Authorities in Ohio will no longer use a drug combination that caused an inmate to gasp and snort during a protracted 26-minute execution.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure wins his fourth successive African Footballer of the Year award.

US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson announces she will lead a high level delegation travelling to Havana later this month.

Sri Lanka's long-time leader Mahinda Rajapaksa admits defeat to former ally Maithripala Sirisena in the presidential election, his office says.

Impeachment hearings begin against former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra, who was removed from office shortly before a coup, over a rice subsidy scheme.

A boat carrying more than 100 people sinks on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast killing a British, an American and a Canadian tourist.

Australian actor Rod Taylor, who starred in The Time Machine and Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds, dies aged 84, US reports say.

"Pings" have been detected in the Java Sea which could have come from the black box of AirAsia flight QZ8501, officials say.