North Korea announced on Saturday that it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency carried a statement saying:

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly."

The comment has been brushed off by Seoul. South Korea'a Unification Ministry said:

"North Korea's statement today (on entering a state of war) ... is not a new threat but is the continuation of provocative threats."

Protests took place across the West Bank and Gaza strip, marking the 37th anniversary of "Land Day", with reports of a few injuries following clashes with Israeli security forces.

"Land Day" marks the 1976 killing of six Arab Israelis who were protesting against plans to confiscate Arab land, by the Israeli government.

Thousands of people marched through the Northern Israeli town of Sakhnin, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans. Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad also planted an olive tree in the contsted West Bank zone of East Jerusalem.

Two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured by stone throwing, whilst Palestinian sources claimed a handful of protestors were treated for tear gas inhalation. 

Myanmar’s government rejected remarks by a United Nations human rights official that implied authorities could be held partially accountable for the recent mob attacks by Buddhists on minority Muslims that killed dozens of people.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, urged Myanmar’s government to investigate allegations that security forces watched as Buddhist mobs attacked Muslims. The official also went on to note that the government needed to do more to protect the country’s Muslims.

“The government has simply not done enough to address the spread of discrimination and prejudice against Muslim communities,” Quintana said in a statement.

Highlighting the state’s ignorance of belligerent mobs, he noted that officers stood amble “while atrocities have been committed before their very eyes, including by well organised ultra-nationalist Buddhist mobs.”

Myanmar’s Deputy Information Minister and presidential spokesman, Ye Htut, wrote in a social media statement that Myanmar “strongly rejected”the Special Rapporteur’s comments and that it was,

“saddening that Mr Quintana made his comments based on hearsay without assessing the situation on the ground.”

The new Chinese president Xi Jinping has completed the final leg of his tour of Africa in the Republic of Congo.
Xi signed a number of deals in the central African nation and said he wanted to raise Congo to “a new and higher level".

"The future, the development of China will be an unprecedented opportunity for Africa, and Africa's development will be the same for my country," he told the Congolese parliament.

"We expect to work together with our African friends to seize upon historic opportunities and deepen cooperation ... in order to bring greater benefit to the Chinese and African peoples."

Congolese President Sassou Nguesso praised China and rejected accusations of China’s neo-colonialism.
Xi visited Tanzania and South Africa before concluding his tour in Brazzaville.

According to Xinhua, trade between China and Africa has grown from $290m in 2002 to $5bn in 2012.

China media: Xi Jinping in Africa - BBC (25 March 2013)

A curt in Slovakia has reduced a death sentence that was previously handed down to a 98-year-old war criminal to life imprisonment, as legal battles continue.

The suspect, Laszlo Csatary, is accused of ‘unlawful torture of human beings' during World War II, where he allegedly whipped and tortured Jews before sending them to Auschwitz, as chief of an internment camp at Kosice (now part of Slovakia).

He denies all charges against him. Csatary is currently under house arrest in Hungary, after being on the run from authorities for decades.

Speaking on the decision, prosecutor's office spokesman Milan Filicko said,

"Once the decision takes effect, the court will decide whether it will issue an arrest warrant or how it will get him to serve the sentence".

Slovakian Jews have called for Csatary’s extradition to Slovakia, with Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre which tracks down Nazi-era war criminals, earlier stating,

"When you look at a person like this, you shouldn't see an old frail person, but think of a man who at the height of his physical powers devoted all his energy to murdering or persecuting and murdering innocent men, women and children."

The Democratic Republic of Congo has welcomed the creation of a special force by the UN, which will be deployed to attack rebels in the country’s east.

Lambert Mende, a spokesperson for the government told the BBC that around 2,000 soldiers would form the force and would "bring some hope of peace".

"We think that every problem we have had there was coming from that border. So to monitor that border - secure it - will really enhance our capacity to deal with the rogue elements within our territory when we are sure that they are not going to receive any assistance from outside,” he said.

The UN already has around 20,000 troops in the country, but this is the first time any UN peacekeeping force has been given such a wide mandate to go on the offensive and neutralise rebels.

The UN Security Council resolution says the new Intervention Brigade will "carry out targeted offensive operations" to "neutralise" armed groups from July and reports indicate that the troops will include personnel from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi.

The resolution also said that the decision was taken "on an exceptional basis, and without creating a precedent or any prejudice to the agreed principles of peacekeeping", according to Reuters.

Rebels who seized power in the Central African Republic last weekend have said they will review mining contracts signed by the ousted president with Chinese and South African companies.

The rebel leader Michel Djotodia said that any unfair deal would be reviewed.

The president Francois Bozize has sought asylum in Benin after fleeing from the rebels last week.

Read more here.

The US Assistant Secretary for International Organisation Affairs Tori Holt discussed the prevention of atrocities and genocide with the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng.

Dieng thanked the US for Obama’s establishment of the Atrocities Prevention Board (APB) and briefed the Assistant Secretary on his international work.

“In my meeting with Special Adviser Dieng, we stressed the importance of working closely with the United Nations, multilateral--as well as bilateral--partners on preventing genocide and mass atrocities, before they occur.” Tori Holt wrote on her blog.

“During a full day of consultations, Special Adviser Dieng also met with State and inter-agency participants in the work of the Atrocities Prevention Board--including the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, the Office of Global Criminal Justice, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, the Department of Justice, Department of Defense and the Multilateral and Human Rights Directorate of the National Security Staff--and expressed his appreciation for the APB's work both on specific country situations and on bringing attention to the issue from the U.S. government,” she said.

The UN Security Council on Thursday authorised an intervention brigade to be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The brigade will be part of the already existent UN peacekeeping operation in th DRC and will carry out offensive operations targeted against armed groups 'that threaten peace in the eastern part of the DRC'.

 See the UN News Agency for full report.

The Burmese government is "systematically restricting humanitarian aid and imposing discriminatory policies" against the Rohingya Muslims in the state of Arakan, asserted Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Meanwhile the governmennt spokesperson for Arakan State, Win Myaing, has accused the Rohingya Muslims of deliberately inflating the numbers of IDPs in order to receive more aid. Maing said: 

“Now, when we are making a list in the camp over here, then people from [another camp] will come,”

“Frankly, [the Rohingya] are just attempting to make the list bigger so that they can get more aid.”

HRW's deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson said:

"Burmese government restrictions on aid to Rohingya Muslims are creating a humanitarian crisis that will become a disaster when the rainy season arrives."

“Instead of addressing the problem, Burma’s leaders seem intent on keeping the Rohingya segregated in camps rather than planning for them to return to their homes.”

“The government seems untroubled by the dire humanitarian conditions in the camps in Arakan State but it will be responsible for the lives unnecessarily lost,”

“Concerned donor governments should be demanding that the Burmese government produce an action plan to resolve the crisis because continued inaction will only make the crisis worse.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, HRW stated that the government's security forces did not permit residents of the camp to leave, and despite the risk of heavy flooding in the camps come the rainy season in May, the government had not taken serious steps to move the camp to higher ground.

See full statement here.

Judges in the Hague on Wednesday sentenced two former Bosnian Serb police officers to 22 years imprisonment for their role in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the break-up of Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago.

The Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal ruled that the pair of officers had contributed to plans to permanently remove non-Serbs from the territory of a planned Serb State by committing acts of violence against Muslims and ethnic Croats.

See full report here.

“Recognising the importance of the referendum and the adoption of a new constitution as a major step along this road, the EU . . . has today agreed to immediately suspend the application of measures against 81 individuals and eight entities”.

"That small group includes those who we believe ultimately carry the most responsibility for ensuring elections are free of violence and intimidation".

"We want them unconditionally removed. There is no reason why some should be removed from the list while some remain. There is nothing we have done to deserve these illegal sanctions anyway".