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BBC news 2013-08-18

BBC News with Iain Purdon

The security forces in Egypt say they’ve cleared the al-Fath mosque in Cairo where supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood had barricaded themselves in. The standoff at the mosque lasted many hours with eyewitnesses reporting use of heavy gunfire and teargas. Television pictures showed shots being exchanged between a gunman at the top of the mosque’s main minaret and security forces on the ground. The BBC’s James Reynolds was there.

Inside the mosque gathered several hundreds supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood but outside the mosque there were effectively their civilian opponents are ordinary people who’d chosen to identify with the military, with the security forces who were given a very hard time to anyone who chose to come out to that mosque. And even when we were there it was made very clear to us that we should leave the area. The crowd became very hostile towards the foreign media and of course the danger to Egypt in the coming days is if there’s any confrontation between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood or we call neighborhood groups which support the armed forces.

Demonstrators have been out on the streets of several Egyptian cities in defiance of an overnight curfew imposed by the military-backed government since Wednesday. Television pictures show protesters in the cities Helwan and Minya to the south of Cairo. The interim government said 250 Brotherhood supporters were been investigated for series charges including attempted murder and terrorism. A spokesman said that the Islamist group returned to power was as he put it impossible and the government was considering its dissolution.

A court in Pakistan has dismissed the case against the Muslim cleric who’d been arrested on suspicion of framing a Christian girl accused of blasphemy. The girl Rimsha Masih was held in jail for several weeks after Khalid Jadoon accused her of burning pages of the Muslim holy book the Koran. Anbarasan Ethirajan our South Asia desk has more details.

The cleric had said to people around in that area that she was burning the pages of Koran allegedly was put inside her bag. But it did cause an international concern because very few people have survived after being accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. Dozens of people were lynched to dead by mob of vigilantes let along it went to the court and the case was dropped. In turn, the Muslim cleric who accused of blasphemy he was arrested on charges of trying to fabricate evidence against this young girl and now the lawyers told us they say that the case against this cleric has been dropped because of lack of evidence.

Poor weather has disrupted a search in the Philippines where dozens of people still missing after a ferry sank off the city of Cebu. More than 30 bodies have been found and over 600 survivors rescued since the crowded ship sank after a collision with a cargo ship on Friday night. The Philippines has a poor record for maritime safety.

World News from the BBC

Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani said that one of the reasons he was elected was to change his country’s foreign policy.

“An important message of the election on the June 14th was a need to revise a foreign policy. This revision does not mean that there should be a change in the principles and foundations as principles and foundations are constant. It means that at least there should be a change in the methods, practice and performance.”

Mr. Rouhani has already tried to ease a promise rather to try to ease tensions with the West particularly over Iran’s nuclear programme. His predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad followed a confrontational foreign policy which brought international isolation.

The United States coastguard has detained more than 50 illegal migrants found stranded on a tiny island off the western coast of Puerto Rico. The migrants thought to have come from Haiti and the Dominican Republic were reportedly spotted on Friday evening. Illegal migrants are frequently abandoned by people traffickers.

At the World Athletic Championships in Moscow, the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has won the Man’s 200 meters final. Bolt finished ahead of his Jamaican teammate Warren Weir. Allen Capstick in Moscow.

It’s been another gold harvest that Usain Bolt at a major Championships. The result in the 200 meters his favorite event was never in doubt. The trademark casual pre-race antics were followed by a ruthless display from the fastest man in history. Injury and doping controversies had moved his closest rival out of the picture. There was nobody left to mount a credible challenge, to complete the sense of deja vu, the world impromptu dance routine on the lap of honor. This time he was joined by his Jamaican teammate the silver medalist Warren Weir. The only thing missing from the race itself was a dramatic element testimony to the dominance of Usain Bolt.

BBC News