LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
Mexico: Torture is rife in Mexico and is routinely used by authorities to extract confessions, according to a new report by human rights organisation Amnesty International.
Brazil: A former director of Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras accuses dozens of politicians of involvement in a kickback scheme, weeks before a national election is to take place in the country.
Argentina: New fossils found represent the most complete giant sauropod dinosaur ever discovered. The giant herbivore measured 26m from head to tail and weighed in at almost 60 tonnes.
USA & CANADA
US: President Barack Obama abandoned a plan to use presidential powers to force through immigration reforms that were blocked by Republicans in Congress, angering activists.
US: A private plane tailed by US fighter jets when it failed to respond to air traffic control crashes into the sea off Jamaica, with an American couple on board.
EUROPE
Ukraine: Shelling near Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Mariupol threatens a fragile ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian rebels, report say.
UK: Campaigners in the battle for Scotland’s future say the result is too close to call, as one poll puts the Yes camp narrowly ahead for the first time.
Belarus: A Belarus boy may be fined for daring President Alexander Lukashenko to an ice bucket challenge, reports say. Authorities there said the three boys who appeared in the video would be fined if it was not taken down.
Ukraine: Dutch experts say Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in east Ukraine after being hit by objects that “pierced the plane at high velocity,” according to a report released on Tuesday.
Ukraine: Ukraine confirms rebels have freed 648 soldiers under the terms of the ceasefire, while the rebels say 311 of their fighters are still in captivity, reports said.
ASIA
India/Pakistan: More than 200 people have been killed in floods caused by heavy rain across large swathes of India and Pakistan, according to reports.
North Korea: US citizen Matthew Miller, detained in North Korea after allegedly tearing up his visa, will be put on trial on 14 September, state media say.
Australia: Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he will return two ancient Hindu statues displayed in Australia to India, allegedly stolen from Indian temples.
AFRICA
Somalia: The militant Islamist group Al-Shabab has named a new leader after a US airstrike killed a number of senior figures, including former head. Ahmed Abdi Godane. The group vowed revenge for the killing.
Sierra Leone: A three-day lockdown aimed at combating the Ebola virus has been criticised by the medical group Medecins Sans Frontieres, which said the plan will do nothing to contain the deadly virus that has killed 2,100 people.
South Africa: The Dalai Lama has cancelled a visit to South Africa, after officials said his visa application would be denied. The South African government has denied blocking the visa under pressure from China.
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq: The US began a new series of air strikes on Islamic State militants close to the vital Haditha dam in western Iraq, US defence officials said recently.
Iraq: More than 20 people were killed and dozens injured after two bombs went off in Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Thursday. The twin car bombs exploded in a mainly Shia neighbourhood.
Syria: The parents of the 20-year-old woman, Aqsa Mahmood from Glasgow, who travelled to Syria and married an Islamic State fighter, have broadcast an appeal to her to come home.
