About 500 prisoners escape from jail as violence in capital worsens

The worst violence to hit Central African Republic's capital in a year further deteriorated on Monday as more than 500 inmates escaped from a prison and militia fighters looted the offices of international aid organizations, officials said. The death toll from several days of clashes reached 42 including a teenage boy who was decapitated.

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Rescuers were searching on Tuesday for about 20 people feared missing after a boat capsized and sank in a rain-swollen river in remote northeast India, a government official said. The motorized ferry was taking about 100 villagers to a popular boat race in Assam state when it hit a bridge pylon and overturned on the Kolohi river late on Monday, a top district administrator said.

Helicopter attack kills 30 civilians

Residents and medics said airstrikes by helicopters flying from Saudi Arabia killed 30 civilians in a Yemeni village on Sunday, but Saudi authorities dismissed the accounts as "totally false".

President unhurt in blast on boat

The president of the Maldives was unhurt but his wife and two aides were injured in an explosion on a boat as it approached Male, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago, a senior aide said.

Catalan separatists triumph but face problems

Pro-independence parties claim their victory in Catalan regional elections gives them a mandate to continue with plans to break away from Spain but opposition parties and the mainstream media noted on Monday that parties opposed to independence took 52 percent of the votes.

Bombings were 'revenge' for human-smuggling crackdown

The two bombing attacks in Bangkok in August were in retaliation for the Thai government's suppression of human-trafficking gangs, authorities said on Monday.

Clashes at holy site as Jewish holiday starts

New clashes broke out on Monday between Palestinians and Israeli police who stormed Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as an expected increase in Jewish visitors to the site over the Sukkot holiday boosted tensions.

'Super blood moon' awes world

Skygazers were treated to a rare astronomical event on Monday when a swollen "supermoon" and lunar eclipse combined for the first time in decades, showing Earth's satellite bathed in blood-red light.

Crowd of thousands protests corruption

Tens of thousands of Moldovans took to the streets on Sunday in the capital, Chisinau, calling for early elections as the country continues to be rocked by a 1-billion-euro banking scandal.

Putin doesn't plan to employ combat troops in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had no plans "right now" to put combat troops on the ground in Syria, but will continue backing the Syrian government.

Iran's leader says Assad must keep power

Iran's president says Syrian leader Bashar Assad must remain in power to fight extremist groups like the Islamic State group, and must not be weakened.

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