Germany is to suspend conscription and switch to a volunteer military service, the government says.

Israel's parliament passes a bill setting stringent new conditions before any withdrawal from the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem.

Hopes are dwindling for 29 men missing four days after a New Zealand mine explosion, the police chief in charge of the rescue effort says.

A Canadian court begins hearing a case on whether Canada's anti-polygamy law violates freedom of religion guaranteed by the constitution.

Qantas says it is to resume flying some of its Airbus A380 aircraft on Saturday, three weeks after a mid-air engine blast.

A California animal shelter seeks adoptive homes for 1,000 rats rescued from a house the rodents had infested and virtually destroyed.

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is reunited with her younger son, Kim Aris, in Burma after 10 years apart.

Cambodia declares a day of mourning for at least 345 people killed in a stampede during festival celebrations in the capital, Phnom Penh.