Syrian opposition activists say at least nine people have been killed by government force bombarding rebel held areas near Damascus. An unverified video footage posted online showed the dismembered bodies of what appeared to be several children in the field in the suburb of Hazzeh.

The former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been granted retrial on charges of failing to prevent the death of hundreds of demonstrators during the revolt that forced him from power. He was sentenced to life imprisonment last June. The appeal court's decision prompted celebrations by Mr Mubarack's followers. From Cairo Here is Aleem Maqbool.

Hosni Mubarak's supporters outside the appeal court in Cairo do have something to cheer about. This is not just an appeal against his sentence but against the conviction on charges he failed to stop the killing of around 850 protesters during the uprising. When he faced trial at the first time, families of the victims were disappointed that he wasn't found guilty at more serious charge of ordering the killings and that he was sentenced to death. Now there is a possibility he could be acquitted entirely.

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The Finance Minister of Iraq has survived in an apparent assassination attempt. The minister, Rafa al-Essawi was travelling in a convoy in west Baghdad when a roadside bomb went off, no one was hurt. Mr al-Essawi is at the centre of a political crisis that seen mass protests by Iraq's Sunni minority against the Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.