A US court sentences a Somali man to 30 years in jail for attacking a US warship off the coast of Somalia in April.

Japanese manufacturing activity shrank for a third consecutive month in November as a strong yen hit exports.

Brazil's President Luiz Lula da Silva says a police operation to take control of a drug traffickers' stronghold in Rio de Janeiro is just the start of an anti-gang offensive.

The easing of Israel's blockade of Gaza six months ago has led to "little improvement" for people living there, a report by 21 aid and rights agencies says.

An armed student releases the 23 students and a teacher he was holding hostage at a school in Wisconsin.

Senior Chinese officials believe the Korean peninsula should be reunified under Seoul's control, according to leaked classified US diplomatic cables.

Haiti's general election on Sunday was valid despite serious irregularities and allegations of fraud, international observers say.

Mexican soldiers uncover 18 bodies buried close to the US border in Chihuahua, the state worst hit by drug-related violence.