Washington and the international community won’t recognise the outcome of tomorrow’s referendum in Crimea on seceding from Ukraine, US secretary of State John Kerry said after six hours of talks with Russia’s foreign minister.

Fierce clashes between police and protesters have shattered a brief truce in Ukraine’s besieged capital leaving at least 22 people dead.

Investigators have discovered another explosive at the Palestinian embassy complex in Prague where a possibly booby-trapped safe killed the ambassador, police in the Czech Republic said today.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said its ambassador to Egypt is returning to Ankara today after both countries recalled their envoys following the violent crackdown on supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.

Suspected US drone strikes have killed seven al-Qaida militants in southern Yemen.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN yesterday raised the death toll in Syria’s civil war to more than 100,000, up from nearly 93,000 just over a month ago.

Iran has lashed out at Turkey for requesting Nato to supply it with Patriot surface-to-air missiles to deploy along the border with Syria, denouncing the step by Ankara as counterproductive.

Finland says Israel has warned the country it will take action against a boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to break a naval blockade of Gaza.

A film attacking the prophet Mohammed sparked assaults on US diplomatic missions during which an American was shot dead as protesters burned the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Syria has threatened to use its chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, the first time it has admitted having weapons of mass destruction.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed three aid workers suffered minor injuries in Syria when an explosion hit their convoy.

UN observers have found another 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them seemingly shot execution- style, said the monitoring mission.

German, Italian and Spanish foreign ministries announced today that Syrian ambassadors are being expelled.

A blind Chinese activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital today and boarded a plane that took off for the United States, closing a nearly month-long diplomatic tussle that had tested US-China relations.

China said today that it will send another envoy to Syria in a bid to convince President Bashar Assad’s regime of the need for a ceasefire, and to emphasise that it remains opposed to outside intervention.

The bodies of Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, killed in shelling while trapped in Syria, left the country on board a French plane to Paris.

China has said it supports the Arab League’s proposals for ending the violence in Syria, in a striking show of support just two weeks after Beijing vetoed a United Nations resolution backing the plans.

Pakistan blocked vital supply routes for US-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded Washington leave a base used by American drones after coalition aircraft allegedly killed 24 troops at two posts along a mountainous frontier that serves as a safe haven for militants.

Israel has cleared out most staff from its embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman ahead of an anti-Israel protest, reports said today.

Libya’s warring sides in the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte are now engaged in “discussions”, according to Nato.

Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's wife and other relatives fled to Algeria today, its foreign ministry said.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI’S wife and three of his children fled Libya to neighbouring Algeria yesterday, firm evidence that the longtime leader has lost his grip on the country.

Members of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s family have entered Algeria, reports say.

Italy has recalled its ambassador to Syria for consultations, citing Damascus’s “horrible repression against the civilian population”.

The EU expanded its sanctions against Syria today, imposing asset freezes and travel bans against five more military and government officials.

GOOGLE has become a “political tool” vilifying the Chinese government, an official Beijing newspaper said yesterday, warning that the US internet giant’s statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business.

At least 10 Nato strikes have hit in and around the Libyan capital, targeting military barracks close to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in central Tripoli, a police station and a military base, a government official said.

Two ferries carrying foreigners trying to leave strife-torn Libya were waiting to leave Tripoli today, delayed by officialdom and rough seas, while a Russian-chartered ferry arrived at a port further east.

The ordeal of hundreds of Americans and other foreigners stuck on a ferry for three days has ended as their ship finally left a Libyan port.

EGYPT’S top prosecutor requested yesterday the freezing of the foreign assets of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his family.

CAIRO airport workers protesting for better pay, textile workers on strike to demand a corruption investigation and residents living by the Suez Canal pressing for the closure of a chemical factory allegedly dumping toxic waste into a lake shows the wave of unrest shaking Egypt has continued.

Panama is again seeking the extradition of former dictator Manuel Noriega from France, this time for his role in the killing of the leader of an attempted military coup in 1989.

Somali pirates freed a hijacked South Korean-operated supertanker and its 24 crew after seven months of captivity, officials said amid reports that a record ransom was paid.

Osama bin Laden has threatened France with terror attacks for passing a law that bans Muslim-style face veils.

JAPAN issued a travel alert for Europe yesterday, joining the United States and Britain in warning of a possible terrorist attack by al-Qaida or other groups, but tourists appeared to be taking the mounting warnings in their stride.

Within hours of his capture, US prosecutors say Russian spy suspect Juan Lazaro admitted his name was an alias.

PRO-PALESTINIAN activists sent another boat to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip yesterday and Egypt declared it was temporarily opening a crossing into the Palestinian territory after a raid on an aid flotilla that ended with Israeli soldiers killing nine activists.

Heated arguments have erupted as authorities attempt to send home some 500 international activists who were part of an aid convoy to the blockaded Gaza Strip, a Cairo airport security official said today.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said today it was doing everything possible to ensure the safety of Irish volunteers participating in an aid convoy to Gaza which last night was caught up in clashes with Egyptian police.

Iran accused Britain of helping stir up unrest that has led to deadly street clashes in the country and summoned its ambassador to complain today.

A showdown between the world’s two largest polluters loomed over the Copenhagen climate talks talks today as China accused the United States and other rich nations of backtracking on a deal to fight global warming.

Suicide bombers this morning struck a hotel in Kabul which is frequented by foreigners.

Turkey and Armenia have agreed to establish diplomatic ties, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said tonight.

Up to 100 people were feared dead in a wave of co-ordinated explosions across Baghdad today.