UN officials began negotiations with Syrian rebels on thursday to free a group of captured UN peacekeepers, although the rebels assured that peacekeepers' well-being, distancing  themselves from threats to hold them hostage.

The retired commander of Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica cannot be prosecuted for his alleged involvement in the killings, ruled authorities on Thursday.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decree calling for parliamentary elections was cancelled by an Administrative Court on Wednesday, leading the election comittee to scrap plans for the voting to begin next month.

Although Mursi barred the courts from challenging his decisions last year, he promised to respect Wednesday's ruling.

Britain will supply non-lethal military equipment to the Syrian opposition, announced the Foreign Secretary William Hague to parliament today. Calling the rebels a “moderate, democratic opposition”, Hague said the equipment would include body armour and armoured four-wheel drive vehicles, as well as training, search and rescue equipment, and kits to test for chemical weapons.

Around 20 observers of the UN in the Golan Heights have been detained by Syrian rebels.

The Martyrs of Yarmouk group are reported to have told the BBC that they had taken the observers to stop Syrian troops from shelling them.

The territory, on the Syrian-Israeli border has recently seen fighting between government forces and rebels.

South Korea has warned that it would retaliate against any hostile action from North Korea.

Army General Kim Yong-hyun said there would be "resolute retaliations" should South Korean lives be under threat.

The UN Security Council unanimously voted to ease the ban on the sale of weapons on Somalia after 21 years.

The embargo will be eased for a year, opening the opportunity for the government to arm its military with light weapons, however heavy arms will still be banned.

Prosecutors in France have sought a genocide trial for a former Rwandan army captain, in what could lead to be the country's first attempt at prosecuting perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

The former Maldives president, Mohamed Nasheed was arrested on Tuesday by police, ten days after he left the Indian High Commission where he had fled to avoid arrest.

Police made the arrest following a court order issued after Nasheed missed a court appearance on 10th February. He has been accused of illegally detaining a judge during the final days of his presidency.

The US has tabled a resolution at the UN Security Council, calling for sanctions on North Korean officials and financial transactions.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday evening, losing a two-year battle to cancer.

Born in 1954 and described as the vanguard of "21st Century Socialism", Chavez took office in 1999 and was re-elected for a six-year term in October 2012.

Chavez named his Vice-Preisdent Nicolas Maduro as his preferred successor in December 2012.

Israel launched two Palestinian only bus routes in the West Bank on Monday, a move which has been criticised as racist. (See here)

Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a Libyan revolutionary commander turned politician, made his offering challenging British government claims that a new secret courts had to be introduced to prevent large payouts, after a £2.2 million was paid to another dissident.

Belhaj is demanding a pound each from the British government, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Sir Mark Allen, former head of counter-terrorism at MI6.

In a letter published in the Independent, Belhaj says,

"Various media reports I have seen suggest that our motive for bringing this case is to enrich ourselves. I wish to lay this misconception to rest."

"But we have come to court in Britain because we believe your courts can deliver justice. We are primarily bringing this claim to secure a public judgment, recognising the wrongs we have suffered.

"I have seen press reports of ministers seeking to justify secret trials on the basis that the government has to pay large settlements to protect national security. You can now settle this case at little cost to the UK taxpayer. There will be no harm to the security of the British people for the government and Messrs Straw and Allen to accept their responsibility, and apologise to me and my wife."

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has called for access to Iran’s Parchin military complex “without further delay”.

Director general Yukiya Amano said to the IAEA’s governing board: