S. Sudan leader to hold talks with rebels

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar are to hold direct talks on Friday, after the United Nations said both sides in the country's brutal civil war have likely carried out crimes against humanity.

Bogus Mandela signer stars in app advert

The South African who provided bogus sign language for Nelson Mandela's memorial last year has been hired to feature in a new advertising campaign for a live-streaming app.

Putin makes triumphal visit to Crimea

Leader's trip follows massive Moscow parade celebrating victory in 1945

Kiev must prepay for gas

Russia will require Ukraine to pay in advance for gas starting in June, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said late on Thursday after Kiev failed to pay for gas deliveries.

Thai protesters launch 'final fight'

Thai police on Friday fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters mounting a "final fight" to topple the embattled government, two days after the prime minister was stripped of office.

Berlusconi begins community service at Alzheimer's hospice

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi began community service for tax fraud on Friday in a spectacular fall from grace for the flamboyant ex-prime minister, who will likely seek political gain from the symbolic punishment.

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'Terror' exiles arrested in Cuba

Miami-based men are suspected of planning attacks on military targets

S. Korea detains head of company in ferry sinking

South Korean prosecutors have detained the head of the company that owns the ferry that sank last month over an allegation of cargo overloading.

US museum to return statue to Cambodia

The Norton Simon Museum in California has agreed to return a 10th-century statue that may have been looted from a Cambodian temple during that country's genocidal civil war in the 1970s.

WHO report says Delhi has worst air pollution

Indian capital Delhi has the most polluted air in the world, according to a World Health Organization report released on Wednesday that covers 1,600 cities and 91 countries.

Ousted Thai PM indicted, faces ban from politics

Thailand's anti-graft commission indicted ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday on charges of dereliction of duty in overseeing a widely criticized rice subsidy program, a day after a court forced her from office.