India's lower house of parliament passes a controversial bill that aims to provide subsidised food to two-thirds of the population.

A teenager dies of bubonic plague in Kyrgyzstan, the first such case in the country for 30 years.

An elderly Ohio couple died 11 hours apart in their shared nursing home room, more than 65 years after they were first married, US media report.

JP Morgan is ordered to pay Russian billionaire Leonard Blavatnik $50m in damages over losses he suffered during the US subprime crisis.

Brazil's foreign minister resigns after a fugitive Bolivian politician holed up in the Brazilian embassy in La Paz is spirited away in a diplomat's car.

The US government will reach its debt limit by mid-October unless Congress acts quickly, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warns.

The French film star Gerard Depardieu, whose erratic behaviour made headlines all year, throws a big housewarming barbecue in Belgium.

Colombian Farc rebels have killed at least 13 soldiers in an ambush, the army says, although the two sides are due to resume peace talks soon.