Australia is sending a relief ship to Fiji to assist in the recovery effort after Cyclone Winston, the worst ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, tore through the island nation last Saturday, as the sheer scale of the disaster becomes clearer.
At least 12 people were killed as twin blasts and gunfire rocked a hotel and neighbouring park in central Mogadishu, police said, in an attack claimed by the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants.
German parliament approved new measures to tighten asylum rules in an effort to stem an unprecedented influx of migrants. The package, which includes measures such as restricting family reunions for some migrants, was approved with a large majority of 429 votes to 147 against.
Ireland faced the prospect of political deadlock, after the first exit poll from the election indicated the governing coalition has failed to win enough votes to secure a second term.
Four people were killed and 14 were wounded, several of them critically, when an employee opened fire at a lawn mower factory in a small Kansas town, police said.
Sikhs in the US state of California have raised a record USD 400,000 for a national media campaign to generate awareness among Americans about their religion in the backdrop of increasing hate crimes against the community.
A gunman killed four people in a home in rural Washington state before fatally shooting himself after an hourslong standoff, said police. The gunman called authorities to say he shot and killed his family near the town of Belfair, near Washington.
Sexual abuse and harassment of women in New York State prisons persists and flourishes because the state's zero tolerance' policy is a sham, a lawsuit says. The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court asks a judge to force the state to prevent women from being sexually abused by male guards.
Fighting appeared to stop across most areas of western Syria after a cessation of hostilities came into effect under a U.S.-Russian plan which warring sides in the five-year conflict have committed to.
South Korea's military warned North Korea to halt all provocations', saying its reckless actions would only speed up the collapse of its dictatorial system.' The verbal volley comes a day after North Korea's military supreme command, angry over upcoming joint US-South Korean exercises, threatened to attack Seoul's presidential Blue House.
Nepal ended five months of fuel rationing after persuading protesters to end a border blockade that cut supplies of oil and other goods to the Himalayan nation.
Around 60% of voters cast ballots in Iran's elections after polling stations were kept open to allow millions of latecomers to participate, Tehran's interior ministry said.
Sushil Koirala's death has triggered a rift within the Nepali Congress, with some senior leaders demanding a probe into the \"unnatural and suspicious\" demise of the former prime minister and party president.
Pak activists hailed the passing of a historic bill protecting women's rights in Pakistan's most populous province, with the legislation establishing a helpline and shelters while calling for some defendants to wear GPS trackers.
Pakistani investigators are already in India to collect evidence regarding the Pathankot terror attack, say Pakistani media reports. India had alleged that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a banned militant outfit, was responsible for attack on an airbase in the Punjab on January 2 which left seven security personnel dead.
US State Department has defended their decision to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan saying that the planes were being used in counter-terrorism operations by the country. (Photo: AP)
Here's a look at the important events in the world this week.