UNITED NATIONS

Afghan farmers produced 6,400 tons of opium last year, versus 4,000 tons in 2010.

Fifty-seven people were killed in tribal clashes in South Sudan this week, most of them women and children. Another 53 people were wounded in the clash between Lou Nuer and Murle groups in Jonglei state, thirteen of whom needed to be airlifted to safety.

In makeshift churches and at mass grave sites, Haitians congregated Thursday to mark the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake that ravaged the country, killing roughly 300,000 people and leaving more than 1.5 million homeless.

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney criticized President Barack Obama for his stance on Israel on Thursday, telling a Florida crowd that if elected he would stand with our friends.

Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton endorsed Mitt Romney on Thursday, adding another name to the list of conservative politicians who have come out in support of the former Massachusetts governor as he attempts to gain credibility among conservative voters.

Nearly 200 activists were barred by Syrian authorities to enter the country to deliver aid supplies to civilian victims of President Bashar al-Assad's bloody crackdown on an anti-government uprising, organizers said.

As Boko Haram and the unrest in Nigeria intensifies, African newspapers this week have run stories with headlines likes Nigeria: Worse Than We Thought, Boko Haram: Enough is Enough, Nigeria: A ticking time bomb and Nigeria: Armed and dangerous.

French cameraman Gilles Jacquier was in killed in Syria on Wednesday while on a government-authorized trip to Homs, the city that has become the symbolic center of anti-government protest in the country.

Almost one-third of Iran’s oil exports go to China. Or, put another way, 11 percent of Chinese oil imports comes from Iran.

An Iranian nuclear scientist and his driver were killed in a car bombing in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran is already blaming the U.S. and Israel for the attack.

The Christian presence in Egypt stretches as far back to the earliest days of Christendom.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, locked in a violent struggle against a wave of unrest, is to make a speech Tuesday on the internal issue and international and regional developments, state media said Monday night.

The International Atomic Energy Agency -- the United Nations' atomic watchdog -- said that Iran has started enriching uranium at a fortified underground site in Fordow, near the city of Qom.

The Arab League urged the Syrian government Sunday to stop its violence against protesters and allow Arab monitors in the country to work more independently, but stopped short of asking for United Nations experts to bolster its peace mission.

Arab League monitors will say on Sunday that Syria is defying a plan to end its crackdown on peaceful protests, Al Jazeera reported, as Arab foreign ministers prepared to discuss the findings of the mission.

Iran's underground uranium-enrichment facility will begin operations soon, a senior official was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying, The move is likely to boost tension between the Islamic state and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

American Airlines, US Airways, and United Continental have all joined Delta in adding a $3 surcharge to fares purchased in the United States for flights to Europe in response to the EU's new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The second suicide attack in two weeks killed up to 25 people as an explosion rocked a busy intersection in Damascus Syria, Friday

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese Ronhingya are currently living in neighboring Bangladesh, where they are unwanted refugees

Representatives of the rival factions Fatah and Hamas are pursuing contrasting approaches to building support for the Palestinian cause, with Fatah engaged in apparently fruitless peace talks with Israel while Hamas' leader pays visits to newly empowered Islamist governments across the region. While the two developments are not directly related, they nevertheless offer a glimpse of how the Palestinian peace process might play out in a region reshaped by popular uprisings.

Assad’s regime has thus far spent about $40-million on militias to brutalize the opposition.