A UN mission to Syria finds an "urgent need to protect civilians" from excessive force, as the Security Council splits over sanctions.

A suicide bomb attack in Algeria kills 18 people at a military academy west of the capital, officials say.

Singapore is voting for a new president, with the poll being seen as a test of support for the city state's ruling People's Action Party.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urges the international community to help Libya restore order and ensure stability, and calls for an end to fighting.

Police hunting the killer of Pc Yvonne Fletcher need to go to Libya to further the inquiry, prosecutors say, as a newspaper names a new suspect in the 27-year-old case.

More than two million people on the east coast of the US have been ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Irene approaches.

Tripoli is facing a growing humanitarian crisis with most of the Libyan capital without water, electricity or proper sanitation, as fighting there recedes.

At least four people are killed in two car bombings in neighbouring provinces in southern Afghanistan, officials say.