UNITED NATIONS

A violent Islamist sect responsible for scores of killings in northeast Nigeria is increasingly linking up with global jihadist movements like al Qaeda, a military commander in the area told Reuters on Monday.

Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf may, if re-elected, offer government posts to rivals in a spirit of reconciliation after a deadly crackdown on an opposition protest, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Reducing salt in the diets of the general population may not have an overall positive health impact, according to a review of more than 160 scientific studies published Wednesday.

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 60 percent of respondents -- a group that included both self-identified Democrats and Republicans -- say the federal government should have a hand in reducing income inequality in the U.S.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's departure was inevitable, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit near Van, Turkey on Wednesday, causing at least 18 buildings to collapse, including a six-story hotel where rescuers are now working to free 35 trapped people.

Russia attacked Tuesday's International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran's nuclear program, saying that it would not allow the United Nations to impose any punitive measures on the Islamic republic.

Gunmen shot dead a Somali lawmaker in Mogadishu on Wednesday, a day after al Qaeda-linked rebels killed at least two people in a series of grenade attacks and said they would step up assaults in the capital.

Political manipulation of Congo's security forces has brought crackdowns on opposition parties and may lead to bloodshed in this month's election, the United Nations said in a report on Wednesday.

Liberia's main opposition candidate said he might seek the annulment of a presidential run-off boycotted by his supporters, raising the prospect of confrontation in a country recovering from civil war.

French President Sarkozy was overheard telling President Obama that Prime Minister Netanyahu is a liar after a G20 summit press conference.

Moments after the International Atomic Energy Agency issued its report on Iran's nuclear weapons program, Iran went on the defensive, calling the finding a hoax devised by the United States.

Iran has conclusively worked on nuclear weapons, as well as tested weapons' parts, in the past and could still be doing it, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report.

As the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency prepares to unveil its report on Iran's nuclear program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the Islamic republican did not need a nuclear mob to confront the United States.

Gunmen have killed an international peacekeeper in Sudan's war-stricken Darfur region and wounded two others, the region's African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force said on Tuesday.

Many Liberians failed to vote in a presidential run-off on Tuesday, poll observers said, some people staying away for fear of further violence and others following an opposition boycott appeal.

In a private conversation with U.S. President Barak Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has termed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a liar and said, I can't stand him (Netanyahu).

President Obama and French President Sarkozy spoke ill of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in private. Unknown to the leaders, their comments were heard by a team of journalists. Whoops.

Twenty years and still strong and fighting - Magic Johnson, who had publicly revealed his HIV diagnosis to a shocked world in 1991, celebrated his twenty years of beating the virus at Staples Center on Monday.

Russia thinks that a pre-emptive military strike against Iran and Iran's nuclear weapons program by Israel or any Western power would be an extremely bad idea.

Liberia could tip into chaos not seen since its civil war if a presidential run-off election set for Tuesday is not delayed and reorganized, presidential hopeful Winston Tubman said on Sunday.