VOA news for Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

Thanks to http://gandalf.ddo.jp/ for audio and text Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 From Washington, this is VOA news. U.N. welcomes extension of humanitarian pause for Syrian city of Homs. Taliban positive of Pakistan peace talks. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting from Washington. Delegates from the Syrian government and the opposition opened a second round of peace talks in Geneva Monday. U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met separately with the two sides in an attempt to set an agenda for discussing issues such as setting up a potential transitional government and humanitarian aid in besieged areas. The U.N. says the Syrian government and opposition have agreed to extend a humanitarian pause in the beleaguered city of Homs for another three days. VOA's Margaret Besheer reports. U.N. Humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement she hopes the additional three-days will allow for the evacuation of more civilians and the delivery of additional urgently needed supplies. The clearly-marked aid convoy came under gunfire and mortar shells were fired near it. One driver was wounded. Amos said it was "absolutely unacceptable" that U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent workers were deliberately targeted. She also condemned the deaths of 11 people as the operations were conducted because the parties did not abide by the cease-fire. Margaret Besheer, VOA news, the United Nations. More than 800 people have been evacuated from the rebel-held city since last Thursday. A third shipment of chemical weapons material left Syria to be destroyed as part of an internationally brokered agreement to rid the country of its chemical weapons arsenal by June 30th. The joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says the material left the country Monday aboard a Norwegian cargo vessel accompanied by a naval escort from China, Denmark, Norway and Russia. Until Monday's shipment, Syria had sent less than five percent of its stockpile to be destroyed. The Taliban-appointed team to negotiations with the Pakistan government say the militant leaders have adopted a "positive" attitude to peace talks held last week with the government. Sharon Behn has details. Maulana Yusuf Shah, a member of the Taliban-nominated peace negotiation team, returned from the northwestern tribal North Waziristan province Monday, saying he was encouraged by the Pakistani militant group's reaction to the government's latest outreach. He said the leaders of the Pakistani Taliban -- the "shura", or council of elders -- had adopted a very positive attitude and gave a very positive response to the government's overtures. Local media reports had said the militant group had laid out a number of counter demands, including the imposition of strict Islamic law in Pakistan. It isn't clear when the government and the Taliban negotiating teams will meet again. Sharon Behn, VOA news, Islamabad. The International Criminal Court opened a hearing Monday to decide whether to bring Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda to trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ntaganda was deported to The Hague court last year. He says he is innocent. Lisa Bryant has more. Wearing a dark grey suit, former rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda sat impassively as the International Criminal Court's prosecutor Fatou Bensouda outlined her case against him. "Bosco Ntaganda, the notorious commander known as The Terminator, is here before you because of his role in pursuing a campaign of violence and terror against civilians and children for more than one year, and for failing to prevent or punish crimes committed by troops under his effective command and control." The 13 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him deal with atrocities that took place in DRC's northeastern Ituri region between 2002 and 2003. Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Paris. Most recently, Ntaganda was considered a key leader of the rebel M23 group that had launched a major offensive against the Congolese government in 2012. Waterlogged British towns on the River Thames prepared Monday for days of new flooding, with officials issuing 14 more warnings as the fabled river burst its banks about 30 kilometers upstream of London. The new alerts were issued as Prime Minister David Cameron toured parts of the devastated region for a second time in three days. And the Netherlands swept the men's 500-meter speed skating at the Winter Olympics Monday, tying for the lead in the medal count after three days of competition in Sochi. By days end, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway were tied for the most medals with seven. Canada and the Netherlands lead in gold medals with three each. I'm Ray Kouguell, VOA news. Details on these and other stories on our website at voanews.com.