The Syrian army pressed its assault on rebels in commercial capital Aleppo on Sunday, while both sides reported atrocities and Arab foreign ministers postponed a planned meeting on the 17-month conflict.
China played down the frantic drive for gold medals and focused on "Olympic spirit" and sportsmanship at a London Games marked by an unusual bout of soul-searching.
For the first time after her ill-fated break-up with Brad Pitt, US actress Jennifer Aniston is engaged to be married again -- this time to a much less known actor-screenwriter, Justin Theroux.
The London Olympics closed in a blaze of music and colour Sunday after a two-week sporting festival that electrified the host nation and was watched by billions around the world.
US President Barack Obama warned supporters Sunday that he was no Usain Bolt, and that his re-election bid would be a fight all the way to the finish line, not an easy jog to victory.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney vowed to restore American strength and avert "fiscal calamity" Sunday, as his re-energized presidential campaign drew a furious Democratic response.
Iran on Sunday stepped up relief operations in shattered villages in its northeast after saying rescue operations were completed following a double earthquake which cost 227 lives and injured 1,380 people.
