Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes has said it is a shame his city will host Olympic Games because Brazil lacks a sports policy.

A 23-year-old British woman has part of her leg "severed' after being hit by a taxi in New York City, police say.

Two future US presidents called Richard Nixon in support after he gave a speech on the Watergate scandal amid a staff exodus, newly-released tapes show.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is to be put under house arrest following a court order to release him in a corruption case, officials say.

UN officials say alleged chemical weapons attacks which Syria's opposition says killed hundreds of people near Damascus are a "serious escalation".

Reports that an erotic novel is popular among Guantanamo Bay inmates show one cannot believe everything one reads, says a defence lawyer.

At least 37 people are now known to have died after a packed bus plunged into a ravine near a Malaysian mountain resort, officials say.

Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe will be sworn in for a seventh term as president, with rival Morgan Tsvangirai boycotting the ceremony over fraud allegations.