**40 Missing, Presumed Dead After Nepal Blizzard**
VOA News
At least 40 people remain missing, and presumed dead, after a deadly, unexpected blizzard struck a popular Himalayan trekking route last week.
Nepalese search teams, travelling by helicopter, continue to scan high-altitude areas in what is gradually turning from a rescue to a recovery operation.
At least 39 hikers are confirmed dead, among them Canadians, Indians, Israelis, Slovaks and Poles, but mostly Nepalese porters.
Army officials say they hope that improved weather conditions will help speed things up.
Many of the hikers were on Nepal’s popular Annapurna trail where the storm produced avalanches. This is the peak hiking season.
Nepal's government says it failed to issue any warning that the tail end of a cyclone that battered India could bring extreme weather to Nepal, and it has promised to set up an early-warning system.
The incident was the second major mountain disaster in Nepal this year after an avalanche in April above base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 guides.
**尼泊尔雪崩 至少40人失踪 估计已丧生**
美国之音
尼泊尔上周突降致命暴风雪，造成喜马拉雅山一条常用登山路线上至少39人死亡，目前仍有40人失踪，估计已经丧生。
尼泊尔搜索队继续乘直升机在高海拔地区搜索。救援行动已经逐渐变为寻找行动。
至少有39名登山者被证实死亡，其中包括加拿大、印度、以色列、斯洛伐克和波兰人，但是多数还是尼泊尔搬运工。
尼泊尔军方表示，希望天气转晴有助于加快搜寻工作。
当暴风雪引发的雪崩来袭时，很多登山者正在尼泊尔安纳布尔纳峰的登山路线上。现在是登山季节。
尼泊尔政府表示，袭击印度的飓风给尼泊尔带来极端天气，但尼泊尔事先没能发布任何警报。尼泊尔承诺建立一个早期天气预警系统。
这是尼泊尔今年发生的第二起登山灾难。今年4月珠穆朗玛峰的一个营地发生雪崩，导致16名向导丧生。
* Turkey's Erdogan Says No to Arming Kurds in Fight for Kobani **
VOA News
Turkey says it will not arm or agree to arms transfers to Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants for control of Kobani, the Syrian town just across the Turkish border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday called the embattled Kurdish forces "equal" to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has waged a 30-year armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey. Turkey and the U.S. consider the Kurdistan Workers Party a terrorist group.
Mr. Erdogan said "it would be very, very wrong to expect" the Turkish government "to openly say 'yes' to our NATO ally America giving this kind of support. To expect something like this from us is impossible."
He made the comment days after the United States said (Thursday) it held its first direct talks with the Syrian Kurdish political party the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, which is tied to the Kurdish fighters in Kobani. A State Department spokesperson stressed that one meeting does not represent coordination in the fight against Islamic State.
Late Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Mr. Erdogan about the situation in Kobani and steps that can be taken to stop Islamic State militants. The White House says Mr. Obama expressed appreciation for Turkey hosting more than one million refugees -- including thousands who fled Kobani.
Fierce fighting for Kobani continues, with U.S. officials reporting that coalition jets launched eight airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria overnight, six of them in Kobani.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, with sources inside Syria, reported that the Islamic State fighters sustained heavy losses from Saturday into early Sunday, with 31 jihadists killed. Seven Kurdish fighters were also killed.
Sunday morning saw a brief lull in the militants' shelling of the city, but VOA correspondent Scott Bobb, reporting from the Turkish side of the border, says that by early afternoon mortar and artillery fire was picking up, with some shells landing in the western part of Kobani and some near the border crossing with Turkey.
Kurdish sources told Bobb the situation in Kobani has improved somewhat, adding that they have been able to regain control of some surrounding villages.
Islamic State militants have been battling Kurdish fighters for a month for control of the city.
**土耳其拒绝向库尔德武装提供武器**
美国之音
土耳其表示既不会向保卫叙利亚城镇科巴尼的库尔德武装提供武器，也不会同意向他们运送武器。库尔德武装一直与企图攻占科巴尼的伊斯兰国组织展开激战。
土耳其总统埃尔多安星期天说，科巴尼的库尔德武装跟库尔德工人党是一丘之貉。库尔德工人党为争取在土耳其自治而进行了30年的武装斗争。土耳其和美国都把库尔德工人党视为恐怖组织。
埃尔多安说，“如果期待土耳其政府向北约和美国公开表示愿意提供这种支持，那是非常错误的。指望我们这样做，是不可能的。”
埃尔多安是在美国宣布与一个库尔德政党首次会谈后说这番话的。美国星期四宣布与叙利亚境内的库尔德人政党库尔德民主联盟党首次直接会谈。该党与保卫科巴尼的库尔德武装有关联。美国国务院发言人强调，一次会谈并不代表双方在反击伊斯兰国的过程中协调行动。
美国总统奥巴马星期六晚上就科巴尼局势以及如何制止伊斯兰国激进分子的问题与埃尔多安通了电话。白宫说，奥巴马总统对土耳其接纳一百多万难民表示感谢。这些难民中有数千人是从科巴尼逃往土耳其的。
保卫科巴尼的库尔德武装星期天继续与伊斯兰国展开激战。美国官员说，联军战机星期六夜间对伊斯兰国目标进行了八次空袭，其中六次针对科巴尼城内目标。总部设在英国的人权组织叙利亚人权了望台在叙利亚有消息来源。该组织报告说，伊斯兰国武装分子星期六到星期天凌晨遭受重大伤亡，共有31名圣战者死亡。 库尔德武装有7人丧生。
美国之音记者鲍伯从土耳其境内报道说，激进分子星期天早上曾短暂停止炮击，但星期天下午又开始向科巴尼发射炮弹和迫击炮弹，有些炮弹落在科巴尼西部，有些落在叙利亚土耳其边界的过境点附近。
库尔德消息来源说，科巴尼的形势好转，库尔德武装收复了周围的一些村庄。伊斯兰国激进分子一个月来不断向科巴尼发动进攻。
