Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt is preparing to arrive to a hero's welcome in France, two days after a daring rescue mission freed her after six years in captivity in the jungles of South America.
Zimbabwe will remain a full member of the International Cricket Council, but its cricket union chief Peter Chingoka says they have voluntarily withdrawn from next year's World Twenty20 championships in England.
Barack Obama calls a second news conference in a single day in North Dakota to reiterate that he is not changing his position on withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq.