At least 12 people have been killed in an explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Reports from Afghanistan say the blast, believed to be a suicide attack, occurred near to the interior ministry office and the Indian embassy.
It is believed the bomber drove a car into the area, detonating it close to the outer wall of [...]

An urgent call to launch negotiations on an arms trade treaty has been made as over 2,000 people die every day from armed violence.
Oxfam and a coalition of NGOs have said today the death toll has reached 2.1 million in the "three years of talks about talks" which are "going at a snail’s pace".
In a [...]

US president Barack Obama has failed to pledge an increase in troop numbers for the ongoing military campaign in Afghanistan.
Mr Obama told members of Congress on Tuesday he would soon decide on a course of action but warned his decision would not please everyone.
The president met with around 30 senior congressional figures – Democrats and [...]

An urgent call to launch negotiations on an arms trade treaty has been made as over 2,000 people die every day from armed violence.
Oxfam and a coalition of NGOs have said today the death toll has reached 2.1 million in the "three years of talks about talks" which are "going at a snail’s pace".
In a [...]

North Korean may resume six-party international talks on its nuclear weapons programme, state media has reported.
Talks will first be held with the US, reports say, after the state abandoned talks in April saying it would "never again take part in such talks".
However, a visit to Pyongyang by Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, seems to [...]

A suicide bomber has attacked the UN World Food Programme (WFP) offices in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, killing at least three people.
Reports from the city say two of the dead are local women and the third is an Iraqi man.
The blast came just a day after the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban promised fresh [...]

Hopes of restarting nuclear talks involving North Korea have been raised as China’s premier Wen Jiabao continues his visit.
Mr Wen met with the communist state’s reclusive leader Kim Jong-il upon his arrival on Sunday, highlighting the importance of the trip.
The Chinese premier then met his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il.
While there has been no concrete [...]

Prime minister Gordon Brown has flown to Northern Ireland in a bid to resolve the deepening row at Stormont.
Mr Brown will be meeting with Ireland’s political leaders in a bid to resolve the issue, with relations between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists deteriorating over recent weeks.
At the heart of the row is the issue [...]

Voters in Ireland have given the green light to the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty after opting in favour of the legislation by a majority of two to one.
More than 67 per cent voted yes to ratifying the treaty, which aims to streamline decision-making in the EU. There was a 58 per cent turnout among the [...]

Rescue teams in Indonesia after still discovering survivors some 40 hours after a catastrophic earthquake struck the country.
The earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which reached a magnitude of 7.6, has already claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people, according to the United Nations (UN).
Teams of rescue workers are being rushed to the [...]