US mulls air strikes as Iraq militants advance on Baghdad
Militants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a jihadist offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday while the US mulls air strikes on the rebels.
$210 million needed now for Bosnia floods: UN
The United Nations estimates it will cost $210 million to cover immediate priority needs for the next six months in Bosnia, alone, after devastating floods hit the region, an official said.
Subway workers suspend strike ahead of World Cup
Subway workers in Sao Paulo suspended Monday a strike that has caused traffic chaos in the World Cup host city but warned the work-stoppage could resume when the tournament kicks off.
Jolie and Hague to open largest ever summit on rape in war
Co-hosts Angelina Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague will on Tuesday open a four-day summit on ending sexual violence in conflict, the biggest meeting ever held on the subject.
38 killed in DR Congo ethnic violence: government
A total of 38 people died in ethnic violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at the weekend, many massacred when a church was set ablaze, the government said.
62 African migrants, crew drown in boat tragedy off Yemen: UN
Sixty migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia along with two Yemeni crew members drowned on May 31 in the worst such tragedy off the coast of Yemen this year, the UN said.
Heavy clashes, suicide bombings kill 36 in north Iraq
Heavy fighting between security forces and militants and twin suicide bombings killed 36 people in north Iraq Friday, as deadly violence shook other parts of the country.
UN inquiry finds war crimes on both sides in C. Africa
UN investigators say talk of genocide or ethnic cleaning in the Central African Republic is premature, but that evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity exists on both sides.
Oceans worth up to $222 bln annually in CO2 capture
By absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere, the seas avert climate damage worth up to $222 billion (163 billion euros) every year, according to an estimate released.
Images show farm work at N. Korea prison camp
North Korea has increased economic linkages with a prison camp where inmates are working by hand in agriculture, according to satellite imagery released Thursday by a human rights group.
Syria's Assad coasts to re-election in 'farce' polls
Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected Syria's president with 88.7 percent of the vote after a poll labelled a farce by rebels fighting to overthrow him, whose outcome was never in doubt.
Global protest reads names of 100,000 Syria dead
Activists began reading the names of 100,000 people killed in Syria outside UN headquarters on Monday, in a modest launch of what they hope will be a global protest.
World No Tobacco Day: WHO urged not to snuff out e-cig
The e-cigarette was pushed centre stage ahead of World No Tobacco Day, with doctors and policy experts urging the UN's health agency to embrace the gadget as a life saver.
After 8,000 cholera deaths, Haiti faces new epidemic
Hard-hit by a cholera epidemic that started in 2010, Haiti now faces a new threat in the expanding chikungunya virus, authorities said
Drastic change in the world financial system required: Nazarbayev
There is a need to rethink the global financial system, the Kazakhstan president declared at the VII Astana Economic Forum.
'We know where missing girls are': Nigeria's top brass
Nigeria's highest ranking military officer on Monday gave a glimmer of hope to the families of more than 200 schoolgirls held by Boko Haram militants, revealing they had located the missing teenagers.
Drugs case against Tunisia blogger dismissed
A prominent Tunisian blogger who accused police of fabricating drugs charges against him walked free from court on Friday after a judge threw out the case.
Khmer Rouge 'First Lady' hospitalised in Thailand: son
The former "First Lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime has been hospitalised in neighbouring Thailand and is relying on a feeding tube and oxygen to survive, her son said.
Teenager test case in Maldives death penalty revival
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder over a fatal stabbing in the Maldives, becoming the first minor to be accused of a capital offence since the death penalty was reintroduced, officials said.
Twin Nigeria car bombs kill at least 118
Twin car bombings in central Nigeria killed at least 118 people and brought entire buildings down Tuesday, in the latest affront to the government's internationally-backed security crackdown.