UK aid worth £480,000 was seized by Somalian militants in November 2011.

Humanitarian aid supplies were taken from a warehouse during a raid by al-Shabab, revealed the Department for International Development.

Human Rights Watch condemned the arrest of prominent Bangladesh human rights activist, Adilur Rahman Khan today.

Khan was arrested under allegations that he had spread false information about the Bangladeshi government. Working for the Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar, in May, he published a report on violence during a protest by hard-line Islamists, which was met by deadly police brutality.

 Israel has issued tenders for the construction of nearly 1,200 units of housing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,  three days before the scheduled start of peace-talks, despite US and Palestinian opposition to the expansion of Jewish settlements.

Three US soldiers of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed after an attack by insurgents.

The troops were near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in the Paktia province just south of the capital Kabul.

No other details have been released.

Amnesty International called for Cambodian authorities to ensure that no blood was spilt in coming weeks, after armoured personnel carriers were spotted in the main city of Phom Penh.

Amnesty International deputy Asia Pacific director, Isabelle Arradon, warned in a statement,

Local authorities in a town west of Zurich, have introduced restrictions that ban asylum-seekers from visiting public places such as school playgrounds, swimming pools and libraries.

A total of 32 ‘exclusion zones' have been drawn up by the Swiss local authorities, in a move that has been denounced by human rights groups as racist and intolerant.

Over 50 political prisoners in Iran have signed a letter calling on US President Barack Obama to end sanctions against their country.

The letter, published by The Guardian, was signed by several prominent opposition figures and said sanctions currently in place have become collective punishment of the Iranian population.