Woman in court over girl's murder

31 August 2013 Last updated at 00:55 ET

A 34-year-old woman is to appear in court charged with the murder of an eight-year-old girl who died at a block of flats in east London.

The woman, believed to be the child's mother, was arrested at a property in Broomfield Road, Chadwell Heath, at 11:38 BST on Thursday.

She will appear at Barking Magistrates' Court later, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Results of a post-mortem examination on the child are yet to be announced.

The woman was treated at Queen's Hospital in Romford for minor injuries after paramedics were called to the scene.

Ambulance crews were responding to a report of an injured child.

Scotland Yard said the death is being investigated by the Met's homicide and major crime command.

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Man dies on North Sea diving trip

30 August 2013 Last updated at 16:35 ET

A man has died and another was injured on a diving trip in the North Sea off the Norfolk coast.

Seven people were thought to be on the boat during a dive which police described as "recreational rather than industrial".

Police met the dive boat as it returned to Hamilton Dock in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

One of the divers was airlifted to the James Paget Hospital at Gorleston at 15:30 BST but he died. His death is being treated as "unexplained".

A lifeboat brought a second diver ashore at Gorleston and he was also taken to the hospital.

Police, working with the coastguard and the Health and Safety Executive, said an investigation is under way.

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Obama 'respects' PM's Syria approach

30 August 2013 Last updated at 18:23 ET

US President Barack Obama has said he fully respects David Cameron's approach after Parliament blocked UK involvement in possible military action in Syria.

The men spoke by phone for 15 minutes, and the tone of the conversation was said to be friendly.

The UK prime minister reiterated he still wanted a strong response to the suspected chemical weapons attack.

According to Downing Street, Mr Obama said he had not yet decided what action the US would take over Syria.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister made clear that he strongly believes in the need for a tough and robust response to the appalling war crime committed by the Assad regime in Ghouta.

"The PM explained that he wanted to build a consensual approach in Britain for our response and that the government had accepted the clear view of the House against British military action.

"President Obama said he fully respected the PM's approach and that he had not yet taken a decision on the US response."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said US Secretary of State John Kerry had thanked him for the UK's "steadfast friendship", and they were united on ending the Syria conflict and use of chemical weapons.

The White House believes President Bashar al-Assad's regime was responsible for the chemical attack on 21 August which it says killed 1,429 people in the Ghouta suburb of Damascus - a figure far higher than previously reported.

"We know rockets came only from regime-controlled areas and landed only in opposition-held areas," Mr Kerry said earlier.

"All of these things we know, the American intelligence community has high confidence."

Ministers ruled out British involvement in any military action on Thursday evening after MPs blocked a government motion which called for military action if it was backed up by evidence from the UN weapons inspectors.

Despite the result of the vote, the US said it would continue to seek a coalition for military intervention, while France said the vote did not change its resolve about the need to act.

The president and prime minister agreed the US and UK would work closely together on a wider response to the Syrian crisis and try to find a solution.

Russia - which has close ties with the the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - welcomed the UK's rejection of a military strike, while Germany has ruled out participation in any action.

'Whole region' threatened

Meanwhile, Number 10 said it was "not too worried" by the absence of the UK from a roll call of allies in Mr Kerry's speech earlier.

Mr Kerry made a point of describing France as America's "oldest ally" while not mentioning the UK.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The president stressed his appreciation of his strong friendship with the prime minister and of the strength, durability and depth of the special relationship between our two countries. They agreed that their co-operation on international issues would continue in the future."

Mr Cameron said in an interview on Friday it was a "regret" that he had been unable to build a consensus on the response to the suspected chemical weapons attack.

However, he insisted the UK remained "deeply engaged" on the world stage.

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Ian Pannell: The victims "arrived like the walking dead"

The inspectors have finished their investigation and are expected to deliver their preliminary findings to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Syria, the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen said he had spoken to people inside President Assad's administration who were "cock-a-hoop" at the UK vote. "They believe it counts as a victory for them," he added.

"We will defend ourselves," Dr Bassam Abu Abdullah from the Syrian Information Ministry said, warning of danger "not only on the Syrian people but... the whole region" if the US decided to attack.

But Mr Cameron vowed to "continue to take a case to the United Nations", adding: "We will continue to work in all the organisations we are members of - whether the EU, or Nato, or the G8 or the G20 - to condemn what's happened in Syria.

"It's important we uphold the international taboo on the use of chemical weapons."

There had been suggestions from ministers, including Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond, that Britain's rejection of military action would harm its relationship with the US.

Mr Hammond warned against the vote allowing Britain to "turn into a country that prefers to turn its back".

"We must stay engaged with the world," he told the BBC.

In other developments:

• The BBC witnessed the aftermath of an incendiary bomb attack on a school playground in northern Syria which left scores of children with napalm-like burns
• The US said it would act in its "best interests" in dealing with the Syria crisis, following UK rejection of military intervention
• French President Francois Hollande said all options were being considered, and has not ruled out a strike within days
• UN weapons inspectors visited a hospital in a government-controlled area of Damascus
• The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Lebanon because of a "heightened risk of anti-Western sentiment" linked to the possibility of military action in Syria. The BBC understands that the families of British diplomats are being evacuated
• Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans - architect of the so-called "responsibility to protect" doctrine - accused the UK of "making things up as it goes along". He blamed the government's "mishandling of the politics" for what he said was a "disappointing" vote against intervention
• The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there was "no doubt" President Assad's forces carried out the chemical attack

Labour leader Ed Miliband told the BBC: "I think ill thought-through military action would have made life worse, not better, for the Syrian people."

He accused the government of not learning the lessons of Iraq, adding MPs had "sent a message" that British forces would not be deployed "without going through the United Nations and without ensuring we have regard to the consequences in the region".

Earlier he said Mr Cameron was guilty of "reckless and impulsive leadership".

And the prime minister faced criticism from his own side, with former shadow home secretary David Davis accusing him of making a "shaky argument" for intervention.

"There was feeling of rushing to action," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme. "It's more important to get this right than to do it on a 10-day timetable".

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has been critical of the decision to not take part in military action, saying the UK was "hugely diminished".

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in March 2011 and at least 1.7 million refugees displaced.

The violence began when anti-government protests during the Arab Spring uprisings were met with a brutal response by the Syrian security forces.

President Assad's regime has blamed foreign involvement and armed gangs for the conflict.

How could a potential strike be launched? Forces which could be used against Syria:

• Four US destroyers - USS Gravely, USS Ramage, USS Barry and USS Mahan - are in the eastern Mediterranean, equipped with cruise missiles. The missiles can also be fired from submarines, but the US Navy does not reveal their locations

• Airbases at Incirlik and Izmir in Turkey, and in Jordan, could be used to carry out strikes

• Two aircraft carriers - USS Nimitz and USS Harry S Truman are in the wider region

• French aircraft carrierCharles de Gaulle is currently in Toulon in the western Mediterranean

• French Raffale and Mirage aircraft can also operate from Al-Dhahra airbase in the UAE

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Mandela release reports 'incorrect'

31 August 2013 Last updated at 04:15 ET

Reports that former South African President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital are incorrect, South Africa's presidency says.

The BBC and other news outlets earlier quoted sources close to Mr Mandela as saying he had returned home.

The presidency said in a statement that Mr Mandela was critical but stable but at times his condition became unstable prompting medical intervention.

The 95-year-old was admitted with a recurring lung infection on 8 June.

The country's first black president, Mr Mandela is revered by many as the father of the nation.

His prolonged hospital stay has caused concern both in South Africa and abroad.

Possible move

The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Johannesburg says the family has long hoped that he would improve sufficiently at least to enable him to make the journey home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton and be treated there.

But one of the sources quoted by international media has now spoken of being misinformed about Mr Mandela's release.

The confusion could have arisen out of a possible move soon to get the former president home, our correspondent says.

The infection is said to date back to a period of nearly three decades he spent in prison for anti-apartheid activity.

People from South Africa and around the world have sent him their best wishes, and flowers and other tributes have collected outside Pretoria's MediClinic Heart Hospital.

Throughout Mr Mandela's stay in hospital, President Jacob Zuma has urged the country to pray for him and keep him in their thoughts.

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UN chemical inspectors leave Syria

31 August 2013 Last updated at 02:03 ET

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Barack Obama: "We're not considering any boots on the ground approach"

UN inspectors investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria have left Damascus.

They crossed into neighbouring Lebanon just hours after President Barack Obama said the US was considering a "limited narrow act" against Syria.

Citing a US intelligence assessment, Secretary of State John Kerry accused Syria of using chemical weapons to kill 1,429 people, including 426 children.

Syria said the US claim was "full of lies", blaming rebels for the attacks.

The UN inspectors - investigating what happened in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August - left their hotel in the Syrian capital in a convoy of vehicles on Saturday morning and later arrived in Lebanon.

During their visit, they carried out four days of inspections.

It could be two weeks before their final report is ready, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told diplomats.

Continue reading the main story

The departure of the United Nations weapons inspectors from Syria removes both a practical and a political obstacle to the launch of American-led military action.

Any attack that might have placed them in danger was unthinkable and would have seemed premature before their work on the ground was complete.

Their task isn't over now that their convoy has crossed the Lebanese border - they still have samples to analyse and reports to prepare. But it's been clear all along that American planning has been based on its own independent intelligence.

Syrians living near military installations thought likely to be attacked are continuing to lay in extra supplies of food - or to move their families to safety where they can.

Everyone appears to believe an attack will go ahead, not least because America has to demonstrate the credibility of the red line which it has said the use of chemical weapons would represent.

Their departure from Syria removes both a practical and a political obstacle to the launch of American-led military action, the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Beirut reports.

Any attack that might have placed them in danger was unthinkable and would have seemed premature before their work on the ground was complete, our correspondent adds.

Russia - a key ally of Syria - has warned that "any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council" would be a "direct violation of international law".

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said his country will defend itself against any Western "aggression". French President Francois Hollande has reaffirmed his support for the US stance.

World's 'obligation'

Speaking on Friday, President Obama said the alleged attack in Damascus' suburbs on 21 August was "a challenge to the world" that threatened America's "national security interests".

"We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale.

"The world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons."

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The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner examines what we know about the Syria attack on 21 August

But the US leader stressed that Washington was "looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act", and there would be "no boots on the ground" or "long-term campaign".

Mr Obama comments came shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry laid out a raft of what Washington said was a "high confidence" intelligence assessment about the attack.

Continue reading the main story

The main findings of the released unclassified summary state that:

• the attack killed 1,429 people, including 426 children
• Syrian military chemical weapons personnel were operating in the area in the three days before the attack
• Satellite evidence shows rockets launched from government-held areas 90 minutes before first report of chemical attack
• 100 videos attributed to the attack show symptoms consistent with exposure to nerve agent
• Communications were intercepted involving a senior Damascus official who "confirmed chemical weapons were used" and was concerned about UN inspectors obtaining evidence

The US said its assessment was backed by accounts from medical personnel, witnesses, journalists, videos and thousands of social media reports.

Mr Kerry said the US already had the facts, and nothing that the UN inspectors found could tell the world anything new.

He also described Mr Assad as "a thug and a murderer".

Continue reading the main story

US Secretary of State John Kerry did far more than set out a moral case for military action.

What he did was make it impossible for President Barack Obama to back away from it. He said if the US didn't act, history would judge them harshly.

If they turned a blind eye, it would embolden dictators in Iran and North Korea and leave the US without credibility in the world.

Mr Obama has made similar points himself. It is not the first time Kerry has made the case. But these were the strongest words yet.

When Mr Obama spoke he sounded pretty downbeat by comparison, although he too pointed firmly towards some form of action.

But he was keen to stress that any action would be limited, unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, and would not involve boots on the ground.

There are increasing mutterings from Congress, asking him how certain he is of that.

In response, Syria's state-run news agency Sana said Mr Kerry was using "material based on old stories which were published by terrorists over a week ago".

'Strong message'

The UN Security Council is unlikely to approve any military intervention because of opposition from Russia - one of the five permanent members.

Moscow, along with China, has vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria.

The US was also dealt a blow on Thursday when the UK parliament rejected a motion supporting the principle of military intervention.

The vote rules the UK out of any potential military alliance.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Obama spoke over the telephone on Friday, agreeing to continue to co-operate on international issues.

The president told Mr Cameron he "fully respected" the approach taken by the UK government.

US officials said they would continue to push for a coalition, and France said it was ready to take action in Syria alongside the US.

Mr Obama and French President Francois Hollande discussed the issue in a telephone conversation on Friday, Paris said.

It said that both leaders wanted to send Damascus a "strong message" to condemn the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Neither France nor the US needs parliamentary approval for military action.

Another US ally, Turkey, called for action similar to the Nato bombing raids in the former Yugoslavia in 1999.

Nato carried out 70 days of air strikes to protect civilians from attack in Kosovo, despite not having a UN resolution.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said that any military intervention should be aimed at toppling Mr Assad.

Sarin stockpile

The use of chemical weapons is banned under several treaties, and considered illegal under customary international humanitarian law.

The Syrian army is known to have stockpiles of chemical agents including sarin gas.

Earlier accounts of the attack in Damascus quoted officials from medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres as saying 355 people had been killed.

The UN inspectors have collected various samples that will now be examined in laboratories across the world.

The UN team is not mandated to apportion blame for the attacks.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, and the conflict has produced at least 1.7 million refugees.

Forces which could be used against Syria:

• Four US destroyers - USS Gravely, USS Ramage, USS Barry and USS Mahan - are in the eastern Mediterranean, equipped with cruise missiles. The missiles can also be fired from submarines, but the US Navy does not reveal their locations

• Airbases at Incirlik and Izmir in Turkey, and in Jordan, could be used to carry out strikes

• Two aircraft carriers - USS Nimitz and USS Harry S Truman are in the wider region

• French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is currently in Toulon in the western Mediterranean

• French Raffale and Mirage aircraft can also operate from Al-Dhahra airbase in the UAE

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'Sharp rise' in sexual abuse calls

31 August 2013 Last updated at 04:44 ET

A children's charity has said it has seen a sharp rise in the number of reported cases of sexual abuse.

The NSPCC said calls to its 24-hour advice line in June and July were nearly twice as high as in 2012.

The organisation put it down to a heightened state of awareness of the problem of child abuse following the Jimmy Savile scandal.

People now seemed to be better equipped and more confident in reporting their concerns, it added.

The NSPCC said more people were using its helpline, 11 months since the allegations against Savile first emerged.

During June and July there were 594 referrals to the NSPCC's call centre compared with 323 at the same time the previous year - an 84% increase.

All of these cases were passed on to police and social services.

The charity put the increase down to a heightened awareness of child sex offences and said the Savile scandal had changed the way the public reacted to abuse.

John Cameron, head of the helpline, said: "The number of calls we took this summer was significantly higher than last year.

"There appears to be a clear shift and the public now seem better equipped and more confident to report their concerns.

"It's very encouraging to see that adults, including those who don't have direct responsibility for children, take action if they think a child is at risk.

"The Savile scandal has shocked the nation but has also increased public awareness of how difficult it is for children to speak out and how crucial it is for adults to report any suspicions or concerns they have straight away."

Mr Cameron also told Radio 4's Today programme in addition to people taking more responsibility, they also had a greater degree of confidence in children's services and the police.

He said 99.9% of calls to the NSPCC were from people with "genuine concerns" and it was "very rare indeed" for people to misuse the service.

Most calls come from neighbours who suspected sexual abuse in their area, he added.

Allegations which surfaced late last year against former BBC DJ Savile over 50 years prompted hundreds of people to come forward with accounts of abuse by him and others.

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Delhi gang rape accused guilty

31 August 2013 Last updated at 05:00 ET

A teenager has been found guilty of taking part in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus last year, his lawyer says.

He has been convicted on charges of rape and murder over the crime, committed when he was aged 17.

The teenager, who cannot be named, faces up to three years in a reform facility.

He had denied the charges, as do four adult men also on trial for the same attack.

They face the death penalty. A fifth adult defendant was found dead in his cell in March and prison officials said they believed he hanged himself.

The gang rape of the 23-year-old woman last December caused uproar across India and triggered a national debate about the treatment of women.

The verdict in the case of the teenager - now aged 18 - had been deferred several times before.

Continue reading the main story

• 16 December 2012: Student gang raped on Delhi bus
• 17 December: Bus driver Ram Singh and three others arrested
• 18 December: Uproar in parliament, street protests in Delhi and elsewhere
• 21-22 December: Two more arrests, including a minor
• 29 December: Victim dies in Singapore hospital
• 7 January 2013: Suspects charged in court with abduction, gang rape, murder
• 21 January: Trial of five accused begins in special fast-track court
• 2 February: Five accused plead not guilty
• 28 February: Sixth accused charged in juvenile court
• 11 March: Ram Singh found dead in Tihar jail

He was six months short of becoming an adult at the time of the crime and many, including the family of the victim, had demanded that he should be treated as an adult and face the death penalty for the crime.

Meanwhile, a special fast-track court dealing with the trial of the four men accused in the case has been hearing closing arguments.

A judge who has been hearing the case since the trial began in February is expected deliver his verdicts in mid-September.

In March, India passed a new bill containing harsher punishments, including the death penalty, for rapists.

Correspondents say the court hearings are being closely followed in India.

The victim, a physiotherapy student who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was with a male friend when she was attacked on a bus and thrown from the vehicle.

Police said the assailants beat both of them and then raped the woman. She died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December from massive internal injuries.

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VIDEO: 'The world has failed our nation'

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UK recovery 'gathering momentum'

29 August 2013 Last updated at 19:06 ET

The British Chambers of Commerce has sharply upped its 2013 growth forecast, saying the economy is gaining momentum.

The business lobby group now expects 1.3% growth this year, up from 0.9%. Its forecasts for the next two years were upped to 2.2% and 2.5%.

But the BCC also warned of overseas risks to the more positive outlook, notably those posed by the eurozone, the Middle East and China's slowdown.

"Unfortunately the recovery is not yet secure," said BCC head John Longworth.

"We have had false dawns in recent years and although this upturn appears to be on stronger ground, we must be aware that complacency could lead to setbacks," the organisation's director general said.

Continue reading the main story

The services-led upturn that has become increasingly evident in recent months comes after two and a half years in which the economy almost completely stagnated.

'Austerity until 2019'

The BCC said it expected the unemployment rate, currently 7.8%, to fall to 7.5% of the workforce by the autumn of next year and to reach 7% by the end of 2015.

The 7% figure is particularly important as the Bank of England has said it would not raise interest rates until unemployment falls below it - something that the BCC now expects to happen nine months earlier than the Bank's own Monetary Policy Committee does.

The MPC received praise for its recent adoption of "forward guidance" - providing explicit advance warning of when interest rates might rise - which the BCC said helped provide businesses with more confidence to plan and invest.

The lobby group said the government could do more to support the recovery by improving the access for fast-growth business to loans, providing financial support to the building of new infrastructure and by helping exporters gain access to foreign markets.

The BCC's chief economist David Kern said Britain's export sector was already doing better than many realised, with the long-term trade deficit having halved in the last three years, thanks in large part to the sale of services overseas.

"While we would like to see more growth coming from investment and net trade, we should not be too concerned that consumer spending is helping to drive the recovery. It is better to rely initially on the consumer than to have no growth at all."

However, he cautioned that the government's mastering of its finances continues to be a "long and painful process".

"Tax receipts are inadequate as a result of sharp falls in oil and gas reserves and cuts in current spending will be needed until 2019 at the earliest."

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Blueberries cut type-2 diabetes risk

29 August 2013 Last updated at 21:52 ET

Eating more fruit, particularly blueberries, apples and grapes, is linked to a reduced risk of developing type-2 diabetes, suggests a study in the British Medical Journal.

Blueberries cut the risk by 26% compared with 2% for three servings of any whole fruit - but fruit juice did not appear to have the same effect.

The research looked at the diets of more than 187,000 people in the US.

But Diabetes UK said the results of the study should be treated with caution.

Researchers from the UK, US and Singapore used data from three large studies of nurses and health professionals in the US to examine the link between fruit consumption and the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes.

Continue reading the main story

What is type-2 diabetes?

Diabetes is an incurable condition in which the body cannot control blood sugar levels, because of problems with the hormone insulin.

In type-2 diabetes, either the pancreas cells do not make enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react properly to it. This is known as insulin resistance.

In these studies, 6.5% of participants (12,198 out of 187,382) developed type-2 diabetes.

The studies used food frequency questionnaires to follow up the participants every four years, asking how often, on average, they ate a standard portion of each fruit.

The fruits used in the study were grapes or raisins, peaches, plums or apricots, prunes, bananas, cantaloupe, apples or pears, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries and blueberries.

The researchers' analysis of the data showed that three servings per week of blueberries, grapes and raisins, and apples and pears significantly reduced the risk of type-2 diabetes.

While all fruit was shown to reduce the risk, these fruits appeared to be particularly effective.

The researchers said this could be due to the fact these fruits contain high levels of anthocyanins, which have been shown to enhance glucose uptake in mice. The same fruits contain naturally-occurring polyphenols which are known to have beneficial effects.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The juicing process gets rid of the fruit, just leaving fluids which are absorbed more quickly."

End Quote Prof Qi Sun Harvard Medical School

In the study paper, they wrote: "Fruits have highly variable contents of fibre, antioxidants, other nutrients, and phytochemicals that jointly may influence the risk."

But the glycaemic load of different types of fruit - the quality and quantity of carbohydrate they contain - did not fully explain the results, the study said.

Juice effect

When they looked at the effects of fruit juice consumption, the researchers found a slightly increased risk of type-2 diabetes.

The study calculated that replacing weekly fruit juice consumption with whole fruits could bring health benefits.

For example, replacing fruit juice with blueberries could reduce the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes by 33%, with grapes and raisins by 19%, apples and pears by 13% - and with any combination of whole fruit by 7%.

Replacing fruit juice with oranges, peaches, plums and apricots had a similar effect.

Qi Sun, study author and assistant professor at Harvard School of Public Health, said, in general, fruit juices contained less of the beneficial compounds found in whole fruits.

"The juicing process gets rid of the fruit, just leaving fluids which are absorbed more quickly, causing blood sugars and insulin levels to rise if they contain sugars.

"To try to minimise the risk of type-2 diabetes as much as possible it is reasonable to reduce fruit juice consumption and increase consumption of whole fruits."

Experts say the best way to reduce your risk of developing type-2 diabetes is to eat a balanced, healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables and to be as physically active as possible.

'Unreliable'

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research for Diabetes UK, said the study provided further evidence that eating plenty of whole fruit was a key part of the balanced diet that will minimise the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

However, he said the links between type-2 diabetes and specific types of fruit or fruit drinks should be treated with caution.

"Some of the findings are based on a number of assumptions and models which may have distorted the results significantly.

"For example, the researchers used surveys to ask participants how often they ate certain foods. This type of survey can often be unreliable as people are more likely to remember certain types of food."

Kamlesh Khunti, professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester, said the large study showed that eating any fruit is good.

"Eating all kinds of fruit works and there is still a reduction in risk.

"The government recommends eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day."

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Briton's death sentence appeal fails

30 August 2013 Last updated at 03:33 ET

A British woman sentenced to death for drug trafficking in the island of Bali has had her appeal rejected.

An Indonesian Supreme Court spokesman said it would not overturn the sentence handed down by two lower courts on 57-year-old Lindsay Sandiford, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Sandiford was sentenced to death by firing squad in January for smuggling 4.8kg (10.6lb) of cocaine.

The UK Foreign Office said it would continue to support her and her family.

'Right decision'

The BBC's Karishma Vaswani, in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, said three judges on the Supreme Court panel rejected the appeal because it judged the district court and the high court had made the "right decision".

The court spokesman said Sandiford's lawyer had yet to be informed of the decision.

Our correspondent added Sandiford still had the option to file a judicial review - but only if she could present new evidence or show the judges in her case were negligent.

Following the verdict the Foreign Office reiterated its "strong opposition" to the death penalty.

"We will consider how to support any application for judicial review or clemency that Lindsay Sandiford chooses to make," it said in a statement.

"We will continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay Sandiford and her family at this difficult time."

The FCO added that it would continue to make representations to the Indonesian government about the case.

'Drug smuggling ring'

The Indonesian authorities said Sandiford was at the centre of a drug smuggling ring that brought cocaine into the island of Bali from the Thai capital Bangkok in May 2012.

Following her conviction, the prosecution recommended 15 years imprisonment but a panel of judges later sentenced Sandiford to death.

Continue reading the main story

• May 2012: Arrest in Bali
• December 2012: Convicted by district court
• January 2013: Sentenced to death
• April 2013: High Court rejects first appeal
• August 2013: Supreme Court rejects second appeal

Sandiford, originally from Redcar in Teesside, had claimed she was coerced into carrying £1.6m ($2.5m) of cocaine found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine customs check at Bali's airport.

She has since raised more than £10,000 in public donations to fund her court costs.

Sandiford's case had been taken up by the British human rights charity Reprieve, which said she was targeted by drug traffickers who "exploited her vulnerability and made threats against her children".

Three other Britons and an Indian national connected to the case were jailed for terms ranging from one to six years.

One of the defendants - 39-year-old Rachel Dougall from Brighton - was released in May after serving a year in an Indonesian jail.

Her partner, 43-year-old Julian Ponder, and another Briton, Paul Beales, were sentenced to six and four years respectively.

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Indian PM concerned about rupee fall

30 August 2013 Last updated at 05:04 ET

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BBC reporter Yogita Limaye: "For a country that was once touted as an emerging economic powerhouse, this has been a drastic fall from grace"

The falling value of the Indian rupee is "a matter of concern", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told parliament.

The rupee hit a record low against the dollar on Wednesday and has fallen more than 20% this year.

That fall is damaging for the economy, as India imports large amounts of fuel and foodstuffs and the weak rupee makes those imports more expensive.

Also on Friday, India releases the latest report on economic growth.

Figures for the April-to-June quarter are expected to show an annualised growth rate of 4.7%.

That would be a slight slowdown on the previous quarter and less than last year's growth rate of 5%, which was the slowest pace in a decade.

In his statement to parliament, Mr Singh said: "Clearly, we need to reduce our appetite for gold, economise [on] the use of petroleum products and take steps to increase our exports."

Repercussions

He also blamed the fall in the rupee on "external" factors.

The prime minister highlighted the impact of developments in the US, where the economy is improving and officials at the central bank have started to talk about cutting back on stimulus measures.

"In a more equitable world order, it is only appropriate that the developed countries - in pursuing their fiscal and monetary policies - should take into account the repercussions on the economy of emerging countries," he said.

The Indian government has raised the import duty on gold and increased deposit rates to stem the outflow of money.

Despite the rupee's plunge, the prime minister said the nation was not facing a repeat of the crisis in 1991.

Back then, India's foreign currency reserves became so depleted that it had to borrow from the International Monetary Fund to pay its import bills.

"Growth will pick up in the second half, barring extreme unforeseen eventualities," the prime minister said.

He also said that a strong monsoon would boost harvests and help reduce food inflation.

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US led by 'best interests' on Syria

30 August 2013 Last updated at 05:07 ET

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Jeremy Bowen reports from Damascus: ''You could sense the tension in the face of what feels here like an impending attack''

The US has said it will act in its "best interests" in dealing with the Syria crisis, after British MPs rejected military intervention.

Washington accuses Syrian government forces of using chemical weapons - a claim denied by Damascus.

The move by British MPs, meanwhile, ruled out London's involvement in any US-led strikes against Syria.

But French President Francois Hollande said the UK vote did not change France's resolve for firm action.

In an interview with Le Monde newspaper, Mr Hollande said all options for intervention were on the table but no decision would be taken without the conditions to justify it.

He added that he did not rule out the possibility that military action could be taken before next Wednesday.

Despite the unexpected outcome in the parliament of Washington's key ally, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said America would continue to seek out an "international coalition" willing to act together on the Syrian crisis.

'Beyond doubt'

In a statement on Thursday, the White House said President Barack Obama's decision-making "will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States".

It stressed that the president "believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States".

And in an intelligence briefing to senior members of Congress on the case for launching military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops, State Secretary John Kerry said Washington could not be held to the foreign policy of others.

Eliot Engel, the top Democratic member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters after the briefing that other Obama administration officials had said that it was "beyond a doubt that chemical weapons were used, and used intentionally by the Assad regime".

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Ian Pannell: The victims "arrived like the walking dead".

Mr Engel added that officials had cited evidence including "intercepted communications from high-level Syrian officials".

One of the Syrian officials overheard seemed to suggest the chemical weapons attack was more devastating than was intended, officials were quoted as saying by the New York Times.

At least 355 people are reported to have died in a suspected chemical attack in the Ghouta area - on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus - on 21 August.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Britain has tended to march in lockstep with the US and this rejection of President Barack Obama's argument will leave bruises"

End Quote

UN weapons inspectors are currently in Syria investigating the allegations of the attack, which Damascus blames on rebel forces.

Samples taken during their site visits will be tested in various European laboratories to see whether an attack took place and what form it took, but the inspectors' mandate does not involve apportioning blame for the attacks.

The experts are due to finish their work later on Friday and give their preliminary findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the weekend.

'Bruises'

In Thursday's statement, the White House also stressed that it would "continue to consult" with the UK over Syria, describing London as "one of our closest allies and friends".

Continue reading the main story

Models for possible intervention

• Iraq 1991: US-led global military coalition; explicit mandate from UN Security Council to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait
• Balkans 1990s: US arms supplied to anti-Serb resistance in defiance of UN-mandated embargo; later US-led air campaign against Serb paramilitaries
• Somalia 1992-93: UN authorised international force for humanitarian reasons; US military involvement culminated in disaster and pullout
• Libya 2011: France and UK sought UN authorisation for humanitarian operation; air offensive continued until fall of Gaddafi

The statement came after British members of parliament rejected the principle of military action against Damascus in a 285-272 vote.

Shortly after the surprise result, British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed to the BBC's Newsnight programme that Britain would not be involved in any military action.

But he said he expected "that the US and other countries will continue to look at responses to the chemical attack".

"They will be disappointed that Britain will not be involved. I don't expect that the lack of British participation will stop any action."

The vote in London is likely to send shock waves through the Obama administration, the BBC's North America editor Mark Mardell says.

He adds that Britain has tended to march alongside the US, and that this rejection of President Obama's argument will leave the administration bruised.

The defeat of the government motion also comes as a potential blow to the authority of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had already watered down his proposal in response to the opposition's objections, correspondents say.

Russian factor

Earlier on Thursday, the five permanent UN Security Council members held a short meeting, but diplomats said their views remained "far apart".

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US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel: Washington is continuing consultations with allies

One diplomat told the BBC that there had been "no meeting of minds", with Russia and China on one side, and the US, UK and France on the other.

Moscow, which has twice blocked resolutions condemning Mr Assad, called the meeting.

Analysts say Moscow is unlikely to agree to any resolution approving the use of force in Syria.

Russia has close ties with the Assad government, supplying its armed forces with weapons and housing its warships in Syria's ports.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, and the conflict has produced at least 1.7 million refugees.

Forces which could be used against Syria:

• Four US destroyers - USS Gravely, USS Ramage, USS Barry and USS Mahan - are in the eastern Mediterranean, equipped with cruise missiles
• Cruise missiles could also be launched from submarines, including a British Trafalgar class boat. HMS Tireless was reportedly sighted in Gibraltar at the weekend
• Airbases at Incirlik and Izmir in Turkey, and in Jordan, could be used to carry out strikes
• Two aircraft carriers - USS Nimitz and USS Harry S Truman are in the wider region
• The Royal Navy's response force task group- which includes helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious and frigates HMS Montrose and HMS Westminster - is in the region on a previously-scheduled deployment
• RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus could also be used
• French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is currently in Toulon in the western Mediterranean
• French Raffale and Mirage aircraft can also operate from Al-Dhahra airbase in the UAE.

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MPs' vote halts UK action over Syria

30 August 2013 Last updated at 05:32 ET

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David Cameron: "It is clear to me that the British parliament... does not want to see British military action"

MPs have rejected possible UK military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to deter the use of chemical weapons.

David Cameron said he would respect the defeat of a government motion by 285-272, ruling out joining US-led strikes.

The US said it would "continue to consult" with the UK, "one of our closest allies and friends".

France said the UK's vote does not change its resolve on the need to act in Syria.

The prime minister's call for a military response in Syria followed a suspected chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on 21 August, in which hundreds of people are reported to have died.

The US and UK say the Assad government was behind the attack - a claim denied by Damascus, which blames the rebels.

Assad said Syria would defend itself against any aggression.

'Harm relationship'

The UK government's motion was in support of military action in Syria if it was backed up by evidence from United Nations weapons inspectors, who are investigating the attack.

They are due to finish their work on Friday and give their preliminary findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the weekend.

After the vote Prime Minster David Cameron said it was clear Parliament did not want action and "the government will act accordingly".

Chancellor George Osborne told Radio 4's Today programme there would now be "national soul searching about our role in the world".

He added: "I hope this doesn't become a moment when we turn our back on all of the world's problems."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond had told BBC's Newsnight programme that he and the prime minister were "disappointed" with the result, saying it would harm Britain's "special relationship" with Washington.

But he said he did not expect Britain's decision to "stop any action" by other countries.

After the vote Labour leader Ed Miliband said the result meant military action was "off the agenda", and added that MPs had reacted against the prime minister's "cavalier and reckless" leadership.

"I think today the House of Commons spoke for the British people who said they did not want a rush to war," he said.

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Ian Pannell: The victims "arrived like the walking dead"

Mr Miliband said Britain's relationship with the US "cannot simply be about doing what the American president says he wants you to do".

He said on Friday that Mr Cameron must "find other ways" to put pressure on Mr Assad.

The result of the vote was condemned by former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown, who tweeted that in "50 years trying to serve my country I have never felt so depressed [or] ashamed".

He later told the BBC that by doing nothing President Assad will use chemical weapons more "those weapons will become more commonplace in the Middle East battlefield" and "we will feel the effects of that as well".

PM 'diminished'

Thirty Conservative and nine Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the government's motion.

The defeat comes as a potential blow to the authority of Mr Cameron, who had already watered down a government motion proposing military action, in response to Labour's demands for more evidence of President Assad's guilt.

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the prime minister had now lost control of his own foreign and defence policy, and as a result he will cut a diminished figure on the international stage.

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He added that some strong advocates of the transatlantic relationship were worried that America may now question the value and reliability of Britain as an ally.

During the debate, Labour had seen its own amendment - calling for "compelling" evidence that the regime was responsible for chemical attacks - rejected by MPs by 114 votes.

But, unexpectedly, MPs also rejected the government's motion.

Labour's shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said the government defeat was down to the "fatally flawed" case put to MPs by Mr Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, claiming the pair's credibility was now diminished.

'The system works'

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said so many of Mr Cameron's own MPs had voted with Labour because they were now "unwilling to take him at his word".

Conservative rebel Crispin Blunt said he hoped the vote would "relieve ourselves of some of this imperial pretension that a country of our size can seek to be involved in every conceivable conflict that's going on around the world".

In other developments:

In a statement, the White House said President Obama believed "that there are core interests at stake for the United States and that countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable".

Obama administration officials on Thursday told a group of US lawmakers in a conference call that it was "beyond a doubt that chemical weapons were used, and used intentionally by the Assad regime," said Eliot Engel, the senior Democratic member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the US would "continue to work with Britain and consult with Britain as we are with all our allies".

On Friday French President Francois Hollande told the newspaper Le Monde that he would still be willing to take action without Britain's involvement.

He said he supported taking "firm" punitive action over an attack he said had caused "irreparable" harm to the Syrian people.

Earlier on Thursday, the five permanent UN Security Council members - the US, UK, France, Russia and China - held a short meeting, but diplomats said their views remained "far apart".

One diplomat told the BBC that there had been "no meeting of minds", with Russia and China on one side, and the US, UK and France on the other.

Meanwhile, Mr Assad told a group of Yemeni MPs on Thursday that Syria would defend itself against any aggression, according to Syria's Sana news agency.

"Syria, with its steadfast people and brave army, will continue eliminating terrorism, which is utilised by Israel and Western countries to serve their interests in fragmenting the region," he said.

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Vodafone and O2 launch 4G networks

28 August 2013 Last updated at 19:07 ET By Joe Miller BBC News

Mobile networks Vodafone and O2 are rolling out their first 4G data services in three UK cities.

The networks will compete against EE, which has been the only company to offer "super-fast" mobile data in the UK since October 2012.

Vodafone's 4G will initially be limited to parts of London, while O2 will launch in London, Leeds and Bradford.

One analyst said this indicated the networks were "soft-pedalling" 4G and the UK could lag behind other nations.

Fourth-generation networks can provide data to smartphone users up to 10 times faster than standard 3G connections.

The US, Japan, Australia and South Korea have all widely adopted 4G, but mobile phone users in many parts of the UK may have to wait until the end of 2015 for comprehensive coverage.

Testing speeds

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Operators know they have to demonstrate what new 4G services mean immediately"

End Quote Stuart Orr Accenture

EE was the first UK network to offer a 4G service, and now covers 105 towns and cities.

The company's early 4G launch prompted protests by rival providers, which claimed it gave the firm an unfair advantage.

But Steven Hartley, principal analyst at telecoms consultancy Ovum, accused Vodafone and O2 of taking a "very conservative approach" to 4G, at the expense of consumers.

"The UK's mobile networks are hedging their bets with 4G," he told the BBC. "They are trying the same strategy they used when they rolled out 3G, which is to offer 4G as a premium service to consumers, in an effort to move them onto expensive phone tariffs."

Mr Hartley added that even EE "could have been more aggressive commercially" in their deployment of 4G.

A report earlier this month by industry regulator Ofcom found that UK consumers have a limited appetite for 4G, with almost a quarter of smartphone users saying they did not see the benefit of moving to the superfast network.

Ofcom sale

Three, the last major network to provide 4G, will launch its service in London, Birmingham and Manchester in December.

The company said it would offer 4G to its existing customers at no extra cost, and would offer unlimited data packages, although full details of the roll-out are still to be announced.

The race to provide 4G services has been ongoing since October 2012, when Ofcom, the industry regulator, allowed EE to re-license some of its existing bandwidth to provide 4G.

After an auction in February, Ofcom sold spectrum space to O2, Vodafone, Three and BT.

Spectrum gambles

The key difference between the 4G providers is the spectrum bands they bought for their services.

Bands on the lower end of the spectrum offer further-reaching signals, but can support fewer individual data users, whereas higher spectrum bands can deliver data to more people data but have a shorter reach.

Continue reading the main story

What is 4G?

• 4G is the latest technology for connecting to the Internet without a wi-fi connection
• It follows on from 3G and could be 5-7 times quicker. Almost as fast as home broadband
• Only certain, newer mobile handsets can use 4G networks
• 3G will still function on other handsets
• Ofcom wants 98% of the UK to have 4G coverage by the end of 2017

SOURCE: BBC Consumer

How much mobile data am I using?

There are three spectrum bandwidths available to networks looking to provide 4G services:

• The 800MHz band previously used for TV signals. This low frequency spectrum is best for providing long-distance 4G services, helping give access to the countryside, as well as offering superior indoor coverage.
• The 1.8GHz band, previously used for 2G and 3G networks, but can be reassigned for 4G.
• The 2.6GHz band, which had previously been used by operators of cord-free video cameras to send back footage of live events, including London's Olympic Games. The high frequency can deliver faster speeds across smaller distances, making it best suited for densely populated cities.

EE built its 4G network by re-appropriating some of the 1.8GHz spectrum bandwidth previously used for its 2G and 3G services. It has since bought space on both the 800Mhz and 2.6Ghz bands.

Vodafone paid the most for its spectrum bands, buying part of the 800Mhz and 2.6GHz bands for just over £790m.

O2 paid £550m for part of the 800MHz spectrum and Three paid £225m for other parts of the same band.

Limited appeal

Both Vodafone and O2 are offering added extras such as football highlights and streaming music to try and lure customers to their 4G contracts.

Stuart Orr, managing director of communications industry at Accenture, said these tactics showed 4G was not attractive enough as a standalone product.

"The move by Vodafone to package Sky Sports and Spotify in with its new 4G offering shows that operators know they have to demonstrate what new 4G services mean immediately for consumers and why they should pay more," he told the BBC.

All of the UK networks have pledged to widen their 4G offering within the next couple of years.

O2 said it would roll out 4G in a further 10 cities by the end of the year, while Vodafone plans to be in a further 12.

Three said its 4G would be available in 50 UK cities by the end of 2014.

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Earth life 'may have come from Mars'

28 August 2013 Last updated at 20:09 ET By Simon Redfern Reporter, BBC News, Florence

Life may have started on Mars before arriving on Earth, a major scientific conference has heard.

New research supports an idea that the Red Planet was a better place to kick-start biology billions of years ago than the early Earth was.

The evidence is based on how the first molecules necessary for life were assembled.

Details of the theory were outlined by Prof Steven Benner at the Goldschmidt Meeting in Florence, Italy.

Scientists have long wondered how atoms first came together to make up the three crucial molecular components of living organisms: RNA, DNA and proteins.

Continue reading the main story

The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock"

End Quote Prof Steven Benner Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology

The molecules that combined to form genetic material are far more complex than the primordial "pre-biotic" soup of organic (carbon-based) chemicals thought to have existed on the Earth more than three billion years ago, and RNA (ribonucleic acid) is thought to have been the first of them to appear.

Simply adding energy such as heat or light to the more basic organic molecules in the "soup" does not generate RNA. Instead, it generates tar.

RNA needs to be coaxed into shape by "templating" atoms at the crystalline surfaces of minerals.

The minerals most effective at templating RNA would have dissolved in the oceans of the early Earth, but would have been more abundant on Mars, according to Prof Benner.

This could suggest that life started on the Red Planet before being transported to Earth on meteorites, argues Prof Benner, of the Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology in Gainesville, US.

The idea that life originated on Mars and was then transported to our planet has been mooted before. But Prof Benner's ideas add another twist to the theory of a Martian origin for the terrestrial biosphere.

Red or dead

Here in Florence, Prof Benner presented results that suggest minerals containing the elements boron and molybdenum are key in assembling atoms into life-forming molecules.

The researcher points out that boron minerals help carbohydrate rings to form from pre-biotic chemicals, and then molybdenum takes that intermediate molecule and rearranges it to form ribose, and hence RNA.

This raises problems for how life began on Earth, since the early Earth is thought to have been unsuitable for the formation of the necessary boron and molybdenum minerals.

It is thought that the boron minerals needed to form RNA from pre-biotic soups were not available on early Earth in sufficient quantity, and the molybdenum minerals were not available in the correct chemical form.

Prof Benner explained: "It's only when molybdenum becomes highly oxidised that it is able to influence how early life formed.

"This form of molybdenum couldn't have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago, the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did.

"It's yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet."

Early Mars is also thought to have had a drier environment, and this is also crucial to its favourable location for life's origins.

"What's quite clear is that boron, as an element, is quite scarce in Earth's crust," Prof Benner told BBC News, "but Mars has been drier than Earth and more oxidising, so if Earth is not suitable for the chemistry, Mars might be.

"The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock," he commented.

"It's lucky that we ended up here, nevertheless - as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life. If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there may not have been a story to tell."

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Co-op Group reports big banking loss

29 August 2013 Last updated at 04:30 ET

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Independent banking analyst Frances Coppola explains Co-Op's "whopping" loss

The Co-operative Group has reported heavy losses as a result of a huge write-down of assets at its troubled banking arm.

The group lost £559m in the first half of the year, having written off £496m of bad loans at Co-op Bank.

The bad loans relate mostly to Britannia Building Society, which merged with Co-op Bank in 2009.

The bank also faces a £1.5bn capital hole in its balance sheet, which regulators say it must fill.

Including the write-downs, Co-op Bank alone reported a total loss of £709m. The Co-op Group's food and other businesses reported profits.

The bad results were widely expected, but highlight the problems being faced by Co-op Group chief executive Euan Sutherland, who took over the role in May this year.

He said the results showed the "well-documented challenges" faced by the bank.

"My first few months in the role have been focused on putting in place the recovery plan for the bank," he said, but warned there were "no quick fixes".

Continue reading the main story

The scale of the loss incurred by Co-op Bank is reminiscent of the catastrophic problems suffered by its competitors in the bleak days of the 2008 banking crisis"

End Quote

Problems 'not new'

In June, the Co-op announced it had reached an agreement with the bank regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority, to plug a £1.5bn capital hole in its balance sheet.

It includes a stock market listing, measures to raise money from bondholders and the sale of its insurance business, planned for 2014.

"The underlying issues in the results today are not new," said Co-op Bank's chief executive, Niall Booker.

"We are now clearly focused on improving the capital position of the Bank... [and] at the same time, we have continued to lend, maintaining our focus on supporting our loyal customers, both in retail and through our continued focus on lending to small and medium-sized businesses."

The capital shortfall came to light during Co-op Bank's attempts to buy more than 600 bank branches from the partially state-owned Lloyds Banking Group.

A deal was initially agreed in 2012, but fell through earlier this year. MPs are currently holding an inquiry into the circumstances of the collapsed deal.

Lloyds executives have already claimed they knew about the hole in Co-op's balance sheet months earlier.

Weeks later, rating agency Moody's downgraded Co-op's debt to junk status, citing concerns about its capital position.

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Obama: 'No decision yet' on Syria

29 August 2013 Last updated at 05:08 ET

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President Barack Obama: ''I have no interest in any kind of open-ended conflict in Syria''

US President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on a plan for retaliatory action against Syria.

But he said he had concluded Syrian government forces were behind a recent chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

Speaking on US television, Mr Obama said the use of chemical weapons affected US national interests and that sending a "shot across the bows" could have a positive impact on Syria's war.

His comments follow a day of behind-the-scenes wrangling at the UN.

The UK had been pushing for permanent members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution which would have authorised measures to protect civilians in Syria.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Damascus seems quieter than on trips I made here earlier this year, though there's still plenty of traffic in the centre. Its people are awaiting decisions that are being taken elsewhere.

Army roadblocks stop traffic every few miles down the highway in from the Lebanese border, as they have since the war started.

News agencies, quoting residents and some opponents of the Assad regime, have reported that some heavy weaponry has been moved out of bases and staff have partially vacated some headquarters.

It is logical for the Syrian army to have some sort of plan to protect itself from any attack, especially since the progress toward launching a military strike has been discussed so openly by Western powers.

The countries surrounding Syria are bracing themselves for a new crisis. In Beirut, the man who helped me with my bags said the West would do whatever it wanted.

"But please, don't bomb anywhere near Lebanon. We fear another big war."

But Syrian ally Russia refused to agree to the resolution and the meeting produced no end to the diplomatic stalemate which has long characterised the UN position on Syria.

The US State Department criticised "Russian intransigence" and said it could not allow diplomatic paralysis to serve as a shield for the Syrian leadership.

Russia is sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the eastern Mediterranean.

The ships are being sent to strengthen the navy's presence in the area because of the "well-known situation" there, the Russian news agency Interfax has said.

But another news agency, RIA Novosti, quotes a senior naval command spokesman as saying that this is just a planned rotation, unconnected with Syria.

'Strong signal'

Critics have questioned what purpose a limited strike on Syria could serve, but Mr Obama told the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) it would send the government of Bashar al-Assad "a pretty strong signal that it better not [use chemical weapons] again".

The US has yet to produce the intelligence it says shows Mr Assad's government is guilty of using chemical weapons, and UN weapons inspectors are still investigating inside Syria.

The team has just begun a third day of on-site investigations, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for it to be "given time to do its job". He said the inspectors would finish their investigations and be out of the area by Saturday morning.

Syria denies using chemical weapons and blames opposition fighters for the attack near Damascus on 21 August, which reportedly killed hundreds of people.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

If there was action it would be to send the Syrian regime a 'pretty strong signal'"

End Quote

It accused the West of "inventing" excuses to launch a strike.

In a sign of growing fears about an impending attack among Syrians, the Associated Press quoted Lebanese officials as saying at least 6,000 Syrians crossed into Lebanon in a 24-hour period through the main Masnaa crossing - compared to a normal daily tally of between 500 and 1,000 refugees.

"Isn't it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?" one 45-year-old woman, entering Lebanon with her five children, told AP.

In Damascus senior military commanders are reportedly staying away from buildings thought likely to be targeted. You "could hear a pin drop" at one of them, a local resident said.

'Consequences'

President Obama told PBS that the US had "not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place, and hardly anyone disputes that chemical weapons were used in a large scale in Syria against civilian populations".

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Military intervention is morally justified"

End Quote Anthony Luder Safed, Israel

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Intervening now in Syria would be a terrible mistake"

End Quote Demetrios Nicolaides Limassol, Cyprus

"We've looked at all the evidence, and we don't believe the opposition possessed chemical weapons of that sort," he said.

He added he had concluded that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack.

"There need to be international consequences, so we are consulting with our allies," he said.

There was "a prospect that chemical weapons could be directed at us - and we want to make sure that doesn't happen".

The BBC's David Willis in Washington says Mr Obama looked cautious and spoke in a measured way, and he was clearly concerned about getting Congress on board as well as the American public.

Opinion polls until now have shown very little interest among the US public in getting involved in the Syrian conflict.

In an open letter to the president, US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner demanded he explain "the intended effect of military strikes", and how he would prevent the intervention escalating, if he wanted to win public and congressional backing for action.

More than 110 members of Congress have signed a letter formally requesting that Mr Obama seek congressional approval for any action in Syria.

US officials are expected to give senior members of Congress a classified briefing on the evidence that the Syrian government carried out the alleged chemical attack on Thursday.

Continue reading the main story

Models for possible intervention

• Iraq 1991: US-led global military coalition, anchored in international law; explicit mandate from UN Security Council to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait
• Balkans 1990s: US arms supplied to anti-Serb resistance in Croatia and Bosnia in defiance of UN-mandated embargo; later US-led air campaign against Serb paramilitaries. In 1999, US jets provided bulk of 38,000 Nato sorties against Serbia to prevent massacres in Kosovo - legally controversial with UN Security Council resolutions linked to "enforcement measures"
• Somalia 1992-93: UN Security Council authorised creation of international force with aim of facilitating humanitarian supplies as Somali state failed. Gradual US military involvement without clear objective culminated in Black Hawk Down disaster in 1993. US troops pulled out
• Libya 2011: France and UK sought UN Security Council authorisation for humanitarian operation in Benghazi in 2011. Russia and China abstained but did not veto resolution. Air offensive continued until fall of Gaddafi

The US has said it will not take action alone - but one of its primary allies, the UK, has agreed to wait until UN inspectors report back before taking a parliamentary vote on potential action.

Russia rejected a UK push to try to agree a resolution on Syria among permanent UN Security Council members on Wednesday, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying the UN could not consider any draft resolution or proposed action in Syria before the UN weapons inspectors reported back.

The use of force without a sanction of the UN Security Council would be a "crude violation" of international law and "lead to the long-term destabilisation of the situation in the country and the region", Mr Lavrov has said.

UN 'moment'

The UK, US and France are continuing their discussions following the meeting of the five permanent members.

The UK will want to be seen to be exhausting every diplomatic avenue, says the BBC's Nick Bryant at the UN headquarters in New York.

For the UK, there needs to be a UN "moment" - despite the fact that UN action will likely again be blocked by Russia or China.

But even without UN backing the US and its allies have been clear that they see the military option still open to them, our correspondent says.

"This is the first use of chemical warfare in the 21st Century," said UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. "It has to be unacceptable... or we will confront even bigger war crimes in the future."

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, and the conflict has produced at least 1.7 million refugees.

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Ex-Wales fly-half Cliff Morgan dies

Wales rugby international and broadcaster Cliff Morgan has died after a long illness aged 83.

Morgan was one of the most talented fly-halves in the game, before becoming a respected commentator, writer and head of BBC outside broadcasts.

He won 29 caps for Wales, his first in 1951, captained the British and Irish Lions and also played for Cardiff.

Morgan will be forever associated with his commentary on the Barbarians v All Blacks match in 1973.

He is particularly remembered for his description of Gareth Edwards's famous try: "Brilliant by Quinnell. This is Gareth Edwards; a dramatic start. What a score!"

Cliff Morgan commentates on Gareth Edwards's try for the Barbarians

His easy-going charm and passionate love of sport was familiar to both rugby supporters and radio and television audiences.

He enjoyed a successful career as a mercurial fly-half for Cardiff, Wales, the Barbarians and the Lions before finding a new career in broadcasting.

Clifford Isaac Morgan was born on 7 April 1930 in the village of Trebanog in the heart of the Rhondda.

The son of a coal miner who turned down an offer to play for Tottenham Hotspur, the young Cliff combined a love of singing and woodwork with a burgeoning ability on the rugby pitch.

His rugby master played the young Morgan at every position from prop to wing, before allowing him to excel at fly-half, a role which could have been created for him.

Short, slightly stocky and with an innate sense of balance, Cliff Morgan cut through opposition defences, often cheekily showing the other sides' players the ball before darting away and passing it.

Aged 19, he was picked to play for Cardiff and proved to be an inspirational presence who, within a year, won the first of 29 caps for his country.

He was a pivotal member of the Grand Slam-winning team of 1952, more than holding his own alongside giants of the game like Bleddyn Williams and Ken Jones.

The following year, Morgan inspired first Cardiff, and then Wales, to victory against the mighty New Zealand All Blacks.

In 1955, he dazzled for the Lions on their tour of South Africa, scoring a crucial try against the Springboks in Johannesburg.

The Lions' 23-22 victory, in front of a crowd of 96,000 in the rarefied air of the Transvaal, was considered by Morgan to have been the greatest day of his sporting life.

Three years later, he retired from rugby at just 28, leaving behind many memories and admirers.

He moved effortlessly from player to broadcaster, first with the BBC in Wales before making the move to London.

Cliff Morgan played for Wales against England in the 1950s

If anything, his broadcasting career eclipsed his efforts on the rugby field. As editor of Grandstand and head of outside broadcasts, he helped define the way the corporation covered major sporting events.

To the surprise of many of his colleagues, he quit the BBC to edit This Week, the successful current affairs programme on ITV.

A stroke in 1972 left Morgan speechless and paralysed down one side, but he completed a remarkable recovery when, having returned to the BBC, he commentated on the legendary 1973 match between the Barbarians and the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park.

As Gareth Edwards crashed over for 'that try', Morgan's commentary rose magnificently to the occasion: "If the greatest writer of the written word would have written that story, you'd never have believed it."

Ironically it was rugby's other great voice, that of the late Bill McLaren, which should have told the story of the try, but the Scot was forced to withdraw with flu on the morning of the game.

In many ways it was fitting that Morgan should have been in the commentator's seat. A true Barbarian, he played in the famous black and white shirt before ever being picked for Wales and his view of how sport should be played reflected the amateur ethos.

He was uncomfortable with the flood of money going into sport and openly criticised those players who came to the game with a win-at-all-costs mentality.

A spell as resident captain on A Question of Sport was followed by what for many was his crowning achievement, the 11 years behind the microphone on Sport on 4.

For many Radio 4 listeners, the weekend had not properly begun until they had tuned in to Morgan's perceptive take on the sporting world, delivered in what fellow presenter Des Lynam described as "one of the best broadcasting voices of all time".

In 2007 he received a lifetime achievement award from BBC Wales and a tribute from fellow Barbarian, Tony O'Reilly.

"He's a man apart because of his gaiety, his grandeur, eloquence, because of his skills as a football player and his generosity to other players, which was enormous," said O'Reilly.

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Net migration to UK 'shows increase'

29 August 2013 Last updated at 05:36 ET

Net migration to the UK increased in the year ending December 2012, the Office for National Statistics says.

Latest figures show net migration rose to 176,000 - up from 153,000 people in the year to September 2012.

The increase appears to buck the trend of a decline in net migration - the difference between the number of people coming to and leaving the country.

Prime Minister David Cameron wants to get UK net migration below 100,000 before the next election in 2015.

The increase was driven by a drop in the number of migrants leaving Britain, which fell from 351,000 to 321,000 in the year to December 2012, the ONS found.

Over the same period, the number of immigrants arriving in the country dropped from 566,000 to 497,000, figures showed.

The BBC's home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said the reasons for the rise were complex and partly related to the fact that fewer people were emigrating from the UK than the government expected.

If fewer people leave the UK, then the net migration balance can rise, even if the number of immigrants arriving declines or remains static, he added.

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Labour could still vote no on Syria

29 August 2013 Last updated at 05:46 ET

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Ed Miliband: "I'm determined we learn the lessons of the past, including Iraq"

A Commons vote on the UK's response to a chemical attack near Damascus hangs in the balance, after Labour demanded "compelling evidence" of Syria's guilt.

Ministers watered down Thursday's vote to one on military action in principle only, claiming a "consensual" approach.

But Labour could still vote against it as it wants more evidence President Assad's regime carried out the attack.

The UK government will shortly publish legal advice and intelligence on the attack near Damascus on 21 August.

Its motion, to be debated later, states a final vote on action should now be held only after UN inspectors report on the use of chemical weapons - which President Bashar al-Assad's regime blames on opposition fighters.

But Labour will push its own amendment to a vote and has not yet decided whether to support the government, if it fails.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said he had not wanted a decision on military action to be made on an "artificial timetable" and it was important to "learn the lessons of Iraq", and give the UN inspectors time to present their evidence.

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Analysis

The day after the government watered down plans for an early vote on military action in Syria, they still cannot be sure of Labour's support in tonight's Commons debate.

Labour is pushing ahead with its own amendment, which is slightly different to the government proposal - although the gap is significantly less than it appeared on Wednesday.

The biggest difference appears to be Labour's demand for "compelling evidence" that President Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack, before the UK gets involved in any military strike.

It means that Labour is not supporting the government at this stage because it wants MPs to back its proposal instead.

However we still don't know how the party will vote on the government's motion, which will be put to MPs after Labour's amendment.

Labour sources say it is "wait and see" on whether they will support the government if their amendment fails.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Miliband was able to claim a political victory and the government, even having backed down, could not be confident of getting sufficient MPs to vote for their motion.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was necessary to proceed "on a consensual basis" and said the prime minister recognised "the deep concerns in this country over what happened over Iraq".

On Wednesday, the UK presented the UN with a draft resolution authorising "necessary measures" to protect Syrian civilians.

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday his country was certain the Assad regime was responsible for the attack - though he also said he had not made a decision on a military strike.

UN weapons inspectors are expected to leave Damascus on Saturday before presenting their evidence to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon This means a second parliamentary vote would probably not happen until at least early next week.

In other developments:

MPs will debate the government's motion from 14:30 BST (13:30 GMT) with a vote not expected until 22:00 BST (21:00 GMT). The House of Lords will also debate the motion but will not vote.

Continue reading the main story

Models for possible intervention

• Iraq 1991: US-led global military coalition, anchored in international law; explicit mandate from UN Security Council to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait
• Balkans 1990s: US arms supplied to anti-Serb resistance in Croatia and Bosnia in defiance of UN-mandated embargo; later US-led air campaign against Serb paramilitaries. In 1999, US jets provided bulk of 38,000 Nato sorties against Serbia to prevent massacres in Kosovo - legally controversial with UN Security Council resolutions linked to "enforcement measures"
• Somalia 1992-93: UN Security Council authorised creation of international force with aim of facilitating humanitarian supplies as Somali state failed. Gradual US military involvement without clear objective culminated in Black Hawk Down disaster in 1993. US troops pulled out
• Libya 2011: France and UK sought UN Security Council authorisation for humanitarian operation in Benghazi in 2011. Russia and China abstained but did not veto resolution. Air offensive continued until fall of Gaddafi

The government is to publish advice from the attorney general on the legality of military intervention along with the findings of the joint intelligence committee later on Thursday morning.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the government was seeking "to make the case for a simple, limited response" to the use of chemical weapons, arguing it would be a "fateful decision" if the West did not act.

"It is much more likely that Assad will use chemical weapons more frequently, in a more widespread way if nothing happens," he said.

He denied the government was seeking a mandate for unlimited intervention in Syria's conflict.

The government motion states "this House deplores the use of chemical weapons" by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, and says a response "may, if necessary, require military action that is legal, proportionate and focused on saving lives by preventing and deterring further use of Syria's chemical weapons".

'Government climb down'

Labour's amendment states it would "only support military action involving UK forces" if various conditions were met - including "the production of compelling evidence that the Syrian regime was responsible for the use of these weapons".

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Mr Cameron will open the Commons debate and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will close it.

A meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday discussed the UK's draft resolution and talks are expected to continue for several days.

The resolution condemns the use of chemical weapons and demands that the regime of President Assad cease to use such weapons.

The security council, which meets whenever peace is threatened, is made up of 15 members, including permanent members China, Russia, France, the US and the UK.

Previous efforts to secure action against President Assad have been vetoed by Russia and China.

Syria has accused the West of "inventing" excuses to launch a strike.

The Speaker of the Syrian Parliament has written to Commons Speaker John Bercow inviting a parliamentary delegation to Damascus to check the UN's conclusions.

The letter added that Syria will sue those responsible in British courts if the UK attacks - which it said would be an "aggressive and unprovoked act of war".

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Kidney checks 'would save lives'

27 August 2013 Last updated at 19:00 ET By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

Hospital patients should have their kidneys checked to spot a potentially lethal condition affecting one in six of those admitted, say new guidelines.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says the NHS in England could save at least 12,000 lives and millions of pounds a year if it follows its advice.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is almost entirely preventable but kills up to one in every four sufferers.

Good hydration is key, says NICE.

Basic checks

Healthcare professionals should be monitoring their patient's kidney function by checking they have enough to drink or have been given a fluid drip.

They should also keep close tabs on how much urine patients are passing and may want to order blood tests to help them spot early warning signs of dehydration.

And they should review the medication patients are on in case it is drying them out and making matters worse.

NICE is concerned that too often these simple checks do not happen.

A national inquiry back in 2009 found half of patients who died in hospitals in England and Wales from AKI had not received a good standard of care.

But NHS England says things have improved since then - there has been a big push to get best practice across the entire organisation.

Dr Mark Thomas, one of the experts who helped develop the guidelines, said: "Many hospitals and healthcare professionals have been doing an excellent job in watching out for acute kidney injury in their patients, but unfortunately this good practice is not seen everywhere.

"The NICE recommendations give the NHS clear advice to reduce the number of avoidable deaths through acute kidney injury."

Kidney function can deteriorate rapidly. Within a few hours the condition can become life-threatening.

Hospital patients can also make sure they are getting enough fluids and request a kidney check, says NICE.

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