War and other crises drove one person from their home every 4.1 seconds last year, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday, pushing the number of people forcibly displaced to a two-decade high of 45.2 million.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday broke off crucial security talks with the United States, angry over the name given to a new Taliban office in Qatar that is meant to facilitate peace negotiations.

Fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah joined Syrian troops battling rebels near Damascus on Wednesday, monitors said, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime kept up a push to cut off the insurgents' supply lines.

The United States and the Taliban raised hopes for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan with commitments to meet this week after 12 years of bloody and costly war between American-led forces and the insurgents.

Afghan forces have taken over the lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition for security nationwide, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai announced on Tuesday in a significant milestone in the 12-year war.

Newly elected president Hassan Rowhani struck a diplomatic chord in his first news conference but offered little real change in key policy areas, especially on the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Two suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday, one blowing himself up at a nearby checkpoint while the other slipped inside during prayers. The blasts killed 31 people, Iraqi officials said.

Deep differences over Syria's fierce civil war clouded a summit of world leaders Monday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin defiantly rejecting calls from the U.S., Britain and France to halt his political and military support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime.

Russia said on Monday it would not permit a no-fly zone to be implemented over Syria, following reports that plans for such a measure were being drawn up by the United States.

Moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani hailed his win in Iran's presidential election as a victory over “extremism” as thousands of supporters celebrated in the streets into the early hours of Sunday.