Syrian government and rebel forces battled for control of high ground on the Aleppo outskirts on September 24 as warplanes bombed the city's opposition-held east relentlessly in a Russian-backed offensive that has left Washington's Syria policy in tatters.

Yemen plans to complain to the U.N. Security Council over what it says are Iran's weapon transfers to Houthi allies fighting the internationally recognized Yemeni government, the foreign minister said on September 24.

At least 133 bodies had been recovered by September 23 from a boat carrying hundreds of migrants that capsized off Egypt two days earlier, Egyptian officials said.

Four people have been shot dead at a mall in northwest Washington state and the shooter has fled the scene, police said on social media.

The planned US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in the RoK is not negotiable as part of efforts to agree new UN sanctions on DPRK after its fifth nuclear test, but Washington is confident tougher steps will be agreed before long, the senior US diplomat for Asia said on September 23.

Warplanes bombed Aleppo on September 23 with what residents described as unprecedented ferocity after the Russian-backed Syrian army announced an offensive to fully capture Syria's biggest city, killing off any hope of reviving a ceasefire.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese leader to visit Communist-ruled Cuba on September 22, landing in Havana to hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on topics from boosting trade to curbing the DPRK's nuclear program.

Iraqi forces backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition gained complete control of the northern district of Shirqat on September 22, bringing the military a step closer to a main push on Mosul later this year.

Syria announced a new offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo on September 22 while diplomats failed to find a way in New York to revive a US and Russian-brokered ceasefire that collapsed this week.

Nine more bodies have been recovered from the Mediterranean a day after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off the coast of Egypt, officials said on September 22, bringing the death toll to 52.