipment. so certainly, they are well-equipped. and this is a pretty significant uptick in the fighting, in the last couple of years, we've not heard of any incident in the many border conflicts here in myanmar, which comes even close to the number of casualties being reported now. yesterday we showed you pictures of mohamed fahmy and baher mohamed behind bars. they've been released on bail. baher mohamed was ordered to pay more than $30,000 in bail. and we've got pictures here for you of a very relieved and celebratory journalist baher mohamed, understandably happy as he came out of prison. he met up with his nearest and dearest, if we can put it that way, when he arrived at this home. i'm hoping we'll get this picture back because they're really rather lovely shots of

greeting his dog who he hasn't seen for more than a year. so really nice moment there. these pictures of mohamed and his family as well, that we can see. so obviously, a very happy day. it is still the case of bail i should say, but that sounds an awful lot better than the ten-year sentence that was handed down to him initially. the next court hearing due on february 23rd and both journalists have to check in at the police station every day until then. it's bbc world news. stay with us here on "gmt," because, is there anybody out there? space scientists want the world's permission to try to contact intelligent alien life.

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the president of egypt has

offered to airlift egyptians out of libya after jihadists there published pictures online of what they said were 21 egyptian hostages. they've been protesting cairo by the families of those hostages, all men, and they're demanding that mr. sisi does more to help them. let's get over to cairo. sally nabil is following the story for us, as indeed, many others sally. but can you tell us what you know about the hostage situation and how certain they are about what information they've been given? >> reporter: yes, i'm here in an orthodox building in cairo and behind me are the families of the 21 egyptians killed in libya. they've came all the way from southern egypt, and they say they are not leaving the church until they know the fate of their loved ones. they are holding signs saying that the international community should do more to save these innocent christians kidnapped we

a terrorist group as they call it. they blame the government, the egyptian government for not doing enough. they say that these people have been kidnapped for more than 50 days and the egyptian government didn't do enough effort to save them or bring them back. they don't know what the fate of their loved ones is whether they are killed or they are still alive in the hands of isis. but they say we are not leaving until this crisis is resolved. on the other hand, we have the official response from the egyptian president, the government to evacuate egyptians who want to leave, leave as soon as possible. actually this is not the first time for christian egyptians to be a part of the libya. a couple of egyptian christians were killed as well and the people here say that these people were targeted specifically because of their religion, rather than their

nationality. >> sally, thank you so much, indeed. now to problems in libya affecting egypt too, there, sally nabil in cairo. we're going to change the theme. we're going into another orbit really. the truth is out there. but should we just leave it alone? scientists who are searching for signals from aliens want to start sending messages to them, rather than just listening out for them. but not everyone is convinced that's a good idea. other experts, notably professor stephen hawking warn that trying to make contact could invite disaster. the bbc science correspondent thomas ghosh, reports. >> reporter: on top of a mountain in northern california dishes are listening out to signals from an alien world. we know that many of the stars have planets capable of supporting life. mainly even intelligent life. >> these are typical of what we get out of the antenna. >> reporter: seti, a device known as a search for

exterrestrial intelligence institute is on a mission to find them and now they want to take their search a step further. >> some of us are interested in what's called active seti, not just listening, but let's broadcast something, maybe to nearby stars, because maybe there's at least some chance if you'll wake anybody up, you'll get a response. >> reporter: one of the world's largest scientific meetings is taking place in the building behind me. and it's here that the seti team is seeking the support of the scientific community and the public's consent in order to proceed with their plan. >> how do we say something intelligible to another civilization? >> reporter: and whether it's a short hello or the entire history of the human race, they also need to decide what they're going to send to e.t. for decades, humanity has speculated about the prospect of making contact with alien civilizations. would they invade our planet or would they become our friends? critics of the plan fear the

worst. >> in thinking about what might happen if we met extra extraterrestrials, we have to ask, are there analogs, are there parallels? and the parallels on earth of an advanced technological civilization meeting a less advanced one well, there are thousands of such stories and they all involve pain, especially for the less advanced one. >> reporter: many scientists are convinced that intelligence life does exist elsewhere in our galaxy. the question is whether they should actively try and make contact with them and what might happen if we heard something back. well there's plenty of food for discussion there. and i'm joined in the studio by dr. shelia canari thank you so much for joining us. before we have that chat, i wanto$í to give you a sense of the opinion as we have canvassed it on our bbc news facebook page. what sort of message would you

like to send to alien life? that was the question. the response so far has been pretty overwhelmingly. here are some of the comments we can safely broadcast. susan gil from florida says there should be a travel warning along these lines. "if coming to earth, please avoid washington, d.c. no integritylligent life there." rob johnson sent this request, "if you are coming bring a bottle." seamus cullen in ireland says, it should read, "vittert, we have mojitos, guinness beaches. you can crash at mine if you want to you're very welcome." from the u.s., gmo is not in the party mood. he asks any potential e.t. traveler to stay back, we're really just monkeys that use fire, he says. make sure we don't get loose in the universe.

alison stewart from the northeast of england says "the message from earth is obvious -- help!" and conrad warns, "remember what hawking said about aliens coming to earth and comparing it to columbus coming to the americas? it did not end well for the natives." >> well let's go back to you shelia, off the back of that. first of all, is there anybody out there? i know we don't have a definitive answer, but i know you must have a view. >> i have an opinion, yes. i do believe that there are aliens in our solar system if not in outer space. but i'm not sure that they're intelligent. i think it might be microbial life that can exist in extreme conditions such as moons going around that or something like that, and they won't be able to say hello. >> oh, so hellos but completely out of any humanoid form. >> that's what i believe, yes. >> in which case, the next question has to be is there any point in trying to put out

messages, then? >> at the end of the day, we don't really know what is outside of our solar system and the galaxy and stuff. if we do send out these shouts into the universe we really don't know what might be listening. >> but it's not something -- we get the steve hawking message, almost be careful what you wish for. >> you wouldn't subscribe to that, then, i presume? >> i think it would be interesting to send the messages, just on the off-chance that something might come back, but i would be really really surprised if something is coming back to us. >> and if you're sending messages, what sort of messages does it make sense to send? we can have ideas of putting messages in boxes and bottles and hearing little bits of, you know domestic radio channel or something. is that sort of something or is there something completely different? i wonder what makes sense? >> it's sort of difficult to say, because for years we've been transmitting messages in space anyway. so aliens can hear us. they've already got an idea of what we're like. and all of that is from tv and

radio and the internet now as well. so they've already got an idea of what we're like and they're coming anyway. >> okay, well, look i believe we're also joined by clara, we've been trying to get ahold of clara, an anthropologist at darren university. can you hear us? you're just checking your earpiece is working? calling out into outer space in the northeast of england. >> hello! >> great, we've got you there. now, from an anthropologist perspective, what is that it interests you about all our efforts, our desires to communicate with whatever's out there? >> it really is the profound question. who are we and where do we come from? and i think if we manage to find the answer to the question, that there is intelligent life elsewhere, it would also shed light on the way we came about or how the human life developed on earth. >> and i suppose it's true, isn't it that our view of what

might be out there has changed, it's probably changed quite dramatically as time has passed by. it's not all about tin men coming to get us anymore. >> yes, yes. i absolutely agree. well, there are basically two major concepts. one is what i call the time to think one and the other one is so we can see in news media you know, science fiction stories. so it's not only about the little gray men and your souls and ets scientists are either looking for intelligent advanced extraterrestrial life, or as the immersion concept in astrobiology, which you've probably talked about searching for microorganisms on the celestial bodies. >> it's about all sorts of things, isn't it? i'm really sorry i'm going to cut you short you, clara.

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welcome to "gmt" on bbc world news. in this half hour, well hell was visited upon dresden. 70 years on the city remembers a defining moment of the second world war. we hear from one of the civilians there at the time. president obama gives this, well, a bit of an insight into his personal habits in this new online video. he's been poking fun at himself to make a serious point. and also in the program,

aaron's back talking about a huge backlog of international in the states. >> these are the ships waiting outside the port of los angeles, starting to look more like a car park. a bitter labor dispute between dock workers and port operators along america's west coast is said to be costing the u.s. economy up to $2.5 billion every single day. first, there are still some 36 hours to run before a cease-fire in ukraine is due to come into effect in the east of the country, and the sounds of conflict continue to be hear in the city of donetsk and luhansk, for example. well, government forces say 11 of its soldiers have been killed and more than 40 wounded since that peace deal was signed in minsk on thursday. unconfirmed reports, too, that

civilians have been killed. fighting goes on for control of one key town debaltseve. it's still held by troops, but russian-backed rebels said they have it surrounded. the main way in or out is through this key village of loqvonovo. both sides are fighting over it before the cease-fire comes into effect. the bbc's david stern has sent us this report from kiev. a nighttime rocket attack in the eastern sigh of luhansk one day wildfirebefore a cease-fire is to begin. but as this unverified video suggests, the violence in ukraine shows no sign of abating. instead, it's getting worse, with each day, the death toll rises. fears are mounting that come midnight on saturday the fighting won't stop.

the main battleground debaltseve, a strategic railroad junction. russian-backed separatists are battling to surround and cut off government troops there. now, they say they've taken the last remaining village, and the pro-kiev forces are trapped. russian leader vladimir putin called on ukrainians to give up. but ukrainian officials say the main road out of debaltseve remains open. they control the town. >> translator: the city of debaltseve itself has already become the symbol of heroic resistance. bandits are shooting on to it around the clock. however, despite this the ukrainian military are bravely holding the position and are not going to leave them. besides a cease-fire, this week's peace plan calls for heavy artillery to be withdrawn

from the front line. forces have dramatically increased the territory they hold. optimism is low on either side of the conflict that this peace deal will succeed. a previous agreement reached in september was never implemented. many fear this could be the last chance to stop the blood letting. david stern bbc news. kiev. >> commemorations are due to take place in germany to mark the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the city of dresden. on the night of the 13th of february, 1945, british bomber command dropped hundreds of thousands of bombs on the city leaving 13 square miles of the historic city in ruins, obliterated. the ensuing fire storm killed 25,000 people. well, the bbc's jenny hill is in dresden for the commemorations. jenny? >> reporter: yeah. in the words of one survivor, it

was like being in hell. it seems almost unimaginable, on a beautiful morning like this, that 70 years ago, this square was engulfed in flames, as dresden was all but razed to the ground. as they prepare to commemorate this anniversary, people here in dresden still refer to the 13th of february 1945, as the day which never fades. 70 years ago allyied bombers took off. their target one of the most beautiful cities in europe. beneath them people burned and suffocated to death as a firestorm with hurricane-force winds raged through dresden. elsinore was a girl of 14. we clung to a lamppost, she told

tells me, but one woman didn't make it. the firestorm grabbed her, she screamed, but we couldn't help her, and she was sucked eded into the burning ruins. my dress was burning everything, coat, dress, underwear, i had a big burn as big as a saucer on my back. when daylight came this is all that was left. the images the story, still shock visitors today. of course, dresden wasn't the only city to come under attack. warsaw, belgrade kompbcoventry, they were all bombed too. but 70 years later this remains a powerful symbol. not just of war, but of reconciliation too. dresden's now home to half a million people. every year, they commemorate the fire bombing, a chance to remember and reflect.

>> dresden is just a little part of the second world war and the second world war consists of many, many thousands of little parts. so it is just an example of war and of course, it made sense, because dresden was part of the enemy and you have to hit the enemy to end the second world war. >> reporter: hard now to imagine how many died in this square. she still has nightmares, but the city is rebuilt. for her, its stones, a reminder. no more war, she says. never again. most of today's commemorations will take place in and around this building here. this is the church of our lady. and a little later on thousands of people are expected survivors among them, to join hands and form a human chain, all the way around the historic heart of this city. it's a chance of course to

remember the dead but a chance to reflect on what all that means. and when you ask people here about that some of them will point you towards something right on the top of the building here. it's a golden orb and cross. and it was made by an englishman whose father took part in the raids over dresden. and it was presented and it still stands up there and it's described by many as a sign of reconciliation, friendship and rebirth. >> jenny, thank you so much indeed. jenny hill there in dresden. back to the studio now. aaron's with us again with business. cybercrime, that is big business. >> big business, indeed. also kind of a new battleground that we're facing at the moment. let me explain what's going on today. thanks, david. look, we begin certainly with the issue of cybersecurity. that's because later on today, president obama is expected to ask companies and the government to share more information on

threats or threats from computer hackers. he'll be speaking at a conference on cybersecurity at stanford university, of course in the heart of silicon valley. and the move comes after a wave of high-profile hacking attacks targeting -- we've been speaking about them on this program, targeting the likes of sony entertainment and the chain store, target. so what exactly can we expect from the summit and what about privacy issues? well let's get more. mark, great to have you with us on the program. mark, let's start, what can we expect from this summit? because it's one thing for president obama to say okay government, okay companies, you need to share more information. the question is will they? >> yes, if you look at it two ways, i think one is obama needs to get more collaboration with technology companies like google amazon facebook, and so on and so forth. so needs to get more access to data that they are putting technology in place to control. i think the second thing is really, around privacy of our data breaches, about

cyberattacks, so we see a lot of the terrorist threats and sort of problems around those areas which government alone can't solve by themselves. they need help. >> as i just mentioned, with me talking about a lot about those recent sort of big-name big-profile hack attacks, a lot on this program but has that kind of pushed them you know, helped to push it a little more to the front, where hey, you know, you've got to share information, guys? >> if you look at the recent ones with anthem the u.s. medical insurance company, where they lost 80 million identities, effectively, they're talking about $100 million worth of lost business. so those areas reported that they weren't incrypted. so what's happening is microsoft, google, and other companies are putting in more stronger encryption but that's in effect controlling privacy and access. but it's also making it more harder to get government to get access to that information if they need it for cyberthreats and counterterrorism activities. kind of a contradiction going on

there. >> absolutely. but i bet many people watching around the world are thinking this question can this kind of sharing be done whilst at the same time, i guess protecting our privacy or on the flip side, i want to get this out, should we then use it kind of as what we're seeing goes on today should we kind of just expect that we may have to give up some of them? >> yeah i think there's some trade-off in terms of being able to give enough information for the companies to actually control the privacy access, so that they know who is accessing your data. but in p.a. consulting we look at standards like pas, so standards. which i think back to the obama conference, is really looking at getting ceos, companies to take more responsibility, more focus, as well as getting more collaboration between government academics, and industry as well. >> okay. mark great stuff from you, we really appreciate your time. thank you, mate. mark gillton joining us there. i want to start here. these are the ships waiting outside the port of los angeles, one of the ports on the u.s.

west coast affected by this increasingly bitter labor dispute. now, dock workers and the port operators, they are in a deadlock over pay, over conditions, that it's said to be costing the u.s. economy up to $2.5 billion per day. well, the operators say the workers are on a go slow and there's a backlog. the unions say that cost cutting is to blame for the slower operations. the bbc spoke to the ceo of the port of long beach. one of the ports affected. he told her he's still confident that a deal between the two sides is imminent. >> i believe it is days. i think that the two sides are so close and the issues remaining are fairly trivial compared to what they've already saw. so all the major issues of a typical contract have been pretty much tabled and agreed to. so we're down to the last few items to clean this up and get moving forward. >> why do you think these negotiations have become just sorimonious

acrimonious? do you think it has anything to do with the current economic climate here in the united states post-recession. >> really the issues are about this dramatically changing market place we find ourselves in. and the workers are naturally very concerned about where they fit into the future. ports are getting more automated, their jobs, they feel, will be phased out over time or reduced. and reality is that if we can continue to grow job growth will continue even though we get more and more efficient at it. so most of those issues have been addressed, to my knowledge, and i think the labor leader understands that automation and technology is here to stay. big ships are here to stay. and they must adapt. and they recognize that. >> what are the long-term effects of this? are you worried that your ports will lose business as a result? >> the southern california port complex in san pedro bay is the

most direct and the most efficient and fastest route from asia to the interior of the united states. things like this slow down, directly affect our customers ultimately, who are the shippers who bring the containers through. so we need to fix this. we can fix this. labor will be resolved shortly. i don't know how many days. but it's not weeks or months. and in my view, once that's done, we'll get back on track pretty quickly. >> now is not the time. now is not the time! >> and i respect you. >> get out of here! >> let me explain what we're up to! love is in the air. hey, it's valentine's day tomorrow, you know that, and love is apparently in the air in the office. with two-thirds of workers claiming that they would consider a workplace romance in the future. now, i can't stop it. new research indicates that

these days, 64% of managers don't mind workplace relationships if kept professional. that's where you went wrong. what are the dos and don'ts of workplace relationships? the bosses don't mind a relationship between staff as long as it doesn't have a negative impact in the workplace. take a look at this. hey, david -- >> accepting that there is love in the workplace, it's going to happen, but secrecy is more damaging than openness where there's an environment where you can say, yes we're having a relationship, what policies and procedures are there to make sure this doesn't adversely affect our work performance, and that nobody suffers as a consequence of it. >> so, yes i'm trying to think, it's better for obviously management, and this is maybe why the majority have said that not to veto it, right? was that would just raise more, i guess, more problems or could raise more problems? >> well, secrecy in itself is

damaging. so that's why there's a culture of gossip and we shouldn't really be doing this, might lead to somebody leaving the organization. and actually not being able to talk about it means that there is influence that can be exercised, whereas if you're able to say, we're having a relationship, this is happening what do we need to do everybody knows it and everybody can take the correct steps to make sure it doesn't have a negative impact on work. and remember, that's where the managers are saying. if it's happening, we don't mind. >> i'm trying to work out earhere, if my wife worked with me here at the bbc it wouldn't interfere -- i would want a little kiss and a cuddle with her if she was around. >> well, that would not be highly professional -- >> i'm never professional, no. >> that's what i'm saying. the managers don't mind as long as you don't do that prp >> i've got to quickly -- it doesn't make any difference or does it make a difference if

somebody's a senior out of the couple? one's senior and one's not? >> it's much more common on the same level. if it's more senior and less senior, there are issues. but again, nothing that openness transparency, and full disclosure can't address. >> and that's why my wife doesn't work here. let me liveeave you with this. new figures indicate that economic growth in the euro zone numbers have picked up slightly in the last three months of last year. total production increased by naught 0.3% in the last year, led by germany. however, france's economy was more sluggish, and italy continues to see zilch, zero growth. nothing at all. 14 consecutive quarters for italy like that. follow me on twitter, tweet me, i'll tweet you right back. you can get me @bbcaaron. dave, i want to let you know, the re-tweets of this story have

gone like wildfire. mark says 100% of my office romances ended in marriage. i have a sample of one, mind you. samir says my last open is in the office now. and a quarter of the office romances result in marriage. so after saying that three quarters probably end in harassment or leaving unemployment. that's enough. have a great weekend, mate. >> >> still love you. still to come, many say their pooches read their facial expressions. well, research says it's true. we have more on that. rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth, milk chocolate... let me know if this gets too hot rolo. get your smooth on.

hello. i'm david eades. the top stories this hour, the

european union says it could impose more sanctions on russia if it fails to observe a new cease-fire in ukraine. fighting goes on ahead of the deadline. baher mohamed the last of the three al jazeera journalists being held in prison in egypt for more than a year now is released on bail and reunited with his family. the whole process of normalizing relations between cuba and the united states has certainly been a long time coming, but those that will probably benefit the most, the younger generations in cuba, are said to be increasingly disengaged from politics with the leadership in its 70 and 80s, even our man in havana, will grant, has been to the first major student rally since the thaw with the u.s. was announced. >> reporter: every year on the anniversary of his birth, cuba's students light a flame to the country's founding father an independence hero who embodied the rebelliousness of cuban

youth. known as the march of the torching this was the first big government event since historic talks with the united states in january. the young marchers say they welcomed the step towards a thaw. >> it's important, because the north american people formed part of cuban history, and we share a single pan-american identity, says this student. there are many reasons why cuba has decided to renew ties with washington now. some say it's mainly economic, but others see social factors such as age playing a role. leading the march were senior members of the politburo, but some of the men are in their mid-80s. this young man believes cuba's youth has become disengaged with politics. >> they need to change many things. they need to explain better where we going, so the people can have some consensus about it and you're going to have a much more united country that way.

also, the younger people are going to break up. >> reporter: fidel castro recently reappeared in photos alongside a student leader. a message perhaps that the cuban revolution will continue for years to come. but there are those in the government who fear that unless change happens soon, they will lose future generations of young cubean cubans, not just geographically to the united states but also in the battle for their hearts and minds. the waters ahead for the u.s. and cuba are still rough with several key questions to be resolved. many young people are waiting to see what the thaw will bring before deciding where their futures lie. but government supporters say the age gap in cuban politics has been exaggerated. >> translator: the public image of the age of the cuban leadership are erroneous. there are people in key roles that are undeniably much older, but directly beneath them are men in their 50s. the baton will pass in 2015 and

i've expected the americans to wait until then for talks. >> reporter: the announced thaw has brought great expectation to cuba for improved living standards, greater internet access, and an end to the u.s. trade embargo. but many young people just hope that by the next march of the torches, they'll enjoy more opportunities for growth than their parent's generation. now can your best friend read your facial expressions? if it's a dog, the answer is yes. we have austrian researchers in vienna to thanks for the answers. >> reporter: many a dog lover will tell you their pet can sense their mood but this study aims to put that to the test, to find out how people and dogs communicate. in a touch screen experiment, researchers showed dogs pictures of the eye or mouth area of human faces with either happy or angry expressions. half the dogs got a treat for

nosing an angry face, the other half were rewarded for touching happy faces. then came the test. when the dogs were shown happy or angry-faced pictures of people they haven't seen before, they were able to tell the difference and earn their treat. the scientists say their experiment proves that dogs can discriminate between the two expressions, and they think the animals use that experience of how humans express themselves to make that distinction. it's still not clear, though that our pets understand what our emotional expressions mean, but there was one other intriguing clue from this study. before they were taught the rules of the touch screen test, dogs had a national aversion to pressing their noses against pictures faces, so that could mean our canine friends have an inkling behind the meaning of a very human look. >> aww! now have a look at this, i've got to show you president obama

as i'm sure you've never seen him before. >> thanks, obama. >> he's giving us an insight into his personal habits in a new online video. he's really taking fun at himself for a serious point sunday's the deadline for enrolling for the 2015 coverage of his major health care initiative obamacare. do anything to get attention, won't you? thanks for watching. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement,

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