EU lifts embargo to arm Syria rebels: Hague

BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers Monday agreed to lift an arms embargo in order to be able to supply weapons to Syrian rebels, British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced.

Announcing the agreement after more than 12 hours of tough talks, Hague said the EU would maintain the remainder of a far-reaching package of sanctions against the Assad regime that had been set to expire Friday at midnight.

He stressed that Britain had "no immediate" plans to supply weapons to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Supreme Court barred PPP's Syed Murad Ali Shah from contesting elections

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court barred on Thursday former Sindh government minister Syed Murad Ali Shah from contesting elections overturning the Sindh High Court decision.A three member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on Thursday issued an order to prevent Murad Ali Shah, belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from contesting in May 11 polls on the ground that he holds dual nationality and thus violates Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Raina replaces injured Shikhar Dhawan for final Test

Suresh Raina has been brought back into the Indian squad for the fourth and final Test against Australia, starting at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday.

The 26-year-old Uttar Pradesh left-hander replaces the Man of the Match from the third Test, Delhi lad Shikhar Dhawan , who jammed his left hand into the ground while fielding in Mohali and has been ruled out due to a fracture.

Saudi Arabia arrests 18 suspected spies

The Saudi authorities have arrested 18 suspected spies, including an Iranian and a Lebanese, on charges of espionage for a foreign country, the interior ministry said.

"Sixteen Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese were arrested in co-ordinated and simultaneous operations in four regions of the kingdom," including the capital Riyadh and Mecca, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Indian media: Failings of a new forum

The Press Council of India, in the midst of a raging controversy, is operating along the lines of the British Press Council. The latter was wound up a few years ago because it had failed to be an effective instrument for raising press standards. Now a new forum to deal with complaints has emerged, though India is still at the council stage, grappling with problems which the British Press Council faced and failed to sort out.

But it seems that the Press Council of India is not making any headway either, nor is it having any impact on newspapers. So the second question is: what should be the arrangement? The first point concerns dealing with the powers of the Council's chairman, Justice Markandey Katju, who is making himself busy in many areas, particularly in the forbidden field of politics. This was never anticipated either by the British Press Council or that of India.