A rebel mortar attack on a school in a camp for displaced people near Damascus on Tuesday killed nine students and their teacher, Syrian state television reported, branding it a "horrific crime."

A rebel mortar attack on a school in a camp for displaced people near Damascus on Tuesday killed eight students and their teacher, Syrian state television reported, calling it a "horrific crime."

Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma assumed gradual control of the mining hub on Sunday after a rebel pullout, but tensions were running high with gunmen attacking a camp for displaced people and clashes on Rwanda's border.

Zacharie Nahimana would have been more willing to go home following years in exile after fleeing Burundi's civil war in 1993 -- if he had a place to go to.

Delegates from more than 60 countries gathered in Tokyo on Friday, seeking to ramp up pressure on Bashar al-Assad's regime as the US moved towards recognising the newly-unified opposition as true leaders of Syria.

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Tuesday they would withdraw from Goma, a week after their capture of the key eastern city sparked fears of a new war in the volatile region.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's army chief threatened Monday to stage a counter-attack against rebels controlling the key eastern city of Goma as they defiantly stared down a deadline to leave.

Congolese rebels patrolled the streets of Goma on Monday as their military leader flew to neighbouring Uganda for talks ahead of a deadline set by regional African leaders for the group to pull out of the strategic eastern city.

DR Congo rebels patrolled the dusty streets of Goma on Monday as their military leader flew in to neighbouring Uganda for talks ahead of a deadline set by regional African leaders for the group to pull out of the strategic eastern city.

The United Nations expressed shock Friday at the sight of thousands of civilians fleeing a rebel advance in the eastern DR Congo and appealed for access to help those caught up in the violence.

Thousands of civilians fled a rebel advance in eastern DR Congo on Friday as regional leaders prepared a summit on the crisis which the UN said had blocked access to camps sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people.

The UN's refugee agency said Friday it had begun airlifting tents to provide shelter for thousands of people displaced by sectarian unrest in Myanmar's western Rakhine State.

A new wave of Israeli raids on Gaza killed 11 people on Wednesday, including a child who died when the tower housing AFP's office was struck for the second time in 24 hours.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon vowed that peacekeepers will stay in the DR Congo city of Goma after UN combat helicopters and government troops failed to stop a rebel advance amid growing international alarm.

UN officials expressed fears for Goma in the east of DR Congo, after UN combat helicopters and government troops failed to stop a rebel advance on the city Sunday, amid growing international alarm.

New Israeli air raids killed three people in Gaza City on Sunday, taking the death toll to 26 on the bloodiest day of Israel's bombing campaign, Hamas said.

UN combat helicopters fired on rebels advancing on the key eastern DR Congo city of Goma Sunday, as government troops and top local officials reportedly joined fleeing civilians and the international community expressed growing alarm.

Israeli strikes on Sunday killed 21 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the bloodiest day of its bombing campaign over the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

UN peacekeepers deployed attack helicopters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Saturday to support the country's army in fresh clashes with rebels, as the Security Council prepared for an emergency session on the crisis.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara met Pope Benedict XVI amid heightened security on Friday, two days after he dissolved the government following a falling out between the ruling parties.