Qatari investors who own the largest stake in Deutsche Bank do not plan to sell their shares and could consider buying more if the German bank decides to raise capital, sources familiar with Qatari investment policy have told Reuters.

Syria acknowledged for the first time that it had chemical and biological weapons, saying they could be used if the country faced foreign intervention.

Syrian artillery pounded rebel-held areas of Homs yesterday as President Bashar al-Assad’s government announced that voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum derided as a sham by his critics at home and abroad.

Fresh bloodshed swept Syria yesterday after Western powers and the Arab League demanded immediate UN action to stop the regime’s “killing machine”.

Syrian soldiers killed 19 people in fighting to retake Damascus suburbs from rebels, activists said, a day after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria because of mounting violence.