Diplomats aim for end to fighting

Agreement reached to speed up deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged communities

Fear pervasive following prison riot that killed 49

A prison riot that left 49 inmates hacked, beaten or burned to death opened searing questions about gang rule, extortion and human rights violations in Mexico's overcrowded prisons, where people merely awaiting trial are mixed in with some of the world's most hardened killers.

NATO orders warships into Aegean Sea

In a dramatic response to Europe's gravest refugee crisis since World War II, NATO ordered three warships to sail immediately on Thursday to the Aegean Sea to help end the deadly smuggling of asylum-seekers across the waters from Turkey to Greece.

Oregon standoff ends with arrest of holdouts

With the FBI tightening its ring around them, the last four holdouts in the armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon surrendered on Thursday, ending a 41-day standoff that left one man dead and exposed simmering anger over the government's control of vast expanses of Western land.

NY officer convicted of manslaughter in stairwell shooting

A newly-hired police officer who shot an unarmed man dead in a darkened public housing stairwell was convicted on Thursday of manslaughter in a case closely watched by advocates for police accountability.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Pyongyang shuts Kaesong joint industrial park

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea decided on Thursday to shut down a jointly run factory park with the Republic of Korea just a day after Seoul's announcement to stop operations at the industrial zone in the DPRK border city of Kaesong.

'Iron Boy' saves Sydney as Downey Jr tweets support

A seriously ill Australian boy was granted his wish on Thursday to become a superhero like Iron Man, with police staging an elaborate event on the Sydney Opera House steps as Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr tweeted his support.

Foreign Ministry: Russia ready to discuss ceasefire

Russia is ready to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Thursday as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to restart peace talks.

Havana assumes role as peacemaker

The heads of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches will hold a historic meeting Friday in the international airport of an officially secular tropical island.

Digest

A 94-year-old former guard at Auschwitz goes on trial in Germany on Thursday accused of being an accessory to the murder of at least 170,000 people - the first of four such court cases that could be the last due to the very old age of the defendants.

Stocks enjoy year's biggest weekly gain

Chinese equities capped the biggest weekly gain this year despite a mild correction on Friday as liquidity injection by the central bank and eased rules on foreign funds helped alleviate market anxiety over its worst yearly start.