NATO chief Fogh Rasmussen gave assurances to President Tomislav Nikolić on Thursday that Kosovo security forces would not grow into an army. “Serbia is a key factor of peace and stability in the region,” Rasmussen said during talks with Nikolić on the sidelines of the session of the United Nations …

A team of UN experts investigating alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria expects to complete its in-country work by Monday, the United Nations said on Friday. In a statement issued from Damascus, the UN said the team would investigate seven alleged attacks and “expects to finalise its activities in the …

Tuareg and Arab rebels, who control northern Mali, announced on Thursday the suspension of negotiations with the Bamako government, dealing a blow to hopes of a durable peace. The central issue is the future status of northern Mali, which the Tuareg movements call “Azawad.” The rebels are seeking autonomy, something …

Kenya on Thursday buried victims of a four-day mall massacre by Islamist gunmen as international forensic and security experts scanned the rubble for bodies and clues. Weeping mourners from multiple religions gathered for the latest funerals of the 67 victims whose bodies have so far been recovered from the wreckage …

China and India will hold a two-day meeting in Beijing to discuss border affairs, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. The fourth Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination over China-India Border Affairs

Damascus Syria is committed to the convention against chemical weapons it signed under a US-Russian deal and sees “no obstacles” to its implementation, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview broadcast Thursday. Speaking to Venezuela’s Telesur, the Syrian leader insisted that his regime was complying with a deal under which …

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday to say that Serbia has neither de jure nor de facto “recognized Kosovo.” The EU-mediated agreement reached with Priština in April “in no way means that Belgrade intends to accept Kosovo’s accession to the UN and …

Tunisian Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki expressed confidence in the success of the transition process in Tunisia despite the stumbling blocks and the difficulties met, quoting, among other things, a minority that “does not believe in democracy and tries to disrupt the process.”

Egypt’s relations with the United States are “unsettled” as the country struggles to redefine its national interests vis-à-vis other countries, the foreign minister said. The U.S. was a close ally of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s longtime authoritarian ruler who was ousted in an uprising in early 2011. America counted on him to keep …

U.S., British and Israeli agencies are helping Kenya investigate an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed at least 72 people and destroyed part of the complex. After a four-day siege, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tuesday troops had defeated the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group that targeted the shopping center popular with …