Security forces in Syria have shot dead at least six people at funerals for anti-government protesters killed on Friday, reports say. They opened fire on mourners gathering in a suburb of the capital Damascus and near the flash-point southern town of Deraa, witnesses said.

The US military has confirmed the first strike by an unmanned Predator drone aircraft in Libya. The Pentagon did not provide details of the target, but said that it occurred in the early afternoon local time. Drones can hit military targets more easily in urban areas, minimising the risk of civilian casualties. Earlier, Libya's government warned that tribes loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi might take over the fight against the rebels in the western city of Misrata.

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- The death toll from the most recent protests against the Yemeni government in Sanaa grew from two to five Wednesday and the number of injured more than doubled to more than 65, according to eyewitnesses and field medical staff.

The US soldier accused of leaking a trove of secret government documents later published by the Wikileaks website is to be moved to a military prison in Kansas, officials have said.

Libya's foreign minister says a British plan to send a military team to advise rebels fighting Col Gaddafi would harm chances of peace in the country.

Thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Nigeria after riots prompted by the election of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. In some towns residents slept in police stations for safety. The Red Cross says there have been significant numbers of casualties.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The European Union is prepared to launch a military operation for humanitarian assistance in Libya if requested by the United Nations, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Syria's government says unrest in the country's third-largest city, Homs, and in the northern city of Baniyas amounts to an armed insurrection. The warning came after thousands of demonstrators occupied the centre of Homs on Monday, vowing to stay until the president was ousted.

(CNN) -- Virginia and North Carolina emergency and clean up crews on Monday continued their work assisting the displaced, restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers and confirming the storm-related deaths of dozens of people.

Two soldiers have been killed and seven people hurt after a man in army uniform opened fire inside the Afghan defence ministry in Kabul, officials have said.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As fighting continued in the Libyan cities of Ajdabiya and Misrata Sunday, a rebel spokesman questioned the commitment of NATO's mission there.

Authorities in France have blocked trains from Italy in an attempt to stop north African migrants from entering the country. Trains carrying migrants and political activists have been stopped at the border - prompting Italy to launch an official complaint with its neighbour. Italy has angered France by giving out temporary resident permits to thousands of Tunisian migrants. The permits allow them to travel freely in many European countries. The Italian foreign ministry said the French move was "illegitimate and in clear violation of general European principles". Schengen infringement? Maurizio Furia, a spokesman for the Italian rail company, said that trains were not being allowed to pass into Menton, France, from the Italian border station of Ventimiglia. France says migrants have to prove they can support themselves financially and has set up patrols on the Italian border. But Italy says that France's actions are in violation of the EU's Schengen passport-free travel zone. "We have given the migrants travel documents, and we gave everything (else) that is needed, and the European Commission recognised that, it has said that Italy is following the Schengen rules," Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in an interview on Italy's Sky TG24 TV. Italy and other European countries have been increasingly concerned about migration from north Africa following the political turmoil in the region. Earlier this month, Italy and France agreed to launch sea and air patrols to try to prevent the influx of thousands of people from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Hundreds of chanting supporters waved green flags and pledged loyalty to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi after thunderous explosions believed to be NATO airstrikes pounded targets in the capital.

Tokyo (CNN) -- Engineers will need six to nine months to bring the damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to heel, the plant's owners said Sunday in their first public timetable for ending the crisis.

Kaduna, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nigerians headed to the polls Saturday to vote for president, a week after parliamentary elections were marred by violence and accusations of fraud in Africa's most populous nation.

Pro-government forces in Libya have been accused by a human rights campaign group of using cluster bombs, which are banned by more than 100 countries. Human Rights Watch said one of its photographers saw three mortar-launched projectiles explode over a residential area of Misrata, in western Libya.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he expects a state of emergency to be lifted law next week, after weeks of anti-government protests.

An international summit on Libya is under way in Qatar, with delegates hearing there is a "race against time" to help Libyan civilians. Qatar's crown prince said that every day that passed meant more victims. Rebels seeking to topple Col Gaddafi are making their first high-profile diplomatic appearance and will meet the newly formed "contact group" on Libya.

A suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people in an attack on tribal elders in eastern Afghanistan, the interior ministry has said. Pro-government tribal elder Haji Malik Zarin was killed in the blast in Kunar province near the Pakistan border.

(CNN) -- Women and children from a Syrian village rallied Wednesday for the release of their husbands and fathers snatched up by security forces the day before, an eyewitness told CNN. The women and children from Baida -- a village just southeast of the coastal city of Banias and north of Damascus -- are protesting the incarceration of men from the community.

Japanese authorities have raised the severity rating of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, seven. The decision reflects the total release of radiation at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is ongoing, rather than a sudden deterioration.