Tony Abbott has many fans according to the polls - but few as enthusiastic as Nio Barbaro, who knelt at the Abbott's feet yesterday and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seemed calm and was surrounded by only light security when he talked to a French journalist this week.

The prospect of air strikes in Syria has grown with political developments driving towards military action.

The graves had run into each other, mounds of red earth washed by the rain, blown by the wind.

Syria's civil war has driven almost a third of the country's population from their homes, causing the humanitarian calamity of the century, says the United Nations.