Syria Leader's UK-Born Wife Faces Travel Ban

The British-born wife of Syrian president Bashar al Assad will be banned from travelling to European countries, EU ministers have announced - although the UK is not included.
EU foreign ministers gathering in Brussels for talks on Syria backed proposals to impose an assets freeze and travel ban on "Assad's wife, mother, sister and sister-in-law" as well as eight other figures close to the president.
The ban will prevent Asma Assad from travelling to all EU countries - but not the UK, since she retains British citizenship.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "British citizens subject to EU travel bans cannot be refused entry to the UK."
Her husband was subjected to EU sanctions in May last year over his regime's crackdown on an insurgency which is thought to have cost more than 8,000 lives.
The latest move is intended to increase pressure on his regime as international efforts to end the 13-month crisis continue.
A full list of targets of the latest sanctions will be made public on Saturday when the decision comes into force.
EU diplomats said the list included the Syrian president's wife Asma and family.

One diplomat said: "She is on the list. It's the whole clan."
Arriving for the talks, UK foreign secretary William Hague said the behaviour of the Assad regime was "totally unacceptable in the eyes of the world".
Asma, 36, was raised in Acton, west London, and worked as an investment banker in the City before marrying Assad in 2000.
There has been much media speculation about her reaction to her husband's bloody crackdown on protesters.
Hacked emails purportedly sent by her - but which cannot be independently verified - suggested she had told a friend that she was the "real dictator" in her family, and that even as civilians were being killed in cities like Homs and Idlib, she was buying expensive candles and chandeliers online and shopping for a fondue.
Meanwhile, the United Nations says joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is heading to Russia and China for more talks aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis in Syria.
Mr Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi says the former UN Secretary-General would go to the capitals of both countries this weekend.

Western countries have pushed for UN Security Council action, but Russia and China have twice vetoed resolutions criticising Assad's regime.

On Wednesday, the council issued a non-binding statement calling for a ceasefire and endorsing Annan's six-point plan including diplomatic talks and a daily two-hour halt to fighting to provide aid.