The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres saysthat it’s quite clear from the evidence Syriandoctors have seen that people were exposed to aneurotoxin in a Damascus suburb last Wednesday.Christopher Stokes, the charity's director in Brussels told the BBC the medical staff treatingthe victims had also succumbed to the effects, one doctor had died. MSF said 350 patients haddied, one in ten of those treated. Mr. Stokes also said MSF can't say who was responsible forthe attack.
“Independent inspectors would have to go into establishing both the agent was used and alsowho would be responsible. Something for which MSF is not confident to determine but it’squite clear that a major event did take place using neurotoxic agents from all the evidence thatwe’ve been able to collect so far.”
Syrian state television has made new allegations saying that government soldiers have foundchemical agents in tunnels used by the rebels to the east of Damascus. Syrian TV showedimages of gas masks and plastic containers with the words made in Saudi Arabia stamped onthem.
Tens of thousands of people in Washington have been commemorating the 50th anniversary ofMartin Luther King's ‘I have a dream’ speech, a key moment in America's civil rights campaign.Doctor King’s son, Martin Luther King III told the rally that his dream of equality has still notcome true. He highlighted the case of an unarmed black teenager who was shot to dead by aneighborhood watch volunteer as he walked home last year.
“The vision preached by my father a half century ago was that his four little children would oneday live on a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by thecontent of their character. However, sadly, the tears of Trayvon Martin's mother and fatherremind us that far too frequently the color of one's skin remains a license to profile, to arrestand to even murder with no regard for the content of one's character.”
Thousands of anti-riot officers have been deployed across Colombia as protest by farm andagricultural workers spread further. Some 200,000 farmers have blocked dozens of roadsleaving the central province of Boyaca cut off. Our Latin America editor Vanessa Buschschluterreports.
The strike entered the sixth day on Saturday, sparking fears that the residence of the capitalBogotá could face shortages of basic goods. Hundreds of thousands of coffee and potatogrowers, dairy farmers and lorry drivers have been barricading major highways across thecountry. The protesters accused the government of President Juan Manuel Santos of failing toput in place concrete action to help the farming and agricultural sectors. The Interior Ministersaid that many of the demands were just but that violent protests would not bring aboutsolutions.
World News from the BBC
Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic ofCongo to protest against ongoing fighting between United Nations forces and M23 rebels. Atleast three people were killed when a residential neighborhood of the city was hit by shellingwhich the UN has blamed on the rebels. On Friday, UN troops launched an offensive againstthe M23.
Gunmen have kidnapped a prominent human rights lawyer in southern Nigeria. Chief MikeOzekhome was abducted on Friday in Edo state. He's been a staunch critic on governmentcorruption in the country. Colleagues have appealed for his release.
More than 2,500 US firefighters are battling to gain control of a fast moving wildfire on theedge of California's Yosemite National Park. Forestry and Fire Protection officials saymountainous terrain is hampering efforts to control the blaze which is burning largely oncheck to over an area of 50,000 hectares. From Los Angeles Alistair Leithead reports.
The so-called Rim Fire has burnt an area almost the same size as San Francisco. The city nowunder a state of emergency because threats to electricity transmission lines, hydroelectricpower stations and water supplies. The fire is closing in on a reservoir which provides drinkingwater to millions of people. The blaze has spread over the boundary of the Yosemite NationalPark where millions of tourists visit each year. Thousands of people have been warned to leavetheir homes as firefighters and aircrafts dropping flame resistance powder are trying tocreate lines that the blaze can't cross.
The government in Egypt has shortened a widely imposed night curfew in response todemands from citizens. The month-long curfew imposed in the wake of the unrest that followedthe ousting of President Mohammed Morsi will now begin two hours later at 9pm local time,although on Fridays when protests usually take place, it will start at seven.
And that's the BBC News
