Iran on Monday slammed a U.S. pastor's burning of a Quran, calling it provocative and demanding U.S. authorities take action to prevent any recurrence.

Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency that it "strongly condemns this ridiculous, insulting and provoking act by a so-called American priest in overt contempt of the holy Quran."

A U.S. judge will rule next week whether former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will face a civil lawsuit filed by a hotel maid accusing him of sexual assault, a court spokesman said Wednesday.

A ruling in the case against the disgraced French politician had initially been expected on Friday.

Potential Republican vice presidential candidate Marco Rubio on Wednesday said a unilateral "military solution," from the United States may be needed to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb.

Rubio, a freshman Senator for Florida, said in a speech in Washington that it was imperative that the United States not "stand on the sidelines" of a simmering Middle East, but instead provide leadership to resolve global crises.

Newt Gingrich has decided to quit the U.S. presidential race, U.S. media reported Wednesday, paving the way for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to be crowned the Republican nominee.

Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives, is expected to hold a final campaign event in Washington on Tuesday May 1, formally ending his White House bid and throwing his support behind his former opponent.

A Chinese naval ship is visiting Ho Chi Minh City, state media said Wednesday, as the U.S. and Vietnam continue a separate week-long naval exchange amid rising tensions in the South China Sea.

The Chinese vessel, which arrived in Vietnam's southern port city Monday on a three-day visit, will carry out "professional exchanges to share experience and foster friendly relations," the official Vietnam News Agency said.

The United States has committed to ensuring Afghanistan's security for at least 10 years after most of its troops pull out in 2014, the Afghan deputy foreign minister said Tuesday.

"That is a very important aspect of this relationship," Jawed Ludin said in response to a question about U.S. military commitment in a draft strategic partnership pact agreed on Sunday.

The White House has probed President Barack Obama's advance staff for any link to a Secret Service sex scandal in Colombia but found no evidence of "improper" conduct, a spokesman said Monday.

The clearing of White House staff who had gone to Cartagena to prepare for President Barack Obama's arrival came as the Pentagon said it had suspended the security clearances of 11 military personnel over the incident in the resort.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that the "killing of innocents" must end in Sudan and South Sudan, after weeks of border fighting in contested regions and tension between the two states.

"In Darfur, Abyei, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, the killing of innocents must come to an end. The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan must have the courage to negotiate because the people of Sudan and South Sudan deserve peace," Obama said at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington.

U.S. President Barack Obama Monday ordered new sanctions on Syria and Iran and the "digital guns for hire" who help them oppress their people with surveillance software and monitoring technology.

Obama announced additions to the pile of U.S. sanctions already faced by the two governments as part of a wider effort to crack down on human rights abuses, atrocities and genocide, at a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

The U.S. embassy in Kenya warned Monday of a possible attack which is "in the last stages of planning" on Nairobi hotels and key government buildings and urged American citizens to be cautious.

"Timing of the attack is not known, however, the embassy has reason to believe that the potential attack is in the last stages of planning," the embassy said in a statement.