Media Roundup

The United States and its partners will widen support for Syrian rebels, potentially by sending more weapons or taking other measures short of sending American forces, if diplomacy fails to end a civil war that has killed “upwards of 100,000” people, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday.

The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday that it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths.

A key House panel pushed through legislation Wednesday calling on the Obama administration to significantly broaden U.S. sanctions on Iran, just as the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency released a report saying the Islamic republic’s nuclear program had made measurable advances.

Space engineers in Ecuador are trying to establish if the country's only satellite has been damaged in a crash with space debris.

The Colombian rebel group Farc denies taking part in the kidnapping of two Spanish tourists in the north-east of the country last Friday.

Russia wants to boost security to stem the flow of militants and drugs into Central Asia.

Nangnyi Foung reaches into the dryer, pulls out another pair of pants and places it on the ironing board. “I still have several more loads to go,” she says as the clock strikes nine p.m., marking the start of her 14th hour on the shift.

Suicide bombers target a military camp and a French-run uranium mine in north-western Niger leaving at least 19 people dead, officials say.

A day after Britain’s announcement, Germany also said it supported listing the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, a move that could hurt the Lebanese militant group’s fund-raising.

Millions are fleeing from war and violence, but Europe is sealing itself off to those in need, a new report from Amnesty International alleged on Thursday. The human rights organization urged EU countries to act and save lives.

From Luxembourg to the British Virgin Islands, the authorities are scrambling to figure out how to change their secretive ways in banking without driving away lucrative foreign clients.

Vladimir Putin emerged from the obscurity of a secret agent’s life when called to Moscow in 1997 by power-hungry oligarchs in search of a pliable accomplice to plant in the Kremlin. In little more than two years, Putin was president of Russia.

The gruesome broad-daylight killing of a man believed to be a British soldier was quickly branded an act of terrorism by officials, reviving fear of violence by Islamic extremists.

James McCormick was sentenced in Britain weeks ago for selling the same fake bomb detectors in Iraq during the war.

Seven soldiers kidnapped last week by suspected Islamist militants in the restive Sinai were freed after a six-hour negotiation between local tribesmen and the kidnappers, the Egyptian government announcement Wednesday.

Israel’s crippling blockade of the coastal territory of Gaza is pushing desperate young Palestinians to ever more extreme measures in the search for livelihoods, despite an agreement granting Gazans greater access to their agricultural land.

Iran’s conservatives, who on Tuesday saw the two main moderate threats to their dominance barred from running in next month’s presidential election, face a new challenge: persuading shocked and skeptical Iranians to turn out to vote.

While the Syrian opposition urges more men to assist embattled rebels in the fight for the key town of Qusair, dozens of young Lebanese fighters are leaving Syria to join a battle closer to home.

Few Americans pay attention to the drone program, and the few who have largely support targeted killings abroad.

During the last decade in countries like Brazil, Chile and other areas in Latin America, changing economic policies and innovative social inclusion programs are giving rise to economic growth built on exports and an increasingly prosperous middle class. But in Central America, a region of growing strategic importance to the United States, many countries face a bourgeoning security and law-enforcement crisis that demands greater attention from us all.

Whenever talk turns to the Cold War, it calls up memories of the superpower standoff, the arms race, regional conflicts, the constant threat of enemy missile launches and, of course, the way the Soviet Union lost the Cold War when its economy and technological prowess collapsed in 1991.

Israeli intelligence doesn't point to Syrian retaliation for air strikes it has attributed to Israel, and a massive Israeli attack would only be a last resort.

The nature of the relationship between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood will determine many issues in Egypt.

Although the peace between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party still has many internal challenges and obstacles on the path ahead, so far both the Justice and Development Party government and the PKK seem to be fully committed to the signing of a peace agreement that will have far-reaching consequences for Turkey and beyond.

The disqualification of two leading candidates for Iran's presidency sends a strong message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Simply put, Khamenei is determined to avoid the type of friction that has characterized his relationships with previous presidents, particularly outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Evidence from Herat and elsewhere suggests a growing -- and at times deadly -- Iranian influence over its eastern neighbor.