ZAGREB: Tens of thousands of Croatians cheered the country's entry into the European Union at midnight Sunday (2200 GMT), almost two decades after the former Yugoslav republic's bloody independence war ended.

QUETTA: Bomb attacks killed 44 people in Pakistan on Sunday, officials said, as British Prime Minister David Cameron called for tough action against terrorism during a visit to the capital.

BEIJING: Riots in China's ethnically divided western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday killed at least 27 people, state media said.

SYDNEY: Moves were underway on Wednesday to oust embattled Prime Minister Julia Gillard and return Kevin Rudd to the Labor leadership, reports said, as the Australian premier faces defeat at the upcoming elections.

DOHA: The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, is expected to meet members of the royal family on Monday, with Qatari officials and diplomats saying a transfer of power to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is imminent.

BRAZIL: Fresh protests have rocked Brazil despite conciliatory remarks by President Dilma Rousseff, who pledged to improve public services and fight harder against corruption.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Brazil on Thursday, as a protest movement over the quality of public services and the high cost of staging the World Cup gathered steam.

ATHENS: Greece's coalition leaders failed to agree to on how to resume state television broadcasts during their third round of talks this week, deepening a nine-day impasse that has renewed fears of political instability in the country.

SAO PAULO: Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they have reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited protests across the nation.

MOGADISHU: Islamist militants carried out a deadly assault on the main UN compound in the Somali capital on Wednesday, dealing a blow to fragile security gains that have allowed a slow return of foreign aid workers and diplomats.