Syria has destroyed three of its 12 chemical weapons production sites but is unable to dismantle three other facilities because of security conditions, the OPCW chemical watchdog said in its latest report.

The report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was released on Wednesday to the UN Security Council, which is overseeing efforts to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons program.

More than a decade after the September 11, 2001 attacks the FBI has still not fully improved its domestic intelligence gathering and must accelerate reforms, an official U.S. report said Wednesday.

Some of the faults found with the gathering and sharing of information at many of the country's intelligence bodies following 9/11 are still not resolved at the FBI, according to the report. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday he opposed sanctions against Venezuela that were imposed last week by the United States.

President Barack Obama rubbed many governments in the region the wrong way by declaring Venezuela an "extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States.

Yemeni rebels closed in on President Abedrabo Mansour Hadi as they seized Aden's airport Wednesday, prompting warnings of a full-blown conflict and pleas for urgent foreign intervention.

The escalating turmoil in Yemen -- which borders Saudi Arabia and lies close to key shipping routes -- pushed up world oil prices on fears it could threaten Middle Eastern petroleum producers.

Angry relatives gathered outside a Myanmar court Wednesday to show support for dozens of activists, arrested after a police crackdown on a student-led protest and facing charges that could see them jailed for nearly a decade.

More than 60 demonstrators were brought to a court hearing in the central town of Letpadan two weeks after baton-wielding police violently quelled their rally for education reform in scenes that sparked fears of a return to junta-era repression.

Washington is considering launching air strikes, possibly within days, to back up Iraqi and Shiite forces battling to recapture Tikrit from the Islamic State jihadist group, U.S. officials said.

The statement came Tuesday after an official said the U.S. was already providing reconnaissance support for Iraqi forces there, the first confirmation of American involvement in the operation.

Yemen's descent into chaos has undermined the U.S. campaign against al-Qaida there, forcing Washington to abandon a strategy once touted as a model for counter-terrorism efforts.

President Barack Obama's decision last week to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops in Yemen from a base in the south underlined the gravity of the situation, with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) now potentially posing an even greater danger to the West, experts and former intelligence officials said. 

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that his disagreement with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to pursue a Middle East peace deal was substantive, not personal.

Netanyahu's declaration just ahead of his latest election victory that he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state angered the White House, which is still seeking a "two state" solution to the conflict.

Washington is providing reconnaissance support for Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday, the first confirmation of American involvement in the operation.

Such assistance could help Iraqi forces move forward with their largest operation against IS jihadists to date, which enjoyed initial success but has since stalled into a siege, with the city surrounded but not retaken.

A U.S. drone strike in eastern Afghanistan has killed nine militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban in an area close to the countries' rugged border, officials said Tuesday.

The strike came in the Nasyan area of the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, close to the border with the Pakistani tribal district of Khyber.