Dozens of children were killed yesterday in a fire at a religious school near the Liberian capital Monrovia.

Iran’s supreme leader yesterday ruled out negotiations with the US “at any level”, as tensions mounted between the arch-foes after Washington blamed Tehran for weekend attacks on Saudi oil installations.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday its oil output would be back to normal by the end of the month, with half the production lost in weekend attacks on two key facilities already restored.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday that France will press to drop Sudan from the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and to support efforts to reintegrate the country into the international community.

Iran’s president said yesterday that diplomacy, not a military approach, was the only solution to the crisis in Syria, ahead of trilateral talks with his Turkish and Russian counterparts in Ankara aimed at forging a lasting truce in the region.

Vote counting began late yesterday after polls closed in Tunisia’s hotly contested presidential election, seen as crucial to strengthening the nascent democracy in the country roiled by economic woes and militancy.

The White House yesterday did not rule out a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, even after Washington accused Iran of being behind drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

Saudi Arabia raced on Sunday to restart operations at oil plants hit by drone attacks which slashed its production by half, as Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the assault.

Syrian troops shelled the south of Idlib on Sunday, according to rescuers and residents in the rebel stronghold where a ceasefire had halted a fierce army offensive two weeks ago.

The wife of Tunisia's late president Beji Caid Essebsi died on Sunday, as Tunisians were voting to elect his successor less than two months after his death.

Iran dismissed accusations by the United States that it was behind attacks on Saudi oil plants that risk disrupting global energy supplies

Rarely has the outcome of an election been so uncertain in Tunisia, the cradle and partial success story of the Arab Spring