South African President Jacob Zuma cancels a trip to Mozambique as his predecessor Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition.

The Texas governor calls a new legislative session to pass an anti-abortion law blocked when a Democratic senator undertook a 10-hour delaying speech.

A French media activist is found guilty of defamation for accusing France 2 of staging a film that accused Israel of killing a Palestinian boy in 2000.

Kevin Rudd is sworn in as Australian prime minister, taking over from Julia Gillard a day after he ousted her as Labor Party leader,

The record unemployment blighting much of Europe will be the focus of attention at a two-day EU summit set to open in Brussels.

Three European members of the feminist group Femen are freed in Tunisia, after a court suspends a jail term for a topless protest.

At least nine people have died in gun battles with drug dealers in a favela in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, police say.

US anti-drug agents say more than 200 people have been arrested in a major international operation against synthetic drugs.