A one-tonne satellite operated by the European Space Agency has run out of fuel and will fall back to Earth in an unknown location sometime in the next few days.

Refugees facing imprisonment in their home country because they are gay may have grounds to be granted asylum in the European Union, the 28-nation bloc's top court has ruled.

Al-Qaeda and other terror groups are having a field day with the leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, UK spy chiefs told lawmakers in a strong condemnation of the American's espionage revelations.