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.

Ugandan President Yoweri Musaveni has pushed a bill through parliament, banning all forms of public gatherings, including demonstrations.

The Uganda Public Order Management Bill was passed by parliament, although there were objections from some opposition MPs.

Museveni has been in power for 27 years and his government is one of the largest recipients of British aid.

A Saudi prince has offered Russia $15bn worth of arms sales and other economic incentives, if Moscow distances itself from the Syrian government.

The offer was made to the Russian president Vladimir Putin by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the top intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia.

The prince said they would buy $15 billion (£9.7 billion) of Russian arms and pledged not to threaten Russia’s position as chief gas supplier to Europe, reported The Times.

The United States provide $195 million more in food and humanitarian aid to Syria to mark the end of Ramadan, Barack Obama said this week.

Obama’s statement marking Eid al-Fitr, noted that the latest addition of humanitarian aid, would bring the total amount of aid allocated to Syria since the start of the conflict to $1 billion.

A meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Barack Obama has been cancelled after Russia decided to grant Edward Snowden asylum.

Obama will attend the G20 summit in St Petersburg but has cancelled a meeting with Putin, saying he was “disappointed” with Russia’s decision.

Five Indian soldiers have died in Kashmir after being attacked by unknown gunmen.

The Indian army has blamed Pakistan for the attack, but a Pakistani military official has told the BBC that "no fire took place" from their side.

Omar Abdullah,the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, said such incidents "don't help efforts to normalise or even improve relations with Pakistan and call in to question the Pakistan government's recent overtures".

International efforts to end the crisis in Egypt gained momentum as diplomats from the Gulf, the EU and the US met the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater, today.

Shater, who is currently imprisoned, met the diplomats in a 1 hour discussion, telling them to negotiate with the deposed president Morsi.