The head of Syria’s main opposition bloc, Burhan Ghalioun, announced on Thursday that he was resigning, pending the naming of his successor, just two days after his controversial re-election.Full story
France’s new government, under Socialist president Francois Hollande, gets down to business Thursday with the first order of business on their agenda being a pay cut for themselves.Full story
Gunmen dressed in Afghan police uniforms and wearing suicide vests stormed a government compound on Thursday, killing seven people and wounding 12 others in the southwest, the police said.Full story
Ethnic rebels in the far north of Myanmar have urged the United Nations to send observers to monitor fighting with government troops, a Kachin Independence Organisation official said Thursday.Full story
Facebook is about more than connecting with friends. It can be about finding a lost relative, saving a life or overthrowing a regime. Here are examples, some drawn from ‘Best of Facebook Stories,’ a compilation...Full story
Kuwait’s ruler has blocked a proposal by 31 of the 50 elected members of parliament to amend the constitution to make all legislation in the Gulf Arab state comply with Islamic law, an MP said on Thursday.Full story
The Yugoslav war crimes court on Thursday adjourned the trial of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, just a day after it opened, because of ‘irregularities’ by prosecutors.Full story
North Korea has resumed construction work on an experimental light water reactor (ELWR) in a move that could extend its capacity to produce more material for nuclear weapons, web site 38North reported on Thursday.Full story
Afghanistan goes to the NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday with a firm demand for $4.1 billion a year for its security forces after Western troops pull out in 2014 – and insists it is ‘not charity’.Full story
Filipino protesters said Thursday they plan to sail to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, amid efforts by rival claimants China and the Philippines to resolve a tense maritime stand-off.Full story
Iran rejects Western pressures over its nuclear activities and will never give up its rights, Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator said Thursday ahead of crunch talks with world powers in Baghdad next week.Full story
A Frenchman who lost his limbs in an accident braved strong winds and currents to swim from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia on Thursday, in the first stretch of a mission to swim between five continents.Full story