BBC News with David Austin

The American Secretary of State John Kerry says he'd firmed evidence has emerged that the nerve agent sarin was used in last month suspected chemical attack near Damascus. On Saturday, President Obama firmly asked Congress to vote on military action against Syria. David Willis reports from Washington.

Speaking on American television, Mr. Kerry said the Obama administration had learned to the use of sarin gas in Syria in the last 24 hours based on hair and blood samples provided by the first people to reach the scene of the most recent alleged chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. He said it underlines the fact that Congress needed to vote in favour of a military strike on Syria and he was confident that it would do so. But he added that President Obama has the authority to act alone if Congress rejected such a move.

The Arab League has urged the United Nations and the international community to take deterrent measures against Syria. At a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Cairo, the Arab League again accused of Syrian government of being behind a chemical attack last month. But the Jordanian government has told the BBC it will not take part in any military action. Lyse Doucet is in Amman.

Jordan's King Abdullah is one of Washington's closest Arab allies, his country has been quietly providing some training and intelligence to Syrian opposition forces. But it has emphasized it will not allow its territory to be a launchpad for any strike even if there are discussions behind the scenes of what it can do in this crisis - like many other Arab stakes - it's unlikely to publicly join any military action to avoid provoking its neighbours and causing unrest at home.

State television in Egypt has announced the deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi will stand trial for incitement to murder. The charge related to the deaths of several people during protest against Mr. Morsi outside the Presidential Palace last December. Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood will also appear in court on the same charges.

Clashes and explosions at a camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq have left a number of people dead but there are conflicting accounts of what happened. The exiled group, the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, has posted graphic photographs of what it says of the victims. Kasra Naji has this report.

The People's Mujahideen Organization says Camp Ashraf which houses more than 100 of its members was attacked by Iraqi government forces in the early hours of Sunday. The group says dozens of its members were killed, many of them shot in the head at a close range. They accused the Iraqi government of carrying out the operation at the behest of Iran. Iraqi authorities on the other hand say the casualties are mostly the result of mystery explosions of gas cylinders inside the camp.

World News from the BBC

The Senegalese President Macky Sall has named the new Prime Minister hours after sacking a man he appointed after coming to power last year. Aminata Toure, the former Justice Minister told state radio he'd accepted the invitation to form a new government. No reason has been given for the dismiss of Abdoul Mbaye, a former banker.

The Wales footballer Gareth Bale has signed a deal that sort of had made him the world's most expensive player. The Spanish club Real Madrid is reported to have paid a transfer fee over $132m for the Tottenham Hotspur winger on a six-year contract. Richard Conway reports.

The transfer has been expected for weeks. However it's believed the deal suffered delays due to the negotiations over how Real would structured the record payment. Tottenham's perception at the Spanish giants will been presumptuous in firstly building a ground stage to present any player and briefly selling replica shirts with his named on back didn't help either. The move captured a remarkable rise to the top for the 24-year-old, but he has prompted questions for Michel Platini, the head of the UEFA, the European football confederation, if such transfer fees are healthy for the game? Richard Conway is reporting.

The Venezuelan Financial Minister Nelson Merentes has acknowledged that the economic policies of the late-President Hugo Chavez and his successor have not been successful. In a TV interview, Mr. Merentes said despite having used the country's oil wealth to improve the living standards of many Venezuelans, the government still have to solve what he called structural economic problems.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main challenger Peer Steinbrueck have held their only televised debate ahead of the general election later this month. Mr. Steinbrueck condemned Ms. Merkel's approach to Europe's debts crisis saying that austerity had failed. Ms. Merkel said her rival and his party, the Social Democrats had voted in support of her policies in parliament.

Those are the latest stories from the BBC News