The international community must rule out military intervention as a solution to the Syrian crisis, the leader of a global Islamic group said Wednesday.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said he remained involved in "quiet diplomacy activities" with Syrian President Bashar Assad over the power struggle that has cost around 6,000 lives over the last 11 months. The violence has led to the country's most severe international isolation in more than four decades of Assad family rule.

The U.N. Security Council expressed concern Tuesday over food shortages in areas affected by clashes between Sudan and South Sudan and called on Khartoum to allow humanitarian access.

A statement by the council expressed "deep and growing alarm with the rising levels of malnutrition and food insecurity in some areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States in Sudan, which could reach emergency levels if not immediately addressed."

Iranian police and security forces deployed in several areas of Tehran on Tuesday, residents said, to head off any demonstration marking the anniversary of an opposition protest that resulted in two deaths and many arrests.

The forces transported by car, bus and motorbike, many in riot gear, took up positions on key squares and streets in the city, the residents said on condition of anonymity.

Novak Djokovic has been awarded the top state honor in Serbia.

President Boris Tadic has decorated the tennis great with the Karadjordjeva Star Medal, the highest honor in the Balkan country.

A string of blasts rattled Bangkok on Tuesday, seriously wounding a man believed to be Iranian when an explosive device he was carrying detonated in a residential area of the Thai capital.

The city has been on edge since the United States last month warned of a threat of a terrorist strike on Bangkok's tourist areas, but it was unclear whether there was any link.

Four pharmaceutical companies that make a crucial cancer drug for children that's suddenly in short supply are being urged to try to quickly step up production to prevent unnecessary deaths.

A senator and three doctor groups late Monday sent the pleas to the companies, saying that hospitals will run out of the drug in days to weeks, increasing chances that young patients who might otherwise survive will die.

World stock markets sagged Tuesday after ratings agency Moody's slapped credit downgrades on six European Union countries due to the region's weak economic outlook and uncertain attempts to implement reforms.

Benchmark oil hovered above $100 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

Oil prices hovered below $101 a barrel Tuesday in Asia ahead of U.S. crude supply figures that will provide clues about the strength of demand.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 1 cent at $100.92 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.24 to settle at $100.91 on Monday.

Police aren't filing charges against a father who briefly played a pornographic video instead of "The Smurfs" at his child's birthday party.

Tremonton Police Chief Dave Nance tells the Standard-Examiner of Ogden the man had rented a copy of "The Smurfs" from a kiosk and loaded the disc into his laptop. But when he turned the projector on for the children, pornographic images flashed on the screen.

Many Iranian web users say their access to foreign email services such as Gmail, Yahoo mail and Hotmail appears to have been restored after a four day outage.

Elaheh Ansari and Reza Estiar are among dozens of Internet users who told The Associated Press that their access was back on Monday.