France has said it expects the Syrian government to fall in the near future. The Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius described the assessment as controversial, but added that even Russia, one of Syria's strongest allies, saw President Assad being ousted as a possibility.
The Libyan parliament, the General National Congress, has ordered the closure of Libya's borders with Sudan, Niger, Chad and Algeria, and declared seven provinces in the south of the country are restricted military area governed under emergency law. A spokesman for the Congress said the move was intended to stem the flow of illegal immigrant send goods across Libya's borders.
The man who will become Japan's next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has wasted no time in restating Tokyo's territorial claims over disputed islands in the East China Sea, after his party's convincing win in the general election. The U.S. President has congratulated Mr. Abe. From Tokyo, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.
Cheer as well they might. Tonight, the old boys of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan are back in control in Tokyo. Just three years ago, Japanese voters booted the party out after half a century in power. The first issue Mr. Abe must confront is China. For months, Tokyo and Beijing have been locked in a bitter dispute over islands in the East China Sea. Mr. Abe has promised it's time to get tough with Beijing.
World news from the BBC.
Several people are reported to have been injured after an explosion in a predominantly Somali district of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Witnesses told local television that a number of explosions were heard near a bar close to a mosque in the eastleigh district, and that grenades have been thrown from a speeding vehicle.