North Korea is experiencing serious internet problems, with experts warning that online access is “totally down”.

North Korea is experiencing serious internet problems, with experts warning that online access is “totally down”.

One of three Americans being held in North Korea has been released, the US State Department said.

Turkey’s top diplomat has announced that his country is helping Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross into Syria to “give support” to fellow Kurds defending the border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants.

The United States has suspended operations at its embassy in Libya and evacuated its diplomats to neighbouring Tunisia under US military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli, the State Department said.

Two more military aircraft carrying remains of victims from the Malaysian plane disaster have arrived in the Netherlands, while Australian and Dutch diplomats promoted a plan for a UN team to secure the crash site which has been controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Iran has started to shut down its most sensitive nuclear work as part of a landmark deal struck with world powers, state media said today.

The US has confirmed that American troops are holding a senior Pakistani Taliban commander.

The fate of hostages inside a Nairobi mall besieged by al Qaida-linked terrorists is not clear, a Kenyan military spokesman said, despite earlier statements that “most” hostages had been rescued.

A possible diplomatic solution to avoid a US military strike has opened up as Syria swiftly welcomed a suggestion to turn over all of its chemical weapons for destruction under international control.

Barack Obama has yet to take a decision on whether to go ahead with a military strike against Syria, the White House has said.

The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.

The United States issued a global travel alert today, citing an al Qaida threat that also caused the State Department to close its embassies on Sunday around the Muslim world.

A Spanish train that hurtled off the rails and smashed into a security wall as it rounded a bend was going so fast that carriages tumbled off the tracks like dominos, killing 80 people and maiming dozens more, according to eyewitness accounts and video footage obtained today.