Obama endorsed military action against Libya following over a week of violence against anti-government rebels there.
Meanwhile Mr Cairns' former boss, Scottish Secretary Des Browne, has warned potential Labour rebels there is no alternative to Mr Brown's leadership.
South Africa says it will pull out its troops from the Central African Republic (CAR) after rebels there seized power more than a week ago.
He took the precaution, before going walkabout in Kisangani, of having his presidential guard disarm all the former rebels there, though they are supposed to have been integrated into the national army.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in neighbouring Lebanon, says there are armed rebels in the area, but also many civilians.
He said that some people had tried to resume work, as the rebels had requested, but there was no public transport.
Father CARLOS RODRIGUEZ: The last two years, I mean, every time I hear the figure 400--there are 400 rebels left two years ago.
From there, the rebels could float down the river to Kinshasa.
As well as dealing with the mentally-unstable John Stonehouse - who disappears, reappears and then resigns - there are serial rebels who threaten to bring the government down.
Relatives of Ms McCulloch, originally from Dunoon in Scotland, have said she had gone to Aceh to research a book on the conflict there, where rebels are agitating for an independent state.
Despite recent "positive developments" in Burma - including the release of political prisoners and an outline peace agreement with Karen rebels - the UK said there were "ongoing challenges", particularly the conflict in Rakhine state, where 100, 000 people have been displaced.
This suggests that there are divisions among the rebels, a notion confirmed by Western intelligence sources.
It's now believed there are fewer than 500 rebels hiding in small groups around northern Uganda.
After Houthi rebels eroded the government's grip there in recent fighting, they were evacuated to a compound in Sana'a.
Nor is there a shortage of serial rebels on the Labour benches.
Congo's President Laurent Kabila said there would be an amnesty for rebels and their supporters.
However, he said there was no indication that the rebels were armed with heavy weapons or surface-to-air missiles.
An even more delicate question, raised by the rebels' poor military performance, is whether there would be any circumstance in which coalition (though not American) ground forces might go in.
But he felt so out of place there that he eventually returned to the rebels.
FORBES: Oscar Winner Forest Whitaker's New Role: Fighting For Africa's Child Soldiers
But there was a major problem - the rebels often searched vehicles leaving Timbuktu, and if they found manuscripts they would certainly confiscate or destroy them.
There have been claims of atrocities by rebels forces as well.
Police in Colombia have blamed the Farc for the disappearance of three oil workers on Wednesday, but there has been no confirmation from the rebels.
BBC: Soldiers and Farc rebels killed in clashes ahead of talks
Though violence in Darfur has come down from its peak, there are still clashes between government forces, rebels, bandits and rival ethnic groups.
BBC: Darfur war crimes suspect rebel Jerbo 'killed in Sudan'
The head of Iraq's intelligence service suggested earlier this month that there were 40, 000 hard-core rebels, with another 160, 000-odd Iraqis helping them out.
U.S. President Barack Obama and other American officials have said in recent days there was no intelligence to substantiate reports that rebels used chemical weapons against government troops.
Syrian opposition coalition President Moaz al-Khatib said Thursday that the rebels took the peacekeepers for their own safety due to fighting there.
He initially refused to attend the Rome talks in protest at a lack of international support for the Syrian rebels, but was persuaded after the US and UK indicated there would be specific promises of aid.
应用推荐