Tens of thousands of protesters broke through the barbed wire military barricades to demonstrate outside Egypt's presidential palace.

The swelling of protests comes after the Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi had refused to consider opposition demands to withdraw the proposed constitution, in a defiant televised address on Thursday.

A senior Russian politician has stated that the Syrian government has not been capable of doing its job, in a sign that Russia may be trying to distance itself from its long-standing ally, reported Reuters.

China announced made it clear to India on Wednesday, that it would oppose any “unilateral” oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said,

The Indian army has been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to a report by human rights organisations based in the territory.

Peace talks between Farc rebels and the Colombian government have resumed, after air raids by the government killed over 20 rebels earlier in the week.

A Farc negotiator refused to comment on how the strikes, just few days after the first phase concluded, will affect the talks, reported the BBC.

Tuareg separatists in Mali have given up hopes for an independent state in the north of the country.

The rebels made the announcement after talks with the Malian government in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

The talks, between the government, Tuareg forces and Islamist rebels, also saw the Islamist Ansar Dine, pledge to reject all forms of extremism.

"Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria."

Nato has approved the deployment of the Patriot missile defence system on the Turkish border with Syria, as fears grow over the use of chemical weapons by Assad’s regime.

The sentences of two ex-paramilitary Bosnian Serb commanders have been upheld by the International Criminal Court.

The two former members of the 'White Eagles' Serb paramilitary group, were contesting their guilty verdicts, on the back of Serbian protests against the tribunal’s unfair targeting of Serbs.

The UN-established International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has handed over the case of a former Army Lieutenant Colonel to Rwanda for trial – marking the last case to be transferred by the UN tribunal.

Lieutenant Colonel Phénéas Munyarugarama faces charges of genocide, incitement for genocide, murder and rape amongst others.

The British and French governments have summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries, after Israel said it would build 3,000 more settlements in Palestinian territory.

The BBC quoted a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as saying:

The head of the United Nations Peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expressed disappointment at the recent suspension of Radio Okapi broadcasts, a radio station backed by the UN.

The well-known spokesperson of the Syrian Foreign Ministry, Jihad al-Makdissi, is reported to have fled the country on Monday, becoming the latest in a long line of defectors.

Makdissi worked in the foreign ministry for over 10 years, and spoke eloquantly in English, making him a prominent public face within the regime.