BBC News with Blerry Gogan.



On his first public appearance since Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is convinced that he defeated President Robert Mugabe. Speaking at a news conference in Harare, Mr. Tsvangirai said the election had been a turning point for Zimbabwe. He declined to formally claim victory, saying he would not do so until the election commission or ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) publish the final count.



There is no way the MDC will enter in any deal before ZEC has actually announced the result. That's the legal position. We want to know who has won what before we can start talking about those kind, or even claim anything, we have no right to claim anything until ZEC has confirmed it. So any speculation about deals, about negotiations, about the reaching out is not there.



Mr. Tsvangirai also denied reports from a senior source in his own party that a secret agreement was close to completion and which President Mugabe would step down. There was a similar denial from the government side. One of Mr. Mugabe's ministers Bright Matonga told the BBC the talk of a deal was malicious speculation. Ian Pannell reports from Zimbabwe.



I understand that talks brokered by South African negotiators have been taking place over the last few days in the capital Harare. However, Johannesburg has denied any involvements. Representatives of the military and police are believed to have been involved，and the opposition says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai has also been talking to ZANU-PF - the ruling party, as well as representatives of the president. The deal, as outlined by the NDC, would involve Robert Mugabe making a public announcement that he is standing aside. However, the sources are urging caution, saying that the president and his party could change their mind.



The human rights group Amnesty International says the poor in Jamaica's inner city areas have been abandoned by the government and left to the mercy of criminal gangs. Amnesty said poor communities were caught up in a battle between Jamaican police and the gangs. It said gang leaders control the allocation of jobs, food distribution and the punishment of those who broke gang rules. Andrew Clunes from the Jamaican Information Ministry said the government was tackling police impunity.



A new government has taken power in Jamaica. And in seven months, the government has moved to clamp down on police corruption. In that, it does establish a special branch in the police force that deals specifically with police corruption. And on a daily basis, we have situations where policemen are indicted.



The President of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo has canceled custom duties and cut taxes on basic household products after a second day of violent protest against the rising cost of food. He said he was sensitive to people's concerns, but he said increases in food prices were a worldwide problem. One person was killed and at least ten others injured during the protests.



World News from the BBC.



In Argentina, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Buenos Aires to show their support for President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in her dispute with the country's farmers. The rally comes after three weeks of strikes and road blockades by farm workers who've condemned big tax increases on soya and other exports.



The President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe has agreed to suspend military operations against FARC rebels to allow the deployment of her French humanitarian mission to treat their most prominent hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who's thought to be dangerously ill. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made a televised appeal to the FARC's leader Manuel Marulanda for the release of Ms. Betancourt who holds dual Colombian and French nationality. Mr. Sarkozy added that Mrs. Betancourt should be freed because she was in imminent danger of dying.



You are in a position to decide, to save a woman from death and to keep hope alive for all those who remain detained. So take this decision, release Ingrid Betancourt.



President Bush has arrived in Romania for a NATO summit likely to be dominated by the military alliance's relation with Russia. He is expected to tell the summit that NATO membership must be open to any European democracy that seeks it. On a stopover in Kiev, he assured President Viktor Yanukovich that he'd work as hard as possible to help Ukraine join NATO. Russia has warned Kiev of a deep crisis if it applies to join, and President Putin will attend the summit to express Moscow's concerns.



The British government is suspending a planned reduction in the size of its forces in Iraq because of the recent fighting there. The Defense Secretary Des Browne said that while the intension was still to reduce the number, a pause would be prudent. There are some 4,000 British troops outside the Iraqi city of Basra and Britain had spoken of reducing the number to 2,500.



And that's the latest round-up of BBC World News.