4.35pm GMT

Here's a summary of today's events:

Egypt

• Egyptian protesters are marching towards the presidential palace in Cairo after President's Morsi decision to revoke his power decree failed to quell opposition anger. Demonstrators have gathered at a newly-constructed concrete wall outside the complex where is heavy security presence.

• The opposition has been meeting to discuss its response to Morsi decision and is expected to formally demand that Morsi postpones next Saturday's referendum on a new constitution rushed through by a constituent assembly dominated by the president's Islamist supporters. Opposition leaders said Morsi has worsened the crisis by refusing to delay the vote. The April 6 Movement threatened to escalate protests if Morsi refused to cancel the referendum.

• Public anger at Morsi has increased after sweeping tax rises implemented to meet conditions for an IMF loan deal. Taxes have been raised on steel, cement, electricity, and diesel, as well as tobacco and alcohol.

• The military has been granted the power of arrest and detention. A spokesman for the army warned that a failure to resolve a crisis over the drafting of the constitution would result in "disastrous consequences" that could drag the country into a "dark tunnel".

Syria

• Russia insisted that it is not holding any talks on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as US and Russian officials met again to discuss the crisis. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We are not holding any talks on the fate of Assad."

• Rebels, including the hardline Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra, have seized a government army command centre in northern Syria. The report underlines the continuing involvement of Islamist groups, which have been spearheading much of the fighting in the north of Syria

• The Assad regime is nearing the end, according to the head of Germany's foreign intelligence, Gerhard Schindler. In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung, he said: "Assad's regime will not survive ... Signs are increasing that the regime in Damascus is in its final phase."

• Syrian rebel groups have chosen a former officer to head a new Islamist-dominated command structure, in a Western-backed effort to end the chaotic nature of the rebel leadership. Brigadier Selim Idris, was elected by 30 military and civilian members of the joint military command after talks attended by Western and Arab security officials in the Turkish city of Antalya.