Turkey has called for a meeting of Nato members to consult over its response to the downing of one of its fighter jets by Syria.

Tahrir Square became the site of public anger once more on Friday, as tens of thousands of protesters returned to denounce Egypt's military rulers.

Condemning what they state is effectively a military coup, protesters vowed to continue their protests until democracy was achieved.

New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch has said the US is blocking the publication of a UN inquiry into rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN report includes details of Rwandan funding for the rebels in the neighbouring country.

The rebels are led by General Bosco Ntaganda, also known as ‘Terminator’, who is wanted for committing war crimes.

Saudi officials are to pay the Free Syria Army wages in a bid to encourage mass defections, reports The Guardian on Friday.

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has addressed both Houses of Parliament during her visit to Great Britain.

Ms Suu Kyi met Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron at No 10.

At a joint press conference the prime minister paid tribute to Ms Suu Kyi.

More than one million people around the world took part in marking World Refugee Day  on 20th June, remembering the 42 million people who are currently displaced from their homes.

In his keynote speech, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that many more millions had been displaced in the past 18 months from Cote d’lvoire, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.

A Syrian air force pilot, Colonel Hassan Hamada, defected to Jordan on Thursday, flying his MiG-21 fighter plane over the border to the King Hussein military air base in Jordan.

According to Jordanian officials the defecting pilot was seeking aslyum.

Jordan's Minister of State for Information, Samih al-Maaytah, said to the Reuters news agency:

The head of the observer mission to Syria, General Robert Mood, has told the Security Council that the UN team was targeted by gun fire and hostile crowds, ahead of his decision to suspend the mission.

Diplomats say Gen Mood described how his 300 unarmed monitors were targeted at least 10 times by direct fire and nine UN vehicles were struck in the past week alone.

France has warned Iran of tougher sanctions if it doesn’t negotiate seriously over its nuclear program.

Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said the EU should implement an agreed oil embargo from July 1.

The MV Alaed, currently off the coast of Scotland, is believed to be carrying Mi-25 attack helicopters and anti-ship missiles for Syria, a move that drew the ire of the United States.