Syria conflict: Iran to attend talks in Vienna

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will attend multilateral talks on finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria in Vienna this week, a government spokeswoman has said.

It will be the first time Iran - an ally of President Bashar al-Assad - has attended such a summit with the US.

Representatives of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will also attend the talks.

Earlier, the US said an invitation had been extended to Iran - a move Syria's Western-backed opposition questioned.

Meanwhile, Russia said its aircraft had struck 118 "terrorist" targets in Syria over a 24-hour period - a new record - as a result of what its defence ministry said was new intelligence.

The main round of talks on Syria is expected to take place on Friday, but diplomats say some preparatory meetings could happen on Thursday evening.

Washington struggles for clear line on Syria

"We have reviewed the invitation, and it was decided that the foreign minister would attend the talks," Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.

Egypt and Iraq also confirmed they had accepted invitations to the meeting.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says that while the US is certainly not welcoming Iran to the Syria talks, it will now tolerate Tehran's involvement.

Iran's Fars news agency said Mr Zarif had discussed participation in the Vienna talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that Russia wanted a "widening of the dialogue" on Syria.

Iran is believed to have spent billions of dollars over the past four years propping up President Assad's government, providing military advisers and subsidising weapons.

However, Syria's political opposition has warned that Iran's involvement will only complicate the meeting in Vienna.

Both Iran and Russia - another ally of President Assad - have recently stepped up their military role in the Syrian conflict.

Iran has long acknowledged sending military advisers to Syria, but has denied the presence of any ground forces.

Despite that, unconfirmed reports earlier this month said that hundreds of Iranian troops had arrived in Syria.

They were reported to be joining government forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah, in assaults on rebel positions in northern and central Syria.

Russia began its military intervention in Syria at the end of last month, launching air strikes in support of President Assad.

Russia and Iran have insisted that Mr Assad must be part of any transition government and that the Syrian people must be allowed to decide who governs them.

The US has indicated it could only tolerate President Assad during a short transition period, after which he should step down.

Balkans sceptical over EU plans

Southeast European countries facing an unprecedented influx of migrants reacted cautiously Monday  to new EU plans to help stem the crisis,following an emergency mini summit at the weekend.The European Union pledged to help set up 100,000 places in reception centers along the migrant route through the Balkans, in a bid to defuse the rising tensions on its eastern frontier as tens of thousands pass through on their way to northern Europe. A 17- point plan, announced after emergency talks between the heads of 10 EU nations and non-EU Albania, Serbia and Macedonia, including an undertaking that no country will let migrants through to an adjoining state without first getting their neighbor,s agreement.
Another key element of the plan is to speed up information exchange between countries to coordinate their efforts. It is crucial that commitment are fulfilled in practice. If that does not happen from (Monday) on the situation will not improve significantly . In such a case , we continue along the path that I referred to at my arrival, he said, in reference to his comments ahead of the summit that the EU would start" falling apart" without immediate, concrete actions. More than 670,000 people have reached European soil this year- many of them fleeing violence in Syria,Iraq and Afghanistan- in the continents worst migration crisis since word war II.
Some3000 have died making the dangerous's Mediterranean sea crossing and, with winter fast approaching,the fear is that more could face the same fate on the land route through the Balkans. tension have also grown after Bulgaria,Romania and Serbia warned over the weekend they could close their borders to stop them becoming a "buffer zone" for the streams of people entering Europe every  day. Macedonian president warned that his tiny Balkan nation ,a key transit state, could host a maximum of 2000 migrants if crossing points were shut down.
the EU new reception places, to be provided with the help of the United Nation refugee agency. the UNHCR  will help provide shelter and speedup registration of migrants, according to European Commission president.
Some50,000 places will be created across Balkan countries such a Macedonia and Serbia,while the other half will be located in Greece. 

Hurricane Patricia, The strongest strom recorded in the Americas history

The storm touched down in western mexico, bringing ddestructive winds and rain, but heavy damage appears to have been avoided.The US National Hurricane Center said the Hurricane hit as a category Five storm, the highest classification . It said " life threatening flash floods and mudslides here now likely.The states of Nayarit,Jalico,Colima,Michoacah and Guerrera are in particular danger as the storm moves inland.The Center says, Four hours after making landfall as the strongest recorded hurricane, Patricia weaker ed  to a category Four and is likely to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming hours as it passes over mountainous regions." The first reports confirm that the damage has been smelter than that corresponding to a hurricane of this magnitude," Mexicos,s president  said in a televised Address. Mexican federal police said,only Minor  landslides and fallen trees, had so far been reported in Colima.
But the Government has warned that ash from the Colima Volcano, Which has became increasingly active this year could combine with heavy rainfall to trigger huge mud flows.Some 400000 people live in vulnerable areas, according to Mexico National  Disaster Fund.

Backlog builds in Balkans

A column of around 40 buses packed with migrants queued to enter Croatia from serbia yesterday,their passage to western Europe slowed by a new diversion through Slovenia as weather conditions worsen.Many had spent the night on the buses, wrapped in warm clothes and blankets against the autumn cold. They woke to dense fog. This part of the trip has lasted 20 hours, and we have been here for almost 12 hours, said khair, a former sales manager from the Syrian capital.Damascus, ' What can we do ? We,re here and we have to wait. Hungary sealed its southern border with Croatia to migrants at midnight on Friday, forcing them west to fellow EU member Slovenia. Meanwhile Turkish prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu yesterday praised a better approach from the European Union in sharing the burden of the refugee crisis, following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Istanbul. Unfortunately Turkey was left alone by the International community in terms of burden sharing. we are very pleased there is a better approach now. This issue of sharing going forward is very important, said Davutoglu.Some 3000 entered Slovenia on seturday, en route to Austria and Germany, the favored destination of the vast majority, many of them Syrian fleeing war.
but Slovenian authority said they planned to limit the influx to around 2500 per day in line with the country,s capacity to register and accommodate them, That threatened to create a backlog in Croatia and seberia which is recent weeks have seen upwords of 5000 crossing their borders everyday. The Greek coastguerd yesterday said five more migrant including a baby and two boys had died trying to cross the Aegean sea from neighbouring Turkey.

Bryan Adams goes retro with"Get Up" album

Canadian singer- songwriter Bryan Adams says his New album, "Get Up" is the ideal follow-up record to his iconic 'Reckless' album of 30 years ago.
The album released on Friday, features several fast, catchy tunes like "Brand New Day" and "you Belong to Me" which harken back to the signature feel-good style that made Adams a household name in the 1980,s with hits like Heaven and Summer of 69.
In many ways it is the album I wish I"d been able to make 25 years ago, Adams said, describing" Get Up" as carefree,rocking and retro Sounding.His songwriting for Hollywood earlier in his career spawned some of his biggest hits, including Heaven and  (Every thing I do) I do it for you" the theme song from the 1991 film "Robin Hood" princes of Thieves".
But Adams, who has sold more than 65 million albums world wide and won multiple awards,has has never paid attention to shifting audience trends.
" I don,t actually know what my target audience is and I don,t know anything about music business.I just do what I do, which is make music,which is what I,ve always done. I just like making song that I like and that,s it, he said. Produced by Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne and co written with his long lime collaborator Jim Vallance, "Get Up" also boasts a few gentler songs, like "Don,t Even Try" and We Did It All".

Dhaka next: VITTORIO DE SICA

Dhaka next: VITTORIO DE SICA

VITTORIO DE SICA

The seminnal figure of the neo realism movement, Vittorio De Sica was born in sora,Italy, on July 7, 1901.Raised in Naples, he began working as an office clerk at a young age in order to help sipport his impoverished family. He became fascinated by acting while still a youth, and made his screen debut in 1918,s "The  clemenceau Affair " at the age of just 16. In 1923, De Sica joined Tatiana  Pavlova,s famed stage company, and by the end of the decade his dashing good looks had made him one of the Italian theater,s most prominent matinee idols. With 1932,s La Vecchina Signora ,he made his sound -era film debut and went on to became an even bigger star in the cinema, appearing primarily in light romantic comedies throughout the decade. In 1939, De Sica graduated to the directors chair with Rose Scarlatte and over the next two years, he helmed three more feature; Maddalena, Zero in condotta(1940) and Un  Garibaldino al
convento(1941).However, his work lacked distinction until he, along with fellow Italian filmmakers Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti, began exploring the possibilities of making more humanistic movies documenting the harsh realities facing their country-men as a result of World War-II. With 1942,s I Bambini ci Guardano,De Sica revolutionized the Italian film industry, crafting a poignant, heartfelt portrait of a downtrodden culture free of the conventions of Hollywood production. Working with screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, who remained a central figure in the majority of his greatest work,De Sica employed non- professional actors and filmed not in studios but on the streets of Rome, all to flesh out of the work-ing- class   drama of Zavattini,s script.The war prevented De Sica from directing another film for four years,but finally in 1946 he resurfaced with the brilliant Sciucia . His greatest film ,Ladri De Biciclette, followed in 1948; a vertual textbook of neo realism in ation,it featured all of the aesthetic,s key tenets--gritty production, almost improvisational acting, and a lean emotional compression--and it even added authentic documentary footage in to the narrative to establish a greater sense of truth. Like Sciuscia Ladri De Biciclette won a special Academy Award several years leter, after the Oscar category for best Foreign Language Film was officially established. Three years later,De Sica returned with miracolo a Milano which secured the Grand prix at the 1951 Cannes Festival,sharing it with Alf Sjoberg,s Miss Julie.Its followup, 1952,s Umberto D clearly ranked among his finest work,but when it proved to be a box-office disaster,he returned to the lighter meterial of his formative years with it happened in the park.The 1956 II Tetto marked something of a return to neorealist form, but when it to failed commercially, De Sica,s career as a film maker was critically damaged.Unable to secure financing for subsequent projects, he returned his full focus to acting, starring in a string of picture including 1957,s A Farewell to Arms, for which he earned an Osar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and 1956,s It happened in Rome. Over the course of his lonf career,he appeared in over150 features.Finally in 1960, De Sica returned to directing with La Ciociara,leading his star Sofia Loren to an Academy Award.The 1963 Ieri, Oggi,Domani also won an Oscar.De Sica died in Paris on November 13,1974 following complications from a surgery.