Top of the Morning: Mine Disaster in Turkey

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

Hundreds Killed in Turkey Mine Disaster….”An explosion at a mine in western Turkey has left 157 workers dead and 75 injured, local officials say. The blast, followed by a fire, occurred at a coal mine in the town of Soma in Manisa province. Giving the latest death toll, the mayor of Manisa city cautioned that it had not been officially confirmed. An initial official estimate said 17 workers had been killed. Hundreds more are feared trapped underground, though many have reportedly escaped.” (BBC http://bbc.in/RCXy2d)

A grim milestone: The first death of a western Reporter in CAR. French soldiers found the body of freelance photojournalist Camille Lepage, 26, in a vehicle they had stopped that was being driven by “anti-balaka” militia fighters, Francois Hollande’s office said in a statement. Reuters  http://reut.rs/1mTd0FP

Bye Bye Brahimi: The joint UN and Arab league envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has announced his resignation.  It was a tough job, made impossible by the the fact that the Security Council could never coalesce around a strategy to end the bloodshed. (LAT http://lat.ms/RCXNdz)