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".

Russia's parliament has also said it will seek to speak to the US Congress to ask for a "balanced" response to the Syria issue.

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.

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.

The nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is moving westward toward the Red Sea, although it has not yet received orders to support a potential strike.

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.

"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 seven million people have been displaced by the ongoing civil war.

Fears in Israel that the fallout from any attack on Syria could spill across their northern border and drag the Jewish state into the conflict, Israelis last week rushed to replace their old gas masks.

Michael Le Vell 'Raped Girl As She Held Teddy'

Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell raped a six-year-old girl while she was holding her teddy bear, a court has heard.

The star, who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, placed a second teddy bear over his victim's mouth as he sexually assaulted her, prosecutors claimed in their opening statement.

The victim said that during the first alleged rape, Le Vell told the girl he was "getting rid of the evil inside" of her.

He then kissed her on the cheek and left, a jury was told at Manchester Crown Court, where Le Vell is being tried for 12 child sex offences.

The victim said she was so upset she tried to console herself by talking to her teddy bears, telling them what had happened.

She told the court that after being abused she would cuddle her teddies and tell them "it doesn't feel right but it must be".

The youngster was too scared to tell anyone else, because Le Vell allegedly said to her: "No-one needs to know, otherwise you'll be taken, you'll die and evil will come over you."

When he was finally confronted by the victim's mother, the jury heard that Le Vell became very angry, grabbed the woman and pinned her against a wall.

The 48-year-old actor, who is on trial under his real name of Michael Turner, denies 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.

Eleanor Laws QC, prosecuting, began the opening address by telling the jury Le Vell was a "heavy drinker".

Ms Laws said the abuse began when Le Vell slipped his hand under the girl's clothing.

The victim, who on Monday afternoon has been giving her account of what happened, has been in tears as she recounted what happened.

In between sobs, from behind a curtain, the victim said Le Vell told her the alleged abuse was "our little secret".

As a result, she didn't tell anyone at the time, she said.

She said the abuse "didn't feel right, it felt disgusting, it hurt, it was very very scary."

The youngster said the abuse stopped for a short time before restarting when she was eight. At the time, "everyone noticed I was a different child", she said.

Le Vell has been shaking his head as the girl, in between breaking down in tears, said the alleged abuse made her feel "dirty"

Father-of-two Le Vell, originally from Manchester, is one of TV's most famous faces after playing the soap's garage owner for the past 30 years.

ITV has said he will not be appearing in any further episodes of the soap pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

His trial is scheduled to last around two weeks.

Horsemeat Scandal: Two Arrested Over Fraud

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of fraud as part of an investigation by British police into the horsemeat scandal, it was revealed today.

City of London Police said that since launching an inquiry in May it has held two men on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and interviewed a further two men under caution.

The force said it has only released details now due to "operational reasons" and would not say when the men were arrested or reveal their nationalities.

Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Shaw said: "This is an extremely complex investigation covering a number of jurisdictions and a variety of businesses.

"We are working closely with police forces, other law enforcement agencies and regulators to determine whether horsemeat being used in a range of meat products was deliberate and coordinated criminal activity."

City of London Police was asked to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as part of its inquiry into the scandal.

It reviewed evidence from law enforcement agencies in Europe and the UK, as well as from the FSA.

The force launched an investigation in May and said it made the arrests "during the initial stages" of the inquiry. Officers have also carried out searches at businesses and homes in the UK.

Last month MPs condemned the slow pace of the national investigation into the scandal, with no prosecutions six months after the problem was first identified.

The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said authorities in both the UK and Ireland - where horse DNA was first discovered in processed beef products - had yet to acknowledge the scale of the illegal activity involved.

It said: "The evidence we received from retailers and food processors in the UK and Ireland suggests a complex, highly organised network of companies trading in and mislabelling frozen and processed meat or meat products in a way that fails to meet  specifications and that is fraudulent and illegal.

"We are concerned at the failure of authorities in both the UK and Ireland to acknowledge the extent of this and to bring prosecutions.

"We are dismayed at the slow pace of investigations and would like assurance that prosecutions will be mounted where there is evidence of fraud or other illegal activity."

BBC's HR Boss Quits Following Payoff Row

The BBC's HR director is to quit her £320,000-a-year post in the wake of a row over bumper payoffs handed to departing executives on her watch.

Lucy Adams will leave at the end of the financial year next March after working her notice period and without any severance pay.

She was forced to reject accusations the BBC was engaged in "cronyism" during an appearance before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee last month.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report had revealed huge payments - some totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds - were made even when departing executives were not entitled to the money.

Among them was the £450,000 handed to former director-general George Entwistle, who stood down after a few weeks in the job.

BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten later admitted Mr Entwistle was paid for an extra 20 days' work to help manage the transition to a new director-general but "as it happened he wasn't required to do anything".

According to the NAO, in the three years up to last December, the BBC spent £25m on severance payments for 150 high-ranking staff.

Chief operating officer Caroline Thomson left last year with £670,000 - more than twice her salary - while former deputy director-general Mark Byford was paid £949,000 when he departed two years ago.

Ex-BBC2 controller Roly Keating returned a £375,000 payoff after learning it had not been properly authorised.

During last month's hearing, Ms Adams admitted to MPs there was a culture at the corporation "which clearly did not deliver value for money".

Commenting on her decision to leave, Ms Adams said: "I have been discussing my decision to leave the BBC with (director-general) Tony Hall for some time now. By next spring I will have been at the BBC for five years which feels like a good time to try something new.

"It has been a great privilege to lead the BBC's People division. The BBC is a unique institution and I am extremely proud of the work the team has achieved in spite of the challenges along the way.

"I look forward to continuing that work with Tony and the executive board in the coming months."

Mr Hall said: "I am enormously grateful to Lucy for all her work and I will be very sorry to see her go next spring.

"She has done a great job and contributed a huge amount to the BBC.

"I am pleased that, in the short term at least, she will continue to help me simplify the way we do business in the BBC so that we can spend more time concentrating on our programmes and services."

Rolf Harris Charged With Child Sex Offences

Rolf Harris has been charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four counts of making indecent images of a child.

The 83-year-old is accused of the assault offences between 1980 and 1986 relating to two alleged victims, who were aged 14 and 15 at the time, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

The charges he faces are:

:: Six counts of indecent assault relating to a girl aged between 15 and 16, from 1980 to 1981;

:: Three offences of indecent assault relating to a girl aged 14, in 1986;

:: Four offences of making indecent images of a child between March and July 2012.

Harris was interviewed under caution on November 29 last year, five days after his Berkshire home was searched.

Police passed their evidence to the CPS on August 12.

"We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service as part of Operation Yewtree in relation to Rolf Harris, who was initially arrested on November 29 2012 over allegations of sexual offences," said the CPS' Alison Saunders.

"A file of evidence was passed to the CPS on August 12 2013.

"Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged."

Harris will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 23.

The Australian, who painted a portrait of the Queen in 2005 and performed at her Diamond Jubilee concert last year, has been a family favourite for decades.

He had his first musical hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport in 1960, and continued to enjoy success in the industry, gaining cult status in recent years and performing at Glastonbury festival several times.

Harris, who has lived in Bray, Berkshire, for more than 50 years, was awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and a CBE in 2006, and was made Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours list last year.

Syria Debate: MPs Reject Labour Amendment

MPs have rejected a Labour amendment to the Government motion on Syria by a majority of 112 votes.

The amendment had called for military action to only be taken once the UN Security Council had voted in light of a report from weapons' inspectors on the ground in Syria.

The Prime Minister had earlier said the "abhorrent" chemical weapons attack in Damascus last week had caused "sickening human suffering" and could not be ignored.

But he stressed his plans should not be compared to the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

Starting an emergency debate in the Commons, Mr Cameron admitted the earlier conflict had sparked "deep public cynicism" about military intervention.

However, he said: "This is not like Iraq, what we are seeing in Syria is fundamentally different. We are not invading a country. We are not searching for chemical or biological weapons."

MPs have begun voting on a Labour amendment to the Government motion on Syria, a move which will test Mr Cameron's authority.

He warned "decades of painstaking work" would be undone if there was no international action.

"The global consensus against the use of chemical weapons will be fatally unravelled, a 100-year taboo would be breached," he warned.

The Prime Minister admitted there was no "one smoking piece of intelligence" that made it 100% certain the Assad regime was behind the atrocity.

But he said he had been convinced by the available evidence and told MPs it was now up to them to make the same judgement.

He warned Syrian leader Bashar Assad would conclude he could "use these weapons again and again and on a larger scale and with impunity" if the world stood by.

"In the end we can't know the mind of this brutal dictator, all we can do is make a judgment about whether it is better to act or not to act and make a judgment about whether he is responsible or not responsible," he said.

Despite efforts to secure a UN Security Council resolution, Mr Cameron argued this should not be the only basis for possible action.

Indicating Britain could ignore a veto by Russia or China, he said his test would be if there was "overwhelming opposition" at the UN.

The debate came after Downing Street published its legal advice for action and a letter detailing the position of intelligence experts.

Government lawyers believe Britain could launch a targeted strike on humanitarian grounds without agreement at the UN.

And evidence from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) found a chemical weapons did take place and it was "highly likely" the Assad regime was to blame.

MPs will vote tonight on the principle of military action, with any direct British involvement requiring a further Commons vote.

But the Prime Minister's hopes of a united political response have already been dashed after Labour vowed to oppose the Government motion.

Mr Cameron had already been forced to accept the need to give UN inspectors more time to report and MPs a further vote but this was still not enough to win round the Opposition.

It called the Government's new position "opaque" and tabled an alternative motion demanding "compelling evidence" the Assad regime was behind the atrocity.

Number 10 reacted furiously to Ed Miliband's positioning, accusing him of "playing politics" and attempting to divide the country.

But in the Commons, the Labour leader insisted "evidence should precede decision" and that the UN was not an "inconvenient sideshow" but essential to building a case.

He told the House he had not ruled out military intervention but said: "We need to be clear-eyed about the impact this would have."

Calling for respect to be shown to the UN, he added: "I am very clear about the fact that we have to learn the lessons of Iraq."

A frustrated Number 10 argued that the evidence from the intelligence services and publicly available material, including YouTube videos, was clear.

"Are we seriously suggesting that rows of three-year-old children frothing at the mouth and dead were somehow made to act this out?" a senior source said.

"Experts who have looked at this video have said it is conclusive that something like sarin was used here. The idea that this was concocted in some way is ridiculous."

Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said it was impossible to have 100% proof the regime was involved but insisted the available evidence was strong.

The chemical weapons attack was in the same Damascus suburb where a sustained military attack by government forces was taking place, he pointed out.

And he warned MPs: "At this very moment, the Assad regime in Damascus is watching very carefully to see whether they will get away with what they have done.

"If there is no significant international response of any kind, then we can be absolutely certain that the forces within Damascus will be successful in saying we must continue to use these whenever there is a military rationale for doing so.

"There is no guarantee that a military strike against military targets will work, but there is every certainty that if we don't make that effort to punish and deter, then these actions will indeed continue."

UN weapons inspectors are due to finish their work on Friday and will report directly to secretary general Ban Ki-moon within 24 hours.

But their conclusions will not apportion blame - they will only set out the evidence on whether a chemical attack happened or not.

Former Tory Foreign Office minister David Davis said Britain could be "conned" into military intervention in Syria by rebels who were using chemical weapons to draw the West into the conflict.

He told the Commons MPs must have a justification for military action that is "not constructed" and said a "more aggressive" disclosure of intelligence could be necessary.

The former party leader candidate added there was no "clear moral imperative" to intervene in Syria.

He said: "There are many reasons for us to worry about this concern. We do not want to be conned into a war in effect by actions designed just to do that.

"There are plenty of facts around, or at least reported facts, reported that the UN representative for human rights in Syria thought there was concrete evidence of rebels having sarin gas."

Shadow transport spokesman Jim Fitzpatrick resigned his position after saying he would vote against Mr Miliband's policy.

He quit after telling the Commons he was "opposed to military intervention in Syria, full stop".

A senior Labour source said: "Jim Fitzpatrick has tonight handed in his resignation as shadow transport spokesman."

Before the debate in Britain, Syria's Parliament called on British MPs to avoid "reckless action", warning intervention could help terrorists and lead to the deaths of UK troops.

In a letter, it declared a strike would be "an aggressive and unprovoked act of war" and said: "We ask you not to bomb us but to work with us."

Assad also issued a fresh warning on Thursday that the country would "defend itself in the face of any aggression".

Six British RAF Typhoon jets have been sent to Cyprus as tensions mount, in what the Ministry of Defence called a "prudent and precautionary measure".

Meanwhile, reports suggested Russia - a key ally of Syria - is sending warships to the Mediterranean.

Syria: Russia And US Send Warships To Med

Russia and the US have sent further warships to boost their military capacity in the Mediterannean as expectations grow of an imminent strike on Syria.

Syria's ally Russia is sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

An armed forces source reportedly said the planned deployment was in response to the "well-known situation" - a clear reference to the conflict in Syria.

The navy has denied the deployment is linked to events in Syria, saying it is part of a planned rotation of its ships in the Mediterranean.

In the US, a defence official has said a fifth destroyer, the USS Stout,  has been deployed to the Mediterranean and is "heading and moving east".

The guided missile destroyer is due to relieve the Mahan, but both ships might remain in place for the time being, the official said.

Other destroyers in the region - the Ramage, the Barry and the Gravely - criss-cross the Mediterranean and could launch their Tomahawk missiles toward Syria if so directed by US President Barack Obama.

As military action inched closer, Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces removed several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a base north of Damascus, possibly to protect them from bombardment, opposition sources claimed.

The White House said it is on track to release an unclassified intelligence report on Syria this week, although the information is not a "slam-dunk" that will make an open and shut case for military action.

A spokesman added that what the US is contemplating in terms of its response is "very discrete and limited".

Russia and the US have taken part in an "urgent" meeting of the five permanent UN Security Council members in New York - the second such meeting in two days.

Russia is strongly against any military intervention in Syria, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believing it would seriously destabilise the region.

Mr Lavrov has said any attack without UN Security Council approval would be a "crude violation" of international law.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has spoken to German leader Angela Merkel by phone, with the pair agreeing the Syrian conflict can be solved politically, the chancellor's spokesman said.

"The chancellor called on the Russian president to use negotiations in the UN Security Council for a quick, unanimous international reaction," he added.

Public opinion in Germany is overwhelmingly against military action in Syria, less than four weeks before an election in which Mrs Merkel hopes to win a third term.

The warship reports come after US President Barack Obama said the US had studied evidence and concluded that the Syrian government was behind the alleged attack.

Mr Obama said any strike would be to"send a shot across the bow" and give a "pretty strong signal that [Syria] better not do it again".

He added the US had not yet made a firm decision about how to respond, but that it could take action even without the backing of allies or the United Nations.

The president's national security adviser Susan Rice, intelligence director James Clapper, defence secretary Chuck Hagel and secretary of state John Kerry are to brief Congress on Syria later, according to Reuters.

Questions are said to remain about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons and whether President Assad himself explicitly ordered the alleged attack.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta told state radio that his country condemned the Assad regime but would not join any military operation without UN Security Council authorisation.

The Syrian leader was shown meeting Yemeni politicians on state television on Thursday.

It quoted President Assad as saying the country would defend itself in the face of any aggression.

A draft resolution by the UK on authorising a strike failed to win the approval of the UN Security Council on Wednesday as Russia reiterated its objections.

China has also entered the discussion and warned the West against any military action. 

"China calls on all parties to exercise restraint and remain calm and to remain committed to the correct track of political solutions," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

British involvement in any strike will bedebated today by politicians in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, United Nations weapons inspectors set out on Thursday morning for the Damascus suburbs in a third day of investigations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded for all sides to hold off on any military strikes.

He said his inspection team would soon finish its investigation, leaving Syria on Friday and reporting their findings to him the following day.

Samples they have collected will go to labs around Europe for testing, AP reported.

Last week's alleged chemical attack is claimed to have killed 1,300 people.