BBC News with Jerry Smit

The United States says an American drone attack in Pakistan has killed al-Qaeda's second-in-command Abu Yahya al-Libi. It stressed that this was the second time in a year the US had taken out such a senior figure. Senior officials described Abu Yahya al-Libi as one of the group's most experienced and

versatile

leaders, and said there was no one who came close in terms of replacing him. The White House spokesman Jay Carney said al-Libi's death had dealt a heavy blow to the organisation.

"His death is part of the degradation that has been taking place to core al-Qaeda during the past several years, and that degradation has

depleted

the ranks to such an extent that there is now no clear successor to take on the breadth of his responsibilities. And that puts additional pressure on al-Qaeda's post-bin Laden leader, Zawahiri, to try to manage the group in an effective way."

The lower house of the Russian parliament has passed a controversial law which would impose new restrictions on public protests. The ruling party United Russia wants to restrict where demonstrations take place and what form they take. The new legislation would also sharply increase fines for unauthorised protests. The bill will be debated by the upper house on Wednesday, but a BBC correspondent says there's little doubt it'll be adopted.

Queen Elizabeth has described the events marking her Diamond Jubilee as a "humbling experience". In a televised message, she said she'd been touched deeply by seeing so many people celebrating together.