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BBC news 2012-07-22

BBC News with Nick Kelly

Bomb disposal experts in the American state of Colorado have carried out a controlled explosion at the booby-trapped apartment of the man suspected of shooting dead 12 people at a cinema in the town of Aurora. Police said the blast successfully disabled a number of tripwires and should make it possible to enter the apartment safely. Zoe Conway reports from Washington.

It took a bomb squad, firefighters and the police more than 30 hours to come up with a plan to make the apartment safe. Whilst a camera inserted through a window showed that a sophisticated booby trap was inside, they were concerned that unidentified chemicals could cause a large explosion. That would have complicated investigators' search for clues as to the motive behind the attack. There is speculation that the suspect James Holmes dyed his hair red to look like the Batman villain, the Joker – that could explain why he chose to carry out the shootings at a showing of the film. The local police chief is not commenting on those reports.

Fighting is reported to be intensifying across Syria with the city of Aleppo seeing a second day of fierce clashes. In Homs, security forces are reported to have attacked protesters at the main jail. Jim Muir reports from neighboring Lebanon.

There's been more heavy fighting in parts of Syria's second city Aleppo with government forces storming a rebel-held quarter and many residents fleeing for safety. The clashes in Aleppo are an ominous development for the regime. Until just last weekend, both Damascus and Aleppo were relatively untouched by the uprising from remained strongholds of the regime. Here and in many other places, the government faces its most deadly and blatant challenge yet – a real invigorated revolt starting to send victory after 16 months of deadlocked carnage.  The regime has to hit back , or admit defeat. Nobody knows how this drama will end, but many feel that it is moving into its final phases.

The United States says it's very concerned about Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons and is consulting Syria's neighbors about the need to secure them. The White House was responding to an allegation from a Syrian military defector that President Assad's forces were moving chemical weapons for possible use against rebels.

A radical Islamist MP in Egypt has been convicted of violating public decency over an incident in which he was accused of performing a sexual act with a woman in his car. The case is seen as an embarrassment for radical Islamists known as Salafists. Sebastian Usher reports.

The story could have come out of one of Egypt's famous film comedies mocking the hypocrisy of its supposed 'moral guardians'. Ali Wanis was found in his car with a young woman in a compromising position. He originally claimed no sex was involved and the woman was his niece. The shame of the incident sent him into hiding, from where he's continued to claim his innocence. He was suspended from the Salafist party al-Nour, but the damage was already done to his and its reputation.

World News from the BBC

At least nine people have been killed – including several children – in a suicide bomb attack in northwest Pakistan. The bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives to the entrance of the compound of a former Taliban commander in Kurram close to the border with Afghanistan. From Islamabad, here's Aleem Maqbool.

Officials say dozens of militants have been gathered at the compound when the explosion happened. The militants were loyal to a local commander Mullah Nabi, who'd recently broken away from the Pakistani Taliban and who's now considered pro-government. Taliban attacks against militia who are considered enemies are common plays; and the Pakistani Taliban remains a fragile coalition, to some extent kept together through the fear of attacks against groups that break away.

The media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned as the director of several companies behind his British newspapers. The move has showed speculation that he may be preparing to sell the newspaper group, which includes the Times and the Sun. It follows a scandal over phone-hacking by some of his papers. The parent company, News Corporation, said the resignations were simply a housecleaning exercise.

International Olympic Committee says it will allow a marathon runner, who was born in South Sudan, but does not hold a passport from any country, to compete as an independent athlete of the London Games. Marcus Erbe has more.

Guor Marial was born in what is today the world's newest country, South Sudan, which only became independent last year and does not yet have a national Olympic committee. He moved to the United States as a refugee when he was a child. Although he has permanent residence there, he is not a US citizen, which means he can't compete for the United States either. The IOC had initially suggested that Marial run for Sudan, but he refused to compete for the country in which he lost 28 relatives during the civil war. The 28-year-old, who will run under the Olympic flag, reached the Olympic qualification time last October, and now has the chance to compete for the very best.

BBC News

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