BBC News with David Austin.

Michael Jackson's Dr.Conrad Murray has been charged by the authorities in Los Angeles with involuntary manslaughter. Dr.Murray was accused of acting unlawfully, but without malice. He is due to appear in court shortly. His lawyer said he would plead not guilty. Here is our correspondent in Los Angeles, David Willis.

Cardiologist Dr.Conrad Murray was Michael Jackson's personal physician, hired to oversee the singer's preparation for a series of comeback concerts at London's O2 Arena. Michael Jackson was apparently having difficulty sleeping and on the night he died Dr.Murray told detectives he had administered the number of drugs. Dr.Murray then left the room and when he returned, Michael Jackson had stopped breathing. The coroner recalled it a verdict of homicide after concluding that Michael Jackson died of acute Propofol intoxication.

The losing candidate in the Sri Lanka Presidential Election General Sarath Fonseka has been arrested by military police at his office in Colombo. The General led the Sri Lanka Army during its final onslaught against Tamil Tiger rebels. But later, fell out with the government and resigned. Charles Haviland reports from the Sri Lankan capital.

Rauff Hakeem, one of the senior politicians, having a meeting with General Fonseka at the time, said that large number of army officers wrecked him out by his hands and feet in what Mr.Hakeem called very humiliating and disgusting manner. A senior government defense official Lakshman Hulugala told the BBC the General had been taken into custody because, he said, he had violated army rules by holding discussions with Party leaders while chief of the army in the armed forces. General Fonseka's aides denied he has broken any rules or plotted anything.

Pressure is building among western countries for new stiffer international sanctions against Iran, following its announcement that it will begin enriching uranium to a high grade and constructing more enrichment plants. The United States and France are leading calls for abroad set of punitive sanctions. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the time had come for what they called strong measures.

More than 100 people have been rescued from the sea in the Gulf of Aden after human traffickers forced them overboard from a stricken boat. A rescue operation found the migrants clinging to bits of driftwood and utterly exhausted. Our East Africa correspondent Peter Greste reports.

The coast guards from the semi-autonomous region of Somali lands, spotted the first of the survivors floating in the water on Sunday. The refugees told them a horrific story. They left the northern coast off Somali over a week earlier. 135 Somalis and Ethiopians hoping for a better life in Europe and Middle East. But the boat developed engine trouble and drifted for days. Eventually, the traffickers who they paid to take them across the Gulf of Aden, forced the refugees into the water at gunpoint.

This is the World News from the BBC.

The International Criminal War Court has dismissed war crimes charges against the first rebel leader in the Sudanese region of Darfur to appear before it. A pretrial hearing at the court ruled the prosecutors had failed to produce enough evidence of the man Abu Garda at planned and participated in an attack on an African Union military base in 2007, in which 12 peacekeepers were killed. Abu Garda had denied all the charges against him.

One of the most senior police officers in London has been sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting and then trying to free the man. Ali Dizaei who is an Iranian descent and commander in the metropolitan police, was convicted of miss conduct in public office and perverting the course of justice. He maintained he was targeted by colleagues because of his prominent role in supporting ethnic minority officers.

With all but a handful of votes counted from Ukraine's Presidential Election, the Opposition Leader Viktor Yanukovych has narrowly beaten his rival, the Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Official figures give Mr.Yanukovych whose party is allied to the Kremlins, United Russia, a margin of almost 3% over Mrs.Tymoshenko who was one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution.

The Football Federation of Benin has sacked the country's entire football team, following its poor performance of the Africa Cup of Nations. The French coach Mitchell Dussuyer and all his staff were also dismissed. The President of Benin's Football Federation Moucharafou Anjorin, explained why the decision was taken.

"A number of things happened. We had players that were totally disrespectful of the football authorities. They were driven more by the greed for money than respect for those authorities that run the game. Several players given failed shot by the reception held in their or other present officers before the tournament began. This was a scandal. This is a disciplinary issue, not a technical issue."

And that's the latest BBC News.