BBC News with Julie Candler

A day of intense diplomacy has failed to set a date for a long-awaited peace conference on Syria after the talks in Geneva involving officials from the U.S. Russia and other members of the UN Security Council. The International envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said he had been hoping to be in a position to announce a date today. But unfortunately, he was unable to do so. Lyse Doucet reports from Damascus.

One of the major sticking points in many peace talks is president Assad. Some opposition leaders say he must to step down at some point in the political transition. Others insist he must go before talks can even start.But the president's adviser Dr Bouthaina Shaaban was clear this issue was not on the table. In a rare interview, he emphasized the president's role will be decided by the Syrian people at the ballot box, in elections, or in a referendum, Dr Shaaban was also scathing about the opposition, describing rival groups as creations of powerful backers, like Saudi Arabia.

The American Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Israel following an earlier stop over in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He is due to have separate meetings on Wednesday with Israeli and Palestinian leadership to try to revive the peace talks which were launched three months ago, they are due to end next April and so far there has been little sign of progress. On Monday, Israeli media reported that Mr. Kerry may propose a new interim in peace deal but he has denied the such plan exists.

The authorities in Brazil have cancelled a major global football convention Soccerex due to place in the city Rio de Janeiro later this month. The State government said the decision was taken to avoid the use of public funds, the chief executive of Soccrex which brings together thousands of football executives and managers from around the world blamed continuing unrest. The organizers of next year's football world cup due to be held in the city said the protests will not mar the tournament.

The Brazilian Justice Minister has defended his country spying activities and said they were completely different from those carried out by the United States. Jose Eduardo Cardoso said the Brazilian agents who were reported to follow and photographed American, Russian and other diplomats in Brazil acted in compliance with the law.

I don't say what was done as violation of privacy or rights, and what's done on the national territory. So, if you ask me how does this affect Brazil's image, I would say that there has been no damage. All countries have to do counter espionage, what I can't do is violate the rights of other people, what I can't do is violate the sovereignty of others.

The allegations about the 10-year-old activities by Brazilian agents were leaked in the national press. Recent reports of US email and phone spy on Brazil have prompted the country's president to postpone a visit to Washington.

World News from the BBC

The Vatican has taken an unusual step of launch global survey to find out what Roman Catholics really think about the church teachings on marriage and family life. Pope Francis is calling bishops to Roma here this time to discuss possible reform. David Willey in Roma has more details of the survey.

It will cover such formally taboo subjects as how to include the adopted children of gay couples in the church. A question there joined up in Rome seeks to find out, for example, what the Catholics of the 21 century feel about the controversial ban on artificial contraception. The Pope also under pressure particularly from Catholics in Germany to reconsider the church's refusal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion. The new Vatican buzzword is collegiality and this is something of a revolution.

The Irish government has announced it will hold a referendum on whether to allow same sex marriages. Civil partnership has been legal in Ireland since 2010, but activists have been campaigning to amend the constitution and give gay people equal access to civil marriage.

The Mayor of Canada's biggest city Toronto Rob Ford has admitted that he once smoke the drug crack cocaine. The mayor surprised admission comes after the months of speculation began when the reports service to a video that appeared to show the Mayor smoking the drug. From Toronto Lee Carter reports.

Speaking to reporters, Toronto's mayor Rob Ford finally admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine. But he said he was not an addict and insisted that he only tried it once a year ago, in his words probably in a drunken stupor. The admission just comes days after Mr.Ford's lawyer suggested that the substances that the mayor as apparently seems smoking in the video may not have been crack cocaine. One fellow city councillor says he is preparing a motion to suspend the mayor.

BBC News