More than 1,000 people are missing after days of heavy rain and flooding, the governor of Brazil's northeastern Alagoas state said, voicing fear that the death toll of 35 could skyrocket.

Colombian rescuers have retrieved the bodies of 34 miners killed in last week's coal mine explosion.

The United States on June 20 hailed Israel's easing of its land blockade of Gaza and said President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would discuss further steps when they meet in Washington on July 6.

Governing party candidate Juan Manuel Santos has won the final round of Colombia's presidential elections.

Two suicide bombers detonated cars laden with explosives outside the Trade Bank of Iraq on Sunday, killing 26 people in the latest attack to raise concerns about the nation's stability after an inconclusive election.

One person was killed and four others injured on June 20 when Indian security forces opened fire on a violent mob that tried to torch a paramilitary bunker in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

An explosion struck a coal mine early on June 21 in Weidong District, Pingdingshan City in central China's Henan Province, trapping at least 58 miners underground, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement.

The US envoy for Central Asia urged Kyrgyzstan on June 19 to create conditions for a safe return of hundreds of thousands of refugees uprooted by last week's outburst of ethnic violence.

Residents of the Gulf Coast braced for more oil from a ruptured BP Plc well to hit their beaches on Sunday as oil washed ashore at Panama City, a popular Florida tourist destination.

US President Barack Obama has welcomed news that China's central bank will allow its national currency to float ahead of the G-20 summit in Toronto, Canada, next week.