BBC news 2011-08-21
BBC News with David Austin
Iranian state television says two young Americans have been sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage and illegally entering the country. The men, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, said they'd strayed into Iran by mistake. Their lawyer says he'll submit an appeal. James Reynolds reports.
The verdict has been announced by Iran's state media. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have each been sentenced to eight years in prison - three years for illegal entry into Iran and a further five years on the charge of spying for the US government. The two Americans plus their companion Sarah Shourd were detained at the end of July 2009. Their families say that the three were simply hiking on the Iraqi side of the border and if they crossed the unmarked frontier into Iran, they did so entirely by accident.
Libyan rebels are consolidating their control over the town of Zlitan, 150km east of the capital Tripoli. The rebels have already taken Zawiya, west of Tripoli, and Gharyan, to the south. From Zlitan, Orla Guerin.
Having fought their way into the town, the rebels have been quick to assert their control. We found fighters manning checkpoints in the downtown area. There were cheers and victory salutes from families in passing cars. Just 10 days ago, government officials brought journalists from Tripoli to Zlitan on a guided tour, but the regime couldn't hold this strategic town even with heavily-armed elite troops. This is a serious defeat for Colonel Gaddafi and a testament to the rebels' growing momentum.
A rebel television broadcast called on the people of Tripoli to be ready for their arrival. However, a rebel commander said his fighters had retreated in the eastern town of Brega.
Israel has expressed regret over the deaths on Thursday of five Egyptian policemen in a cross-border pursuit by Israeli forces of Palestinian militants. It said the Israeli army would conduct inquiries followed by a joint investigation with the Egyptian army to determine what went wrong. Street protests against Israel have taken place in Cairo and Alexandria. Yolande Knell reports.
In his statement, Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak doesn't confirm that Israeli forces killed the five Egyptian police officers, but he says that Israel regrets their deaths. He adds that a joint inquiry will be held with the Egyptian army following an Israeli military investigation. His comments come after Egypt's state television said earlier that the country was recalling its ambassador to Israel until a full apology and explanation was given. Later, the Egyptian cabinet spokesman told the BBC that this decision was not final.
Israel's rescue service says an Israeli man was killed when rockets were fired from Gaza into the desert city of Beersheba. At least eight people were injured. Earlier, the armed wing of Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it had fired several rockets towards Israel.
World News from the BBC
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have attended the funeral of one of the country's most senior politicians, General Solomon Mujuru, who died in a mysterious house fire last week. A BBC's southern Africa correspondent says the ceremony in the capital Harare was the biggest state funeral since independence. General Mujuru was said to have been in negotiations with the junior partner in Zimbabwe's government, the Movement for Democratic Change. His widow, Joice Mujuru, who's one of the country's two vice presidents, has been engaged in a bitter succession battle.
About one million young pilgrims have braved a day of ferocious heat to join Pope Benedict at an open-air prayer vigil on the outskirts of the Spanish capital Madrid. At least 900 people required medical treatment as the temperature neared 40C. The Pope is visiting Spain to celebrate World Youth Day, a festival bringing together pilgrims from countries around the world. From Madrid, Sarah Rainsford.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have been flocking there all day, many of them waiting up to 12 hours in the blistering heat just to be at this event. There were fire engines driving through the crowds and spraying them with water to try to keep the temperatures down, but it couldn't keep the excitement down. It's an extremely excited vast crowd and, just now, waiting to hear from the Pope. There's just been a group of young people who asked questions of the Pope and that was expecting the beginning of the vigil, which will lead overnight into the Mass tomorrow morning, the culmination of this entire four-day visit.
An Indian chemical tanker has been hijacked off the coast of Oman. Pirates boarded the vessel, the Fairchem Bogey, early on Saturday. It's now heading towards Somalia. Twenty-one crew members, all of them Indian nationals, are on board.
A member of the Royal Air Force display team, the Red Arrows, has been killed during an airshow in southern England. His plane crashed into the ground as the team prepared to land. An investigation has begun into the cause of the crash.
Those are the latest stories from BBC News.