Britain will provide body armour and armoured vehicles to the rebels battling forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday.

Ten years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, ex-UN inspector Hans Blix has urged world powers to avoid committing the same error by going to war against Iran based on fears it is developing nuclear weapons.

Venezuelans began Wednesday to bid farewell to late President Hugo Chavez, whose body was to lie in state for three days to honor the firebrand leftist who ruled the oil-rich nation for 14 years.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that "a lot of countries" are training Syrian rebels as part of stepped up efforts to topple President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

After nine fruitless meetings with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons research, the UN atomic agency may have to change approach, the US envoy to the IAEA said on Wednesday.

The ill-treatment of Palestinian minors held within the Israeli military detention system is "widespread, systematic and institutionalised," a report by UN children's fund found.

Syrian state media paid homage to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez on Wednesday, saying he had taken an "honourable" position on the two-year-old uprising against the Damascus regime.

New clashes between police and protesters erupted on Wednesday in the Egyptian city of Port Said, the scene of several days of unrest, AFP reporters said.

Lebanon's foreign minister on Wednesday called on Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo to allow the Syrian government retake its seat at the Arab League, from which it was suspended in 2011.

Venezuela was plunged into uncertainty Wednesday after the death of President Hugo Chavez, who dominated the oil-rich country for 14 years and came to embody a resurgent Latin American left.

Condolences poured in Wednesday from world leaders who had found common cause with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in his 14-year campaign to galvanize the Latin American left and defy US "imperialism."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday the final handover of a US-run prison to local control would take place within days, signalling a breakthrough in a long-running dispute with Washington.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez lost his battle with cancer Tuesday, his death silencing the leading voice of the Latin American left and putting the oil-rich nation on a path to early elections.

The number of Syrians who have fled their country since a deadly civil conflict erupted two years ago has hit one million, the UN's refugee agency said Wednesday.

The Afghan government has urged Western nations to help recover millions of dollars smuggled abroad in what it called the "largest and most complex financial crime in the history" of the country.

Faced with a spike in sexual violence against female protesters, Egyptian women are overcoming stigma and recounting painful testimonies to force silent authorities and a reticent society to confront "sexual terrorism".

The family of a former US Marine held for 555 days in Iran, mostly in solitary confinement, urged Iranian leaders on Tuesday to show mercy and free him, revealing his father is dying from cancer.

Fresh clashes broke out on Tuesday between police and protesters in the restive Suez Canal city of Port Said, where six people were killed at the weekend, an AFP journalist said.

Former paratrooper Hugo Chavez led a self-styled revolution that redistributed Venezuela's oil wealth, earning the devotion of the long-neglected poor while provoking foes at home and abroad.

A top commander on Tuesday warned Iran not to test US resolve in the Gulf after Washington scaled back its naval presence in the area, saying no adversary should underestimate American military power in the region.