The United States provide $195 million more in food and humanitarian aid to Syria to mark the end of Ramadan, Barack Obama said this week.

Obama’s statement marking Eid al-Fitr, noted that the latest addition of humanitarian aid, would bring the total amount of aid allocated to Syria since the start of the conflict to $1 billion.

A meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Barack Obama has been cancelled after Russia decided to grant Edward Snowden asylum.

Obama will attend the G20 summit in St Petersburg but has cancelled a meeting with Putin, saying he was “disappointed” with Russia’s decision.

Five Indian soldiers have died in Kashmir after being attacked by unknown gunmen.

The Indian army has blamed Pakistan for the attack, but a Pakistani military official has told the BBC that "no fire took place" from their side.

Omar Abdullah,the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, said such incidents "don't help efforts to normalise or even improve relations with Pakistan and call in to question the Pakistan government's recent overtures".

International efforts to end the crisis in Egypt gained momentum as diplomats from the Gulf, the EU and the US met the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater, today.

Shater, who is currently imprisoned, met the diplomats in a 1 hour discussion, telling them to negotiate with the deposed president Morsi.

Fears of an al-Qaeda linked attack have placed Yemen's security forces on high alert, with tanks and tropps surrounding foreign missions, government offices and the airport in the capital city of Sanaa.

Both the US and the UK have withdrawn diplomatic staff from Yemen and urged their citizens to leave.

Members of a tribe in north-east India have begun a 100-hour strike to demand the creation of a separate state in Assam.

The Dimasa tribe want to turn Dima Hasao into their homeland, following on from protests by the neighbouring Karbi tribes people who also demand a separate state.

The calls follow the creation of the new state of Telengana after protests in Andhra Pradesh.

Human Rights Watch expressed concern over a bill, proposed by the Thai government, which will grant amnesty to soldiers and officials responsible for deaths in the 2010 upheavals.

On 7^th August parliament will discuss a bill that provides amnesty for all protestors charged with causing disturbance with no mention of its stance on military officials involved in violence against protestors.

Several US embassies will remain closed over an extended period, after the state department issued a global travel alert warning of an al-Qaeda threat, which will stay in place until the end of August.

A spokesperson for the department said in a press statement:

Given that a number of our embassies and consulates were going to be closed in accordance with local custom and practice for the bulk of the week for the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan, and out of an abundance of caution, we've decided to extend the closure of several embassies and consulates including a small number of additional posts.