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BBC news 2013-09-02

BBC News with David Austin.

The American Secretary of State John Kerry says that firm evidence has emerged that the nerve agent sarin was used in last month’s suspected chemical attack near Damascus. On Saturday, President Obama formally asked Congress to vote on military action against Syria. David Willis reports from Washington. "Speaking on American television, Mr. Kerry said the Obama administration had learned of the use of sarin gas in Syria in the last 24 hours based on hair and blood samples provided by the first people to reach the scene of the most recent alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. He said it underlined the fact that Congress needed to vote in favour of a military strike on Syria and he was confident that it wound do so. But he added that President Obama had the authority to act alone if Congress rejected such a move."

The Arab League has urged the United Nations and the international community to take deterrent measures against Syrian. At a meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo, the Arab League again accused the Syrian government of being behind a chemical attack last month, but the Jordanian government has told the BBC it will not take part in any military action. Lyse Doucet is in Amman. "Jordan’s King Abdullah is one of Washington’s closest Arab allies. His country has been quietly providing some training and intelligence to Syrian opposition forces. But it’s emphasized it will not allow its territory to be a launch pad for any strike even if there are discussions behind the scenes of what it can do in this crisis. Like many other Arab states, it’s unlikely to publicly join any military action to avoid provoking its neighbour and causing unrest at home."

State television in Egypt has announced that the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi will stand trial for incitement to murder. The charge related to the deaths of several people during protests against Mr. Morsi outside the presidential palace last December. Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood will also appear in court on the same charges.

Clashes and explosions at a camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq have left a number of people dead, but there’re conflicting accounts of what happened. The exiled group, the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran has posted graphic photographs of, what it says, are the victims. Kasra Naji has this report. "The People's Mujahideen Organisation says Camp Ashraf, which houses more than a hundred of its members, was attacked by Iraqi government forces in the early hours of Sunday. The group says dozens of its members were killed, many of them shot in the head at close range. They accused the Iraqi government of carrying out the operation at the behest of Iran. Iraqi authorities, on the other hand, say the casualties are mostly the result of mystery explosions of gas cylinders inside the camp.

World News from the BBC.

The Senegalese President Macky Sall has named a new prime minister hours after sacking the man he appointed after coming to power last year. Aminata Toure, the former justice minister, told state radio she'd accepted the invitation to form a new government. No reason has been given for the dismissal of Abdoul Mbaye, a former banker.

The Wales footballer Gareth Bale has signed a deal that’s thought to have made him the world’s most expensive player. The Spanish club Real Madrid is reported to have paid a transfer fee of $132m for the Tottenham Hotspur winger on a six-year contract. Richard Conway reports. "The transfer has been expected for weeks. However it's believed the deal suffered delays due to negotiations over how Real would structure the record payment. Tottenham's perception of the Spanish giants would be presumptuous in thirstily building a grand stage to present their new player and briefly selling replica shirts with his name on the back didn’t help either. The move captured a remarkable rise to the top for the 24-year-old, but it has prompted questions for Michel Platini, the head of UEFA, the European football confederation, if such transfer fees are healthy for the game." Richard Conway reporting.

The Venezuelan Finance Minister Nelson Merentes has acknowledged that the economic policies of the late President Hugo Chavez and his successor have not been successful. In a TV interview, Mr. Merentes said that despite having used the country’s oil wealth to improve the living standards of many Venezuelans, the government still had to solve, what he called, structural economic problems.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main challenger Peer Steinbrueck have held their only televised debate ahead of the general election later this month. Mr. Steinbrueck condemned Ms. Merkel’s approach to Europe’s debt crisis saying that austerity had failed. Ms. Merkel said her rival and his party, the Social Democrats had voted in support of her policies in parliament.

Those are the latest stories from BBC News.