Two days after Indian police arrested 14 people over the alleged gang-rape and murder of a teenager in the state of Jharkhand, a 17-year-old is reportedly battling for her life after being raped and set ablaze in the same state.

Vladimir Putin has been sworn in for another six years as Russian President, buoyed by popular support but weighed down too by a costly confrontation with the West, a fragile economy and uncertainty about what happens when his term ends.

Israel could respond to any Iranian attack on it from Syria by toppling president Bashar al-Assad's government, an Israeli security cabinet minister says, hinting that Mr Assad himself may be targeted for assassination.

Police in Papua New Guinea find passports without entry stamps as they investigate whether a Chinese businessman is running an illegal immigration scheme for workers for Chinese state-owned companies.

A 22-year-old attacker is arrested after opening fire at one of the Pakistan Government's most senior figures at close range, leaving Ahsan Iqbal with a bullet wound to his arm.