Experts overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal have begun securing their work sites, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the U.N. said in a statement.

"Joint work with the Syrian authorities has begun on securing the sites where the team will operate," said the statement, which detailed the activities of the team's first day of work on Wednesday.

Women and children rallied quietly outside Sudan's state security headquarters Thursday calling for the release of prisoners held in a crackdown after protests over fuel price hikes, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

The crowd of around 45 carried photographs of the detainees, including social media activist Dalia El Roubi and Amal Habani, a journalist with Al-Khartoum newspaper, the reporter said.

A Tripoli court will decide October 24 whether to indict more than 20 senior figures from Moammar Gadhafi's regime charged with killing protesters during the 2011 revolt that toppled him.

The officials include Gadhafi's once high-profile son Seif al-Islam -- who was unable to attend because he is being held by rebels in western Libya -- as well as former intelligence chief Abdallah al-Senussi.

Claims that migrant workers are treated like slaves in 2022 World Cup host Qatar were center stage on Thursday as global football's governing body FIFA met behind closed doors.

Already scheduled to debate shifting the 2022 edition from the World Cup's traditional June and July slot in order to escape the stifling Gulf heat -- a plan which has angered European leagues that fear mid-season havoc -- FIFA found the spotlight shifting to alleged human rights abuses against the workers paving the pay for the tournament.

The trial of three Tunisian policemen for raping a young woman last year, which sparked outrage when the prosecution tried to blame the victim, was adjourned Thursday until November 4.

The prosecutor asked for postponement because the alleged victim's medical report was still not ready, prompting condemnation from the defense lawyers.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin may discuss Syria on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bali next week, a top Kremlin official said Thursday.

Although Obama is yet to confirm his attendance at the October 7 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting because of a budget crisis back home, Putin's foreign policy adviser said both Moscow and Washington were getting ready for the talks.

The struggle for Syria's second city Aleppo has been locked in stalemate for months, fueling the frustration of rebels who see no way out but to doggedly battle on.

"We take a building and then lose it two or three days later, only to take it back the following week," said Abu Ahmed, whose platoon operates in the Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla districts of the devastated city that was once Syria's commercial capital.

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused the Syrian regime of detaining tens of thousands of people for protesting peacefully, torturing many or holding them for long periods.

"Behind the awful brutality of the fighting in Syria is the unseen abuse of political detainees - arrested, tortured, and even killed for peacefully criticizing the government or helping people in need," said Joe Stork, Middle East and North Africa head for the New York-based watchdog.

A Saudi court has sentenced four men to up to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for dancing "naked" in public, media reported on Thursday.

In a video posted on YouTube, several men appear dancing atop a vehicle in the ultra-conservative province of Qassim. None seemed naked.

Nine disarmament experts tasked with implementing a U.N. resolution ordering the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal left their hotel Thursday and headed for an unknown location, an Agence France Presse photographer said.

Two days after arriving in Damascus, the experts from The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) drove off in three U.N. vehicles.