The head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's biggest yakuza crime syndicate, is freed after spending almost six years in jail.

World champion Sebastian Vettel pips McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to take Malaysian Grand Prix pole position.

Cuba and Venezuela condemn a US court decision to acquit the veteran anti-communist militant Luis Posada Carriles as a "shameful farce".

Hundreds of anti-government protesters are reported to have been hurt in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, a day after similar clashes in the city of Taiz.

Pro-Gaddafi forces tackle Libyan opposition fighters on the streets of Ajdabiya in a surprise attack on the rebel-held city.

China tells the US to stop preaching, after the state department's annual report on rights singles out China for criticism.

Peru votes for a new president in one of its most unpredictable and tightly-contested elections for decades.

Egypt's interim military government says it will remove some Mubarak-era provincial governors - an apparent concession to protesters.