Armenia has warned its neighbor and traditional enemy Azerbaijan that it's ready for war if it has to fight one. President Serzh Sarkisyan made a statement after Azerbaijan gave a hero's welcome to an Azeri officer who'd served eight years in a Hungarian jail for

hacking

an Armenian colleague to death during Nato language course in Hungary. Budapest sent him back to Azerbaijan last week to serve the rest of his sentence there. But Azerbaijan pardoned him, promoted him and paid him eight years back wages.

Opposition activists in Syria say more than 30 people have been killed in a government airstrike on al-Bab, a town in the north of the country. They said several children and women were among those who died. Opposition groups also said more than 100 others were killed in different parts of the country.The Syrian information minister said the campaign against the rebels would continue

irrespective of

any political moves to halt the violence.

The larges rebel group in Colombia, the Farc, has confirmed that exploratory talks are underway with the Colombian government on reaching a peace deal. The Farc leader, Rodrigo Londono, said the rebels were coming to the table without

rancor

or arrogance. It was the first official statement by the Marxist guerrilla group since the Colombian president first announced that preliminary talks with the rebels had been held. The Farc have been fighting the government for almost five decades.