A Syrian ship with weapons heading to Damascus has been seized said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as pressure continues to grow on Syrian President Assad’s regime. Speaking from New York at the UN general Assembly, Erdogan confirmed that a ship was stopped and said that all future arms shipments to Syria would also be seized. Being interviewed by CNN, Erdogan also commented that, "If you're going to act against the fundamental rights, liberties and the law, you will lose your position in my heart as my brother and my friend. I was very patient. Patience, patience, patience. And then I cracked. " The move by Syria’s former key regional ally comes as the EU, joined by Switzerland, passed a seventh round of sanctions on Syria, including a blockade of banknotes to the Central bank of Syria and a ban on investment in the oil sector . The EU provides 95 percent of Syrian oil exports, which provide a third of the regime’s hard currency earnings. The intensified sanctions were welcomed by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who commented , "International pressure will increase until the regime heeds the calls for an immediate end to violence, the release of political prisoners and genuine change. Assad is isolated internationally and things will never return to the way they were. He should step aside now. " "Countries across the region have called for Assad to end the violence immediately. This week in New York, I made clear to Security Council members that they too must increase the pressure on Syria. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has also made this clear." The Syrian regime has already started to feel the effect of growing sanctions, as they announced a ban on a wide range of imports in an attempt to preserve foreign currency reserves.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked the UN to recognise the state of Palestine on Friday, despite sustained US-Israeli efforts to stall the move. In a speech that was welcomed with a standing ovation and applause, Abbas stated, " I do not believe that anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership of the United Nations and our admission as a full member state ," "At a time when the Arab people affirm their quest for democracy – the Arab spring – the time is now for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence. "It is a moment of truth...

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced compensation will be paid to those killed or injured on Bloody Sunday. "We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly. For that, the government is deeply sorry," said a MoD spokesman on Thursday. "We are in contact with the families' solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so." However, some families of victims are reported to have rejected any compensation until there is at least one successful prosecution of a soldier.

Ex-IRA leader, Martin McGuinness launched his campaign to be elected Ireland's next president on Monday . McGuinness, currently the first minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly, was the commander in the Irish Republican Army for the city of Londonderry. He was jailed in the 1970s, charged with possession of bomb-making equipment and ammunition. Criticising the 'media fixation' on his time with the IRA, McGuinness stated, “ I don’t think I would have been invited to the Oval Office on three occasions to meet with three American presidents, or to Johannesburg to meet with Nelson Mandela, or to Brussels to meet with the president of the European Union, and indeed many other countries throughout the world, if people thought that my credentials in relation to the search for peace were in any way in doubt. ” Mc Guinness is considered to have been an integral part to the signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998. The Agreement acknowledged that the views of both sides were legitimate. It included provisions for the release of paramilitary prisoners, as well as the 'normalisation' of the British security forces in Northern Ireland. Specifically it involved the removal of special emergency powers in Northern Ireland, reduction in the numbers of British armed forces deployed in Northern Ireland and the removal of British security installations.