BBC News with Jerry Smit
The United States has disputed a suggestion that rebels in Syria may have used chemical weapons. Earlier a member of the UN’s International Commission on Syria, Carla Del Ponte, said there were strong suspicions that the nerve gas sarin had been used by rebel fighters. The UN team as a whole has said that it has no conclusive findings on the matter. Paul Adams reports from Washington.
The White House seems unmoved by the allegation that rebels, not government forces, may have been responsible for using chemical weapons. The president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said the administration remains, in his words, highly sceptical about the suggestion that anyone other than the Assad regime may have used such weapons. But he said it was important to continue gathering evidence. The existing intelligence reports were not enough for Barack Obama to conclude that any red lines had been crossed.
At least 15 people have died and many more have been injured in a blast at an election rally in north-west Pakistan. The rally was organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a right-wing religious party in Kurram in the tribal areas that border Afghanistan. It’s the latest in a series of attacks on rallies and individual candidates since campaigning began for national elections which will be held on Saturday. Many of those attacks have been against secular parties, which have been described by the Pakistani Taliban as legitimate targets.
The German authorities have arrested a 93-year-old man who’s accused of having been a guard to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Prosecutors say Hans Lipschis worked at the camp for four years until its liberation in 1945 and will face charges of accessory to murder. Mr Lipschis is currently No. 4 on the most-wanted list of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. Adam Easton reports.
The prosecutors’ office in Stuttgart said Mr Lipschis was arrested at his home in Aalen, south-western Germany. He was taken before a judge and remanded in custody. Prosecutors say there is strong evidence Mr Lipschis was complicit in the murder of civilians at the camp. Mr Lipschis has admitted previously he was assigned to an SS unit at the camp, but said he served as a cook and was not involved in war crimes.
A 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton that was smuggled into the United States has been returned to Mongolia. The dinosaur, which resembles a tyrannosaurus rex, was discovered in the Gobi Desert and taken to the US in pieces. A palaeontologist reassembled the skeleton and sold it for more than $1m at auction. Bolortsetseg Minjin, one of Mongolia’s chief palaeontologists, said she’d been shocked to see the skeleton for sale.
"Looking at Mongolian dinosaurs being at auction, I have really been angry. I can’t believe it. You know, this is a national treasure, a treasure that Mongolians have, you know, respect and they want to protect. And also science-wise, scientifically it’s very important.”
News from the BBC
The International Criminal Court has postponed the trial of Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, who’s accused of crimes against humanity. Mr Ruto was due to appear in court in The Hague later this month over his alleged role in the violence which followed disputed elections in 2007. A new date hasn’t been set. Mr Ruto’s lawyers have requested more time to prepare his defence. He denies the charges. The Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is facing similar charges which he also denies.
Thousands of Russian protesters have rallied in Moscow against President Vladimir Putin a year after a demonstration which ended in violence and mass arrests. Steve Rosenberg reports.
I’m standing on Bolotnaya Square, just across from the Kremlin. There’s an anti-government rally here this evening and the square is packed with demonstrators. Some are holding up placards containing one word—freedom. They’ve come here because of what happened here exactly one year ago when an anti-Putin rally ended in clashes between protesters and police. The Kremlin used that as a pretext to crack down on its opponents. More than two dozen activists have been charged in connection with last year’s demonstration. Some have spent months in pre-trial detention.
A violent storm with winds of more than 90km/h has hit the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. One man was killed when a tree fell onto his minibus. Ten districts in the city have suffered power failures.
Football’s world governing body Fifa has provisionally suspended an executive committee member accused of fraud. Chuck Blazer is alleged to have embezzled millions of dollars during his time at the regional football organisation responsible for North and Central America and the Caribbean. Mr Blazer, an American, was due to step down from Fifa’s executive board at the end of his term later this month. He’s previously denied any wrongdoing.