Washington, August 24
US naval forces today moved closer to Syria as President Barack Obama met his national security team to discuss a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Arab country earlier this week.

Obama's meeting came as Secretary of State John Kerry reached out to world leaders and the Pentagon moved its naval military assets near Syria.

"As we have previously stated, the President has directed the intelligence community to gather facts and evidence so that we can determine what occurred in Syria," the White House official said.

"Once we ascertain the facts, the President will make an informed decision about how to respond."

The official said the US has "a range of options available" and would "act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria".

On his way to Malaysia, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters that he spent a good amount of time on a video teleconference with the President's senior national security advisers.

"I'll continue to be closely connected and involved with the President's national security advisers on this issue," he said.

The Defence Department has a responsibility to provide the President with options for all contingencies, Hagel said.

"That requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets to be able to carry out different options, whatever options the president might choose," he said.

Syrian rebels have accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons near Damascus on Wednesday.

The attack allegedly left more than 1,300 people dead, the rebels said.

However, the Syrian regime denied the claim and blamed the insurgents for carrying out attacks with chemical weapons.

"An army unit is surrounding a sector of Jobar where terrorists used chemical weapons," said the Syrian state broadcaster, adding soldiers who tried to enter the area had "suffocated". — PTI

Abuja, August 24
Suspected Islamist insurgents have killed 44 persons in a village in northeast Nigeria by slitting their throats, officials said today.

The pre-dawn attack occurred on Tuesday but the information did not become public until yesterday as phone lines in the region were cut and the village is located in a remote area.

An official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the attack took place in Dumba village in Borno state, where an Islamic uprising led by the radical Boko Haram militant group has its roots.

The NEMA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attackers slit the throats of their victims, contradicting an earlier claim by the military that the victims were shot.

He said the strategy was adopted to avoid sound from gunfire which attracts security forces.

According to him, some survivors' eyes were gouged out by the suspected Boko Haram attackers.

Earlier this week, a military spokesman announced the death of Boko Haram chief Ibrahim Shekau but attacks by the militants have not abated.

Boko Haram's ultimate objective is to have an Islamic state within or in the whole of Nigeria and it has killed more than 3,000 persons in bombings and shootings since it began its campaign in 2009. — PTI

Islamabad, August 24
Pakistan’s top audit body has implicated former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani in a case of alleged misuse of taxpayers’ money for purchasing vehicles worth Rs 190 million.

The Auditor General of Pakistan's report, covering fiscal 2011-12 and tabled by the federal government in the National Assembly, states the cars were brought for alleged distribution among voters of Gilani's Pakistan People's Party.

It stated that Gilani had ordered the Industries Ministry to buy the vehicles.

The irregularities and "unauthorised" purchases would be discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, The Express Tribune reported today.

The Industries Ministry handed over 200 auto-rickshaws and about 20 mini-buses and pick-up trucks bought with taxpayers' money to former Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, former PPP lawmaker Nabil Gabol and to some unfamiliar Karachi-based NGOs, the media report said.

The current Auditor General, Akhtar Buland Rana, was appointed by Gilani himself. — PTI

Jinan (China), August 24
Ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai accepted responsibility for 5 million yuan in funds he is accused of embezzling which ended up in his wife’s bank account, saying he had let his attention wander, in testimony read out in court on Saturday.

Bo, once a rising star in China's leadership, is facing charges of corruption, bribery and abuse of power in China's most dramatic trial since the Gang of Four were dethroned in 1976.

On the third day of the trial, the court read out testimony it said Bo provided on April 2, in which he admitted to knowing about the money, siphoned off from a government building project.

Bo said he agreed to Wang Zhenggang, former director of the urban and rural planning bureau in Dalian, speaking to his wife Gu Kailai about the money because he "lacked alertness", which is how the money ended up going to her. "After Gu and Wang had their discussions, I did not go and investigate. It was more than a decade ago," Bo said. "This money had already gone into my wife's account, leading to the personal use of public money," he said. — Reuters

Islamabad, August 24
The trial of former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf for alleged involvement in the killing of nationalist leader Akbar Bugti will be held in Balochistan and not the national capital, a court ruled today.

The Balochistan government has withdrawn a petition seeking the transfer of the murder case.

A two-judge Bench of the Balochistan High Court was hearing the case in which Musharraf is named as an accused. During the proceedings, an Assistant Advocate General told the court that the provincial government would provide complete security to Musharraf, currently being held at his farmhouse in Islamabad.

Musharraf’s lawyer argued that blasts had occurred in the same area in Balochistan a few days ago, due to which security concerns exist for his client.

In response, Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa questioned whether the federal government had stopped functioning after the suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

Baloch leader Akbar Bugti was killed in a military operation in Balochistan in 2006 when Musharraf was the President and army chief. — PTI

Curfew in Pak Punjab town
Lahore: The death toll in a clash between Sunni and Shia groups in Pakistan's Punjab province rose to 12 on Saturday even as authorities imposed indefinite curfew in Bhakkar town and adjacent areas. — PTI

Indian-origin man jailed
Singapore: Sivakumar Selvarajah, an Indian-origin Singaporean, has been jailed for 12 years and given 12 strokes of the cane for raping a 16-year-old girl in the back seat of his car. — PTI

Authorities investigate a temple built on top of a 21-storey apartment building at Shenzhen in China. By being at a height, this temple “brings worshippers closer to heaven”. AFP

Prison melee leaves 30 dead
La Paz (Bolivia): A battle among rival gangs in Palmasola maximum-security prison outside the regional capital of Santa Cruz in Bolivia's eastern lowlands has left 30 persons dead. — AP

California wildfire rages
Frenso (US): A giant wildfire raging out of control spread into Yosemite National Park as authorities urged more evacuations in nearby communities where thousands fled during the week as flames marched through the timbered slopes of the western Sierra Nevada. — AP

Encyclopedia on Hinduism 
Columbia (US): A 11-volume encyclopedia of Hinduism is set to be unveiled next week in South Carolina. It is written in English and includes about 7,000 articles on Hinduism and its practices. It is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort. — AP

Pay-out for child’s death
London: Kamaljeet Singh, an Indian-origin man in the UK, has been granted a five-figure sum as compensation for the death of his newborn child after a four-year-long battle for justice. — PTI