Fighting escalates in the Libyan port of Misrata and elsewhere as government forces attempt to retake the rebel-held city after a two-month siege.

Authorities in Burkina Faso place the capital Ouagadougou under curfew as unrest continues after a mutiny in the army.

Cuban President Raul Castro proposes a 10-year term limit for top leadership positions, in a dramatic move at the Communist Party congress.

The party of deposed Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo appeals for an end to fighting by rival armed groups.

Mexico's navy arrests the main suspect in the murder of 145 people whose bodies were found in mass graves in Tamaulipas state earlier this month.

Hillary Clinton announces joint reconstruction plans as she visits Japan to show US solidarity five weeks after the quake disaster.

Finns vote in an election which may affect future EU bail-outs if a rising nationalist party does well.

Scientists at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre have shown that the effectiveness of drugs declines far more rapidly in space than on Earth.