World News from the BBC

Peru's new President Ollanta Humala has replaced two thirds of the country's most senior police officers in a

purge

designed to root out alleged corruption. Thirty of Peru's 45 police generals have been pushed into retirement, including the overall ander">commander and">and the head of the anti-drugs force.

Heavy fighting is continuing in the byan">Libyan city of Sirte as pro-Gaddafi forces struggle to hold back the advance of fighters from the National Transitional Council. They now control both the main hospital and">and a showpiece conference centre. Wyre Davies is in Sirte.

The once

lush

and

opulent

Ouagadougou complex in Sirte is the kind of place that Colonel Gaddafi liked to spend his millions.

Today, the complex is in ruins, damaged by a week of intense clashes and

vandalised

by

vengeful

fighters. Also bearing the scars of battle, the nearby central hospital, used as a base by retreating Gaddafi fighters. There today, we found dozens of injured people in the wards and corridors. There are also serious worries for thousands of civilians trapped inside Sirte as slowly but surely Gaddafi's fighters are squeezed and pushed back towards the sea.

Security officials in Iraq say a series of explosions in Baghdad has killed at least nine people and injured almost 20 more. Police said the first blast was caused by a roadside bomb in a Shia neighbourhood; minutes later, a second bomb exploded nearby; then a third blast went off as firefighters arrived at the scene of the first incident.