31-year sentence for Chula Vista man who killed his brother with a samurai sword and barbecue fork

CHULA VISTA - An ex-con who used a samurai sword and a barbecue fork to kill his younger brother during a fight at their Chula Vista home was sentenced Monday to 31 years to life in state prison.

Alberto Gonzalez Figueroa Jr., 37, was convicted last month of first-degree murder and torture in the April 2, 2013, death of 24-year-old Mario Figueroa.

Chula Vista police said the siblings' grandfather found them scuffling in a bedroom at their condominium in the 2000 block of Lakeridge Circle about 7:15 a.m. The grandfather tried to break up the fight before hurrying to a nearby home for help.

A neighbor called 911 and responding officers and paramedics found the younger Figueroa on the floor of the bedroom. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The defendant, who has been to prison twice before, was arrested about 45 minutes later near Prospect Street and Sweetwater Road.

Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny told the jury that three months before the murder, the defendant was taken away from the residence after fighting with his brother.

The victim had called police, telling officers that the defendant had come drunk and that he couldn't control him anymore, the prosecutor said.

Copyright 2015 Scripps Media, Inc. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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14 years prison for teen who raped woman near Autzen Stadium

EUGENE, Ore. - The teen who abducted and raped a woman near Autzen Stadium last fall will spend more than 14 years in prison for his crime.

Judge Debra Vogt sentenced 17-year-old Jaime Tinoco to 170 months in prison for the September attack. Tinoco pleaded guilty last week to rape, kidnapping and assault.

Tinoco smiled during sentencing proceedings on Monday, including testimony from the victim.

When the judge asked him why, he said he didn't know.

"That scares me," Vogt said. "I know the public wants me to see you as a boy, but I do not - especially after what I saw today."

Tinoco turns 18 this year. He'll be in his early 30s by the time he's eligible for release.

Even then, he'll have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and serve another decade and a half on probation, the judge ordered.

The victim's sister said the family is pleased with the outcome. She praised her sister for having the courage to make a victim impact statement in court on Monday.

The attack happened in September 2014 while Tinoco was visiting Eugene for an Oregon Ducks football game with 12 other juveniles and 4 adults as part of a Washington County Juvenile Department program.

Tinoco was on probation for burglary, theft and possession of meth.

"After the game, the youth separated from the rest of the group. Eugene Police were contacted regarding his unknown whereabouts," Department Director Lynne Schroeder said in a statement after the attacks.

The victim was walking on the sidewalk near the intersection of Leo Harris Parkway when around 8:45 p.m. Saturday she was grabbed and dragged into the bushes along the south side of MLK Jr. Boulevard.

Police said the victim was taken to the hospital with facial wounds after she reported she was raped.

A K-9 unit led officers to Tinoco, who was hiding along a pathway to south of Autzen Stadium. He matched suspect descriptions given by both the victim and witnesses in the area, Eugene Police Sgt. Ryan Molony said.

A K-9 unit led officers to Tinoco, who was hiding along a pathway to south of Autzen Stadium. He matched suspect descriptions given by both the victim and witnesses in the area, Eugene Police Sgt. Ryan Molony said.

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Arabian food festival on at the Westin

•  Food lovers are in for a treat as they will get to taste the popular middle-eastern rice dish Kabasa 
  Photo- Dhaka Tribune

Man’s love for exquisite food can be observed in all cultures, especially in the Arabian regions, where luxury and indulgence in all that is good, is the norm in every aspect of life. Arabia’s cultural heredity lie deep in antiquity. Although isolated from the centers of ancient civilizations, its people had a diversity of acquaintances with Egypt, Syria, Iraq and with the Roman and Byzantine empires.

To introduce the flavours and diversity of the Arabian cuisine to the foodies and food connoisseurs of Dhaka, the Westin is holding an Arabian food festival titled Aroma of Arabia at the Seasonal Tastes restaurant of the hotel. Guest chefs from Egypt are flown in to preside over the kitchen of the signature restaurant for the duration of the festival, to maintain the authenticity and flavours of the dishes.

Food lovers are in for a treat as they will get to taste the popular middle-eastern rice dish Kabasa, that is served with whole roasted lamb, tender and delectably aromatic, the flavour of dried leamon and other fragrant spices can be tasted in the dish.

A variety of Arabian kebab made of chicken, lamb and beef is being served at the festival. What sets them apart from other kebab dish is that Arabian kebabs are infused with special condiments and the distinct flavour of the coal that is unique to that region only.

Traditional Middle Eastern dishes such as chicken shawarma, sayadiah sea food, an array of lamb dish, chicken with freaka and many more make up the carte du jour of the festival. Another special addition to the event is that, seven different menus will be served in the seven-day long festival that will run till November 14.

Today’s main items include an array of Egyptian dishes such as, Egyptian moussaka, Egyptian style macaroni gratin, duck with freaka, sea bass with felafel and lamb okra.

The festival was inaugurated on November 7 at the Silver Room of the hotel. Etihad airways is the airline partner and Dhaka Tribune is the media partner of the event.  

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Parthenium: A new threat to food security

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The plant protection wing of the government is deeply concerned about rapid spread of highly invasive parthenium in north-western and south-western regions as this new alien weed will be the cause of 40% loss of agricultural produce.

Rice, wheat, maize, potato, tomato, groundnut, pea, sugarcane, cotton and other crops are the major victims of Parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorous) detected in the bordering areas of the greater Rajshahi, Kushtia and Jessore districts.

In addition to causing skin diseases and respiratory malfunctions Parthenium’s toxic Parthenin harms cattle and domestic animals. Parthenin is also the cause of pollen allergy.

At an internal meeting in Dhaka on May 8 the quarantine entomologists from across the country warned about the danger of parthenium suggesting its immediate check.

This is the second detection of an alien organism in Bangladesh after the Giant Mealy Bug that has spread different parts of Dhaka since its first spotting in a naval base in the capital.

“Unless stopped immediately, this highly invasive species will hugely harm our crop cultivation. It can cause up to 40% loss of agricultural yield, including rice, potato, sugarcane and others,” Ahsan Ullah, a quarantine entomologist at the plant protection wing, said.

He said Bangladesh was immune from parthenium, the newest alien species that sneaked into here, possibly through the consignments of imported wheat and food items.

Manjurul Haque, the entomologist posted at the Sonamasjid Land Port in Chapainawabganj, said: “We have spotted huge presence of parthenium in the bordering areas in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Jessore, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Jhenaidah districts and other adjoining areas.”

Jashim Uddin, another entomologist posted at the Bhomra Land Port, said he also saw parthenium in Satkhira terming the weed alarming.

Available literature says the apparently invisible parthenium came to India’s Pune in 1955 through wheat consignments, strongly believed from the USA, ultimately spread into other parts.

This is also seen in Australia that exports wheat to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh imports huge food grains from India through land ports where the plant protection wing has quarantine centres for checking invasive species. But informal trade was another likely cause of parthenium’s intrusion.

Ahsan Ullah said the farmers in the US and other developed countries harvest crops by machines causing the mix of parthenium seed with the lot and ultimately affecting the importing nations.

“A single plant produces 10,000 flower heads and spread into the eco-system. It spreads fast and eats up the food and nutrients of the crops. Besides, the invasive plant can adapt to almost all adverse climatic conditions,” he said.

Ahsan said the quarantine department lacked adequate human resources, logistics and resources to check parthenium.

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Argentine journalist dies in Brazil

Jorge Lopez, an Argentine journalist and a friend of Lionel Messi, was killed in a fatal road accident in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

Also known as “Topo”, Lopez was working for La Red Radio at the World Cup in Brazil and died after the taxi he was travelling in was hit by a stolen vehicle that was being pursued by the Military Police.
The 38-year old reporter was heading back to his hotel around 1:30am when the taxi was struck by a fleeing vehicle at Tiradentes and Barao de Mauá crossing in Sao Paulo.

Lopez, who was sitting at the back seat, flew out of the vehicle as a consequence of the crash, while the driver suffered injuries on his shoulder.

The three occupants of the vehicle, two of them teenagers, were unharmed and arrested by the police and taken to the 1st DP Guarulhos.

He was responsible for conducting interviews with the star of Barcelona’s Messi for the daily “Ole”. According to the Argentine newspaper, Lopez met the top player during the period he lived in Barcelona. Lopez’s wife, who is also a journalist and is in Brazil to cover the World Cup, learned of the accident via a Twitter post of Argentine Diego Simeone, coach of Atletico Madrid. 

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/football/2014/jul/10/argentine-journalist-dies-brazil#sthash.eg6r0Xdt.dpuf

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6 killed in US home shooting

A gunman has shot six people to death, four of them children, in a Houston suburb in Texas of US on Wednesday.

Harris County Constable Ron Hickman told reporters after the suspect’s arrest, reports Reuters.

The victims ranged from 4 to 40 years of age, and preliminary information indicated two of the dead were children adopted by the gunman and his estranged wife.

Hickman added that the violence stemmed from "obviously a domestic situation that went south, probably a divorce or separation."

A 15-year-old girl who also was shot but survived provided police with the name of the suspect and where he was believed to be going after he fled the scene, enabling officers to head him off before he arrived at the home of another family where he intended to shoot more relatives, police said.

The gunman then led police on a nearly half-hour pursuitcapped by a standoff in a residential cul-de-sac a few miles from the scene of the slayings.

Streaming video footage from local television station KTRK showed the suspect's car sandwiched between two trucks where the chase ended, with more than a dozen police vehicles nearby.

After a four-hour interlude in which the suspect was seen placing a gun to his head, he walked out of the vehicle with his hands raised, then laid down on the ground to be taken into custody.

Five of the victims were found dead on the scene, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said.

Two others were flown by helicopter to an area hospital, but one, a child, later died while the other was listed in critical condition, the sheriff's office said.

The names of the suspect and the victim

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/north-america/2014/jul/10/6-killed-us-home-shooting#sthash.kusCDHqU.dpuf

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Nepali girl commits suicide after Brazil's defeat

A die-hard 15-year-old fan of Brazil in Nepal has committed suicide after the humiliating defeat of the south Amarican football team at the hands of Germany in the World Cup semifinal.

Quoting Sharad Thapa, a Nepal police inspector, India Today reports: “Pragya Thapa, 15, from Sunsari district in east Nepal, hanged herself on Wednesday morning after some of her friends teased her that her team had suffered a humiliating loss to Germany.”

Pragya, a 10th grader in a local school, hung herself when her mother and sister also joined her friends and took Germany's side, police said.

Germany defeated Brazil on its home soil 7-1 disheartening millions of fans across the world

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2014/jul/09/nepali-girl-commits-suicide-after-brazils-defeat#sthash.y1Zi85hi.dpuf

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Actress Emma Watson named UN Goodwill

British Actress Emma Watson, best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movie series, has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. (Also
The UN Women is dedicated to issues of gender equality and empowerment of women.
Emma, a humanitarian and recent graduate of the Ivy League Brown University, will dedicate her efforts as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador towards the empowerment of young women and will serve as an advocate for the body’s ‘HeForShe’ campaign in promoting gender equality, the organisation said.
Emma described her appointment as Goodwill Ambassador as “truly humbling” and said she would take up her new responsibility with all seriousness since not everyone got a “chance to make a real difference”.
“Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role,” the 24-year-old actress said.
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said Emma “embodied” the values of UN Women.
“The engagement of young people is critical for the advancement of gender equality in the 21st century, and I am convinced that Emma’s intellect and passion will enable UN Women’s messages to reach the hearts and minds of young people globally,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
Emma has been involved in the promotion of girls’ education for several years and previously visited Bangladesh and Zambia as part of her humanitarian efforts.
Watson is the first Goodwill Ambassador appointment under Mlambo-Ngcuka’s leadership.

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Harry Potter returns in new JK Rowling short story

Harry Potter has returned, in a short story posted online by J.K. Rowling that features her best-selling hero at a school reunion, approaching the age of 34 and showing a few grey hairs.
Written as an article in the fictional Daily Prophet newspaper under the headline “Dumbledore’s Army Reunites at Quidditch World Cup Final”, the 1,500-word story also features the two other main characters in the Harry Potter trio, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley – now married to each other.
Potter, Rowling writes, has clung to some aspects of his youth : “About to turn 34, there are a couple of threads of silver in the famous … black hair, but he continues to wear the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient 12-year-old.”
As the trio watch the final of the Quidditch contest – the celebrated Hogwarts sport involving flying broomsticks and enchanted balls – Rita Skeeter, a vicious journalist from previous novels, discusses their lives in a gossip column.
The seven Harry Potter novels, the first of which was published in 1997, became the best-selling book series ever and has been adapted into a multibillion-dollar film franchise. The new story, on Rowling’s website Pottermore, an interactive site for fans begun in 2011, is here.

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In Bolivia, silver mountain at risk of collapse

POTOSo, Bolivia – Cerro Rico, the fabled peak towering over the Bolivian city of Potosi that supplied silver to fund Spain’s colonial empire, is at risk of collapse from overmining, putting thousands of workers in jeopardy, reports AP.
Potosi, which earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987, was seen as the world’s largest industrial complex in the 16th century thanks to its massive deposits of silver and tin.
But last month, the UN cultural body placed the colonial city, perched high in the Andes, and the increasingly unstable Cerro Rico on its World Heritage in Danger list due to “uncontrolled mining operations”.
A symbol of the colonisation of Latin America and the exploitation of its rich resources, Potosi and its 200,000 residents now largely live in poverty in the shadow of Cerro Rico — “Rich Hill”.
So despite the dire warnings, no one imagines that silver extraction-basically the region’s only source of revenue- could eventually halt altogether, leaving wary officials in a bit of a quandary.
“We are not going to leave this place, because it’s the source of food for our families,” says Carlos Mamami, who leads one of the privately-run cooperatives that bring together Potosi’s 12,000 miners. “Where would we go?” Cerro Rico has been mined continuously ever since a Quechua Indian named Diego Huallpa accidentally discovered silver there in 1545, early in the era of Spanish colonial rule.
Silver from Spain’s New World mines, especially Cerro Rico, was turned into coins and used to fund Madrid’s empire for centuries. The coins remained a global currency well after Bolivia’s independence in 1825.
Today, pierced by more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) of tunnels, Cerro Rico is something of a giant ant hill. So much silver has been extracted that experts believe the mountain, currently 4,787 meters (15,700 feet) tall, has lost 400 meters in height over the years.
Miners still work as they did centuries ago, with picks and shovels, and in difficult conditions, the president of the society of Potosi engineers, Ronald Fajardo, told AFP.
About 5,000 tons of soil, silver and tin are extracted every day.
Each year, about 30 miners die there, according to official figures. But because of the transient and informal labour system, the death toll could actually be much higher.
“UNESCO does not want a World Heritage Site to become a cemetery, a disaster zone,” Bolivian Culture Minister Pablo Groux said soon after the UN cultural body’s announcement.

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Syria conflict National Coalition elects new leader

Syria’s main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, has elected a new president, reports AFP.
Hadi al-Bahra, the coalition’s chief negotiator at the failed Geneva II peace talks with the Syrian government, was chosen at a meeting in Turkey.
He has close ties to Saudi Arabia like Ahmed al-Jarba, whom he replaces.
Though it is backed by the US and Gulf Arab states, the National Coalition has little influence over the rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
The hardline Islamist and jihadist fighters that dominate the rebel movement reject the alliance’s exiled leadership.
One group, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), has announced the creation of a “caliphate” in the territory under its control in northern and eastern Syria, as well as in the large swathes of neighbouring Iraq.
‘Not seeking power’
The National Coalition has repeatedly warned of the threat of Isis and called on its foreign allies to arm rebel forces to counter the gains made by the al-Qaeda breakaway.
“While Assad’s allies have been supplying him with unlimited support, the aid provided by the Friends of the Syria [an alliance of Western and Gulf states] to mainstream rebels has decreased to the minimum level. The flow of arms to the Syrian rebels has almost stopped lately,” spokesman Louay Safi told Wednesday’s meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sile.

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50 bodies found south of Baghdad

Baghdad – Iraqi officials say 50 bodies have been discovered outside a city south of Baghdad, many of them blindfolded and with their hands bound, reports UNB.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim says the bodies were discovered Wednesday in an agricultural area outside the city of Hillah.
Hillah is a predominantly Shiite city about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad.
Ibrahim says an investigation is underway to determine the identities of the dead as well as the circumstances of the killings.
The discovery of bullet-riddled bodies was common during the worst days of Iraq’s sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007. Security officials said an investigation was under way to determine the identities of the bodies discovered in an agricultural area near Hilla early on Wednesday, as well as the circumstances of their killings. The victims were men aged between 25 and 40, police and mortuary officials said. It appeared they were killed several days ago.

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Israel air strikes kill 20 on third day of Gaza campaign

 International Desk: Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed 20 people on Thursday including four women and four children, medics said, on the third day of a widening military operation.

The deaths bring to 70 the number of Palestinians killed since Israel on Tuesday launched Operation Protective Edge to halt rocket fire from the besieged territory.

Israel’s army said it carried out raids during the night against more than 300 Hamas targets, claiming to have hit the Islamist group a total of 750 times since the operation began.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP that an early morning strike hit a coffee shop in the city of Khan Yunis, killing eight people and wounding at least 15.

A second attack blasted a home in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing one person and wounding several others, Qudra said.

Further strikes targeted two houses in Khan Yunis, killing four women and four children, he said.

After dawn, a car was hit in western Gaza City, killing three people and wounding four others.

Throughout the night explosions were heard across the Palestinian territory after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of even tougher action to come.

The military operation is Israel’s largest against Gaza since 2012.

On Wednesday, 29 Palestinians were killed, and Tuesday’s toll stood at 21, bringing the total number of dead to 70.

The dead include at least 11 women and 18 children, according to an AFP count based on medical reports.

There have been no Israeli deaths so far, but Hamas showed its firepower as it launched waves of rockets across Israel that triggered sirens in cities as far from Gaza as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa

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Snowden to extend Russia stay: lawyer

Fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has formally requested to stay in Russia past July 31, when his one-year asylum status expires, his lawyer said yesterday.
"We have already filed documents to extend his stay in Russia," Anatoly Kucherena told AFP.
Snowden has been in Russia since flying in from Hong Kong in June last year after shaking up America's intelligence establishment with a series of leaks on mass surveillance in the United States and around the world.
He could not travel on from Sheremetyevo however after his passport was revoked, and was holed up in its transit zone for weeks before Moscow granted him a one-year refugee status.

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Kiev tightens grip on rebels

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was to face renewed European pressure yesterday to talk to pro-Russian rebels on a truce as Kiev tightened its grip around jittery rebel stronghold Donetsk.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were expected to push the Western-backed leader on a ceasefire in three-way telephone talks but Kiev has until now shrugged off calls to halt an offensive that has reclaimed a string of key rebel towns.
Ukraine's military says it controls all routes in and out of the cities and a spokesman for Kiev's National Security and Defence Council warned a plan was in place that would give the rebels an "unpleasant surprise."
Nearly 500 lives have been lost since Poroshenko came to office in May.

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Germany probing new US spy case

German authorities said yesterday they were investigating an alleged foreign spy as reports said the suspect was the second within days believed to be working for US intelligence.
The latest case comes hot on the heels of an arrest last week of an unidentified employee of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND.
If confirmed, it would further strain transatlantic relations, which have taken a bruising since last year with the NSA surveillance scandal revealed by Edward Snowden.
Die Welt daily said that the suspect was a German army officer. The German defence ministry, when asked about the case by AFP, said that "an investigation is ongoing" within the ministry, without elaborating.

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Kurdistan HQ of militants

Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki Wednesday accused the country's autonomous Kurdish region of harbouring jihadists, further ratcheting up tension despite calls for Iraq's leaders to unite against a Sunni militant offensive.
The crisis triggered by a jihadist-led offensive that started exactly a month ago and soon overran swathes of five provinces north and west of Baghdad, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and heaped pressure on Maliki as he bids for a third term.
The incumbent yesterday appeared to damage his efforts to retain his post by turning on Kurdish leaders whose support he needs.
"Honestly, we cannot be silent over this and we cannot be silent over Arbil being a headquarters for Daash, and the Baath, and al-Qaeda and terrorist operations," Maliki said in his weekly televised address.

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Both sides claim victory in tight race

Both sides claimed victory yesterday in Indonesia's tightest and most divisive presidential election since the end of authoritarian rule, as unofficial tallies showed Jakarta governor Joko Widodo leading over ex-general Prabowo Subianto.
The standoff in the hotly contested race to lead the world's third-biggest democracy prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to call for restraint from both sides until official results are announced in two weeks' time.
The popularity of Widodo -- known as "Jokowi" and the first serious presidential contender without roots in the era of dictator Suharto -- was clear earlier in the day, when hundreds of supporters mobbed him as he voted in central Jakarta.
As a series of unofficial tallies, which are considered reliable, started to show him with a lead of four to five percentage points, a smiling Widodo declared victory flanked by members of his party, extending his thanks to "all the Indonesian people".
But shortly afterwards Prabowo, who has admitted ordering the abduction of democracy activists before the Suharto's downfall in 1998 and was formerly married to one of the strongman's daughters, also claimed victory.
The 62-year-old, who has pushed a strongman image on the campaign trail to win votes, said survey institutes used by his campaign team showed that he and running mate Hatta Rajasa "have received the support and mandate from the people of Indonesia".
Speaking earlier in the day, he had pledged to "respect the people's decision".
However he added: "It must be really their decision and not an engineered one. If it's engineered, we must take clear action."

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Love that hurts so much Asylum-seeker mothers 'attempt suicide' to get kids to Australia

A dozen mothers in an asylum-seeker camp have reportedly attempted suicide so their children can be settled in Australia, piling pressure on Prime Minister Tony Abbott who said yesterday he would not be morally blackmailed.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the women tried to kill themselves this week after being told they would be taken from a detention centre on Christmas Island to Papua New Guinea or Nauru.
Any boatpeople who arrived in Australia after July 19, 2013 cannot be resettled in the country, regardless of whether they are eventually judged to be genuine refugees.
They are instead sent to detention facilities or for resettlement on islands in the Pacific.
The Australian Human Rights Commission told AFP it was aware of "seven women who have either attempted suicide, threatened suicide or self-harmed on Christmas Island" in the last two days.
"In recent weeks we are aware of 13 asylum-seekers who fall into those categories," a spokeswoman added.
The damaging claims come as Australia faces growing pressure over its controversial immigration policies, with High Court action under way over the fate of 153 Sri Lankans being held in custody on the high seas.
They are currently detained on a Customs boat as lawyers argue that any transfer back to Colombo would be illegal, with concerns about the way they were screened.

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New UN envoy to Syria named

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura, who has served previously in Afghanistan and Iraq, is to become the new UN envoy to Syria, diplomats said Wednesday.
He is to replace Lakhdar Brahimi who resigned at the end of May after two rounds of peace talks yielded no concrete results and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was re-elected in June.
His nomination was been confirmed to members of the UN Security Council but has not yet been announced officially by the United Nations.
One diplomat said de Mistura would represent the United Nations and "have an Arab deputy."
OPPOSITION ELECTS NEW LEADER
Meanwhile, the main exiled Syrian opposition group yesterday elected Saudi-based businessman Hadi el-Bahra as its new president in a bid to end internal divisions and breathe fresh life into its flagging struggle to oust Assad.
The Syrian National Coalition, the main exiled opposition group seeking the overthrow of Assad, will be hoping el-Bahra enjoys greater success than his predecessor Ahmad Jarba in keeping up the pressure on the regime.
More than 162,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011.

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