Millions 'Should Not Be In A&E' - Exclusive

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Up to 6.5 million patients every year should avoid going to A&E and be treated by GPs, paramedics and even chemists instead, the doctor leading the review of NHS emergency services claims today.

Around one third of all people who visit A&E each year could be diverted away from hospital under plans to be unveiled shortly by NHS chiefs.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the doctor in charge of re-shaping emergency services in England said family doctors, ambulance staff and pharmacists could treat them instead to relieve the pressure on A&E.

Indicating for the first time how he hopes to radically reform A&E, Professor Keith Willett, the national director for Acute Episodes of Care, said: "We know that 15% to 30% of people who turn up to be treated at A&E could have been treated in general practice.

"They did not know that because the system did not obviously make itself available to them."

He said patients with routine medical problems are going to A&E because they cannot get a quick enough appointment with their GP. Others are frustrated by out-of-hours services.

Prof Willett says a long-term solution is needed

"We can look at the way primary care is available to people," he said.

"By changing the way we deliver services we can start to address the demand. We can do the same thing in terms of the ambulance services and how much, how many patients they treat, at the scene, rather than transfer and that's about them having the right information.

"We would look to the public to understand the issues and when the situation does get difficult, to take the advice that I've suggested about phoning first, to get the right advice, to go to the right place, to think of using your general practitioner or indeed your pharmacist, (who) give a lot of advice for minor ailments."

Professor Willett and the medical director for NHS England, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, will publish their plan for reforming emergency services later this autumn. It is expected to be implemented two years from now.

The plan will acknowledge that demand for care will continue to rise with an ageing population. But it will set out a series of measures for reducing pressure on A&E departments.

They are expected to include:

:: A&E units will have to ensure a consultant is available seven days a week

:: Other senior doctors, such as elderly care specialists, will be expected to help assess and treat patients arriving at A&E

:: Paramedics will treat more patients at home or by the roadside so they don't need hospital care

:: Patients will be encouraged to 'ring first', using the NHS111 helpline to be directed towards appropriate care.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants GPs to be more proactive

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has also said GPs must take on a bigger role. Next week he will call on GPs to do more to prevent patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, from suffering emergency complications.

In an interview for State Of Emergency, Sky News' 24 hours of live coverage from Nottingham's Queen Medical Centre which begins today at 5pm, Mr Hunt said: "The role of GPs in caring for older people needs to be proactive - checking up on people, finding out how they are, heading off problems before they happen - rather than reactive.

"GPs are busy, so to make that happen we have to find ways of getting more capacity in the system and that is a big challenge.

"But we have to address that. In the end, if the NHS is to be sustainable, it has to be about prevention as much as cure."

But GPs say they are already doing what they can.

Professor Mike Pringle, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "They are overwhelmed by the workload they are expected to deliver.

"We have got to start to build general practice, not blame it, not victimise it.

"We have to invest in it if we are going to solve these problems. And I am sure the Secretary of State recognises that."

England's A&E departments were under severe pressure last winter.

Waiting times reached their worst in nine years between January and March 2013, with more than 300,000 patients waiting more than four hours for treatment.

The Government has given the NHS an extra £500m over two years to find short-term solutions to the likely rise in demand for emergency care in the winter months.

Hospitals could bring GPs into A&E departments to see patients with more minor problems and more locum A&E doctors are likely to be employed to fill vacancies.

Only half the training posts for emergency medicine have been filled in the last two years, and more than a third of hospital trusts have vacancies for A&E consultants.

Professor Willett said a long-term solution is required.

"We do have to address the emergency medicine workforce," he said.

"But that will not produce new consultants for several years. So we have to manage the situation and take away from emergency medicine teams those patients who could be managed by other parts of the system.

"Defaulting to seeing an emergency medicine consultant is not necessary for many of those patients and it is frustrating to wait."

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Buckingham Palace Break-In: Two Arrested

Security Scares For Royal Family

Updated: 6:27am UK, Saturday 07 September 2013

The break-in at Buckingham Palace is the latest in a series of security scares involving the Royal Family.

:: In March 2011, a car carrying the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall was mobbed by demonstrators who had split from a protest against higher university tuition fees.

Camilla was visibly distressed after being poked in the ribs with a stick through an open window in the distinctive Rolls-Royce Phantom VI as she and Charles travelled to the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium.

:: In 2003, comedian Aaron Barschak managed to get into Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle.

The self-styled "comedy-terrorist" set off a series of alarms and was caught on CCTV before he joined 300 guests at the bash and was removed.

:: In 1994, student David Kang charged at Charles while firing a starting pistol during a ceremony in Sydney, Australia.

Kang was wrestled to the ground by New South Wales premier John Fahey and another man, while Charles was praised for his calm reaction.

:: In 1981, six blank shots were fired from the crowd while the Queen rode during the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

The Queen's horse was startled but she managed bring it back under control while police rushed to grab the shooter.

:: In 1974, Princess Anne was the target of an apparent kidnap attempt in The Mall near Buckingham Palace.

Four people, including her bodyguard, Jim Beaton, were injured after shots were fired when their car was forced to halt by another vehicle which blocked their route.

A police officer chased the driver, Ian Ball, and brought him to the ground before arresting him.

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Tony Abbott Wins Australian Election: ABC

Australia's state broadcaster has called a clear win for Tony Abbott over Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the national polls.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said the British-born opposition leader's Liberal Party-led coalition had ended six years of centre-left Labor rule on Saturday.

With 54% of the vote counted, the Australian Electoral Commission had Mr Abbott's party leading in 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives and Labor in 55.

Abbott and Rudd on election posters in Sydney

A majority of 76 is needed to form government once all the votes have been tallied.

ABC election analyst Antony Green said: "The coalition is on a pretty secure 74 seats already. On that basis they're going to get a majority. I think we can say the government has been defeated."

Sky News Australia conducted an exit poll predicting the Liberal Party would secure 97 seats and Labour would drop to just 51.

Voters cast their ballot in Sydney

Defence Minister Stephen Smith told ABC: "The government will be defeated tonight.

"Pessimistically, I'm looking at a result which will be a 1996-type result, a heavy defeat for the government," he added, referring to the election which brought Liberal leader John Howard to power.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek also admitted Labor had lost.

Mr Abbott casting his vote with his family beside him

She said: "The clear take-out from this definitely is that disunity is death and we are not disciplined enough. I don't think the division or the pain was justified at any stage."

Labor has been marred by relentless infighting - which saw Mr Rudd oust Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard in June - leaving the public frustrated and disillusioned.

Former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke said personality politics had been allowed to overtake the party's message and policies.

He told Sky: "The personal manipulations and pursuits of interest have dominated more than they should and in the process the concentration on values has slipped.

"I really believe this was an election that was lost by the government rather than one that was won by the opposition."

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Early poll numbers suggested big swings against the government in the key states of New South Wales and Queensland after more than 14.7 million electors took part in the mandatory ballot across the country.

During the five-week campaign, Mr Abbott gradually overtook once-popular Mr Rudd.

The growing number of asylum seekers has been a major theme in the election. Labor promised that every bona fide refugee who attempts to reach Australia by boat would be settled on Papua New Guinea or Nauru.

The Liberals promised new policies requiring the navy to turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia, where they launch, and the government to buy back ageing fishing boats from Indonesian villagers to prevent them falling into the hands of people smugglers.

Mr Abbott has also vowed to scrap a controversial carbon tax and instead introduce taxpayer-funded incentives for polluters to operate cleaner.

Mr Abbot was born in London and moved with his parents to Sydney at the age of two. Later, he returned to England to study at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Mr Abbott has been in Parliament for almost two decades, and for a time was health minister.

He trained briefly as a priest, is a fitness fanatic famous for wearing tight swimming trunks and also volunteers for Australia's Rural Fire Service.

Deeply religious, some of his more conservative views on issues such as abortion and gay marriage have not pleased some.

Questions have also been asked about his attitude towards women with Ms Gillard famously labelling him a misogynist in a heart-felt speech in Parliament.

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'Small Island' Britain: Cameron Rejects Slight

David Cameron has delivered a passionate response to a Russian official's alleged dismissal of Britain as a "small island" whose views can be ignored.

In response the Prime Minister said: "Let me be clear - Britain may be a small island, but I would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience."

Downing Street has demanded "clarification" from the Kremlin over the remarks reportedly made by President Vladimir Putin's chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin's chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov

He apparently told reporters that the UK was "just a small island: no one pays any attention to them".

Mr Peskov denied that he was responsible for the comment and insisted it did not reflect the reality of Russia's views on its "positive" relations with the UK.

He said: "I don't know the source of that claim. I simply can't explain the source of that claim. Definitely it is nothing to do with reality. It is definitely not something I have said."

Asked if he thought the comment might have been made by someone representing Mr Putin, he said: "Definitely not."

Mr Cameron said he had also been told that the Russians "absolutely deny making the remark, and certainly no one's made it to me".

However, he still went on make his defence of Britain's role in the world.

"Britain is an island that has helped to clear the European continent of fascism and was resolute in doing that throughout the Second World War," he said.

"Britain is an island that helped to abolish slavery, that has invented most of the things worth inventing, including every sport currently played around the world, that still today is responsible for art, literature and music that delights the entire world.

"We are very proud of everything we do as a small island - a small island that has the sixth-largest economy, the fourth best-funded military, some of the most effective diplomats, the proudest history, one of the best records for art and literature and contribution to philosophy and world civilisation."

He added: "For the people who live in Northern Ireland, I should say we are not just an island we are a collection of islands. I don't want anyone in Shetland or Orkney to feel left out by this."

It came as Tory MP Henry Smith tweeted that Mr Putin is a "t****r".

In response to the comment, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: "Some of the comments, I don't think they need any comment. We need a robust but constructive approach and anything else, that's clearly not how the Government goes about its relations with Russia."

Asked about Mr Cameron listing British achievements, the spokesman said: "The PM was answering a question that was put to him. I presume the questioner was grateful for that. Britain has been setting the agenda for many of the things that have been discussed at the G20."

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Syria: Britain Pledges Extra £52m In Aid

British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced an additional £52m in aid to help the estimated two million refugees who have fled the civil war in Syria.

He chaired a humanitarian meeting at the G20 summit in St Petersburg this morning and urged fellow leaders to dig deep to meet the UN's appeal for £900m for Syria and £1.9bn for neighbouring countries this year.

"This is a moral imperative. This is the big refugee crisis of our time. As the (UN) Secretary General has made clear, seven million people are in dire need and chemical weapons attacks have made this even more acute," he told them.

The G20 'family' photo in St Petersburg

"A Syrian becomes a refugee every 15 seconds while we sit here at this conference. That is 5,000 fleeing their homes and becoming homeless while we are at this G20 summit."

About third of Syria's pre-war 20.8 million population has fled abroad or have been forced from their homes during the popular uprising against President Bashar al Assad's regime which is now in its third year, UN refugee agency data showed.

"This is a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions in recent history," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.

The extra £52m brings Britain's total aid contribution to the Syria crisis to £400m.

David Cameron has ruled out any prospect of agreement at the summit, saying that Russian president Vladimir Putin remains "miles away" from the truth of Mr Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people.

Syrian refugees head across the border into Turkey

Syria's state news agency SANA said the head of Syria's parliament has urged the US Congress to vote against military action targeting its regime.

"We urge you not to take reckless measures as you have the power to steer the United States from the path of war to that of diplomacy," it quoted parliament chief Jihad al Lahham.

Relations among world leaders have become heated over possible US military action against President Assad's regime.

The US and Russia have been unable to agree on a way forward and President Barack Obama said he had "hit a wall" with Mr Putin, who has warned the use of force without UN approval would be "aggression" and a violation of international law.

US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of holding the UN "hostage"

Mr Cameron confirmed that deep divisions were voiced at last night's four-hour official dinner and said that - despite evidence of nerve gas sarin found by US and UK scientists - Mr Putin is still far from accepting the regime's responsibility for the August 21 attack which killed hundreds of civilians in a Damascus suburb.

"This G20 was never going to reach conclusions on Syria," said the Prime Minister. "The divisions are too great."

Following a 35-minute face-to-face meeting with Mr Putin in the early hours of Friday, Mr Cameron said: "He says to me that he would like to see further evidence of regime culpability and we will go on providing evidence of regime culpability, as will the Americans and others, but I think it will take a lot to change his mind."

White House official Ben Rhodes said Russia did not have "anything to add" to the political debate and criticised the country for "refusing to take action".

Russian amphibious landing ship at Sevastopol port in the Ukraine

The Interfax news agency reported on Friday that Russia was sending another landing ship towards Syria.

Citing a source at navy headquarters, it said the ship left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol for the Eastern Mediterranean with "special cargo".

Russia, a staunch ally of Syria, also reportedly dismissed Britain as a "small island no one pays any attention to" as relations boiled over at the summit.

The alleged comments, thought to include a reference to Soviet oligarchs "buying Chelsea" and attributed to President Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, were later denied by Russian officials.

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told a news conference in New York that Russia has held the UN Security Council "hostage" over Syria, and Mr Obama's administration did not expect that to end.

"Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities," she said.

An aerial view shows the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan

"What we have learned, what the Syrian people have learned, is that the Security Council the world needs to deal with this crisis is not the Security Council we have."

The summit was tasked with fostering strong, sustainable growth through encouraging long-term investment among nations, but has been overshadowed by the Syria crisis.

On Thursday, the Syrian government wrote to the US Congress urging its members not to support the use of military force.

The letter, seen by Sky News, asked Congress to "communicate with us through civilised dialogue rather than the language of fire and blood".

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Dale Cregan: Cop Killer In Secure Hospital

Convicted police killer Dale Cregan has been sent to maximum-security Ashworth Hospital because of his behaviour, sources say.

One-eyed Cregan, 30, is now in the secure mental hospital - where Moors Murderer Ian Brady is serving his sentence - after being moved from Strangeways jail in Manchester.

He was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court in June for the murders of two unarmed policewomen and a father and son.

Ashworth Hospital on Merseyside where Dale Cregan has been admitted

The gangster, who had served only minimal time in jail before, was told he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

While in HMP Manchester, Cregan has been kept segregated from other prisoners for fear of reprisals. Reports suggested there is an underworld bounty of £20,000 on his remaining eye.

Moors Murderer Ian Brady is held at the same maximum-security hospital

In protest, Cregan is said to have have started refusing food. He was put in the hospital wing at the jail before his transfer to Ashworth.

A police source said: "His head has gone.

"He can't take it any more, he's not cocky any more, what a difference in attitude.

"He had not been eating and was in healthcare in prison. He was just lying on his bed 24/7, doesn't talk to staff.

"He's not eaten for four weeks, he's gone in the head."

Ashworth Hospital, near Maghull on Merseyside, houses prisoners deemed to be criminally insane.

Cregan lured Pcs Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, to their deaths in a gun and grenade attack last September.

He also killed father and son David and Mark Short in twin attacks earlier in 2012.

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Sheppey Crash: 100 Cars Collide On Bridge

A 100-vehicle pile-up on the New Sheppey Crossing Brige has left hundreds of people injured in a crash witnesses described as "mayhem".

Nobody is believed to have died in the crash around 7.15am, but police say "there could be people trapped" in their cars.

A Kent Police spokeswoman said visibility was a problem at the time, and witnesses say there was "very, very thick" early morning fog hovering over the bridge.

There are reports of some motorists driving "like idiots" in the conditions before the crash that closed the A249.

Witnesses told Sky News that some motorists were driving without headlights.

Five people have been cut free from their cars (Pic: Chris Buckingham)

At least eight people have suffered serious injuries, and another 60 people suffered minor injuries.

Lives were probably saved by a quick-thinking lorry driver who used his truck to block the entrance to the bridge and stop more cars piling into the crash.

A driver involved in the incident, Chris Buckingham, told Sky News: "He was going the other way and ... he's gone down to the end of the carriageway, gone across the roundabout and actually blocked off the road so no more cars could actually enter the dual carriageway before the emergency services got there.

"Whoever that guy is I'd like to shake his hand because he's probably saved lives today."

Up to 30 medical response vehicles are on the scene and motorists have been warned to avoid the area. Five people have already been taken to hospital.

Fog across south-east England around 8am today (Pic: MeteoGroup)

The scene is piled-up with buckled cars, lorries and even a car transporter as people wait at the side of the road to receive help from the emergency services.

A witness to the pile-up, Martin Stammers, told Sky News: "I was very, very, lucky. I was the last car out of it, if you like. As I came to the top of the hill, there were about five cars already smashed up, one was across my carriageway.

"I had to hit my brakes hard as well, I just had enough space to get through.

"From then on, all you could hear was the screeching of car tyres and the thudding, which was endless.

"It must have been going on for five to 10 minutes. You could hear hear the screeching, you could hear the lorries thudding into cars, you could hear glass breaking, there was nothing we could do.

The crash occurred on the New Sheppey Crossing bridge in Kent

"Even after the police turned up, you still heard further down the bridge – a quarter of a mile, half a mile away - cars still going into the back of each other. It was horrendous."

Student Jaime Emmett, 19, was driving through the fog when she became involved in the pile-up.

"There was a man at the side of the road saying to stop. I stopped in time but a van smashed in to me and I smashed in to the car in front," she said.

"I was lucky I was not injured. It was all quite surreal when it happened."

Another witness, David Ingram, described the scene of the crash as "mayhem".

Some 30 medical response vehicles are on the scene

"People were going quite fast, too fast. We were about 50 to 60 cars back. Luckily people coming on to the island were flashing their lights and waving their arms like mad (to warn us).

"It's carnage, it really is. The fog was very, very thick today. You could not see a vehicle in front of you as you came on to the bridge.

"We managed to stop .. the people in front of us weren't that lucky. It was mayhem."

A statement from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "There are no fatalities but ambulance crews are dealing with a large number of walking wounded casualties.

"Firefighters have used hydraulic cutting equipment to release five people from their vehicles."

Witnesses say the fog was very thick at the time of the crash

AA president Edmund King said the pile-up may have been caused by "stupid driving".

"It's really bad to travel too close to the car in front in good conditions and if you do it in foggy conditions it's an absolute recipe for disaster.

"In dense fog you cannot see the brake lights ahead. By law, you don't have to have fog lights on, although it's recommended.

"Unfortunately many people don't know how to turn their fog lights on. You may only need them once a year but it's vital they get used."

A statement from Kent Police said: "Emergency services are currently at the scene dealing with the incident.

"Officers are urging motorists to avoid the area but if a journey to the Island is essential, the old Kingsferry Bridge remains open but expect long delays."

More follows...

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Syria: 'Assad Is Destroying Millions Of Lives'

Millions of lives are being destroyed inside Syria by President Bashar al Assad and his regime, David Cameron has said.

The Prime Minister, who has arrived in St Petersburg, Russia, for the G20 summit, promised to ensure a global response to what he described as "the worst refugee crisis of this century".

Mr Cameron said: "The world needs to do more to help the innocent victims of this conflict who dreamt of a democratic and peaceful future but who are now living a nightmare far from their homes and struggling to feed their families and keep them safe.

"I will be using the G20 to ensure their needs are heard and to ensure the international community responds.

"We must make more money available for aid agencies to help ease the suffering and we must put pressure on both sides in the conflict to improve access so aid workers can get to those who most need help."

International tensions over the crisis are set to dominate the gathering which begins later today, with US President Barack Obama holding talks on the sidelines with French President Francois Hollande, who is ready to take action in Syria alongside the US.

But Mr Obama will not be speaking on the subject with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has warned a military assault without UN backing would be an act of "aggression"- or Mr Cameron, after MPs voted against British intervention last week.

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Syria: Al Qaeda-Linked Rebels Target Christians

Residents of a Christian village in western Syria have taken shelter in a convent as it was bombarded by al Qaeda-linked rebels.

The rebel fighters stormed a hotel atop a mountain overlooking Maaloula to carry out the attack, said a nun, speaking on condition of anonymity from a convent in the village.

"It's a war. It has been going from 6am in the morning," she said.

Some 80 people took refuge in the convent, which houses 13 nuns and 27 orphans.

A protest in Damascus against potential US stikes

The dawn assault was carried out by rebels from the al Qaeda-linked Jabhat al Nusra group, according to a government official and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition monitoring group.

It said the assault began with rebels seizing a government checkpoint after an al Nusra fighter blew himself up at the entrance.

They disabled two tanks and an armoured personnel carrier and killed eight regime soldiers in fighting, it said.

The Syrian military responded by sending warplanes to bomb the area, local sources told Sky News.

Situated some 40 miles northeast of Damascus, the mountain village is home to around 2,000 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.

Life goes on as normal in a regime-stronghold part of the capital

The four-decade iron rule of the Assad clan over Syria has long rested on support from the country's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Shia Muslims and Kurds.

The Assad family and key regime figures are Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Most rebels and their supporters are Sunni Muslims - the two main camps being the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, which portrays itself as the largest fighting group, and jihadist fighters, including thousands from outside Syria.

There were also fresh clashes in and around Damascus.

A mortar shell fired by rebels hit a sports hall in the capital, killing a member of the national taekwondo team.

Mohammed Ali Neimeh, 27, had been training for an upcoming Islamic Solidarity Tournament in Indonesia this week, the state news agency SANA said.

Father Amir Kaasar, a priest injured in an attack on a Christian quarter

 With the world focused on possible foreign military action in Syria, security in Damascus has been raised with government forces convinced that rebels will use any US strike as cover to launch an offensive.

Father Amir Kassar, a Catholic priest who was severely injured when a Christian quarter was hit by rebel rockets, said he fears that if outside forces join the fight, the sectarian divisions pitching Syrians against each other, will get worse.

"We don't care who is the ruler of this country. We are against the formation of an Islamic state. We want a Syrian secular state for all Syrians," he told Sky News from his hospital bed.

Speaking from Damascus, Sky's Alex Rossi said: "There is a real nervousness in the city with military action hanging over every day life. It really is on edge."

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Syria: Russia Warns US Over Military Action

US Draft Resolution On Syria

Updated: 8:35am UK, Wednesday 04 September 2013

The full text of the US draft resolution on action in Syria:

JOINT RESOLUTION

To authorize the limited and tailored use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria.

Whereas Syria is in material breach of the laws of war by having employed chemical weapons against its civilian population;

Whereas the abuses of the regime of Bashar al-Assad have included the brutal repression and war upon its own civilian population, resulting in more than 100,000 people killed in the past two years, and more than 2 million internally displaced people and Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, creating an unprecedented regional crisis and instability;

Whereas the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons programs in the region and has demonstrated its capability and willingness to repeatedly use weapons of mass destruction against its own people, including the August 21, 2013 attack in the suburbs of Damascus in which the Assad regime murdered over 1,000 innocent people, including hundreds of children;

Whereas there is clear and compelling evidence of the direct involvement of Assad regime forces and senior officials in the planning, execution, and after-action attempts to cover-up the August

21 attack, and hide or destroy evidence of such attack;

Whereas the Arab League has declared with regards to the August 21 incident to hold the "Syrian regime responsible for this heinous crime";

Whereas the United Nations Security Council, in Resolution 1540 (2004) affirmed that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons constitutes a threat to international peace and security;

Whereas in the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, Congress found that Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction threatens the security of the Middle East and the national security interests of the United States;

Whereas the actions and conduct of the Assad regime are in direct contravention of Syria's legal obligations under the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Geneva Protocol to the Hague Convention on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, and also violates standards set forth in the Chemical Weapons Convention;

Whereas Syria's use of weapons of mass destruction and its conduct and actions constitute a grave threat to regional stability, world peace, and the national security interests of the United States and its allies and partners;

Whereas the objectives of the United States use of military force in connection with this authorization are to respond to the use, and deter and degrade the potential future use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government;

Whereas the conflict in Syria will only be resolved through a negotiated political settlement, and Congress calls on all parties to the conflict in Syria to participate urgently and constructively in the Geneva process; and

Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to use force in order to defend the national security interests of the United States:

Now, therefore, be it,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons".

SECTION 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION-The President is authorized, subject to subsection (b), to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in a limited and tailored manner against legitimate military targets in Syria, only to: (1) respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government in the conflict in Syria; (2) deter Syria's use of such weapons in order to protect the national security interests of the United States and to protect our allies and partners against the use of such weapons; and (3) degrade Syria's capacity to use such weapons in the future.

(b) REQUIREMENT FOR DETERMINATION THAT USE OF MILITARY FORCE IS

NECESSARY- Before exercising the authority granted in subsection (a), the President shall make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that-

(1) the United States has used all appropriate diplomatic and other peaceful means to prevent the deployment and use of weapons of mass destruction by Syria;

(2) the Syrian government has conducted one or more significant chemical weapons attacks;

(3) the use of military force is necessary to respond to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government;

(4) it is in the core national security interest of the United States to use such military force;

(5) the United States has a military plan to achieve the specific goals of responding to the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government in the conflict in Syria, to deter Syria's use of such weapons in order to protect the national security interests of the United States and to protect our allies and partners against the use of such weapons, and to degrade Syria's capacity to use such weapons in the future; and

(6) the use of military force is consistent with and furthers the goals of the United States strategy toward Syria, including achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict.

(c) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS-

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, 50 U.S.C. § 1541, et seq., the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section

5(b) of the War Powers Resolution, within the limits of the authorization established under this Section.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

SECTION 3. LIMITATION. The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations.

SECTION 4. TERMINATION OF THE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

The authorization in section 2(a) shall terminate 60 days after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, except that the President may extend, for a single period of 30 days, such authorization if -

(1) the President determines and certifies to Congress, not later than 5 days before the date of termination of the initial authorization, that the extension is necessary to fulfill the purposes of this resolution as defined by Section 2(a) due to extraordinary circumstances and for ongoing and impending military operations against Syria under section 2(a); and

(2) Congress does not enact into law, before the extension of authorization, a joint resolution disapproving the extension of the authorization for the additional 30 day period; provided that any such joint resolution shall be considered under the expedited procedures otherwise provided for concurrent resolutions of disapproval contained in section 7 of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546).

SECTION 5. SYRIA STRATEGY.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this resolution, the President shall consult with Congress and submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives an integrated United States Government strategy for achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Syria, including a comprehensive review of current and planned U.S. diplomatic, political, economic, and military policy towards Syria, including: (1) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian Supreme Military Council and other Syrian entities opposed to the government of Bashar Al-Assad that have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States; (2) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian political opposition, including the Syrian Opposition Coalition; (3) efforts to isolate extremist and terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their influence on the future transitional and permanent Syrian governments; (4) coordination with allies and partners; and (5) efforts to limit support from the Government of Iran and others for the Syrian regime.

SECTION 6. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.

(a) Notification and Provision of Information. Upon his determination to use the authority set forth in section 2 of this Act, the President shall notify Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of the use of such authority and shall keep Congress fully and currently informed of the use of such authority.

(b) Reports. No fewer than 10 days after the initiation of military operations under the authority provided by Section 2, and every 20 days thereafter until the completion of military operations, the President shall submit to the Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a report on the status of such operations, including progress achieved toward the objectives specified in Section 2(a), the financial costs of operations to date, and an assessment of the impact of the operations on the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities and intentions.

SECTION 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. The authority set forth in Section 2 of this resolution shall not constitute an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war except to the extent that it authorizes military action under the conditions, for the specific purposes, and for the limited period of time set forth in this resolution.

SECTION 5. SYRIA STRATEGY.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this resolution, the President shall consult with Congress and submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives an integrated United States Government strategy for achieving a negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Syria, including a comprehensive review of current and planned U.S. diplomatic, political, economic, and military policy towards Syria, including: (1) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian Supreme Military Council and other Syrian entities opposed to the government of Bashar Al-Assad that have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States; (2) the provision of all forms of assistance to the Syrian political opposition, including the Syrian Opposition Coalition; (3) efforts to isolate extremist and terrorist groups in Syria to prevent their influence on the future transitional and permanent Syrian governments; (4) coordination with allies and partners; and (5) efforts to limit support from the Government of Iran and others for the Syrian regime.

SECTION 6. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.

(a) Notification and Provision of Information. Upon his determination to use the authority set forth in section 2 of this Act, the President shall notify Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of the use of such authority and shall keep Congress fully and currently informed of the use of such authority.

(b) Reports. No fewer than 10 days after the initiation of military operations under the authority provided by Section 2, and every 20 days thereafter until the completion of military operations, the President shall submit to the Congress, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a report on the status of such operations, including progress achieved toward the objectives specified in Section 2(a), the financial costs of operations to date, and an assessment of the impact of the operations on the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities and intentions.

SECTION 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. The authority set forth in Section 2 of this resolution shall not constitute an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war except to the extent that it authorizes military action under the conditions, for the specific purposes, and for the limited period of time set forth in this resolution.

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Rachel Manning: Killer Jailed For Murder

A man was given a life sentence at Luton Crown Court today for the murder of 19-year-old Rachel Manning.

Shahidul Ahmed, 41, will serve a minimum term of 17 years for Ms Manning's murder.

The teenager's boyfriend, Barri White, was wrongly convicted of the killing and said he was "over the moon" after the sentencing.

He added that "justice has finally been done" and that he was "really happy that Rachel's family have finally got justice and the closure they deserve".

Rachel's former boyfriend Barri White was wrongly convicted of her murder

Mr White was convicted in 2002 of Rachel's murder, but five years later this was quashed by appeal judges and he was acquitted in 2008 after a re-trial.

This came after the case was featured on a BBC Rough Justice documentary which raised questions about key scientific evidence in the first trial.

Mr White's friend Keith Hyatt was also cleared of any wrongdoing after he was wrongly convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by helping to dispose of Rachel's body.

Ahmed was suspected of Ms Manning's murder after he was arrested over a sexual assault in May 2010.

Thames Valley Police said a woman got into his car after a night out in Milton Keynes thinking he was a taxi driver.

She escaped after being indecently assaulted and was helped by a passer-by who got the car's registration. The arrest led to a DNA match connecting Ahmed to a steering lock used to hit Ms Manning.

He was arrested on suspicion of her murder in September 2010 and charged in December 2011.

Detective Chief Superintendent Rob Mason, of Thames Valley Police, said: "I cannot praise Rachel's family enough; they have remained dignified and courageous throughout despite the unimaginable nightmare they have endured.

"I hope that today will give some comfort to the family after the ordeal they have been through over the past 12 years."

Baljit Ubhey OBE, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "Rachel Manning, who was trying to find her way home after a night out, had the misfortune to come across Ahmed.

"We may never know for sure what happened that night, or why Ahmed murdered Rachel, but what we do know is that Ahmed is an extremely dangerous man who was convicted last year of a sexual assault against another young woman.

"Had it not been for his arrest for that offence Ahmed may never have been brought to justice for Rachel's murder.

"This case represents a tragedy for the family of Rachel Manning. And there are others whose lives have also been affected. Two innocent men were imprisoned as a result of this terrible crime and we hope that this conviction represents closure for them too."

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Ariel Castro Found Hanged In Prison Cell

Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man who held three women captive for a decade, has died after apparently hanging himself inside his prison cell.

The 53-year-old was found in his cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, at 9.20pm on Tuesday, prison officials said.

Prison medical staff performed CPR on him before he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Castro was being held in protective custody because of the notoriety of the case.

This meant he was checked every 30 minutes, but he was not on suicide watch.

Castro kept his victims chained inside his house

His three victims - Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight - disappeared between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20-years-old.

Before the sentencing, Castro's lawyers had unsuccessfully tried to have a psychological examination of their client.

They argued Castro fit the profile of sociopathic disorder, and said they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

Castro, a former school bus driver, said during his sentencing hearing that he was a man suffering from a pornography addiction.

"I'm not a monster. I'm sick," he said.

Gina DeJesus (L), Amanda Berry (C) and Michelle Knight (R)

He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 937 counts including kidnap and rape.

His victims told a horrific story of starvation, beatings and sexual abuse during the years of captivity in his home in Seymour Avenue in east Cleveland.

Castro chained them by their ankles, fed them only one meal a day and provided plastic toilets in their bedrooms that were rarely emptied.

He is the father of Ms Berry's six-year-old girl, DNA tests have confirmed.

Ms Knight, who confronted him in court, said: "You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back."

"I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

The three women escaped on May 6, when Ms Berry broke open a door and alerted neighbours.

Castro's house has been torn down

"Help me," she said in a call to the police emergency dispatcher.

"I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

Castro was arrested that evening.

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Gary Tweddle: Body Recovered In Oz Bushland

Police believe a body that has been recovered from Australian bushland may be that of a British man who went missing seven weeks ago.

Gary Tweddle, 23, has not been seen since he disappeared after a work dinner during a conference in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

Police said a body thought to be Mr Tweddle was spotted by an ambulance rescue helicopter during a training exercise near Leura on Monday.

Police abseiled about 25m down a cliff face to the site on Tuesday, and the body was winched to the top of the cliff about 4pm local time (7am BST).

Superintendent Darryl Jobson said that the man was similar in appearance to Mr Tweddle, but it could take a number of days to formally identify the body.

"What we need to do is go through our formal identification processes to make sure we identify the right male and making sure that we're notifying the right next of kin," he said.

Mr Tweddle is originally from Reading

"At an appropriate time we'll be able to convey to you to the identity of the male."

He said police will examine the area where the body was found, which will help determine the cause of death.

"It would appear to be misadventure but we're not ruling anything out," he said.

Joanne Elliott, a spokeswoman for Blue Mountains Local Area Command, said the "extremely rough terrain" meant police rescue officers were not able to retrieve the body on Monday.

"The location couldn't be accessed on foot and the crew lost all light in the mountains so we're unable to get down to the ground," she said.

Mr Tweddle, who had emigrated to Australia, was last heard from when he rang colleagues also staying at the Fairmont Resort in Leura in the early hours of July 17 to say he was lost in the bushland.

Mr Tweddle was at a work conference in the Blue Mountains area

As the recovery operation started, Mr Tweddle's girlfriend told friends and family that "the sun is beginning to rise on a day that we have all been hoping would never come".

Anika Haigh wrote on her Facebook page: "A body has been found in the area of Gary's disappearance and today it will be retrieved and identified.

"Please know that nothing has been confirmed at this stage but I hope in a few hours we will have an answer either way.

"One thing I know for certain is that Gary will... come home one day - his fight, determination & 'never give up' attitude that we all loved so much about him will guide him."

She added that it was time for him "to come home where you belong".

The disappearance of Mr Tweddle, a computer salesman originally from Reading, sparked the biggest search ever conducted in the Blue Mountains.

His father David flew out to Australia from his home in Berkshire to help with the search effort before he returned to the UK last month.

Mr Tweddle became lost in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney

Mr Tweddle's mother Carol Streatfield, who also lives in Australia, had also flown to the Blue Mountains to join the search for her son.

She said the phone call from Ms Haigh telling her that her son was missing was the first step in the most "heart-breaking journey" of her life.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office last month, she said: "On the mountain my days were filled with sirens, noise, searching, tireless walking and door knocking. I repeatedly followed the track I believed he had taken in the hopes of finding a clue.

"Every pole and tree were covered with his beautiful face, however it was on a piece of A4 paper with a 'missing' heading.

"At one point I was so exhausted I found a bench to sit on in the middle of a bush track, and as I sat down and there to the left of me was Gary's photo.

"It was a small comfort as I stroked his face, kissed him and told him how much I loved him and that I will never give up trying to find him, ever."

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Corrie Le Vell's Alleged Victim 'Lied To Police'

Michael Le Vell's defence lawyer has accused the actor's alleged child rape victim of telling "a little lie" in her evidence to police.

The teenage girl is being cross-examined by the Coronation Street star's barrister, Alisdair Williamson, in Manchester Crown Court.

On Monday, the girl told the court that the actor raped her when she was six years old as she clutched her teddy bear.

She told the court today that the actor smelt strongly of alcohol during the alleged attack.

Le Vell, 48, who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, denies the claims.

Mr Williamson also questioned alleged inconsistencies in what the girl - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - told police.

Le Vell, at court today, plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the soap

The barrister suggested when the girl was interviewed on video by police she said some "silly things" that she has left out of her account given in court.

Mr Williamson told the court the witness had initially told police she had never talked to anyone about the alleged abuse.

But the lawyer claimed the witness "told lots of girls" about it.

"I told two friends because they saw me crying," the witness replied.

But when police were called in the witness told the officer she had not told anyone, the court heard.

Mr Williamson continued: "The officer came to see you because ... you told people and you told the officer a little lie.

"You told him you had not told the girls, they had just guessed.

"I suggest that was a little lie?"

"No," the witness replied.

Mr Williamson said in police interviews the girl claimed to remember the exact times when alleged rapes took place - and she claimed two of the rapes happened at exactly the same time.

Le Vell outside the court on Monday

Mr Williamson continued: "Was it a detail you were putting in to make you more convincing and you now realise it sounds a bit silly?"

"No," she replied.

"It didn't happen," Mr Williamson said.

"It did," the witness replied.

She also told the court that Le Vell took her to an award show and arranged visit to Coronation Street after he raped her.

She cried as she told the court : "I hated him because what he did was so wrong and I was so young and I did not know at the time."

As the girl gave evidence behind a curtain, Le Vell repeatedly shook his head.

She had the option to give evidence by video-link, but she said: "I wanted to come into court to tell my truth."

Le Vell is facing 12 charges in all - five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child, and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The alleged offences relate to one complainant and are said to have taken place between 2001 and September 2010.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged between six and 14.

After his arrest Le Vell told officers the allegations were a "pack of absolute lies" and he has maintained his innocence throughout.

Le Vell, who lives in Hale, Cheshire, is one of TV's most famous faces after playing Kevin Webster for the past 30 years.

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Israel Fires Missiles In Mediterranean Test

Israel has said it carried out a missile test in the Mediterranean, after Russian radar detected two ballistic "objects".

Israel's defence ministry said it had tested a single 'Ankor' target missile, which it said formed part of a US-funded anti-missile system.

Two missiles were fired towards the eastern Mediterranean from the central part of the sea, Russia's defence ministry reportedly said.

Interfax news agency quoted a ministry spokesman as saying the launch was detected at 10.16 am Moscow time (7.16am UK time) by an early warning radar station at Armavir, near the Black Sea, which is designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.

Sky News' Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall said: "This is Israel saying 'we can defend ourselves'. They do these tests frequently but they would have chosen today as a reminder (to Israel's enemies)."

Despite reports that Israel had claimed the launch was a joint test with America, a US Navy spokesman said no missiles had been fired from any of its ships in the Mediterranean.

The Russian Embassy in Syria said there were no signs of a missile attack or explosions in the capital, Damascus. 

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had informed President Vladimir Putin of the launch, according to Interfax.

"The trajectory of these objects goes from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern part of the Mediterranean coast," Interfax quoted the spokesman as saying.

Russia opposes any outside military intervention in the Syrian civil war and a ministry official had earlier criticised the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had previously said she was not aware of any missile launch in the eastern Mediterranean.

Washington is currently assessing whether to order sea-launched strikes against Syria, with President Barack Obama keen to convince Congress of the need to intervene.

Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, who are both campaigning for action, met the President to discuss operations.

Mr Graham said: "It is all in the details, but I left the meeting feeling better than I felt before about what happens the day after and that the purpose of the attack is going to be a little more robust than I thought."

And Mr McCain said in an interview that Mr Obama did not reveal what weapons might be provided to the opposition in Syria or discuss in what targets might be attacked.

"There was no concrete agreement, 'OK, we got a deal,'" Mr McCain said.

"Like a lot of things, the devil is in the details."

It came as Foreign Secretary William Hague answered questions on the Syria crisis in Parliament.

More follows...

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Lancashire School Blaze: Five Boys Arrested

Police have arrested five boys aged between 11 and 15 on suspicion of arson following a school fire in Lancashire.

Credit: David Pearson

The blaze broke out on Sunday afternoon at Leyland St Mary's High School on Royal Avenue.

Credit: Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

At one point, 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines were tackling the fire.

The school, which was built in 1957, had no sprinklers.

Credit: Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

Lancashire Police announced on Twitter: "Five boys in total, aged between 11 and 15, have now been arrested on suspicion of arson following the fire at Leyland St Mary's High School."

Credit: Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

They were later released on police bail until September 30.

Credit: Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

Classes were due to resume at the school on Tuesday.

A note on the school's website said: "A fire at school today (Sunday) has caused devastating damage.

Credit: Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service

"This website will post details of when pupils will be able to return ... Please pray for the school at this difficult time."

Lancashire County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson said on Twitter: "As a former pupil of Leyland St Mary's, I'm so sorry to hear of devastating fire. I hope to be a part of the LCC team who rebuilds it."

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BA Pilot Simon Wood 'Abused' African Orphans

A British Airways pilot is alleged to have used his position to sexually abuse scores of children in African schools and orphanages.

First Officer Simon Wood, 54, was due to appear in court last Friday on separate child abuse cases in the UK, but was found dead on August 18 after being hit by a train.

Allegations of further abuse abroad emerged after the BA received an anonymous letter in July.

The pilot is alleged to have molested youngsters during stopovers in Kenya under the guise of charity work for the airline.

BA contacted Scotland Yard after the airline's own investigation into a trip to Kenya by Wood revealed "cause for concern".

"We would be absolutely appalled if it transpired that an employee of ours had been cynically using this charitable work as a cover for exploitation of children he was trusted to help," BA said in a statement.

The airline now faces legal action from lawyers representing the alleged victims in Kenya.

Martyn Day, from legal firm Leigh Day, said investigations made it "horrifically clear" that Wood had access to "hundreds of vulnerable children" over many years.

The firm is investigating how Wood was given access to the Kenyan children, as well as the extent of his alleged abuse in the UK, which it claims is much higher.

British Airways says it is "appalled" by the allegations

"It is believed the number of those who may have been abused may be far greater both in Kenya and the UK," the firm said.

Wood, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, faced charges in the UK of indecent assault of a girl under 16, making indecent photographs of a child and possessing indecent images of a child, according to Scotland Yard.

He visited Kenya in Easter 2002, along with 20 other BA crew members, and spent the holiday period with children from orphanages.

Wood told the Press Association, who covered the trip at the time: "We play, sing, organise activities and generally entertain them. We become very close to the children."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We continue to pursue a number of inquiries. However, the police response will now be proportionate given Mr Wood's death."

An inquest into Wood's death was opened and adjourned at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court last Wednesday.

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Syria: Russia Warns US Against Military Strike

Russia has warned that a peace conference to end the conflict in Syria could be put off "forever" if the US goes ahead with military action against the regime.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the planned discussions in Geneva would be disrupted by a US strike.

"If the action announced by the US President - to the great regret of all of us - does in fact take place ... it will put off the chances of (holding) this conference for a long time, if not forever."

As tension mounts between Moscow and Washington over the situation, Russia has sent a spy ship to the eastern Mediterranean.

According to Russian news agency Interfax, the ship left a naval base in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol late on Sunday on a mission "to gather current information in the area of the escalating conflict".

Any military action hinges on whether President Bashar al Assad's regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in Syria last month in which 1,429 people - including at least 426 children - died.

President Obama is asking Congress to back military action

France says it has new evidence that the Government was responsible, and will hand it over to lawmakers later.

Washington has already announced that hair and blood samples prove the regime has used sarin gas to attack civilians.

Secretary of State John Kerry has used interviews with several US news channels to suggest the case for military strikes is growing, adding that he is confident Congress will back military action when it is put to a vote next week.

In Britain there have been calls for David Cameron to consider a second parliamentary vote on military action in Syria.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has become the latest senior politician to suggest a new bid for parliamentary support could be made.

Mr Johnson said the use of chemical weapons for mass murder in Syria could not go unpunished.

The Arab League has called for "deterrent action"

"If there is new and better evidence that inculpates Assad, I see no reason why the Government should not lay a new motion before Parliament, inviting British participation - and then it is Ed Miliband, not David Cameron, who will face embarrassment," Mr Johnson wrote in The Telegraph.

Mr Cameron ruled out the use of British force in Syria following a defeat in the Commons.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has also said he could not foresee any circumstances in which the Government would return to Parliament on the same issue.

"We're not going to keep asking the same question of Parliament again and again. We live in a democracy, the executive cannot act in a way which clearly is not welcome to Parliament or the British people, so we're not proposing to do so."

Arab League ministers have urged the United Nations and the international community to take "deterrent" action, while blaming the regime for the alleged chemical weapons assault.

However a defiant Mr Assad told state TV his country is capable of confronting any attack.

"The American threats of launching an attack against Syria will not discourage Syria away from its principles ... or its fight against terrorism supported by some regional and Western countries, first and foremost the United States of America," he said.

As the diplomatic wrangling continues, British MPs have called for answers from the Government over a chemicals trade deal with Syria signed months after the bloodshed started.

The Department for Business issued licences for the export of sodium fluoride and potassium fluoride to the war-torn country in January last year before revoking them several months later.

The chemicals are capable of being used to make nerve gas such as sarin as well as having a variety of industrial uses.

The Government said no chemicals were exported before the licence was revoked in June 2012 following EU sanctions but MPs said they intend to raise the issue at Westminster.

The UN has announced that some seven million people have been displaced by the ongoing civil war.

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Syria: Hague Rules Out British Military Action

William Hague has ruled out British military involvement in Syria and brands Labour "opportunistic" for opposing action.

Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan programme the Foreign Secretary said "Parliament has spoken" and that it would be unrealistic to launch more attempts to persuade MPs to support military force.

But Mr Hague said if another vote was held then Labour would have to "play a less partisan and less opportunistic role and be prepared to take yes for an answer in terms of the motions that we present to the House of Commons".

He said he thinks the opposition party has "some hard thinking to do" in relation to their approach.

"There is some serious concern in other capitals, not just across the Atlantic but in European capitals as well, about the position they (Labour) have taken in voting down a government motion (on Syria)," he said.

Mr Hague said they "must dust ourselves down from that defeat" and support other nations.

Mr Obama and Joe Biden discuss Syria

But he denied that the country's entire foreign policy in regard to Syria had been rejected in Thursday's vote and pledged to continue to support the country with humanitarian aid and work with allies.

On Saturday US President Barack Obama confirmed that he believes in the use of force following the alleged use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al Assad.

He has formally requested authorisation from Congress before any action begins which means there will be no strikes before members will return on September 9.

Mr Hague insisted relations between the US and the UK remain strong and said Britain will provide diplomatic and political support.

A Free Syrian Army fighter in Aleppo

He said: "The United States are clear that the special relationship remains.

"They have been very good about the result of our vote and understand that we respect democratic procedures in our country and so equally we must respect theirs.

"We are not going to get involved in their congressional debate.

"But, we do believe this threat has to be confronted and if it is not confronted now the confrontation in the end will only be bigger."

The French interior minister Manuel Valls told a radio station on Sunday that France cannot act alone against Syria and will await the US decision.

The Syrian main opposition bloc said it was "disappointed" with Mr Obama's decision to wait for Congress but said it believed lawmakers would approve a strike.

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Nelson Mandela Discharged From Hospital

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital in Pretoria where he has been treated for nearly three months.

"Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable," the presidency said, referring to the 95-year-old by his clan name.

Mr Mandela was admitted on June 8 with a recurring lung infection and had previously been in a critical but stable condition, according to the office of President Jacob Zuma.

The government statement added: "His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there.

A convoy of medical vehicles arrive at Mandela's home

"The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital.

"If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done."

Mr Zuma's office said the elderly statesman has been treated by "a large medical team from the military, academia, private sector and other public health spheres".

Sky's Alex Crawford said: "He's a few days short of being in intensive care in that hospital in Pretoria for three months… I think many of his close family and friends wanted him home if it was at all possible."

The presidency requested that Mr Mandela and his family be given "the necessary private space so that his continuing care can proceed with dignity and without unnecessary intrusion".

The confirmation of Mr Mandela's release to his home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb follows reports that he had been discharged on Saturday.

Mr Mandela spent nearly three decades in prison before being released and being elected South Africa's first black president in multi-racial elections in 1994 that ended apartheid rule.

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Sir David Frost Dies Of Heart Attack On Ship

Sir David Frost: Obituary - 1939-2013

Updated: 12:09pm UK, Sunday 01 September 2013

Sir David Frost - who probably interviewed more world figures from royalty, politics, the Church, show-business and virtually everywhere else, than any other living broadcaster - was the most illustrious TV inquisitor of his generation.

He not only won virtually all the major television awards available, but his professional activities were so diverse that he was once described as "a one-man conglomerate".

Sir David was regularly scoffed at by fellow broadcasters for his allegedly non-aggressive style of questioning.

But he invariably had the last laugh because he almost always extracted more intriguing information and revealing reactions from his subjects than other far more acerbic broadcasters who boasted about their hard-hitting treatment of their "victims".

He was as affable and effusive off-screen as he was on it. And his cheery trademark introduction, "Hello, good morning and welcome" to his long running BBC1 Sunday programme Breakfast With Frost set the amiable tone for what was to follow.

His interview with the doomed American President "Tricky Dicky" Richard Nixon was a TV classic. During it, Nixon dramatically admitted that he had "let down the country".

But there were many other historic moments, including one when he suddenly introduced the word "bonkers" during a tense interview with the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher over the sinking of the Argentine warship the Belgrano during the Falklands conflict. She was furious.

Sir David first came to notice nationally with the Saturday night TV satirical programme That Was The Week That Was, which he hosted and co-created in the early 1960s. By today's standards of merciless lampooning, it would appear tame.

But in those days, it cocked a snook at the Establishment and pomposity in a way that had never been tried on the broadcasting media before.

It shocked authority, and was a programme not to be missed by those who were its victims as much as by those who enjoyed seeing the great and the good so savagely ridiculed.

But it "made" Sir David who was then seen as a coruscating rebel, although quite a likeable one, and who was to develop, ironically, as an Establishment figure in his own right.

David Paradine Frost was born on April 7, 1939, the son of a Methodist preacher, at Tenterden, Kent. He was educated at Gillingham Grammar School, Wellingborough Grammar School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

At Cambridge he joined Footlights, the renowned revue and cabaret society. He then started to do some TV for the regional station in Norwich, particularly a programme called Town and Gown which was about Cambridge.

For the Christmas edition of that programme in December 1959, the programme-makers decided they wanted a spoof of TV and they approached Footlights and asked Sir David and the comedian Peter Cook to write it.

Later Sir David said: "We went to the station to do it, and I walked into this rather odd environment of a television studio and I thought 'This is home. This is for me'. It was an instant feeling, and from that moment on, for me the decision was made. It was a very memorable day."

After the enormous success of That Was The Week That Was, Sir David set up his own company David Paradine Ltd which gave birth to many more hugely popular programmes, including A Gift of Song, Spitting Image, Through the Keyhole, Peeping Times, How to Irritate People and The Spectacular World of Guinness Records.

Sir David was instrumental in starting up two important TV franchises: LWT in 1967, and as one of the Famous Five who launched TV-am in February 1983. In July, 1969, during the British television Apollo 11 coverage, he presented David Frost's Moon Party for LWT, a 10-hour discussion and entertainment marathon.

His dramatic interview with Richard Nixon was at the time the most widely watched news interview in the history of TV. It was shown in almost every televised nation in the world, and garnered the largest audience ever achieved for such an interview in the United States.

It was later dramatised into a sell-out West End play, and more recently a Hollywood movie.

It was a brilliant scoop. Sir David, whose career at that stage appeared to be on the decline, poured some of his own wealth into this interview. It was a gamble, but it totally restored his fortunes - and there was no looking back after that.

Another of his programmes, The Frost Report, effectively launched John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett on their subsequent glittering careers.

Sir David's list of interviewees reads like a roll call of the world's most famous and powerful people. They include virtually every US president and British prime minister during his working life.

Others included Prince Charles, the Duke and Duchess of York, the Princess Royal, Robert F Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, Pierre Trudeau, Mikhail Gorbachev, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, King Hussein, Golda Meir, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk, and countless more.

He was the only person to have interviewed all six British prime ministers serving between 1964 and 2007 (Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair) and the seven US presidents in office between 1969 and 2008 (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush). He was also the last person to interview Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

Outside world affairs, his roster ranged from Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Noel Coward, Peter Ustinov, Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali, the Beatles, Clint Eastwood, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir John Gielgud, Norman Mailer, Warren Beatty and many more.

His Sunday morning interview programme Breakfast with Frost ran on the BBC from January 1993 until May 2005. The programme originally began in this format on TV-am in September 1983 as Frost on Sunday and ran until the station lost its franchise at the end of 1992. Later it transferred briefly to BSB before moving to the BBC.

Later he was to work for Al Jazeera English and had recently interviewed F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

Among his awards were two Emmy Awards (for The David Frost Show), the Royal Television Society Silver Medal and the Richard Dimbleby Award in the United Kingdom and internationally, the Golden Rose of Montreux.

American audiences took to him as enthusiastically as British ones, a considerable achievement because more often than not megastars on the British TV screen flop hopelessly in the United States.

The Chicago Tribune once wrote of him: "Few interviewers have been as consistently well-prepared, bright and engaging as David Frost."

The Christian Science Monitor also spoke of his programmes producing "results that are often more revealing than anything on prime-time news", while New York Newsday wrote: "He has become an Anglo-American broadcasting phenomenon."

During one hectic period in his life, Sir David was virtually commuting on a weekly basis to present coast-to-coast programmes in the United States and returning to Britain to host programmes here. He was undoubtedly the busiest, and certainly the most energetic, television personality of his generation.

Over the years, Sir David wrote 17 books, produced several films and started two television networks, London Weekend Television and TV-am.

In 1983, he married Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard, second daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. There were three sons.

He was awarded an OBE in 1970 and received his knighthood in 1993.

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