by Biodun Iginla, BBC Senior News Analyst

Former detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp are in line for UK government compensation totalling in the millions of pounds.

About a dozen former prisoners, including Binyam Mohamed, will be granted the out-of-court settlement.

They had alleged that British security forces were complicit in their torture before they arrived at Guantanamo.

The UK's Cabinet Office has said a ministerial statement will be made on Tuesday.

It is believed the government wanted to avoid a lengthy and costly court case which would also have put the British secret intelligence services under the spotlight.

Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil el Banna, Richard Belmar, Omar Deghayes, Binyam Mohamed, Martin Mubanga were among those who had begun High Court cases against the government.

In July, the High Court ordered the release of some of the 500,000 documents relating to the case.

BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said that around 100 intelligence officers had been working around the clock preparing legal cases.

He said the government wanted to avoid the cost of the court case, and that the terms of the settlement would remain confidential - something wanted by both the men and ministers.

He added that the Intelligence and Security Committee and the National Audit Office would be briefed about the payments.

He said the government would now be able to move forward with plans for an inquiry, led by Sir Peter Gibson, into claims that UK security services were complicit in the torture of terror suspects.

The Cabinet Office said: "The prime minister set out clearly in his statement to the House (of Commons) on July 6 that we need to deal with the totally unsatisfactory situation where for 'the past few years, the reputation of our security services has been overshadowed by allegations about their involvement in the treatment of detainees held by other countries'."

Tuesday's statement is expected to be made by Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

The UK security services have always denied any claims that they have used or condoned the use of torture.

by Suzanne Gould, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Mr Sanders was wanted by police over the abduction of Lexis Roberts

A US man who was declared legally dead 16 years ago has been arrested in Mississippi for the kidnapping of a girl whose body was found in Louisiana.

An FBI spokeswoman said Thomas Steven Sanders had been held on Sunday at a truck stop in the Mississippi town of Gulfport, following a massive manhunt.

He is suspected of involvement in the abduction of Lexis Roberts, 12, who was found dead earlier this year.

Police are pressing him for information on the girl's missing mother.

Mr Sanders abandoned his family in 1987 and was declared dead by a Mississippi court in 1994, according to court documents.

"However, we now know that he is still alive and has ties to several states across the country," the FBI said in a statement.

The 53-year-old was wanted by police for the kidnapping of the Las Vegas girl, whose skeleton was found by hunters in October.

The girl's 31-year-old mother, Suellen Roberts, is missing. Authorities have said she is not a suspect in her daughter's death and fear she may also have come to harm.

In the time since he was declared dead, investigators say Mr Sanders has worked as a labourer, a welder and a scrap metal collector and lived in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada.

by Susan Kumar, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

The 2010 Games were hit by claims of shoddy construction and dubious payments to contractors

India's top investigating agency has arrested two 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games officials for alleged financial irregularities.

TS Darbari and Sanjay Mohindroo are accused of forgery and cheating over the awarding of Games contracts.

The men were suspended from their posts in August. They deny any wrongdoing.

The allegations come just a day after Indian Telecoms Minister A Raja was forced to step down over claims he undersold mobile phone licenses.

Mr Raja denies the charges.

The high-profile corruption cases are an embarrassment for the Indian government, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi.

Mr Darbari and Mr Mohindroo were arrested after raids on their offices and homes, said Harsh Bhal, a spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation.

They are alleged to have forged documents as part of a scam to award Games contracts to companies at inflated prices.

These are the first arrests after a high-level investigation was ordered into corruption charges surrounding the Commonwealth Games.

In August, the Games' treasurer, Anil Khanna, quit after claims an Australian firm won the contract to lay tennis courts for the Games because his son headed its Indian arm.

All India Tennis Association chief Khanna denied any wrongdoing.

The source warned of the possible rise in violence from Palestinian militants and "Jewish extremists"

The Palestinian leadership could fall apart without significant progress towards peace with Israel, which would be a major setback for Israel, a senior Israeli intelligence official has said.

The situation in the West Bank was the best in over a decade, he said - but warned it could lurch back into chaos.

The source was speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad were the "best combination", he said.

He said that, while both men did not particularly like each other, they both believed that terrorism was very damaging to the Palestinian cause, and were "fully supportive of the Palestinian security forces".

He said that situation was very different from previous Palestinian leaderships.

The source said that Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, wanted to be the leader "who establishes the first ever Palestinian state in history".

But he warned that "Abu Mazen is tired and fed up", and that if he continued to be humiliated he might carry out his threat to step down and return home.

The official said he did not believe that Mr Abbas would step down immediately.

"We have a few months," he said. "Everything is connected to progress, or not, of the peace talks."

His words appear to be a warning to the senior Israeli political leadership, as well as Arab leaders and Washington, that the window for doing a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian leadership is small and rapidly closing.

If Mr Abbas did step down, the source warned, the whole Palestinian leadership could fall apart.

He said there were no obvious successors to Mr Abbas, and that while Salam Fayyad was popular and successful, he had very little support from within the governing Fatah party to take over the presidency, or even remain as prime minister should Mr Abbas step down.

"If Abu Mazen retires who knows what will happen to Salam Fayyad?" he said. "The situation now is very fragile, all this can vanish."

At the same time as urging a speeding up of the peace process, the senior intelligence source warned that progress towards a final peace deal would inevitably be met by an upsurge of violence by extremists on both sides who opposed a settlement.

He said the Islamic movement Hamas, which rules in Gaza and opposes a peace deal with Israel, has been working hard to rebuild its infrastructure inside the West Bank, in preparation for what he called "large-scale attacks".

He said the killing of four Jewish settlers inside the West Bank in September was only a prelude.

He also warned of the potential for violence from Jewish extremists inside the West Bank. He said there had already been a number of attacks on Palestinian mosques.

"So far there have been no terrorist attacks," he said.

But he predicted "more and more problems with Jewish extremists" who oppose an Israeli pullout from the Occupied Territories, if the peace process moved forward.

by Natalie de Vallieres, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Francois Fillon's popularity ratings regularly exceed those of the president

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has replaced his foreign and defence ministers as part of a significant cabinet reshuffle.

Michele Alliot-Marie replaces Bernard Kouchner as foreign minister, while Alain Juppe becomes defence minister in place of Herve Morin.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Sarkozy reappointed Francois Fillon as prime minister.

Most of the other big figures from the outgoing government remain in place.

Christine Lagarde will remain as economy minister, while Brice Hortefeux is staying on as interior minister.

Mr Juppe is a former prime minister, while Ms Alliot-Marie was justice minister.

With his popularity at rock bottom, President Nicolas Sarkozy could have seen the reshuffle as a moment for a change of direction, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield. Instead, the president has calculated that it is in sticking to the course that lie his best hopes for re-election in 2012.

The moves come a day after the entire government handed in its resignation.

There has been mounting political tension in France in recent months.

Last month, parliament passed controversial reforms to the country's pension system which sparked widespread protests.

The incoming government will be in charge of implementing policy in the run-up to the next presidential elections in 2012.

The outgoing foreign minister, Mr Kouchner, a socialist, had recently expressed unease at some government policies.

There had been speculation Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo could become PM, but he has no position in the new government.

In a statement, Mr Fillon spelled out his priorities as head of the new government.

"After three and a half years of brave reforms, carried out despite a severe global economic and financial crisis, I am starting... a new phase with determination which will allow our country to strengthen the growth of the economy to help jobs, promote solidarity and safeguard the security of all French people," he said.