Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on Tuesday and replaced him with a loyal ally after the ministry was drawn into a corruption scandal.

An Islamist suicide car bomber killed at least 50 Syrian security men in Hama province on Monday, an opposition group said, in what would be one of the bloodiest single attacks on President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the 20-month-old uprising.

China's ruling Communist Party will this month unveil its new top leadership team, expected to again be an all-male cast of politicians whose instincts are to move cautiously on reform.

A bomb exploded near army and security compounds in Damascus, Syrian television reported, and fractured opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad began unity talks abroad to win international respect and arms supplies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition reached agreement early on Monday on contentious social welfare issues that it hopes will bolster its support in the countdown to federal elections next September.

US presidential rivals Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are approaching the final day of their election battle in a frantic fight for swing state votes.

China's second stealth fighter jet that was unveiled this week is part of a program to transform China into the top regional military power, an expert on Asian security said on Friday.

British millionaire Christopher Tappin pleaded guilty in federal court in Texas on Thursday to charges of attempting to sell missile parts to Iran, prosecutors said.

Anti-government rebels killed 28 soldiers on Thursday in attacks on three army checkpoints around Saraqeb, a town on Syria's main north-south highway, a monitoring group said.

Britain threatened on Thursday to veto any deal on the European Union budget that is not good for the British taxpayer, a day after a humiliating defeat in parliament undermined Prime Minister David Cameron's authority.

At least 10 people were killed when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday, triggering an explosion that brought down an industrial building, witness and television reports said.

Disgraced former top Chinese politician Bo Xilai can be expected to mount a feisty defense of himself when he finally comes to trial, but a guilty verdict is not in doubt, a lawyer who had a front seat at China's last major show trial said.

Syrian warplanes bombed rebel targets with renewed intensity on Tuesday after the end of a widely ignored four-day truce between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and insurgents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to convince Arab states that an Israeli military strike on Iran would benefit them, removing a potential threat and easing tensions across the Middle East.

Millions across the U.S. Northeast stricken by massive storm Sandy will attempt to resume their normal lives on Wednesday as companies, markets and airports reopen despite grim projections of power and mass transit outages around New York for several

Iran banned the export of around 50 basic goods, its media said on Tuesday, as the country takes steps to preserve supplies of essential items in the face of tightening Western sanctions.

Kuwaiti authorities arrested an opposition leader late on Monday after he made comments viewed as critical of the Gulf Arab state's ruler, a political activist said.

Isolated for decades, impoverished and landlocked, Laos is not an obvious choice for investors.

Palestinian militants held fire overnight on Thursday and Israel refrained from air strikes as an informal truce brokered by Egypt appeared to take hold following two days of violence along the Israel-Gaza border.

China reshuffled its top military ranks on Tuesday, weeks before a once-in-a-decade generational leadership change which sources said would see the outgoing air force commander promoted to vice-chairman of the military's top decision-making body.

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday the Syrian government has agreed to a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and that Damascus would announce the decision shortly.

President Barack Obama scolded challenger Mitt Romney for being "all over the map" on foreign policy in their final presidential debate on Monday, but the Republican appeared to have passed the "commander-in-chief" test of looking

China's ruling Communist Party has dropped its strongest hint yet that it will move in the direction of reform, removing a once standard reference to late leader Mao Zedong in statements ahead of a generational leadership transition.

Syrian rebels cast doubt on Monday on prospects for a temporary truce aimed at stemming bloodshed in the 19-month-old conflict, saying it was not clear how an informal ceasefire this week could be implemented.

The Emir of Qatar entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for a visit that broke the isolation of it Islamist rulers, Hamas, but disappointed Israel and mainstream Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

The Lebanese army promised decisive action to quell unrest linked to the Syria conflict as gunbattles flared in the capital Beirut and elsewhere on Monday after the assassination of a senior intelligence officer last week.

International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi appealed to Iran to help arrange a ceasefire in Syria during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha as rebels and government forces fought street by street and village by village on Monday.

European Union governments agreed further sanctions against Iran's banking, shipping and industrial sectors on Monday, cranking up financial pressure on Tehran in the hope of drawing it into serious negotiations on its nuclear program.

A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban has every chance of making a "good recovery", British doctors said on Monday as 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai arrived at a hospital in central England for treatment of her severe wounds.

Standing at the edge of space above the deserts of New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner paused slightly. It was a small step away from the capsule, but a 24-mile drop back down to earth.