BBC News with Julie Candler

Chinese state media say the wife of the

disgraced

politician BXL has been charged with the murder of a British businessman. The case has become China's biggest political scandal in years. This report by Martin Patience in Beijing.

BXL had been tipped to be promoted during the once-in-a-decade leadership change starting later this year. But now his wife and a family employee are accused of killing the British businessman. On China's main TV news bulletin, a presenter said an investigation had discovered that GKL had arguments with Neil Heywood over financial dealings. She then poisoned the businessman in the belief that he

posed a threat to

her son's security. These are the first details to emerge about a case which has been

shrouded

in secrecy in several months.

Syrian troops are surrounding the country's biggest city Aleppo, where rebel troops are still holding out. Our correspondent Ian Pannell reports from the outskirts of the city.

In unverified footage, rebel fighters are seen celebrating after overrunning a police station in the south of the city. The armed opposition now claims to control more than half of Aleppo. There've been further heavy clashes between the two sides in a number of districts. Reports from inside the city say government artillery and mortar rounds have been fired as helicopter gunships flew over a number of areas,

sporadically