World highlights

• Hamas accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of imposing what it called unacceptable new conditions for forming a unity government. Mr Abbas is putting conditions on the formation of a new government, including the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian fighters in June and a halt to attacks by Hamas and other groups on Israel, said a Hamas statement.

• Rwanda broke off diplomatic ties with France in protest at a French judge's call for President Paul Kagame to stand trial over the killing of a former leader, the event which unleashed the country's genocide. Kigali's foreign affairs minister Charles Murigande said the government had given France's ambassador to Rwanda 24 hours to leave the country and told other French diplomats to go within 72 hours.

• Azerbaijan's national television and radio authority ordered the biggest independent broadcaster ANS off the air, ANS vice-president Mirshain Agaev said. "We have been told to suspend work from 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) today. They (the regulator) didn't give us any reason," he said.

• The Ugandan army used "indiscriminate andexcessive" force while disarming bandits in a lawless northeastern region, killing 55 civilians including women and children, the UN said. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called on the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF) to halt a six-month campaign to disarm warriors and bandits until it could guarantee civilian safety in the Karamoja region.