BBC news with Jerry Schmitt
The Commonwealth has given Pakistan 10 days to lift its state of emergency or be suspended from the organization. The ultimatum is announced after a meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in London. Meanwhile, in Pakistan a seven-day detention order has been issued against the main opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to stop her leading a planned mass protest against emergency rule on Tuesday. Bridget Kendall reports.
Some foreign ministers at this Commonwealth meeting admitted reaching a consensus they would all support had not been easy. In the end, their final declaration roundly condemned President Musharraf. His imposition of emergency rule, dismissal of Pakistan's chief justice, detention of opposition figures, clampdown on the media and other measures were described as serious breaches and violation of Commonwealth values. But that doesn't mean the imposition of immediate sanctions. Instead they said they'd offer the Pakistani leader one last chance to repeal his emergency measures or face being suspended from Commonwealth meetings.
In his first major foreign policy speech since becoming the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has said Britain's most important relationship is with the United States. He also called for closer ties between the European Union and America. The speech followed reports that Mr. Brown did not want to appear as close to President Bush as his predecessor Tony Blair. It is no secret that I am a life long admirer of America. I have no truck with anti-Americanism in Britain or in Europe. I believe that our ties with America founded on values we share constitute our most important bilateral relationship. The 20th century showed that when Europe and America were distant from one another, instability is greater; when partners for progress the world is stronger.
Six people have been killed and dozens injured in Gaza in fighting between the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. The violence broke out at a rally organized by Fatah to commemorate the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Fatah said the only shooting was by Hamas security forces, but a Hamas spokesman Ihab Ghussein blamed Fatah for the violence. "They just wanna do anything to bring this chaos to Gaza Strip, but we are not gonna let them to bring this chaos again. We will stop them. We will follow them and put them in jail by legal instruction. "
All second and third division football matches in Italy are to be suspended this weekend following the accidental shooting dead of a fan by a policeman on Sunday. The decision was taken by football officials at a specially convened meeting in Rome to discuss the death and subsequent rioting which broke out in several cities. No matches were scheduled in Italy's top division Serie A because of international matches. The police officer who fired the fatal shot is being investigated for manslaughter.
World news from the BBC.
A human rights group in Uzbekistan has said that a man accused 7 years ago of membership of the radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir has died in prison, apparently from torture. The group said the body of the man was released from a prison in the western town of Endijuan. The report comes as the United Nations has been examining reports of the widespread-use of torture in Uzbek prisons. Here is Ian McWilliam.
The Uzbek government insists that it opposes the use of torture and that it is improving its human rights record, but few people in Uzbekistan itself would pay much attention to such claims. Human rights groups have documented the accounts of hundreds of former prisoners who say they were routinely beaten and tortured to force them to make confessions. Those in prison for political or religious crimes usually face the worst treatment because the government considers them traitors or terrorists.
The Iranian police have published a list of vices which they are targeting in a government's current campaign to quash what it sees as immoral behavior. The list includes wearing unconventional makeup and flouting strict Islamic dress codes . The police say they will deal seriously with women who wear short trousers, skimpy overcoats or skirts with slits in them .They'll also suppress decadent films, drugs and alcohol.
A South African survey has indicated that the number of desperately poor has doubled in the year since the end of apartheid. The South African Institute of Race Relations says two million people were living on less than one dollar a day in 1996. Now there are four million. The institute blamed the rise in unemployment.
The Spanish government has tried to calm a dispute with the President of Venezuela Hugo Chaves after a heated public spat with King Juan Carlos of Spain. Spain has indicated it will not recall its ambassador to Venezuela over the row. King Juan Carlos told Mr. Chaves to "shut up", after the Venezuelan leader called a former Spanish Prime Minister a "fascist".
BBC news.