Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Bashar al-Assad, labelling him a 'butcher' in his strongest attack on the besieged Syrian President.

Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan told a cheering crowd,

"If God permits, we will see this butcher, this murderer, receive judgement in this world... and we will praise (God) for it".

"You will pay a very, very heavy price for showing your courage to the babies in the cradle, the courage you cannot show others."

His speech comes as reports emrged of Turkish forces mobilising to carryo ut military exercises on the Syrian border. Turkey has been openly opposing the Syrian government and provided support to the opposition, as well having taken in more than 400,000 refugees, including defectors from the Syrian Army.

The Syrian government has accused Israel of coordinating with terrorists to carry out targeted air-strikes on Syrian soil.

In a letter, sent to the UN, the government said a number of casualties were caused by the second consecutive day of attacks.

"The flagrant Israeli attack on armed forces sites in Syria underlines the co-ordination between 'Israel', terrorist groups and... the al-Nusra Front," the letter said.

"The Israeli attack led to the fall of a number of martyrs and wounded from the ranks of Syrian citizens, and led to widespread destruction in these sites and in the civilian districts near to them."

"This leaves no room for doubt Israel is the beneficiary, the mover and sometime the executor of the terrorist acts which Syria is witnessing and which target it as a state and people directly or through its tools inside."

The attacks also drew condemnation from the Arab League, which has given Syria’s seats to the rebels. The pan-Arab organisation called on the UN Security Council to "act immediately" to end the attacks.

Egypt said they "violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation".

"Despite its strong opposition to bloodshed in Syria and the Syrian army's use of weapons against its people... Egypt rejects at the same time the assault on Syria's capabilities, violation of its sovereignty, and exploitation of its internal crisis under any pretext," a statement by the presidency said.

At least three people have died in clashes between police and protesters in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

A further 60 are reported injured, after up to half a million supporters of Islamist group Hefazat-e Islam took to the streets of the city calling for the hanging of aetheists and other insulters of Islam.

Rioters set fire to shops and vehicles, and police used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to drive thousands of protesters out of the city's main business district.

See the BBC for full story.

Israeli fighter jets have attacked a target in Syria, saying it was an arms convoy to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The planes flew over Lebanese territory, drawing condemnation from Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said earlier this week that the transfer of sophisticated weapons to radical militant groups like Hezbollah was a red line, and Israel had acted when it was crossed, speaking about an air strike in January.

Hundreds of Syrians have fled a coastal village in the country, after a reported massacre of civilians by forces loyal to besieged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for HUman RIghts posted a video onlne, showing at least 10 bodies lying in the street, covered in pools of blood. Activists reported that 77 people were killed in Baniyas after 72 were killed at the nearby village of al-Badya.

The United States condened the attacks, with the State Department commenting,

"The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of Baida,"

"As the Assad regime's violence against innocent civilians escalates, we will not lose sight of the men, women, and children whose lives are being so brutally cut short. We call on all responsible actors in Syria to speak out against the perpetration of unlawful killings against any group, regardless of faith or ethnicity".

The US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel as admitted that the government is reconsidering its opposition to the arming of the Syrian opposition.

"Arming the rebels - that's an option," he said to reporters at a press conference alongside Britain’s Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond.

"You look at and rethink all options. It doesn't mean you do or you will. These are options that must be considered with the international community: what is possible, what can help accomplish [our] objectives."

Hammond said the UK has not been providing weapons because of an EU ban on arming the rebels.

But "we will look at the situation when that ban expires in a few weeks' time," he said.

Up to 100 people are feared to have been killed by Syrian government forces in the coastal village of Baida on Thursday.

At least 50 people are reported to have been killed, yet with no clear picture having emerged, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warning that the death tolls could be even higher – with the numbers exceeding 100 dead.

State security forces and Assad-loyalist militias are thought to have raided the village, executing people using guns and knives.

The Observatory said,

“Several homes were also destroyed by regime forces and loyalist gunmen from the surrounding Alawite villages. Information is still scarce because phone and internet lines have been cut”.

The US State Department has announced the extension of some targeted sanctions against the Burmese government, while lifting visa restrictions on Burmese officials.

State Department officials said that continuing human rights concerns and the detention of political prisoners are factors in the extension of the sanctions.

“Even as we recognize the government’s tremendous progress, we of course remain concerned that the nascent reforms remain vulnerable to elements within Burma that oppose a democratic transition. We’re also concerned about other challenges.

“For example, communal violence in Rakhine state; sectarian conflict elsewhere in the country; the need for greater efforts to achieve national reconciliation, something that’s alluded Burma since independence; the unconditional release of all political prisoners – not just the release, but that it be unconditional, and also severing all military ties with North Korea,” the official said.

“The visa ban of 1996, however, was imposed under conditions that have dramatically changed, especially over the last two years. Since 2011, the civilian-led government of Burma has demonstrated substantial progress on areas of concern that were emphasized in the 1996 proclamation. So in other words, they’ve answered the areas that we referred to in imposing that visa ban in 1996 – for example, most significantly in part, the legislative bi-elections a year ago, which the NLD contested and subsequently secured seats in Burma’s new parliament.

“So terminating that visa ban from 1996 allows us to facilitate greater engagement with the Burmese by more narrowly defining who is prohibited from travelling to the United States. So it’s a very important message to the Burmese.”

The son of Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has appeared in a Libyan court earlier on Thursday, charged with plotting escape from detention in Libya.

Libyan authorities accuse Gaddafi of "undermining state security" after he met with envoys from the International Criminal Court in June 2012. Libya alleged that the ICC officials had attempted to pass coded messages to Gaddafi, keeping them in custody for 4 weeks, sparking a diplomatic row. Eventually all the ICC members were released.

However in January ICC lawyers criticised the current charges levelled against Gaddafi, stating that he was

"essentially being tried for attempting to communicate with the ICC via his Counsel in relation to the fact that his rights had been violated".

The current trial is separate from Gaddafi’s chrages of war crimes and crimes against humanity, alleged against him by both the ICC and Libyan authorities.

The US has said it regrets Bolivia’s decision to move against USAID programmes in the country.

President Evo Morales had accused the organisation to conspire against Bolivia.

US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell denied the accusations.

"We think the programmes have been positive for the Bolivian people, and fully co-ordinated with the Bolivian government and appropriate agencies under their own national development plan," he said.

USAID said it regretted the decision in a statement.

"Those who will be most hurt by the Bolivian government's decision are the Bolivian citizens who have benefited from our collaborative work on education, agriculture, health, alternative development, and the environment," the statement said.

Bolivian President expels USAID (01 May 2013)

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced the expulsion of USAID representatives from the country, which he accused opf meddling in the country’s internal affairs and conspiring against him.

Speaking at a May Day rally in La Paz's Plaza de Armas, Morales stated to crowds,

"No more USAID, which manipulates and uses our leaders".

"The United States does not lack institutions that continue to conspire, and that’s why I am using this gathering to announce that we have decided to expel USAID from Bolivia."

Morales previously expelled both the US ambassador and representatives from the US Drug Enforcement Agency in 2008, citing similar reasons.

US President Barack Obama has said that the continuing existence of the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay is a “recruitment tool” for extremists and not in the “best interest of the American people”.

"I am going to go back at this. I am going to get my team to review everything that is currently being done in Guantánamo … everything that we can do administratively. I am going to re-engage with Congress to try and make the case that [Guantánamo] is not in the best interests of the American people,

"The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are. It is contrary to our interests and needs to stop," he said.

"Now that is a hard case to make because I think for a lot of Americans the notion is: out of sight, out of mind. And it is easy to demagogue the issue. That's what happened the first time it came up. I am going back it because I think it is important."