Iran has sent the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, to Damascus in a show of support for Bashar al-Assad and his rule.

Aiding Assad’s survival, Iran has been providing the regime with funds, arms and expertise in its campaign to crush Syria’s expanding rebellion.

Burmese authorities have lifted suspensions that were placed on two weekly magazines, after journalists protested for greater press freedom.

As a result of the protests, the editors of two magazines were beckoned to the country’s media censorship bureau, also known as the Press Scrutiny board and informed that publishing could be resumed from the 18th of august.

The United States have set a bounty of upto $5 million on each of the nine fugitive suspected perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda.

The Reuters news agency said one of its Twitter accounts - @ReutersTech - was hacked on Sunday, and false tweets regarding the Syria conflict were posted.

Twenty-two false tweets were sent, with some including false reports of rebel losses at the hands of government forces.

Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government, the BBC reports. He had been appointed two months ago.

The former spy chief of the Gaddafi regime in Libya will not be extradited from Mauritania, said the president of the West African nation.

President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said that Abdullah al-Senussi must face charges for illegal entry into Mauritania, before being extradited to Libya.

A Palestinian conference regarding the nation's bid for recognition as a state at the UN next month, was abandoned on Sunday, after four envoys were prohibited by Israel from reaching Ramallah in the West Bank.

The four envoys, from Malaysia, Indonesia, Cuba and Bangladesh, were barred on the grounds that the four states do not recognise Israel.

The US government has made it possible for Americans to donate money to help arm the Syrian rebels whilst upholding its official refusal to arm the forces opposing Bashar Al-Assad.

The United Nations Human rights envoy to Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, called for an urgent investigation into the Rakhine state conflict that has left at least 78 dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Speaking at the end of a six day visit to Burma, Quintanta expressed his concerns about allegations of murder, torture and mass arrests by security forces ‘restoring order’ in the state.

Bahrain authorities have been accused by a US based human rights group of ‘weaponising’ tear gas against protesters.

Physicians for Human Rights said the indiscriminate use of tear gas against civilians has resulted in maiming, blinding and even death, as at least 30 have died since protests sparked off last year.