North Korea, one of the world's most repressive societies, branded the United States a "kingpin" of human rights abuses Tuesday, following revelations of the U.S. government's Internet surveillance program.

A bylined commentary in the government's official Minju Joson newspaper said U.S. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden had exposed the global nature of the NSA's intrusive monitoring activities.

As Shimon Peres turns 90, the indefatigable Israeli president is doing what he has always done: looking ahead, preparing for the next challenge and believing that he will see Middle East peace in his lifetime.

Old age has hardly slowed him down. If anything, it seems to have handed Peres a measure of the grace that eluded him as a younger man. And at a time when Israel is widely criticized for its ongoing occupation and continued settlement of war-won land, he operates as something of a one-man reminder that the country once aimed — in its 1948 Declaration of Independence — to be a "light unto the nations."

Communist insurgents wearing military uniforms abducted five soldiers in the southern Philippines, in the latest of a series of violent acts following the collapse of peace talks, authorities said Tuesday.

The New People's Army guerrillas set up a roadblock on the outskirts of Davao City on Monday and seized the five soldiers as they were passing through on motorcycles, said military spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala.

President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday announced the transfer of nationwide security from NATO to Afghan control, a major milestone as the U.S.-led war effort winds down after 12 years.

Shortly before Karzai's speech at a handover ceremony, the location of which had been kept a secret, a prominent lawmaker escaped a bomb attack in Kabul that killed three civilians, underlining the country's continuing instability.

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil expressed regret on Tuesday that Hizbullah's “anti-democratic” move in supporting the extension of parliament's mandate had harmed the Free Patriotic Movement.

In an interview published in pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Bassil, who is an FPM official, said Hizbullah “stabbed democracy” and “harmed us with its knife along with harming democracy.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi demanded on Tuesday the formation of a neutral cabinet to bridge the gap between the March 8 and 14 alliances and achieve reconciliation.

“The March 8 and 14 coalitions sit on one table to save the country,” al-Rahi told reporters at Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport before heading to the Vatican.

A Jordanian with alleged an extremist jihadist group has admitted to the Lebanese Army intelligence that he provided military assistance to Syrian armed groups via Lebanon.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper, 43-year-old Mahmoud S. was detained 10 days ago in in the Bekaa district of Baalbek in his possession a fake identification card for a Palestinian man called Ahmed Hujeir.

The extension of parliament's four-year mandate is heading to validation this week amid another lack of quorum for the Constitutional Council which should discuss petitions against the extension.

A new meeting for the council was set for next Friday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat is expected to head to Saudi Arabia capital soon to discuss the cabinet crisis, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, Jumblat will discuss the cabinet standstill amid reports that he voiced support Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's efforts to equally distribute portfolios among the March 14 coalition, the March 8 alliance and the centrists, whereby each would be represented by eight ministers.

Speaker Nabih Berri began his consultations to reach common ground among foes over the formation of Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's cabinet, media reports said on Tuesday.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Berri is exerting efforts to resolve the government crisis.