BBC World Service

US troops could have nine bases in Afghanistan after most Nato troops withdraw in 2014, President Hamid Karzai says, ahead of a final security accord.

Italian prosecutors request that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi face trial for allegedly bribing a senator to switch parties in 2006.

Labour says plans to allow nursery staff and childminders to look after more children in England are in "chaos", after Nick Clegg admits doubts about them.

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One of China's best known film directors is under investigation for allegedly violating the country's one-child policy, state-run media say.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have no role in a political settlement to Syria's conflict.

The world's two top-ranked players Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals.

Kenya asks the UN Security Council to halt the ICC trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy in the interests of "peace and security".

Eurosceptic Conservative MPs are seeking to engineer a vote in the Commons next week on the idea of an EU referendum.

A production of a Wagner opera in Dusseldorf has been cancelled because of harrowing scenes set in a concentration camp.

Mark Cavendish wins the sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia to take his second victory of the race.

The government of Slovenia announces a package of measures it hopes will help it avoid an EU bailout.

Last Tango in Paris director Bernardo Bertolucci is to lead the jury for the 70th Venice Film Festival, organisers announce.

At least 30 police officers in Nigeria have been killed in an ambush by a local cult in the central Nasarawa state, officials say.

Manchester United appoint Everton manager David Moyes as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Old Trafford.

A Brazilian woman is expected to make a full recovery after her husband shot her through the mouth with a harpoon, doctors say.

American soap actress Jeanne Cooper, who spent 40 years on The Young and the Restless, dies at the age of 84.

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Wayne Rooney could still be persuaded to stay at Manchester United despite telling the club he wants to leave.

Alan Cumming has been shortlisted for his solo performance in Macbeth at this year's Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland - one of eight nominations for the National Theatre of Scotland.