The Syrian opposition have chosen a new military commander to lead the fight against the Assad regime.

Brigadier Selim Idris is a former officer in the army, who defected during the uprising.

Idris was elected on Saturday by 30 military and civilian members of the military command at talks taking place in Antalya in Turkey. The talks have been attended by Western and Arab security officials.

The exiled Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, visited Gaza for the first time today, via the Egyptian border crossing, after his safety was assured.

Travelling with a convoy of masked Hamas fighters from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades - Hamas' military wing, Meshaal visited the charred remains of Ahmed al-Jaabari's car, the military commander of Hamas who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month.

Meshaal was appointed leader after Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Tens of thousands of protesters broke through the barbed wire military barricades to demonstrate outside Egypt's presidential palace.

The swelling of protests comes after the Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi had refused to consider opposition demands to withdraw the proposed constitution, in a defiant televised address on Thursday.

Stating that he respected peaceful protests, Mursi blamed "thugs" and "infiltrators" for the violence that has already killed seven.

A senior Russian politician has stated that the Syrian government has not been capable of doing its job, in a sign that Russia may be trying to distance itself from its long-standing ally, reported Reuters.

The head of President Putin's party group in the State Duma lower house Vladimir Vasilyev, was quoted as saying,

China announced made it clear to India on Wednesday, that it would oppose any “unilateral” oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said,

The Indian army has been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to a report by human rights organisations based in the territory.

Peace talks between Farc rebels and the Colombian government have resumed, after air raids by the government killed over 20 rebels earlier in the week.

A Farc negotiator refused to comment on how the strikes, just few days after the first phase concluded, will affect the talks, reported the BBC.

The government has ruled out a truce, while the rebels are still abiding by a unilateral ceasefire, declared last month.

Tuareg separatists in Mali have given up hopes for an independent state in the north of the country.

The rebels made the announcement after talks with the Malian government in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

The talks, between the government, Tuareg forces and Islamist rebels, also saw the Islamist Ansar Dine, pledge to reject all forms of extremism.

Rebels are currently in control of northern Mali, with Ansar Dine causing international outrage by destroying historic cultural sites in Timbuktu.

"Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria."

Nato has approved the deployment of the Patriot missile defence system on the Turkish border with Syria, as fears grow over the use of chemical weapons by Assad’s regime.

The bloc declared its “determination to deter threats and defend Turkey” in a statement released on Tuesday.