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31 October 2013 Last updated at 19:42 ET Share this page Email Print Share this page2.6KShareFacebookTwitter Syria chemical weapons equipment destroyed, says OPCW Advertisement $render("advert-post-script-load"); Jerry Smith, OPCW: "We have... observed all of the destruction activities" Continue reading the main story Syria conflict Arms destruction Chemical stockpile 'Please let it be over' Assad opponents Syria's declared equipment for producing, mixing and filling chemical weapons has been destroyed, the international watchdog says. This comes a day before the deadline set by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The weapons have been placed under seal, an OPCW spokesman said. Inspectors were sent to Syria following allegations, denied by the government, that its forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas. Continue reading the main story Analysis Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent The achievement of this crucial initial target is an important moment for the chemical weapons destruction effort in Syria. The inspectors' first task was to move swiftly to prevent the government from producing any more chemical agent and to destroy facilities and equipment used for mixing agents and filling munitions. Production facilities will be closely monitored to ensure that there are no moves to repair them. The next deadline is mid-November, by which time the OPCW and the Syrians must agree a detailed plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. All sorts of questions are raised. Where will this destruction be carried out ? Who will provide the necessary equipment and so on? Western intelligence agencies will be studying Syria's declarations carefully. They will be eager to direct inspectors to additional locations if there are any grounds to believe that Damascus has been less than frank in its disclosures. The inspections were agreed between Russia and the US after Washington threatened to use force in Syria. Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad

Syria's declared equipment for producing, mixing and filling chemical weapons has been destroyed, the international watchdog says.

nspectors were sent to Syria following allegations, denied by the government, that its forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas.

12 January 2014 Last updated at 22:01 ET Share this page Email Print Share this pageShareFacebookTwitter Afghan 'suicide vest girl' reveals family ordeal The girl is thought to be the sister of a prominent Taliban commander Continue reading the main story Taliban Conflict Loya Jirga: Q&A Pakistan's interests Who are the Taliban? Q&A: Foreign forces An Afghan girl has told the BBC that her family forced her to a

The girl, known as Spozhmai, said her brother and father had beaten her, ordering her to put on a suicide vest.

she has appealed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to put her in a new home

13 November 2013 Last updated at 06:45 ET Share this page Email Print Share this pageShareFacebookTwitter Nigeria: US 'to name Boko Haram as a terrorist group' Boko Haram frequently clashes with the Nigerian armed forces Continue reading the main story Nigeria under attack Afraid to go to school Dead or alive Vigilante war Gunning for Boko Haram The US state department is expected to designate the Nigerian Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The US state department is expected to designate the Nigerian Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, as a foreign terrorist organisation

t will become a crime under US law to provide material support to the group

Trump UK ban petition passes 329,000 signatures

The petition went on Parliament's e-petition website on Tuesday.

Chancellor George Osborne criticised Mr Trump's comments but rejected calls for him to be banned from the UK.

The party has 2,300 delegates - although only 2,287 have been elected to attend, with reports suggesting the remaining 13 delegates were disqualified because of "improper behaviour".

This committee in turn elects the Politburo and fr

Those are China's real decision-making bodies. The Politburo currently has 24 members, while the Standing Committee has seven, although these numbers have varied over the years.

Syria conflict: UN suspends all aid after convoy hit

The UN has suspended all aid convoys in Syria after a devastating attack on its lorries near Aleppo on Monday.

Russia and Syria have both insisted that their forces were not involved.

Whereas successful political movements used to have a single ideology, they can now combine several. Think about how record companies put together new pop bands: They do market research, they pick the kinds of faces that match, and then they market the band by advertising it to the most favorable demographic. New political parties can now operate like that: You can bundle together issues, repackage them and then market them, using exactly the same kind of targeted messaging — based on exactly the same kind of market research — that you know has worked in other places.

Opposition to Catalan and Basque separatism; opposition to feminism and same-sex marriage; opposition to immigration, especially by Muslims; anger at corruption; boredom with mainstream politics; a handful of issues, such as hunting and gun ownership, that some people care a lot about and others don’t know exist; plus a streak of libertarianism, a talent for mockery and a whiff of nostalgia

All of these are the ingredients that have gone into the creation of Vox.

All 50 US states and the District of Columbia (DC) are on alert for possible violent protests this weekend, ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. National Guard troops from across the country are being sent to Washington DC, to discourage any repeat of the deadly riot that unfolded on 6 January.The FBI has warned of possible armed marches by pro-Trump demonstrators at all 50 state capitols.

States across the country are taking precautionary measures, from boarding up capitol windows to refusing to grant permits for rallies.

It follows a week in which Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice. He now faces a Senate trial, on a charge of "incitement of insurrection" linked to the storming of the US Capitol by groups of his supporters on 6 January.

The BBC has announced it will collaborate with four British universities to offer online courses about World War I, beginning in October.

will focus on trauma and memory, heroism in industrialized warfare, early military aviation and how the war — and the ensuing peace — changed the world.

The BBC, founded just four years after the end of the war, will curate its archives to bring relevant contemporary material to the courses.

EU referendum: Leaving EU 'big gamble' for UK security

David Cameron will face MPs later as he presents his case for the UK remaining within the 28-member organisation.But Mayor of London Boris Johnson has again insisted that the country has a "great future" outside the EU.

The prime minister will outline details to MPs in a Commons statement, starting at 15.30 GMT, of last week's deal with EU leaders on reforms to the terms of the UK's membership, which paved the way for him to call a referendum on EU membership on 23 June.

China pollution: First ever red alert in effect in Beijing

Schools in Beijing are closed and outdoor construction halted as the Chinese capital's first ever pollution "red alert" came into effect.

It is the first time China has declared a red alert under the four-tier alert system, which was adopted a little over two years ago, although pollution levels were far from the city's worst.

At least 24 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in a Taliban attack in the western province of Farah, officials said.

The attack in Bala Buluk district comes two weeks after a similar assault by the Taliban on an army base in the same province.

At least 22 members of the security forces died in the attack.

One of the most evocative stories from the Mumbai attacks is that of the Israeli toddler saved by his Indian nanny as gunmen killed both his parents. He is now set to revisit the site of the attack with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. BBC Hindi's Zubair Ahmed met his family in Israel. Every night before going to bed, 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg looks up at the photo of his smiling parents hanging above his bed and wishes them good night. Gabi and Rivka Holtzberg were killed in Chabad House, a Jewish cultural centre in the western Indian city of Mumbai, during a deadly attack in 2008. Moshe was barely two years old at the time.

The gunmen carried out a series of co-ordinated attacks across Mumbai targeting seven different locations, including two luxury hotels, the main railway station and the Jewish centre where the Holtzbergs had been living.Moshe was saved by his nanny, Sandra Samuel, who said she found him standing over the unconscious bodies of his parents. She is believed to have grabbed him and fled outside. It remains unclear what Moshe witnessed but, according to his family, he suffered nightmares for months and had trouble sleeping.

This will be Moshe's first time in India since the attack. It will be an emotional journey, Mr Rosenberg says. Moshe was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had met the boy during his visit to Israel in July.

A convicted school shooter has praised the survivors of last month's attack in Parkland, Florida, for their efforts in support of gun controls in the US.Jon Romano, then 16, entered his New York high school in 2004 with a pump-action shotgun, but was disarmed by his principal before he could kill anyone.

After 17 were killed at their school, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have publically lobbied lawmakers for policy change. They have organised a march on Washington that will take place later this month.

In the aftermath of the 14 February shooting, pressure has mounted on US politicians to act on gun control and for corporations to cut ties with the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).Firms including Hertz car rental, United airlines and Delta airlines have ended discounts to NRA members.The organisation has said it will not back any gun ban, and has blamed the failure of authorities to intervene and not the availability of weapons for the shooting. President Donald Trump has come out in support of some limited control measures, and accused lawmakers of being "petrified" of lobbyists.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China, has infected more than 550,000 people. Its spread has left businesses around the world counting cost

Here is a selection of maps and charts to help you understand the economic impact of the virus so far.

Big shifts in stock markets, where shares in companies are bought and sold, can affect many investments in pensions or individual savings accounts (ISAs).

Election results 2017: How will this minority government actually work?

The incontestable truth of this general election is that the Conservative party does not have enough MPs to win votes by itself in the new House of Commons.

The incontestable truth of this general election is that the Conservative party does not have enough MPs to win votes by itself in the new House of Commons.

A mass shooting is defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. White House officials say Mr Biden is unlikely to offer specific policy proposals or seek to issue an executive order in the coming weeks to avoid interfering with delicate negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans. The president's visit comes days after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother, and then opened fire on a classroom of fourth-graders with a legally acquired AR-15 style assault rifle.

San Antonio resident Eduardo Messa said: "I mean, we have age limits for things like cigarettes and alcohol, why not for guns, you know, this is just... this kind of massacre that occurred this week is just so heart-breaking and sad."

The senior officer on the scene decided to wait until the school janitor arrived with the keys because they thought that either "no kids were at risk" by then, or "no-one was living anymore".

BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and team expelled from North Korea

Wingfield-Hayes was questioned for eight hours by North Korean officials and made to sign a statement.

Our correspondent, producer Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard were stopped by officials on Friday as they were about to leave North Korea.

The announcement by the Iraqi military that its forces have reached the Tigris River for the first time in the battle for Mosul marks a significant moment in the 12-week campaign to recapture so-called Islamic State's (IS) last major stronghold in the country.

Broad-based advances suggest that IS resistance is "showing signs of collapse" in east Mosul, as suggested by Brett McGurk, the senior US official in the counter-IS coalition, in a tweet on 8 January.

Iraqi forces are now present in 35 of east Mosul's 47 neighbourhoods, including the largest and most densely populated parts of the east side.