Human Rights Watch condemned the arrest of prominent Bangladesh human rights activist, Adilur Rahman Khan today.

Khan was arrested under allegations that he had spread false information about the Bangladeshi government. Working for the Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar, in May, he published a report on violence during a protest by hard-line Islamists, which was met by deadly police brutality.

 Israel has issued tenders for the construction of nearly 1,200 units of housing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,  three days before the scheduled start of peace-talks, despite US and Palestinian opposition to the expansion of Jewish settlements.

The announcement of new settlements came as an Israeli ministerial committee simultaneously agreed to release 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners, as a goodwill gesture ahead of the peace talks.

A Palestinian negotiator and member of the West Bank’s ruling Fatah movement, Mohammed Shtayyeh, doubted Israel’s sincerity in the upcoming peace-talks stating,

“It is clear that the Israeli government is deliberately attempting to sabotage the US and international efforts to resume negotiations by approving more settlement units three days before the first Palestinian-Israeli meeting.”

Three US soldiers of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force have been killed after an attack by insurgents.

The troops were near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in the Paktia province just south of the capital Kabul.

No other details have been released.

Amnesty International called for Cambodian authorities to ensure that no blood was spilt in coming weeks, after armoured personnel carriers were spotted in the main city of Phom Penh.

Amnesty International deputy Asia Pacific director, Isabelle Arradon, warned in a statement,

“Cambodian authorities and other political leaders in Cambodia must ensure that post-election tension does not erupt into violence.”

“The Cambodian people including supporters of political parties, must be given the space to express their views and they must be allowed their right to peaceful assembly.”

“ The Cambodian security forces, which have a chequered record when policing demonstrations, must refrain from using excessive or unnecessary force against demonstrators.”

Local authorities in a town west of Zurich, have introduced restrictions that ban asylum-seekers from visiting public places such as school playgrounds, swimming pools and libraries.

A total of 32 ‘exclusion zones' have been drawn up by the Swiss local authorities, in a move that has been denounced by human rights groups as racist and intolerant.

A spokesman for Switzerland’s non-governmental Refugee Council described the new orders as “intolerable and inhumane”.

Over 50 political prisoners in Iran have signed a letter calling on US President Barack Obama to end sanctions against their country.

The letter, published by The Guardian, was signed by several prominent opposition figures and said sanctions currently in place have become collective punishment of the Iranian population.

"We, the undersigned current and former political prisoners in Iran, are writing this letter to bring to your attention the devastating effects of crippling economic sanctions," the letter says.

"These efforts are adversely affecting the lives of Iranian people and have resulted in severe constraints in the political life of our country,

"In the recent presidential election in Iran (14 June 2013), a politician was elected whose campaign promised were moderation and rational decision making in foreign and domestic policies. This administration has promised to pursue constructive engagement in international relations and intends to convey a message of positive change and mutual respect,

"In our view, the tenure of this government may be the last chance to bring this conflict to a reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution,

"We hope the opportunity created by the Iranian people and reflected in the electoral victory of President Rouhani will be seized appropriately by the United States. We also hope reciprocal good will and adoption of appropriate measures by the new government in Iran will open a new window of understanding and constructive engagement between Iran and the United States in a way that the interests of both nations will be better served."

Ugandan President Yoweri Musaveni has pushed a bill through parliament, banning all forms of public gatherings, including demonstrations.

The Uganda Public Order Management Bill was passed by parliament, although there were objections from some opposition MPs.

Museveni has been in power for 27 years and his government is one of the largest recipients of British aid.

According to The Times, the Department for International Development spends £60 million on Uganda, of which £160,000 goes to support defence and security reforms and £300,000 on projects that seek to empower civil society and raise government accountability.

A Saudi prince has offered Russia $15bn worth of arms sales and other economic incentives, if Moscow distances itself from the Syrian government.

The offer was made to the Russian president Vladimir Putin by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the top intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia.

The prince said they would buy $15 billion (£9.7 billion) of Russian arms and pledged not to threaten Russia’s position as chief gas supplier to Europe, reported The Times.

In return, the Duma would cease supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime and agree not to block any future United Nations Security Council votes on Syria.

The United States provide $195 million more in food and humanitarian aid to Syria to mark the end of Ramadan, Barack Obama said this week.

Obama’s statement marking Eid al-Fitr, noted that the latest addition of humanitarian aid, would bring the total amount of aid allocated to Syria since the start of the conflict to $1 billion.

A meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Barack Obama has been cancelled after Russia decided to grant Edward Snowden asylum.

Obama will attend the G20 summit in St Petersburg but has cancelled a meeting with Putin, saying he was “disappointed” with Russia’s decision.

"We have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a US-Russia Summit," the White House said in a statement, saying that there also had been a lack of progress on issues ranging from missile defence to human rights.

"We believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda," the White House said.

Speaking on a TV show, Obama criticised the Kremlin’s passing of anti-gay legislation.

"I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them," Obama said.

The Kremlin responded that it was disappointed by the move and that the invitation was still open.

The head of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, warned today that disruption to the flow of remittance to Somalia could cause severe harm to the Somalian population.

The warnings come as the British shadow minister for international development and MP for Bethnal Green, Rushanara Ali, calling for government ,regulators and Barclays to save the money transfer agencies, hand-delivered a petition with over 25000 signatures to No 10 Downing street, this morning.

A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisations food and security and nutrition analysis estimated annual remittances to Somalia to surpass the total amount of official international aid allocated to the nation.

Kaberuka is the most recent person to express concern over Barclay’s plans to stop providing money transfer services to Somalia.

Oxfam America outlined in a report last week,

“A remittance channel closure is among the most worrisome of the possible and foreseeable catastrophes that could befall Somalia in the future, even a partial shutdown could cause tremendous economic and social trauma, pushing money transfers toward informality and threatening the country’s progress towards peace, security and sustainable development.”