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World News from the BBC

A high-ranking delegation of foreign ministers from the Arab League have met the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to try to negotiate an end to the crisis in Syria. Jim Muir has the details.

Little has been made public about the Damascus talks, but the official Syrian news agency described the atmosphere as positive. That seemed to be reflected also in comments attributed by Syrian state TV to the head of the Arab delegation - the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad al-Thani. He was quoted as saying the meeting with President Assad was frank and friendly, and that the delegation had noted a desire on the part of the Syrian government to work with the League delegation towards finding a solution. He said the two sides would meet again on Sunday to follow up.

A former director of the investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has pleaded not guilty in the United States to charges of insider trading and has been released on bail of $10m. Rajat Gupta surrendered himself to the New York police on Wednesday after he was charged with leaking corporate secrets about his company to the billionaire

hedge fund

manager Raj Rajaratnam. Prosecutors say Mr Gupta faces a long prison sentence and a $25m fine if found guilty.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Iranian government is amongst the most heavily sanctioned in the world because it continues to lie to the international nuclear authorities and persistently