The United States will continue to funnel nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition, and urges the international community to unite against Bashar Assad’s regime, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

The State Department is providing $100 million worth of nonlethal aid to those seeking to overthrow Assad. The opposition in Syria rose after protestors brought down long-term regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

Turkey says it has banned Syrian passenger planes from Turkish airspace in the latest sign of growing confrontation between the two neighbors.

Turkish authorities announced the ban on Sunday, four days after intercepting a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus and confiscating what they said were military supplies on board.

Ankara has accused Damascus of using civilian airliners to bring in weapons for Syrian troops fighting an 18-month rebellion, and has vowed to prevent Turkish airspace from being used for such purposes.

President Hugo Chavez's election victory appears to mean that relations between Venezuela and the United States will remained strained. Chavez has been a fierce critic of the U.S. while nurturing friendships with U.S. adversaries like Cuba, Iran, and Syria, and his first news conference after his election seemed to reinforce some of those positions.

First news conference

North Korea is warning that its rockets are capable of striking the continental United States, two days after Seoul said it signed a deal with Washington to allow South Korea to extend the range of its ballistic missiles.

A spokesperson for the North's National Defense Commission said in state media Tuesday Pyongyang has "strategic rocket forces" that can hit not only the mainland U.S., but also American military bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam.

Delegates with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a handful of East Asian countries and other Western powers skirted controversy over the heated issue of conflicting claims in Asia-Pacific waters during a meeting this week in the Philippines.

Diplomats joined security experts, maritime officials and others to discuss regional cooperation, the protection of marine resources and trade routes at a time when there has been growing tension over territorial disputes throughout the region.

Pakistan and Russia have held high-level discussions focusing on how to expand their political, economic and military relationship. But analysts believe Afghanistan is at the center of the intensified diplomacy as both countries are positioning themselves in anticipation of expected withdrawal of most U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan by 2014.

Pakistani military chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani traveled to Moscow this week while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Islamabad.

The Turkish parliament has voted to authorize further military operations outside its borders after it struck Syrian targets on Thursday in response to a deadly cross-border mortar attack that killed five civilians.

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said the one-year measure is not a declaration of war, but is intended as a deterrent against aggressive action by Syria.

The Turkish official said his government is acting in coordination with international institutions in its response to the artillery shelling by Syria that struck the southeast border town of Akcakale.

The United States is expanding its military presence in Africa to counter the growing influence of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other militant groups throughout North and West Africa.

U.S. concerns have been growing as militants have seized control of large parts of Mali and made their presence known across the region, through a campaign of bombings and other attacks from Nigeria to Libya.

Hitting closest to home for the United States was the killing of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

The North Atlantic Council has extended Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s four-year term as NATO secretary general for another year, until July 31, 2014, the council announced.

“Allies will support Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in his dedicated work to carry forward NATO’s tasks, missions and objectives, based on consensual allied decisions,” a written statement from the council read.

In a short briefing from NATO headquarters in Brussels this morning, Rasmussen said he is honored by the trust and support of allied governments.