| Obama condemns Koran burning plan |
| President Obama calls a small church's plan to burn the Koran a "recruitment bonanza" for al-Qaeda, while Interpol warns a violent response is likely. |
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| Iran 'set to release a US hiker' |
| Iran is set to release on Saturday one of three detained American hikers held since last July and accused of espionage, reports say. |
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| Police search Sarkozy party's HQ |
| French financial police search the headquarters of President Nicolas Sarkozy's party over the inquiry into the L'Oreal party funding scandal, reports say. |
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| Suicide raid hits Somalia airport |
| A carload of suspected Islamist suicide bombers attack Mogadishu airport, killing soldiers and civilians, officials say. |
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| Belgium church raids are illegal |
| Belgium's court rules that recent raids by police probing alleged child sex abuse by Catholic priests were illegal, throwing the investigation into doubt. |
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| US marines recapture pirated ship |
| US Marines have boarded and seized a vessel hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, navy officials say. |
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| Castro doubts over Cuban system |
| Cuba's Fidel Castro says the Cuban model no longer works in the latest excerpt from an interview with a US journalist. |
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| Euro MPs condemn France over Roma |
| Euro MPs call on France to suspend its deportations of Roma (Gypsies), as Paris seeks co-operation from Romania. |
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| Taliban chief says victory close |
| Taliban leader Mullah Omar says his fighters are on the verge of victory in Afghanistan and the Nato-led campaign has been "a complete failure". |
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| Russia suicide bomber murders 16 |
| A suicide bomber has killed at least 16 people and wounded one hundred others at a market in Vladikavkaz in southern Russia, officials say. |
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| Saudi website for fatwas closes |
| The popular Islam Today website, run by the Saudi cleric Salman al-Awdah, has closed its section offering thousands of Islamic religious rulings. |
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| Rodney King tying the knot with his juror |
| Nineteen years after his brutal beating by four LA police officers, Rodney King is marrying a juror from the case. |
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| World's most expensive book back on sale |
| A rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America, billed as the world's most expensive book, is to go on sale at Sotheby's. |
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| US exports near to two-year high |
| The US trade gap in July narrowed thanks to increased exports of large US-made items such as aircraft. |
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| Reprieve for US stem cell funding |
| A court says federal funding for US stem cell research can continue until a final legal decision on the matter. |
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| Mexico crime 'like an insurgency' |
| US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Mexican drug violence is looking increasingly like an insurgency, a comment strongly rejected by Mexico. |
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| Honduras massacre 'gang rivalry' |
| A mass shooting in a shoe factory in Honduras is blamed on rival street gangs linked to Mexican drug cartels. |
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| SA murder rate shows sharp fall |
| The murder rate has fallen by 8.6% over the past year in South Africa, the latest statistics show. |
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| South Sudan vote is 'time bomb' |
| The referendum on independence for Southern Sudan is a "ticking time bomb", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says, however Sudan rejects her comments. |
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| China U-turn on enforced blackout |
| Thousands of people in China are to have their electricity restored after the reversal of an order for enforced power cuts to meet energy-saving goals. |
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| Japan-China boat spat escalates |
| China warns Japan that their wider relationship will suffer if Tokyo mishandles a dispute about a Chinese fishing boat seized in disputed waters. |
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| Erdogan raps rivals ahead of poll |
| Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticises the tactics of his opponents, in a BBC interview ahead of Sunday's constitutional referendum. |
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| Spain confirms its labour reforms |
| Spain's government says it will keep labour market reforms agreed in June which make it cheaper to sack workers. |
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| Yemeni soldier killed in ambush |
| Gunmen open fire on soldiers in southern Yemen, killing at least one and wounding others. |
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| Iran human rights lawyer detained |
| A prominent human rights lawyer in Iran, Nasrin Sotoudeh, is detained by the authorities on security charges. |
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| Indian caste census due in 2011 |
| India's first caste-based census since 1931 will take place next year, the cabinet announces. |
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| Delhi games face disease threat |
| India's Commonwealth Games village in Delhi is being threatened by dengue fever-carrying mosquitoes. |
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| Welfare bill 'to be cut by £4bn' |
| The government is planning to reduce the annual welfare bill by a further £4bn, Chancellor George Osborne tells the BBC. |
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| Two killed by lorry on motorway |
| A lorry driver is arrested after two men die when they are hit as they walk along the M6 close to Sandbach in Cheshire. |
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| US slips in competitiveness poll |
| The United States has been overtaken by Sweden and Singapore in the World Economic Forum's competitiveness survey. |
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| Global economy slowing, says OECD |
| The global economic recovery is slowing faster than forecast, but a return to recession is unlikely, an economic group says. |
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| UK interest rates remain at 0.5% |
| The Bank of England keeps UK interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.5% for the 18th consecutive month. |
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| Riaz to face police questioning |
| Pakistan bowler Wahab Riaz will be questioned by Scotland Yard on 14 September in relation to allegations of corruption. |
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| World Cup on track despite quake |
| New Zealand mark a year until the start of the Rugby World Cup, less than a week after Christchurch was devastated by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. |
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| Alonso faces team orders grilling |
| Fernando Alonso tries to put the team orders controversy behind Ferrari after the FIA decided against further punishment for the Italian team. |
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| UK 'blind' to black female acts |
| The chair of the Mercury Prize claims that black British female artists are being ignored by the British public. |
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| Spears sued for sexual harassment |
| A former bodyguard for Britney Spears files a sexual harassment lawsuit against the pop star. |
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| Don Johnson payout upped to $51m |
| A judge more than doubles an award made by a jury to Don Johnson over profits owed from a TV show to $51.2m (£33.2m). |
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| Colorado fire destroys homes |
| A forest fire in the US state of Colorado has destroyed at least 136 homes, according to officials. |
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| Hip hop helps vulnerable children |
| South African artist Emile Jansen has embraced the challenge of reaching out to the youth with the help of hip hop. |
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| Manila hostages accidentally shot? |
| Investigators in the Philippines say police may have accidentally shot some of the hostages who were killed during a Manila bus hijacking last month. |
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| Inside a US Afghan outpost |
| Captain Henry Hansen of the US Army's 101st Airborne shows Quentin Sommerville around their combat outpost near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. |
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| Russia suicide bombing kills 16 |
| A suicide bomber has killed at least 16 people and wounded 100 others at a market in Vladikavkaz in southern Russia, officials say. |
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| India's stars opt for small screen |
| India's film-star hungry public do not have to go to the cinema to get their fix. |
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| South African film goes global |
| White Wedding is a South African film which is about to make a debut internationally. |
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| Bombed Iraqi car displayed in UK |
| A car salvaged from the 2007 bombing of a historic Baghdad street book market in Baghdad, is going on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. |
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| One-minute World News |
| Watch the latest news summary from BBC World News. International news updated 24 hours a day. |
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| There she blows! |
| Hi-tech look-out could save whales' lives |
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| Model politician |
| British-born ex-Miss Bolivia on why she has gone into politics |
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| 'Real women' |
| Plus-size models make New York Fashion Week debut |
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| Downward spiral |
| Is Mexico becoming like 1980s drugs-wracked Colombia? |
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| Altered image |
| Pictures reveal new side to life in trend-setting Soweto |
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| Magnificent Mary |
| India's top woman boxer dreams of Olympic glory |
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| Low pay and squalor |
| The plight of Commonwealth Games workers in Delhi |
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| Hero's welcome? |
| Russia's returning spies will find it difficult to adjust |
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