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{{Key Syrian Islamist rebel groups say they do not recognise any foreign-based opposition group, including the Syrian National Coalition.}}

“The National Coalition and the proposed government under [recently chosen] Ahmad Tomeh does not represent us, nor do we recognise it,” 13 of Syria’s most powerful rebel groups said in a joint statement late on Tuesday.

The groups include members of the main rebel Free Syrian Army, as well as Liwa al-Tawhid, the main rebel force in the northern province of Aleppo, and Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-linked group.

The UN Security Council blacklisted al-Nusra Front as an alias of al-Qaeda in Iraq in May, while the US State Department had designated the group as a terrorist organisation in December last year.

Ahrar al-Sham also signed on, as did the 19th Division, a significant but relatively new addition to the mainstream FSA.

In their statement, they also called for Islamic law to be applied.

“These forces call on all military and civilian groups to unite in a clear Islamic context that… is based on sharia [Islamic] law, making it the sole source of legislation,” it said.

They called for “unity” and “to reject division… putting the interest of the [Islamic] nation over the interest of each group”.

wirestory

A Russian parents’ committee has asked President Vladimir Putin to cancel a planned concert by gay musician Elton John, saying he intended to violate a ban on “homosexual propaganda”.

In an open letter to Putin, the local parents’ group in central Ural region was reported by media as saying: “The singer intends to come out in support of local sodomites and break the current Russian law, directed at protecting children.”

Critics say the law banning gay “propaganda” among minors – which has prompted calls for a boycott of Russia’s hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics – is discriminatory, barring people from being open about their sexual orientation.

The law is part of a broader attempt by Putin to win over Russians in the mostly conservative country following protests against his rule among urban and often middle class voters over his return to the Kremlin last May.

The parents’ committee was unavailable for comment despite repeated phone calls.

Sir Elton John, who reminisced in an interview earlier this month with the Guardian newspaper of having sex on a Moscow rooftop with a translator during his 1979 Soviet Union tour, said he wanted to perform in Russia to support the gay community.

“As a gay man, I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve got to go,” he said in the interview.

John will perform on December 6 in Moscow and December 7 in Kazan.

One of the world’s most prominent gay celebrities, he lives with his partner David Furnish, with whom he is in a civil union, and is bringing up two children.

He has campaigned for gay rights in Britain and in Ukraine where he was denied the right in 2009 to adopt a child because of his age and marital status.

Reuters received no comment from John despite an email request.

Performers Madonna and Lady Gaga criticized the law in concerts in St Petersburg last year, leading Moscow to implement a harsher visa regimes for performers coming to Russia.

U.S. singer Cher turned down an invitation to perform at the Winter Games in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi because of the anti-gay propaganda, saying the decision was a “no brainer”.

Human rights groups say the new law has fueled hate crimes against homosexuals.

Homosexuality was decriminalized after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but polls by the independent Levada Center show a majority of Russians approve of the new legislation and nearly 40 percent believe gay people need treatment.

agencies

Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, expressed hope on Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama would not be swayed by “warmongering pressure groups” at home in dealing with the Iranian nuclear dispute and called for a consistent voice from Washington on the issue.

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly hours after Obama addressed the annual gathering of world leaders, Rouhani said he was prepared to engage in “time-bound and results-oriented” nuclear talks and did not seek to increase tensions with the United States.

“I listened carefully to the statement made by President Obama today at the General Assembly,” he said. “Commensurate with the political will of the leadership in the United States and hoping that they will refrain from following the short-sighted interest of warmongering pressure groups, we can arrive at a framework to manage our differences.”

“To this end, equal footing, mutual respect and the recognized principles of international law should govern the interactions,” he said. “Of course, we expect to hear a consistent voice from Washington.”

A potential encounter at the United Nations between Obama and Rouhani failed to take place on Tuesday as the Iranians indicated it was too complicated, senior Obama administration officials said.

U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo was seated at the U.S. table while Rouhani spoke. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was present for Obama’s speech.

While his speech lacked the strident anti-Western rhetoric of predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s U.N. speeches, Rouhani offered no concessions. He repeated Tehran’s position that Iran is not interested in atomic weapons.

“Nuclear weapon and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran’s security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions,” he said in his first U.N. speech since taking office in August.

While he avoided any suggestion that Israel had no right to exist, he sharply criticized the treatment of the Palestinians – albeit without naming Israel directly.

reuters

{{A smaller than expected rise in German business sentiment in September and growing uncertainty over the strength of the global economy helped nudge world shares lower on Tuesday, while major currencies were trapped in tight ranges.}}

Germany’s Ifo think tank said that its latest reading on business morale showed that the euro zone’s biggest economy was on a sustainable growth path after weak start to the year, but that any recovery was likely to be modest.

“The further rise in German Ifo business sentiment confirms that the economy is recovering, but we continue to expect growth to be reasonably sluggish,” said Ben May, a European economist at Capital Economics.

The euro initially slipped when the Ifo fell short of expectations though soon recovered to be little changed against the dollar at $1.35.

European shares turned negative after the report, trading down 0.1% on the day, before edging higher again .FTEU3, while German government bond futures hit a session high, up 33 ticks on the day.

The MSCI global index of shares dipped 0.1 percent .MIWD00000PUS after MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS had earlier eased 0.6 percent, taking its cue from a softer Wall Street.

One bright spot was shares in iPhone suppliers, burnished by news that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) sold 9 million new iPhones during their first three days in stores with U.S. stock futures point to a steady start on Wall Street later in the day.

reuters