Girl's tears as Pope blesses migrants

Pope Francis has met some of the thousands of migrants at the Moria camp on the Greek Island of Lesbos.

Deadly tornado rips through Uruguay town

At least four people have been killed and several seriously injured, after a powerful tornado hit the city of Dolores, in Uruguay's southwest.

The moment Ecuador earthquake struck

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 77 people in Ecuador, this is the moment it struck.

Indonesia holds dialogue on 1960s communist purge

The killings of at least half a million Indonesians who were accused of being communists is being publicly discussed for the first time in 50 years.

Up until now, government leaders have not revealed exactly what happened during one of the darkest periods of Indonesian history.

Researchers estimate that half a million or more communists, and people accused of supporting them, died in those years - killed by soldiers and some religious groups that had an anti-communist agenda.

Survivors have come from all over Indonesia for this historic opportunity.

Never before have victims of the communist purge in the mid-1960s been asked to speak at a government symposium.

"The government of Joko Widodo is reaching out to us and I happily accept the gesture as long as our main principle is upheld that the truth will be told and justice will be done," said Sri Sulistiawati, a former prisoner.

Mass graves from the massacre are scattered across the country but Indonesians have always been kept in the dark over what really happened.

The army ordered the killings after seven generals were murdered in what was seen as a failed coup in 1965, which was blamed on the communists.

One of those killed was the father of Agus Widjojo, a retired general who told Al Jazeera it was about time for the government to deal with its past.

"This case has been in our past for 50 years now," Widjojo said.

"We haven’t been able to solve it as a nation. Where are we going if the nation is still divided and doesn’t want to make any effort to find a solution?"

The events of 1965 continue to be a sensitive subject.

When survivors tried to hold a meeting to prepare for next week's symposium, a conservative group known as the Islamic Defenders Front threatened to attack the gathering.

Conservative groups - often backed by the military - have long resisted any discussion of the killings.

The survivors are asking for a special court to be set up to hear those accused of the 1965 killings.

However, the Indonesian government favours a process of "national reconciliation", saying those who orchestrated the violence five decades ago have already died.

Human rights groups have insisted that the truth about what happened must be told.

Turkey and Iran agree to strengthen economic ties

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani have agreed to strengthen economic ties and cooperate in the fight against "terrorism".

Their meeting on Saturday in Erdogan's palace near the Turkish capital Ankara came a day after Iran was accused of supporting armed groups and interfering in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries, including Syria and Yemen, at a summit of Muslim heads of state in Istanbul.

In a joint press conference on Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey and Iran must collaborate to narrow their differences in order to tackle violence and sectarianism in the region.

"It is above all in our own countries' interest to strengthen our political dialogue and reduce our differences of opinion to a minimum," Erdogan said.

"We have to work together to overcome the problems of terrorism and sectarianism and the related humanitarian crises that are shaking our region," he added.

"The situation is ripe for cooperation between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era," Rouhani said at the news conference.

"The most important part is closer ties between banks and credit lines. We decided to improve banking relations.

"Turkish banks can now establish branches in Iran to help facilitate economic relations between the two countries," he added.

Despite their rapprochement, Turkey and Iran remain on opposing sides of several fronts, including the civil war in Syria.

Ethiopia: Armed men 'kill 140' near South Sudan border

Ethiopia says armed men have killed 140 people near its border with South Sudan and abducted at least 39 children.

Ethiopia's Communications Minister Getachew Reda said the attackers were members of South Sudan's Murle tribe.

He said security forces were chasing the attackers and had killed 60 so far.

Ethiopia is hosting thousands of South Sudanese refugees who fled the 2013 clashes that began when President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar, accusing him of plotting a coup. 

Mr Machar denied the charges, but then mobilised a rebel force to fight the government. He is due to return to the capital Juba to form a transitional government as part of a peace deal.

Mr Reda told the BBC the attackers were not thought to have any links to the South Sudanese government or rebels.

Ethiopia's Gambella province, where the raid took place, has a history of conflict between communities and a sizable Nuer population, Mr Machar's ethnic group.

The Murle have previously been accused of carrying out cattle raids and stealing children to raise as their own.

Almost 250,000 Evacuated After Japan Quakes

Close to a quarter of a million people have been evacuated from their homes as the search for survivors goes on after a series of strong earthquakes in southern Japan.

The rescue operation in the worst-affected region, Kumamoto prefecture, continued overnight, despite deteriorating weather conditions, with strong winds and heavy rain.

The death toll from Saturday morning's 7.3-magnitude quake now stands at 32, with a thousand more injured. Nine others were killed in Thursday's tremors.

Travelling towards the epicentre, we saw ambulances and a number of doctors' cars as volunteer teams arrive from across the country.