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Inspectors to begin work in Syria

 
Published Oct. 1, 2013

Washington

Inspectors to begin work in Syria

The effort to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons will kick off today when the first 20 international experts arrive in Damascus to prepare for field inspections. The team will meet Syrian officials to lay the groundwork for a complex effort that aims to impound, dismantle, remove or destroy all of President Bashar Assad's toxic weapons by mid 2014 under a U.N. Security Council resolution approved Friday. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is conducting the work, said 20 more inspectors will go to Syria early next week. At the United Nations on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem pledged to cooperate with the inspectors but vowed to crush a rebellion that he said has drawn strength from al-Qaida.

Buena vista, Colo.

Five hikers killed by a rock slide

Five hikers were killed by a rock slide on a trail in south-central Colorado on Monday, and another was pulled out with injuries and flown to a hospital, authorities said.

Boulders exceeding 100 tons crashed into a viewing area a half-mile up a popular day hike area, Chaffee County Undersheriff John Spezze said.

Elsewhere

Los Angeles: NBC and CNN said Monday that they had canceled projects about potential presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. NBC pulled the plug on a miniseries, and CNN scrapped a documentary.

Venezuela: The government expelled the top U.S. diplomat and two other embassy officials from the country Monday, accusing them of supporting plots to sabotage the electrical grid and the economy.

Sudan: The worst week of violent unrest that central Sudan has seen in years has resulted in the arrests of 700 people, the government said Monday, along with many deaths and an unprecedented crackdown on the news media.

New York: Sabirhan Hasanoff, a 37-year-old Brooklyn man who was accused of conducting surveillance of the New York Stock Exchange for a possible terrorist attack, was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison.

Times wires