大衛·奧斯丁為你播報BBC新聞。
在俄羅斯的請求下,聯合國五個常任理事國舉行臨時會議商談敘利亞問題。由於首都大馬士革發生化學武器襲擊,西方國家正考慮對敘利亞政府採取必要的軍事行動。調查上周襲擊事件的聯合國武器檢查小組將於週六離開敘利亞,本周將公佈初步簡報。尼克·布萊恩特在紐約報導。
“週六早晨離開敘利亞後,聯合國武器檢查員將在歐洲國家的多所實驗室檢測從據悉發生化學武器襲擊地獲取的樣本。聯合國稱化驗將花費更多時間,小組獲取了廣泛的資料,採訪了受害者和為他們提供治療的醫生。聯合國小組獲令調查時候使用過化學武器,而不是找人問責。但檢測過程將獲得聯合國所謂的證據基礎,有助於探明罪責方。”
在美國和英國,那些支持對敘利亞採取軍事行動的主要倡議者受到一些議員的壓力,這些議員擔心直接介入敘利亞危機的後果。英國議會兩院都就支持或反對英國介入進行了辯論,首相大衛·卡梅倫說,他敦促採取行動的決議並不是偏袒哪行,也不是入侵敘利亞,而是英國對戰爭罪的反應。
“除非在特別的情況下,是不應該介入他國的國內事務的。必須像我尊敬的朋友剛才所說的那樣,在發生人道主義災難的情況下採取的迫不得已的手段。不管怎麼說,這是一場人道主義災難,如果不採取行動,那麼沒有什麼能阻擋阿薩德等獨裁者一次次使用這些武器。”英國首相大衛·卡梅倫。
據敘利亞國家媒體報導,總統巴沙爾·阿薩德稱本國將抵抗任何入侵,但國際紅十字會稱平民遭受的苦難已經達到史無前例的程度,並呼籲無條件進入需要幫助的地區。
在盧旺達與剛果邊界,一名盧旺達婦女因遭受追擊炮襲擊喪生,她兩個月大的孩子嚴重受傷,為此,盧旺達指責剛果民主共和國襲擊本國平民,行為越過邊界。奧利維爾·恩杜洪吉雷赫是盧旺達駐聯合國特使。
“對盧旺達邊界的持續轟擊是不可接受的,任何主權國家都不可接受。盧旺達平民受到剛果民主共和國軍隊的襲擊,我們一直盡可能地保持克制,但再也不能容忍這樣的挑釁了。”剛果否認進行轟擊,並歸咎於M23叛軍。
這裡是BBC新聞報導。
伊拉克巴格達北部薩馬拉市的官員稱,這個主要是遜尼派穆斯林居住的城市發生汽車炸彈襲擊,導致至少16人喪生,另外20多人受傷。就在一天前,巴格達主要是什葉派居住的社區發生系列炸彈襲擊,導致80多人喪生。
巴基斯坦司法官員推翻對醫生沙克爾·艾法帝的判決,他曾幫助中央情報局追捕奧薩馬·本·拉登。官方下令重新審判,查理斯·哈威蘭德在伊斯蘭馬巴德報導。
“巴基斯坦西北部白沙瓦的專員告訴原審律師,醫生艾法帝是被一名越過司法權的官員審判的。因此原來的長期徒刑的判決被推翻了,未來將由一名更高級的官員來複審。這位醫生尚不自由,仍在監禁中,等待新審判的開始。沙克爾·艾法帝被公開指責在偽造的疫苗活動的掩飾下幫助中央情報局追捕奧薩馬·本·拉登,但他的罪名是勾結該武裝組織反對政府,他對此斷然否認。”
葡萄牙政府得知,其使得解雇公務員更容易的計畫是違憲的,這是該國在接受國際援助後削減開支政策遇到的挫折。政府向貸方承諾大幅度削減預算赤字,法院同時也否決了其他的緊縮政策。
成千上萬人走上哥倫比亞首都波哥大街頭支持小農戶,小農戶稱政府的農業政策使得他們破產。總統說遊行是合法的,但找到解決辦法的唯一途徑是通過對話。這場遊行已經進行11天了,意在結束遊行的磋商目前仍陷入僵局。
這裡是BBC新聞報導。
BBC News with David Austin
An impromptu meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to discuss Syria has taken place at the request of Russia. It comes as western nations consider possible military action against the Syrian government following a chemical weapon attack in the capital Damascus.The UN weapons inspection team investigating last week's attack will leave Syria on Saturday and hold preliminary briefings over the weekend. Nick Bryant reports from New York.
“After leaving Syria on Saturday morning, the UN weapons inspectors will find out to a number of laboratories in European countries to test the samples they've taken from the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack. The UN says the test will take longer than days. The team has accumulated an extensive matter of material and also conducted interviews with survivors and the doctors who treated them. The UN team has been mandated to determine whether chemical weapons were used rather than apportioning blame. But it will produce what the UN is calling an evidence base narrative which could imply guilt.”
Both in the United States and Britain, the principal advocates of military action against Syria considerable pressure is being brought to bear by lawmakers weary of what direct involvement to the Syria crisis might entail and what it might lead to. Both Houses of the British parliament have been debating the case for and against direct British involvement. The Prime Minister David Cameron said his resolution urging action was not about taking sites or invading Syria but about Britain's response to a war crime.
“Interfering in another country's affairs should not be undertaken except in the most exceptional circumstances. It must be, as my honorable friend just said, a humanitarian catastrophe and it must be a last resort. But by any standard, this is a humanitarian catastrophe and if there are no consequences for it, there is nothing to stop Assad and other dictators from using these weapons again and again.” The British Prime Minister David Cameron.
According to Syrian state media, President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will defend itself against any aggression. But the International Committee of the Red Cross says the suffering of civilians is reaching unprecedented levels and it has called for unconditional access to all areas where people are in need.
Rwanda has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of crossing a line by targeting its citizens after a Rwandan woman was killed and her two months old baby seriously injured by artillery shelling near the border. Olivier Nduhungirehe is Rwanda's deputy envoy to the UN.
“The persistent shelling on Rwandan territory is unacceptable, as it would be to any, any sovereign nation. Rwandan civilians are being targeted by DRC forces and we have remained restraint for as long as we can, but this provocation can no longer be tolerated.” Congo has denied the shelling and has blamed the M23 rebels.
World News from the BBC
Iraqi officials in the city of Samara, north of Baghdad, said a car bomb has killed at least 16 people, another two dozens people were injured in the predominantly Sunni Muslim city. The blast comes a day after more than 80 people were killed in a series of coordinated bomb attacks on mainly Shiite areas across Baghdad.
A judicial official in Pakistan has overturned for sentence handed down to Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped CIA agents hunting for Osama Bin Laden. The official has ordered a new trial. Charles Haviland reports from Islamabad.
“The commissioner of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan has told lawyers of the original trial of doctor Afridi was conducted by an official acting outside his jurisdiction. And a long jail sentence has therefore been struck down. It will now be a retrial heard by a more senior official. The doctor has not walked free and will remain incarcerated pending the start of the new trial. Shakil Afridi was publicly accused of working for the CIA to track down Osama Bin Laden under the cover of a fake vaccination campaign. But he was actually convicted of collaborating with the militant group working against the state. Something he denied outright.”
The Portuguese government has been told that its plan to make it easier to fire public servants is unconstitutional. It's a setback for the country's policy of reducing spending in the wake of international bailout. The government has promised creditors a big reduction in its budget deficit and other austerity measures have already been rejected by the same court.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Colombia capital Bogota in support of small scale farmers who say that the government's agriculture policies have driven them into bankruptcy. The President has said the demonstrations are valid but the only way to find a solution was through dialogue. Negotiations to end the protests which started 11 days ago remain deadlocked.
Those of the latest stories from BBC News.