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UN mission boosted as another 23 die in Syria

Regime forces battled rebels and carried out raids across Syria Sunday in a surge of violence that killed 23 people, monitors and activists said, as a tenuous UN-backed truce entered its second month. The fresh wave of bloodletting came as the UN... Full story

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Abbas warns of ‘national disaster’

The Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, warned on Sunday of a ‘national disaster’ if any of the 1,550 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails were to die. Abbas spoke as... Full story

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Zawahiri not in Pakistan: Gilani

Ayman al-Zawahiri is not in Pakistan, said the Pakistani prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, challenging US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s remark that the al-Qaeda chief was there, reports Hindustan... Full story

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New face, same old euro crisis as Hollande sworn in

Francois Hollande will be sworn in as leader of the proud French nation Tuesday only to face an immediate reminder of the extent to which its power is constrained by its ties to a debt-wracked Europe. Full story

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Call to protect kids’ merits from social media’s impact

Facebook’s big stock offering on Wall Street must be followed by an intensive debate on Main Street about social media’s powerful impact on children, an expert on the topic says. Full story

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Anna invites army chief to join anti-graft movement

Anna Hazare has invited army chief General VK Singh to join his team after his retirement to fight corruption. ‘We will welcome general VK Singh, if he wants to involve in this national movement after retirement,’ Hazare... Full story

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Suicide bomber, car bombs hit Iraq security forces

A suicide bomber targeting a police checkpoint in Baghdad killed at least three people while car bombs hit army and police patrols in two other cities, killing three others, the police and hospital sources said on Sunday. Full story

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37 dismembered bodies found on Mexico highway

Authorities found the dismembered bodies of 37 people stuffed into bags and dumped on a highway near the northern industrial city of Monterrey in what appeared to be part of a string of brutal drug gang... Full story

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US, Pakistan, Afghan military hold border talks

The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan met Pakistan and Afghanistan army chiefs on Sunday for talks on border security, almost six months after US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Full story

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Yemeni forces press assault on militant bastion

Yemen forces pressed on Sunday with an assault to recapture the Islamists-held southern city of Zinjibar, advancing on two fronts in fighting that killed six soldiers in two days, a military official said. Full story

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40 die in Chinese hailstorm

Forty people were killed when a brief but violent hailstorm and torrential rain swept through a mountainous region of northwest China, the local government said on Sunday. Full story

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Greek leaders hit impasse in last push to avert elections

Greece's president met party leaders on Sunday in a final bid to cobble together a coalition and avert a repeat election, but the talks immediately hit an impasse and looked set to fail because... Full story

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Russian writers lead on opposition walk

More than five thousand people joined a call by acclaimed Russian novelist Boris Akunin and walked in Moscow Sunday to an opposition camp located on a central boulevard. Full story

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Britons told to work harder and stop complaining

There is only one way Britons can drag their country out of recession: ‘work harder’, foreign secretary William Hague said in an interview published on Sunday. Full story

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Britons told to work harder and stop complaining

There is only one way Britons can drag their country out of recession: ‘work harder’, foreign secretary William Hague said in an interview published on Sunday. Full story

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Romney rejects same-sex marriage

Republican White House challenger Mitt Romney, wooing social conservatives, has adamantly rejected same-sex marriage and trumpeted his belief in Christian values and the family. Three days after Barack Obama... Full story

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Argentina okays sex-change, right-to-die laws

Argentina, the first Latin American country to legalise gay marriage, created a fresh stir this week by making sex-change operations and end-of-life decisions by relatives a legal right. Full story

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