New study rebuts "men-are-doomed" scenario which got traction when scientists found that male chromosome had shrivelled.

Former Philippine president enters plea on the first day of a landmark trial.

Julia Gillard calls on ex-leader Kevin Rudd, her likely challenger, to accept its outcome as final.

Nigerian statesman hopes to defuse anger over president's decision to run for third term in weekend's election.

Setback comes as country's parliament debates emergency legislation to implement a eurozone rescue package.

Financial telecom company SWIFT cutting ties with Iran means that all international payment orders will be harder to cash for Tehran.

Vast trails of seven-million-year-old fossilised footprints in the Arabian desert reveal the "social structure" of prehistoric elephants, say scientists.

Parts of the Syrian city of Homs are being bombarded by shells in what witnesses are describing as the heaviest attack in days.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports from a polling station in Sanaa, as people in Yemen vote to elect a new president to replace veteran leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A leading pro-democracy activist in Bahrain is released, a week after being arrested on the first anniversary of the uprising in the Gulf state.