Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a surprise choice after Colombians voted "No" to an agreement he signed with rebels to end 52 years of war.

Hurricane Matthew has killed at least 102 people, the death toll in struggling Haiti alone rising to 98, local officials told Reuters, as the storm headed northward on October 6 battering the Bahamas en route to Florida.

Rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms, President Bashar al-Assad said on October 6, vowing to press on with the assault on Syria's largest city and recapture full control of the country.

The United Nations Security Council on October 6 unanimously nominated former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres to be the next Secretary-General, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for five years from Jan. 1, 2017.

France is to launch a new push for United Nations backing for a ceasefire in Syria that would allow aid into the city of Aleppo after some of the heaviest bombing of the war.

A global agreement to combat climate change will take force after support from European nations sent the accord across an important threshold on October 5, prompting US President Barack Obama to hail it as a "historic day" for protecting the planet.

Iraq launched a radio station on October 4 to help Mosul residents stay safe during the upcoming military offensive to dislodge Islamic State from the largest city under its control, state TV said.

Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on October 4, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July's failed coup.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on October 4 it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Britain on October 4 to maintain the closest possible links with the European Union as it negotiates to leave the bloc, saying the unity of Europe was paramount for transatlantic relations.