Japan's prime minister has offered "sincere and everlasting condolences" for the US service members who died when his country attacked Pearl Harbour, catapulting America into the Second World War.

Syrian rebels have shot down a military helicopter in the country’s east, killing eight government troops on board.

US president Barack Obama will deliver a major speech today, laying out his long-term goal to rid the world of nuclear arms.

Sri Lanka’s armed forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded artillery fire overnight, as the military advanced on a strategic Tiger-held enclave in the northeast in an assault that has killed at least 79 people, the military said today.

Three Greek judges reconvened today to continue deliberations on the case of 14 British and Dutch plane spotters accused of spying.