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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Jerusalem to brief Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the latest developments concerning troubled neighbor Syria.

Aerial view of Herat, the second largest city in Afghanistan

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry opened talks in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as international negotiations intensify to get Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal.

L-r: Jan Kohout, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic; OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara; and UNECE Executive Secretary Sven Alkalaj; alongside Halil Yurdakul Yigitgüden, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, at the opening session of the 21st OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, Prague, 11 September 2013.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meeting with President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria in Sirte

Russian news agencies report that Moscow has given the United States its plan for securing Syria's chemical weapons ahead of a meeting in Geneva between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart.

Twin car bombings killed six Egyptian soldiers and wounded 17 other people in northern Sinai, where violence by Islamist militants has surged.

A Washington-based research group says North Korea has likely restarted a plutonium reactor, possibly making good on a pledge to expand its nuclear weapons program.

A recent Washington Post article reporting that the United States has stepped up surveillance of Pakistan's nuclear program has once again raised questions about the bilateral relationship between Washington and Islambad. The reported surveillance has focused new attention on the issue of mutual trust in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark launch "A Million Voices: The World We Want" report at press conference.