France, which has taken a tough line on Syrian President Bashar Assad, is struggling to make itself heard as the diplomatic ground shifts towards a compromise with the regime.

Trying to keep France at the heart of negotiations on Syria, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius scrambled to gather key powers in Paris on Tuesday.

Millions of Turks go to the polls next Sunday for what could be one of the most crucial elections in the country's modern history.

The vote was called after the Justice and Development Party (AKP), indomitable for 13 years, lost its majority in a June election and then failed to form a power-sharing government.

Another meeting in another luxury hotel in another European city oozing with diplomatic history.

Such is the state of the international effort to revive a peace plan for Syria.

Jeb Bush appeared destined to waltz to the 2016 Republican nomination, but his presidential bid has been upended to the point that even his cherished family pedigree might not be enough to salvage his flagging campaign.

Trailing badly in the polls, reportedly slashing campaign payroll by 40 percent and scaling back on travel costs, Bush is now one of many middle-of-the-pack candidates in a wide GOP field, rather than the man Republicans would naturally gravitate to as they seek to win back the White House.

A meeting in Vienna Friday of foreign ministers from Russia, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to discuss Syria's war highlights the conflict's international dimension.

Several foreign countries with different aims have become embroiled in the conflict.

This week's surprise Moscow summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar Assad was perhaps one of the most sensitive meetings the Kremlin walls have seen in recent times.

At stake was the future of the Syrian conflict -- and also Russia's place on the world stage as Putin seeks to muscle his way back to global influence after months of Western isolation over Ukraine.

A palpable sense of security is returning to Pakistan as a crackdown on militancy bears fruit, but critics warn the government has not taken long-term steps to tackle the underlying scourge of extremist Islam.

Peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan will be top of the agenda in Washington on Thursday when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif meets U.S. President Barack Obama. 

Al-Qaida's black flag is flying over several official buildings in Yemen's second city Aden as jihadists make inroads in the absence of state authority and with the country mired in conflict.

In Tawahi, the flag has been hoisted over the police station and is flown on cars ferrying bearded men across one of the largest districts of the port city, residents say.

Images of an Eritrean asylum seeker lying in a pool of blood as an angry mob kicks him has renewed debate in Israel over alleged racism and how to respond to violence.

Habtom Zarhum, 29, was shot by a security guard this week at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba after being mistaken for an assailant in an attack that killed an Israeli soldier.  

Their campaigns flatlined long ago. But several low-polling candidates in the U.S. presidential race insist they are still viable contenders, even as voters and experts ask: Why?

Jim Webb, for instance, has made zero impact on the race. He exited the Democratic nomination battle on Tuesday much like he entered it -- with few people noticing.