As world powers backing peace talks continue to insist Syria's ceasefire is holding, residents of battered second city Aleppo can only express stunned disbelief.

"I don't know what truce they're talking about. There's no truce here," Abu Mohammed, a father-of-four living in the rebel-held east of the city, told AFP.

Saudi authorities will have to confront a range of vested interests if they hope to pull off an ambitious plan to diversify the economy away from oil, analysts said.

The "Vision 2030" plan, unveiled Monday by the kingdom's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to transform an economy that has for decades relied mainly on Saudi Arabia's vast oil resources.

President Barack Obama's challenge that Europe unite and shoulder more of the burden for its own security might soon be answered, in part, by a military mission off the Libyan coast.

"Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defense."

When the clock ticks down on Barack Obama's presidency, five years will have passed since he officially pulled U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

But little by little, American troops are returning -- thanks to the Islamic State group and their hold over parts of the region.

U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to Germany as being on the "right side of history" with her welcoming refugee policy, but critics on Monday slammed his praise as hollow lip service.

Speaking in the northern German city of Hanover, Obama said the embattled Merkel had "demonstrated real political and moral leadership" in letting in more than 1.1 million people fleeing war and misery.

Saudi Arabia's hard-charging Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holds unusual power for a man of just 30, so much so that diplomats have nicknamed him "Mr. Everything".

The key figure behind Monday's unveiling of a vast plan to restructure the kingdom's oil-dependent economy, the son of King Salman has risen to among Saudi Arabia's most influential figures since being named second-in-line to the throne last year.

Equatorial Guinea's tough President Teodoro Obiang Nguema seized power almost 37 years ago from a feared and ruthless uncle and has steered the tiny but now oil-rich nation with an iron glove.

Looking out from the Syrian capital these days, one can understand why President Bashar Assad would be in no hurry to make concessions at peace talks in Geneva, let alone consider stepping down as the opposition demands.

In Damascus, it is easy to forget the war. The airstrikes, the ruins and starvation, sometimes only few miles away, seem distant and unseen. Since a partial cease-fire went into effect at the end of February, the mortar shells from opposition-held suburbs have all but stopped.

In a country awash with guns, a faltering peace deal aimed at ending over two years of intense civil war in South Sudan came down to a dispute over just two dozen weapons.

The issue, while apparently minor, reflects the huge mistrust between the rival leaders, and is a sign of the massive challenges faced when -- or if -- rebel chief Riek Machar finally returns to the city and forges a unity government.

As the world prepares to mark the Armenian genocide, filmmakers and musicians are attempting to raise awareness among an American public largely ignorant of one of modern history's darkest episodes.

It is 101 years on Sunday since Turkey's Ottoman government began arresting minority community leaders and setting in motion a campaign of systematic slaughter that had left 1.5 million Christian Armenians dead by the early 1920s.