Assad tells envoy Syrians will decide on peace talks
President Bashar al-Assad insisted in a meeting Wednesday with visiting UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi that Syrians alone will decide on the fate of an initiative for Geneva peace talks.
Car bomb kills 40 as fears mount for trapped Syrians
A car bomb outside a mosque near Damascus killed at least 40 people on Friday, an NGO said, as a top UN official expressed mounting concern over hundreds of thousands of trapped civilians.
26 October 2013
Nigeria says killed 95 Boko Haram fighters
Nigeria's army said Friday it had killed 95 suspected Boko Haram fighters in raids in the country's northeast, as gunmen from the Islamist group battled security forces in a neighbouring area.
Nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria freed
Nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped by rebels in Syria last year have been released, with signs that two Turkish pilots whose abduction was linked to their capture may also be freed.
19 October 2013
Syria peace envoy begins tour as dozens die in Aleppo
International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi begins a Middle East tour Saturday to pave the way for proposed peace talks on Syria, where dozens of people were killed in the latest fighting in Aleppo province.
Three bomb blasts in eastern Myanmar, one dead: police
Three bombs exploded in eastern Myanmar leaving one person dead, police said Thursday, the latest in a series of explosions that the United States denounced as "acts of terror".
17 October 2013
MSF denounces 'unprecedented' violence in C. Africa
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday denounced the "unprecedented" violence in the Central African Republic, urging all sides to respect civilian safety and calling for urgent international aid.
16 October 2013
Bomb kills 12 as war-related deaths near 500,000 in Iraq
A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers at a Sunni mosque in Iraq, killing 12 people as a study put the death toll in the war-torn country at nearly half a million since the US-led 2003 invasion.
16 October 2013
380 arrested in Moscow race riot
Moscow police arrested more than 380 people Sunday during a race riot in which nationalists outraged by a murder blamed on a migrant smashed shop windows and assaulted security guards.
UN helicopter fired on in DR Congo
Rebels fired on a UN helicopter Friday in a new incident highlighting tinderbox tensions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.