Findco your mate. You have to set up your data profiling and go on a lot of dates that dont do÷d anywhere. nininrnr0lnrxdco xdnrxdxdconr woodruff those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by this is about more than work. It is about growing a community. Everyday across the country, the men and women of the i. B. E. W. Are committed to doing the job right, doing the job safe, and doing the job on time. Because while we might wire your street, were also your friends and neighbors. I. B. E. W. The power professionals in your neighborhood. At lincoln financial, we believe youre in charge. Youre the chief life officer supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill european leaders laid claim today to a fragile peace in ukraine as a night of negotiations produced plans for yet another ceasefire. All through the night in this marblefloored Convention Hall in minsk, journalists and official entourages waited and waited. camera shutter clicks the leaders of france, germany, russia and ukraine went into the meeting wednesday and emerged 16 hours later declaring they had a deal. translated there is a glimmer of hope here, but concrete steps, of course, have to be taken, and we will still face major obstacles. On balance, i can say that what we have achieved gives significantly more hope than if we had achieved nothing. Ifill under the ceasefire ukrainian soldiers and pro russian rebels will lay down arms on sunday at midnight local time. Starting monday, heavy weapons must be withdrawn from a buffer zone ranging 30 to nearly 90 miles wide. But russia and ukraine disagreed on a key point, a provision that apparently grants extensive selfrule to eastern ukraine. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko translated despite firm insistence from russia, we didnt agree any status of autonomy for eastern ukraine. Well do this through constitutional reforms of decentralization that will concern the whole country. And we didnt agree on federalization. Ifill down the hall, russian president Vladimir Putin had a decidedly different view. translated as for the complex issues connected with the longterm political resolution, there are many positions here. The first of them is constitutional reform that should take into account the lawful rights of the people who live in eastern ukraine. Ifill what happens with the transport hub of debaltseve was also unresolved. The governmentheld town is now surrounded by rebels. News of the minsk agreement was greeted with cautious optimism both in donetsk and kiev. translated everybody wants for people not to get killed. It is painful when neighbors get killed. Im hoping for the best but expecting the worst. translated i think it is not bad if it is indeed the way they agreed, if there are no violations from the russian side again. Ifill a previous ceasefire in september barely took hold and in recent weeks collapsed altogether. And even today, ukraine charged more russian tanks and Missile Systems crossed the border overnight. U. S. Officials said russia must prove its serious about the Peace Agreement by ending support for the rebels. They also said the option of imposing additional sanctions on moscow remains on the table. Well look more closely at what was agreed to in minsk and whats in dispute after the news summary. Woodruff as the peace plan was announced, ukraine also got good news from the International Monetary fund. It agreed to finance a new bailout deal worth 17. 5 billion to shore up the countrys battered finances. Woodruff the United States senate has confirmed Ashton Carter to be the next secretary of defense. The vote today was 935, with strong backing from both parties. The 60yearold carter will be president obamas fourth pentagon chief in six years. He succeeds chuck hagel, who held the job for less than two years. Woodruff European Union leaders unanimously agreed today on farreaching measures to fight terror. They met in brussels and called for removing internet content that is deemed to promote terrorism or extremism. E. U. Nations will also Share Airline passenger data and impose tougher border controls. Its a response to last months terror attacks in france. Ifill at that same summit, greece and its creditors agreed to start talks on possibly revising the greek bailout. The new greek prime minister, alexis tsipras, wants an end to austerity measures, but he suggested compromise is possible. Im very confident that altogether we can find a mutually viable solution in order to heal the wounds of austerity, to tackle humanitarian crises across the European Union, and to bring europe back to the road of growth and social cohesion. Ifill german chancellor Angela Merkel said her government is also willing to consider compromise. Up to now, germany has insisted that greece stick to the existing bailout terms. Woodruff back in this country, more than 5,000 people gathered in raleigh, north carolina, to mourn three young muslims. They were shot dead tuesday in nearby chapel hill, allegedly by a neighbor. Police say theyd argued over a parking space. The victims families called it a hate crime. Their supporters turned out in such numbers today that the funeral was moved from a mosque to a nearby athletic field. Burial followed at an islamic cemetery. Ifill the legal fight over gay marriage in alabama took a new turn today. A federal judge in mobile ruled county officials must obey her order to issue licenses to gay couples. Most counties held off complying when state chief Justice Roy Moore issued an opposing order. Woodruff work has halted at 29 west coast ports in an escalating labor dispute. In southern california, container ships queued up outside the ports of long beach and los angeles today. Terminal operators said they locked out dockworkers in answer to a union slowdown. The lockout runs through monday. Ifill next years Democratic National convention will be held in philadelphia. The party announced the choice today after also considering new york and columbus, ohio. The convention will be held the week of july 25, 2016, right after republicans hold their convention in cleveland. Woodruff on wall street, the ceasefire in ukraine, compromise on greece and Higher Oil Prices all helped stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 110 points to close near 18,000. The nasdaq rose 56 points on the day, and the s p 500 added nearly 20 points. Ifill and praise poured in today for veteran cbs news and 60 minutes correspondent bob simon, who died last night in a car crash in new york. Hed covered nearly every major foreign conflict since vietnam and was based in the middle east for years. Along the way, he earned 27 emmys. In 1991, simon and his crew were captured by iraqi forces during the first gulf war and finally released after 40 days. As you can see, lost a little weight. Weve aged a little bit. Were fine. This is a story that could have ended another way, but its had a happy ending. Ifill bob simon was 73 years old. Woodruff still to come on the newshour weighing the odds a ceasefire deal will hold in ukraine; the dangers for journalists reporting abroad; technological advances to create prosthetic limbs controlled by the brain; an economic take on the search for love online; chicago Street Scenes captured by a recently discovered photographer; and the internets hidden science factory. Ifill following the ukraine ceasefire agreement announcement, many are asking today if this deal can actually stick. We explore the chances of success with former u. S. Ambassador to russia Michael Mcfaul hes now a professor at stanford university; and fiona hill, director of the center on the u. S. And europe at the Brookings Institution and author of mr. Putin operative in the kremlin. Welcome to you both. So was this, fiona hill, today a breakthrough agreement or a work in progress . I think its better described as a work in progress, gwen. We have a long way to go before we find any kind of final resolution for the conflict thats unfolding as we still speak on the ground in ukraine but it is also it has to be a significant step. As we saw from the introduction to this piece, if this stops the fighting for a prolonged period of time, it stops the killing of people on the ground in ukraine and that in and of itself is something of an achievement. The most difficult peels are all the things we heard about what happens to the final status of these disputed territories inside of ukraine and of ukraine itself. I think the world is a significant breakthrough for ukraine in avoiding any kind of agreement now about the final configuration of ukraine itself, avoiding the use of the term federalism and is really pushing out some of these discussions to the future. We dont want too much loaded on this cease fire at this particular juncture. Ifill ambassador mcfaul, how much should be loaded on the cease fire and hanging on that . How much was sacrificed in the name of unity or trying to get to unity in. A lot of ambiguity about the future of ukraine and its territorial integrity. In particular, they did not resolve what the special status of the dan bas will be and until the elections are held, the border between the rebel held territory in russia will be open and not controlled by the Ukrainian Government. All that said, i agree with fiona. Is it a flawed deal . Absolutely. Likely to fail . Yes, that would be my probability statement. Is it better than the alternative which would be more war . My answer also to that is yes. Ultimately, you know, im not going to judge president per Petro Poroshenko sitting here in california. I think he determined in the short term this was a good deal for ukraine. Theyll try to get stronger and their exphi stronger and the i. M. S. Is a very important stage and hopefully theyll live to settle a better term down the road. Ifill fiona hill, what does Vladimir Putin get out of showing up or agreeing to anything at all . A lot symbolically. He was able to present himself as he did earlier in the case of syria and chemical weapons as a diplomatic world leader and trying to present himself as a peacemaker and tried to present himself like that by sharing the stage. Ifill he agreed to withdraw weapons he hasnt conceded are there. Right. He hasnt conceded anything. He hasnt stated russia was involved in the conflict. All the onus is on kiev and poroshenko and the rebels to work it out between themselves. So he has come out of it, at least at this particular stage looking wrathing good at least from his perspective. Ifill Michael Mcfaul what does ukraine do about the border . It was a pretty porous border. What does this agreement do to fix or address that . Well, it holds out the promise that they will be able to control that border sometime in the future but the agreement states very specifically that there have to be new elections local elections and constitutional changes to recognize the special status of don bass before that. So im not optimistic thats going to happen. I think if you look at the whole thing, the agreement, i think that is actually the weakest part of the agreement that was agreed to today in minsk. Ifill whats the alternative to an agreement like this, fiona hill, whats to stop this cease fire from going in the way of the last . We have to recognize this is an interim step. As you said, its a cease fire, not the final resolution of this conflict, but a very important step forward. We have to keep ingauged on. This one of the other aspects is this was concluded between a handful of World Leaders without the u. S. At the table so gives us the turn to to push forth with other initiatives in lock step with our european allies. This is not the last word, just another interim step and i think if we focus on it in that perspective and keep trying to help bolster the ukrainians and look at the situation on the ground with a clear head, we can make this a step forward. Again, the important thing is its a cease fire. As long as we see that implemented in the next several days. Ifill not so far today . Not yet, no. Ifill Michael Mcfaul what about the u. S. Role . There has been much discussion that the u. S. Should be arming the Ukrainian Government and helping them by sending lethal weapons to hold that line. Did the prospect of that perhaps force some sort of tentative agreement snare. I do think the specter of new arms to ukraine helped accelerate the negotiations and focus the minds and get all the leaders together in minsk, i do believe that is true. I also believe it is true that putin is the big winner here. Lets be clear about that. Both sides are off today because of this agreement than yesterday, but putin is a lot better off. Now his proxies have consolidated their gains, given up very little, and we could be replaying this game all over again in six monthstime after some military offensive. Thats whats happened between the first minsk accord and the second. So its better than the alternatives but i still think putin gains very concretely to his ultimate objective which is to weaken and ultimately destroy the government in kiev. Thats what he really wants to do. Bringing part of russia or not is secondary. His chief aim is to do that. This agreement helps him achieve that end. Ifill what about the podeposition oral threat of sanctions . Wouldnt that be enough to hold putins feet to the fire . Not necessarily. Weve seen sanctions had a big impact on the russian economy, though one of the stories weve heard in the news roundup that the markets have rallied because prices have gone back up somewhat and this prospect of a Peace Agreement has had a boost here. We have to bear in mind putin is playing somewhat with the economic aspects with this. Russia has to roll over itself quite a lot of debt. Tomorrow is friday 13, its not just ukraine that needs a deal. Putin is playing to a large extent with these economic issues. The larger message is we have to keep focused on. This we cant just thing well resolve things with disagreement. Friday 13, what timing. Indeed. Ifill fiona hill, director of center on the u. S. And europe at Brookings Institution and Michael Mcfaul, former u. S. Ambassador to russia and now professor at stanford university. Thank you. Thank you. Woodruff an Egyptian Court ruled today that two aljazeera journalists who had been jailed for more than 400 days will be released on bail. Mohamed fahmy and Baher Mohamed still face a retrial. Their colleague, australian peter greste, was freed a few weeks ago. Todays ruling is a small victory for press freedom advocates. But a new report released in washington warns that journalists are increasingly coming under threat. E indicators of reporters without border are uncontestable. There was a drastic decline in freedom of information in 2014. Reporter the Worlds Largest press Freedom Group surveyed 180 countries and fully twothirds in its estimation saw greater restrictions last year. The list placed Finland First as most free, with much of europe near the top. The United States was 49th, with the report citing lack of a federal shield law and arrests of reporters in ferguson missouri, among other factors. But worldwide, the principle cause of deterioration was widespread conflict, especially in syria, in iraq and ukraine. Prime culprits were nonstate prime culprits were nonstate actors like the Islamic State group that have menaced and killed journalists. Another major cause restrictions in the name of National Security from the middle east, through asia, and even, the group contends, in the United States. And while bail was announced for two aljazeera journalists in egypt today, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian remains behind bars in iran. The dual u. S. iranian citizen has been held since july, on secret charges. His brother, ali, spoke yesterday with chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, margaret warner. Thank you for joining us. Having me. Reporter what kind of shape is your brother in now physically and mentally after six and a half months of detention. I think tissicle condition is better than before. His infections seem to be better. Hes been treated for those in the last couple of months. Mentally very difficult for him. Hes been there long than any other western detainee. He knows that and is being deprived of his rights as an iranian in their court system and thats taken a toll. Reporter has he been interrogated, mistreated tortured . His mother saw him in september and his wife this week, right . Thats correct. His wife saw him earlier this week but hadnt seen him a month before that. My mother was able to see him twice when he was there at christmas. He made it clear to my mom when he spoke to her he hasnt been tortured or physically mistreated. Reporter what are they doing to him . When jason is interrogated they will take him for usually seven to ten hours a day, five or six days a week. He will be taken to another area usua