Pope Francis has prayed for victims of violent protests in the west African nation of Gabon, calling attention to what he described as a "grave political crisis" in the former French colony.
South Africa says protection efforts in its biggest wildlife park have reduced rhino poaching there, though warns that poaching syndicates may be moving operations to parks elsewhere in the country.
Iran says it welcomes a U.S.-Russian agreement on a cease-fire for Syria, where it has been a key ally of President Bashar Assad during the five-year war.
Saudi Arabia has launched a Farsi-language satellite television channel broadcasting the hajj as Iranians abstain from the pilgrimage amid a dispute between the two regional rivals.
Authorities say two crew members of a river cruise ship have been killed in southern Germany after the vessel struck a rail bridge, crushing the wheelhouse.
Israel's prime minister has marked the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by saying his country stands by its "greatest ally, the United States of America." Benjamin Netanyahu's comments Sunday came two days after a rare American rebuke for statements in which he insisted settlements were not an obstacle to peace and that Palestinians wanted the "ethnic cleansing" of Jews in the West Bank.
The Indian army says it has killed four militants in a gunbattle near the Kashmir border separating Pakistan from India's portion of the Himalayan region.
Before dawn on Sunday, Muslim pilgrims from around the world began ascending a hill just outside Mecca where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon some 1,400 years ago.
Nine contenders formally declared their candidatures for France's conservative presidential primary Friday, but the race is expected to come down to a tight battle between former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister Alain Juppe.
Croats have begun casting ballots in an early parliamentary election that is unlikely to produce a clear winner and could pave the way for more political uncertainty in the European Union's newest member state.
Belarusians are casting ballots for a new parliament in the authoritarian former Soviet republic that has been making steps toward rapprochement with the West.