世界大国推动叙利亚停火及人道救援
国际支持叙利亚小组17个成员国的外交官星期二在维也纳围绕叙利亚五年内战举行会谈，重点讨论陷于僵局的政治谈判、难以实施的停火协议以及联合国运送人道救援物资行动中存在的问题。
叙利亚停火于2月底开始实施后，总体暴力水平大幅下降，但停火状态正逐渐遭到破坏。
德国外长施泰因迈尔在会谈开始前表示，会谈的目的是为更好地实施停火创造条件，以及改善叙利亚境内局面，让叙利亚反对派更愿意参与政治谈判。
美国和俄罗斯试图利用其影响力敦促叙利亚冲突各方遵守停火协议，同时推动和平谈判，但迄今进展甚微。
美俄两国都是国际支持叙利亚小组的成员国，但俄罗斯支持叙利亚政权，而美国则支持持温和立场的叙利亚反对派。
World Powers Seek Progress on Syria Cease-fire, Humanitarian Aid
The five-year-old war in Syria is the focus of diplomats Tuesday in Vienna where the 17-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) is meeting to discuss stalled political talks, difficulties in maintaining a cease-fire deal and uneven U.N. results in delivering humanitarian aid.
The cease-fire, which went into effect at the end of February, brought a dramatic drop in overall violence in Syria, but that progress has slowly eroded.
“Today is about creating the conditions to better comply with the cease-fire,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, heading into talks. He said another goal would be improving conditions on the ground in Syria so that the opposition would be more inclined to participate in political talks.
The United States and Russia are trying to use their influence to convince competing sides to stand by the agreement as they also try to support peace talks that have so far made little progress.
Both countries are part of the ISSG. But while Russia has backed the Syrian regime, the U.S. has been supporting the moderate opposition.
美国和古巴推动双边关系正常化
古巴外交部的美国事务主管维达尔说，古巴和美国为在奥巴马总统卸任之前改善双边关系制定了“非常具有雄心”的日程安排。
维达尔星期一在哈瓦那会见美国官员后表示，双方努力在执法、医药和农业等领域展开合作。
会谈星期二继续进行，出生于古巴的美国国土安全部副部长马约卡斯和古巴内政部官员将讨论打击贩毒、网络犯罪、反恐以及非法移民等问题。
美国国务院说，双方接下来还将讨论人权和解决财务纠纷等问题。
维达尔说，进展将是循序渐进的，重要的是两国关系正常化进程已经启动。她还表示，无论谁在今年11月赢得美国总统大选，都希望新总统继续推动两国关系向前发展。
US, Cuba Working on Agenda to Further Ties
The Cuban foreign ministry's head of U.S. affairs says the two countries have a "very ambitious" agenda for progressing their thaw in relations during U.S. President Barack Obama's final months in office.
Josefina Vidal said Monday after meeting with U.S. officials in Havana that the two sides are working toward cooperation on law enforcement, medicine and agriculture.
Those meetings continue Tuesday with Cuban-born U.S. Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and officials from Cuba's Interior Ministry discussing countering drug traffickers, cybercrime, counterterrorism and illegal migration.
The State Department said future sessions will involve human rights and settling financial claims.
Vidal said progress will be gradual, but that what is important is that normalization of relations has begun. She also expressed hope that whoever wins the U.S. presidential election in November will continue furthering ties with Cuba.
