BBC News with Nicky Kelly.

The Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has described the country as an unmitigated embarrassment to Africa. In what he called the State of the Nation Address, Mr. Tsvangirai said during 28 years under Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's economy and public services have been wrecked.

The world's highest inflation, 80% unemployment, education that has plummeted from the best in Africa to one of the worst and the healthcare system that has dire shortages of doctors, nurses, medicines, beds and blankets.

Mr. Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe was about to witness a new era under his party -- the Movement for Democratic Change, which won the majority in parliamentary elections in March. The Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said a Tsvangirai victory in next month run-off presidential election would plunge Zimbabwe into crisis.

Nearly 200 countries have agreed on measures to protect the world's most threatened wildlife. The deal was reached in the German city of Bonn at a meeting, which formed part of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Megan Lane has the details.

... plants and a quarter of mammals are under threat of extinction. So after 12 days of talks, the UN Conference on Bio-Diversity produced concrete proposals to protect the earth’s ecosystems. There was an agreement on creating the first-ever deep-sea nature reserve. Funds will be made available to protect undeveloped forests. And there will be a ban on adding nutrients to oceans to grow carbon-consuming algae. But environmental groups criticized the lack of clear targets, saying the proposals would fall short of the UN millennium goals to substantially reduce biodiversity loss.

An airliner has crashed on landing in the capital of Hondurans Tegucigalpa, killing at least five people. The Airbus, A320 overshot the runway, and came to a halt in the street trapping cars under its wings. The plane was operated by El Salvador TACA Airline and had 124 people on board. Lion Ado Russia reports.

Tegucigalpa airport surrounded by hills is notoriously challenging with its difficult approach and short runway. The plane circled the airport several times in dense fog before attempting to land. The passengers said they heard a loud bank as the plane hit the ground in way down to a road smashing into cars in a busy Friday morning. The vast majority of passengers were not hurt. Some 30 people are being treated for emergence at a local hospital.

President Bush has used anti-drug trafficking legislation to expand existing American sanctions against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is fighting for separate homeland in Turkey. The new sanctions deny the PKK access to the American financial system, and block any transactions involving American companies and individuals.

World news from the BBC.

Farmers and agriculture exporters in Uganda are taking the government to court over its use of the chemical spray DDT. In April, the Ministry of Health began spraying homes with DDT to fight the spread of malaria. But the farmers argued that their businesses had been destroyed because many western countries ban imports of food containing traces of DDT. Sarah Grainger reports.

The lawyers representing a consortium of agricultural exporters were on Friday granted permission by the High Court in Uganda to mount a legal challenge to the government's use of DDT. They also succeeded in obtaining a temporary ban on its use while the court case goes ahead. Spraying began in two districts of northern Uganda back in April. But the exporters argued that the government is failing to follow strict guidelines on the use of DDT set out by the World Health Organization and Uganda's own national environmental management authority.

The Gulf Arab Kingdom of Bahrein has appointed a Jewish woman to be ambassador to the United States. Correspondents say Houda Nonoo is believed to be the first Jewish ambassador from an Arab state in recent history. Mrs. Nonno said she believed her religion had nothing to do with her appointment.

The United States says it's racing with Israel, the plight of seven Palestinians who are planning to study in America but have not been given permission by the Israelis to leave the Gaza Strip. The US had early withdrawn prestigious Fulbright scholarships for the group because of their inability to get to America. But the State Department spokesman said later that Washington would revisit the issue with the Israelis.

Fishermen across Europe have joined protests against the high cost of fuel. Boats stay tied up in Italy, Spain and Portugal, while French fishermen continue their two-week blockade of the country's ports. Organizers of the Spanish protests say the price of diesel has quadrupled in five years while the wholesale price of fish has remained the same.

BBC News.