Glasgow helicopter crash: One dead at Clutha pub

One person has been confirmed dead after a police helicopter crashed into a busy pub in Glasgow.

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Police Scotland said they expected the final number of fatalities would be higher and a rescue operation is continuing at the scene.

The crash happened at The Clutha in Stockwell Street at 22:25 on Friday. 

There were three people on board the helicopter - two officers and a civilian pilot. Thirty-two people have been taken to local hospitals.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond told a press conference it was a "black day for Scotland."

Chief Constable Sir Stephen House confirmed that one person had died and further fatalities were expected after the helicopter crashed on to the roof of the pub.

He said there was "deep sorrow" in Police Scotland and thoughts were with all those involved.

He said they "can't say definitively" whether there are people still trapped within the pub, and added "we are still in a search and recovery phase".

He went on: "It's been emotional but it's the job of everyone here to deal with it and we will continue to deal with it."

Mr Salmond said: "This is a black day for Glasgow and Scotland but it is also St Andrew's Day and we can take pride in how we respond to adversity. 

"The response from our emergency services and citizens has been exemplary."

Earlier senior fire officer said they had made contact with some people trapped inside the pub but the building was unsafe and they were taking a "methodical" approach to the rescue.

The emergency services could be seen on the pub's roof trying to rescue people from inside.

It has been reported that about 120 people were in the pub at the time of the crash. Many were rescued or escaped but others have been trapped by a collapse on the left-hand side of the building.

Emergency services have erected barriers around the scene and specialist rescue teams are in the pub with sniffer dogs.

• The Police Scotland Casualty Bureau number is 0800 092 0410

• Callers should only contact the Casualty Bureau number if they have concerns for relatives who may

• have been in the Clutha Vaults pub or surrounding area at the time of the incident

• The injured have been taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Western Infirmary and the Victoria Infirmary

• The fire service said there were people trapped in the building but they could not say how many

Some of the injured were taken to a nearby Holiday Inn Express, while more serious casualties were being treated in hospital.

As he left the accident and emergency department of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, a staff member who did not want to be interviewed was asked how serious the injuries were. He replied: "Very".

Glasgow's Health Board said it had put in place its "well-rehearsed major emergency arrangements" and that local hospitals had been on "immediate standby".

A large area of the city centre has been cordoned off.

Images of the crash showed the wreckage of a dark blue helicopter with a yellow "Police" insignia lying on the pub's roof.

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick said: "At 22:25 on Friday evening, the Police Scotland helicopter - a Eurocopter EC135 T2 - came down on the roof of the Clutha Vaults pub in Stockwell Street, Glasgow.

"There were three people on board - two police officers and a civilian pilot. There were a number of customers inside the bar at the time."

She said the rescue operation was ongoing and it was too early to provide any details around why the helicopter came down. 

Helicopter operator Bond Air Services said it was working with the police and emergency services.

Jim Murphy, the Labour MP for East Renfrewshire, was in the area at the time of the crash and said he ran into the pub to help before emergency services arrived.

He told the Info breakers there was "pandemonium" as people tried to get out of the pub.

 

Emergency services said there have been "numerous" casualties

 

"It was almost like slow motion," he said, adding: "People just formed a bit of human chain, side by side with each other, to help pull injured people out."

The shadow cabinet minister, who had blood on his shirt which he said was not his, described what he saw as a "horrific scene". 

The band who were playing in the pub at the time of the crash, Esperanza, have released a statement on their Facebook page.

Bassist Jess wrote: "Waking up and realising that it is all definitely horribly real. Despite the situation everyone was so helpful and caring of each other. 

"The police, ambulances, firefighters all did a stellar job and continue to do so today in extremely difficult conditions."

Eyewitness Fraser Gibson, 34, was inside the pub with his brother to see his former band, Esperanza.

"Midway through their set it sounded like a giant explosion," he told BBC Scotland. 

"Part of the room was covered in dust. We didn't know what had happened. We froze for a second; there was panic and then people trying to get out the door."

Mr Gibson added: "I would say there was maybe 120 people inside the pub. A lot of people managed to get out straight away, but it was hard to tell how many were actually trapped in the other half of the bar.

He said there had been no indication a helicopter had caused the devastation, adding: "The roof had just totally collapsed. 

"There were shards of wood sticking out the top but nothing that said there had been a helicopter crash."

Eddie Waltham, a former firefighter who had a friend inside the pub, told the BBC: "A roof joist came down and hit him and pushed him towards the window which is at the left side of the left door."

He added later: "My own reaction was to run straight up to the pub.

"It was amazing to watch just how people were trying so hard to get into this building." 

John McGarrigle who said he feared his father had been in the pub at the time said: "I've checked every hospital and there's no sign of him. I'm very anxious. 

"I'm just going to stand here till I see casualties come out of the building."

 

For more details visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland

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Australia election: Abbott poised for victory

The BBC's Jon Donnison: "If the polls are to be believed, then this is Tony Abbott's race to lose"

Exit polls in Australia suggest Tony Abbott's Liberal-National coalition is on course for a decisive election win, as voting ended in the eastern states.

One poll forecast that the opposition coalition would secure 97 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives.

The campaign has been dramatic, with Kevin Rudd replacing Julia Gillard as prime minister and Labor party leader just weeks from the polls.

The economy, asylum and the carbon tax have been key election issues.

Mr Rudd called the election after ousting Julia Gillard in a leadership challenge in June, amid dismal polling figures that showed Labor on course for a wipe-out.

Under Mr Rudd, Labor initially saw its figures improve significantly. But Mr Abbott, who enjoyed the strident support of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, then broadened the gap again.

The Newspoll exit poll, released just over an hour before polling closed in the east of the country, gave the coalition 53% to Labor's 47% on a two-party basis (votes for the two main parties after both primary votes and preferences are distributed).

Another poll put the two-party figure at 52%-48% in the coalition's favour.

More than 14 million people were expected to vote in Saturday's election. Polling has now closed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

Polls close later in Western Australia because of the time zone difference.

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Syria crisis: Russia and US 'no closer'

 President Barack Obama gives a news conference

The US and Russia have not bridged their differences over the issue of possible military action in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.

Mr Putin said it was "counter-productive" to destabilise the situation in the Middle East.

His comments came in a news conference on the final day of the G20 summit in St Petersburg.

US President Barack Obama had been pushing for support among leaders at the G20 for a US strike on Syria.

The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad's forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August.

Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a UN Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal.

Mr Putin said the discussions about Syria on Thursday evening had gone on well past midnight.

He added that he had a one-to-one meeting with Mr Obama in which they had discussed Syria.

Both men had listened to the other's position but had not agreed, he said.

Also speaking at the end of the summit, Mr Obama said there was a "unanimous" view that chemical weapons had been used in Syria.

He also said most leaders present at the summit thought it was most likely that the regime of President Assad was responsible.

However, Mr Putin described the use of chemical weapons as "a provocation on the part of the militants who are expecting to get support from outside".

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President Obama pushes G20 leaders for support on Syria

  The G20 leaders: Standing together but deeply divided

 

 US President Barack Obama is using his final day at the G20 summit to continue pushing for foreign support for a US military strike on Syria.

British sources say the leaders of France, Turkey, Canada and the UK gave Mr Obama strong backing.

But a Russian spokesman said a US strike would drive a "nail into the coffin of international law".

The head of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, has also denounced talk of military action, calling it "ill-considered".

Mr Ban said such attacks - responding to the apparent use of chemical weapons in Syria - could lead to more sectarian violence. 

The UN says it needs another $3.3bn (£2bn) to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis up to the end of this year. 

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim told the BBC that the refugee situation was "disastrous", and required "all hands on board".

"As a medical doctor, I've seen the pictures; I've seen the medical data. It really is appalling," he said.

Deep divisions

 

Mr Obama discussed the deepening crisis in Syria with other G20 delegates at a lengthy working dinner on Thursday night - and it was there, correspondents say, that their differences in opinion became obvious.

The BBC's Bridget Kendall, who is at the St Petersburg summit, says that on the final day of their talks these divisions are even more entrenched. 

The US government accuses Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the suburbs of Damascus on 21 August. 

But Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack - and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, says it still is not clear which side used the weapons.

While the UK, Canada and Turkey all support Mr Obama's call for action, the only leaders at the G20 meeting to commit to force in Syria are the US and France.

Correspondents in St Petersburg say opponents of US military intervention appear to far outnumber supporters within the G20.

China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal. 

Joint UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi also said no state had the the right to take action without the approval of the Security Council.

Also on Friday, the US embassy in Lebanon said that it would be evacuating its non-essential staff.

The move was prompted by "threats to US mission facilities and personnel," a statement said. The US Consulate General in the Turkish city of Adana is also withdrawing non-essential staff. 

 Aid for Syria

 

Jeremy Bowen spoke to Syrians in Damascus about what they think of the divisions at the G20

The UN is appealing for more aid for people in Syria, and also for the estimated two million Syrians who have fled their country. 

The UN humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, told the BBC that donor countries should "look again" at their contributions and be "as generous as they can". 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK would give an additional £52m ($80m) in aid for Syria - much of which will go towards medical training and equipment to help civilians targeted by chemical attacks.

Some analysts say Mr Cameron has been sidelined at the summit because the UK parliament has already voted against military strikes.

A senior Russian aide reportedly dismissed Britain as "just a small island: no-one pays any attention to them" - comments later denied by Mr Putin's chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

'Divisions confirmed'

Our correspondent Bridget Kendall says the views of the G20 leaders could be the least of Mr Obama's worries, as his real difficulties might lie back in the US, where Congress is preparing to vote next week on whether to back military strikes. 

A poll commissioned by the BBC and ABC News suggested more than one-third of Congress members were undecided whether or not to back military action - and a majority of those who had made a decision said they would vote against the president.

Syria's parliamentary speaker has written to the speaker of the House of Representatives urging members not to rush into an "irresponsible, reckless action".

Meanwhile the US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, has accused Russia of holding the Security Council hostage by blocking resolutions.

Ms Power said the council was no longer a "viable path" for holding Syria accountable for war crimes.

She told a news conference in New York: "Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities.

Fighting continues

 

Meanwhile, on the ground in Syria, rebels have withdrawn after briefly entering an ancient Christian town north of Damascus, the main opposition alliance has said.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) units captured military positions outside Maaloula after heavy clashes with government forces and militiamen on Thursday.

The National Coalition said they were in the vicinity for several hours, "but did not attack any church or convent".

Analysts say the fighting highlights the delicate position of Syria's Christian minority.

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UK has new Syria chemical evidence - David Cameron

David Cameron is welcomed to St Petersburg by Vladimir Putin

The UK has fresh evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Damascus, David Cameron has told the BBC as he arrives in Russia for the G20 summit.

Scientists at the Porton Down laboratories have been "examining samples" from Syria's capital, he said.

Mr Cameron denied claims he had "no hand to play" over Syria after losing a vote last week on UK military action.

He said the UK would lead calls for more action on aid for refugees and push for fresh peace talks.

In an interview with BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson, Mr Cameron said he took "full and personal responsibility" for the decision to recall Parliament and could not have guaranteed MPs a say in whether Britain should take part in US-led action had he not acted so swiftly.

His "only regret" was that Labour, which voted with Tory and Lib Dem rebels against the government motion, had chosen "the easy and the political path not the right and the difficult path".

'Appalling signal'

 

Asked if he had no hand to play at the St Petersburg summit, which is expected to be dominated by discussions about Syria, he said: "Not in the slightest."

Mr Cameron added: "Britain will be leading the argument on humanitarian aid. Britain will be one of the leaders in bringing forward plans for a peace process for Syria. Britain will be leading the argument across the globe for continuing to respond strongly on chemical weapons."

He said: "I absolutely believe that, having set a red line on the further big use of chemical weapons, it would be wrong if America was to step back and, having set that red line, to do nothing. I think that would send an appalling signal to President Assad and also to dictators elsewhere."

The Damascus government is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict - most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the outskirts of the capital. 

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.

But Mr Cameron said evidence of the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons was "growing all the time" and scientists at the UK's chemical warfare research laboratories were investigating the attacks on 21 August.

"We have just been looking at some samples taken from Damascus in the Porton Down laboratory in Britain which further shows the use of chemical weapons in that Damascus suburb," he told Nick Robinson.

Russian President Vladimir Putin: "The risk of another (economic) crisis is still there"

Syria is not officially on the G20 agenda in St Petersburg, which is meant to be about global economic recovery, but it is expected to dominate informal meetings.

'Sidelined'

 

US President Barack Obama has begun informal talks with other leaders as he pushes for military action over Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that military action without UN approval would be "an aggression".

Earlier, former UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the government's Commons defeat on military action had left Mr Cameron "sidelined".

The Conservative MP said the prime minister had been "sent into negotiations on Syria with no hand to play and that was bad for the UK".

Speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics programme, he said the vote had "given pause for thought amongst our allies about the deliverability of any promise that future prime ministers might make".

He added that Parliament needed to reflect on how the events of last week had been interpreted internationally. 

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "If the G20 does not agree about military action against the Assad regime, it can surely unite around a determined effort to improve humanitarian relief.

"The summit would be a qualified success if it could agree to do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire so that the humanitarian effort can proceed unhindered.

"David Cameron should make this a priority."

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Syria crisis: Obama says world's credibility on the line

Barack Obama: "The world set a red line when the governments representing 98% of the world's population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent"

President Barack Obama has said the credibility of the US, its Congress and the international community is on the line over their response to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons.

Speaking in Sweden, he said the world should stick to its own "red line" against the use of chemical weapons.

Mr Obama is trying to build support in the US for punitive military action against the Syrian government.

 

The US Congress will vote next week on whether to support his proposed action.

France - whose government has strongly backed the US plan for intervention - is holding an extraordinary debate in the National Assembly, though MPs will not vote on the matter.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stressed the need to take action together with France's partners, saying: "Faced with barbarism, doing nothing is not an option." 

He said it was "France's honour, France's duty" to act and that President Francois Hollande was continuing efforts to bring together a coalition.

"What message would this send to other regimes, and I am thinking like you of Iran and North Korea? The message would be clear: You can continue," he added.

Iran has rejected Western claims that it is seeking to build a nuclear weapon, while North Korea has a nuclear bomb but not yet the means to deliver it via a missile.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault: ''Bashar al-Assad has become a war criminal and has committed a crime against humanity'' 

 

The UK parliament voted last month against military intervention in Syria.

Russia remains firmly opposed, with President Vladimir Putin warning on Wednesday that any strike without UN approval would be "an aggression".

But Mr Putin said Russia did not rule out supporting a UN Security Council resolution authorising force, if it was proved "beyond doubt" that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons.

He said it was "too early" to talk about what Russia would do if America took action without a UN resolution.

Meanwhile, Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour told the BBC that it would back intervention in neighbouring Syria if proof emerged that chemical weapons had been used. 

But he said any strikes would have to be precise, and that Jordan itself would not be involved.

'World's red line' 

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict, most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the outskirts of Damascus.

The US has put the death toll from that incident at 1,429 - though other countries and organisations have given lower figures - and says all the evidence implicates government forces.

President Assad has said such an attack would have been "illogical" because UN chemical weapons experts were visiting Damascus at the time.

On Tuesday evening, senior members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations agreed a draft resolution on military action to go before Congress - it specified that any operation would be "limited and tailored" and prohibit the use of any ground forces.

The full committee may vote on the draft on Wednesday.

Mr Obama has won the support of key Congressional leaders, though influential Republican John McCain said there were "number of people who are unhappy". 

In Stockholm, Mr Obama was asked if he believed asking Congress to vote - which he was not constitutionally obliged to do - had put his credibility at stake.

"My credibility is not on the line. The international community's credibility is on the line," he replied.

"America and Congress's credibility is on the line, because we give lip-service to the notion that these international norms are important."

Mr Obama, who has previously said that the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line", told reporters that it was not him who set this line but the world, "when governments representing 98% of the world's population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war". 

"Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty," he added.

He said he believed Congress would give its backing, because it recognised that the world would become "less safe" if chemical weapons were allowed to become the norm. 

But he also stressed that as commander-in-chief, he had the right to act in his country's national interest. 

The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011.

On Tuesday, the UN refugee agency said more than 2 million Syrians had now registered as refugees, and an estimated 4.25 million had been displaced within Syria, making it the worst refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The foreign ministers of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq - which border Syrian and have taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees - are meeting at the UN in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss the humanitarian issue.

The ministers hope to persuade other richer countries to offer more support.

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US marks Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' speech

The US is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom, the civil rights rally at which Martin Luther King Jr made his historic "I have a dream" speech.

President Barack Obama is to mark the occasion in Washington DC with an address from the same spot.

Members of the King family and veterans of the march will also be present.

Mr Obama, the first black US president, has described the 1963 protest as a "seminal event" in American history.

The march was considered a catalyst for civil rights reforms in the US.

President Obama is due to deliver his address at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall just after an organised ringing of bells by churches and other groups at 15:00 local time (19:00 GMT), to mark the exact time that Martin Luther King spoke on 28 August 1963.

Mr Obama will be joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as prominent African Americans.

On Saturday, thousands of people, including King's eldest son, marched to the Lincoln Memorial to mark the milestone anniversary.

Half a century earlier, Martin Luther King had led some 250,000 protesters down the same strip and delivered his famous speech from its steps.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character," he said, in one of the most celebrated pieces of American oratory.

His address marked the peak of a series of protests against racial discrimination that had begun when seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat for a white passenger in 1955.

Her action sparked a bus boycott campaign across Montgomery, Alabama.

King became a dominant force in the movement and so was called on to make the final speech at the march.

He advocated the use of non-violent tactics such as sit-ins and protest marches, and was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1964.

Four years later, his assassination led to mass riots in more than 100 US cities.

In an interview on Tuesday with a radio show, President Obama said he imagines that King "would be amazed in many ways" about the social progress made since that speech.

He cited the prominent role of many African-Americans in the political and business spheres, as well as equal rights before the law.

Mr Obama, whose own oratory has attracted much praise, said his address on Wednesday would not match that by the civil rights leader.

"It won't be as good as the speech 50 years ago," he said. "I just want to get that out there early." 

"When you are talking about Dr King's speech at the March on Washington," he added, "you're talking about one of the maybe five greatest speeches in American history." 

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Young Chinese boy's eyes gouged out in attack

The little boy is out of danger and is now recovering in hospital 

 

Police in China have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of a woman suspected of gouging out a six-year-old boy's eyes.

The attack happened in Fenxi, Shanxi province, on 24 August. 

The boy went out to play and hours later was found by his parents with his eyes removed and covered in blood.

The boy is now recovering in hospital. Police have offered a reward of 100,000 yuan ($16,340, £10,500) for information linked to the case.

"The boy was lured by an unknown woman on Saturday evening into a field, where she gouged out his eyes," state news agency Xinhua reported.

The boy's parents are said to be farmers. His mother said her son told them he was walking outside when a woman attacked him, state media reported. 

Police found the boy's eyeballs at the scene. Local reports initially said the corneas were missing, potentially pointing towards organ trafficking. 

Police now say, however, that the corneas were not missing and they have yet to establish a motive for the attack. 

"We are still working on it so we cannot offer any comment or make any assumption on the motives," a police officer in Fenxi told the AFP news agency.

The boy was initially taken to a local hospital but was transferred to Shanxi Eye Hospital in the provincial capital, Taiyuan, on Sunday.

Local television footage showed family members trying to comfort the heavily-bandaged child.

"We had no disputes with anybody," state news agency Xinhua reported quoted his mother as saying.

Doctors at the hospital say his condition is stable but he will be blind for life.

"He asks why the sky is always dark... and why the dawn still hasn't come," Beijing Youth Daily quoted an uncle of the boy as saying.

"We could only tell him that his eyes had some injury and have to be bandaged. 

"It is such a difficult question to explain to him. It is the most heartbreaking thing."

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Facebook to compensate users for sharing details on ads

Approximately 614,000 Facebook users whose personal details appeared in ads on the site without their permission will each receive a $15 (£9.65) payout.

The names and pictures of an estimated 150 million Facebook members were used in Sponsored Stories, but only those who responded to an email from the site earlier this year will be compensated.

Privacy organisations will also receive some of the $20m (£12.9m) settlement.

Facebook said it was "pleased" the settlement had been approved.

The payout was approved by a US court on Monday following a class action filed against Facebook in 2011 by five of its users.

The group said their details had been used to promote products and services through the site's Sponsored Stories programme, without paying them or giving them the choice to opt-out.

A Sponsored Story is a tailored advertisement that appears on members' Facebook pages, highlighting products a user's friends have endorsed or "liked" on the site.

No 'meaningful' harm

US District Judge Richard Seeborg acknowledged that the $15 payments were relatively small, but said it had not been established that Facebook had "undisputedly violated the law".

He added that the claimants could not prove they were "harmed in any meaningful way".

The court estimated that Facebook had made about $73m (£47m) in profit from the Sponsored Stories featuring details of the 150 million members.

The settlement also requires Facebook to make changes to its "Statement of Rights" and to give users more information and control over how their details are used in the future.

This move was estimated by the plaintiff's lawyers to cost Facebook $145m in advertising revenue.

Approximately 7,000 Facebook users opted out of the settlement altogether, allowing them to bring their own legal action against the social network. 

A Facebook spokesperson said: "We are pleased that the settlement has received final approval."

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MSF-backed hospitals treated Syria 'chemical victims'

Medecins Sans Frontieres says hospitals it supports in Syria treated about 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms", of whom 355 have died.

It said the patients had arrived in three hospitals in the Damascus governorate on 21 August - when opposition activists say chemical attacks were launched against rebels.

But MSF says it cannot "scientifically confirm" the use of chemical weapons.

Both sides in the conflict accuse each other of using chemical weapons.

MSF says staff at the hospitals described a large number of patients arriving in the space of less than three hours with symptoms including convulsions, extreme salivation, contracted pupils and sight and respiratory problems. 

The charity said many were treated with atropine, a drug administered to those with "neurotoxic symptoms".

"MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack," said MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssens. 

"However, the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events, characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers, strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent. 

"This would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, which absolutely prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons."

MSF's disclosure came hours after the UN disarmament chief Angela Kane arrived in Damascus to press the Syrian government to allow access to the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack.

France has joined the UK in accusing Bashar al-Assad's forces of carrying out the attack in the capital's eastern suburbs on Wednesday.

US President Obama has said he is weighing his options and described it as a "big event of grave concern".

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UN's Angela Kane in Syria urges chemical weapons probe

UN disarmament chief Angela Kane has arrived in Damascus to push the Syrian government for access to the alleged site of a chemical weapons attack.

It comes as France joined the UK in accusing Bashar al-Assad's forces of carrying out the attack in the capital's eastern suburbs on Wednesday.

US President Obama has said he is weighing his options amid claims that hundreds of civilians were killed.

State media on Saturday said chemical agents were found in rebel-held areas.

Syrian television said soldiers had "suffocated" as they tried to enter Jobar - one of the towns in the Ghouta district around Damascus reportedly attacked on Wednesday. 

Russia, Syria's main ally, said earlier there was evidence rebels were behind Wednesday's attack.

Damascus has called the allegations "illogical and fabricated".

'Grave concern'

Syria's opposition said hundreds of people died in a night-time government assault in Ghouta on Wednesday.

Unverified footage shows civilians - many of them children - dead or suffering from what appeared to be horrific symptoms consistent with a chemical attack. 

The allegations have caused international outrage.

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday that "all the information at our disposal converge to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the [regime of Bashar al-Assad] is responsible".

A day earlier, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he believed "this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime" and it was "not something that a humane or civilised world can ignore".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was determined to "conduct a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation" into the events.

He has sent Angela Kane to press the Syrian authorities to allow a team of 20 experts on chemical weapons - already in Damascus - to investigate the claims.

The US, meanwhile, is facing rising pressure to intervene.

President Obama is meeting his national security team on Saturday to discuss possible next steps in Syria.

US defence officials have said navy commanders are keeping a fourth warship in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The officials stressed that the US Navy had received no orders to prepare for military action.

Mr Obama told CNN that Wednesday's attack was a "big event of grave concern", but added that the US was still seeking confirmation that chemical weapons had been used and warned against a knee-jerk reaction.

Last year, he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line" and force a tough US response.

Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow had urged President Assad to co-operate with UN inspectors, but questioned the opposition's willingness to provide "secure, safe access of the [UN] mission to the location of the incident".

It also said there was evidence that "this criminal act was clearly provocative", referring to unsubstantiated internet reports that allegations were being made hours before the attack was supposed to have happened.

The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began more than two years ago.

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Jennifer Fitzgerald settles $105,000 Chicago parking fine

A Chicago woman has settled $105,000 (£67,540) in parking fines amassed after her car was abandoned at an airport in 2009, local media report.

Jennifer Fitzgerald's ex-boyfriend left the car at O'Hare airport's employee car park. She settled with the city out of court for $4,500.

The vehicle accumulated 678 tickets before it was finally towed last year.

Fitzgerald insisted she had been unable to retrieve the vehicle from the employee car park

Ms Fitzgerald said she had been unable to gain access to the car park, according to court records.

She continued to receive tickets even after the state of Illinois revoked the car's licence plates.

Ms Fitzgerald sued the city to clear the tickets and penalties.

Her lawyer, Robin Omahana, told DNAinfo Chicago the city had disregarded its own towing rules.

"They had a little egg on their face with writing so many tickets on one car," Mr Omahana said.

City law department spokesman Roderick Drew told the Chicago Tribune that the city had tried to settle with Ms Fitzgerald before the case went to court but she declined.

Under the terms of the settlement, her ex-boyfriend Brandon Preveau will reimburse her $1,600, with Ms Fitzgerald paying the rest on a monthly plan.

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