"It is important that he died of natural causes in a regular prison".

“It is at the very least an unfortunate decision which will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering”.

“We haven’t concealed that we have been supplying weapons to Syria based on signed contracts without violating any international treaties or Russian legislation, one of the strictest in the world in terms of export control”.

“This weapons transfer is obviously disappointing and will set back efforts to promote the political transition that is in the best interests of the Syrian people and the region”.

“There is now greater urgency for the U.S. to step up assistance to the moderate opposition forces who can lead Syria after Assad.”

 The international rights group Human Rights Watch said proof of widespread, arbitrary detentions and torture by Assad’s regime had been found in recent visits to regions captured by the rebels.

Among the findings were the use of solitary confinement cells and a various torture devices.

Human rights watch have long accused Assad’s regime of committing grave abuses, despite constant denial by the Syrian Government.

The Australian parliament passed a controversial immigration bill on Thursday, allowing for all asylum seekers to have their applications processed off the mainland in Nauru and Manus Island.

In an effort to deter asylum seekers, the legislation that excises the mainland from the migration zone, effectively removes the previous advantage to asylum seekers who reached the mainland by boat, whereby they could not be sent offshore for processing.

(See here).

The United States Treasury Department sanctioned four senior Syrian officials, including the Syrian Defence, Justice , Industry and Health ministers.

The state parliament of New South Wales has passed a motion recognising the killing of 1.5 million Armenians, 750,000 Assyrians and 500,000 Greeks between 1915 and 1922 as genocide, earlier this month.

Smithfield state Liberal MP Andrew Rohan paid tribute to an Australian soldier who helped rescue his Assyrian parents, in a speech to the state parliament last week, while noting the genocide carried out by the Ottoman empire.

The European Union has pledged to donate €520m to aid Mali’s reconstruction at an international donor’s conference in Brussels.

The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said the money would help Mali become "stable, democratic and prosperous".

"The support of the international community is essential to establish a Mali that is stable, democratic and prosperous. But the principal actors in this transition are the Malians themselves and their government," he said.

A former political police chief has been arrested in Chad, after he accused of killing and torturing hundreds during the 1980s.

Mahamat Djibrine is accused of “torture, acts of barbarism and illegal detention" and may find himself extradited to Senegal to face trial. He was arrested for crimes under former President Hissene Habre, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Iran will be the chair of a United Nations conference on nuclear disarmament in Geneva later this month.

The Conference on Disarmament will be attended by 65 countries and is the world’s most important forum to discuss disarmament.

The spokesperson to the US mission in Geneva, Erin Pelton, has said that his country will not be represented at the conference.

A preliminary investigation into the 2010 Israeli on the Gaza flotilla will be opened said the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid from Turkey was bound to the Gaza strip when Israeli forces raided it. Nine people died.

In a statement the prosecutor explained she a preliminary investigation was needed following a referral made by the island nation of Comoros in the Indian Ocean.