The Prime Minister-designate in Iraq Ibrahim al-Jaafari has submitted to the presidential council his proposals for a cabinet, ending months of negotiation following elections in January. He has not revealed the names publicly but has indicated that the cabinet will include representatives of Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups and a number of women. The negotiations to form a cabinet have been beset by disagreements, in particular, the problem of representing the Sunni community, which largely boycotted January's poll. Jim Mirror reports from Baghdad.

    The announcement from Mr. Jaafari that he's finally been able to form a government will come as a huge relief to the many ordinary Iraqis who risked their lives defying the insurgents to vote in the January elections. The list of cabinet members has already been passed to the country's presidential council for approval. Mr. Jaafari said he expected the cabinet to be put to parliament on Thursday for a vote of confidence. To achieve that, it just needs to win a simple majority of over half the members of the 275 strong chamber which should be a formality. If all goes well, Mr. Jaafari said, the new government could be functioning within a few days.

    The former United Nations Human Rights envoy to Afghanistan Cherif Bassiouni says he lost his job because of pressure from the United States. The UN human rights commission ended Mr. Bassiouni's mandate at a meeting in Geneva last week. American officials said Afghanistan's human rights situation had improved. But speaking to the BBC, Mr. Bassiouni explained why he thought he had been removed from his post.

    It is nothing to do with the work in Afghanistan or the situation in Afghanistan. This is a very narrow limited issue that is of concern essentially to the US Defense Department and the hawks in the administration who simply do not want anybody to look into the way people are being detained in Afghanistan by US forces.

    The Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Israel. He is the first Russian leader to go there. The visit comes as the two countries enjoy increasingly close links but there are also causes of tension including proposed Russian weapons sales to Syria and the fate of a number of fugitive Jewish tycoons wanted by Moscow. James Ranold reports from Jerusalem.

    Vladimir Putin's visit makes a bit of history and all paper list Russia should have a fair amount of influence here. It is a member of the quartet of nations and organizations, which draft the international peace plan, the road map. But it's often left day-to-day peace making to others. Still, Vladimir Putin arrives with some ideas of his own. During his stop in Cairo, he suggested hosting a Middle East conference in Moscow later this year. The Palestinians have welcomed the idea but Israeli officials have reacted pretty tepidly.

    The largest passenger aircraft ever built to be the Airbus A380 has completed its first test flight landing safely at Toulouse in southern France before a cheering crowd. After a takeoff described as perfect by the test pilot, the plane flew for almost 4 hours before returning to circle the airport and make its descent.

    The issue of the legality of the war in Iraq has emerged again in Britain with the circulation of a document seen by the BBC purporting to be the original advice given to the government by the Attorney General. It's not been independently authenticated. The advice never revealed publicly was delivered less than two weeks before the start of the war. In it, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith apparently suggested that any invasion might be illegal without specific approval from the United Nation. In a statement a short time ago, the Attorney General has insisted that the war was lawful.

    The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a vote of confidence in his new government in the Lower House of parliament. The vote came after Mr. Berlusconi made what correspondents called, a rousing speech to parliament, promising his allies that he would boost the economy and win back electoral support. From Rome, David Willy reports.

    The confidence vote brought to a virtual end a political crisis, which began earlier this month when members of Mr. Berlusconi's four-party coalition withdrew their support from the government after disastrous showing by coalition parties in local elections. A second confidence vote in the Upper House will take place on Thursday. But it's a foregone conclusion that Mr. Berlusconi will win this one as well. His survival in office until the next general election due in just over a year's time is far from sure ,however. That report from our correspondent in Rome David Willy.

    And that's the latest of BBC World Service News.