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Tempers flared and protesters took to the streets after Egypt's constitutional court issued twin rulings effectively dissolving the Islamist-led parliament and allowing former officials to run for office just days ahead of a presidential run-off election.

This UN vehicle was damaged by an angry crowd in El-Haffeh, Syria, on 12 June 2012 as it tried to access the area.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi Thursday blamed the trans-regional forces deployed in Afghanistan for the growing insecurities in the war-torn country and warned that long term US military presence in the country would lead to further chaos.

Russia is Syria's biggest ally. Over the last year, the Kremlin has painted the Syrian revolt as a proxy war between East and West. Now with Syria slipping more and more into a civil war, can Moscow use its influence over Damascus to forge a political solution?

Deadly explosions rocked cities across Iraq Wednesday, killing at least 72 people and wounding nearly 260. The bombings coincided with an annual Shi'ite pilgrimage to honor a revered 8th century religious figure.

Unabated violence killed 10 more people in Syria Tuesday with government forces allegedly bombarding a residential area with mortar shells, amid a mounting pressure on President Bashar Assad following a startling UN revelation that children as young as 8 years old have been used as human shields by security forces.

Thousands of Russian anti-government protesters took part in a major rally in Moscow to demand fresh elections and a new president, in defiance of a new law increasing fines for those who hold unsanctioned protests.

Russia on Wednesday defended its sale of arms to Syria and stepped up the rhetoric by accusing the United States of providing weapons to the Syrian rebels.

Smoke drifts into the sky from buildings and houses hit by shelling in Homs, Syria.