All the Beirut news.

The Pentagon is embroiled in a row after releasing a digitally altered photo of a woman general.

A Syrian site bombed by Israel last year had features resembling those of a nuclear reactor site, a UN atomic watchdog report says.

US consumer prices dropped by a record 1% in October as fuel costs kept falling for a third month in a row.

Two UK hostages on the Saudi Arabian oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are named, as families call for a safe return.

The United States's biggest carmakers should be allowed to go bankrupt, a leading US politician says.

Al-Qaeda deputy leader calls on Muslims to harm America, describing President-elect Obama as a "house slave".

Leading Earth observation scientists urge Gordon Brown to back Europe's environmental monitoring project, GMES.

The owners of a Saudi oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are negotiating a possible ransom, the Saudi foreign minister says.

A choice of striking images from around the world

The trial of three men over the murder of Russian reporter and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya is closed to the public.

A Rwandan presidential aide is extradited to France from Germany in connection with the killing of a former president.

Paying for sex with prostitutes who are controlled by pimps or illegally trafficked to the UK is to be outlawed.

The owners of a Saudi oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates are negotiating a possible ransom, the Saudi foreign minister says.

Kenya's vice-president condemns the beating by prison warders of inmates, after secretly-filmed footage emerges.

The Pied Piper's services might be needed again in Hamelin, northern Germany, as the town's famous rats have returned.

Microsoft has announced it will offer a free anti-virus and security software suite and will discontinue its OneCare service.

The inadequacy of many reviews of child abuse cases in England means lessons are not learnt, says Ofsted's annual report.

European fisheries ministers agree a plan aimed at increasing dwindling cod stocks, including better nets and new quotas.

South Korean firm Daewoo says it is leasing a vast tract of land in Madagascar, which will produce half of its corn supply by 2023.

The international pressure group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), accuses police in Nepal of torturing children.