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Arab, Western powers say no future role for Assad
London, October 22
A group of Arab and the Western countries today agreed with Syria’s moderate opposition that President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in any future Syrian government.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (extreme right) with Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia , Britain and Turkey,Jordan, UAE and Qatar in London on Tuesday. US Secretary of State John Kerry (extreme right) with Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia , Britain and Turkey,Jordan, UAE and Qatar in London on Tuesday. — AFP

Nawaz Sharif to meet Obama today
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will hold a meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday to signal Islamabad’s renewed interest in a broad-based relationship with the US.

BRIEFLY

EARLIER STORIES

	France summons US diplomat over spy claims, seeks answers October 22, 2013
	Suicide bomber kills 31 in Syria October 21, 2013
	Sharif leaves for US, India may figure in talks October 20, 2013
	Saudi Arabia turns down UN Security Council seat October 19, 2013
	Pakistan PM vows to take bold decisions to combat terror October 18, 2013
	Suicide bomber kills provincial minister, seven others in Pak October 17, 2013
	93 dead as 7.2-quake rattles Philippines October 16, 2013
	Scotland Yard foils terror plot; 4 held October 15, 2013

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, finally collects the European Union’s 1990 Sakharov Prize for human rights from European Parliament chief Martin Schulz in Strasboug, France, on Tuesday. — AP/PTI

France warns US against snooping; avoids conflict
Paris, October 22
France today formally told the US to stop snooping on the telephone calls of French citizens but signalled it wanted to cool a row over the issue.

White Widow pens ‘love poem’ to Osama
London, October 22
The world’s most wanted woman, Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the White Widow, wrote a poem telling of her “love” for Osama Bin Laden. Lewthwaite wrote an ode to Osama during her life on the run.

Pak doctor who helped track Osama seeks fresh probe
Islamabad, October 22
A Pakistani doctor who allegedly helped the US to track down Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden has sought a fresh probe into his conviction in a treason case.

Arrest warrants against Pak ex-PM
Islamabad, October 22
A Pakistani court today reissued arrest warrants against former premier Shaukat Aziz and ex-Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani over the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation.

Facebook working on warnings for violent content
London October 22
Facebook says it's working on new ways to keep users from stumbling across gruesome content on its website following an outcry over the discovery of beheading videos on the site.

	Arab, Western powers say no future role for Assad London, October 22 A group of Arab and the Western countries today agreed with Syria’s moderate opposition that President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in any future Syrian government. The group of 11 countries — Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE and the US dubbed as “Friends of Syria” — during talks with the opposition discussed ways to ensure that the Geneva II conference next month must be about a political transition in Syria away from the Assad regime. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, after the talks here, said, “We are as clear as he is that Assad has no role in a peaceful and democratic Syria.” Without giving details, Hague told reporters that a “number of important steps” were agreed on during the meeting with Ahmad Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition. Syria’s moderate opposition should “commit itself fully” to planned peace talks, he said. However, a defiant Assad said he intended to run for re-election in 2014. Planned talks in Geneva next month offered Syrians the “best hope to improve their lives,” Hague said. “The reason we have to make sure we are supporting and dealing with the moderate opposition committed to a democratic, pluralistic, non-sectarian future for Syria is precisely because if they don’t have a role, then all the Syrian people have got left is a choice between Assad and extremists,” he said. Hague said the ministers had agreed to “put our united and collective weight behind the UN-led Geneva II process”. US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier said, “He has bombed and gassed people in his country...How can that man claim to rule under any legitimacy in the future?” — PTI Syria ‘cooperative’ on chemical disarmament Damascus: Syria has so far "fully cooperated" in destroying its massive chemical arsenal, the chief of the joint Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and UN mission has said. The chief said “by joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Syrian government has indicated its commitment to the task” of destroying it arsenal. — AFP
	Nawaz Sharif to meet Obama today Afzal Khan in Islamabad Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will hold a meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday to signal Islamabad’s renewed interest in a broad-based relationship with the US. This will be the first opportunity for both leaders to size up each other’s resolve, identify new areas of cooperation, re-assess perennial issues, and calibrate upcoming challenges. Prime Minister Sharif has made the obligatory statement about drones ahead of the visit, but has made it clear that he is not spoiling for a fight or a showdown. For its part, the Obama administration has indicated that money owed to or aid meant to be delivered to Pakistan will be cleared in the months ahead. In addition, a White House statement ahead of the PM Sharif’s visit has given a priority to economic issues rather than the more contested security ones. On the economy front, Pakistan’s problems are far deeper and no aid package for military operations can resolve them. On the security front, both sides appear to prefer to leave the principal issues unsaid in a public statement. US drone strikes are war crimes: Panel Islamabad: The US has carried out “unlawful killings” in Pakistan through drone attacks, some of which could even amount to war crimes, a human rights group said on Tuesday. In its report, the Amnesty International (AI) also expressed concern that “some officials and institutions” in Pakistan and in other countries, including Australia, Germany and the UK, may be assisting the US to carry out drone strikes that constitute human rights violations. — PTI
	France warns US against snooping; avoids conflict Paris, October 22 France today formally told the US to stop snooping on the telephone calls of French citizens but signalled it wanted to cool a row over the issue. In a breakfast meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted on being given a full explanation of the latest revelations about a controversial US spying programme. “He (Fabius) repeated our demand for an explanation of spying practices which are unacceptable between partners and which must stop,” a spokesman for the minister said after the brief meeting. Despite the robust tone adopted by the foreign ministry, there were signs that Paris wants to defuse the row created by revelations in Le Monde newspaper that the US National Security Agency had monitored more than 70 million phone call s in France between December 10, 2012 and January 8 this year. — AFP
	White Widow pens ‘love poem’ to Osama London, October 22 The world’s most wanted woman, Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the White Widow, wrote a poem telling of her “love” for Osama Bin Laden. Lewthwaite wrote an ode to Osama during her life on the run. According to The Independent, the verse is full of misspellings and a cavalier attitude to grammar, but the poem explains about her adoration for the Al-Qaida founder. Lewthwaite bewailed Osama’s death, vowing revenge on unbelievers. “Oh sheik Osama my father, my brother. My love for you is like no other. Oh Sheik Osama now that you are gone/ The Muslims must wake up they must be strong,” she wrote. The 34 lines were found by the police on a computer belonging to Lewthwaite along with a flash drive, which showed she had spent eight years researching bomb-making. Sky News, investigating Lewthwaite, unearthed evidence that she was present in Nairobi at the time of the attack by the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab. She had been living in a flat overlooking the Westgate mall where 67 died. — ANI
	Pak doctor who helped track Osama seeks fresh probe Islamabad, October 22 A Pakistani doctor who allegedly helped the US to track down Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden has sought a fresh probe into his conviction in a treason case. A tribunal will hear arguments from Dr Shakeel Afridi’s legal counsel on October 30 to determine whether the case merits fresh probe. “We have filed an appeal seeking a proper trial under which the witnesses would be reexamined and the doctor will have the right to defence,” Samiullah Afridi, the doctor’s lawyer said. — PTI
	Bugti Murder case Arrest warrants against Pak ex-PM Islamabad, October 22 A Pakistani court today reissued arrest warrants against former premier Shaukat Aziz and ex-Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani over the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation. The anti-terrorism court in Quetta directed authorities to produce them at the next hearing of the case on November 26. Former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and former provincial Home Minister Shoaib Nowsherwani appeared in the court during today’s hearing.— PTI

Facebook working on warnings for violent content

London October 22
Facebook says it's working on new ways to keep users from stumbling across gruesome content on its website following an outcry over the discovery of beheading videos on the site.

The controversy which has drawn in British Prime Minister David Cameron illustrates the difficulty of setting a universal standard across the 1 billion-user social network. Facebook banned beheading videos in May but recently lifted the prohibition. — PTI

BRIEFLY

32 ministerial-level officials probed for graft in China
Beijing: At least 32 ministerial-level officials in China have been investigated for corruption from January 2008 to August 2013, the country's highest prosecuting agency said on Tuesday. Nearly 1.49 lakh people were convicted for graft during the same period, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said in a report. — PTI

Hurricane Raymond swirls off Mexico
Acapulco: Hurricane Raymond gained more strength as it remained nearly stationary off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, though it threatened to hurl heavy rains onto a sodden region already devastated by last month’s Tropical Storm Manuel. Guerrero state authorities said on Monday it was raining in places in the afternoon but so far no torrential rains had hit the area. More than 100 persons were evacuated as a precaution from a mountain town east of Acapulco, authorities said. — AP

British Broadcaster stripped of honour
London: Veteran British broadcaster Stuart Hall will be stripped of a honour on Tuesday after being jailed for a string of indecent assaults, a government source said. Hall, 83, was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) last year for his services to broadcasting and charity. But an independent forfeiture committee has decided to remove the honour as it risks bringing the system into disrepute, in a decision signed off by the Prime Minister and the queen. — AFP

Nurse’s death: Boss’ comments spark row
Melbourne: The infamous royal prank call, which led to the death of an India-born nurse, was mired in another controversy on Tuesday when the head of the Australian media group that owns the radio station brushed off the incident as "sh*t happens". During Southern Cross Media’s annual general meeting here, chairman Max Moore-Wilton reportedly used salty language to describe the tragedy in which Jacintha Saldanha (46) allegedly committed suicide. — AFP

China faces human rights scrutiny
Geneva: Faced with a UN review of its human rights, China acknowledged on Tuesday that it still faces shortcomings, but insists it has reduced poverty, deepened judicial reforms and protections of ethnic minorities. Tibetan activists, meanwhile, managed to get past UN security and enter the grounds of the Palais des Nations, where the meeting is being held, and unfurl a banner denouncing China's rule in Tibet. — AP

Brunei introduces tough Islamic law
Bandar Seri Begawan: The Sultan of Brunei on Tuesday introduced tough Islamic punishments, including death by stoning for crimes such as adultery, making his oil-rich realm the first East Asian country to do so at the national level. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah— one of the world's wealthiest men — said a new Sharia Penal Code in the works for years was officially introduced on Tuesday and would "come into force six months hereafter and in phases", sparking sharp criticism from rights groups. — AFP

UK court reopens Dewani case
London: The trial of a British man suspected of plotting the slaying of his wife on their honeymoon in South Africa faced another delay on day after a court granted the suspect the right to a new challenge against his extradition. Shrien Dewani is accused of hiring a hit man to kill his 28-year-old bride Anni, who was shot to death as the couple travelled in a cab on the outskirts of Cape Town three years ago. — PTI