US hostage Peter Kassig, who is being held by IS militants in Syria, told his parents in a letter in June that he was "scared to die", they reveal.

The key Syria-Turkey border town of Kobane may soon fall to Islamic State fighters, an official there tells the BBC, as IS flags begin to appear.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta tells parliament he will attend the International Criminal Court this week, and puts his deputy in charge while he is away.

Incumbent Dilma Rousseff has won most votes in Brazil's presidential poll but will face a centrist rival in a run-off, near-complete results show.

A specialist ship begins scanning the Indian Ocean seabed in the next phase of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The New York Times apologises for a cartoon on India's Mars Mission following readers' complaints that it mocked India.

Civilians flee the Syria-Turkey border town of Kobane, as Islamic State militants enter and engage in street-to-street fighting with Syrian Kurds.

British designer John Galliano is to return to high-end fashion as creative director of French fashion house Maison Martin Margiela.