NATO partners are considering ways of beefing up their training and assistance mission in Afghanistan as concern grows over the ability of local forces to fight an escalating insurgency by Taliban militants, according to officials in Brussels and Kabul.

Brazilian authorities late on November 7 were investigating a second suspected death after two dams at a major mine in the country's southeast burst and unleashed a massive mudflow that wreaked havoc across more than 80 km (50 miles).

A Russian plane which crashed in Egypt last week was flying on auto-pilot and appeared to break up in mid-air after a sudden noise but it is too soon to conclude exactly what brought it down, the lead investigator said on November 8.

The Obama administration is moving to increase and accelerate the number of Syrian refugees who might be admitted into the United States by opening new screening outposts in Iraq and Lebanon, administration officials said on November 6.

Moscow suspended passenger flights to Egypt, and the United States imposed new air travel security requirements in the wake of the crash of a Russian jet in Egypt, as Western officials pointed on November 6 to the conclusion it was brought down by a bomb.

France will deploy its aircraft carrier to support operations against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, President Francois Hollande said on November 5, bolstering Paris' firepower in the region amid international efforts to launch Syrian peace talks.

Rescuers at the site of a collapsed factory in Pakistan continued to dig through the rubble on November 5, as the death toll rose to at least 21, officials said, describing the latest tragedy to spotlight poor safety standards in South Asia.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will visit a U.S. aircraft carrier transiting the East Sea on November 5, a move sure to raise the ire of China as tensions between Washington and Beijing simmer over the disputed waterway.

Siam Commercial Bank Pcl , Thailand's third largest lender, said it has received a licence from Vietnam's central bank to open a full branch in Ho Chi Minh City as part of its expansion into one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing markets.

The US military said on November 4 it was moving toward providing additional weaponry to Syrian opposition forces battling Islamic State after territorial gains in the past week by the US-backed fighters.