A road side bomb exploded in a suburb of Damascus, as UN observers was nearby, touring the area.

The blast detonated about 150 meters away from the visiting UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous and chief of the UN observers in Syria Maj. Gen. Robert Mood.

An UN observer team, numbering over 250, has failed to stop the bloodshed in Syria, with violence raging unabated in several cities across Syria.

The South African Department of Trade and Industry are preparing a proposal, prohibiting the labelling of products from Jewish settlement in the West Bank as Israeli.

Trade Minister Rob Davies released a statement last week saying that South African customers should not be misled by the incorrect labelling of products originating from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel slammed the decision, saying such measures are not proposed about other countries where territorial conflicts exist.

Over 50 world leaders have gathered in Chicago to discuss the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan by 2014.

The biggest ever summit of the alliance is the first ever to be held on US soil.

"Our summit has three key priorities: keeping Afghanistan secure now and in the years to come, keeping NATO strong and capable in the 21st century and keeping our global network of partners solid," NATO chief Anders Rasmussen told reporters.

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has left China on a flight to the United States according to news reports.

The blind activist was taken to Beijing airport along with his wife and two children and boarded a flight to Newark, New Jersey.

"Thousands of thoughts are surging to my mind," Mr Chen told the Associated Press news agency from the terminal.

Mr Chen fled house arrest in a daring night time escape and sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.

A third Mexican general is being held by Mexican authorities over alleged link to drug smuggling cartels.

Gen Ricardo Escorcia Vargas, Gen Thomas Angeles Dauahara and Gen Roberto Dawe Gonzales are suspected of connections to the Beltran Leyva cartel.

President Felipe Calderon launched a war on drugs 6 years ago, with troops deployed all over the country.

The generals all occupied important posts in the government's anti-drugs effort.

The Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to address the British Parliament when she visits the country next month, marking the first time she will leave Burma in 24 years.

The historic trip by the Nobel peace prize winner follows British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Burma last month and the recent thaw in Burma’s international relations following its dramatic democratic reforms.

Syrian forces shot two protesters in southern district of Damascus, Tadamun, on Friday reported Reuters.

The incident occured, as Syrian forces fired into the air at the second day of large-scale protests in the city of Aleppo in an attempt to break up the protest. On Thursday, the Aleppo protest was reportedly witnessed by UN monitors, before the Syrian security forces moved them away.

Police in the southern Indian state of Kerala have charged two Italian marines with murder of two Indian fishermen.

The marines were guarding an Italian oil tanker off the coast of Kerala in February when they shot the fishermen, mistaking them for pirates.

Italy claims the incident took place in international waters and the men should be tried in an Italian court.

Rome has paid Rs 10m in compensation to each of the two fishermen’s families and in return the families withdrew civil cases against the marines.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed a travel ban on five of the leaders of the coup in April this year.

The council "demands that the Military Command takes immediate steps to restore and respect constitutional order, including a democratic electoral process, by ensuring that all soldiers return to the barracks, and that members of the 'Military Command' relinquish their positions of authority."

The 15-member council said it will consider further sanctions, "such as an embargo on arms and financial measures."

The UK is reluctant to host Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the London Olympics, reported the IRNA news agency on Thursday.

Ahmadinejad, who would reportedly like to be "beside the Iranian athletes", has faced increasing international isolation over the country's nuclear program, with an oil embargo, sanctions, and embassy closures.