Post-election violence kills 173 in Ivory Coast, the UN says, as pressure mounts for Laurent Gbagbo to quit the presidency.

A parcel bomb blast seriously injures a Swiss national at the Swiss embassy in Rome, officials from the two countries say.

A senior Israeli army officer tells the BBC that as long as Hamas remains in control of the Gaza Strip, another war is "a question of when, not if".

An Australian court finds three men guilty of plotting a suicide attack on a Sydney army base, with two co-defendants acquitted.

The Greek parliament approves next year's budget, bringing in sweeping austerity measures, as unions continue protests.

The US upholds a decision classifying polar bears merely as "threatened" rather than "endangered", giving them less protection and angering activists.

South Korea is holding a series of live-fire military exercises on an unprecedented scale near the heavily armed land border with the North.

A cross party committee of MPs says it has concerns about the way the UK is spending aid money in Africa.