联合国特使：恢复和谈对叙利亚来说是关键时刻
联合国叙利亚问题特使德米斯图拉说，尽管对叙利亚的暴力仍然有一些担心，但是现在到了一个关键时刻。他准备启动新一轮和平会谈，争取结束持续了将近7年的冲突。
联合国主导的会谈星期二开始，这是2012年以来的第八轮会谈。由于叙利亚政府和反政府力量代表存在重大分歧，以前的努力大都失败。分歧包括阿萨德是否应该继续担任总统。
反政府力量代表团团长哈里里星期一对记者说，他们的目标是在政治过渡开始之时，阿萨德就不应是总统。双方看来仍然坚持各自的立场。
叙利亚政府代表团星期一没有到日内瓦，但是德米斯图拉仍然计划星期二与反政府力量代表会谈。以前的和谈也发生过类似情况，某一方的代表晚一两天到达。
德米斯图拉说，他认为双方在联合国安理会批准的框架下进行的谈判有可能缩小分歧。联合国提出叙利亚要有一部新宪法，并举行选举。但是德米斯图拉强调说，他的调停团队不能接受任何一方带着先决条件参加谈判。
UN Envoy: 'Moment of Truth' For Syria as Peace Talks Set to Resume
U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said despite some concerns about recent violence, he believes "a moment of truth has arrived" as he prepared to launch a new round of peace talks aimed at ending nearly seven years of fighting.
The U.N.-led talks in Geneva due to begin Tuesday are the eighth round since 2012. Many of the prior attempts quickly fell apart amid major disagreements between the Syrian government and rebel delegations, including about whether President Bashar al-Assad should remain in office.
The two sides appear to be in the same position after opposition delegation chief Nasr Hariri told reporters Monday that their goal is for Assad to not be in power when a political transition begins.
The government delegation did not arrive in Geneva on Monday, but de Mistura planned to go ahead Tuesday with meetings with opposition figures. Prior rounds of peace talks have proceeded under similar circumstances with one party arriving a day or two late.
De Mistura said he believes it is possible for the two sides to narrow their differences as they negotiate under a framework approved by the U.N. Security Council that calls for a new constitution and elections. But he reiterated that his mediation team will not accept either side entering the talks with preconditions.
罗马天主教宗与昂山素季见面
罗马天主教宗方济各星期二与缅甸文职领导人昂山素季见面。一天前，缅甸的军事首脑说，他告诉教宗方济各，缅甸没有宗教歧视。
联合国和美国指称缅甸军队对罗兴亚穆斯林展开暴力的种族清洗。诺贝尔和平奖得主昂山素季由于她对这场危机的反应而面临批评。
昂山素季上星期被问到侵犯人权的问题时回答说：“我们不能说这究竟是否真地发生了。作为政府，我们有责任确保它将不会发生。”
教宗方济各星期一开始访问缅甸，当天会见了缅甸军事首脑敏昂莱。方济各要讨论缅甸若开邦的暴力。暴力导致62万多罗兴亚人逃到临近的孟加拉国。
缅甸国防军总司令敏昂莱(Min Aung Hlaing)大将在他的官方脸书上发文说：“缅甸根本没有宗教歧视，我们军队也是一样，所做的是维护国家的和平与稳定。”
15分钟的会晤结束之后，梵蒂冈发言人格雷格·伯克说，他们二人 “谈到了国家政权在这个过渡时期肩负的重大责任”，随后互赠礼物。
缅甸天主教会发言人马里亚诺·索·奈英说，缅甸将近70万天主教徒中有成千上万人星期一到仰光欢迎教宗方济各乘飞机抵达，超过15万人登记参加教宗星期三的布道。
Pope Francis Meeting With Aung San Suu Kyi
Pope Francis is meeting Tuesday with Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a day after the country's military chief said he told the pontiff that there is "no religious discrimination" in Myanmar.
The United Nations and the United States have accused Myanmar's military of "ethnic cleansing" in violence against Rohingya Muslims, and Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has faced criticism for her response to the crisis.
"We can’t say whether it has happened or not," she said last week when asked about rights abuses. "As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen."
Pope Francis met with the military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday as he began his trip to the southeast Asian country to discuss the violence in Rakhine state that has caused over 620,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.
"Myanmar has no religious discrimination at all," Min Aung Hlaing said in a Facebook post by his office. "Likewise our military too... (it) performs for the peace and stability of the country."
After the 15 minute meeting, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the two "discussed the great responsibility of authorities of the country in this time of transition" before exchanging gifts.
Thousands of Myanmar's nearly 700,000 Catholics traveled to greet the Pope as he landed in Yangon, and more than 150,000 have registered to attend a Mass he will hold on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.
