Thousands of mourners joined leaders from around the world to pay their respects to the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, during his state funeral that took place on Friday in Caracas.

More than 30 world leaders were in attendance, including from all Latin American states, Raul Castro from Cuba, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. Syria's Bashar al-Assad sent a written message, whilst Russia and China sent senior envoys. The US was represented by Congressman Gregory Meeks and former Congressman William Delahunt.

Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta appears to have won the presidential election by the tightest of margins.

The counting of votes found that Kenyatta won 50.03% of the vote, just 4,109 votes above the threshold required for an outright victory.

Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird, told the North American Israel lobby group, that any Palestinian Authority (PA) legal action against Israel at the International Criminal Court would result in his country blocking aid payments to Palestine.

Speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, Baird warned that Canada would ‘deal strongly’ with Palestine in the event of the PA taking legal steps against Israel.

The UN Security Council approved new resolution against North Korea on Thursday, as the state threatened the US with a preemptive nuclear strike.

The resolution called for further economic restrictions on North-Korea including shipping and the receiving of prohibited cargo. See here for resolution.

The Chinese ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong, said Beijing wanted "full implementation" of the UN Security Council resolution.

UN officials began negotiations with Syrian rebels on thursday to free a group of captured UN peacekeepers, although the rebels assured that peacekeepers' well-being, distancing  themselves from threats to hold them hostage.

The peacekeepers, who are from the Philippines, were seized on Wednesday, in the Golan Heights region between Israel and Syria, making them the first UN forces to be drawn into the Syrian war.

Israel has remained uninvolved in the situation, as a senior official from the Defence Ministry said on Israel Radio:

The retired commander of Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica cannot be prosecuted for his alleged involvement in the killings, ruled authorities on Thursday.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decree calling for parliamentary elections was cancelled by an Administrative Court on Wednesday, leading the election comittee to scrap plans for the voting to begin next month.

Although Mursi barred the courts from challenging his decisions last year, he promised to respect Wednesday's ruling.

See Reuters for full report.

Britain will supply non-lethal military equipment to the Syrian opposition, announced the Foreign Secretary William Hague to parliament today. Calling the rebels a “moderate, democratic opposition”, Hague said the equipment would include body armour and armoured four-wheel drive vehicles, as well as training, search and rescue equipment, and kits to test for chemical weapons.

Around 20 observers of the UN in the Golan Heights have been detained by Syrian rebels.

The Martyrs of Yarmouk group are reported to have told the BBC that they had taken the observers to stop Syrian troops from shelling them.

The territory, on the Syrian-Israeli border has recently seen fighting between government forces and rebels.

The Free Syrian Army has condemned the capture and called for the release of the UN workers.

South Korea has warned that it would retaliate against any hostile action from North Korea.

Army General Kim Yong-hyun said there would be "resolute retaliations" should South Korean lives be under threat.

"If North Korea carries out provocations that threaten the lives and safety of South Koreans, our military will carry out strong and resolute retaliations," he told reporters.

North Korea said on Tuesday that they would end the truce in place since 1953 on March 11.