The US has condemned the gruesome killing of a British soldier in London by the two reported Islamists who were later shot and wounded by the police.

At least nine people were killed and 65 others wounded as six car bombings struck the Iraqi capital, an Interior Ministry official said.

Four persons were shot and burnt to death in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan on Saturday, security officials said.

A suicide car bomb blew up at an army checkpoint in northeastern Damascus, leaving five soldiers killed, a watchdog said, as rebels pressed toward the centre of the capital.

Taliban insurgents overran an Afghan army post in the troubled southern province of Helmand in a predawn attack on Monday, killing 10 troopers, authorities said.

In a new revelation, a top US official has for the first time disclosed that American Special Forces had recovered a telephone from Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound in Pakistan, shedding new light on the so far known description of the al-Qaeda chief's hideout.

Dr Ami Bera, a Los Angeles-born physician son of Indian immigrants, has increased his lead in the race for California's 7th Congressional district bringing him a step closer to making history.

The United States urges Bangladesh to keep its border open to Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar in the wake of June violence but advocates their safe repatriation as a long-term solution.

The Kremlin candidate steamrolled to victory on Monday in local polls on the outskirts of Moscow that had been seen by the opposition as a chance to secure a high-profile presence near the seat of Russian power.

Two minors were swept away and around 2,000 houses destroyed on Thursday after incessant rainfall across Nepal triggered a flood.