BBC News:叙利亚反对组织决定参加日内瓦和谈
After months of intense western pressure, the main Syrian opposition group in exile hasvoted to attend next week's peace conference in Geneva. The issue of whether to attend thetalks has split the coalition with many reluctant to go unless President Bashar al-Assad isexcluded from any proposed transitional Syrian government. Jim Muir reports.
The western powers who support the Syrian opposition will be relieved of the coalition'sgeneral assembly finally came up with the vote in favor of going to Geneva-II as the peace talkshave been called. But it's less than the resounding display of unanimity and unity that theadvocates of the process have been hoping for. While the “Yes”vote of 58 made up asubstantial majority of the 73 who took part. It's less than half of the 120-strong generalassembly. That means that substantial parts of the coalition stayed away in disapproval ofthe venture.
Palestinian officials in Syria say food aid has reached the refugee camp in a rebel-held suburb ofthe capital Damascus for the first time in 4 months. Recent reports from the Yarmouk campwhich is run by Palestinians say children have been dying of malnutrition.
The BBC journalist and presenter Kolma Dumor has died suddenly at his home after sufferinga heart attack. The director of BBC Global News Peter Horrocks described Kolma as a leadinglight of African journalism. Lyse Doucet worked with Kolma and had this appreciation of theman who recently became the lead presenter of the BBC's first daily television program forAfrica.
“His voice was one of the most distinctive on the BBC.”
“Hello, everyone I'm Kolma Dumor, welcome to focus on Africa, here are our top storiestonight.”
“Kolma Dumor was a big man in every way. Big-hearted, a talented broadcaster with thewinning smile. I first met him in Ghana in 2007 when he'd just joined the BBC's Africa service. Inoticed even then, how young Ghanaian journalists looked up to him. He never flinched fromasking tough questions, but also loved to share a laugh. Kolma was admired across the BBC'sGlobal audiences, but most of all, Africans celebrated his success. Last year, he was namedone of the 100 most influential people on the continent by New African magazine. Kolma hadmany loves, including football, his faith, his family. He often said, ‘I just love talking withpeople.’We'll miss hearing from him.
The South Sudanese army says it has recaptured the strategic town of Bor from rebel forces.The army spokesman Philip Aguer said the government troops had defeated more than 15,000fighters loyal to the former Deputy President Riek Machar. A rebel spokesman said they'dstaged a tactical withdrawal, because Bor was now a ghost town. Both sides at peace talks inneighboring Ethiopia say they're close to signing a ceasefire.
World News from the BBC
Egyptian electoral officials say 98% of voters back to new constitution in this week'sreferendum. The military-backed interim government had urged a big “Yes”vote. The outlawedMuslim Brotherhood had boycotted the poll. James Reynolds reports from Cairo.
Egypt's military-backed government has got what it wanted, an overwhelming andentirely,unsurprising“Yes”vote. The result is a return to the 90% plus votes of the Mubarakyears. But turnout here is the more revealing figure. In this vote,it was almost 39%, thatbeats the 33% who voted in a 2012 constitutional referendum during the MuslimBrotherhood's year in power. The “Yes” votes will now be followed by presidential andparliamentary elections.
A series of car bombings in and around Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 20 people andinjured more than 60 others. Five people died in a blast near the city's new upmarket Mansourshopping mall while 4 others were killed in a bombing near juvenile detention center.Two Italianmen have disappeared in Libya, Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli.
The two Italian construction workers went missing on Friday. They had been working on a roadproject in the east of the country. Local media reports said their vehicle was found abandonedon the outskirts of the city by their colleagues. Derna is a stronghold of extreme Islamistgroups that have set up bases there and in neighbouring Benghazi. Both cities have seen aseries of assassinations over the past 12 months targeting local military and police.
France's First Lady Valerie Trierweiler has left the Paris hospital where she'd been receivingtreatment for stress for over a week since allegations surfaced that the French PresidentFrancois Hollande was having an affair. She went to an official residence in Versailles.
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