A bomb has exploded in a Hezbollah dominated neighbourhood in southern Beirut, killing at least 22 people.

It is thought the attack is related to Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, supporting the government.

Hezbollah politicians have condemned the blast as a “terrorist attack” and called on their supporters to remain calm.

A UN team is due to inspect sites of alleged chemical attacks in Syria after an agreement was reached with the government.

"The government of Syria has formally accepted the modalities essential for co-operation to ensure the proper, safe and efficient conduct of the mission," a spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Eduardo del Buey, said.

The UN Security Council is due to meet in a closed emergency session to discuss the violence in Egypt, a day after over 600 people were killed by security forces closing in on Muslim Brotherhood protests.

Egypt is currently in a state of emergency with the interior ministry authorising police to use live ammunition in self-defence or when dealing with attacks on government buildings.

Scores of protestors were killed in Cairo as the Egyptian army cleared protest camps in the capital.

The protestors, there in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, have been in the camps since July.

The Egyptian security forces have now declared a month-long state of emergency in an attempt to quell the demonstrations.

The first direct Israeli-Palestine peace talks in three years resumed today, according to Israeli officials.

International medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders/MSF) announced that it would shut down all operations in Somalia after 22 years of working there.

The group's international president, Unni Karunakara said:

Western officials and Syrian rebels have stated that the Sudanese government have been supplying arms through Qatar and Turkey to the rebels despite an international arms embargo in the area.

The president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan threatened to intervene to defend the Kurdis population caught up in the Syrian conflict.

A ruling requiring proof that atrocities were "specifically directed" could mean that generals and politicians evade responsibility for war crimes in future.

Human rights groups fear difficulty in delivering justice in the wake of massacres after a series of acquittals by the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has created a new judicial precedent.

UK aid worth £480,000 was seized by Somalian militants in November 2011.

Humanitarian aid supplies were taken from a warehouse during a raid by al-Shabab, revealed the Department for International Development.

At least 44 people were shot dead during dawn prayers at a mosque in the Northern province of Borno in Nigeria.

The killings, suspected to be carried out by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, took place on Sunday morning.

Human Rights Watch condemned the arrest of prominent Bangladesh human rights activist, Adilur Rahman Khan today.

 Israel has issued tenders for the construction of nearly 1,200 units of housing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,  three days before the scheduled start of peace-talks, despite US and Palestinian opposition to the expansion of Jewish settlements.

Three US soldiers of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed after an attack by insurgents.

The troops were near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in the Paktia province just south of the capital Kabul.

No other details have been released.