In 1510, Pope Leo X thanked Divine Providence for having preserved the Maronite Christians through the hardest of times, "planted among infidels, schismatics and heretics as in a field of error".

Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters near disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing on Friday, raising tensions between Asia's two biggest economies to their highest level since 2010.

Japan's government said it intends to stop using nuclear power by the 2030s, marking a major shift from policy goals set before last year's Fukushima disaster that sought to increase the share of atomic energy to more than half of electricity

Hundreds of Yemeni demonstrators stormed the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Thursday in protest at a film they consider blasphemous to Islam, and security guards tried to hold them off by firing into the air.

Gunmen attacked U.S. consulate offices in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday, and fought with security forces in protest against a U.S. film they say is blasphemous, a security official said.

At least four people were killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday in ground and aerial bombardments of one of the last rebel strongholds in the Syrian capital Damascus, opposition activists said.

In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program, the White House said on Tuesday President Barack Obama would not meet Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's U.S. v

President Barack Obama has a growing lead in polls and an easier path to the White House than challenger Mitt Romney, but the Republican is still within striking distance with eight weeks to go before the election.

Two bombs exploded simultaneously on Sunday night next to Syrian army compounds in the northern city of Aleppo, killing and wounding scores of President Bashar al-Assad's forces, residents and opposition activists said.

Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday urged Iraqis to oppose Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who he accused of stoking sectarian tensions, a day after a Baghdad court sentenced him to death in absentia.

A series of earthquakes has hit south-west China, leaving at least 43 people dead and 150 injured, state-run media say.

A Christian girl who has been detained on blasphemy charges for three weeks in Pakistan has been granted bail.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged her support for Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann in the debate over the role of the European Central Bank (ECB), sources at a meeting of Merkel and leading German conservatives said on Wednesday.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos unveiled on Wednesday a six-man team to negotiate with Marxist FARC rebels in the hope of ending almost 50 years of war.

Former President Bill Clinton made a more comprehensive case for President Barack Obama's re-election in 49 minutes on Wednesday than the rest of the speakers at the Democratic Convention could muster in the 11-1/2 hours that preceded him.

China and the United States were divided on Wednesday over how to end the bloodshed in Syria and defuse tension in the South China Sea and other global troublespots, but stressed hope for steady ties as they navigate political transitions at home.

Iran could hit U.S. bases in the Middle East in response to any Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities even if American forces played no role in the attack, the leader of Lebanon's Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said on Monday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron began a reshuffle of his cabinet on Tuesday that he hopes will tame rebellious politicians on his party's right and revive a recession-hit government suffering a mid-term drop in popularity.

Police in India are carrying out raids across 10 cities as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in the allocation of coalfields.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world powers on Sunday to set a "clear red line" for Tehran's atomic program that would convince Iran they were determined to prevent it from obtaining nuclear arms.

When Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the euro zone's finance ministers, arrived in Athens last week, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras ran down red-carpeted steps to envelope him in a warm embrace.

Syrian rebels said they planted bombs inside the Syrian army's General Staff headquarters in central Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad's forces bulldozed buildings to the ground in parts of the capital that have backed the upris

A Pakistani court adjourned on Thursday a bail hearing for a Christian girl accused of defaming Islam, prompting human rights activists to make fresh calls for her release in a case that has drawn renewed criticism of the country's anti-blasphemy

A former president of the Maldives whose removal from power this year threatened to plunge the tropical holiday island chain into chaos was not forced from office illegally, a commission of inquiry found in a report released on Thursday.

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of a group of militants who attacked the country's financial capital, Mumbai, in 2008 killing 166 people.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai filled gaps in two top security ministries on Wednesday as part of a reshuffle forced on him by a fractious parliament, but risked a destabilizing row with lawmakers by reappointing a sacked minister.

Syria's refugee exodus is accelerating and up to 200,000 people could settle in Turkey alone if the conflict worsens, the United Nations warned on Tuesday, increasing pressure for creation of a buffer zone inside Syria.

A typhoon with winds of up to 170 kmh (106 mph) buffeted South Korea's west coast on Tuesday, killing five people at sea and leaving 10 missing when two Chinese fishing vessels capsized.

Iran said on Tuesday it has no plans to show its nuclear sites to diplomats visiting Tehran for this week's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, contradicting an earlier offer by a deputy foreign minister.

Syrian fighter planes made rare sorties on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, killing at least 60 people in its eastern suburbs, the same day a Syrian military helicopter crashed while under rebel fire, activists said.