Mourners across Syria laid to rest the bodies of dozens of people killed when government forces fired on anti-government demonstrators, and military units are continuing their crackdown against the town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border. In Yemen, officials say at least 30 government soldiers and suspected militants have been killed in fighting in southern Abyan Province.
Witnesses in northern Syria say government attack helicopters are being used to strafe targets in several besieged towns. Videos on Facebook show the helicopters firing on towns with what residents say is large-caliber ammunition.
Several witnesses told Al Jazeera TV the helicopters "fired indiscriminately on groups of refugees from the air."
Arab satellite channels also broadcast videos of several army officers announcing that they had quit in order to defend unarmed civilians in towns that have come under government attack. Witnesses report that rebel officers have taken up positions inside the town of Jisr al-Shughour, under assault by government tanks.
Watch a related TV report by Henry Ridgwell:
Much of Jisr al-Shughour appears to be deserted. Residents fled through fields into neighboring Turkey, and several witnesses said Syrian troops set fire to fields and fired on fleeing residents. Turkey has set up tents on its side of the border for more than 4,000 refugees.
Syrian government TV's version of events says "terrorist gangs" had taken control of Jisr al-Shughour, harming civilians and stealing food supplies. The state-run broadcaster said the Syrian Army moved in "to bring bread and restore security," and that people in the region welcomed the troops "with open arms."
State TV reported that a group of Lebanese journalists escorted by Syrian government officials came under fire on the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughour. Most foreign correspondents are not being allowed into Syria and it is difficult to confirm developments on the ground.
Hundreds of mourners chanted slogans against the government Saturday in the Damascus suburb of Qaboun for the funeral of slain protester Ali Wafiq Ramadan - one of at least 32 protesters reported killed during demonstrations across the country on Friday.
Al Arabiya TV reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem sent a message to the U.N. demanding that the Security Council abstain from "interfering in Syrian internal affairs." The foreign minister also warned that any international condemnation of Damascus would "encourage extremists and terrorists."
The U.N. secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has complained that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is refusing to accept his telephone calls, with underlings demanding to know the reason for Mr. Ban's call before putting him through.
<!--IMAGE-->
In Yemen, Deputy Information Minister Abou Janadi insisted that Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur Hadi was in charge of the country in the absence of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who left for Saudi Arabia last week after suffering serious injuries in a rocket attack. The spokesman disputed reports that Mr. Saleh's son, Ahmed, either had seized power or would move to do so.
Reports from Saudi Arabia say President Saleh is in serious condition in a hospital there, recuperating from surgery to remove shrapnel from his wounds that had affected his breathing.
Clashes between government forces and al-Qaida rebels in the Yemeni coastal town of Zinjibar and another area nearby left 21 militants dead Saturday. Nine soldiers also were killed according to Yemen's defense ministry. Al-Qaida militants seized control of Zinjibar last month.
Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
As the Syrian government continues its violent crackdown on protestors, thousands of people are fleeing across the Turkish border. In the village of Güveççi, Turkish residents have been watching the refugees stream across. The villagers have a unique vantage point on the events taking place across the border.
At the bottom of the valley lies the border dividing Turkey and Syria.
From their rooftops, the residents of Güveççi gather in a daily vigil - searching for any glimpse of what is unfolding in the Syrian hills beyond. Many have relatives living there. In the late afternoon hundreds of people begin to gather over the border. As the crowd swells they hold a body aloft wrapped in a white sheet.
They carry it to an area of open ground among the orchards.
Locals say the body has been brought here to show the atrocities taking place in Syria to the watching media.
Muhammed is among those watching from the village. He arrived here 2 days ago from Syria. He says there are around 2,000 refugees hiding next to the border among the orchards. He said the Syrian security agents are targeting people who tried to leave the country.
"They are attacking peoples houses and trying to stop them escaping. They break in to people's houses and arrest them there. They even attacked them where they are hiding among the trees and took their children away from them. One woman has given birth hiding in those trees. The area where they're living is completely open to attack. They drink only river water. They wash their clothes in the river and they wash their food with the river water and they drink it," he said.
Muhammed says the body is one of four shot dead by the Syrian security force in the villages just over the border.
Long-time Güveççi resident Abdullahın has seen the numbers of people gathering on the border steadily grow in the past few days. "They are scared to be killed that's why they're here. But maybe they don't let them come in. I don't know if they want to come to this side or if they stay there I'm sad, of course I'm sad. We are all brothers, we are all Muslims," he said.
Ambulances and Turkish military patrols pass by along the border. Villagers say some refugees are being housed at the local border post.
Locals on the Turkish side say that 2 days ago a group of several hundred refugees came over the border and were picked up by the Turkish military. The Syrians won't let any foreign journalists in and they're shutting down mobile phone and internet networks which means it's impossible to say if more refugees are on their way.
Preparations are being made for more arrivals - like a refugee camp in the nearby town of Yayladağı.
Turkish officials say 4,300 people have now fled across the border. The true number including those who slipped across undetected is likely to be much higher.
Back in Güveççi, the crowd of mourners has disappeared from view. Syrian refugee Muhammed says the protests will go on until the Assad regime is finished. "All they want is to have democracy and freedom. They don't want anything else from Bashr al-Assad. They want to live in a civilised way like all other countries in the world," he said.
Like the rest of the outside world, the people of Güveççi will continue to watch and wonder exactly what is happening in the lands beyond the border.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Authorities in northwestern Pakistan say the death toll from twin bombings in the city of Peshawar late Saturday has reached at least 34.
Local authorities say more than 90 people, including several journalists and police, were wounded in the explosions. They cautioned the death toll could rise as many wounded people are in critical condition.
The first blast was relatively small and drew police, rescue workers and onlookers to the site. Minutes later, a large explosion carried out by a suspected suicide bomber rocked the area causing the casualties.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants have vowed to avenge the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in northern Pakistan last month.
The explosions came hours after Afghan President Hamid Karzai and CIA Director Leon Panetta visited Islamabad. Mr. Karzai called on Pakistan to eradicate militant safe havens from tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border, while Panetta discussed ways to strengthen future intelligence sharing.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Somali authorities say the man believed to be al-Qaida's leader in East Africa is dead, killed during a confrontation with police.
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was believed to have played a key role in the deadly bombing attacks in 1998 that caused mass casualties and severely damaged U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. The United States considered him among the most wanted international terrorists and offered a $5 million reward for his capture.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Tanzania Saturday, said Fazul Mohammed's death is "a significant blow to al-Qaida" and "a just end" for a man held responsible for deaths and pain among "so many innocents."
Officials in Somalia said Saturday that Fazul Mohammed and another suspected terrorist were killed by police several days ago at a checkpoint near Mogadishu. Announcement of the deaths was delayed until their identities were confirmed, which authorities said they did by comparing the bodies to photos. The French news agency AFP says a DNA test was also conducted.
Police said Fazul Mohammed, who also was known by many aliases, was carrying thousands of dollars in cash and multiple identity documents including a suspicious South African passport.
They said they suspected the two men arrived at the checkpoint by mistake after taking a wrong turn.
News of Fazul Mohammed's death came as Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Al Shabab rebels claimed responsibility for killing the nation's interior minister.
Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan was killed by a suicide bomber Friday inside his Mogadishu home during a meeting with associates. Several other people were wounded. Security officials and a witness say a woman believed to be one of Hassan's relatives blew herself up inside the house.
Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullah Mohamed told VOA (( Somali Service )) the attack was "heartless and un-Islamic."
Al-Shabab has used suicide bombings to gain control of the Mogadishu and large sections of central and southern Somalia for at least three years. However, government and African Union forces have retaken parts of Mogadishu in an offensive that began in February. Al-Shabab is trying to overthrow the U.N.-backed Somali government and set up a strict Islamic state.
The bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 13 years ago killed 224 people wounded nearly 5,000 others. Bombs exploded in the two capitals minutes apart, without advance warning, and security officials quickly determined the coordinated attack was carried out by the Al-Qaida network.
Four men involved in the attacks previously have been convicted in the United Styates and sentenced to life in prison, but U.S. authorities were still actively seeking Fazul Mohammed and other suspects. Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida's worldwide leader who was killed by American commandos in Pakistan last month, and the fugitive considered his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, also had been charged with responsibility for the embassy bombings.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Loud blasts from apparent NATO airstrikes have rocked the Libyan capital, while fierce fighting has erupted between government forces and rebels near a western oil port.
Western news reports say several loud explosions shook Tripoli late Saturday after what had been a mostly quiet day in the capital.
Meanwhile, witnesses say clashes have erupted between forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and rebels in Zawiya, a oil port town about 50 kilometers west of Tripoli. A highway that serves as a major supply route between Tripoli and Tunisia is closed as a result of the unrest.
Rebels briefly took control of Zawiya in March but were beaten back by pro-Gadhafi forces.
Pro-government forces have also been pounding targets in the western town of Zlitan as well as in the rebel-held city of Misrata, where medical officials say at least 30 people were killed on Friday.
U.S. officials traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Africa say Libya's situation will be featured prominently in her remarks on Tuesday at an African Union meeting in Ethiopia.
There was no indication Mr. Gadhafi was ready to end his reign, but Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his government has offered him "guarantees" if he were to leave the country.
He did not specify the nature of the guarantees. But he said Turkey would help Mr. Gadhafi get to where he "would like." Mr. Erdogan said he was still awaiting a reply from Tripoli.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is backing Defense Secretary Robert Gates' warning to the NATO alliance that all member states must pay their fair share and participate in their own defense. Secretary Clinton took part in a forum on U.S. trade preferences.
In his last major policy speech as defense secretary, Gates warned of a dwindling appetite among U.S. lawmakers to subsidize NATO members who, he says, "are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense."
In Libya, for example, Gates says all 28 NATO members voted for the mission against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but fewer than a third are taking part in those strikes. He says it is not that most of those members are unwilling, but that they no longer have the resources.
Clinton says Gates' remarks underscore how NATO must never be complacent. "We all have to step up and share the burdens that we face in responding to 21st century threats. And many members are doing just that. Every country in the alliance, including of course our own, is under financial pressure. We are being asked to cut spending on national security at a time when we are living in an increasingly unpredictable world," she said.
Clinton said she fully agrees with the defense secretary that all nations bear the responsibility to ensure the safety and security of their citizens, which requires an adequate investment in defense.
"As the events in the Middle East and North Africa have shown, we cannot predict where threats will occur and we have to be ready, willing, and able to work together," said the secretary of state.
Clinton says the 60-year-old transatlantic alliance has always come together to make the tough decisions, and she believes that is not going to change.
Gates says the risk is that future generations of U.S. politicians who were not shaped by the Cold War may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth its cost.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Two apparently coordinated car bombings have killed six people in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Police and medical officials say the blasts took place Saturday on a busy street near government buildings. They say the explosions wounded at least 55 people.
Meanwhile, government officials say gunmen stormed the home of a school teacher in a village near Tikrit, a city about 130 kilometers north of Baghdad killing the teacher and four family members, including three children.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for either incident. Violence in Iraq is down sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007. However, a new spate of attacks has raised concerns about a possible increase in violence as the U.S. prepares to withdraw its forces at the end of the year.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.
A series of bombings across Afghanistan Saturday killed at least 20 people, including eight children.
A roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle, killing 15 people in southern Afghanistan. Local authorities say most of those killed in the Kandahar province attack were children.
In the eastern Afghan province of Laghman, police investigating an explosion were hit by a second bomb Saturday. Two police officers were killed and nine people were wounded.
Elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan, police say a suicide bomber killed at least three people, including two police officers, in Khost province. At least 12 people were wounded in the attack outside a police headquarters.
Authorities say the chief of an Afghan commando unit was one of the police officers killed in Khost province.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO forces in Afghanistan condemned the bombings.
NATO also reported Saturday that an insurgent attack killed one member of the international security force fighting in southern Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Thousands of Bahrainis turned out for a rally for political reforms on Saturday, following the government's decision to lift state-of-emergency rules barring such gatherings.
Witnesses say helicopters passed overhead as the demonstrators rallied in a mostly Shi'ite area near the capital, Manama. However, security forces did not intervene.
The government lifted martial law in Bahrain on June 1. Emergency regulations had been imposed in March to suppress protest rallies by members of the Gulf state's Shi'ite majority and other Bahrainis demanding a greater role in the kingdom's Sunni-led government.
The official Bahrain News Agency said Saturday that the king King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa appointed parliament speaker Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Dhahrani to lead a national dialogue on reforms, due to begin on July 1.
The king was quoted as saying such talks would help Bahrainis reach "common understandings" reflecting national unity.
U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Bahrain's decision to hold national talks when he met in Washington Tuesday with Bahrain's crown prince, Salman bin Hamad bin al-Khalifa.
Bahrain is a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf and home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.
The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, wrapped up a two-day visit to Islamabad Saturday following talks on security issues, bilateral and regional relations and the question of how to end the almost 10-year-old war in his country.
The Afghan delegation headed by Hamid Karzai met with the Pakistani leadership over two days and in the end announced a number of new measures aimed at improving security and ending the war which is deeply affecting both nations.
In a joint statement, it was announced that a Joint Commission for Reconciliation and Peace in Afghanistan is to be created. The commission will look at ways to negotiate with some members of the Afghan Taliban to bring them to the table instead of continuing the armed struggle.
In a news conference at the end of the trip, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his nation wants peace in Afghanistan and will do what it can to seek it.
"We both want stability in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, both," he said. "Our only aim is to support the peace process, which is Afghan-led, and it is [an] Aghan process for reconciliation. It is in the interest of Pakistan for a stable, peaceful, prosperous, independent, sovereign Afghanistan."
The delegation from Afghanistan and the Pakistani authorities also discussed such bilateral issues as trade, the effort to control the narcotics trade and coordinating their forces to stop border crossing by militants.
Cross-border traffic has been an issue for years, but recently Pakistan said Afghanistan is being used for a staging area for attacks into Pakistan. Previously it had predominantly been NATO and U.S. critics who accused Pakistan of allowing its territory to be used against international forces fighting in Afghanistan.
Speaking about the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops and the handover to Afghan authorities, President Karzai said there is a plan, but specifics are still being worked out, so timing of the withdrawal could depend on the situation on the ground.
"On the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, we have a transition planned that will be completed by 2014, whereby the Afghan forces will take full responsibility for the protection of the Afghan people and territory," he said. "Whether there will be some U.S. troops continuing to stay after 2014 depends on the strategic declaration between the two countries or the strategic document that we are discussing. A delegation will come from the United States to discuss this and that will determine the nature of U.S. presence in Afghanistan."
Many analysts expect the Taliban to demand withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO troops before they come to the negotiating table.
Zafer Hilali is a former Pakistani ambassador to Kabul who says unless the U.S. starts a meaningful withdrawal or gives assurances that such a pullout will happen, any peace talks or negotiations that any commission may be able to attempt will be fruitless.
"Well, first of all, we don't know if the U.S. is going to withdrawal its troops in any meaningful sense," he said. "I mean, their talk of numbers of 5,000 and 7,000 [troops leaving Afghanistan], this is just a small step. The fact of the matter is that the stated positions of the Taliban and the United States are at the moment very different. And frankly they seem irreconcilable unless this is clarified, unless some kind of an assurance is given to the other side that 'Look, we will withdraw; let us talk meanwhile,' and the other side is convinced of the sincerity of that. I don't think that even peace talks will begin [then] except informal contact."
Pakistan and Afghan officials say they will continue to talk, and plan for their next series of meetings, to be held in Kabul as soon as possible.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Campaigning is ending ahead of Turkey's parliamentary elections Sunday, with the ruling Islamic-rooted party expected to come out on top.
Political parties held their final rallies Saturday. Polls open Sunday at 7 am (0400 GMT) in the country's eastern provinces, and an hour later in the west.
Boosted by a booming economy and rising power on the world stage, Prime Minister's Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Justice and Development party now hopes to gain a crucial two-thirds majority in parliament, which would allow it to change the constitution.
AK party candidate Volkan Bozkir said Friday that a new constitution would enshrine the rights of minorities, such as the Kurds who have been fighting for autonomy in eastern Turkey.
But Erdogan's critics say that his political goal is to create a more presidential-style government with him in control.
And there are claims that Erdogan already is abusing his power, as well as moving away from a secular state to a more conservative, Islamic form of government.
Opposition CHP Republican People's Party candidate Oguz Kaan Salici, says the government is becoming increasingly intolerant.
He accuses the government of pressuring media groups, journalists and ordinary citizens critical of the government.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
European officials says they have confirmed that bean sprouts were the source of Europe's deadly E. coli outbreak.
Authorities Saturday said the contaminated sprouts were traced to an organic farm in northern Germany, near Hamburg. They said results of lab tests on sprouts from the farm confirmed they carried the strain of bacteria responsible for the infections. The farm has been closed by public health officials.
At least 33 people have died and around 3,000 others have been sickened since the outbreak began last month. All but one of the deaths and the majority of those infected have been in Germany.
Health officials initially blamed the bacterial infection on Spanish cucumbers and other vegetables and then spread the blame to other European countries, costing EU farmers millions of dollars as produce was left to rot in fields and warehouses. Russia, one of the EU's largest markets for produce, had initiated a ban but Friday said it would lift it.
German authorities lifted the warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce on Friday but said the crisis is not over and people should not eat bean sprouts.
Russia gave no specific timeframe for resuming vegetable imports from the European Union. Russian officials said it will depend on how quickly the EU sends documents certifying the vegetables' safety. The EU has promised to send the certificates in the next two days.
E. coli symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and in extreme cases, kidney failure and death.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
CIA Director Leon Panetta began the second day of his unannounced visit to Pakistan on Saturday.
Panetta, nominated to take over as defense secretary next month, held talks Friday with Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Pakistani spy chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Panetta's trip to Pakistan is his first since the secret May 2 raid by U.S. commandos that killed terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. Relations between the two countries have been strained since the raid.
On Thursday, Panetta told lawmakers in Washington that the U.S. must do everything it can to strengthen the "complicated" relationship with Pakistan.
He said it is clear that the U.S. cannot succeed in Afghanistan if it is not succeeding in neighboring Pakistan, controlling terrorist safe havens and cross-border attacks.
Pakistan received $2.7 billion in security-related assistance from the United States in the fiscal year that ended last October. Islamabad is the third-largest recipient of U.S. security aid and reimbursements, after Afghanistan and Israel.
Meanwhile, most of the U.S. experts sent to help train Pakistan's military in counterinsurgency have left the country at Islamabad's request.
Pakistan asked for the drawdown last month after U.S. commandos were able to infiltrate Pakistan to kill al-Qaida leader bin Laden.
Pakistani leaders said the action was a violation of its sovereignty.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for more American investment in Zambia. Secretary Clinton met with U.S. and Zambian business leaders.
Secretary Clinton says 11 consecutive years of economic growth indicates that Zambia is doing what is necessary to attract foreign investment.
"Business can't do it without a supportive government policy framework and governments can't do it without entrepreneurs and business people who are really going to take advantage of all of these opportunities," she said.
Zambian Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Industry Felix Mutati says the government has cut the time it takes to register a business from 21 days to two hours.
"We have a market-driven policy framework where we have a liberal exchange rate. Bring in your money. You can take your money out. We protect your property and remain consistent on the commitments that we make to the investor. We think this is key to competitiveness," he said.
Mutati and Clinton spoke at the launch of the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia.
Greg Marchand, the chamber's founding president, says the group is bringing American entrepreneurs to Zambia to establish a platform for American investment.
"How does America do business in Africa? When you go talk to people in America, they really don't have a concept of how to do business here. So what we are trying to do is actually develop the model. You don't start a process or a project without a work plan. And you don't do that without a model of how you are going to be successful. So that is what we are working on here," said Marchand.
Marchand says the chamber is recruiting graduate business student interns from the University of Chicago, Northwestern, and the University of Virginia.
"We bring over what we consider the new talent in American business and have them concentrate on projects that are going to allow further American investment in Africa," he said.
Marchand opened his communications business in Zambia after comparing it with six other African countries in terms of politics, conflict, and currency.
"A business school is a safe environment. So I look at Zambia as a business school. It allows you to learn how to do business in Africa in a country that has no civil unrest. It's English-speaking. It's a banking center. It's a regional center for business in the southern African region outside of South Africa," said the chamber's founding president.
Trade Minister Mutati says the strength of American business in Zambia attracts more outside investment.
"If the American brand is present in Zambia, then the conditions for investment are good," he said. "Then the whole framework of governance and institutions are taken for granted because if Citi says 'I'm there' if General Electric says 'I'm there' you don't need to explain to anybody what your business environment is. They are the ones who are going to talk for you. They will tell the story."
Secretary Clinton says the growth of American business in Zambia is part of the Obama administration's approach to help developing countries chart their own future and ultimately end their need for aid altogether.
"We want a relationship of partnership not patronage, of sustainability not quick fixes. We want to establish a strong foundation to attract new investment, open new businesses," she said.
Secretary Clinton came to Zambia for a forum on U.S. trade preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. She continues this African trip with visits to Tanzania and Ethiopia.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan says Khartoum's belligerent actions are threatening delicate negotiations on border issues and revenue sharing ahead of the South's independence next month. Our correspondent in Addis Ababa reports hopes are rising for an easing of tension as diplomatic activity intensifies over the next few days.
Tens of thousands of people are reported fleeing heavy fighting along the undefined border between north and south Sudan. Southern officials Friday accused Khartoum's military of bombing a border village, and the United Nations told of rapidly deteriorating conditions in South Kordofan State, with civilians trapped between warring factions.
A U.N. spokesman estimates 146,000 people have been forced to flee since Sudanese army troops captured the main town in the disputed Abyei region last month.
An African Union (AU) High Level Panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki is shuttling between capitals in an attempt to ease rising tensions. He met Thursday in Khartoum with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and flew Friday to Juba for talks with Southern leader Salva Kiir.
U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman says the military takeover of Abyei has enormously complicated negotiations on sensitive issues hanging over the South's July 9th independence. He told VOA much of the talk is focused on how to reverse the Abyei takeover so talks on other issues could resume.
"The government in Khartoum seems to have taken a more belligerent and proactive military approach to the situation, perhaps thinking this gives them some advantages in the negotiations, first by the military takeover in Abyei and then by sending forces into South Kordofan," said Lyman. "I'm not sure why the government chose in the last few weeks to turn to this kind of a policy, but it is very, very threatening to the whole negotiating process."
Diplomatic efforts are due to be ratcheted up a notch in coming days. AU Panel chief Mbeki is reported to be returning to Addis Ababa, which has served as a neutral site for north-south negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also due in the Ethiopian capital Monday, and diplomats involved in the arrangements say she would meet Mr. Mbeki and senior officials, possibly including Sudanese Vice-President Osman Ali Taha and Southern Sudanese leader Salva Kiir.
Special Envoy Lyman acknowledged Secretary Clinton's deep concern about events in Sudan and confirmed she would hold talks on the subject. But he said details of her schedule have not been finalized.
"I can't predict what will be the outcome," he said. "Her visit is very important as are other discussions going on. We'll have to see how it works out in the next few days."
Despite the current flare up, the veteran U.S. diplomat expressed cautious optimism that northern and southern leaders would reach a peaceful settlement of their disputes before the July 9th independence day. He said, "of course they can work it out, because both sides realize that if they really go back to war, they're going to suffer greatly".
The south's independence is one of the final planks of a 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended decades of civil war between the Arab-dominated north and the ethnically black south.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Yemeni defense officials say at least 30 soldiers and suspected militants have been killed in clashes in the southern Abyan province.
The Defense Ministry said Saturday that 18 militants and 9 soldiers were killed in fighting in Zinjibar. Witnesses say the fighting continues in the city, which had been seized by suspected al-Qaida militants last month.
The ministry says three suspected al-Qaida militants were killed in a separate incident in the province.
Yemen had been battling al-Qaida forces and separatists before anti-government unrest erupted earlier this year. On Friday, tens of thousands of Yemeni's turned out for rival rallies across the country.
Loyalists cheered word that President Ali Abdullah Saleh was recovering from injuries sustained during an attack on his presidential compound last week.
However, anti-government activists renewed calls for Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur Hadi to start the process of setting up a transitional government council, while Saleh recovers in Saudi Arabia.
The Yemeni leader left his homeland a week ago after sustaining burns over 40 percent of his body in the bomb attack.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter and discuss them on our Facebook page.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
A public-private health consortium is asking international donors for $3.75 billion to help provide vaccines that could save the lives of four million children around the world by 2015. The Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization will meet with donor groups at a pledging conference in London Monday (6/13).
International health organizations say vaccines save two million lives every year, and could save twice that many if made more accessible to children in the developing world.
Over the next 10 years, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) hope to immunize more of the world's children against basic infectious diseases and bring down the childhood death rate.
To accelerate progress in vaccine development and delivery, the Gates foundation has called for a new "Decade of Vaccines."
"…if we accelerate our efforts in the areas of vaccine discovery, development, and delivery we can make these vaccines available to more people sooner and that means lives saved, healthier people and benefits beyond health," noted Nicole Bates with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Major drug companies announced last week that they will provide life saving vaccines at reduced prices in the world's least-developed countries. Doctors say providing life-saving pentavalent vaccine for such killer diseases as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenza type B will save more than 6 million lives by 2020. The GAVI Alliance helps pay for this vaccine in 72 low-income countries.
David Ferreira of GAVI says in some cases costs can be cut 67 percent per dose.
"It's incredibly important that the prices of vaccines be structured and be pitched in such a way and at such a level that they are actually affordable and sustainable and that you can have a truly global vaccine market and not just a market that caters only to the rich world," noted Ferreira.
Experts say it costs anywhere between $500 million to $1 billion to bring a new vaccine onto the market, and the costs go up as the disease develops new strains.
A new study shows that vaccines not only save millions of lives, but also billions of dollars in treatment costs and lost economic productivity. It says the economic benefits are worth billions more.
Previously, the World Health Organization estimated it cost about $300 million to eradicate smallpox, but said the annual savings from no longer fighting the disease came to about $1 billion.
Critics charge that GAVI's funding arrangement is not sustainable, but David Ferrerra disagrees.
"Developing countries develop and so it is important that over time they take ownership of immunization and other developmental programs that they are engaged in and fully fund those as their ability to do that grows," said Ferrerra.
Governments and the private sector increasingly join forces to get vaccines out on the market and vaccines against meningitis A and pneumonia are now available in poor countries for less than 50 cents a dose. GAVI says more vaccines can only be made available when additional funding is made available.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
U.S. President Barack Obama says a new job training initiative will help thousands of people gain the necessary qualifications for manufacturing jobs.
In his weekly address Saturday, Obama said the government is partnering with colleges and the private sector so 500,000 community college students can acquire approved credentials for manufacturing.
Earlier this week at an appearance in the eastern state of Virginia, President Obama said the United States can "win the future" by rebuilding its manufacturing sector.
But in Saturday's address, he cautioned that the economic recovery is "going to take time." He said the U.S. did not get into what he described as "this mess" overnight and will not get out of it overnight.
On Monday, Obama travels to the eastern state of North Carolina to meet with his Jobs Council on spurring job growth, especially among middle-class citizens hit hard by the downturn.
Watch President Obama's weekly address:
In the Republican weekly address, Representative Adam Kinzinger of the president's home state of Illinois accused Obama of "broken promises" on jobs.
Representative Kinzinger said his party is committed to reeling in government spending and reducing the country's debt to spur job growth.
Job growth slowed in May and the U.S. unemployment rate edged higher to 9.1 percent. The Labor Department said some of the jobs cut were in manufacturing.
Recent public opinion polls have shown widespread unhappiness with President Obama's economic policies. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found 59 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy.
Watch Republican weekly address:
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Thousands of people staged anti-nuclear rallies in Tokyo and other Japanese cities Saturday, as radiation continued to leak from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant, three months after a powerful earthquake and tsunami triggered one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
Also Saturday, embattled Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited part of the tsunami-damaged region in northern Iwate prefecture.
Three months after the March 11 disaster, which killed more than 23,000 people, 90,000 still live in shelters.
On Friday, the government said survivors of the March disaster need long-term mental health care.
In its annual paper on suicide prevention, the government said survivors may be undergoing shock, stress and depression from the overwhelming losses. The paper said they may also feel guilty for escaping death.
Also on Friday, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said two emergency workers at the Fukushima plant have been exposed to more than twice the legally permitted level of radiation and a third worker is undergoing further tests after initial findings showed high exposure.
The agency issued a warning against the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, for violating the government-set limit on radiation exposure and ordered the company to draft measures to prevent similar incidents.
Only in recent days has the Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that nuclear fuel in three reactors at the plant appears to have melted down and burned through the bottom of their primary pressure chambers.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
The international community has agreed to a political declaration with ambitious targets intended to end AIDS-related deaths within ten years. The commitments were made at a high-level United Nations meeting charting the global AIDS response for the next decade. But some AIDS activists say the document does not go far enough.
The three-day conference brought together 3,000 people -- heads of state and government, other high-level political leaders, activists and members of civil society.
Their goal: to achieve "triple zero" within ten years. That is zero new infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; reducing to zero the stigma and discrimination associated with the illness; and zero AIDS-related deaths.
Since it was discovered 30 years ago, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people worldwide. Today some 34 million people are living with the virus and 7,000 new infections occur each day.
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Paul De Lay detailed some of the targets in the declaration, which include more than doubling the number of people currently receiving antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries within the next four years.
"To halve sexual transmission of HIV by 2015; to reduce transmission of HIV among people who inject drugs by 50 percent by 2015; to ensure that by 2015 no children will be born with HIV; to increase universal access to antiretroviral therapy to get 15 million people onto life-saving treatment by 2015; and to reduce TB [tuberculosis] deaths in people living with HIV by 50 percent by 2015," De Lay said.
Reaching these goals will cost money, and De Lay told reporters that U.N. member states have pledged to close the financial gap and work toward increasing AIDS funding to between $22 and $24 billion a year by 2015.
But Sharonann Lynch of Doctors without Borders notes that no country made a specific financial commitment this week.
"Governments agreed to scale up treatment to 15 million by 2015. They also agreed to pay for it, but no one brought their checkbooks. What we need to see in November at the G20 summit is exactly that. The next thing, the next signature we want to see is on a check to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria or to national HIV treatment programs, so that we can actually scale-up and meet this promise," Lynch said.
Work negotiating the 16-page declaration began a year ago, with diplomats from Botswana and Australia acting as the facilitators.
But critics say it does not go far enough in addressing issues and groups critical to a comprehensive AIDS response. Aditi Sharma of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition worries that despite all the talk at the conference about empowering women and girls, the final declaration has let them down.
"Despite where we are at this epidemic and knowing all that we know, and with women accounting for half the people affected by HIV/AIDS, we have had a struggle to push through a single paragraph on women that recognizes their sexual and reproductive rights, and the paragraph that we've got is the same one we had in 2006. Where are the concrete measures, targets, specific funding to move forward the agenda on how HIV programs will not just have specific interventions for women and girls, but also tackle some of the issues that fuel the epidemic like gender inequality and violence against women?," Sharma said.
Diarmaid McDonald of the British-based coalition Stop AIDS Campaign said his coalition would have liked to see language about access to affordable antiretroviral drugs needed to treat and prevent HIV and AIDS.
"Unfortunately, the current intellectual property regime makes it incredibly difficult for countries to get access to affordable generic versions of their drugs. And we hope that world leaders will support countries' ability to override the rules which stop them from producing generic drugs so they can get the drugs that their people need," McDonald said.
Other activists say the negotiation process was difficult because of conservative governments including Egypt, some African countries and even the Vatican, who worked to keep language out about sex education for youth, and references to risk groups such as men who have sex with men and transgender persons. In the final declaration the men made it in, but the transgendered did not.
But overall, UNAIDS' Paul De Lay says he is pleased with the final declaration, which was adopted by acclamation in the U.N. General Assembly. He said it is not possible to have everything that they would have liked to see in it, but it is an "excellent document" that UNAIDS feels is strong and comprehensive enough to move the AIDS battle forward for the next decade.
A wildly popular show on the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen is drawing record-breaking crowds to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The beautiful and outlandish designs in "Savage Beauty," culled from McQueen's 20-year career, have the power to startle and enthrall.
There's an evening gown made of pearly razor-clam shells; a jacket with shoulders topped by alligator heads; shoes that resemble glittering metal hooves; and a headpiece that looks like a cloud of red butterflies. Andrew Bolton, who curated the show, says McQueen was uninterested in the practical aspects of clothing and used fashion to explore new ways of being and feeling.
"I think that McQueen wanted to touch people's emotions through his fashions. He was almost like a Romantic poet or artist of the 19th century," Bolton said in an interview. "He saw fashion as something that was a very powerful tool to express identity, but also as a vehicle to discuss rather complex ideas and concepts."
McQueen found inspiration everywhere: in literature, painting, history, myth and his own life. His Scottish ancestry was a special fascination, highlighted in the 1995 collection titled "Highland Rape." The garments, some of them torn and slashed, were meant to evoke the violence done to Scotland by Britain in the 1700s and 1800s when thousands of Scots were forced off their lands. In the runway show, according to Bolton's catalog, the designs were worn by "semi-naked, blood-spattered models that staggered down a runway strewn with heather and bracken. The collection was intended to counter romantic images of Scotland."
<!--IMAGE-->
"He was a great provocateur, and he loved provoking reactions from his audience and the press and often colluded in the press in a bad boy reputation," Bolton says. "So, his early collections are often angry and rather aggressive in terms of styling and presentation."
Victorian tales of horror were another source of inspiration. A voluminous black cape on a masked mannequin is presented with an eerie wind making the fabric whip about.
"McQueen often explored the darker side of the 19th century, and he loved these contrasting opposites, between lightness and darkness, life and death," Bolton says. "A lot of McQueen's characters come from the 19th century Gothic fiction tradition: vampires, highwaymen, femme fatales."
<!--IMAGE-->
If McQueen's garments were fanciful, they were also based on the rigorous craftsmanship he learned as an apprentice at men's tailors on London's Savile Row. McQueen said he wanted to "empower" women similarly, by giving them clothes that expressed strength - that might even be fearsome. This meant challenging conventional notions of beauty.
"He often said that when he walked around the streets of London, it was ugly things he noticed rather than beautiful things," Bolton says. "But even in that, he was about reconciling the beautiful and the grotesque. He saw beauty in difference or distinction, not in the classical ideal of beauty, which is about proportion or symmetry."
McQueen was also fascinated by other cultures, especially China and Japan. Pointing to a gown in the gallery titled "Romantic Exoticism," Bolton noted that the overdress is made from a Japanese screen that McQueen took apart. It parts in front to reveal an underskirt made of oyster shells.
McQueen constantly turned to nature for inspiration and for materials like shells, tree branches, feathers and horsehair, often used in shamanistic way, as if they embodied the spirits. In contrast, "McQueen's jewelry was often rather brutalistic in its esthetic," says Bolton. One neckpiece resembles a cage of thorns.
<!--IMAGE-->
A Romantic sense of entrapment was a frequent theme in McQueen's designs. An ivory silk and lace gown from his 2006 "Widows of Culloden" collection is worn with a headdress of resin antlers swathed in a lacy veil that shrouds the face and head. A ghostly hologram of model Kate Moss in an ivory gown that resembles a sea anemone whirling in deep waters is another highlight of that collection and is included in the Met's show.
"Savage Beauty" includes a glass casket holding several pieces from McQueen's unfinished final collection. He committed suicide in February 2010, a few days after his mother died. He was 40 years old. His former assistant, Sarah Burton, now directs the fashion house that bears his name.
More than 225,000 visitors have flocked to "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty," since it opened in early May. The Museum recently extended the show through August 7 and added Monday hours to accommodate the crowds.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
No comments:
Post a Comment