The UN has brokered a deal between Syria and the Islamic State, which will allow hundreds of members of the militants' families and injured fighters to leave a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.

The head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, told Reuters that the group will be given safe passage to travel to Raqqa and other IS controlled areas, eventually ending the militants' presence in Damascus.

A U.N. spokesman told reporters in New York: "The U.N. is an observer to the agreement concerning Yarmouk, but not part of it, which we understand should come into effect in the coming few days."

India has signed 16 deals with Russia during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow.

Mr Modi told President Vladimir Putin that India sees Russia as a reliable friend and said the countries are cooperating in the international and political arenas more actively, according to Russian news agency TASS.

The agreements signed included helicopter and nuclear reactor manufacturing, railways, solar energy, heavy engineering and hydrocarbons.

Mr Putin said that Russia and India were consistently and confidently developing the strategic partnership.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari says his military was now close to completely defeating Boko Haram militants.

Speaking to the BBC, President Buhari said the militants could no longer mount conventional attacks against security forces or population centres.

"I think, technically, we have won the war," he said.

The militants have been forced to cut back on suicide bombings as a result of the military action against them, President Buhari further said.

An operation by French troops in Mali has left 10 militants, thought to be behind the recent hotel massacre, dead or captured.

The troops raided a location near Menaka, in Mali's east, on Saturday, seizing arms and vehicles.

The target of the raid, the al-Murabitoun group says it was behind the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako in November.

The Russian government has rejected a report by Amnesty International, which accused Russia's military of indiscriminate attacks.

Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said he saw "nothing specific and nothing new" in the report and dismissed the claims as "total lies".

"We examined this report," Mr Konashenkov told a briefing in Moscow.

Over 200 civilians have died since Russia launched air strikes in Syria, a report by Amnesty International says.

The human rights group says it "researched remotely" more than 25 Russian attacks in five areas between 30 September and 29 November, and found "serious failures [by Russia] to respect international humanitarian law".

The Supreme Court in Panama has ordered the arrest of former president Ricardo Martinelli over accusations that he used public funds to illegally spy on more than 150 people, including trade union activists, politicians, lawyers, doctors and business people.

Burundi's army is accused of killing dozens of people on December 11, according to Amnesty International.

The rights group says that some of the dead were killed extra-judicially by members of the security forces.

Fire was exchanged across the Israeli-Lebanese border after the death of a senior member of the Hezbollah movement.

Samir Qantar was killed in a rocket attack, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, near Damascus, Syria.

The Israeli army said it fired artillery shells into Lebanon after rocket attacks from across the border.

Turkey says it will pull more of its troops out of northern Iraq, following a partial withdrawal earlier this week, soon after US President Barack Obama urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "de-escalate tensions" with the Iraqi government.