A Roman Catholic priest from north-west Las Vegas is jailed for more than three years for using church funds to support his gambling habit.

Venezuela's President Chavez tells the opposition he will relinquish power if he loses October's election, and says they should also accept the result if he wins.

Voters in Taiwan are going to the polls to elect a new president, in a contest that will shape the island's key relationship with China.

Russia's failed Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, is likely to fall back to Earth this Sunday, to be torn apart high in the atmosphere.

An inaccurate inscription on the newly opened Martin Luther King memorial in Washington is to be changed, it is reported.

The trial of ex-US presidential hopeful John Edwards for violating campaign finance laws is delayed because he has a "serious" heart problem.

More than 4,000 people are being evacuated after the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy, with at least six reported dead.

The EU's top economic official hits out at a decision by Standard and Poor's to downgrade the credit ratings of nine eurozone countries.