The UN's first truce call is dismissed by both sides in the Gaza fighting, with Israel's PM calling it unworkable.

More US workers lost jobs last year than in any year since the Second World War, with employers axing 2.6 million jobs.

A super-tanker captured by Somali pirates in November with two million barrels of oil is released, reports say.

The Sri Lankan army captures Elephant Pass, the key link to the Jaffna peninsula, President Mahinda Rajapaksa says.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in Europe are without heat in a cold snap as the Russia-Ukraine gas row continues.

Al-Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and another top aide are believed to have been killed, US and Pakistani sources say.

India's main share index falls to a one-month low on fears that an accounting scandal may prompt foreign investors to withdraw funds.

French Justice Minister Rachida Dati comes under fire for returning to work five days after giving birth to a baby girl.

A trio of Canadians claim a new record for the fastest trek across Antarctica to the South Pole.

A panda at Beijing zoo bites a man for the third time in two years.

Rare footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals is captured by scientists.

Sam Allardyce says Manchester City must make Blackburn an offer they cannot refuse for Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz.

Andrew Strauss is set to find out whether he will be appointed as England's new one-day captain.

Ghost town highlights Sudan's shaky peace deal

Why it's hard to predict sudden environmental crisis

What Hemingway codes have been made public?

Did George Bush lead the world into economic crisis?

How TB is tearing apart lives in Tajikistan

Bollywood's light-hearted goodbye to George Bush

Jacob Zuma will lead South Africa's ANC into polls even if he is charged with corruption, the president says.

"Chuckie" Taylor, son of Liberian ex-leader Charles Taylor, is to be sentenced by a US court after being convicted of torture.

US President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan runs into opposition from within his own party.

Leonidas Vargas, a once powerful Colombian drug trafficker, is shot dead in his hospital bed in the Spanish capital Madrid.

South Korea cuts interest rates to a record low of 2.5%, as carmaker Ssangyong applies for bankruptcy protection.

Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki pulls out of MotoGP to cut costs amid the global financial crisis.

The Czech Republic warns the European Union against borrowing its way out of the global slowdown.

Four more EU countries lift restrictions on access to their job markets for Bulgarian and Romanian workers.

A US army deserter and mother of three is ordered to leave Canada after her appeal for refuge fails.

Iraqi authorities close a major Shia shrine in Baghdad to women amid security concerns as the rite of Ashura reaches its climax.

A call handler for UK firm BT in India is disciplined after he sent amorous text and voicemail messages to a customer.

Workers at two major Indian oil companies call off a strike, but the action continues at 10 other firms.

More than seven years of Western aid has failed to make a real impact on daily life in Afghanistan, the BBC's Hugh Sykes reports.

The son of Cuban exiles living in the US, the BBC's Americas editor Emilio San Pedro talks about growing up in a proud immigrant community.

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