The body of a British Red Cross worker abducted nearly four months ago in Pakistan was found beheaded and dumped on a roadside in the southwestern city of Quetta on Sunday, with a note saying he was killed after his captors' demands were not met.
Colombia’s FARC rebel group has freed six police officers and four soldiers who it says are its last military captives, held for at least 12 years in jungle prisons. Weakened by Colombia’s US-backed army, the guerrillas are seeking to enter talks.
Syrian government troops shelled the city of Rastan for the second day straight Monday, activists said. The renewed assault came as the Arab League and United Nations announced they would send envoys to the embattled country later in the week.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan is headed for Damascus Saturday in his first official trip as the UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria. The UN has reported that at least 7500 people have been killed in Syria in an almost year-long crackdown.
The Red Cross said on Sunday it had distributed aid outside Homs to refugees from the devastated Baba Amr neighbourhood but was still blocked from entering the rebel bastion. The UN’s refugee agency says up to 2,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was blocked by Syrian authorities from delivering much-needed aid to Baba Amr in Homs for a second day on Saturday. A convoy was prevented from entering the bombarded neighbourhood on Friday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned reports on Friday that Syrian forces were detaining, torturing and executing people in the flashpoint city of Homs, a day after the Red Cross was barred access to the besieged neighbourhood of Baba Amr.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Thursday for Sudan's defence minister in connection with crimes against civilians in Darfur, where he was the special envoy for President Omar al-Bashir (pictured) from 2003 to 2004.
Syrian authorities blocked an aid convoy from the International Committee of the Red Cross from entering the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs on Friday, the aid group said. ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger called the move "unacceptable".
The evacuation of two wounded journalists from the besieged city of Homs is 'likely' to happen on Monday, says the Red Cross. The ICRC has been negotiating with Syrian authorities throughout the weekend as it bids to evacuate the city’s wounded.
