人权了望台： 叙利亚军队猛攻首都郊区近六百人死伤
叙利亚人权了望台说，叙利亚政府军自星期天开始发动猛烈空袭和火箭弹攻击以来，在大马士革郊区打死了将近100人，还有将近500人受伤。
这家总部设在伦敦的机构说，在大马士革郊区东古塔受到的攻击中，遇难者中有大量平民和儿童。
叙利亚政府军发起了收复东古塔的全面进攻。那里是希望推翻阿萨德政权的反政府武装和伊斯兰激进组织在大马士革附近仍然占领的据点之一。
叙利亚人权了望台说，政府军空袭的目标是为地面攻势开路。
根据俄罗斯、土耳其和叙利亚协调达成的一项停火协议，东古塔的冲突本应减少。但是联合国官员穆姆兹斯说，那里出现了大大升级的敌对行动。
当地居民和救援人员说，食物和救援品根本运不进来。
Monitor: Syrian Military Bombardment of Damascus Suburb Kills 100, 500 Wounded
Heavy Syrian military airstrikes and rocket attacks on a Damascus suburb have killed nearly 100 people and wounded close to 500 since Sunday, a Syrian monitoring group says.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a large number of civilians, including children, are among the victims in eastern Ghouta.
The Syrian military has launched an all-out operation to retake eastern Ghouta. It is one of the last areas near Damascus still in the hands of rebels and Islamic militants looking to topple the Assad government.
The observatory says the air operation is aimed at paving the way for a ground offensive.
The fighting in eastern Ghouta was supposed to have de-escalated under a ceasefire brokered between Russia, Turkey and Syria.
Instead, the region is seeing what U.N. official Panos Moumtzis calls an "extreme escalation of hostilities."
Residents and aid workers say almost no food and relief is getting through.
联合国儿童基金会： 世界未能挽救更多新生儿
联合国儿童基金会说，在世界上最贫困、最危险的国家里，新生儿的死亡率比世界上最富有、最安全的国家要高50倍。
25年以来，年纪稍大儿童的健康有了广泛的改善，但是联合国儿童基金会执行主任亨丽埃塔·福尔说：“我们在减少一个月以内新生儿死亡率的方面却没有取得同样的进步。”
对195个国家的调查发现，贫困国家和富裕国家在新生儿死亡率上有令人震惊的巨大差别，而大多数的死亡是本来可以避免的。儿童基金会的报告说，贫困国家的新生儿平均死亡率为2.7%，而富裕国家的新生儿平均死亡率只有0.3%。
巴基斯坦的新生儿死亡率最高，超过4.5%。对新生儿最危险的10个国家中有8个是撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲国家，分别是： 中非共和国、索马里、莱索托、几内亚比绍、南苏丹、科特迪瓦和乍得。
日本是新生儿死亡率最低的国家，低于0.1%。
UNICEF: World is Failing Newborn Babies
The United Nations children’s fund reports newborn babies in some of the poorest, most dangerous countries in the world are up to 50 times more likely to die than are newborns in some of the world’s richest, safest countries.
While the last quarter-century has seen broad improvements in older children's health, "we have not made similar progress in ending deaths among children less than one month old," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's executive director.
A survey of 195 countries finds a shocking disparity in the mortality rates of newborn babies in poor and rich countries, and most of those deaths are preventable. On average, it reports 27 deaths out of 1,000 births in poor countries compared to 3 deaths out of 1,000 in rich countries.
While Pakistan is the lowest ranked country with a one in 22 chance of death, the survey notes eight of the 10 most dangerous places to be born are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Of the 10 highest-risk countries, eight are in sub-Saharan Africa. They are: the Central African Republic, Somalia, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau and South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Mali and Chad.
Japan tops the rankings with only one newborn death out of 1,111.