mediate

a solution were

airlift

ed from the United Arab Emirates embassy in Sanaa after it was surrounded by armed supporters of the president.

The United Nations Security Council has called on the northern Sudanese army to withdraw from positions it has taken in the disputed region of Abyei on the border with southern Sudan. The south said the capture of Abyei was an act of war. The United States special envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, described the escalation as "extraordinarily dangerous". The medical charity MSF said some 20,000 people had fled following the clashes in Abyei. Southern Sudan is due to become independent in July.

The governing Socialist party in Spain has suffered a crushing defeat in local and regional elections after a campaign dominated by protests against high unemployment. The Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Socialists had been punished for three years of economic crisis, but he said he would not

bring forward

a general election due next year.

"The new local governments that come out of these elections will face very tough economic conditions for everyone. And we all, the government of Spain and the local governments, must

contribute to

help Spain recover the living standards the country deserves."

World News from the BBC

The former President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted and forced into exile in 2009, has signed an agreement with his successor which will allow him to return home. Mr Zelaya and the Honduran President Porfirio Lobo smiled and shook hands as they signed the agreement in the Colombian city of Cartagena.