World News Update, what you need to know

amal, has died after a blast in his residence in Prague, apparently while opening an old safe which had been brought from the previous embassy (building) to the new one.

ELSEWHERE:

MOGADISHU - A car bomb has struck a hotel near a UN compound in Mogadishu before a second blast went off as emergency services rushed in, killing several, police and witnesses say.

BEIRUT - Syrian warplanes have bombed a barren range of Lebanese hills used by Syrian rebels and refugees to cross between the two countries, wounding at least 10 Syrians who were rushed to hospital in a nearby Lebanese town.

VOLGOGRAD - Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a pre-dawn visit to the city reeling from two suicide bombings this week, bringing gestures of sympathy for the victims and questions for the officials he has ordered to beef up security.

JUBA - Government troops and rebels are engaged in fresh clashes in South Sudan, despite planned peace talks.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, laying out his hopes for the just-begun year, has urged people to work for a world where everyone accepts each other's differences and where enemies recognise that they are brothers.

BAGHDAD - Violence has claimed the lives of 7818 civilians in Iraq in 2013, the UN says, in what is the highest annual death toll in years.