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BBC news 2012-02-20

BBC News with Zoe Diamond

The Egyptian authorities have failed to agree a date for the first presidential election of the post-Mubarak era. At a news conference in Cairo where an announcement was due, the chairman of the electoral commission told the media there would be no announcement after all. Farooq Sultan said that the delay was to ensure that Egyptian expatriate votes could be accounted for.

"The committee reported today and decided to postpone the announcement of the election timetable until a solution is reached, one that guarantees that Egyptians living abroad will be able to cast their votes in a suitable time frame, ensuring that their role in determining the fate of their country is real and not merely a token one."

In recent days, other government officials have given two different dates. A BBC correspondent says the confusion suggests a battle among Egypt's military rulers, perhaps about the terms of handing power over to civilians.

Jordan is setting up a refugee camp near its northern border with Syria in preparation for an expected mass exodus of Syrians fleeing violence in their homeland. Dale Gavlak reports from Amman.

It's the first camp to be set up for Syrians in Jordan since the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began 11 months ago. Aid officials estimate more than 10,000 Syrian refugees already live in Jordan, mostly in private apartments. But they say the numbers are growing as the Syrian military escalates attacks on restive cities, such as Homs in the north and Deraa in the south. The UN refugee agency in Jordan says the group has assisted the Jordanian government with preparations for the refugee camp.

Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied in towns and cities across Spain to oppose the government's latest austerity measures. As the government tries to stimulate the economy by changing employment laws, trade unions say workers' rights are being eroded. The biggest demonstration was in Madrid, where the centre of the city was packed with people calling for a general strike. Among them was this woman who says the changes go too far.

"I think they're making big cuts to workers' rights. And with around five million unemployed, they haven't come up with any important ideas on how to create jobs. What the reforms really do is further limit the capacity of people to spend."

At least 44 people have died in a prison fight in northern Mexico. Security officials said members of rival drug cartels confronted each other with stones and homemade weapons. An investigation is underway to establish if some of the prison guards colluded in the fight by unlocking the doors, separating two wings of the prison. Deadly fights between rival gangs are not uncommon in Mexico's notoriously overcrowded and corrupt prison system.

This is Zoe Diamond with the latest World News from the BBC here in London.

A former East German human rights activist Joachim Gauck is to be Germany's next president - a largely ceremonial role. Officials said Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government and the main opposition parties had agreed on Mr Gauck's nomination. The previous President Christian Wulff, an ally of Mrs Merkel, resigned on Friday over a loan scandal. Mr Gauck stood against Mr Wulff for the presidency in June 2010 but was defeated after three rounds of voting.

Iran says that it's halted oil sales to France and Britain in retaliation for a European Union ban on Iranian oil which takes effect in July. A spokesman said Iran would instead sell its oil to new customers. Our correspondent Joe Lynam says the move will have little impact.

What I think is interesting is that they have picked out Britain and France specifically because Britain and France are major diplomatic players of course, but they are not major purchasers of Iranian oil. If they really want to make an anti-EU statement, they would just say 'We are banning oil exports to the European Union.' But that would shoot themselves in the foot because Italy accounts for 7% of Iran's exports of oil, Spain about 6% and Greece around 3%. So they're diplomatically slapping Britain and France in the face, but it will have no impact on France or British supplies of oil because they don't buy that much.

South Africa has announced that it's deploying 1,000 troops along its borders to try to halt a rising tide of rhino poaching. The minister of defence said that the troops will be used on the borders of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho. South Africa has lost more than 50 rhinos since the beginning of the year.

German police say that they've released without charge a British heavyweight boxer, Dereck Chisora, after a brawl in Munich involving another British heavyweight, David Haye. Blows were exchanged at a news conference after Chisora lost a fight in the city against the reigning WBC champion Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine.

That's the latest World News from the BBC in London.