AFP - New regime strikes hit the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday despite a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire to end one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria's civil war.

AFP - Iranian police said Tuesday the number of security officers killed in overnight protests by a Sufi sect had risen to five, with around 300 people arrested.

The demonstrations by the Gonabadi Sufi order, known as dervishes, turned into running clashes with the police in northern Tehran on Monday.

AFP - Ousmane Dembele, who is recovering from injury, has resumed light training with the Barcelona squad, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Saturday adding that he would be "prudent" with the winger.

AP - Venezuela's ruling socialist party has officially tapped President Nicolas Maduro as its candidate for this year's election.
Socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello on Friday announced the unanimous decision. The government has said the election will be held by the end of April.

AFP - Afghanistan has handed "undeniable" evidence to Pakistan that it claims shows a recent spate of deadly attacks were planned on Pakistani soil, Afghan officials said Thursday, amid growing public anger over their impotence to protect civilians.

REUTERS - U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a trip to London scheduled for next month to open a new embassy, saying he did not want to endorse what he understood was an Obama-era decision to move out of the old one.

AFP - Germany signalled Monday it was open to amending a controversial law combatting online hate speech as the justice minister fell victim to the rules he himself championed.

AFP - An oil tanker that caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China's east coast is at risk of exploding, Chinese state media reported Monday, as authorities struggled to find its 32 missing crew and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck.

NEWS.COM - HUNDREDS of seasonal workers have been axed from the state’s biggest abattoir after it was ravaged by a massive fire.

As the intense blaze still smouldered almost a week on, the meatworks’ owners Thomas Foods International yesterday announced the first job cuts.

REUTERS - Oil prices fell on Friday, dropping from highs last seen in 2015, as soaring U.S. production undermined a 10 percent rally from December lows that was driven by tightening supply and political tensions in OPEC member Iran.

Rising U.S. production and weaker refined products demand weighed on the market, traders said.