United Nations

The year 2014 could be summarized as the year of elections for Turkey that resulted in the overall change in the political system with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan becoming the first president elected through popular vote, while Ahmet Davutoğlu took over the chairmanship of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Prime Ministry.

Bangladesh's war crimes court Dec. 30 sentenced a leading Islamist to death for rape, mass murder and genocide during the country's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Turkish Foreign Ministry refuted a United Nations report claiming that Turkey is being used as one of the primary routes for weapons smuggling to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra.

"Unfounded claims," the ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç told reporters on Dec. 30, elaborating on a report penned by the U.N. al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.

Turkey is being used as one of the primary routes for weapons smuggling to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra, according to a United Nations report.

BELGRADE - Serbia supports Iraq in its battle against the terrorists of the Islamic State, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said on Monday at a meeting with Iraqi Ambassador Falah Abdulhasan Abdulsada.

Palestinians plan to submit a final draft of a statehood resolution to the United Nations on Dec. 29 calling for a peace deal with Israel within a year and an end to occupation of Palestinian territories by the end of 2017, officials said.

A day after reports in the Turkish press indicated that Turkey’s seismic vessel Barbaros will withdraw from Cypriot waters next week, fueling hopes of a possible resumption of Cyprus talks, fresh reports over the weekend suggested that the Barbaros is heading for Greek territorial waters.

New hope for the possible resumption of stalled Cyprus talks emerged on Christmas Day amid reports in the Turkish media that the Turkish seismic vessel Barbaros would withdraw from Cypriot waters on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Serbia's State Secretary for Defence Zoran Djordjevic and Charge d'Affaires of the Spanish embassy in Belgrade Inigo Ramire de Aro agreed on Friday that the defence sector was an example good cooperation between the two countries.

Serbia and Spain should develop their relations through various forms of economic cooperation, they said.

With just blankets to shield them against the icy wind and rain, Abu Ali's family huddles in a flimsy tent in Lebanon - among the thousands of Syrian refugees struggling as winter sets in.