默克尔保守派政党赢得关键州级选举
德国总理默克尔的保守派政党星期天在德国人口最多地区一次关键的州级选举中，击败中左对手。
投票站出口民调显示，默克尔的基民盟在北莱茵-威斯特法伦州的选举中，获得强有力支持。该州是她的主要对手、社民党的马丁·舒尔兹的家乡州和传统的大本营。舒尔兹将在今年9月底的德国大选中挑战默克尔。
舒尔兹承认星期天的失利，表示“对于社民党和我本人来说，这是艰难的一天。我来自这个州，今天我们在这里遭遇了惨痛挫败”。他敦促其政党集中精力打好9月24日的选战。
投票站出口民调显示，基民盟在北莱茵-威斯特法伦州赢得了百分之34.5的选票，社民党获得百分之30.5的选票。该州人口1790万，占德国总人口的近四分之一。其他政党得票率远远落在这两大政党之后。
Merkel's Conservatives Win Key State Election
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives defeated their center-left rivals in a key state election Sunday in the country's most populous region.
Exit polls showed Merkel's Christian Democratic Union with a strong surge of support in North Rhine-Westphalia, the home state and traditional stronghold of her chief rival, Social Democrat Martin Schulz, who is challenging the German leader in the national election in late September.
Schulz conceded Sunday's loss, saying, "This is a difficult day for the Social Democrats, a difficult day for me personally as well. I come from the state in which we took a really stinging defeat today." He urged his party to focus on the September 24 vote.
The exit polls showed the Christian Democrats winning 34.5 percent of the vote in North Rhine-Westphalia, home to 17.9 million people, nearly a quarter of the German population, with the Social Democrats at 30.5 percent. Other parties trailed far behind the two leaders.
更多叙反叛武装弃守大马士革附近地区
随着叙利亚总统阿萨德的军队及其盟军5年来首度推进并夺取对首都及其周边地区的完全控制，至少1500名叙利亚反叛武装人员及其家人，星期天放弃了另外一个大马士革郊外长期占据的地区。
叙利亚国营媒体和目击者说，撤离行动黎明时分开始。此前不到一天，政府军夺取了加邦地区。几天前，成百上千被围困的反叛武装战斗人员及其家人撤离了另外两个邻近地区。
一项与政府达成的协议促成了加邦地区的撤离行动，该协议是星期六晚间宣布的。这份协议复制了以前协议的条款，反叛武装可经由安全通道撤往他们在靠近土耳其边界的控制区，作为交换，结束历时数星期的炮击以及叙利亚和俄罗斯战机的空袭行动。
数月来，叙利亚政府军一直发动攻势，以夺回大马士革以北和以东方向反叛武装占据的地区。分析人士说，他们发现并摧毁了连接三个地区的地下通道后，战况才开始获得成功。
在首都附近激烈内战之际，库尔德人领导的叙利亚武装在北部伊斯兰国所称的首都拉卡城外，也发动了打击伊斯兰国极端分子的攻势。
More Syrian Rebels Abandon Territory near Damascus
At least 1,500 Syrian rebels and their families abandoned another long-held district just outside of Damascus on Sunday, as the army of President Bashar al-Assad and its allies push to seize full control of the capital and surrounding areas for the first time in nearly five years.
State media and witnesses said the evacuation began at dawn, less than a day after government forces captured the Qaboun district, and just days after hundreds of other beleaguered rebel fighters and their families departed two other nearby districts.
A government deal facilitating the Qaboun evacuation was announced late Saturday. It replicates earlier agreements under which rebels were granted safe passage to rebel-held territory near the Turkish border in exchange for an end to weeks of shelling and airstrikes by Syrian and allied Russian warplanes.
Government forces have pressed for several months to recapture rebel districts north and east of Damascus, and analysts say they succeeded only after discovering and destroying underground tunnels that connected the three neighborhoods.
As civil war raged near the capital, Kurdish-led Syrian forces far to the north pressed a separate offensive against Islamic State extremists just outside the de facto IS capital, Raqqa.