Some of the top Dutch Olympic athletes are facing debt as the government is imposing fines if they fail to finish their degrees on time.

California lawmakers approve financing for a bullet train that would eventually become part of the first dedicated high-speed line in the US.

Nepal's former king, Gyanendra, says for the first time that he wants to return to the throne four years after he abdicated.

In Canada, unemployment falls slightly from 7.3% to 7.2% in June as firms hired an extra 7,300 staff according to official data.

More than 50 people are reported to have been killed as flash floods overnight swept through parts of the Krasnodar region in southern Russia.

More than 20 student leaders are arrested across Burma in the largest crackdown on dissent since last year's reforms, pro-democracy activists say.

Dozens of young penguins who lost their way during their annual migration to the south of Brazil have ended up on the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

Ohio restaurant owner Josephine Harris dies hours after serving breakfast to US President Barack Obama.