Nations discuss ideas to end war in Syria
VIENNA – The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey put forward new ideas Friday to revive a failed push for a political transition in Syria that could end the country’s civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. But they remained deeply divided over the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The top diplomats from the four countries agreed to meet again in an expanded format with representatives from other nations next week, but the only concrete result of this week’s talks appeared to be an agreement between Jordan and Russia to coordinate military operations in Syria.
Kerry said that he, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu went over proposals to restart moribund talks on how to create a transitional government for Syria.
Poor nations seek aid for climate costs
BONN, Germany – The trillion-dollar question of who should pay for global warming is coming to a head in talks on an international climate pact, as developing countries worry they won’t get enough money to tackle the problem.
With just five weeks left before a UN climate summit in Paris, developing countries closed ranks at weeklong talks that ended Friday in Bonn and called on wealthy nations to make firm financial commitments to help them fight and adapt to climate change.
The Paris summit “will be judged by what is contained in the core agreement on finance. For us, that will be the yardstick for success,” said Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa, who chairs a developing country bloc of 134 countries.
Associated Press
