Godfrey Bloom Loses Whip For 'Sluts' Comment

Outspoken UKIP politician Godfrey Bloom has lost the party whip for calling women "sluts" at the party's conference.

The MEP, who started a furore this summer by claiming taxpayers' money was being wasted on aid sent to "Bongo Bongo Land", could be kicked out of the party for good after he also rapped a TV reporter over the head with a UKIP brochure.

Mr Bloom argued with journalists after he was challenged about a comment made at a fringe event in London designed to promote the advancement of women in politics.

After two female UKIP members joked they did not clean behind the fridge, Mr Bloom admits he quipped: "This place is full of sluts."

"I made a joke and said 'oh well, you're all sluts' and everybody laughed and all the women laughed," he told Sky News afterwards. "Was there a single woman in there who didn't laugh at the joke?"

The politician then dubbed Sky's Darren McCaffrey a "sad little man" after he pointed out the word "sluts" could be considered highly derogatory.

The MEP hit Michael Crick with UKIP's conference book

He then set off down the street but managed to have another clash with Channel 4 reporter Michael Crick en route.

Mr Crick had held up UKIP's conference book, which proclaims the party is "changing the face of politics", and asked why there were "no black faces" on the cover.

Mr Bloom called the reporter a "racist" and rapped him over the head with the book before leaping into a taxi.

Before he sped off, he said: "What a racist comment. How dare you? That's an appalling thing to say. You're picking people out for the colour of your skin? You disgust me."

Mr Bloom also reportedly told ITV correspondent Paul Brand: "You treat me badly, you'll get a lot worse than that (Crick's slap) ... that is a threat to any journalist."

And in an interview broadcast by the BBC, Mr Bloom asked Newsnight's political editor Allegra Stratton whether her mother ever called her a slut.

Mr Bloom is no stranger to controversy

"You're untidy, you leave your kit lying around, has your mother never called you a slut?" he asked her.

Ms Stratton, laughing, replied: "I don't think she has. She's called me other things but not that."

Mr Bloom said: "Perhaps you're very tidy. There was no malice, it was a joke, it was all on camera."

Party leader Nigel Farage said Mr Bloom should consider his position over his "selfish and stupid" comments, and said he would speak to UKIP chairman Steve Crowther about the matter.

UKIP press officer Gawain Towler then tweeted: "Chairman has removed the whip from Godfrey Bloom pending a formal disciplinary hearing."

Mr Farage later accused Mr Bloom of "destroying" the conference and said his actions could not be tolerated.

Mr Farage says the row has overshadowed the UKIP conference

"There is no media coverage of this conference. It's gone. It's dead. It's all about Godfrey hitting a journalist and using an unpleasant word. It's gone. And we can't put up with it," he told the conference.

Mr Bloom, MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, later insisted his comment was harmless.

He wrote on Twitter: "Made a purposely outrageous joke among friends which was taken as joke by women present ... It should not be taken out of context and misinterpreted by a hostile press."

The politician is no stranger to controversy. He first raised eyebrows this summer by claiming taxpayers' money was being wasted on foreign aid sent to "Bongo Bongo Land".

And then last month he suggested women were more suited to "finding mustard in the pantry" than driving cars. He also called 20th century feminists "shrill, bored, middle class women of a certain physical genre".

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Plane Diverts To Stansted: Two Men Held

Two men have been arrested after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport.

The Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was carrying 267 passengers and crew, was due to land at Heathrow Airport but was diverted to the Essex airport just after 7.30pm on Friday.

Officers boarded the plane and arrested the pair on suspicion of endangering an aircraft, Essex Police said.

A spokesman for the force said: "The passengers have been removed safely and inquiries are ongoing."

The remaining passengers are being looked after at a reception centre at Stansted and are due to be transferred to Heathrow this morning.

A spokesman for Stansted said last night: "Stansted Airport can confirm a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330 diverted into Stansted at approximately 19.30 this evening.

"The aircraft, which was flying from Columbo to Heathrow, landed safely with Essex Police in attendance.

"The airport is open and flights are arriving and departing as normal."

In May this year, two men were arrested on board a plane from Pakistan carrying 297 passengers that was intercepted and diverted to Stansted by RAF typhoon jets.

Police later said the incident in May was being treated as criminal rather than terrorism-related.

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South Africa Rape Tragedy Behind Crime Figures

Men's Shocking Views On Sex Attacks

Updated: 11:22pm UK, Thursday 19 September 2013

Sky News went to a township near Johannesburg to do our own impromptu survey asking men whether they had ever forced a woman to have sex.

While unscientific, the idea was to get a snapshot of men's views on women.

The survey was commissioned with a small team of researchers who asked a select number of questions.

In total, 28 out of the 38 that answered said they had raped a woman, and many even explained how and why.

Their answers are extraordinarily candid and shocking.

The most graphic content has been removed but those likely to be offended by such material should not read on.

Here are their responses:

Respondent number one - aged 34

Q: Did you have sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: When was it?
A: 2011

Q: Would you call it rape?
A: Yes

Q: How many times have you raped someone?
A: Twice

Q: How did it happen?
A: We were having some beers in a tavern and I spent (money on) the lady but when (the) time arrived (to) go she refused. I had to use manpower to take her with me. We never got to my place so I decided to rape her. The second time it was the same woman again, we met at a shebeen and we had beers together, when she decided to leave the place I escorted her and along the way I raped her.

Q: Did she report the case?
A: No.

Q: Do you know why?
A: She told me that though I raped her what she has I now also have it.

Q: What did she mean by that?
A: She meant she was HIV positive.

Respondent number two - aged 29

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman against her will?
A: Yes

Q: When was it?
A: 2010

Q: How many were you?
A: Four

Q: Was it a gang rape?
A: Yes. Only the two slept with her.

Q: How old was she then?
A: 16

Q: Did she (report) the case (to police) after the rape?
A: Her parents influenced her to (do so).

Q: Did you get arrested for the crime?
A: Yes.

Q: Were you convicted of it?
A: (I was given) five years placed on suspension.

Q: Do you know someone who might have done the same (thing)?
A: Yes.

Respondent number three - aged 38

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: I always wanted the woman but because (I) am ugly and I knew that if I (tried) to (proposition) her she (would refuse) … unless I have a lot of money to buy her. I knew where she lived and traced her movements and how many people she lived with in her shack, but I found out that her boyfriend only came (back at) month ends. I went to her place Friday night and it was raining so it helped me attack her well as no one else could hear me. I used a bolt cutter to gain entry, wielding a butcher knife. I told her not to scream until I leave her place.

Q: Did she open a (police) case?
A: I don't know because I never got arrested for the rape.

Respondent number four - age not given

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: The woman always asked me for (a) cool drink or money for transport. I did give her (these things) many times. When I needed her to sleep with me she always came up with excuses. (In) January this year I met her on the street when I was coming from the nearby shop holding plastic (bags) with groceries. I decided to invite her to my place, she came over and when I needed sex she said, 'not today, next time'. I didn't buy the story. I overpowered and raped her.

Q: Did she open a case after that?
A: Yes.

Q: Did they arrest you?
A: Yes, the following day.

Q: Have you served time for the rape?
A: I (awaited) trial for six months. My brother bought the docket from the (prosecuting authorities) for R5000 (£321) and the case was (thrown out).

Respondent number five - aged 28

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: No

Q: Why not?
A: It's not the right thing to do.

Q: What do you think about those who do so?
A: They are not man enough; a real man doesn't force a woman in bed for it is a crime to do so.

Q: Do you know someone who might have done this?
A: Yes! But I have no respect for people who do such things.

Respondent number six - aged 24

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes.

Q: How did it happen?
A: We watched (a) game of soccer together at my place at night while her parents had gone out. I bought some ciders. I knew she liked them, and we drunk together. In the middle of the game I (raped her).

Q: Did she open a case against you?
A: No!

Q: Why not?
A: I think she just got scared of her parents and avoided the embarrassment.

Q: Have you apologised to her to see if she had animosity towards you after the rape?
A: I tried but she didn't want to talk to me.

Q: How do you feel that you did such a thing to your neighbour?
A: I feel great because she is a nice woman to have (slept) with even though (it was) against her will.

Respondent number seven - aged 39

Q: How old was your victim?
A: 21.

Q: Was this the first time?
A: Yes.

Q: How did it happen?
A: (There) were five of us who went out on (a) Friday night (in) 2011. We did a house arrest, three of us got into the house of a white man demanding (he) open up his safe of money. He refused so we used a hot iron to get him to open the safe. The moment we were still busy teasing him our two accomplices came in with his wife who didn't know that there was a robbery in progress at her house. She was … raped ... repeatedly. We left the scene with jewellery and cash plus a cellphone.

Q: Was anyone arrested for this crime?
A: No

Q: Do you still do crime?
A: When (I get) a nice tip-off.

Respondent number eight - aged 39

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: My ex-girlfriend's sister lived with us in the same shack and when (I was) off her sister would be at work, so we watched TV together. I asked and promised to buy her expensive shoes if she slept with me. She refused and I forced myself on her and told her that if she talked about it I would chase both her (and) her sister, so she kept quiet.

Q: How do you feel whenever you see her after you did this?
A: I feel nothing bad about it.

Q: Why not?
A: I supported her at my place and I deserved to ask for a favour too.

Q: Do you call it rape?
A: No.

Q: But you forced yourself on her?
A: Yes.

Respondent number nine - aged 27

Q: Have you ever slept with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes.

Q: How did it happen?
A: We went to a big party in Rustenburg and there was this woman whom I admired. I proposed to give her a lift after a party. We left together after the party and both of us had taken some beers but I made sure that I didn't drink too much. In the car after driving 5km I wanted to kiss her and she kissed too but refused to sleep with me. However, I used my power to overcome ... her.

Q: Did she report you to the police?
A: No. I phoned her while at work and promised to give her some money, which I did - R1000 (£64) to close her mouth.

Q: Was this the first time for you?
A: Yes.

Q: Are you married?
A: Yes.

Q: Were you scared that if your wife knew about the rape she would be mad at you?
A: Very much so and that's why I paid her to save my marriage.

Respondent number 10 - aged 21

Q: Have you ever slept with a woman against her will?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: My classmate, (a) girl who lives near our shack, came over to study with me some maths, during the study time we locked ourselves in the room so I used the opportunity to rape her.

Q: Did she report you to the police?
A: Yes. I was arrested and placed under my parents' care as I was still at school.

Q: Do you think it was the right thing to do?
A: No.

Q: What can you say to those who rape women?
A: They must stop; it's a wrong thing to do. It has serious consequences and can put (you) behind bars for life.

Q: Was this the first time?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you have friends who rape women?
A: Yes.

Respondent number 11 - aged 26

Q: Have you ever had sex with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes.

Q: When?
A: 2013.

Q: How did happen?
A: We are a gang and we steal and rape women. This year (in) February we went out, seven of us, to a busy tavern to rob people on the street and rape women. At about 12pm the woman walked out of the tavern alone going to an outside toilet. We followed her, three of us, and raped her.

Q: What happened after the rape?
A: We moved out of the area for a while but until now nothing has ever happened to us.

Q: Were you doing it for the first time?
A: No.

Q: What do you think about what you do to women?
A: We are gangsters and we love it.

Q: Don't you think you could be caught and thrown in jail?
A: We aren't afraid of prison.

Respondent number 12 - aged 34

Q: Have you ever slept with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: When did it happen?
A: 2000

Q: How did it happen?
A: Fridays we went out to chill and drink some beers … after hours me and my friend we saw a young good-looking woman who was drunk on the street, we took her to our place and (raped) her in our shack for an hour. This became a habit and every Friday we made sure that we hung on at the tavern to pick up girls who were drinking after hours.

Q: How many times have you raped a woman?
A: Five times.

Q: Have you ever been arrested for any rape?
A: Once.

Q: Did you serve time for it?
A: Yes.

Q: How long?
A: Six years.

Q: Do you think it's the right thing to do?
A: Why do women go to taverns in mini-skirts?

Q: What do you think they want?
A: To be raped.

Respondent number 13 - aged 41

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: Yes.

Q: How did it happen?
A: We ran a choir with my friend and took trips with young-looking girls and woman. Within the choir I chose who to have sex with and I always found it at easy because of my position.

Q: How many times have you done so?
A: More than 10 times.

Q: Do you call it rape?
A: Yes.

Q: Why?
A: Because all these ladies I never had an affair with … but had sex with them because of my position.

Q: Did anyone report these incidents to the police?
A: No.

Q: How do you feel about them?
A: I feel ashamed and bad when I look at some of the ladies. I used them.

Respondent number 14 - aged 35

Q: Have you ever slept with a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes.

Q: How did it happen?
A: We went to a funeral … and when we arrived there it was late. One lady decided to go and rest with me at my place before the funeral service, so I gave her a place and left her to sleep so that I could join her.  I forced myself on her. After finishing we all kept quiet … and I felt guilty.

Q: Was this the first time?
A: It was my second time but my first one was with a schoolgirl at home when I was on leave.

Q: How do you feel about these incidents?
A: We all rape woman somehow. Others use money to get (their way).

Respondent number 15 - aged 23

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: No.

Q: What do you think about rape?
A: It's (a) disgusting and cowardly action from those who do it.

Q: Why do you think people do it?
A: Traditionally … a man never asked for sex but just slept with her because (he) paid … for her.

Respondent number 16 - aged 38

Q: Have you ever slept with a woman who did not want to?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: From a street bash where we all had … alcohol and slept at my friend's apartment with three other girls who (were) friends of my friend's girlfriend. This is where I took a chance after seeing that this other (person) was completely drunk.

Q: Were you doing this for the first time?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you call this rape?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you know people who do the same?
A: A lot of them.

Respondent number 17 - aged 26

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: No

Q: What do you think about rape?
A: It's bad.

Q: Why do you think people rape?
A: Other (people) don't really rape, it's the women who just need money (who) report … rape.

Respondent number 18 - aged 29

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: Once.

Q: How did it happen?
A: My wife had gone away so I called a young woman to do some washing for me and promised to pay her R100 (£6). When she arrived I put the TV (on) and asked her to watch with me. I forced her to have sex.

Q: Did she report you?
A: No - I gave her R200 (£13) instead of the agreed R100 (£6).

Q: Do you call it rape?
A: Yes.

Q: Why?
A: Because she came over to do my washing, not to have sex.

Respondent number 19 - aged 29

Q: Have you ever raped someone?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: I entered her apartment and raped her.

Q: Was it for the first time?
A: No - it was the fourth time.

Q: Have you been arrested for any of them?
A: No.

Q: Do you still do it?
A: When the opportunity presents itself I always do.

Respondent number 20  - aged 31

Q: Have you ever raped someone?
A: Yes many times sir.

Q: How did it happen?
A: I am a park man who goes to hang on there and wait for women who pass there late. I raped most of them at gunpoint and took their cellphones.

Q: Have you killed any of them?
A: No.

Q: Have you been arrested for any of the crimes?
A: Once only for three years.

Q: Do you continue raping women?
A: This one is a sensitive answer. I won't respond.

Respondent number 21 - age 33

Q: Have ever raped someone?
A: No

Q: What do you think about people who rape?
A: They should be castrated by the law.

Q: Why do you think they rape?
A: Drugs.

Q: Do you someone who did rape someone?
A: There are many.

Q: Have you ever raped someone?
A: No.

Q: What do you think about people who rape?
A: They should be killed.

Q: Why do you think they rape?
A: They are afraid of women.

Q: What do you thınk the people should do wıth them?
A: Don't call the police, just (castrate) them.

Respondent number 22 - age 37

Q: Have you ever raped someone?
A: Once

Q: Was it the first time?
A: Yes

Respondent number 23 - age 31

Q: Have you ever had sex wıth some who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: Was it the fırst tıme?
A: It was the second time.

Q: Why did you rape rather than asking for a relationship?
A: I don't work and all women want money so the best is just to rape.

Q: Are you not afraid of being caught?
A: Rape those who won't know you.

Respondent number 24 - age 42

Q: Have you ever raped someone?
A: Yes

Q: How did it happen?
A: She boarded a late taxi and we were the only two, so I took a different route and stopped the taxi at a quiet place and raped her.

Q: Did she not report you to the cops?
A: She didn't have time to get the registration number.

Q: Was it for the first time?
A: Twice

Q: Why do you do ıt?
A: I don't have a woman so when I get a chance I use it.

Respondent number 25 - age 39

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: No

Q: Why do other man rape women?
A: Women lıke money, that's why they get raped. Others like beer.

Respondent number 26 - age 23

Q: Have you ever raped a woman?
A: Yes

Q: How many tımes?
A: Only once

Q: How did it happen?
A: At a weddıng. We went for drinks and we exchanged a woman in a room who was drunk.

Q: Did you get arrested for it?
A: No

Respondent number 27- age 39

Q: Have you ever had sex wıth a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: How many tımes?
A: Once

Respondent number 28 - age 38

Q: Have you ever had sex wıth a woman who didn't want to?
A: Yes

Q: How many times?
A: Once.

Q: Did you ever get arrested for it?
A: No

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British Kids Targeted By Paedophiles Online

British children are being blackmailed into performing sex acts online by paedophiles who threaten to send obscene images of the victim to their family and friends.

Investigators from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre said children as young as eight have been targeted and are being driven to self-harm and suicide by their abusers.

In the past two years, 424 children worldwide have been blackmailed in this way, of whom 184 were from the UK, Ceop said.

Experts believe thousands of British children could have been targeted by abusers intending to trap victims.

Internationally, seven victims committed suicide, including 17-year-old Daniel Perry from Dunfermline in Fife, who died on July 15 after being tricked into thinking he was talking to an American girl online.

Another seven seriously self-harmed, of whom six were from the UK.

Experts believe British children are targeted because of the accessibility of the English language and because foreign abusers believe the liberal nature of UK society makes them an easy target.

Daniel Perry, from Fife, died on July 15. Pic: Daniel Perry/Twitter

Ceop operations manager Stephanie McCourt said: "First of all it's the English language. They are able to threaten the children if they can communicate to them.

"Second of all, the offenders have actually said that because they perceive the UK as a very free and open and liberal society, they think that they will have more success in targeting UK children."

Paedophiles create fake online personas to pose as children, even geographically researching the areas where they wish to target victims, and persuade them to share sexual images or perform sex acts on camera.

They then threaten to share the pictures or footage with the victim's family or friends, and force them to perform more extreme sex acts on camera, and even harm themselves.

Ceop deputy chief executive Andy Baker said: "Children as young as eight are being targeted, being blackmailed, being extorted, being forced, being coerced, to perform slave-like acts through the internet, on webcam.

"It is sexual and degrading, some are being forced to cut themselves and write on their naked bodies. There has been an increase in children self-harming, seriously self-harming, and seven children in the last couple of years have taken their lives."

Ceop says that blackmail can be reported to the NSPCC helpline on 0800 328 0904, or to police.

Reports of abuse can also be made at the Ceop website www.ceop.police.uk.

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Crocodiles Infest Floods In Acapulco, Mexico

Devastating storms have left 80 people dead across Mexico with residents in Acapulco facing looters and crocodile-infested floodwaters.

In Acapulco, hundreds of thousands of residents have begun returning to homes, wading through waist-high water.

Pictures showed residents battling with a crocodile, spotted in floodwater in the centre of the holiday resort city. 

An official from Mexico's transport authority said it will be Friday before two key highways that connect the city with Mexico City are cleared.

Tropical Storm Manuel has now strengthened into a hurricane. Image: NHC

Footage also showed widespread looting in the city.

Tropical Storm Manuel hit the Pacific coast of Mexico over the weekend and Hurricane Ingrid battered the Gulf coast on Monday.

Manuel strengthened to a hurricane on Thursday as it moved northwards along the coastline, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

It warned heavy rain from the storm will trigger further flash flooding and mudslides in the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit and southern Baja California.

Mexico's federal Civil Protection co-ordinator Luis Felipe Puente said 35,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Some 5,300 people have been flown out of Acapulco on 49 flights on Wednesday, but an estimated 55,000 tourists still remain stranded.

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Assad To Destroy Chemical Weapons 'In A Year'

Syrian leader Bashar al Assad has pledged to destroy his stockpile of chemical arms - but warned it would take a year to do so.

In an interview with Fox News, Mr Assad said: "I think it's a very complicated operation, technically. And it needs a lot of money, about a billion.

"So it depends, you have to ask the experts what they mean by quickly. It has a certain schedule. It needs a year, or maybe a little bit more."

He also insisted that his decision to destroy the weapons was not forced upon him by the threat of US strikes.

Mr Assad denied his regime was responsible for the sarin gas attack

"Yeah, there's a misunderstanding that we agreed with this agreement because of the Americans," he told the US network.

He said that a UN report that found "clear and convincing evidence" of a sarin nerve gas attack in Syria last month is "unrealistic" and denied his regime was responsible.

Mr Assad's comments came after a senior Russian diplomat said Damascus would stick to its commitment to eliminate its chemical weapons by mid-2014.

After talks in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said President Assad was "very serious" about the disarmament plan.

Mr Ryabkov also said that Syrian officials had shown him "material evidence" implicating rebels in the sarin attack.

And the Russian diplomat criticised the United Nations for being "one-sided" in its recent report on the attack.

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Clegg: Every Infant To Get Free School Lunch

By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

Nick Clegg has announced plans to give free school meals to all infant schoolchildren.

The proposal, which will be a centrepiece of his leader's speech, will cost the exchequer £600m annually.

The Deputy Prime Minister says it is a key part of his drive to help people with the cost of living.

"It's great, great news for all families with small children in those first three years of primary school," he told Sky News.

"It will save them about £400 per child per year."

The Liberal Democrats say that pilot schemes have demonstrated free school meals also have a positive impact on educational attainment.

Mr Clegg said: "I think it's a way of giving every child that good start in life, because we all know - I certainly know as a parent - that a healthy, hot meal at lunchtime is the best way of making sure that a child can concentrate and do well in the classroom during the course of the rest of the day."

The flagship policy to emerge from the Liberal Democrats' Glasgow conference will be balanced in two weeks' time by a parallel announcement from the Conservatives.

It is thought inevitable that David Cameron's party will adopt his long-cherished proposal for a tax break for working couples.

The married tax break is not supported by the Liberal Democrats but they will allow it to pass as the coalition agreement provides for.

"I don't support it," Mr Clegg said, "because I cannot understand what is remotely fair about saying to an unmarried taxpayer you're going to have to pay higher taxes to help your neighbour - just because they got married - get lower taxes.

"Our approach, by contrast, is to help all families with small children."

Neither announcement is likely to be a gamechanger come the election in 2015.

But after a lengthy period during which cuts and austerity were the order of the day, the governing parties will be relieved to be at last in a position where they can spend significant sums and demonstrate their positive priorities to the electorate.

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Washington Navy Gunman's 30-Minute Rampage

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:32am UK, Tuesday 17 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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Washington Navy Yard Shooting: Several Dead

A former Navy reservist who gunned down 12 people in an attack on one of the US's biggest navy yards had previously carried out an anger-fuelled shooting and was traumatised by 9/11, it has emerged.

Aaron Alexis, from Forth Worth, Texas, was killed in a shoot-out with police after launching an early morning attack on the US Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters.

It comes after the White House was placed under lockdown following a security alert on Tuesday evening. The Secret Service later said a man threw firecrackers over the north fence line before he was arrested.

The FBI released a picture of Aaron Alexis in an appeal

The US Navy confirmed Alexis, a military contractor, was a full-time Navy reservist between 2007 and 2011 when he was discharged as a petty officer third class for misconduct.

He was working for the fleet logistics support squadron No 46 in Forth Worth, Texas, when he left the service in January 2011. No further details of his discharge have been revealed.

Seattle Police Department have released details of an incident in May 2004 in which Alexis shot out the tyres of a car claiming he had been traumatised by the 9/11 attacks.

A helicopter lifts a person from the roof at the navy yard

According to the report Alexis claimed men on a construction site had been mocking him and he had suffered an "anger-fuelled blackout".

The report released by the police department said: "Alexis also told police he was present during 'the tragic events of September 11, 2001' and described 'how those events had disturbed him'.

"Detectives later spoke with Alexis' father, who lived in New York at the time, who told police Alexis had anger management problems associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on September 11th, 2001."

Alexis grew up in Brooklyn with his mother, Sarah, and father, Anthony Alexis, his aunt Helen Weeks told the Washington Post.

The command headquarters is building 197 in the Washington naval yard

She said: "We haven't seen him for years. I know he was in the military. He served abroad. I think he was doing some kind of computer work."

Despite the shooting incident he became a Navy reservist, however, a Forth Worth Police Department incident report from April 2010 shows Alexis was arrested for discharging a firearm in an apartment.

According to the report, seen by Sky News, Alexis told police it went off accidentally when he was cleaning it.

He was awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal prior to his discharge

The FBI launched an appeal for further information about Alexis as police officers confirmed they were hunting a second man, dressed in military uniform, who has been described as a "potential gunman".

The Senate building and ten schools have been shut down as security precautions and residents have been advised to remain in their homes as the operation continues.

The attack on building 197 at the sprawling naval yard came at around 8.20am as people arrived for work at the command centre, which houses 3,000 military and civilian naval personnel.

Hundreds of police officers and airborne SWAT teams were drafted in within minutes of the first emergency calls and exchanged fire with Alexis.

The Washington naval yard

A police officer was wounded in the firefight and was being treated for critical injuries in hospital.

It has been suggested Alexis may have used the identification card of another person to gain entry to the complex.

He was said to have been armed with an AR-15 rifle, the same weapon used by gunmen in last year's shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the cinema in Aurora.

Police confirmed that 13 people, including Alexis, died in the incident but said that no motive had been established for what President Barack Obama described as "yet another mass shooting".

SWAT teams on the roof at Navy Sea Systems Command

Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that police were still hunting a black man, between 40 and 50, and dressed in olive military uniform. He was holding a "long gun".

Police said they had ruled out a white man dressed in a tan military uniform that they had previously described as a "potential gunman".

They said he was no longer a suspect or a "person of interest".

Washington DC Mayor Vincent C Gray said that there was no reason to suspect the incident was a "terrorist" attack but that it had not been ruled out.

Witnesses earlier described a gunman opening fire from the fourth floor, aiming down on people in the first-floor cafeteria. Others said a gunman fired at them in a third-floor hallway.

One employee at the Navy Yard, Patrica Ward, said she had just paid for her breakfast at a cafeteria when shots rang out.

A helicopter in the skies above the naval base

"I was waiting for my friend to pay for when we heard the gun shot. It was three gun shots straight in a row, 'pow-pow-pow,'" she said.

"Three seconds later it was 'pow-pow-pow.' So it was like a total of seven gun shots. And we just started running."

The guard "told all of us to just run, to get away as fast as you can."

Responding to questions about the level of security at the base Ms Ward said: "It's not secure enough for me."

Todd Brundidge, an executive assistant with Navy Sea Systems Command, said he and other co-workers encountered a gunman in a hallway of their building on the third floor.

"He just turned and started firing," he said.

Teams on the ground at America's oldest navy yard

Terrie Durham, an executive assistant, said she also saw the gunman firing toward her and Mr Brundridge.

"He aimed high and missed," she said. "He said nothing. As soon as I realised he was shooting, we just said, 'Get out of the building.'"

One man in his 60s was taken to George Washington University Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head but died shortly after arriving. Dr Babak Sarani, director of trauma and acute surgery, said his injuries were so severe they could not be survived.

Janis Orlowski, the chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said three victims had been taken to the hospital and while they were in a critical condition they were alert and able to speak. Two were women civilians.

She said: "They haven't been able to give us any information about what happened to them. Obviously, they're in pain and distress."

She said she thought the weapon must have been a semi-automatic "because they're talking about gunshots they heard in rapid succession."

Officials at MedStar Washington Hospital Center said two shooting victims had been brought there.

Speaking ahead of a planned speech on the economy, President Barack Obama, who was being regularly briefed on the rapidly unfolding situation, said the attack was a "tragedy" and confirmed a number of people had been killed.

He said: "We are confronting yet another mass shooting and today it happened on a military institution in our nation's capital.

"It's a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women who were going to work doing their job protecting all of us.

"They are patriots and they know the dangers of serving abroad but today they faced the unimaginable violence that they wouldn't expect here at home."

He later thanked the FBI for its quick response to the fatal shooting.

Naval Sea Systems Command is the largest of the Navy's five system commands and accounts for a quarter of the Navy's entire budget.

It builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their combat systems.

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Daniel Pelka: Missed Chances To Save Boy

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

Chance after chance was missed to intervene in the case of a tragic four-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his mother and stepfather.

A serious case review into the death of Daniel Pelka found repeated failures by agencies set up to safeguard children's welfare.

But it concluded that nobody could have predicted his death at the hands of an abusive mother and stepfather last year.

Daniel was brought up in a chaotic family where violence and heavy drinking was the norm. He was known to police, social services, teachers and doctors.

Magdalena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek were both jailed for life

But the report found that not one professional asked him what was going on at home.

Ron Lock, the independent author of the report, said: "He didn't speak good English.

"His self-esteem was so low, he was a very isolated little boy so people found it hard to engage him.

"His mother often spoke on his behalf, as did his older sibling, so rather than ask Daniel others were asked what he was thinking and to ask his mum and older sibling was not going to give the correct answers."

Daniel was terrorised at his home in Coventry by his mother Magdelena Luczak, and his stepfather Mariusz Krezolek.

The four-year-old had 40 injuries on his body when he died

He was starved, beaten and force-fed salt.

At school he rooted through bins for food and he once turned up with two black eyes. He later died from a serious head injury on March 3, 2012.

The review found that the couple misled authorities by lying about his injuries and pretending he had an eating disorder, rendering Daniel "invisible" to health professionals.

But it also highlighted how stretched children's services were in the city.

It describes overworked staff who were "naive", who were not "inquisitive", who assumed others were "intervening" and were not prepared to "think the unthinkable".

It noted missed opportunities to help Daniel, including 27 reports of domestic violence to police.

In January 2011 he went to hospital with a broken arm - a spiral fracture suggested twisting -  but professionals were too ready to accept it was accidental.

In September - when Daniel started school - teachers noticed a pattern of injuries which they failed to record or act on.

In February 2012 he saw a community paediatrician - his weight loss was not recognised and child abuse was not even considered.

A few weeks later the four-year-old was dead. He had 40 injuries - a doctor said he looked like a concentration camp victim.

Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, said: "Professionals didn't have the whole picture. Daniel's voice wasn't heard at all.

"Arguably they are basic errors but we have to put this against a backdrop of social care workers, police, health colleagues working every day making what some would argue are impossible judgment calls on child protection so I think our key now is how do we learn from those issues."

The review, by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, has published 15 recommendations aimed at preventing such a failure happening again.

Luczak and Krezolek, both originally from Poland, were convicted of Daniel's murder in a trial earlier this year and are now both serving minimum 30-year terms in prison.

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Costa Concordia: Salvage Operation Set To Begin

By Tom Kington, In Giglio

Salvage officials will begin the mammoth task of righting the crippled Costa Concordia later today as jacks hoist it off rocks near the Tuscany coast.

The officials have warned the stranded vessell will bend and suffer enormous internal damage during the operation, which is expected to last up to 12 hours.

But they are confident the ship's hull will remain intact as 56 massive chains tighten around it at around 6am, avoiding the nightmare scenario of the 114,000 tonne vessel shattering and spilling its contents into the waters around the Italian island of Giglio.

Sergio Girotto, project manager for Micoperi - the Italian firm which has teamed up with US company Titan to raise the Concordia - said: "The ship will probably bend during the operation and metal inside will buckle."

Five hundred engineers and divers are working on the salvage

"We have 12,000 tons of pressure to use, which would lift two Eiffel Towers, but I hope we will only need five or six thousand."

The cruise liner capsized in shallow water 20 months ago after smashing into rock, causing the deaths of 32 passengers.

Salvage workers and local authorities confirmed on Sunday that good weather would allow the operation to start today.

That will depend how firmly the ship is wedged onto two pinnacles of underwater granite where it came to rest on the night of January 12, last year, prompting the panicked evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.

The two outcrops, which are embedded six metres into the hull of the ship, are the great unknown at the heart of the €600m (£503m), "parbuckling" operation, which will see the ship hoisted by jacks on to a bed of 1,000 cement bags and six underwater platforms bigger than a football pitch.

Experts have said there is little danger of pollution

Franco Gabrielli, who has supervised the Italian government's role in the operation, told reporters ahead of the salvage attempt that the operation had a 100% chance of success.

The ship is due to be hauled 65 degrees back to upright position.

Within the first hour or two, the ship should be wrenched free from the two granite outcrops it is impaled on, said Franco Porcellacchia, an engineer working on the salvage for ship owner Costa Cruises.

Four to five hours will then be needed to pull the ship upwards before gravity takes over, and its final descent into an upright position, also taking four to five hours, is controlled by adjusting the buoyancy of the massive metal tanks attached to its sides.

How the ship will look if it is successfully righted

A 12-man team will control the pulleys and tanks from a barge close to the wreck.

Marine biologist Giandomenico Ardizzone, who has been monitoring the sea bed for the ship's operator Costa Crociere, said he had dived under the vessel on Saturday to fix cameras on the points where the rocks plunge into the hull.

"We have been told to get ready for loud noises during the lifting," said Mr Ardizzone.

Mr Ardizzone said that 29,000 tons of water will pour out of the ship as it is pulled upright, an even greater amount, 43,000 tons, will enter the ship.

"That means less of the ship will be visible out of the water after the parbuckling," he said.

What does come out will be polluted water that has swilled inside the ship for months in a mix of residual fuels, heavy metals and rotten food, including more than three tons of melon, 500 litres of olive oil, 14,000 packets of cigarettes, 18,000 bottles of wine, eight tons of beef and over 11 tons of fish.

Mr Ardizzone said the quantities of heavy metals and fuels were too small to create concern for the surrounding protected marine park, a view shared by Maria Sargentini, the head of a public commission set up to monitor the operation.

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Syria: Chemical Weapons Report Due For Release

Doctors Plea For Syria Medical Aid

Updated: 2:22am UK, Monday 16 September 2013

British doctors write an open letter in the Lancet medical journal calling for attacks on hospitals and medics to halt in Syria.

The conflict in Syria has led to what is arguably one of the world's worst humanitarian crises since the end of the Cold War.

An estimated 100 000 people have been killed, most of them civilians, and many more have been wounded, tortured, or abused.

Millions have been driven from their homes, families have been divided, and entire communities torn apart; we must not let considerations of military intervention destroy our ability to focus on getting them help.

As doctors and medical professionals from around the world, the scale of this emergency leaves us horrified.

We are appalled by the lack of access to health care for affected civilians, and by the deliberate targeting of medical facilities and personnel.

It is our professional, ethical, and moral duty to provide treatment and care to anyone in need.

When we cannot do so personally, we are obliged to speak out in support of those risking their lives to provide life-saving assistance.

Systematic assaults on medical professionals, facilities, and patients are breaking Syria's health-care system and making it nearly impossible for civilians to receive essential medical services.

According to WHO, 37% of Syrian hospitals have been destroyed and a further 20% severely damaged.

Makeshift clinics have become fully fledged trauma centres struggling to cope with the injured and sick.

According to the Violations Documentation Centre, an estimated 469 health workers are currently imprisoned, and about 15 000 doctors have been forced to flee abroad according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Of the 5,000 physicians in Aleppo before the conflict started, only 36 remain.

The targeted attacks on medical facilities and personnel are deliberate and systematic, not an inevitable nor acceptable consequence of armed conflict.

Such attacks are an unconscionable betrayal of the principle of medical neutrality.

The number of people requiring medical assistance is increasing exponentially, as a direct result of conflict and indirectly because of the deterioration of a once-sophisticated public health system and the lack of adequate curative and preventive care.

Horrific injuries are going untended; women are giving birth with no medical assistance; men, women, and children are undergoing life-saving surgery without anaesthetic; and victims of sexual violence have nowhere to turn to.

The Syrian population is vulnerable to outbreaks of hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery.

The lack of medical pharmaceuticals has already exacerbated an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis, a severe infectious skin disease that can cause serious disability, there has been an alarming increase in cases of acute diarrhoea, and in June aid agencies reported a measles epidemic sweeping through districts of northern Syria.

In some areas, children born since the conflict started have had no vaccinations, meaning that conditions for an epidemic, which have no respect for national borders, are ripe.

With the Syrian health system at breaking point, patients battling chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and requiring long-term medical assistance have nowhere to turn for essential medical care.

The majority of medical assistance is being delivered by Syrian medical personnel but they are struggling in the face of massive need and dangerous conditions.

Governmental restrictions, coupled with inflexibility and bureaucracy in the international aid system, is making things worse.

As a result, large parts of Syria are completely cut off from any form of medical assistance.

Medical professionals are required to treat anyone in need to the best of their ability. Any wounded or sick person must be allowed access to medical treatment.

As doctors and health professionals we urgently demand that medical colleagues in Syria be allowed and supported to treat patients, save lives, and alleviate suffering without the fear of attacks or reprisals.

To alleviate the effect on civilians of this conflict and of the deliberate attacks on the health-care system, and to support our medical colleagues, we call on the Syrian Government and all armed parties to refrain from attacking hospitals, ambulances, medical facilities and supplies, health professionals and patients; allow access to treatment for any patient; and hold perpetrators of such violations accountable according to internationally recognised legal standards.

We call on all armed parties to respect the proper functions of medical professionals and medical neutrality by allowing medical professionals to treat anyone in need of medical care and not interfering with the proper operation of health-care facilities.

Governments that support parties to this civil war should demand that all armed actors immediately halt attacks on medical personnel, facilities, patients, and medical supplies and allow medical supplies and care to reach Syrians, whether crossing front lines or across Syria's borders.

We call on the UN and international donors to increase support to Syrian medical networks, in both government and opposition areas, where, since the beginning of the conflict, health professionals have been risking their lives to provide essential services in an extremely hostile environment.

We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

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Dewani Uncle Criticises BBC Over Documentary

The uncle of murdered honeymooner Anni Dewani has accused documentary makers of interfering in the justice system ahead of a programme raising questions about the case against her alleged killer.

Ashok Hindocha, the uncle of Anni Dewani who was killed in South Africa in November 2010, said it is up for a court to look at allegations against her former husband Shrien.

He is accused of ordering the murder of his new bride, who was shot in the neck as the couple travelled in a taxi in the outskirts of Cape Town.

A team from BBC series Panorama has obtained police files concerning the prosecution case against Shrien Dewani and has asked forensic experts to examine them.

A BBC spokesman said the experts' findings have exposed "fundamental failings" in the police investigation, and it is in the public interest for them to be aired.

Shrien Dewani is fighting extradition to South Africa

The programme is due to be broadcast next Thursday.

But Mr Hindocha told Sky News that the BBC should pull the programme, and instead hand over the documents to Dewani's defence.

"What the BBC is doing is not correct. This programme should not be run before the trial.

"Justice should be served in a court of law. Let's cross-examine, put the evidence on the table, let everyone see.

"Has all the evidence been presented to the BBC? I don't know.

"The case should be done in a court of law, not in a studio somewhere with public funding. No, that is very wrong."

In July District Judge Howard Riddle ruled that Dewani should be extradited to face trial in South Africa, now that the 33-year-old has recovered sufficiently from mental health problems.

Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe

But lawyers acting for Dewani immediately announced their intention to appeal, and are expected to continue with their legal fight next month.

A BBC spokesman said: "BBC Panorama has obtained the secret police files which make up the prosecution case against Shrien Dewani and has commissioned leading forensic experts to review all the evidence.

"Their findings expose fundamental failings in the police investigation.

"Panorama strongly believes it is in the public interest for these matters to be aired.

"We understand that the programme may be difficult viewing for Anni's family and have approached it sensitively, including contacting her uncle, as the representative of the family, in advance, to let him know that it would air on September 19.

"We received replies from Mr Hindocha which did not raise these objections.

"The police evidence we have obtained is neither manufactured nor stolen, nor did we pay for it."

Dewani has undergone treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression at psychiatric hospitals near Bristol since his wife's death.

It emerged that he has been allowed to position a camper van in the grounds of Fromeside hospital, where he spends hours at a time, and is also allowed unregulated access to a laptop and visits to his nearby home every day.

A spokesman for Dewani family told Sky News: "Shrien was committed to clearing his name in a court of law when he was fit and well enough to travel."

So far three men have been convicted over Mrs Dewani's death.

Last year South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder for shooting her.

Prosecutors claimed that he was a hitman hired by Dewani to kill his wife, something that Dewani has consistently denied.

Taxi driver Zola Tongo was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the killing, and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.

The programme calls into question their testimony.

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Syria Has One Week To Detail Chemical Weapons

Syria: How The Crisis Has Developed

Updated: 2:33pm UK, Saturday 14 September 2013

:: March 2011 - Protesters stage demonstrations in Damascus and security forces in Daraa shoot dead several campaigners, leading to unrest and violence.

:: May - The Syrian military deploys tanks in a bid to quash demonstrations.

:: July 19 - The UK freezes £100m of Syrian assets.

:: August 18 - US President Barack Obama calls on Bashar al Assad to step down. The US freezes all assets of the Syrian government.

:: November 16 - The Free Syrian Army attacks a military base near Damascus.

:: February 4, 2012 - A UN Security Council resolution on Syria is rejected for a second time by Russia and China.

:: March 1 - Government troops seize the Baba Amr district of Homs after an intense battle lasting for several weeks.

:: April 12 - A UN-brokered ceasefire comes into force after fierce fighting in the country.

:: May 23 - Dozens of people, many of them women and children, die in Houla, near Homs. Foreign Secretary William Hague says they were "massacred at the hands of Syrian forces". The UN later accuses the Syrian military of committing war crimes.

:: August - Barack Obama says the use of chemical weapons against civilians would represent the crossing of a "red line".

:: March 6, 2013 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will provide opposition forces with "non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians".

:: April-May - Britain says there is credible evidence to suggest Syrian forces have used chemical weapons in Adra, Darayya and Saraqiq and calls for an investigation by the UN.

:: April 29 - Syrian prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi survives an assassination attempt as a car bomb explodes in Damascus.

:: May 14 - Footage of a Syrian rebel commander apparently cutting out a soldier's heart is condemned by the country's National Coalition.

:: June 6 - Syrian forces, backed by Hizbollah fighters, recapture the strategic border town of Qusair.

:: June 6 - Human Rights Watch releases footage which it claims shows Syrian troops shelling school buildings.

:: July 25 - The UN says the number of people killed in the civil war has reached 100,000.

:: August 21 - An alleged chemical attack in Damascus kills 1,300 people, according to the opposition. Doctors Without Borders says 335 people died from "neurotoxic" symptoms.

:: August 25 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says a chemical attack by the Syrian government is the only "plausible explanation" for the deaths.

:: August 26 - UN inspectors brave sniper fire to gather "valuable" evidence from one site of the alleged chemical attack, as the US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Assad regime would face action over the "moral obscenity".

:: August 27 - The UK recalls Parliament to hold a vote on August 29 on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. David Cameron and Barack Obama agree there is "no doubt" the Assad regime is responsible for the alleged attack.

:: August 28 - Britain tables a draft UN resolution condemning the alleged attack and "authorising all necessary measures".

:: August 29 - David Cameron is forced to rule out military action after narrowly losing a Commons vote on the principle of intervention.

:: August 31 - President Obama says the US "should take military action" in Syria but confirms he will seek authorisation from Congress before launching any strikes against the Assad regime. He says the US is "prepared to strike whenever we choose".

:: September 2 - a French intelligence reports claims the Assad regime was responsible for a "massive and coordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

:: September 3 - Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean.

:: September 4 - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approve a draft US resolution authorising the use of military force in Syria. Meanwhile, MPs in France debate whether to join any possible military intervention, although they do not vote on the subject.

:: September 5 - World leaders meet at the G20 summit in Russia, with the crisis in Syria high on the agenda.

:: September 6 - Britain pledges £52m in aid to Syria, as David Cameron hits back at a reported jibe from Russia that Britain is a "small island".

:: September 8 - The RAF sends up two Typhoon jets in Cyprus as warplanes, thought to have come from Syria, enter international airspace. Meanwhile John Kerry says more nations than his country can use are prepared to join military action against Syria.

:: September 9 - Russia urges Syrian President Bashar al Assad to hand over his chemical weapons to avert a US-led military strike on Damascus.

:: September 10 - President Barack Obama delays a Congress vote on air strikes as Russia gives the US its plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international contral.

:: September 11 - A UN report confirms at least eight massacres were carried by the Assad regime and one by rebels over the past 18 months.

:: September 12 - Syria formally applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia and US hold two days of talks on the issue.

:: September 14 - The US and Russia agree on a giving Syria a deadline of one week to produce a list of chemical weapons they possess. 

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