In a letter addressed to the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, Human Rights Watch urged Abbott to discuss rights issues with Asian leaders, and refrain from giving them a ‘free pass’.

The letter outlined Australia’s opportunity to make a significant progress in the region, with the right mixture of pressure and engagement.

Manchester’s airport is going to see a huge transformation worth £800m, partly funded by a Chinese construction company.

George Osborne, currently on a tour of China, announced the deal between Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), UK construction group Carillion, and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund which will see ‘Airport City’ being built by 2028, creating over 16,000 jobs.

The largest group in Syria’s opposition coalition says it will not take part in the proposed United Nations peace negotiations arranged in Geneva.

The Syrian National Council (SNC) leader George Sabra, said that he conditions for talks were not right whilst Syrians continued to suffer.

The African Union has called on the International Criminal Court to defer the trial of the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.

The trial, due to start in November, is on charges of crimes against humanity.

The AU has agreed during the summit in Addis Ababa that they would back immunity for sitting leaders of African countries.

UK Chancellor George Osborne has announced that visa restrictions for Chinese nationals will be relaxed, in order to make it easier for visitors from China.

"These changes will streamline and simplify the visa application process for Chinese visitors, while ensuring the system is strong and secure," said Osborne.

Spain’s highest criminal court has agreed to hear a lawsuit against former Chinese President Hu Jintao, as part of an investigation into whether genocide was carried out in Tibet.

The decision was made after an appeal against an earlier court decision to drop the case in June. Judges ruled they were competent to carry on with the case because one of the plaintiffs, Thubten Wangchen, holds Spanish citizenship.

Leaders of African Union members are currently meeting to discuss a withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the court is treating Africans unfairly and that it is specifically targeting African nations.

"Far from promoting justice and reconciliation... the court has transformed itself into a political instrument targeting Africa and Africans. This unfair and unjust treatment is totally unacceptable," he said.

The UK Ministry of Justice has confirmed that convicted war criminal and former president of Liberia Charles Taylor will serve his 50-year prison sentence in Britain.

Justice minister Jeremy Wright told parliament in a written statement that, "former President Taylor will now betransferred to a prison in the UK to serve [his] sentence".