[00:01.74]BBC News with Fiona MacDonald
[00:04.33]President Obama has promised a vigorous investigation into reports that forces loyal to the Syrian leader have used chemical weapons.
[00:11.94]Speaking during talks with King Abdullah of Jordan, Mr Obama repeated that proof of the deployment of chemical weapons would be, in his words, a game changer.
[00:21.50]However, he stressed that the intelligence assessments were preliminary.
[00:25.46]"We are going to be working with countries like Jordan to try to obtain more direct evidence and confirmation of this potential use.
[00:34.92]In the meantime, I’ve been very clear publicly, but also privately,
[00:39.06]that for the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line
[00:47.40] that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues.
[00:52.04]So this is not an on or off switch.
[00:56.53]This is an ongoing challenge that all of us have to be concerned about.”
[01:03.41]A United Nations envoy Martin Kobler has warned that Iraq is at a crossroads after a wave of violence, which has left more than 150 people dead since Tuesday.
[01:14.26]The fighting has raised fears of a return to wider sectarian conflict between minority Sunnis and the Shia-led government.
[01:21.34]Here’s the BBC’s Nahed Abouzeid.