A US appeals court orders an immediate end to a ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military, while new rules are being drafted.

A chimpanzee can recognise distorted words spoken by a computer, suggesting apes are more capable of perceiving speech than previously thought.

An Italian court sentences nine German men in absentia to life in prison for killing hundreds of civilians during World War II, reports say.

The head of the US firearms agency tells Congress that mistakes were made during an operation meant to track the illegal movement of guns to Mexico.

The chief prosecutor in the attempted rape trial of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn rejects calls to stand down amid claims he leaked information that damaged his own case.

Brazil's transport minister has resigned after newspaper allegations of corruption involving bribes at his ministry.

At least 33 people are reported dead, after a bus carrying a wedding party is hit by a train at a level crossing in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A female grizzly bear kills a man hiking with his wife in Yellowstone National Park after the couple apparently surprised the bear and its cubs.