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BBC news 2013-09-03

BBC News with David Austin

France has released an intelligence report saying that the Syrian government launched last month’s attack on a Damascus suburb with a massive use of chemical agents. The report on the August 21st attack says technical analysis of rockets at the scene showed that they were adapted for chemical weapons. The report said the Syrian government bombed the area after the attack to destroy evidence. Chris Morris is in Paris.

What’s clear from the French intelligence report is that it sets out previous occasions on which France believes chemical weapons have been used by the Assad regime. But it suggests that those were almost efforts just to spread fear whereas this attack on August 21st, it says, was at a level of sophistication that could only belong to the regime and was a massive use of chemical agents. It’s building the case a little bit further both the French public and for French politicians as well.

In an interview with a French newspaper, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that Western strikes against his country risked igniting a regional war. He said France would face repercussions if it became involved in such a military action. A leading American proponent of military action to topple President Assad, Senator John McCain, warned of the consequences if President Obama was unable to get military action approved in next week’s congressional debate.

“If the Congress were to reject a resolution like this after the president of the United States has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic in that the credibility of this country with friends and adversaries alike would be shredded, and there would be not only implications for this presidency but for our future presidencies as well.”

The United Nations envoy to Syria has warned that the violence there is pushing the country towards genocide. Mokhtar Lamani told the BBC that the humanitarian situation was almost a catastrophe. But he said it was the growing sectarianism that was now really frightening.

“This huge movement of the population, leaving their villages according to what they were born. Even those, the defectors from the army, are not 100 per cent Sunni. You see from the other side also some allied actions. That’s people they have caught prisoner of their own group. It’s not a choice.”

UN envoy to Syria Mokhtar Lamani

In one of the biggest deals in corporate history, the British telecoms firm Vodafone has confirmed that it’s agreed to sell its stake in the US company Verizon Wireless for $130bn. Vodafone says it plans to use some of the proceeds to increase its investment in fourth-generation mobile technology. However, most of the money will be distributed to the company’s shareholders with British shareholders getting about $34bn.

World News from the BBC

The American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad has become the first person to swim from Cuba to the United States without a shark cage. The 64-year-old arrived at Key West in Florida 53 hours after she began her swim in Havana. Sarah Rainsford reports.

There were big crowds cheering on the beach in Florida as she took the last exhausted strokes of her record-breaking swim from Cuba. This was her fifth attempt at making the crossing. The first was over three decades ago and she used a shark cage then. This time there was a team of divers on hand to lure any sharks away. But there was no sign of them or of the huge storms, fierce currents and deadly box jellyfish that had foiled her previous efforts. The swimmer took a special face mask this time for extra protection. But the jellyfish were nowhere to be seen.

Police in Britain are investigating claims that a British Airways pilot used his position to abuse children in African schools and orphanages. Simon Wood was found dead days before he was due to appear in a British court on unrelated charges of child abuse. Jane Peel reports.

Simon Wood, who was 54, is alleged to have molested children during stopovers in Kenya after claiming he was carrying out charity work for British Airways. Lawyers say he had access to hundreds of vulnerable youngsters over many years. BA said it first became aware of the allegations when it received an anonymous letter in July. In a statement, the airline said it was shocked and horrified and had called in the police.

Residents of the central Indian city of Raipur have started naming potholes after prominent officials to protest against the poor conditions of the roads. They say the potholes in the city are so bad that drivers get injured when their cars hit them. Hindu priests performed rituals naming the biggest holes after the chief minister as well as ministers for housing and public works.

BBC News