BBC News with Neil Nunes

At least six American soldiers have died in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. They were at a checkpoint near Kandahar when a vehicle laden with explosives was detonated. US forces have been engaged in a three-month offensive against the Taliban in the surrounding area. From Kabul, here's Paul Wood.

The small van packed with explosives was driven into a checkpoint jointly manned by the Afghan army and American troops. According to one eyewitness, the wall of a mud compound then collapsed, burying a number of the American troops. This attack brings to almost 700 the number of foreign troops killed so far in 2010, by far the bloodiest year in the nine-year campaign by international forces in Afghanistan.

Iranian politicians have criticised Britain's ambassador to Tehran for drawing attention to concerns about human rights in Iran. They accused the ambassador Simon Gass of breaching diplomatic protocol. They called for his expulsion and for Iran's ties with Britain to be downgraded. Jon Leyne has this report.

Britain's ambassador to Tehran Simon Gass highlighted what he said were a series of abuses in Iran. In a post on the embassy website to mark International Human Rights Day, nowhere were human rights under greater threat than (in) Iran, he said. And he highlighted the case of the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who faces trial for acting against national security. In response, one Iranian MP said the ambassador should learn the diplomatic code of conduct; another MP highlighted what he said was suppression of university students in London in recent days.