The statement, which was tabled by the United States was not moved as all 15 security council members failed to provide their approval.

The family of the British surgeon, Mr Khan, who was found dead in his Syrian cell, on the day of his release by the Assad regime, have criticised the British government's handling of the affair accusing the Foreign Office of abandoning him.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Khan's brother, Dr Shahnawaz Khan said, "I believe the British government have failed my brother."

“What took place in Juba was a misunderstanding between presidential guards within their division, it was not a coup attempt,” he told Sudanese press today.

The US Ambassador to Syria has announced that the Islamic Front, a newly formed organisation battling against the Syrian government, has refused to engage in talks with the United States,  in an interview aired on Wednesday.

Speaking on Al-Arabiya television, American envoy Robert Ford called the rejection "an extremely negative development", stating,

An amnesty law which will see many of Russia's most high profile political prisoners released has been approved by MPs and could come into effect as early as Thursday.

Although the amnesty is officially part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution, it has also been seen as an attempt to appease human rights concerns in the run up to Russia's hosting of the winter Olympics in 2014.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled earlier today that denial of the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide constitutes “freedom of expression”.

The ruling comes after a Turkish politician was charged by Swiss courts for publically labelling the mass killings an “international lie” and brought his appeal before the European court.

The ECHR ruling stated that

China has called for all parties to work towards a ‘diplomatic solution’ on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, following a row over the expansion of a US sanctions blacklist earlier this week.

Noting that the framework agreement deal signed by Iran was "an important step", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, stated, 

A former Rwandan mayor found guilty of genocide by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in 2011 has on appeal had his sentence extended from 15 to 25 years.

In 2011 Gregoire Ndahimana was found guilty of “genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity” for failing to intervene when police under his command attacked a church where Tutsis were sheltering.

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, has said that clashes in the capital Juba were due to an “attempted coup”.

The president said soldiers loyal to ousted Vice-President Riek Machar were behind the fighting, which erupted the shots were fired near a ruling party conference.