Burma is tightening restrictions on press freedom, despite their recent promises to reform and end censorship, warned the press watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF).

In a report published on Friday, RSF said,

Martin McGuinness, the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and former IRA commander has met and shook hands with the Queen. The meeting took place at a charity event in Belfast on Wednesday morning.

The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has failed in his attempt to be cleared of all charges at The Hague war crimes tribunal.

Karadzic denies 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He is accused of being responsible for the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, which left over 7,000 Bosniak men and boys dead.

Russia has said it will support a proposal to form a national unity government, consisting of members of both the government and the opposition.

Kofi Annan’s plan will be discussed at a conference in Geneva on Saturday with the UN Action Group on Syria.

Addressing his new Cabinet, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, remained defiant, and instructed the Cabinet to defeat the 16-month-old uprising.

Assad said,

“We live in a real state of war from all angles,”

An Egyptian journalist was deported by the Sudanese government on Tuesday, as authorities continued to try and end anti-austerity protests.

The journalist, Salma El Wardeny, who works for Bloomberg News, had been covering the protests and uploading videos of protests on the site YouTube.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has proposed a $10 billion loan for countries in Latin America to fund infrastructure projects.

Speaking near the end of his tour to the region, Premier Wen also proposed a free trade agreement between regional trade bloc Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

South Korean officials have confirmed that oil imports from Iran will be halted from 1 July, due to EU sanctions.

The EU has imposed a ban on insurance of vessels carrying the product, in order to to hit Iranian oil revenue.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has told parliament that the military rules of engagement with Syria have changed and it will view Syrian troops approaching the border as a threat, after a Turkish plane was downed after mistakenly crossing Syrian airspace.

Mr Erdogan described Syria as a “clear and present” threat.

Thirty percent of UK direct aid to the Ugandan government will by cut due to concerns over government corruption and the country's increasingly intolerant stance towards homosexuality.

In a statement the Department for International Development (DFID) said,

Mohammed Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was announced as the winner of Egypt's contentious presidential election on Sunday.

Beating rival, and former Mubarak ere Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, with 51.73% of the vote, Mursi was declared the winner by the Higher Presidential Election Commission. Shafiq obtained 48.27% of the vote.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians flocked to Tahrir Square to celebrate his victor, shouting "down with military rule!"

See here, here and here.

In his victory speech, Mursi thanked the "blood, tears and sacrifices" of his fellow Egyptians.

Mursi said,

"Today I am a president for all Egyptians, wherever they may be,"

"Thanks to our unity and our love for each other, we will able to make a respectable future for ourselves."

According to the state-run news channel, Nile News TV, the country's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, also congratulated Mursi on his victory.

Libya's former prime minister, al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, was extradited to Libya by the Tunisian authorities on Sunday, making him the first senior Gaddafi regime official to be tried for his part in the brutal crackdown of anti-government protesters.

High ranking military figures from the Syrian army were part of a group of soldiers that have defected to Turkey, one of the largest to have done so since the start of the conflict.

A general, two colonels, two majors and over 30 soldiers crossed the border into Turkey’s Hatay province on Sunday night.

The head of the Syrian Olympic Committee, General Mofwak Joumaa, has been refused a visa to the UK, reports The Times on Saturday.

Home Office sources reportedly said the visa was refused due to General Joumaa's senior military rank and links to the Assad regime.