The United States on Wednesday renewed its travel warning to Lebanon and advised U.S. citizens already in the country to remain cautious.

“The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon because of ongoing safety and security concerns. U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks,” the department said in a travel advisory on its website.

The French government said that six Mirage fighter jets would be deployed to Jordan on Thursday to assist in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a weekly cabinet meeting that the deployment of the six fighters would "strengthen our presence in this theatre of operations," according to government spokesman Stephane Le Foll.

Tens of thousands of Christians have fled Syria's war-wracked second city Aleppo but many others are determined to hold out despite their dread of Islamic State jihadists.

Christians of various denominations make up around 10 percent of Syria's population and Aleppo alone was home to some 250,000 before the civil war reached the city in 2012.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday slammed U.S. "impertinence" on the Syrian conflict, exposing the extent of strains between Washington and Ankara days after his key meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Ties between the the U.S. and Turkey have soured in recent months over the reluctance of Turkish leaders to intervene militarily in the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State jihadists, who have taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria. 

Aung San Suu Kyi's party Wednesday said Myanmar is expected to hold high-level political talks within days aimed at amending a controversial junta-drafted constitution that bars the opposition leader from becoming president.

The summit -- the second and potentially most important meeting of top officials since the end of army rule -- was approved by parliament Tuesday as Myanmar debates charter change ahead of crucial 2015 elections.

Residents of the U.S. town of Ferguson said Wednesday they hoped racially-charged violence sparked by the Michael Brown case will abate, but nationwide protests suggest anger is still simmering.

Violence erupted in the St Louis, Missouri suburb for a second night Tuesday over a decision by a grand jury not to prosecute a white police officer for shooting dead Brown, an unarmed black teenager.

Special forces in Yemen rescued eight hostages including "a foreigner" on Tuesday just hours after Al-Qaida seized them at an air base in the violence-wracked country, military officials said.

Seven Yemeni soldiers and a man three Yemeni military sources said was an American -- despite denials -- were abducted when the militants assaulted Al-Anad base in the southern province of Lahij.

Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday accused his successor of helping Shiite Huthi militias overrun Sanaa to curb the growing influence of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.

Saleh, who has been slapped with U.N. Security Council and U.S. sanctions for obstructing peace, said in a television interview he had played "no role" in supporting the unopposed seizure of the capital by the Huthis, known also as Ansarullah, in September. 

U.S. President Barack Obama warns that "significant gaps" remain with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, as a deadline for a deal looms large.

Iran and world powers, including Washington, engaged Sunday in a diplomatic blitz less than 36 hours before the cutoff time for an agreement, with officials on both sides insisting they were still pulling out all the stops in the Vienna talks.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul in a bid to ease strains over the Syria crisis and persuade Turkey to step up its support for the coalition against Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

The trip to Istanbul by Biden, the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Turkey since Erdogan was elected president after over a decade as prime minister, comes amid unusual tensions in the traditionally strong relationship between the two NATO allies.