Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond will give up bonuses worth £20 million after resigning over a rate-rigging scandal, the bank's chairman said Tuesday.

But chairman Marcus Agius told a British lawmakers investigating the scandal that Diamond, whose pay packages during the financial crisis were fiercely controversial, would still receive a final pay-off of around £2 million ($3 million, 2.5 million euros).

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron tried Tuesday to laugh off a rocky start to their relationship despite lingering differences over the eurozone crisis.

Hollande also met Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle near London on his one-day visit, the socialist leader's first trip to fellow NATO ally and EU heavyweight Britain since he was elected in May.

A 30-year-old woman who was one of seven people arrested in Britain on suspicion of terrorism offences has been released without charge, police said Sunday.

The woman who was arrested by counter-terrorism officers in west London Thursday when five men were also detained was freed on Saturday.

Church bells, bicycle bells, handballs, ship's bells, and even mobile phones will sound across Britain in a "cacophonous, amazing sound" to mark the start of the Olympics, artist Martin Creed told Agence France Presse.

The 43-year-old Turner Prize winner was commissioned to create his "Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes" as part of the government's Cultural Olympiad, encouraging people to take in some culture along with the London 2012 Games.

Six people have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of terrorism offences, London's Metropolitan Police said Thursday.

The five men and one woman were detained in London on Thursday "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism," the force said in a statement.

Britain and France Wednesday said there could be no political transition in Syria with President Bashar Assad and urged Russia to stop backing its traditional ally.

The comments by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius came after world powers agreed in Geneva on Saturday on a plan for transition in Syria.

Syrian rebels and troops clashed in a Damascus suburb near a branch of the feared air force intelligence service, as monitors reported seven people killed nationwide.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported dawn clashes in Jaraman south of Damascus near a branch of the air force intelligence service, one of the most feared in Bashar Assad's regime.

More than 16,500 people have been killed in violence since an uprising against President Bashar Assad broke out in March last year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.

Britain on Sunday urged Iran to cooperate with the international community after the EU slapped an oil embargo on Tehran designed to turn up the heat on the regime.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the sanctions showed the European Union's determination to get tough with Iran.

Both official media and an opposition group on Sunday branded as a failure a world powers deal on a transition plan for Syria a day after more than 80 people were reported killed in violence nationwide.

World powers meeting in Geneva on Saturday agreed a transition plan that could include current regime members, but the West did not see any role for President Bashar Assad in a new unity government.