Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya to allow humanitarian aid to be brought to the war-torn country. Mr Frattini also said Nato must provide data on results of its bombing campaign and guidelines on targeting errors... More

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama will deliver a highly anticipated speech Wednesday evening about troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. The address is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. On Tuesday, an administration official told CNN that Obama will announce this week that 30,000 U.S. "surge" forces will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012... More

The Greek government has won a critical vote of confidence as it struggles to win support for extra austerity measures and avoid a debt default. Prime Minister George Papandreou's new cabinet was approved in parliament by 155 votes to 143, with two abstentions.. More

Australia's two major airports are facing up to 48 hours of disruption as the ash cloud from a Chilean volcano drifts across the south of the country. Qantas and Virgin have cancelled all flights into and out of Sydney and Melbourne. Adelaide airport has been shut and Canberra flights also hit. Last week, tens of thousands of people were stranded as airlines grounded flights, and now the ash has returned... More

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Sectarian rioting broke out in eastern Belfast late Monday, with leaders from both Catholic and Protestant communities reporting attacks on homes overnight. Police reported Molotov cocktails were being thrown as a large crowd gathered on the streets that separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in the area, a longstanding Northern Ireland flash point. Ambulance services reported two people injured early Tuesday, and reporters attempting to cover the disturbances were threatened... More

At least 22 people have been killed in two car bomb attacks in Diwaniya in central Iraq, officials say. The attacks targeted police barriers outside the compound of provincial governor Salim Hussein Alwan, who was unharmed... More

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to address the nation for the first time in two months, as his security forces continue operations against protesters. The state news agency said Mr Assad would address "current circumstances". Concessions made during his last televised address have not dampened anti-government demonstrations... More

(CNN) -- The thousands of firefighters battling to control dangerous wildfires in Arizona will get a small measure of relief early this week as winds calm and humidity levels rise, the National Weather Service said Monday. Critical conditions are forecast Monday across large sections of New Mexico and Texas, and to a lesser extent in Oklahoma and Kansas. On Sunday, critical to extreme conditions could be found in the same four states, plus Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Nevada... More

(CNN) -- Coming soon to a website near you: dot-anything A group charged with overseeing the development of the Internet voted Monday to relax the rules on website naming conventions -- potentially triggering a virtual domain name gold rush to rival the dot-com boom of the late 1990s... More

Dafniya, Libya (CNN) -- The Libyan government said a NATO strike hit a residential neighborhood in Tripoli on Sunday, killing at least three people, according to Libyan state TV... More

Demonstrations are expected later in Moroccan cities after reformists said constitutional changes proposed by King Mohammed VI do not go far enough. Many critics want constitutional changes drawn up by a democratically elected committee instead. They also say the proposed referendum on the constitution comes too soon and leaves little time for a real debate... More

The Greek debt crisis is endangering the economies of at least five other EU countries, the head of the eurozone group of finance ministers has warned. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Germany was "playing with fire" with a plan to involve private creditors in resolving the crisis... More

Al-Qaeda has appointed Ayman al-Zawahiri as leader following the death of Osama Bin Laden, the organisation's general command says in a statement. Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan in early May. In the statement, al-Qaeda "announces that Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him, assumed responsibility as the group's amir [leader]"... More

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is set to announce a new cabinet in a concessionary move as he seeks support for new austerity measures. Mr Papandreou, who will stay in his post, says he will put the new government to a vote of confidence in the parliament... More

Riot police in Vancouver used tear gas to quell violence that broke out after the Vancouver Canucks lost the final game of the Stanley Cup. Cars were set on fire and shops were looted following the ice hockey team's 4-0 defeat to the Boston Bruins... More

Greek police have thwarted efforts by striking workers to encircle parliament and block access for MPs due to debate new austerity measures. Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Syntagma Square in Athens... More

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's intelligence agency arrested "a few" informants who gave information to the CIA before the raid that left Osama bin Laden dead, Pakistani intelligence officials said Wednesday... More

Syria has called on the people of Jisr al-Shughour to return to the town, three days after an army attack restored government control there. Officials said the city was returning to normal, but that army units were pursuing militants through the hills around the town... More

Seven Republican presidential hopefuls have attacked President Barack Obama's economic record in the first major debate of the 2012 campaign. The candidates for the party's nomination also focused criticism on his 2010 overhaul of the healthcare system, pledging to repeal "Obamacare"... More

Gaza's unemployment rate was among the world's highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel's blockade of the territory enters its fifth year. Real wages meanwhile fell by more than a third, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said... More

Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy tried to get permission to board a North Korean merchant vessel that it suspected was carrying illicit weapon technology in the South China Sea, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. It was denied permission, but the United States kept an eye on the vessel, which later turned around and returned to North Korea, the Pentagon said. The incident occurred late last month, it said... More