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BBC news 2012-01-30

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The BBC has been told that the Afghan government plans to meet Taliban officials in Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks. If they go ahead, the talks - the first of their kind - would be a major milestone in efforts to find a negotiated solution to the Afghan conflict. There's been no word from the Taliban. From Kabul, Quentin Sommerville.

The landmark meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban is expected to take place in the coming weeks in Saudi Arabia. American-led peace efforts will soon see the establishment of a Taliban political office in the Gulf state of Qatar. In the past, negotiators have had trouble establishing the authenticity of Taliban representatives. However, a delegation of senior Taliban leaders is now in Doha and have already met US officials.

The main Sunni political faction in Iraq says it's ending its boycott of parliament in a move that may help ease a month-long political crisis that many feared would spill into renewed sectarian conflict. But Iraqiya's boycott of the cabinet will remain for now. Carine Torbey reports.

The Iraqiya bloc said its decision is meant to ease tensions in the run-up to national dialogue expected early next month. Its spokeswoman said that senior politicians, including President Jalal Talabani and Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, had urged the bloc to add peace to return to parliament. The boycott was a response to the arrest warrant issued against one of the bloc's leaders, Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi. Al-Hashimi is currently in northern Iraq, and the Kurdish regional government, which has been trying to mediate a solution to the crisis, has refused to hand him over to Baghdad.

Syrian activists say at least 45 civilians and opposition fighters have been killed across the country as government forces attacked centres of resistance in the suburbs of Damascus and Homs. Activists say more than 2,000 troops and a large number of tanks were deployed in the assault on the outskirts of Damascus. Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

In Talbisah near Homs, the limp body of Ahmed al-Hallaq is dragged away, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Activists said he was shot dead by a government sniper while standing in front of his house. Similar scenes of panic and horror were acted out in many parts of the country as security forces and tanks attacked centres of resistance. The fighting engulfed some of the suburbs on the eastern side of Damascus itself - the closest such hostilities have come to the heart of the capital.

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that he'll unilaterally introduce a tax of 0.1% on all financial transactions starting in August. In a lengthy television interview, Mr Sarkozy said France was introducing it on its own to create a shock and encourage other countries to follow suit.

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The European Union has urged the top legal authority in Senegal to explain why it's rejected some presidential candidates, including the music star Youssou N'Dour, for next month's vote. On Friday, the council validated the candidacy of the incumbent, Abdoulaye Wade, and 13 others. The decision to allow Mr Wade to run for a third term sparked protests by the opposition.

A jury in Canada has found an Afghan immigrant couple guilty of murdering three daughters and the husband's first wife, whom they'd accused of dishonouring the family. The couple's son was also convicted. The bodies of the victims were found in a car submerged in a canal in the province of Ontario in 2009. Lee Carter reports from Toronto.

In a three-month trial that had riveted the country, the court heard the prosecution lay out its case against Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed in the deaths of Mr Shafia's three teenage daughters and a woman the girls referred to as auntie who was Mr Shafia's first wife. The court heard how Mr Shafia had become increasingly angry and upset with his three daughters, aged 13, 17 and 19, for having secret relationships with boys and wearing revealing clothes.

Thousands of demonstrators have marched through Madrid in support of Spain's best-known judge Baltasar Garzon, who's currently on trial for exceeding his powers. Judge Garzon has won worldwide fame by initiating a series of human rights indictments, most notably against the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He's now charged with attempting action over abuses committed in Spain itself during the Franco-era.

The former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro has died. He was 93. Mr Scalfaro held a number of top positions in Italian political life, culminating in his presidency from 1992 until 1999. As president, he was praised for his calm leadership.

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