The US has been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone since 2002, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.

Bangladesh's opposition supporters are set to start a three-day strike calling for the government to step aside ahead of upcoming elections.

A huge explosion and fire at a sweet factory in the northern Mexico city of Ciudad Juarez kills at least one person and injures dozens.

US actress Marcia Wallace, best known as the voice of Bart Simpson's teacher Edna Krabappel and also for her role in The Bob Newhart Show, dies, aged 70.

Voters in Georgia go to the polls in presidential elections that will end nearly a decade in power for Mikheil Saakashvili.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter wants to fight racism by expelling offending teams from competitions or deducting points.

Voters in Argentina will go to the polls in mid-term elections that will shape President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's final years in power.

China's New Express newspaper, which made front-page appeals for the release of its journalist Chen Yongzhou, issues an apology over his reports.