Syria, Libya and Middle East unrest

Syria

• The Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone for Syria, Asked if there was a possibility Nato would now spearhead a no-fly zone in Syria he responded: "It's totally ruled out. We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria." His comments come after last Friday's protests in Syria were labelled "the Friday of the no-fly zone" by activists demanding international intervention and the day after Bashar al-Assad warned of an "earthquake" across the Middle East if western powers intervened in Syria.

• The Arab League is demanding that Syria withdraws tanks and other vehicles from cities as part of a plan to end the crisis in the country. The plan was put to Syrian officials during a meeting in Qatar on Sunday. A response from Damascus was expected today but nothing has been heard so fire. Meanwhile, security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in the central cities of Homs and Hama, where 35 people were killed in total on Friday, according to activists.

• President Assad has said he is willing to work with his political opponents but has dismissed the main opposition group as a "waste of time". He told Russian TV: "We will cooperate with all political powers, both those who had existed before the crisis, and those who arose during it." But speaking about the newly formed Syrian National Council, he told the Daily Telegraph, he said: "I wouldn't waste my time talking about them. I don't know them. It's better to investigate whether they really represent Syrians."

Libya

• Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has been visiting Tripoli to mark the end of Nato's mission over Libya, which is due to come to an end at midnight. He described the mission in Libya as "one of the most successful in Nato history", claimed the UN mandate to protect civilians was followed to the letter and expressed his hope that Libya would one day join the alliance.
Palestinian territories

• The UN cultural agency, Unesco has admitted Palestine as a full member, despite threats by the US to withdraw its funding. Huge cheers went up in Unesco after delegates voted to approve the membership, AP reported. One shouted "Long Live Palestine!" in French. The vote was carried by 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions, including the UK. Israel hinted that it might end co-operation with Unesco as a result while the US, which voted against, described it as "deeply damaging" to Unesco.

Yemen

• The Yemeni British Coalition supporting the Yemeni Revolution has chastised the international community for "ignoring" the uprising in the country and the Gulf Co-operation Council for offering President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity from prosecution if he stands down from power.

Egypt

• Protests are planned over the imprisonment of prominent blogger, Alaa Abdl Fatah Seif, who was jailed for 15 days after refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the military court that has accused him of inciting clashes between Coptic Christians and the security services. Alaa Abdl Fattah, who was also jailed under the Mubarak regime, is one of the most high profile civilians to have fallen foul of the military junta. Protests are planned to commence in Cairo and Alexandria shortly and #FreeAlaa has been trending worldwide on Twitter. The "No to military trials" movement is calling on all Egyptians to stop co-operating with any military tribunals in the wake of his arrest.

• Amnesty International called on candidates in the elections "to take decisive action to end the injustice and abuses which have marred Egypt for the last 30 years". It said that under the interim military rulers "Egyptians fear that one repressive rule is being replaced with another".