Gunmen shoot down a military helicopter in northern Iraq killing all four crew members. (Reuters)
The Russian embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli came under fire after an attempted attack by gunmen who tried to force their way into the compound. One of the attackers was killed and four others were injured according to Libyan authorities. (Reuters)
An accident involving a church bus, a tractor-trailer, and an SUV on I-40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, leaves eight dead and 14 injured. (NBC)
Law and crime
Law enforcement in the U.S. shuts down "Silk Road," an internet marketplace for various illegal activities including the illicit drug trade, and arrests its alleged principal, Ross Ulbricht. (Reuters)
Reuters reports that major money market fund managers are avoiding U.S. Treasury debt due to mature in the next few months, as the debt ceiling nears and Governmental deadlock deepens. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
Heavy flooding in the Philippines city of Zamboanga leads to thousands of families being displaced and schools and most government offices being closed. (ABS-CBN)
At least four people are killed and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated as Typhoon Fitow hit eastern China yesterday. (Reuters)
International relations
North Korea claims to put its army on alert and warns the United States of a "horrible disaster". (Reuters)
Law and crime
A Denver couple, Wayne Sperling, 66, (jailed) and Lorinda Bailey, 35, (free) are accused of felony child abuse in one of the most egregious cases of suspected abuse in state history. Four boys, ages 2 to 6, were living in a house filled with cat feces and urine, with flies everywhere. They were nonverbal, malnourished, filthy, and uneducated, communicating to caseworkers and police in grunts. The couple were accused of misdemeanor abuse of 3 other children in 2006. (MSN)
Four people living at the same address in Savannah, Tennessee (3 men and 1 woman), believed to be involved in an area child pornography investigation and who had earlier fled a September 2013 FBI investigation (where computers and cameras were seized) are found dead of gunshot wounds (they may have been drugged) in a murder-suicide on a road in Double Springs, Winston County, Alabama. (MSN)
"Elmo" is sent to jail as Times Square characters raise concerns. A bogus costumed Elmo, who collected tips for cuddling children in family photos in New York's Times Square, is sent to jail for a year for trying to extort $2 million from the Girl Scouts of the USA. (Reuters)
Myunghee Bae arrives in North Korea to visit her American son Kenneth Bae, who is serving 15 years of hard labor. (CNN)
The UK government publishes a draft royal charter aimed at underpinning self-regulation of the British press following an agreement on the issue by the country's three main political parties. However, the proposals are greeted with concerns about press freedom by the industry. (BBC)
Opposition activists say Syrian army tanks killed 11 civilians including 3 children in a crossfire incident during the battle for the city center of Daraa. (Haaretz)
Indian authorities commence rescue efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Phailin, with initial reports of at least 20 casualties and widespread damage along the landfall area. (First Post)
A judicial inquiry is ordered into a stampede during Navrati festivities near a temple in India's Madhya Pradesh state that resulted in 109 deaths and 120 people being injured. (NDTV)
A dry ice bomb explodes in an employee restroom at Los Angeles International Airport. Nobody was injured, and no arrests were made. Terminal 2 was briefly shut down and evacuated. It was the second incident of its kind to have occurred at the airport in two days. (CNN)
International credit rating group Fitch Ratings places the United States under a "Rating watch negative" in response to the looming financial crisis. (Reuters)
At least 21 civilians are killed when their minibus hits a land mine in southern Syrian town of Nawa, with opposition activists blaming the Syrian army. (Reuters), (BBC)
The United States Senate reaches a bipartisan deal to avoid default and end the 16-day US government shutdown. The House passes the legislation by 285–144. The bill now goes to the president, who is expected to sign it. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald), (CNBC)
A Panamanian registered ship sinks off the coast of South Korea, killing 9 sailors and leaving 2 others missing. Coast Guard officials rescue another 8 crew members. (Yonhap)
Divers in Russia recover a 570kg (1,255lb) portion of the Chelyabinsk meteor that landed on February 15, 2013. It is one of the largest meteorite fragments found to date. (BBC)
Attacks on Shia Muslims killed at least 59 people across Iraq, including a suicide truck bomb targeting at least 15 members of the country's Shabak people. (Reuters)
Islamist gunmen kill two Tunisian policemen in clashes in the northeastern city Goubella. (Reuters)
Swedish archaeologists in Old Uppsala unearth a great number of mysterious posts in perfect alignment for more than a kilometre in what is suggested to be a display of power of a fifth century Swedish chieftain. (Dagens Nyheter)
Thirty-five members of the US owned MV Seaman Guard Ohio are arrested in the Indian port of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu for alleged illegal possession of arms and ammunition. (Zee News)
In London, the High Court dismisses a lawsuit against former directors of the London branch of Bernard Madoff's operations, including his one living and one deceased son. The judge, Mr. Justice Popplewell, spoke rather harshly of the plaintiffs, praising the "commendable dignity and restraint" of certain of the defendants.(Financial Times)
16 people are killed and 30 wounded by a suicide bomber in an attack in a crowded restaurant in the central Somali town of Beledweyne. (Reuters)
Tunisian security forces have killed 10 people (claimed by authorities to be Islamist militants) near the border with Algeria in a three-day operation against gunmen who attacked police patrols in the remote northern region. (Reuters)
A suicide bomber kills two Chadiantroops and injures six other MINUSMA peacekeepers in an attack on a checkpoint at the entry to the northern town of Tessalit, Mali. (Reuters)
A teenager in Bahrain dies following an explosion in the village of Bani Jamra, east of the capital Manama. (BBC)
Thousands of Tunisian protesters take to the streets calling for the Islamist government led by the Ennahda Movement to step down hours before crisis talks between the government and opposition leaders. (Reuters)
A Chinese newspaper publishes a rare appeal for the release of one of its journalists held by police. (BBC)
Military officials report that 74 members of Boko Haram have been killed in a combined ground and aerial assault on militant camps in northeastern Borno State. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
Japan's emergency agencies declare a tsunami warning after an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 strikes off the east coast. (AP via News24)
A gunfight between Afghan and foreign soldiers on the outskirts of the capital Kabul, kills at least one Afghan serviceman and injures a number of other soldiers. (Reuters)
Iran hangs 16 rebels in retaliation for 14 border guards being killed in clashes on its border with Pakistan. (BBC)
Results of the Czech legislative election are very fragmented, the big winner being the new centrist liberal ANO 2011 which gains 47 out of 200 seats. (BBC)
A 37-year-old woman and four children are stabbed to death in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. A man is arrested in connection with the murders. (CNN)
Two people are killed in the northern city of Tripoli in fighting between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government and the Lebanese army. (Reuters)
A suspected U.S. drone strike kills at least two Islamist Al-Shabaab insurgents and commander driving in a car south of the Somali capital Mogadishu. (Reuters)(BBC)
Ennahda party leader Rashid al-Ghannushi announces in a televised interview that the party may be willing to give up the government but not power. (Al Arabiya)
Twenty people are killed in bombings in Iraq. (BBC)
A suicide bomber blows himself up in the Tunisian tourist resort of Sousse and police foil another attempted attack in Habib Bourguiba's tomb in Monastir. No casualties are reported. (Reuters)