“A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.

British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.”

“Russia has said it will block a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a transfer of power in Syria because it “leaves open the possibility of intervention

France says 10 of the 15 countries on the Security Council now support the text calling for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to a deputy.”

“It also called on Damascus to implement an Arab League plan to end the violence.

The resolution, drafted by Britain, France and Germany, carries moral but not legal weight.

In his harshest words yet on the issue, Prime Minister Erdogan called for Mr Assad to step down as Syrian president.

It was the first time the Turkish leader had directly called for his removal from power. Last week King Abdullah of Jordan became the first regional leader to call on Mr Assad to go.”

“‘It’s a very detailed plan really spelling out [roles for] military observers, UN, police; it says things like NATO has an ongoing role and there’s some things the UN can do without a mandate from the Security Council,’ Matthew Russell Lee, who runs the Inner City Press website, told Al Jazeera.

The document also outlines plans for UN-assisted elections in the next six to nine months.”

“The idea is based on Bhutan’s model of GNH, or Gross National Happiness, which measures quality of life by trying to strike a balance between the material and the spiritual.”

‘In an apparent breakthrough, the leader of the United Nations nuclear monitoring arm said on Tuesday that despite unspecified differences, he expects to sign a deal with Iran ’quite soon’ on the arrangements for an investigation into potential military applications of Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

His remarks came a day ahead of negotiations scheduled for Wednesday in Baghdad between Iran and the world powers over Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes but Western powers suspect Tehran is seeking to achieve the capability to build nuclear weapons.

During his visit to Tehran, Mr. Amano said, there was an ‘important development’ on the agency’s push to reach what it calls a ‘structured agreement’ to determine how its inspectors would conduct an investigation into possible military applications of the Iranian program.”

“Remember the Soviet-Sino split? Moscow and Beijing don’t appear to. On the current developments in the Middle East and North Africa, at least, China and Russia have been increasingly coming together. At the U.N. Security Council, they either oppose Western initiatives or voice their reservations. To some, this looks like solidarity between two authoritarian governments; to others, a coordinated effort to dilute, and eventually dismantle, U.S. and Western domination of global politics. Although both these elements are involved, the reality is broader, and it needs to be better understood by Western publics and policymakers.”

“House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced a bill today that would effectively slash U.S. contributions to the United Nations and punish any U.N. organization that goes along with the U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood next month.”

“The UN World Food Programme is set to start airlifting food to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where more than 12 million people are at risk of starvation.

Airlifts will begin on Tuesday to the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Dolo in Ethiopia and Wajir in Kenya, Josette Sheeran, the WFP chief, said.

An emergency meeting of UN aid agencies and charities was held in Rome on Monday, where the decision to airlift food had been made.”

“Mrs Clinton stressed that any negotiations must be meaningful. ’We do not intend to reward the North just for returning to the table,’ she said.”