WORLD

An intense firefight employing heavy machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades broke out between the rebels and the government forces in the closely guarded al-Mezze district of Syrian capital Damascus Monday, reports said.

China has become less dependent on arms imports and, at the same time, has increased the volume of its arms exports, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Peru’s economy is likely to be one of the region’s best performers in 2012, having shown resilience in weathering the global slowdown witnessed in late-2011 according to Capital Economics.

Colombia was one of the best performing emerging markets last year, growing by around 6 percent, and it should continue to do well over the coming years. However there are three reasons to think that the current pace of growth is unsustainable according to Capital Economics.

The magnitude of Mitt Romney's landslide win in Puerto Rico's Republican presidential primary election on Sunday indicates Rick Santorum's gaffe about the territory's principal language and its effect on the potential for statehood probably had an impact on the results.

For the fourth time since 1967, Puerto Ricans will cast their ballots to either change or maintain the U.S. territory's status. If voters in November jettison the status quo, they can choose between statehood and independence.

Puerto Rico will send 23 delegates to the Republican National Convention in August, so find out here when to look for the results of the 2012 Puerto Rico GOP presidential primary election conducted Sunday, where to watch on TV and online, and how to follow the race on Twitter.

To date, the 2012 Republican Party presidential-nomination process has been dominated by a faction that wants to nominate a conservative, but the least conservative candidate remains the GOP’s strongest: Mitt Romney.

With formal charges against his client likely within days, the lawyer for an Army sergeant suspected in the slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers was flying to Kansas Sunday and getting ready to meet the soldier for the first time.

A car bomb went off in Syria's second city of Aleppo Sunday, a day after explosions killed 27 in Damascus, and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare protest in the heart of the capital.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and killed an American teacher in Yemen Sunday, police said, and an al Qaeda-linked Musim extremist group claimed responsibility.

On Saturday, police arrested dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters in and around lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park. Hundreds had gathered there to mark the six-month anniversary of the first Occupy Wall Street rally.

Police Saturday night arrested dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters who assembled in New York's Zuccotti Park to mark the six-month anniversary of the movement.

The race here has gained never before attention thanks to the current state of the GOP race where the front runners are trying to grab every single delegate that they can get to clinch the nomination battle in their favor.

Activists of Ukranian women's rights group Femen staged a topless protest in front of the state prosecutor's office in Kiev Thursday, demanding capital punishment for the three influential men accused of allegedly gang-raping an 18-yer-old teenage girl, strangling her and setting her on fire in the Ukranian city of Mykolayiv earlier this month.

A majority of Japanese favor phasing out of nuclear power plants, a poll published in the Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun showed Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday celebrated the Saint Patrick's Day at a local and boisterous Irish pub with his ancestral cousin from Moneygall, Ireland, and enjoyed a pint of Guinness beer.

Kate Middleton paid an honoree visit to Aldershot, southwest of London, where she spent St. Patricks Day bestowing shamrock to 1st Battalion Irish Guards infantry Saturday.

Having stagnated over the second half of last year, Brazil’s economy is looking to have risen by 0.5 to1.0 percent q/q in Q1. However growing macro imbalances coupled with increasing signs of strain in the nation’s consumption-led growth model are clouding the outlook according to Capital Economics.

Portugal will endure the second deepest recession in the eurozone in 2012-13, according to Capital Economics.

Though the Swiss National Bank has pledged to maintain its extremely supportive policy stance keeping interest rates as close to zero as possible, the Swiss franc is much too high for exporters' comfort, according to Capital Economics.

Both front-runner Mitt Romney and chief challenger Rick Santorum have added campaign events in Illinois over the next few days in anticipation of the state Republican Party's presidential primary election on Tuesday.

One of Missouri's largest Republican Party presidential-nomination caucuses got shut down early -- and inconclusively -- after a chaotic argument led two Ron Paul supporters to be arrested on Saturday.

Actor George Clooney was released from jail Friday afternoon several hours after he was arrested after protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Libya is also seeking his extradition.

At least 27 persons were declared dead and 97 others were severally injured as two blasts rocked the Syria's capital Damascus Saturday morning, Health Minister Wael Al Halaqi stated on Syria News.

Missouri is getting attention for the second time this Republican presidential primary season. The Show-Me State held its first Republican presidential primary on Feb. 7, but it was, alas, all for show. It was what is known as a beauty contest: It didn't count.

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is known for his loyal support base. According to the figures, he is started with $1.6 million in hand for the month of March and in this indeed is a sign of distress for his campaign.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on Pakistanis to revolt against their government, treading the path of Arab Spring that rocked several Middle Eastern nations.