By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in a referendum on Sunday to grant him sweeping powers in the biggest overhaul of modern Turkish politics, but opponents said the vote was marred by irregularities and they would challenge its result.

By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean missile "blew up almost immediately" on its test launch on Sunday, the U.S. Pacific Command said, hours before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was due in South Korea for talks on the North's increasingly defiant arms program.

By Ahmad Sultan and Hamid Shalizi ACHIN, Afghanistan/KABUL (Reuters) - The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said on Friday that the decision to deploy one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat was purely tactical, and made as part of the campaign against Islamic State-linked fighters.

By Phil Stewart and Steve Holland WASHINGTON/PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America's "vital national security interest" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

By Steve Holland and Andrew Osborn WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration accused Russia on Tuesday of trying to shield Syria's government from blame for a deadly gas attack, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson brought a Western message to Moscow condemning its support for President Bashar al-Assad.

By Michael Martina and Sue-Lin Wong BEIJING/PYONGYANG (Reuters) - Military force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China said on Thursday, while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its nuclear program in exchange for Chinese protection.

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia blocked a Western-led effort at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to condemn last week's deadly gas attack in Syria and push Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad to cooperate with international inquiries into the incident.

By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's acting president warned on Tuesday of "greater provocations" by North Korea as tension on the Korean peninsula rises over concern the North may conduct a test of its military hardware in coming days. A U.S.

By Johan Ahlander, Johannes Hellstrom and Niklas Pollard STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - A joint command center made up of the forces of Russia, Iran and militias supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday said the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base on Friday crossed "red lines" and it would respond to any new aggression and increase its support for its ally.