June 17, 2013 Amman/London: Russian President Vladimir Putin, arriving in Britain ahead of an international summit set to be dominated by disagreement over the US decision to send weapons to Syria's rebels, said the West must not arm fighters who eat human flesh.

June 17, 2013 With Edward Snowden in Hong Kong dribbling out morsels to the media on US surveillance activities, Chinese authorities have several choices for dealing with him.

June 17, 2013 North Korea has proposed high-level talks with the United States aimed at discussing nuclear weapons programs and the easing of tensions on the peninsula, state media say.

June 17, 2013 Pakistan has revealed a massive increase in its military budget, the third nuclear power in Asia to unveil a significant increase this year, adding credence to fears of a growing arms race on the continent.

June 17, 2013 When Chinese Australian businessman James Peng was spectacularly kidnapped by the Chinese government in 1993 in Macau, Henry Tsang, Sydney's then deputy lord mayor, pleaded for his release.

June 17, 2013 Nelson Mandela ‘‘continues to get better’’ after more than a week in hospital battling a lung infection although his condition remains serious, South African President Jacob Zuma says.

June 16, 2013 US intelligence officials say information gleaned from two controversial data-collection programs thwarted potential terror plots in the US and more than 20 other countries.

June 16, 2013 Moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani has been declared Iran's new president, the interior minister says, in an outright election victory that ends eight years of conservative grip on the top office.

June 16, 2013 A mayoral hopeful in Mexico promises to eat, sleep most of the day and donate his leftover litter to fill potholes.

June 16, 2013 As Nelson Mandela's health declines, his country struggles to realise his dreams, writes Nastasya Tay in Johannesburg.