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Reuters - More than 200 people were killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, activists said on Saturday, as the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar al-Assad to give up power.

Reuters - Iran's oil minister called on the European Union to review its decision to impose sanctions on the Islamic state's oil exports and said that the international oil market was balanced.

Reuters - The White House received a letter last year purported to come directly from Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, asking the United States to deliver militant prisoners whose transfer is now at the heart of the Obama administration's bid to broker peace in Afghanistan.

Reuters - Sudanese rebels said they are looking for ways to hand over 29 Chinese workers held in the border state of South Kordofan, Chinese state media said, as Sudan's government confirmed the death of one worker in a firefight.

Reuters - Pakistan's prime minister will travel to Qatar next week to talk with officials from the Gulf Arab state on the Afghan reconciliation process, a senior government official said on Saturday.

Time.com - Four more die in a day of violent clashes, as anger over alleged police complicity in a stadium tragedy unleashes pent-up frustrations

AP - The Obama administration on Saturday called for stepped up U.S.-European cooperation to isolate tyrannies like the Assad regime in Syria, promote democracy in the Arab World and beyond and repair damage from the global financial crisis.

AP - Syrian forces unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery on the battered city of Homs on Saturday, killing more than 200 people in what appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said.

AP - Peruvian police have freed one of two Chileans arrested this week on suspicion of espionage.

Reuters - A leading senator warned Egypt's military-led government on Friday that "the days of blank checks are over" as an Egyptian army team huddled with State Department officials to discuss the future of $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

AP - The Afghan Taliban on Saturday denied that their leader Mullah Omar had written to President Barack Obama last July.

Reuters - Canada's prime minister drew an apparent line in the sand on foreign takeovers on Friday, saying he wanted to see BlackBerry maker Research In Motion grow "as a Canadian company" and questioning whether hostile takeovers of key domestic firms are in the country's best interests.

Reuters - Growing speculation that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard could be dumped by her party before the end of the year forced senior ministers to rally behind her Friday after a disastrous start to 2012.