US consumers shrugged off higher taxes to boost retail spending by 1.1% in February, government figures show.

An Illinois golfer survives an 18ft (5.4m) fall into a sinkhole on a fairway, two weeks after another sinkhole swallowed a person in Florida.

The acting president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro says it is highly unlikely that the body of the former president Hugo Chavez will be embalmed.

Leaders in Beijing are set to name Xi Jinping president at the annual parliament session, completing China's 10-yearly transition of power.

The German cabinet passes a bill allowing women to use a false name when giving birth in hospital, to stop unwanted babies from being abandoned.

A historic palazzo in Rome that houses a key Vatican department is also the home of what claims to be the "the number one gay sauna in Italy".

A Brazilian doctor faces charges of fraud after being caught on camera using silicone fingers to sign in for her absent colleagues, police say.

Former senior Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary dies while on trial for genocide, a UN-backed court in Cambodia announces.