A human rights group in Saudi Arabia has demanded an official explanation of a report that a leading rights activist in his 70s has been tortured in detention. In an open letter to King Abdullah, the group says it has information that the former judge Suliman Al-Rashid has recently been subjected severe physical and psychological torture.
The tallest building in the world has opened in Dubai. The Burj Dubai which is 828 metres around twice the height of New York Empire State Building. Construction began at the height of Dubai's economic boom, but it's opened in the wake of financial crisis.
Share and commodity prices around the world have risen following news of improved manufacturing output in the United States and China. Andrew Walker reports.
Most stock markets have taken encouragement from news that China's manufacturing industry expanded last month at its fastest rate since April 2004. There was also a boost for European and US shares from reports that American manufacturing grew in December for the fifth consecutive month. Commodity prices also gained from the news. But there was also a reminder of the severity of the recent global recession. The Singaporean economy declined quite sharply in the final quarter of last year after six months of renewed growth.
This is Debora MacKenzie with the latest world news from the BBC.
Belarus has warned it might cut electricity supplies to Russia's westernmost region Kaliningrad if the two countries can't reach agreement in their current negotiations about oil deliveries. The disagreement centers on the amount of tax Belarus should pay on oil which it refines then exports. So far, Russia is still sending oil to Belarus, both for domestic use and on which shipment, but analysts say the dispute is a factor in oil prices rising.