A United Nations report accuses Eritrea of planning to set off a car bomb at a summit of the African Union in Ethiopia last January.

A San Francisco judge strikes a proposed circumcision ban from the November ballot, citing religious freedom protections.

The US says a first of two days of exploratory talks with North Korea on the country's nuclear programme were "serious and businesslike".

Baseball pitcher Hideki Irabu, who played on two World Series teams and was one of the first Japanese players in US baseball, dies at 42.

A rainforest vine has evolved dish-shaped leaves to attract the bats that pollinate it, scientists have found.

A young emperor penguin found washed up on a New Zealand beach gets a health clearance after tests and enjoys a first swim.

Police in Norway say they will question Anders Behring Breivik for a second time, as the country prepares to mark a week since the terror attacks.

An explosion at a mine in the Ukraine's eastern Lugansk region leaves at least 16 people dead, with 10 others unaccounted for.