EU ministers on Monday agreed to renew sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which includes an arms embargo to all sides.

Britain had earlier demanded that the embargo be lifted, but the EU instead agreed only to allow 'non-lethal' aid and 'technical assistance' to flow to the opposition.

Hezbollah forces have attacked three Syrian villages near the Lebanese border according to the Syrian opposition.

The Lebanese Shia group has always denied sending fighters to assist Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The European Union eased sanctions on Zimbabwe in acknowledgment of the government's political reforms, whilst also pledging to lift sanctions on a state run Zimbabwe diamond mining company if the country holds fair elections.

UN investigators said on Monday that they had identified Syrian leaders as suspected war criminals, who should face the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The UN Security Council was urged by the investigators to take urgent action to hold people accountable for violatons committed by both sides, including murder and torture, in the civil war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Syrians will be allowed to cross the ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights, in "exceptional" cases, after 7 injured Syrians were taken for hospital treatment by Israeli soldiers.

Seven foreign workers have been kidnapped in a raid on a compound in northern Nigeria.

It has been reported that a group of men armed with guns and explosives attacked the camp of a Lebanese construction company, snatching a British man along with Greek, Italian and Lebanese co-workers.

The British foreign office has called on Chad to arrest the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the international criminal court for five counts of crimes against humanity, is due to attend a regional summit in Chad.

Kosovans came out in celebration on Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the state's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.

In the capital Pristina people came out onto the streets to celebrate.

The European Union has called on Israel to respect international humanitarian law on the treatment of prisoners, after widespread rioting in the West Bank over the treatment of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners.

European Union spokesperson Catherine Ashton stated,

Yemen’s former president and vice-president have been warned by the UN Security Council that they will face sanctions if they do not stop interfering in the Yemen’s democratic reforms.

Ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his deputy Ali Salim al-Beidh are accused of meddling in the country’s affairs and the Council also expressed concern about reports that weapons and money were being smuggled into Yemen.

Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian protesters on Friday, outside an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank.

OVer 300 protesters who had gathered by the Ofer prison to show their support for Palestinians detained inside threw stones at the Israeli troops who used stun grenades, tear gas and fired rubber bullets into the crowd to break up the protest.

A "viable" pipe bomb was found by Forth River Primary school in Belfast on Friday.

Police said that the device was found by a member of the public in Forth River Road at approximately 3pm. The spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: