The king of Bahrain makes a visit to the UK for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron, in an effort to improve relations following the Arab Spring.

A BBC World Service survey covering 11,000 people in 23 countries found unemployment was the world's fastest-rising worry.

A senior Australian health official is arrested after allegedly embezzling $11m in just one week in one of the country's biggest fraud cases.

Syria holds local elections despite an opposition boycott and continuing violence between security forces and protesters.

Twelve al-Qaeda militants have broken out of a prison in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, officials say.

The Israeli army says it is investigating the death of a Palestinian activist who died after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister at a weekend protest.

China executes a South African woman for drug smuggling, rejecting an appeal by President Jacob Zuma to spare her life, a South African official tells the BBC.

The Indian city of Calcutta pays respects to the 90 people who lost their lives in last Friday's hospital fire.