Iraqi forces Wednesday wrested back control of key areas west of Baghdad that have been out of government hands for weeks amid a deadly standoff between militants and security forces.
Shrouded in smoke and tear gas and echoing with the din of stun grenades and drums, the centre of Kiev turned into a battle zone amid brutal clashes between security forces and protesters.
In normal times, Grushevsky Street is one of the nicest avenues in Ukraine's capital Kiev. But now its cobble stones have been ripped out by demonstrators to use as weapons in their standoff with police.
Egyptian security forces clashed with supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi overnight, leaving seven people dead, health officials said on Tuesday, overshadowing a visit by a senior US envoy.
Pakistani security forces on Saturday began demolishing the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed in a covert US raid in May in the northwestern garrison town of Abbottabad, police and witnesses said.
The Syrian army has been laying siege to the ancient city of Palmyra, a world heritage site, since early February and shooting at anything that moves from a historic citadel, residents say.
