At least 53 people were killed, mostly civilians, in violence across Syria on Saturday, and hundreds more were trapped in Douma as regime forces stormed the town in Damascus province, monitors said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights urged the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to "urgently send medical teams" to Douma.

The Arab Spring uprisings have given al-Qaida new arenas in which to rebuild, increasing the chances of home-grown terrorist attacks in Britain, the head of its domestic intelligence warned Monday.

Instability in the region had created "a permissive environment for al-Qaida", Jonathan Evans, director general of MI5 said in a lecture in London on Monday.

The head of Britain’s domestic spy agency Jonathan Evans has stressed that several countries, including Iran, shouldn't be underestimated in the evolving terror threat landscape.

"We have seen in recent months a series of attempted terrorist plots against Israeli interests in India, Azerbaijan and elsewhere," he said in prepared remarks ahead of a rare public speech Monday to the Lord Mayor's annual defense and security lecture in London.

The European Union imposed fresh sanctions on President Bashar Assad's regime Monday, targeting six government ministries and firms and one individual, while clarifying an existing EU arms embargo.

The measures were approved by foreign ministers of the 27-nation-bloc meeting in Luxembourg, an EU statement said.

Britain's Foreign Minister William Hague said on Monday that the European Union will "intensify" sanctions against Iran over coming months if there is no progress in nuclear talks.

"We will intensify the sanctions over the coming months if there is no progress," Hague told reporters on arrival for talks among EU peers in Luxembourg, days from the entry into force of a ban on Iranian oil imports to the EU and after talks in Moscow between Iran and world powers failed to reach a breakthrough.

The West welcomed on Sunday the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi as Egypt's first president following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

The United States congratulated Morsi on his election and urged his government to fulfill its role as a "pillar of regional peace."

A Russian ship carrying a controversial cargo of attack helicopters that Moscow repaired for Syria has re-entered Russian waters after turning back off Britain, an official said on Saturday.

The Alaed, whose cargo has greatly troubled the West amid the spiraling conflict in Syria, is due to enter the Kola Gulf, which leads from the Barents Sea towards Russia's Arctic port of Murmansk, on Sunday morning.

Syrian protesters took to the streets on Friday as the government accused rebels of carrying out a "brutal massacre" of 25 of its supporters, and activists said regime forces killed at least 55 people across the country.

The independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a higher toll for the pro-regime losses, saying at least 26 government supporters -- most of them members of the feared shabiha militia -- had been killed.

Syrian President Bashar Assad may be granted safe passage or even clemency by the United States and Britain if he agrees to join peace talks in Syria likely to be held in Geneva, reported the Guardian on Thursday.

It said that Britain and the U.S. are willing to make this offer as part of diplomatic pressure aimed at holding the conference in Geneva.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is seeking political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, has breached bail conditions and faces arrest, police said on Wednesday.

Assange spent the night in the embassy in central London on Wednesday after making a dramatic bid to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.