BBC News with Nick Kelly
Syria has said it will allow the United Nations weapons inspectors to visit the site of the suspected chemical attack last week in the Damascus suburbs. The inspection will begin on Monday. The UN said the government had agreed to observe ceasefire in the area while the team visited the site. Rajini Vaidyanathan reports.
"The announcement by Syrian authorities to allow UN's weapons inspectors in, has been met with scepticism in Washington. A senior administration official said, if the country had nothing to hide, it would have granted inspectors an immediate access, and that this decision was too late to be credible. There is also concern that any evidence collected would have been significantly corrupted as a result of what the US says has been persistent shelling in the area of the alleged attack."
A French spokesman said President Francois Hollande had spoken today to President Obama and told him that in his view the evidence was consistent with the conclusion that Damascus used chemical weapons. The British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain was focused on delivering a strong response.
"We are clear in the British government that it was the Assad regime that carried out this chemical attack, large scale chemical attack, as Wednesday that has led to the death, the agonizing death of so many hundreds of people including, tragically, so many children. Of course, this is a regime that possesses chemical weapons stockpiles and has used chemical weapons in the past including on a smaller scale over the last year."
But Russia has warned against those who were, in its words, trying to impose their own results on the investigation before it has taken place, and so raise the possibility of military intervention in Syria. State media in Syria says that the governor of Hama, which has seen some of the worst fighting in the conflict, has been killed. It says the Dr. Anas Abdul-Razzaq Naem died in a car bomb attack in the city. Dr. Abdul-Razzaq was appointed governor more than two years ago as the uprising against President Assad gathered momentum. Rebels have carried out assassinations against a number of politicians and senior military officials.
A cargo train has derailed and crashed in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. The crash occurred in a remote region accessible only by air or boat. At least five people have been killed and more than 30 injured. Rocksan Eskbarley reports.
"Emergency services in Mexico said the number of confirmed dead was likely to rise, and the Red Cross said soldiers and rescue workers were trying to get to the site of the crash to help the survivors. The train known as 'La Bestia' or 'the beast' runs from Mexico southern border with Guatemala is for the United States in the north, while its cargo train is famous for carrying hundreds of would be migrants from Central America who cling to its sides and right on the roof as they try to reach the United States."
World News from the BBC
A series of bomb attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq has killed at least 46 people and injured dozens of others. Officials said several bombs went off in the capital in the afternoon. North of Baghdad, two bombs exploded at a Shia wedding in the town of Baquba. Other attacks hit targets in several other provinces with gunmen killing five soldiers travelling to Mosul.
The Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has warned the US and Britain to lift sanctions against his country or face retaliation. He said the time would come for Zimbabwe to use, what he called, 'tit-for-tat' measures. Brian Hungwe reports.
"President Robert Mugabe is starting another phase his term with new threats. He says Westerns imposed sanctions are hitting the economy, he insists that the sanctions should go or actions will take measures against foreign owned companies operating in the country. His threats against foreign owned companies may rattle the markets. Most companies operate in Zimbabwe stock exchange are foreign owned. Analysts warned that Monday the Stock Market may react negatively to President Robert Mugabe's statement."
Police in Kenya are investigating the murder of a former British army Colonel who was killed by an armed gang at his home in central Kenya. David Parkinson was the former commander of a British army base in the area and had retired to focus on conservation and community work. Police say Mr. Parkinson's wife managed to escape from the attackers who broken in armed with machetes and gun.
And the Ashes cricket series five Test Matches played once every two years between Australia and England has ended in London with the 3:0 victory for the homeside. The final match was declared a draw when the umpires controversially took the players off the field due to the bad light. England needed just 21 rounds of the remaining 24 balls to win. It's the first time since 1977, Australia has failed to win a single test match in an Ashes series.