Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has said he was not consulted by the army about a statement, giving him 48 hours to find a solution for the political crisis that has gripped the country.

"The presidency asserts that the presidency is going on in its pre-planned path to hold a comprehensive national reconciliation," said a statement by the president’s office.

The president's statement also said that the ultimatum "may cause confusion in the complex national scene".

The army issued another statement, designed to reassure that it “does not aspire to rule and will not overstep its prescribed role".

The United Nations human rights office today called on Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, to listen to the demands of the Egyptian people that, over the last few days, have been expressed through mass demonstrations.

The Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, reiterated,

“We are following with great concern the extremely tense situation in Egypt and wish to convey a strong message of solidarity and support to the Egyptian people.”

“We call on the President of Egypt to listed to the demands and the wishes of the Egyptian people and address key issues raised by the opposition and civil society in recent months as well as to head the lessons of the past in this particularly fragile situation.”

Commenting on the pressure placed on the Egyptian government by army security forces, Colville said,

“We welcome public assurances made by law enforcement agencies and the military that no measures will be taken that could lead to excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators.”

The UN has begun its mission in Mali, taking control of around 6,000 West African troops.

The force will take over from French forces, which have controlled security operations in the country.

"This is not an anti-terrorist operation but of course the mandate has an element of real robustness in it and of course we are in a position to use all necessary means to defend ourselves and of course to defend the mandate," Herve Ladsous, the UN's head of peacekeeping, said on a visit to Timbuktu.

France will continue to keep troops on the ground, with around 3,000 soldiers to be deployed until the elections in July.

By December the UN force will have been expanded to 12,640 uniformed personnel.

Croatia has joined the EU, becoming its 28th member. It has been over two decades since it split away from Yugoslavia in order to secure its independence.

Amidst widespread celebrations, Croatia's president Josipovic said, it was "a great and joyful day for our homeland".

"This the day when we open a new chapter in the thick book of our history."

Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso embraced the cheering crowds, stating: "Welcome to the European Union!"

Earlier, addressing EU heads, Josipovic had said:

"The accession of Croatia to the European Union is confirmation that each one of us belongs to the European democratic and cultural set of values."

The Egyptian army gave the country’s rival parties 48 hours to resolve the deadly political crisis, today.

The head of the armed forces, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said that the recent protests were an “unprecedented” expression of the popular will.

A further statement made by the army explained that the ultimatum was given “to push all parties to find a quick solution to the crisis and push towards a national consensus that responds to the people’s demands.”

Dispelling rumours of an imminent coup, the statement also emphasised that the army did not aspire to rule over the people.

Whilst on a visit to strengthen trade relations with Kazakhstan, British Prime Minister David Cameron has been urged to bring human rights issues to the table in discussions.

An open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by Human Rights Watch director, David Mephan, outlined over 15 years of human rights abuses in Kazakhstan and urged for these to be brought up in discussions. Amnesty International UK’s head of police and government affairs, Allan Hogarth, also said ,

“ Kazakhstan might be knee deep in oil and gas wealth, but Cameron shouldn’t let lucrative energy deals prevent him from raising human rights during his trip.”

Over 40 people where killed in bomb blasts in Pakistan whilst the UK prime minister visited the country to hold talks with the newly elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif. 

One bomb by checkpoint near a Shiite Muslim mosque in the south-western city of Quetta killed over 20 people, whilst a car bombing in Peshawar, killed 17. 

One of the UK's top generals in Afghanistan has told the Guardian that the West should have tried to talk to the Taliban over a decade ago as it would have been easier to find a solution in 2002 when the Taliban were on the run.  

General Nick Carter said,   

"Back in 2002, the Taliban were on the run."

"I think that at that stage, if we had been very prescient, we might have spotted that a final political solution to what started in 2001, from our perspective, would have involved getting all Afghans to sit at the table and talk about their future.

"The problems that we have been encountering over the period since then are essentially political problems, and political problems are only ever solved by people talking to each other."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said during a visit to Afghanistan that the Taliban should join the political process.

"I believe that the Taliban, watching all this progress, are beginning to realise that they are not going to secure a role in Afghanistan's future through terror and violence but by giving up their arms and engaging in a political process.

"But let me make absolutely clear this peace process is for Afghanistan to determine.

"It must be Afghan-owned; it must be Afghan-led. There is no other agenda that Britain has, that America has, that any country in the West has - no other agenda other than your stability, your security and your prosperity, that is why we wish this peace process well, but it must be your peace process, not anybody else's."

Human Rights Watch urged the European Union High Representative, Catherine Ashton, to push for the immediate release of 13 high profile activists that were detained in Bahrain for peacefully exercising their rights.

The EU director at Human Rights Watch, Lotte Leicht, warned of the consequence of not acting stating,

“If they don’t they will consign human rights to the margins of the EU’s foreign police, undermine their own credibility, and leave the activists they had promised to support suffering in prison.”

The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution that called on EU member states and the EU high representative to actively push for the release of imprisoned activists.

The United States cut its long standing trade benefits with Bangladesh on Thursday in move said to be in response to the poor working conditions within the country's garment industry. 

Although the move is thought not to have a significant impact on Bangladesh's export industry, it is believed that it could encourage similar a move by the European Union, which would have a bigger impact as it is duty free. 

In a statement Obama said, 

"I have determined that it is appropriate to suspend Bangladesh ... because it is not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the country,"  

The government adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, 

"We are desperately trying to upgrade the situation of our garment factories and we expect assistance, not punitive action," 

The army captain who led the coup in Mali last year has apologised to the people of the country.

Captain Amadou Sanogo said he wanted "to ask for forgiveness from Malians as a whole" for the coup which overthrew the government, leading to conflict with Tuareg rebels and Islamists, who gained control of the north of the country, costing hundreds of lives.

The conflict eventually forced intervention from France, who deployed ground troops to regain northern Mali and bring it back under government control.

The International Criminal Court has postponed the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s war crimes trial connection with deadly post-election violence.

The decision comes after Kenyatta’s lawyers requested more time to prepare for the trial.

Deputy President William Ruto and Kenyatta were both elected this year, though they are both accused of orchestrating violence.

After being refused entry to Syria, inspectors appointed by the United Nations, have entered Turkey to gather information about the possible use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.

The United States and its European allies have concluded that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, which Washington described as the determining factor that pushed them to arm the Syrian rebels.

A senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, outlined that Britain and the United States had notified the U.N of 10 separate incidents of the use of chemical weapons by Assad’s forces.

Assad’s regime continue to deny allegations, claiming that they are just attempts of justifying the arming of Syrian rebels.