By Tom Perry and Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels fought fiercely with pro-government forces trying to advance into opposition-held areas of eastern Aleppo and warplanes kept up their bombardment of the area on Friday in a renewed bid by Damascus to retake the entire city.

By Rozanna Latiff and Praveen Menon KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Malaysia's capital on Saturday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak over his alleged involvement in a multi-billion dollar misappropriation scandal.

CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi-led military coalition will start a 48 hour ceasefire in Yemen's war at noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The truce will be extended if Yemen's Houthi movement shows commitment to it and if the group allows humanitarian aid into areas under siege, the news agency reported.

By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama gave a strong endorsement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday and used a visit to Berlin to warn Russia about consequences for intervening in the U.S. election and prod Donald Trump to hold firm against Moscow.

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos will be buried on Friday at the heroes' cemetery in Manila, the national police chief said after the Supreme Court cleared the way for his internment 27 years after his death in Hawaii. Police chief Ronald dela Rosa said he had only learned about the burial late on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vietnam is extending a runway on an island it claims in the South China Sea in apparent response to China's building of military facilities on artificial islands in the region, a U.S. think tank reported on Thursday.

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out at the "hypocrisy" of the West for closing borders to an exodus of refugees he said he would welcome to his country and accept until it was "filled to the brim".

LIMA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he discussed Ukraine and "all aspects" of Aleppo including renewed bombing in the Syrian city this week in a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council approved on Thursday a one-year extension of an international inquiry to determine blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, paving the way for a showdown over how to punish those responsible.

By Stephen Kalin MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - A vehicle shielded with metal plates and driven by a suicide attacker turned onto a main road filled with soldiers in eastern Mosul and burst into a ball of fire, causing several casualties.