A truck bomb at an Iraqi checkpoint south of Baghdad killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 70 on March 6, medical and security officials said, and Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast.

Fetuses in 29% of pregnant women with Zika virus infection were found to have a range of severe abnormalities, according to preliminary results from a small study that raised new concerns about the potential link between Zika and serious birth defects.

China faces a tough battle to keep its economy growing by at least 6.5% over the next five years while creating more jobs and restructuring inefficient industries, Premier Li Keqiang said as he opened China's annual parliament on March 5.

The European Commission set out a timetable on March 4 to restore the fraying 26-nation Schengen open border area by year-end, warning that failure to do so would cost the European economy up to 18 billion euros (US$19.7 billion) a year.

China's economy is facing greater difficulties and challenges in 2016 as the government forges ahead with structural reforms, state radio on March 4 quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK's) leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and to turn its military posture to "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on March 4.

EU Council President Donald Tusk told illegal economic migrants on March 3 not to risk their lives or money to make a perilous trip to Europe "for nothing" but said unilateral actions by European Union states to deal with the crisis must stop.

The European Union, faced with a growing refugee crisis in Greece, launched a new aid program on March 2 worth an initial 700 million euros that mirrors the kind of disaster relief it offers developing nations.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) faces harsh new UN sanctions to starve it of money for its nuclear weapons program following a unanimous Security Council vote on March 2 on a resolution drafted by the United States and Pyongyang's ally China.

The build-up of thousands of migrants and refugees on Greece's northern borders is fast turning into a humanitarian disaster, the United Nations said on March 1 as the European Union prepared to offer more financial aid.