Feb 04 (BBC) The number of civilians killed and injured in the Afghan conflict has risen for the fifth year in a row, a UN report reveals. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) documented 3,021 civilian deaths in 2011 compared with 2,790 in 2010 and 2,412 in 2009. Most deaths were caused by insurgents, the report found.

Feb 03 (Xinhua) ISLAMABAD- The UN refugee agency Thursday called for additional international solidarity with Pakistan and Iran which continue to host large numbers of Afghan refugees after more than 30 years. There are currently 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Since 2002, more than five million Afghan refugees have already left for home, the majority with assistance from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Feb 03 (AFP) Europe's cold snap has claimed 164 lives, as countries from Ukraine to Italy struggle with temperatures that plunged to record lows in some places and with more cold weather forecast. Entire villages were cut off in parts of eastern Europe on Thursday, trapping thousands, while road, air and rail links were severed and gas consumption shot up during what has been the severest winter in decades in some regions.

Feb 03 (Xinhua) BEIJING- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that if sanctions on Iran do not prove effective, Israel will consider initiating military action to thwart the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Ehud Barak, Israeli Defense Minister, said, "The sanctions recently approved are a step in the right direction, and they should be tightened quickly until the goal will be reached, if it will be reached at all, the goal of stopping the program.

Feb 03 (BBC) Thousands of former Maoist fighters in Nepal have begun demobilising, five years after they ended their armed revolt. More than 7,000 fighters, confined to camps since 2007, are receiving money to help them return to civilian life. Under a peace deal ex-rebels were given the choice of retiring with a lump sum, retraining or joining the army.