BBC Online :Syria’s electricity network is down across the whole of the country for unknown reasons, state media report.Officials were cited as saying power had been cut in all provinces and teams were trying to determine the cause.In most parts of war-torn Syria, electricity is already available only two to four hours a day, if at all. However, nationwide blackouts are rare.Meanwhile, the UN’s special envoy said a partial truce that began on Saturday was holding but remained fragile.Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva that violence had been “greatly reduced”, despite incidents in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Latakia and Damascus. “Success is not guaranteed but progress is visible,” he added. Both the opposition and the government have accused each other of violating the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia, which does not include the jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front.Mr de Mistura also said that while he planned to reconvene talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict in Syria next Wednesday, their format was flexible and some parties might turn up days later.UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said progress had been made in getting aid to besieged areas of Syria, and that there would be further attempts at air-drops of aid over the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, where 200,000 people are surrounded by IS militants, within days or weeks.
