A lottery is under way in New York City to award couples the right to marry on Sunday, the first day same-sex couples can be wed under a new law.

Five Philippine congressmen are set to visit the disputed Spratly islands, as an Asean summit urges Asian nations to resolve territorial rows.

The UN is set to declare a famine in parts of Somalia, as humanitarian conditions deteriorate amid the worst drought in over half a century.

The man expected to be China's next president, Xi Jinping, says in a speech in Lhasa he will "smash" any attempt to undermine Tibetan stability.

Police in the US, Britain and the Netherlands arrest more than 20 people in connection with an investigation into high-profile cyber attacks.

A heat-wave blanketing the US heartland in humidity, buckling roads and rupturing water mains, has claimed the lives of 13 people, US media report.

The Peruvian military says remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla group have attacked troops patrolling a coca-producing region, killing two soldiers.

Medieval suits of armour were so exhausting to wear that they could have affected the outcomes of famous battles, a study suggests.