An agreement on the rules for a referendum on Scottish independence is in its final stages and almost ready to be signed by Alex Salmond of the SNP and the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

A Scottish government spokesperson said:

Nato’s secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Tuesday that the alliance is ready to defend Turkey against any aggression from Syria, after a week of clashes between the neighbours.

Rasmussen spoke to reporters ahead of a Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels, and said,

"Genocide did not take place in Srebrenica. This is about individual guilt of members of the Serb people. The Serbian parliament condemned this crime, but did not say it was genocide.

No Serb recognizes that genocide took place in Srebrenica, and I am no different."

"Europe can ask anything except that we renounce Kosovo... In case it was necessary to renounce Kosovo, then it's more acceptable to us to forget about Europe (EU).

According to an independent analysis of criminal justice in the European Union, carried out by the London based organisation Fair Trials International, the abuses of Human rights in EU based criminal trials has doubled in the past five years.

The International Criminal Court is considering the venue of Saif al-Islam’s trial at a public hearing in The Hague.

Libya wants to try Gaddafi in the country and lawyer Ahmed al-Jehani told the hearing that patience was needed as it will take the authorities some time to organise a fair trial.

A 14-year-old Pakistani rights activist, Malala Yousafzai, was shot and injured in the Swat Valley in Pakistan.

A group of Northern Christian leaders - the Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NORSEF) demanded that the 2015 presidency be allocated to a Christian, citing marginalisation, reported The Guardian Nigeria.

The NORSEF chairman, Mathew Owojaiye and Secretary Illiya Yusuf said that Northern Christians would protest against Muslim politicians putting themselves forward for the contest.

In a statement, NORSEF said:

“The Federal Government must understand that Christian leaders are being put in a very difficult position. Why must we keep apologising to our people on behalf of the Federal Government? Why must we keep telling our people to be calm in the face of such provocations, slaughter and terrorist acts? Why is the Federal Government making us cowards, inactive and incapable leaders to protect our people and fight for their interest? Our youths are becoming restless and furious. We urge the Federal Government to show that they are truly in control. This nation is fast becoming a failed state”.

Owojaiye said:

“We the Christians boldly affirm that the next person to be president of this country from the north must be a Christian”

Hugo Chávez won the presidential vote on Sunday, securing another six year term in office.

Chávez's socialist part, polled 54.66% compared to 44.73% for the opposition leader Henrique Capriles of the Movement for Democratic Unity (MUD).

The former president of the Maldives, Mohamad Nasheed, has been arrested for failing to turn up at his trial for illegally arresting a judge.

A spokesman for Mr Nasheed's party, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, tweeted that Nasheed was "grabbed from protesting supporters" before being arrested and "taken away" from the southern atoll of Fares Mathoda.

The Philippine government has agreed a peace deal with the largest rebel group in the country, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).