The BBC has condemned harassment of its Persian staff’s families by Iranian authorities.

It said there had been "unprecedented levels of intimidation" ahead of presidential elections which are due to take place on Friday.

The corporation is accusing Iran of warning the families of 15 members of the BBC Persian Service that they have to stop working for the BBC.

"In the past few days alone 15 family members have been questioned by the Iranian intelligence ministry in Tehran and other cities across the country,” said head of languages, Liliane Landor.

"The harassment has included threats that relatives will lose jobs and pensions and be prevented from travelling abroad,"

She said that "for the first time the lives of BBC Persian TV staff living in the UK have also been threatened".

"Clearly therefore, the unilateral proclamation made today is a deliberate attempt to stall the reform agenda in Zimbabwe. Without reforms, Zimbabwe is yet again heading to another contested, predatory and illegitimate election."

 A senior United Nations official in Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, confirmed to press today that the Taliban had shown signs of willingness to meet and discuss the reduction of civilian casualties with the UN.

Afghanistan has seen a 24 percent civilian casualty in the first half of this year, most of which have been caused by anti-government forces.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army have killed at least 60 Shiite villagers in an apparent reprisal raid for a previous attack on a rebel base by pro-government militias.

The Syrian government said innocent civilians were massacred, and even opposition activists condemned the attacks as a “destructive act of revenge”, although claiming that most of the dead were fighters who were involved in the attack on rebels the day before.

The opposition fighters stormed the village and videos have emerged showing the rebels shouting sectarian slogans, calling Shiites dogs and apostates.

Read more on the New York Times here.

Leaders of a Palestinian movement to boycott Israel have outlined their intention to oppose any peace talks, even if they include a conversations relating to the freezing of Jewish settlements.  

The Boycott Divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, lobbies worldwide for the economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel.

The Palestinians have demanded both a freeze on settlement building and a return to borderlines before the occupation of the West Bank

The head of the movement, Omar Barghouti, outlined that even if these demands were met negotiations would not be possible as the Israelis would still have to guarantee the right of return for Palestinian refugees everywhere and equal rights of Arab Israelis, as well as a complete end to the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The Colombian rebel group Farc, has resumed peace talks with the Colombian government in Havana.

This phase of the discussions will focus on the disarmament of the rebels and their transition to a political entity.

The government's lead negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, said that they would be "establishing rules which will allow the transition of the Farc to an unarmed political force".

Farc representative Andres Paris said to the Colombian newspaper El Espectador that they would demand "a broadening of the political scene for the opposition".

"We have fought for a democratic opening and confronted Colombia's restricted two-party system," he said.

Peiris, who met with several Slovenian officials, emphasised that continued visits by business leaders from Sri Lanka to Slovenia would serve to mutually benefit trade and investment opportunities in both countries.

According to External Affairs statement, the Peiris concluded agreements relating to investment promotion and avoidance of taxation on air services, whilst also expressing intention to to appoint an Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Slovenia, which would serve to further strengthen ties between the two countries.

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk has called for an international investigation into allegations of torture and other abuses of Palestinian prisoners by Israel.

Falk said in a report that Israeli violations were happening on a “massive scale” and the blockade on Gaza was “collective punishment” of the Palestinian people.

"The treatment of thousands of Palestinians detained or imprisoned by Israel continues to be extremely worrisome," he said.

Read more here.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his first conciliatory gesture towards protestors, agreeing to meet with them this week, amid mass demonstrations against government policies, that have been criticised of restricting lifestyles.

Speaking after a weekly cabinet meeting, the deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, announced that demonstration representatives would be given a chance to meet the prime minister on Wednesday.

The prime minister had previously blamed external influences for the unrest in turkey, claiming that there is concrete evidence of international ties to protests.

"The people of South Sudan should remain calm and patient as we work with the African Union to resolve this impasse with Sudan."

"This latest turn of events brings into question the credibility [of AU mediators]", but added, "we remain optimistic that they will intervene accordingly."

"We urge both regional and international governments to diplomatically engage with Sudan in order to protect the lives of the citizens of both nations, and to encourage Sudan to engage in peaceful dialogue with their internal rebellion."

"While President al-Bashir has declared jihad and is mobilising for war, I maintain my pledge to you and the world that I will not take the people of South Sudan unnecessarily back to a state of war."

"They agreed that North Korea has to denuclearise, that neither country will accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state and that we would work together to deepen co-operation and dialogue to achieve denuclearisation."