BBC News with Nick Kelly.

The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has called off her visit to Japan next week amid a wave of protests against poor quality public services, corruption and high spending on next year's Football World Cup. Her office acknowledged that the postponement was due to the demonstrations which were triggered by price rises on public transport. Demonstrations are planned in more than 80 Brazilian cities on Thursday. Rulia Carniaro reports from Sao Paulo.

Thousands of demonstrators are already gathered around Rio de Janeiro's iconic Candelaria Church, police helicopters are monitoring the situation, and museums and shops on the area closed early to avoid confusion. But the demonstration started peacefully. Protesters will march along the city centre's main avenues towards the city hall. For now, there is no official plan to continue towards the Maracana stadium where a Confederations Cup match was just staged.

The mayor of the Ugandan capital Kampala says he has been beaten by police who fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds of his supporters. In an interview with the BBC from his hospital bed, the mayor, Erias Lukwago said he collapsed after tear gas was thrown into his vehicle. He said it was an abuse by police when he was taken to hospital. "It was horrible. Those people were accusing me of all sorts of things, they became more rough, they hit me in the chest, tore my shirt and treated me in a very rough manner."

The government of Singapore has warned that air pollution in the city state has reached a record level as a result of smoke from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia. It's warned that the smoke could last for several weeks. The haze has also led to a rise in political tension. Singapore has demanded that Indonesia deal with the fires, but an Indonesia minister said its neighbour was behaving like a child.

World stock markets have fallen and the price of gold has hit a three-year low after the head of the US Central Bank, Ben Bernanke announced that he may start to reduce its stimulus program late this year because of improved economic growth. US stocks ended the day more than 2% down, almost matching falls on France and German markets, where the price of gold fell by more than 4%. BBC's Samira Hussain is in New York.

You would think here from the chairman of the US Central Bank Ben Bernanke same that the US economy is recovering would be a good thing for markets, but what the really reacting to is that the fact that the Federal Reserve might start scaling back, the $85bn a month, that it's been pumping into the US economy that and with keeping interest rates near zero. It's really been propelling the current economic recovery here. Samira Hussain reporting.

You're listening to the World News from the BBC

The cellar of the house where an Austrian man, Josef Fritzl imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her has been filled with concrete. Josef Fritzl is serving a life sentence on charges, including rape, incest and murder mite by a neglect. Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.

Ever since the Fritzl case first came to life five years ago, the question of what to do with the house has hung over the town of Amstetten. Now, workers have started filling in the cellar which Josef Fritzl built under his house as a dungeon for his daughter, Elizabeth. The liquidator of the Fritzl estate told the main Austrian news agency the step was being taken to ensure that no one could ever enter the cellar again.

Spain and France has spearheaded in action against the US internet company Google after it ignored the European Union deadline to clarify or change its data collection policy. Spain has said had launched legal proceedings against Google for allegedly float data protection laws. France orders the company to alter its policy or face fines. Other EU countries are considering similar moves.

And for the first time in centuries the horse owned by a reigning British monarch has won the gold cup of Royal Ascot on the horse racing's most prestigious events. Queen Elizabeth was expected to hand the Gold Cup to the winner. Instead she received it herself one of her sons, Prince Andrew. Our racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght was there. "Rarely to see the majesty looks happier than won any horse races particularly Royal Ascot and particularly when she is able to enter to the winner's enclosure. As she did for the 22nd times of Royal Ascots over the years when Estimate the heavily back 7-2 favourite gave her or indeed any reigning monarch a first success in the gold cup, the historic center piece of this famous picture, first stage in 1807. The dilemma of who would present the trophy, normally handed over by the Queen, were solved, when the beaming the Duke of York step forward to do the honors.

BBC News