World News from the BBC
The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, has said the fall of his government would cause a domino effect that would damage the Middle East for years to come. In an interview with Turkish media, Mr Assad gave his sharpest warning yet about the role of neighbouring countries in the conflict, saying Syria was surrounded by countries that were, as he put it, helping terrorists.
There’s been no breakthrough over Iran’s nuclear programme on the first day of the latest talks between the world powers and the Iranian authorities. Negotiators from Iran said they had outlined key and clear proposals at the meeting in Kazakhstan. James Reynold reports from Almaty.
The respective chief negotiators Catherine Ashton and Saeed Jalili kept their distance in the opening photocall and it would appear in the subsequent negotiations as well. The world powers wanted Iran to respond to a proposal the group made in February. Instead, Iran decided to present its own set of suggestions. There appears to be little overlap between the respective proposals. “We remain a long way apart on the substance,” said one Western diplomat at the talks. “Iran insists that it has no military ambitions. Because of this it says it wants sanctions to be lifted.”
Mexico has unveiled a controversial memorial to the tens of thousands of people killed during the country’s brutal drug war. Some relatives of victims have objected to the steel wall because it has quotes from famous writers and thinkers on it but no names. One prominent opponent, the poet Javier Sicilia, said the wall should not have been placed next to a military base.