The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome explains an embarrassing blunder surrounding the naming of a new member of Italy's new technocratic government.

Workers flee in panic after a disgruntled snake charmer lets loose dozens of snakes in a revenue office in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state.

The supreme court of Belarus sentences two men to death for the Minsk metro bombing in April which killed 15 people.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman condemns a rocket attack against Israel carried out from Lebanon, as an obscure group claims responsibility.

The people of Guyana vote for a new government in an election likely to continue to reflect the South American nation's traditional racial divide.

Venezuelan forces arrest Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, alias Valenciano, accused of leading a key drug trafficking gang in Colombia.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron warns Iran of "serious consequences" after protesters stormed the British embassy and a UK compound in Tehran.

Standard & Poor's downgrades the long-term credit grades of a string of financial giants, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.