The UN Security Council has condemned the Syrian government's use of force against civilians for the first time since protests began five months ago. As the Syrian army tightens its grip on the embattled city of Hama, the Security Council issued a statement accusing President Bashar al-Assad's administration of widespread human rights violations. Our UN correspondent Barbara Plett has this assessment.

It's not a full UN resolution with the weight of international law; it's what's called a presidential statement which is less binding, but it does reflect the view of the council that did bring on heavyweights like China and especially Russia, which had been very strongly opposed as a very strong ally of Syria. And so that will send a message to Syria, I think. It's the first time there's a condemnation from the international community rather than, say, just the West of what it's doing, and its allies, such as Russia, have added their voice to it.

The deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons have pleaded not guilty during their first court appearance in Cairo on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of hundreds of demonstrators. Mr Mubarak, who's 83 and has complained of poor health, remained on a stretcher throughout the proceedings inside a cage in the dock. The case has been adjourned until the middle of this month. Jon Leyne reports from Cairo.

Outside the court, a lively crowd of opposition supporters gathered early to call for revenge against their former president, clashing with hundreds of riot police. Until almost the last moment, nobody here really believed they would see Hosni Mubarak in the dock. Then the crowd watched almost in disbelief on a big TV screen as the accused were brought into the dock. Wolf whistles and jeers greeted the two sons, Gamal and Alaa, the former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, then finally Hosni Mubarak himself.

The oil giant Shell has admitted liability for two major oil spills in Nigeria's Delta region. The BBC has seen a letter from Shell Nigeria accepting responsibility. Lawyers for the Bodo people, who live in the mangrove swamps polluted by the crude oil, say the case could cost Shell hundreds of millions of dollars. Shell said it accepted that the spills were caused by equipment failure and not by sabotage or theft.

The UN has declared famine zones in three more regions of Somalia because of the rates of malnutrition and death brought on by the worst drought for 60 years. The announcement brings the number of areas of Somalia suffering from famine to five. The UN says tens of thousands of people have already died. From Nairobi, Kevin Mwachiro reports.

The United Nations has declared famine in the internally displaced camps in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the areas of Middle Shabelle and the Afgoye corridor. All are suffering high rates of malnutrition and death. The UN also warned that the famine was likely to spread across southern regions of Somalia over the next four to six weeks. Famine conditions are expected to persist until the end of the year.

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The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told parliament that the country has a solid economic foundation and its banks have good reserves of capital. His comments come amid renewed concerns about the eurozone debt crisis.

US officials have charged more than 70 Americans who were allegedly part of an online child pornography network called Dreamboard. The site, which has now been dismantled, was used by 600 paedophiles worldwide, and the investigation has also led to arrests in 13 other countries. The US Attorney General Eric Holder said the people had created an online community.

"Utilising sophisticated techniques in an attempt to avoid law enforcement detection, Dreamboard's members allegedly traded graphic images and videos of adults molesting young children, often violently, and created a massive private library of images of child sexual abuse."

The social networking website Facebook has been warned that it risks legal action in Germany for allegedly breaching privacy and data protection laws. The site says it's done nothing wrong. From Berlin, Steve Evans.

Facebook uses a technology that can analyse photographs for what's called biometric data so that faces can be recognised again automatically in other pictures. Hamburg's data protection watchdog says this breaks both German and European law, which says that personal details can't be stored without explicit consent. Ultimately, a fine of 300,000 euros could be imposed.

A new theory suggests that the Earth once had a small second moon which perished in a slow-motion collision with the other larger one. Researchers writing in the journal Nature suggest that the smaller of the two may have survived for millions of years before the crash. A BBC science correspondent says that the new theory builds on the idea that the Earth was struck by a Mars-like planet about four billion years ago.

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