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BBC news 2012-02-19

BBC News with David Austin

The funeral of the American singer Whitney Houston has just ended in Newark, New Jersey. It took place in a Baptist church, where she first began her singing career as a child. After many tributes by friends and family, the service concluded with a recording of Whitney Houston's greatest hit I Will Always Love You. As part of the ceremony, Stevie Wonder performed his hit Love's in Need of Love Today.

There's been violence in the Syrian capital Damascus, where a Chinese diplomatic mission has met President Bashar al-Assad and called for restraint in the conflict between his forces and the opposition. A funeral in Damascus turned into one of the biggest demonstrations yet seen there. Opposition activists said at least one person was killed when security forces opened fire. Another 12 people were reported killed in other parts of the country.

Diplomats at the United Nations nuclear watchdog in Vienna say that Iran is on the verge of greatly expanding its nuclear programme at an underground site. They say it's preparing to install thousands of new machines for enriching uranium at the facility near the city of Qom. Bethany Bell reports.

New-generation centrifuges could greatly speed up the production of material that could be used for nuclear warheads. Western countries fear that Iran is secretly trying to develop a nuclear bomb, and they've increased international sanctions. But Tehran says its nuclear work is purely peaceful. This week, inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog will be holding talks in Tehran to address the concerns about Iran's controversial nuclear work.

There have been more clashes in Senegal between police and people protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to stand for a third term in next weekend's elections. Thomas Fessy reports from the capital Dakar.

The security forces have engaged in street running battles, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at scores of youth[s] who have mounted barricades, setting ablaze tyres and throwing stones back at the police. This is happening right in the centre of the capital, just a few blocks away from the main square of the city's business centre, where the protesters were hoping to hold a rally. Just about a week ahead of the election, they say they will continue to protest until the incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade withdraw[s] his candidacy for a third term.

Thomas Fessy reporting

World News from the BBC

Somali leaders have signed an agreement which they hope will end the country's crisis. Somalia has been without a central government for the last 20 years. Martin Plaut has the details.

The plan envisages a new smaller parliament with an upper chamber of elders. Thirty per cent of MPs will be women. The constitution would provide for a federal system of government building on the autonomous regional assemblies that already exist. The agreement - signed by the current government, two regional administrations and a pro-government militia - will be discussed at next week's London conference on Somalia. But the Islamist group al-Shabab, which holds much of the centre and south of the country, did not participate in the agreement.

Reports from Russia say that 17 security personnel have been killed during four days of fighting on the Chechen-Dagestan border in the North Caucasus. Seven insurgents were also killed in what's been the worst violence in the region in months. Russia is facing an Islamist insurgency along its southern border more than a decade after it defeated a separatist movement in Chechnya.

Votes are being counted in the Baltic republic of Latvia in a referendum on whether Russian should become the second official language. The Central Election Commission said around two thirds of registered voters participated. Ethnic Russians, who make up a third of Latvia's population of about two million, feel discriminated against as proficiency in Latvian is needed to become a citizen and to vote.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is expected to be questioned next week by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring. Sources familiar with the case say he's been summoned for questioning on Tuesday about sex parties that allegedly took place at restaurants and swingers' clubs in cities including Paris and Washington. Mr Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the IMF in May after he was accused of trying to rape a New York hotel maid. That case collapsed.

That's the BBC News.