4.10pm BST

Here's a summary of the main events today:

Syria

• Syrian rebels announced they were holding four Filipino UN peacekeepers for their own safety after clashes near the Golan Heights. A UN spokeswoman said four peacekeepers had been detained as they patrolled close to an area where 21 Filipino observers were held for three days in March.

• US secretary of state John Kerry has held talks in with president Validimir Putin in Moscow aimed at trying find a diplomatic solution to the Syria crisis. He has told Putin that Russia and the US share common interests in Syria.

• The US and United Nations have cast doubt on claims by Carla del Ponte, a member of a UN panel investigating human rights abuses in Syria, that rebel forces might have used the nerve agent sarin. "We are highly sceptical of any suggestions that the opposition used chemical weapons," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. "We think it highly likely that the Assad regime was responsible but we have to be sure about the facts before we make any decisions about a response."

• Israel sought to avoid a direct confrontation with the Syrian regime on Monday by stressing that air strikes across its northern border at the weekend were intended to prevent weapons reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon rather than to further destabilise the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Amid a cautious consensus that the bombing raids were unlikely to provoke an immediate response from Syria, or its allies Hezbollah and Iran, an Israeli politician close to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said the action was "against Hezbollah and not against the Syrian regime".

• A bill that would provide weapons to selected rebel groups in Syria has been introduced by Democratic senator Robert Menendez, the chairman of the influential foreign relations committee. To qualify for the arms the groups would have to be vetted on the issues of human rights, terrorism, and the non-proliferation of arms.

Libya

• Libya's prime minister Ali Zaidan has managed to persuade his defence minister, Mohammed al-Barghathi, to withdraw his resignation. Barghathi said he was resigning in protest at the continuing influence of militia groups who have occupied a number of government buildings.

• Special forces and fast jets could have arrived in time to protect US diplomats ahead of the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, according to selected testimony released by Republican critics of Hilary Clinton from a forthcoming hearing. A witness due to speak before the House oversight committee on Wednesday alleges that military commanders blocked deployment of troops or planes for fear of offending the new Libyan government.

Egypt

• President Mohamed Morsi has increased the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in a cabinet reshuffle involving nine ministers including two involved in talks with the IMF over a stalled $4.8bn loan. The changes fell well short of the opposition's demand for a complete overhaul of the administration.