The United Nations Security Council has imposed a travel ban on five of the leaders of the coup in April this year.

The council "demands that the Military Command takes immediate steps to restore and respect constitutional order, including a democratic electoral process, by ensuring that all soldiers return to the barracks, and that members of the 'Military Command' relinquish their positions of authority."

The UK is reluctant to host Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the London Olympics, reported the IRNA news agency on Thursday.

The US has announced the appointment of Derek Mitchell as the first ambassador to Burma in 22 years.

In a statement, President Obama hailed the beginning of a ‘new chapter’’ in US-Burmese relations.

A court in Moscow has ordered police to "liquidate" the anti-Putin demonstration, known as 'Occupy Abai', at the central Chistiye Prudy park.

Currently in its second week following the re-election of Vladamir Putin as the Russian president, Occupy Abai has seen widespread support with thousands of protesters gathering in the evening after work.

The former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic was accused of intending to ‘ethnically cleanse’ Bosnia of Bosniaks and Croats, the court heard on the first day of his trial.

Mladic is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff has inaugurated a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses from 1946-1988, including those committed during military rule.

However, an amnesty law, passed by the military regime in 1979, means that no one can face prosecution for crimes committed during military rule.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he is seeking the arrest of Bosco Ntaganda and Sylvestre Mudacumura, both of whom are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

A UN convoy, escorting unarmed UN monitors, came under attack during a government crackdown on protesters in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria on Monday.

India's former foreign minister and leader of the opposition BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), Yashwant Sinha, called on the UK to withdraw its aid money stating that India did not need "that kind of assistance or advice".

Welcoming the Indian finance minister's comments that UK aid was "peanuts" relative to India's overall budget, Sinha said,

NATO has criticised a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), urging it to investigate civilian deaths from air strikes during the alliance’s offensive against Colonel Gaddafi’s forces.

HRW claims in its report released on Monday that over 72 civilians were killed in 8 separate NATO air strikes.

European Union foreign ministers have failed to agree whether to boycott the Ukraine during the forthcoming Euro 2012 football tournament, due to the treatment of former Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko by the government.

China joined Japan and South Korea in condemnation of any further nuclear testing by North Korea.

Following a summit held in Beijing on Sunday between the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, and Lee Myung Bak of South Korea, the three countries deemed any future tests as "unacceptable".