Russia's defence ministry has denied a claim by a US official that four Syria-bound Russian cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea crashed in Iran.
ELSEWHERE:
NEW YORK - Powerful media magnate Rupert Murdoch has apologised after suggesting that Barack Obama was not "a real black president," triggering outrage.
LUXEMBOURG - European Union nations have agreed to speed up the deportation of failed asylum seekers as they took a harder line toward tackling the worst migration crisis since World War II.
BERLIN - German police have swooped on Volkswagen's headquarters, carrying away files and hard disks in their investigation into a massive pollution cheating scandal engulfing the auto giant.
COPENHAGEN - A Danish zoo says it will dissect a lion in front of children, undeterred by the international outrage that hit a Copenhagen zoo that last year did the same thing to a giraffe.
DUBLIN - Facebook will begin testing a new feature allowing users to express a range of emotions on posts in Ireland and Spain from Friday - but there will be no "dislike" button, the social network said.
GUATEMALA CITY - The death toll from a mudslide that devastated a village near the Guatemalan capital last week has risen to 208.
SULAIMANIYAH - Blood tests show the Islamic State used mustard agent in an attack on Kurdish peshmerga forces in August, the government of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region says.
BANGKOK - Thai police have launched an investigation into a brutal attack on two Australian men by several Thai security guards outside a club on the popular resort island of Phuket.
VATICAN CITY- Canadian bishop says the Catholic Church should think about allowing women to become deacons - one step below a priest - to help boost their involvement and influence.
