Between 2004 and 2010 the Government issued export licences to two companies, allowing them to sell Syria sodium fluoride, which is used to make sarin. The Government last night admitted for the first time that the chemical was delivered to Syria – a clear breach of international protocol on the trade of dangerous substances that has been condemned as ‘grossly irresponsible’. The sales were made at a time when President Bashar Assad was strongly suspected to be stockpiling the chemical weapons that have caused an international crisis.

The Duchess of Cornwall (pictured left) was spotted last week aboard the yacht 'Leander G', enjoying a Mediterranean break with her friend. And the Duchess had prepared for her trip with some high street shopping, judging by the royal-blue one-piece she was wearing. The simple costume with white straps, apparently from M&S;, is from a previous season and cost about £20.

A new Guinness ad is proving to have a surprising reaction to those who watch it. The commercial revolves around a game of wheelchair basketball with the players celebrating with a cool, refreshing drink. But there is an unexpected twist at the tend that will leave you with goosebumps.

It is four months since the very public collapse of Alexandra Hollywood's marriage, and divorce negotiations are well under way. Yet the attractive housewife, who helped make her husband a household name, is flourishing – and wants to share her own love of cooking with the world. In an exclusive interview she says: ‘What happened to me does not define me. That’s not me. What defines me is cooking for family and friends and my son Joshy.’

Speaking at the G20 Summit, Vladimir Putin described Britain as ‘a small island’. Nobody, said his spokesman, pays attention to it – except of course the Russian ‘oligarchs who have bought Chelsea’. This list includes Jordanian playboy Eyhab Jumean and former wife Gina (left) who are selling their £75 million West Kensington property (top centre).

An entire London street was sealed off and police and fire crews called out after a giant container truck containing the new governor's belongings smashed into the tree. But Mr Carney, 48, looked relaxed in casual trousers and a polo shirt and carried in a chopping board and fetched the movers coffee from a cafe as he and his wife Diana moved into their luxury new home

A chilly Arctic summer has left nearly a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice than at the same time last year - six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013. Some eminent scientists now believe the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century

She only bought it in January, but Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway is already selling her waterfront apartment with views of Brooklyn bridge. According to sources, the Brooklyn-born star of films including The Devil Wears Prada and Princess Diaries, has never lived in the Dumbo apartment with its city views, and has been using the three-bedroom home as a walk in closet after fears that she was too visible in it.

Next Saturday, Euan, 29, and Suzanne, 25, (left) will have an autumn wedding at South Pavilion, the Grade I-listed house in Wotton Underwood bought by the Blairs for £4m in 2008 (bottom right). And the former Prime Minister's eldest son is now being tipped to join Jack Straw's son Will and John Prescott's son David by following in his father's footsteps to contest the Labour seat of Coventry North West.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday’s Event magazine, the 66-year-old singer reveals the full horror of his health drama earlier this year, after he ignored the symptoms and continued his gruelling performance schedule. And in a frank conversation he admits his feelings of helplessness when it came to tragic Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston.

Former businessman Brian Wales, 71, left, claims the chef's father Trevor (pictured with Jamie Oliver, right) was 'abusive' and 'bullied' him after he discovered that he and 56 other casual workers were owed money. The claims have surfaced two weeks after Jamie sparked outrage by claiming British kitchen workers were lazy compared with 'tougher' immigrant staff.

As BBC bosses face a grilling from MPs over the pay-out scandal, SELINA SCOTT writes about the sexism and ageism at the BBC. 'At first sight there appears to be little to link these two crises,' she says. 'Those of us, however, who have worked at the Corporation over the past three decades know this once-great institution has been open to many forms of corruption – including sexual.'

The friendship was struck up when the fox, Rosie, was adopted by Richard Bowler – the owner of dog Maddy, a Lakeland Patterdale crossbreed – after she was left abandoned as an infant cub. Richard, a professional photographer who captured the heart-warming action at his home near Corwen, north Wales, explained how the pictures came about.

It has been mauled by the critics. But if the controversial new movie Diana proves one thing, it is the continuing fascination with the Princess's life. The film covers a period of two years, from 1995 to her death in August 1997, and chronicles Diana's secret love affair with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, played by Naveen Andrews.

Maryann Vanadia and her two daughters went out into their backyard in Roxbury, New Jersey in August, only to discover a black bear with her two adorable cubs.

Five-year-old Jacob Velasquez, of Pembroke Pines, FL., is already playing Beethoven and Mozart, and can learn entire sonatas in one afternoon. Despite playing the piano for just over a year, the pint-sized prodigy is already winning accolades.

Dennis Rodman has embarked on another visit to North Korea, meeting dictator Kim Jong Un despite growing reports of a string of state executions in the secretive state. The former basketball star returned to Beijing from a 'diplomacy visit' last night, amid reports that Kim had ordered the machine-gun execution of his former singer lover, Hyon Song-wol and 12 other entertainers on August 20 for appearing in an 'sex tape'. But there were doubts surrounding the images of his trip supplied by the Koreans as one featuring a disembodied hand appeared to be photoshopped.

Thick, dense plumes of smoke quickly billowed from the bridge of the Gold Star freighter just minutes after it was 'buzzed' by a helicopter from the Italian coastguard. The nine people on board the Tanzanian registered ship then jumped overboard as they attempted to avoid being arrested but they were miles out to sea and had to be plucked to safety.