Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim group, making it a natural ally of Shia-dominated Iran and Assad, who is an Alawaite, a Shia offshoot.
''The tests are about trying to create equality with China rather than trying to outdo it,'' an analyst at the New Delhi-based National Maritime Foundation, said, in a published report.
Continued shelling in the former rebel stronghold of Homs and the southern town Busra al-Harir killed two civilians and wounded dozens more.
Cancellation of the bilateral agreement may also lead to North Korea seeking to conduct a third nuclear test.
Former guerrilla freedom fighter Taur Matan Ruak won the East Timor presidential elections held Monday, according to the preliminary results announced Tuesday.
Toner also refuted concerns by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the West is wasting time
Leaders of the Syrian opposition met with Russian delegates in Moscow on Monday.
The United Nations has issued a unanimous statement on Monday denouncing North Korea's attempted satellite launch and warned of further actions in response to new ballistic missile tests or nuclear testing from the North.
Not one person was reported murdered in El Salvador on Saturday, which is revered as the first murder-free day in almost here years for the country that is being hijacked by violent drug gangs.
Iran and North Korea have long been suspected of having exchanged ballistic missile technology.
A team of thirty UN observers arrived in Syria late Sunday night to monitor the ceasefire situation on the ground, as artillery shells and mortars continued to pummel the Syrian city of Homs.
East Timor is holding the presidential run-off elections Monday and more than 700,000 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in 650 polling booths. Two former freedom fighters -Francisco Guterres and Taur Matan Ruak - are in a close race in the run-off.
Addressing Israeli concerns on Iran buying extra time of five weeks over its alleged clandestine nuclear weapons program during the first round of key talks with the six world powers, US President Barack Obama said his administration has not given anything away, defending the need for a diplomatic resolution.
Syrian government forces shelled Homs on Sunday, residents of the rebellious city said, as a six-person advance party of U.N. observers is due to arrive in Syria to monitor a ceasefire.
It's been 14 months since protests forced Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign, but a number of his former ministers are still wielding real power, and they could holding onto it for the foreseeable future.
The growing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan will likely dominate the first annual Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa
Syrian opposition leaders called for massive peaceful demonstrations around the country on Friday, just one day after the deadline of a joint Arab League-United Nations cease-fire expired.
Failure of the satellite and rocket, launched to mark the ascendancy of Kim Jong-un and celebrate the 100th birthday of North Korea's founder, the late Kim Il-sung, sparked fears the country will pursue further launches nuclear tests.
With the election of Suu Kyi into Myanmar's parliament, some Rohingya are optimistically cautious.
North Korea launched its long-awaited rocket Friday morning, but it fell apart within minutes, U.S. officials said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sternly rebuked North Korea on Thursday for its planned rocket launch, which is scheduled to take place sometime before Tuesday.
What will future generations know about everyday life in 2012? Swedish organization aday.org hopes to make things easier by creating a visual archive, documenting A Day In The World as it looked on May 15, 2012.
