The Libyan government has closed its borders with its southern neighbours, over fears of an influx of illegal immigrants and goods.

A parliamentary decree declared that the southern regions of Ghadames, Ghat, Obari, Al-Shati, Sebha, Murzuq and Kufra would be "considered as closed military zones to be ruled under emergency law".

A Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus was reportedly struck by airstrikes from Syrian government forces, killing at least 8 people.

The strike on Yarmouk camp, the largest refugee camp in Damascus, reportedly struck the Abdel Qader Husseini Mosque, where more than 600 people had been sheltering.

Officials from the Afghan government are to hold talks with the Taliban and other groups, in Paris at the end of this week, aimed at discussing the pullout of NATO troops in 2014.

Speaking on RFI radio, France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said:

"Discreet talks have been taking place between different factions for three years," Fabius said.

Riot police arrested four opposition leaders at an anti-Putin rally in Moscow on Saturday.

The rally, techinically illegal, took place at the former KGB security police's headquarters, and were intended to mark one year from the first anti-Putin demonstrations.

Protesters marched shouting, "Free political prisoners!", and "Down with the police state".

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has slammed the UN Security Council for its lack of action against Sudanese war criminals.

She said the ICC had uncovered "ongoing pattern of crimes committed pursuant to the government-avowed goal of stopping the rebellion in Darfur," but the Security Council had not taken sufficient action.

Hamas supporters took to the streets earlier today, in the first pro-Hamas rally in the Fatah-led west bank, in five years.

Yielding the green flags of Hamas, supporters marched from the Nasser Mosque in Nablus and rallied in the central square, where they eventually called for a return to armed resistance against Israel.

The rally indicated the rising popularity of Hamas in the West Bank, following Israel’s eight day assault last month.

Fatah controls West Bank’s Palestinian Authority and, as a result of Hamas’s recent resilience, are facing pressure to offer Hamas concessions, such as more public rallies.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) president, criticised Hamas’ leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, for a fierce anti-Israeli speech in Gaza.

Marking Hamas’s 25th anniversary on Saturday, Meshaal vowed never to recognise Israel’s right to exist, reaffirming that Hamas "does not accept the two state solution” to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Rebuking the Hamas leader’s remarks, Abbas said,

“We recognised Israel in 1993. There is an agreement between Fatah and Hamas that recognises the two-state solution. Meshaal approved this agreement.”

Egyptian leaders hold high hopes of a win for the new constitution, as voters turned out in large numbers, in what have been described as peaceful polls, on a referendum on the draft constitution.

With a higher turnout than expected, Mr Morsi predicted a win for the ratification of the constitution, shortly after polls closed at 11pm on Saturday.

The Russian foreign ministry has denied that its position on Syria has changed after comments by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov were interpreted as such.

Ukraine's parliament broke out in a brawl for the second day running, after voting was held to decide whether to reinstate the country's Prime Minister.

Scuffles between government and opposition law makers broke out, after parliamentarians darted around the chamber pressing voting buttons for absent coleagues.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pushed EU leaders to discuss a commitment to arming or providing logistical military support to Syrian rebels at a European foreign ministers meeting on 31st January.

In what has been described as a major diplomatic victory for Cameron, the EU has instructed its foreign ministers "to work on all options to support and help the opposition and to enable greater support for the protection of civilians" and that the EU should work for "political transition... towards a future without President Assad and his illegitimate regime".

Russia has for the first time accepted that opposition rebels in Syria may defeat the current government around Bashar al-Assad.

Deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Assad’s forces are “losing more and more control and territory”.

A memorial dedicated to Kurdish victims of the Halabja genocide, where tens of thousands were killed by chemical weapons, has been unanimously approved by the Hague City Council.

Two Reuters cameramen were assaulted by Israeli soldiers in Hebron, West Bank on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

The soldiers punched the cameramen, forced them to strip in the street and let off a tear gas canister in front of them, leaving one of the victims in need of hospital treatment.

Sudan may face more charges for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, announced the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda.

Fatou Bensouda told the United Nations Security Council that war crimes including bombings, bombardments, the blocking of humanitarian aid and direct attacks on civilian populations, continued to be committed by Sudan.