The Syrian army recaptured on Monday an Alawite village in central Hama province where rebels "massacred" civilians earlier this month, state news agency SANA said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said that at least 25 members of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect were killed by Islamist fighters in the village of Maan on February 9.

Saudi Arabia, which supports the rebels in Syria, on Monday blamed the Damascus government for the failure of peace talks in Geneva last week.

A second round of U.S. and Russian-backed peace talks between regime representatives and the opposition broke down on Saturday in the Swiss city with no date set for a third round.

Iraqi soldiers and police backed by helicopters and tanks on Monday battled militants for control of a northern town that has repeatedly changed hands in recent days, officials said.

Militants on Thursday took part of Sulaiman Bek and nearby areas in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad, setting off a cycle of clashes with security forces.

The European Union signed over 12 million euros to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Monday to help pay for the dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons program.

The funds had been pledged to the OPCW in December by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to help cover the 25-million to 30-million euro cost of destroying Syria's chemical materials.

Egyptian police said Monday a suicide bomber was likely behind an attack on a tour bus that killed three South Koreans and signaled a possible change in tactics by militants who have mainly targeted security forces.

The bombing on Sunday, near the Taba border crossing with Israel, was the first targeting tourists since the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July sparked a militant campaign that has killed scores of police and soldiers.

More than 450 Indian migrants working in Qatar have died in the last two years, data shows as the Gulf state is under pressure over its rights record ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

In response to a Right to Information request filed by Agence France Presse, the Indian embassy in Qatar gave figures detailing the number of deaths in 2012 and the first 11 months of 2013.

Libyans on Monday marked the third anniversary of their revolt which ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi fearful for the future of a country plagued by lawlessness.

Putting on a brave face, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was briefly abducted last year by militants, said revolution had achieved the goals of "ending tyranny and securing freedom of expression".

Israeli President Simon Peres on Monday hailed remarks by Mahmoud Abbas on the Palestinian refugee issue which he said showed the Palestinian president's "seriousness about reaching peace."

"I was happy to hear him," Peres's office quoted him as saying at the start of a meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.

Yemeni authorities have foiled an attack on the oil refinery in Aden and arrested 27 suspected al-Qaida militants linked to the operation, police said Monday.

The thwarted strike was the latest in a series of attacks targeting security forces and vital installations, including oil pipelines, in a country grappling with a thorny political transition.

Powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's announced exit from politics two months before elections may be a "gift" to rivals but could also be another temporary withdrawal, experts say.

Sadr's political career began with his fierce opposition to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and has spanned more than a decade.