Russian shares fell sharply on Friday as investors took fright at tougher than expected U.S. sanctions against President Vladimir Putin's inner circle over Moscow's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.

The international team hunting for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean has not turned up anything so far, and Australia's deputy prime minister said the suspected debris may have sunk.

The head of the United Nation's refugee agency said on Tuesday it must be ready in case Ukraine's crisis causes refugees to flee Crimea, but his biggest worry is that "a total disaster" could occur if the international community div

North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons, a United Nations report issued on Tuesday said.

Ukraine's government appealed for Western help on Tuesday to stop Moscow annexing Crimea but the Black Sea peninsula, overrun by Russian troops, seemed fixed on a course that could formalize rule from Moscow within days.

For years, Israeli leaders visiting Washington have been boosted by America's main pro-Israel lobby, its influence on U.S. Middle East policy long accepted as a matter of conventional wisdom.

North Korea on Friday condemned an Australian judge who led a U.N. investigation that concluded that North Korean security chiefs and possibly its leader should face justice for torture and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.

Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine's government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, stoking tension between Moscow and the West.

An explosion and gunfire rang out near a sprawling anti-government protest site in the Thai capital early on Tuesday after the protesters' leader warned that government supporters were planning to bring armed militants to Bangkok.

Ukraine's fugitive president was indicted for "mass murder" on Monday over the shooting of demonstrators as new leaders in Kiev sought urgent Western aid to make up for a loss of funding from Russia, which is angry at the overthrow of i

Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected militant hideouts in an ethnic Pashtun area on the Afghan border on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, security officials said, after attempts to engage insurgents in peace talks collapsed this week.

Iran and six world powers have agreed on an agenda for negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program and will meet again in the second half of March in Vienna, a senior Iranian official said after two days of talks in the Austrian capital.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said he reached agreement with opposition leaders on a "truce" to halt fighting that has killed 26 people, even as the United States stepped up pressure by imposing travel bans on 20 senior Ukrainian of

Protesters seeking to oust Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra plan to rally at her temporary office on Wednesday, creating another potential flashpoint a day after five people were killed in gun battles in Bangkok.

Venezuelan security forces arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of his angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas.

Ukrainian riot police fought protesters occupying a central Kiev square early on Wednesday after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence.

A second round of Syria peace talks got off to a shaky start on Monday, with the two sides complaining about violations of a local ceasefire and an Islamist offensive respectively in separate meetings with the international mediator.

Thailand's caretaker government said on Tuesday it did not have the power to renew a rice subsidy scheme when it expires at the end of the month, risking further alienating farmers angry over late payments for their current crop.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it was opposed to a "wrong decision" made by a Spanish judge who is seeking the arrest of China's former president and premier over accusations of genocide in Tibet in an 8-year-old case

Tunisian police killed seven Islamist militants, including a senior commander wanted for the assassination of two opposition leaders, after a clash outside Tunis where the armed group had stashed arms and bomb belts.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich, battling mass unrest against his rule, faced demands from the opposition on Tuesday for a constitutional change that would seriously curtail his powers.

Russia said its ally Syria would soon ship more chemical weapons abroad for destruction after being accused of dragging its feet, while activists said civilians in Aleppo were fleeing deadly barrel bomb raids by President Bashar al-Assad's air fo

The Ukrainian government bowed to intense Western pressure on Sunday to let an opposition activist fly abroad for treatment after his abduction, torture and then attempted arrest by police outraged critics of President Viktor Yanukovich.

Three large explosions were heard in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday, close to the defense ministry, the central bank and the former president's home, locals told Reuters.

Anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle Thailand's long-running political conflict.

Thailand's government will deploy 10,000 police in the capital for Sunday's election, which protesters have promised to disrupt as part of their drawn-out attempt to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticized Russia on Wednesday for pressuring Kiev not to sign a free trade pact with the European Union, a move that triggered mass protests.

Pakistan fighter jets bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in a tribal area on the Afghan border on Tuesday killing at least 15 people, military sources and residents said, after a wave of insurgent attacks against security forces.

Some Thai rice farmers have threatened to switch sides and join protesters trying to topple the government if they do not get paid for their crop, a worrying development for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra whose support is based on the rural vote.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon withdrew a last-minute invitation to Iran to attend peace talks on Syria on Monday after the Syrian opposition threatened to boycott this week's conference if President Bashar al-Assad's main sponsor took part.