On Monday a court in Moscow delivered its guilty verdict to the organizers of the Forbidden Art exhibition, who were facing charges of inciting religious hatred by putting controversial pictures on public display.

BP has successfully installed a new sealing cap on the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, company officials say.

A group of political prisoners freed by Cuba are on a flight bound for Spain to start a new life in exile.

Ten suspected Russian spies are being moved to New York to face charges they acted as unauthorised foreign agents.

Cuba has agreed to free 52 political detainees in the largest prisoner release by the communist authorities for decades.

CNN has sacked a veteran Middle East editor after she wrote on Twitter that she "respected" a late senior Lebanese cleric said to have inspired Hezbollah.

Police in the Thai resort of Pattaya have questioned Russian musician Mikhail Pletnev over allegations of sex with an under-age boy.

The European Parliament is due to approve a deal placing new limits on bankers' bonuses from next year.

British troops in Afghanistan are to hand over responsibility for the Sangin area of Helmand province to US forces, the BBC understands.

Around 14 children in Russia are diagnosed with cancer each day and only a few get the desperately needed treatment. Due to the lack of a medical infrastructure, the disease is among the main causes of toddler deaths.

For the last 30 years a Russian village has cultivated a world class children’s orchestra that competes and wins on the international level.

US President Barack Obama is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

Ghana's national football team has arrived back home from the World Cup in South Africa to a rapturous welcome.

The Russian leader said he hopes that Roza Otunbaeva manages to overcome the many difficulties her country faces. The interim Kyrgyz leader has been elected temporary president after a nationwide referendum.

A Chinese-born American geologist has been sentenced to eight years in jail in China for stealing state secrets.