A blaze sweeps though ancient markets in Aleppo, activists say, as rebels and government forces seek to gain control of Syria's largest city.

Amnesty International urges Sweden to "break the current impasse" in the Julian Assange extradition case by giving him assurances that he will not be handed over to the US.

Two opposition politicians are killed during a campaign rally in Venezuela, a week before the country's presidential elections.

Hundreds of Libyans hand in weapons in Benghazi and Tripoli as part of a disarmament drive organised by the army to target militia groups.

Rival miners' groups in Bolivia sign a deal with the government to end a dispute over control of rich tin and zinc deposits.

A suspected "insider" attack at a checkpoint in Afghanistan has brought to 2,000 the number of US soldiers to die in the conflict.

A series of car bomb explosions are set off in Iraq, officials say, killing at least nine people.

One child is killed and six critically injured, the Red Cross says, in a grenade attack on a church's Sunday school in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.