BBC News:聯(lián)合國召開臨時(shí)會(huì)議商談敘利亞問題

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An impromptu meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to discussSyria has taken place at the request of Russia. It comes as western nations consider possiblemilitary action against the Syrian government following a chemical weapon attack in the capitalDamascus.The UN weapons inspection team investigating last week's attack will leave Syria onSaturday 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 numberof laboratories in European countries to test the samples they've taken from the site of thealleged chemical weapons attack. The UN says the test will take longer than days. The team hasaccumulated an extensive matter of material and also conducted interviews with survivors andthe doctors who treated them. The UN team has been mandated to determine whetherchemical weapons were used rather than apportioning blame. But it will produce what the UNis calling an evidence base narrative which could imply guilt.”

Both in the United States and Britain, the principal advocates of military action against Syriaconsiderable pressure is being brought to bear by lawmakers weary of what directinvolvement to the Syria crisis might entail and what it might lead to. Both Houses of theBritish parliament have been debating the case for and against direct British involvement. ThePrime Minister David Cameron said his resolution urging action was not about taking sites orinvading Syria but about Britain's response to a war crime.

“Interfering in another country's affairs should not be undertaken except in the mostexceptional circumstances. It must be, as my honorable friend just said, a humanitariancatastrophe and it must be a last resort. But by any standard, this is a humanitariancatastrophe and if there are no consequences for it, there is nothing to stop Assad and otherdictators 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 defenditself against any aggression. But the International Committee of the Red Cross says thesuffering of civilians is reaching unprecedented levels and it has called for unconditional accessto all areas where people are in need.

Rwanda has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of crossing a line by targeting itscitizens after a Rwandan woman was killed and her two months old baby seriously injured byartillery 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, anysovereign nation. Rwandan civilians are being targeted by DRC forces and we have remainedrestraint for as long as we can, but this provocation can no longer be tolerated.” Congo hasdenied 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 16people, another two dozens people were injured in the predominantly Sunni Muslim city. Theblast comes a day after more than 80 people were killed in a series of coordinated bomb attackson mainly Shiite areas across Baghdad.

A judicial official in Pakistan has overturned for sentence handed down to Shakil Afridi, thedoctor who helped CIA agents hunting for Osama Bin Laden. The official has ordered a newtrial. Charles Haviland reports from Islamabad.

“The commissioner of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan has told lawyers of the original trial ofdoctor Afridi was conducted by an official acting outside his jurisdiction. And a long jailsentence has therefore been struck down. It will now be a retrial heard by a more seniorofficial. The doctor has not walked free and will remain incarcerated pending the start of the newtrial. Shakil Afridi was publicly accused of working for the CIA to track down Osama Bin Ladenunder the cover of a fake vaccination campaign. But he was actually convicted ofcollaborating 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 servantsis unconstitutional. It's a setback for the country's policy of reducing spending in the wake ofinternational bailout. The government has promised creditors a big reduction in its budgetdeficit 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 insupport of small scale farmers who say that the government's agriculture policies have driventhem into bankruptcy. The President has said the demonstrations are valid but the only wayto find a solution was through dialogue. Negotiations to end the protests which started 11days ago remain deadlocked.

Those of the latest stories from BBC News.