United Nations inspectors say a visit to Iran aimed at gaining greater access to key nuclear sites and scientists ended in failure, as the Islamic Republic's supreme leader warned no obstacle would derail his country's nuclear program.

The United States has expressed disappointment that a visit to Iran by United Nations nuclear inspectors ended in failure, as the Islamic Republic's supreme leader warned no obstacle would derail Tehran's nuclear program.

Syrian government troops kept up shelling of the protest-hub city of Homs Wednesday, killing nearly 20 people including two Western journalists. The shelling continues 17 days of attacks as the International Committee of the Red Cross tries to organize a humanitarian cease-fire.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is appealing for calm after several days of clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters left at least seven people dead across the country.

Iran says it has stopped selling crude oil to France and Britain, a move seen as retaliation for a phased European Union ban on Iranian oil that has yet to take effect.

German President Christian Wulff has resigned amid allegations he accepted favors during his time in a previous political post.

Activists say Syrian troops are shelling rebel-held areas in the central city of Homs, just one day after the U.N. General Assembly condemned the regime for violating human rights in its crackdown.

A suicide attacker on a motorcycle blew himself up in a market in a Pakistani town close to the Afghan border on Friday, killing 23 Shiite Muslims and wounding 50 people, officials said.

GENEVA, Feb 17 - The U.N. refugee agency says a new escalation of violence northwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu is forcing thousands to flee - many returning to the city they originally fled.

The United States has downplayed Iran's claims of advances in its nuclear program, saying Tehran is feeling the pressure of international sanctions and wants to distract from its growing diplomatic isolation.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has charged Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with contempt for defying its order to reopen old corruption cases against his party chief, President Asif Ali Zardari. If convicted, the beleaguered prime minister could face six months in jail and lose his job.

The Arab League has agreed to boost support for the Syrian opposition and urge the U.N. Security Council to form a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force to try to end the Syrian government's increasingly deadly crackdown on an 11-month uprising.

Al-Qaida's leader has voiced support for the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and called on Muslims from neighboring countries to come to the aid of Syrian anti-government rebels.

Syria's state-run news agency says gunmen have shot and killed a high ranking Syrian military officer in the capital, Damascus.

Syrian rights activists say government forces have bombarded the rebellious central city of Homs for a sixth day, killing at least 60 people and leaving makeshift hospitals overwhelmed as divided world powers struggled to end the violence.

In the Maldives, a criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for former president Mohamed Nasheed who stepped down from office earlier this week.

Clashes between police and supporters of the Maldives' former president, Mohamed Nasheed, have spread beyond the capital of Male to several outlying islands, a day after an alleged coup forced his resignation.

Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike has killed 10 people in the country's northwest tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Damascus Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and said afterward that Syria's government wants to resolve ongoing violence and work toward political reforms. The visit came as government forces pounded Syria's third-largest city of Homs for a fifth day.

Vetoes by Russia and China of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria condemning President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on his people and calling for him to step down have drawn outrage from around the world.