BBC News with Marion Marshall
The American Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Syria the plans for it to hand over its chemical weapons are not a game. At a news conference, ahead of the talks
with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Mr. Kerry said Syria's actions had to be real, comprehensive and timely. From Geneva where the two men have met, Paul Adam
reports.
“Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry have launched a process full of high expectations and profound skepticism. The Russian Foreign Minister said a successful outcome would
make a strike on Syria unnecessary and he voiced the hope that it might also serve to brave life into a wider political process. John Kerry was emphatic, only the
threat of force had persuaded Syria to acknowledge its chemical arsenal, and in a direct reference to President Assad's interview on Russian television in which the
Syrian leader spoke of, what he called, a standard procedure for handing over documents relating to chemical weapons within 30 days. Mr. Kerry said there was nothing
standard about this process.”
The United Nations has received a formal letter from the Syrian government stating its intention to join the international treaty controlling chemical weapons. From
New York, here's Nick Bryant.
“Codified in the early 90’s and agreed to by all but five nations, the treaty bans the production, stockpiling and use of these deadly weapons. Under its terms,
Syria has 60 days to provide a detailed inventory of all its chemical weapons agents related munitions and production facilities. The Assad regime would have to detail
the exact locations of its stockpiles, and open them to inspection by the international watchdog, the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons.”
A judge in London has allowed a Muslim woman to appear at a court hearing wearing her veil. It's thought to be the first time that this has been allowed in an English
courtroom. Last month, the judge said he couldn't allow the woman to enter a plea to a charge of intimidating a witness while she was wearing the veil, because he
couldn't be certain she was really the defendant.
NASA has confirmed that the Voyager-1 spacecraft has become the first man-made object to leave the solar system. The probe was launched 36 years ago, but scientists
believe it left our solar system last August; it's now nearly 19 billion kilometers from Earth in what's known as interstellar space, a cold, dark part of the Milky
Way. The Voyager-1 will continue to chart this unknown realm of space, sending back pictures and messages until its power supply runs out in about 10 years time. The
announcement was made today at NASA's headquarters in Washington by Ed Stone, project scientist for the Voyager mission.
“Leaving the heliosphere and setting sail on the cosmic seas between the stars, Voyager has joined the other historic journeys of exploration, such as the first
circumnavigation of the earth and the first footprint on the moon.” Ed Stone.
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Anders Breivik, the man serving 21 years in prison for mass killings in Norway in July 2011 has successfully enrolled at the University of Oslo to study politics. His
previous application was rejected because he lacked the right qualifications, but he spent the summer taking the exams he needed to secure a place. Breivik will study
on his own in prison and will have no direct contact with university staff.
The Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has called on the country's judiciary to punish those responsible for the violence over the last two nights linked to the 40th
anniversary of a military takeover that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power. Chilean police have arrested more than 260 people in connection with the violence.
Forty-two police officers were wounded, six seriously, including some who had acid thrown at them.
Some of the striking landscapes of the Galapagos Islands, which belong to Ecuador, can now be explored online on Google's Street View. The launch marks 178 anniversary
of the British scientist Charles Darwin's visit. Our America's editor Eric Camara has more.
“It may be called Street View, but an online visit to the Galapagos Islands allows users to dive with sea lions, check out hatching turtles and finding guanas on
white, sandy beaches. As another Street View project, you can zoom in and out and move around the images, the stunning pictures are a joint project of the Islands
National Park and the Charles Darwin foundation. It took Google staff ten days in a special backpack camera to shoot the images last May.”
The church in Welsh has voted to allow female bishops. The measure passed after gaining the necessary 2/3 majority in each of the three sections of the Welsh Anglican Church's governing body. The decision leaves the Church of England as the only Anglican Church in the UK not yet having legislated to accept woman bishops.