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Police have not yet released all the names of the victims of a mass shooting at an elementary school in the northeastern state of Connecticut, but some reports have emerged on school staff slain as they tried to protect the children. The massacre has renewed calls for stronger gun control laws in the U.S.

In his first address to parliament since taking office for an unprecedented third term, President Vladimir Putin vowed to strengthen Russia's economy and build its ailing military.

A group of more than 100 nations calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down has formally recognized a newly formed Syrian opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

A Syrian mother and with her son, who are refugees in Lebanon.

NATO preparations to defend Turkey from potential Syrian attacks may find new urgency as Damascus begins to use missiles against Syrian rebels across the Turkish border.

North Korea has carried out what it characterizes as a “groundbreaking” peaceful launch to place a weather satellite into orbit, despite warnings from the United Nations and the United States. The event is being viewed by most of the world as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

President Barack Obama has announced formal U.S. recognition of the Syrian opposition coalition, calling it the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Several key European countries are trying to rally international support for Syria's newly formed opposition coalition.

MONUSCO peacekeepers evacuate children following the capture of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by M23.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore (c) concluding the 2012 OSCE Ministerial Council in Dublin, 7 December 2012.