Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that Bharaini police had arrested 20 opposition activists in the towns near Bahrain’s Formula One circuit in a sign of rising political tension before the Grand Prix in April.

The Grand Prix is the biggest sporting event hosted by the country and the government is hoping to get a big turnout this year despite continuing unrest and dissent over the current leadership.

The Syrian government has rejected attempts by the United Nations to send a team to investigate the use of chemical weapons into the country.

A UN team is currently stationed in Cyprus awaiting permission to travel to Syria.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated,

The postponement of ceasefire negotiations between the Burmese government and Kachin rebels on Friday was because China had objected to the presence of Western observers at the talks, Kachin civil society groups say.

See The Irrawady’s report here.

A Burmese government team had been scheduled to meet with representatives of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina on Friday.

Human Rights Watch urged the government of Chad to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or bar him from the country, in a news release today.

Al-Bashir is expected to travel to Chad today, to attend the Greenbelt Conference of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, according to news reports.

Al-Bashir has been indicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Israeli-American terror suspect Jack Tytell was given two life sentences with an additional 30 years in prison by the Jerusalem District Court.

Among various other crimes, Tytell was sentenced for the murder of two Palestinians.

According to the indictment, in 1997 Tytell went to Israel with the intention of murdering Palestinians.

Before the sentence was handed, Tytell said he was proud of what he had done and had no regrets.

The new Chinese President Xi Jinping has given veiled warnings to North Korea on Sunday, saying no country should be allowed to create chaos.

Speaking at regional business forum in Boao, China Xi said,

Syria is denying access to a UN inspection team waiting to undertake a chemical weapons probe, which the government had itself requested.

State-run media announced that Syria was blocking attempts by the UN to 'broaden' the probe to cover the whole country.

The UN's Ban Ki-moon said that all claims of chemical weapon usage from all sides should be investigated, declaring:

Former UK Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, died on Monday at the age of 87.

Known variously as 'milk-snatcher', 'Iron Lady' and the woman who changed Britain, the Baroness was the United Kingdom's first and only female Prime Minister.

Although public opinion remains divided, Thatcher's legacy places her among the most influential peace-time politicians in modern European history.

Serbia rejected the EU deal on normalising relations with Kosovo on Monday. Speaking to the press, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said:

"The government of Serbia cannot accept principles verbally presented to its negotiating team in Brussels, since they do not guarantee full security and protection of human rights to the Serb people in Kosovo."