Mauritanians on Saturday cast ballots in a presidential election that incumbent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was expected to win handily as main opposition rivals boycotted the vote in the largely desert nation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai intervened for the first time in the country's growing election crisis, backing a call for the United Nations to help solve a standoff over alleged fraud.
The United States warned it would not accept any use of Russian troops in Ukraine as it confirmed that Moscow had redeployed "significant" military forces near the border.
The International Monetary Fund is rethinking bailouts in the wake of the eurozone crisis, with an eye to giving governments near default better options to stabilize their finances.
Handwritten song lyrics from legendary singer Bob Dylan go under the hammer in New York, the most treasured possessions in a collection of rock memorabilia valued at $3-5 million.
Lawyers for more than 1,500 victims of Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic said they had served UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with a personal summons to appear in US court.
Chinese police shot dead 13 people in the restive Xinjiang region after they drove into a police building and set off an explosion on Saturday, regional authorities said.
Famous for its neon lights and wild nightlife, Tokyo's status as one of the world's clubbing capitals looks set to survive a potentially ruinous police crackdown on -- of all things -- dancing.
