France on Tuesday pressed Syrian authorities to shed light on the death of French television reporter Gilles Jacquier, who was killed as he covered the country's 10-month-old uprising.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, visiting the United Nations in a push for a resolution on Syria's bloodshed, said that a report by Arab League monitors was not definitive on the origin of the fire that killed 43-year-old journalist.

Kuwait's riot police clashed late Tuesday with tribesmen who stormed a local television station in the second day of violence ahead of general polls, local media reported.

Several people and security men were wounded in the incident after hundreds of tribesmen gathered outside the offices of private al-Watan TV which was hosting pro-government candidate Nabeel al-Fadl.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in Tuesday's primary of his rightwing Likud party over his sole rival, the hardline settler Moshe Feiglin.

"I thank you for the confidence and the renewed support that you have given me," Netanyahu told a party gathering before the official results were announced.

China said Wednesday that 25 Chinese workers kidnapped by Egyptian Bedouins demanding the release of their Islamist relatives had been released.

The incident comes days after 29 Chinese nationals in Sudan were captured by rebels who attacked their camp in the volatile South Kordofan state, where they were involved in a road-building project. They have still not been released.

Qatar's prime minister, speaking on behalf of the Arab League, urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to take action to stop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine."

Opening a top-level Security Council meeting on the Syrian crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said that the Arab League had tried to seek a solution with Assad in face of the 10-month uprising.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Tuesday on the U.N. Security Council to act "urgently" on Syria, telling a Cairo news conference a strong text on the crisis was "absolutely important."

"The situation is unacceptable and it even became worse in the last couple of days," Westerwelle said after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Amr.

Moscow will not tell Bashar al-Assad to stand down, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, stressing that while the Syrian president was not an ally it was not up to other nations to interfere.

After 10 months of internal conflict in Syria that the United Nations says has killed more than 5,400 people, Russia is under growing pressure to take a firmer line on Assad and his regime.

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party cast their ballots Tuesday in a primary the premier is tipped to win easily, beating his sole rival, the hardline settler Moshe Feiglin.

Netanyahu and his wife Sarah were first in line to cast their ballots in Jerusalem as polls opened for the vote, which the premier moved forward in December.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime will inevitably collapse in the face of mounting protests, the U.S. spy chief said Tuesday.

"I do not see how he can sustain his rule of Syria," the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, told senators. "I personally believe it's a question of time but that's the issue, it could be a long time."

Hundreds of Egyptian protesters demanding the end of military rule were prevented on Tuesday from reaching parliament by backers of the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds the majority in the assembly.

"We are standing here as a human shield, because if the protesters go any further, they will clash with the police. They want to enter parliament, what do you expect me to do?" Muslim Brotherhood member Hamdy Abdul Samad told Agence France Presse.