World News from the BBC

A court in New York has sentenced a Pakistani scientist to 86 years in prison for trying to kill American agents and military officers. From Washington, Iain MacKenzie reports.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008. It was claimed she was carrying documents related to bomb making as well as a list of potential targets in New York City. It was while being questioned at a police facility in the city of Ghazni that she got hold of a machine gun according to prosecutors. Siddiqui was taken to New York and put on trial despite medical reports that suggested her mental state was unstable. Her eventual conviction was met with protests in Pakistan, where many of Siddiqui's supporters claimed the charges against her had been fabricated.

Hundreds of thousands of French workers have taken to the streets on another day of strikes against government plans to raise the retirement age. Trade unions put the number of demonstrators at nearly three million. The police said the figure was about a million. Many rail services and flights were cancelled, and there were widespread school closures. President Sarkozy wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Nicaragua and Honduras have issued storm warnings for part of their coasts after forecasters said a tropical depression over the Atlantic was likely to head their way. Scientists at the US National Hurricane Center said the depression was expected to strengthen to a tropical cyclone during the next two days.