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.
500 civilians evacuated from besieged Syrian town
Some 500 women, children and elderly civilians trapped in the besieged town of Moadamiyet al-Sham, southwest of Damascus, have been evacuated.
China police seek eight after Tiananmen crash
Police in Beijing are searching for eight suspects from China's restive Xinjiang region after a fatal car crash in Tiananmen Square.
90 arrests, trucks, buses torched in Sao Paulo unrest
One person was injured and 90 detained while trucks and buses were torched in Sao Paulo late Monday in renewed violence after police fatally shot a 17-year-old boy.
35 bodies 'in military uniform' at Nigeria morgue after Islamist raid
Thirty-five bodies in military uniform have been brought to a morgue in Nigeria's restive northeast after a coordinated assault by Boko Haram targeting the security forces.
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.
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.
Syria chemical disarmament on track as rebel attack causes blackouts
Syria is set to hand over a detailed plan for destroying its chemical arsenal Thursday, the international watchdog says, as a rebel attack near Damascus triggered power outages across the country.
'Female suicide bomber' kills five on bus in Russia
A suspected female suicide bomber set off a blast on a bus packed with students in southern Russia, killing at least five people and raising security fears.