Leaders of the largest county in the US state of Alabama vote to file for a multi-billion dollar bankruptcy, expected to be the costliest in US municipal history.

Clashes between supporters and opponents of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega following his disputed election victory leave four people dead.

Eddie Murphy resigns as 2012 Oscar host, one day after his friend Brett Ratner quit as producer after using a derogatory term in public.

US authorities charge seven people with spreading software to hijack millions of computers worldwide.

Italy's president says Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will step down within days, as the country's financial crisis deepens.

Asian shares open sharply lower following renewed fears over the eurozone debt crisis, after Italy's borrowing cost rose to a record high.

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta orders a review of a military mortuary that lost portions of soldiers' remains during 2009.

Three soldiers who fled their barracks near the Chinese city of Jilin armed with a rifle and hundreds of bullets are reported to have been killed.