Europe and US ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Assad's pariah state

It was in Assad's interests to avoid any atrocities. But the regime could not restrain its forces

The Russian Foreign Ministry has launched one of the most extraordinary tirades in the history of online diplomacy, using its Twitter feed to lambast the US Ambassador to the country as “unprofessional” in a barrage of furious tweets.

German, Italian and Spanish foreign ministries announced today that Syrian ambassadors are being expelled - following similar moves by Britain, France, Australia and Canada after a massacre in which the United Nations says families were shot at close range in their homes.

France, Britain and Australia are expelling senior Syrian diplomats, officials said today, increasing pressure on Damascus after a massacre in which the United Nations says families were shot at close range in their homes.

Australia has expelled two Syrian diplomats in response to last week's massacre in Syria in which more than 100 people, mostly women and children, were killed.

A British housewife could face the death penalty after being arrested over a £1.6 million cocaine haul on a tropical island.

I admire and hugely like the singer Billy Bragg, that proud working-class hero. The last time we met, the Queen's Jubilee came up and also my fierce republicanism. Don't fret, said Billy, understand. Royalty is an integral part of British culture. Respect it, as you ask for your culture to be respected. I have never believed any tradition should be above criticism, just because it goes back a long way. But still, Billy, this time I tried, really tried. And then this week the excessive indulgence of spoilt royals, the oleaginousness and uninhibited ostentation got to me. Objections broke out, like hives. And quite honestly it is a relief after the suffocating restraint of the past months.

The Pope's butler has been formally charged with stealing confidential documents, and further arrests may follow, the Vatican has hinted.

A British resident has been sentenced in absentia by a court in Bahrain for allegedly trying to overthrow the government.

The body of the second of two British men who died during a trip on a crocodile-infested river in India has been found.

The body of a British man who went missing whilst holidaying with a friend on a crocodile infested river in India has been found.

An Israeli who rescued an unconscious climber on Mount Everest instead of pushing onward to the summit, says the man he helped, an American of Turkish origin, is like a brother to him.

The UN nuclear agency has found traces of uranium at Iran's underground atomic site enriched to higher than previous levels and closer to what is needed for nuclear weapons, diplomats say.