British Foreign Secretary William Hague has stated that the people of the Falkland Islands must “decide their own future”, after meeting with the island’s representatives.

Speaking after meeting members of the islands’ legislative assembly, Hague said,

“Through nine generations the people of the Falklands have worked tirelessly to establish their position in the world and their voice deserves to be heard. With this in mind, I welcome their forthcoming referendum in March."

"This will be a chance for the people of the Falkland Islands to express their views about how they wish to be governed, and in a democratic and incontestable way without other people speaking for them."

"It is of course a shame that the Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, was unwilling to join us for a conversation about the Falkland Islands.

"As I have said before there is no way such a conversation could have taken place without members of the Falkland Islands government being present, especially given the current Argentine government's behaviour towards the Islanders.

"It is, and must always be, for them to decide their own future."

Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman had declined to attend the meeting, having earlier stated,

"I think they are using the people living in the islands for political [reasons] and to have access to oil and natural resources which belong to the Argentine people."

Syria’s besieged President Bashar Al-Assad has slammed Israeli airstrikes on an alleged arms convoy in the country, accusing Israel of attempting to destabilise the country.

Stating that Israel was now co-operating with foreign forces aligned to Syrian rebels, Assad said,

“(This action) unmasked the true role Israel is playing, in collaboration with foreign enemy forces and their agents on Syrian soil, to destabilise and weaken Syria”

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister seemingly mocked the Syrian President, stating,

"Why didn't Assad even throw a pebble when Israeli jets were flying over his palace and playing with the dignity of his country?"

Whilst Israel has not admitted responsibility for the attack, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said that the incident was "another proof that when we say something we mean it".

"We say that we don't think that it should be allowable to bring advanced weapon systems into Lebanon, Hezbollah from Syria, when Assad falls".

"The convictions were reversed because the ICTR Appeals Chamber believes strongly that there were errors in the trial chamber's assessment of the evidence,"

"This acquittal is another nail in the coffin of the victims of the genocide, and a smack in the face for survivors of the genocide too,"

"The ICTR has delivered nothing for either the victims or the survivors of the genocide, delivering no compensation for the horrific atrocities committed during the genocide planned and perpetrated by the government of which Mugenzi and Mugiraneza were indisputably members - even though the ICTR denies that they were actively involved."

The leader of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami party has been convicted of crimes against humanity by a war crimes tribunal in Dhaka.

Abdul Kader Mullah was found guilty of five charges, including murder, committed while collaborating with Pakistani forces during Bangladesh’s war of independence.

He was accused of being responsible for several large massacres in the Mirpur district of the capital, earning him the nickname “koshai” or butcher of Mirpur.

Mullah denied all charges and party leaders said the charges are politically motivated.

 "We are but forced to accept the verdict. However, we will surely appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgement," his lawyer Abdur Razzaq told BBC Bengali on Monday.

"Although the prosecution says that guilt has been proved, I consider this to be a perverse judgement. The prosecution has failed to prove any charge."

The Bangladeshi government put the figure of deaths during the war at over 3 million people.

The US urged members of the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo on the Somalian government, citing stability within the state.

The embargo was imposed 21 years ago.

Last week the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon asserted that the embargo should be lifted in order to aid Somalian security forces in their fight against al Shabaab militants.

The deputy UN ambassador for Somalia, Idd Beddel Mohamed, told Reuters:

"There are no Somali warlords that threaten peace and stability in Somalia,"

"They are normal citizens now, members of parliament. The embargo must be lifted."

Speaking to Reuters a 'senior Western diplomat' said:

"I think we'll come down in terms of having probably a political lift of the arms embargo but retaining some controls,"

"What the Somali government partly wants is a political signal that they are now a sovereign government and we're supporting them, rather than a trusteeship,"

"They say the bad guys are getting weapons and the good guys are not."

Urging the Assad regime to enter into talks to avoid further violence, the leader of the Syrian opposition, Moaz Alkhatib, offered the regime a peaceful exit.

Suggesting the Assad regime's vice President, Farouq al-Shara, as a negotiator for the talks, Alkhatib said,

"I ask the regime to send Farouq al-Shara - if it accepts the idea - and we can sit with him,"

Speaking on Monday to Al Jazeera after talks with US, Russian and Iranian diplomats, Alkhatib said:

"The regime must take a clear stand (on dialogue) and we say we will extend our hand for the interest of people and to help the regime leave peacefully,"

“While the liberation of towns once under the control of the rebel and extremist groups has brought hope to the populations of northern Mali, I am deeply concerned at the risk of reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuareg and Arab civilians,”

“I am deeply disturbed by reports of violations committed by the army, and by reports that the armed forces have been recruiting and arming proxy militia groups to instigate attacks against particular ethnic and national groups in northern Mali,”

“I call on the Malian army to discharge its responsibility to protect all populations, irrespective of their race or ethnicity.”

"Given its history and this high level of ethnic tension, we're really concerned that as local populations who suffered tremendously under the NMLA and the Islamists return to their towns and villages in the north that the incidents of reprisals could dramatically increase".

“The only way forward is to cooperate with our neighbours or exchange information; in that way we will not be in the position of neighbours issuing warrants for the arrests of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice-versa”.

The leader of the Syrian opposition has met with both the Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers, long-term allies of President Assad's regime, for the first time, as the conflict in Syria continues.

Moaz al-Khatib, leader of the Syrian National Coalition, widely recognised as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, also met with US Vice President Joe Biden at Munich, Germany, where a global security conference was being held.

Speaking on the meeting, Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said,

"Russia has a certain vision but we welcome negotiations to alleviate the crisis and there are lots of details that need to be discussed."

Meanwhile Iran's foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, stated that  more meetings would be held with the opposition and called for them to form a transitional government with the existing Syrian regime.

Al-Khatib was heading back to Cairo to brief members of the opposition of his talks. However many remain sceptical, with Walid al-Bunni, a member of the Coalition's 12-member politburo, stating the meetings had failed. He was quoted by Reuters as saying,

"It was unsuccessful. The Iranians are unprepared to do anything that could help the causes of the Syrian Revolution".

The Syrian opposition are to meet officials from the US and Russia on Saturday together in order to discuss political transition reports Reuters.

According to sources in the opposition, the Coalition president, Moaz Alkhatib, is to meet the US Vice President Joe Biden, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the UN envoy Lakhdhar Brahimi at the sidelines of a conference on security and cooperation in Munich.

Reuters have quoted the source as saying:

"I think Russia warmed to the meeting after Alkhatib's proposal (to talk to Syrian officials). The Coalition has adopted a position of constructive vagueness on whether Assad should step down first for a transition to happen, and it has stirred things up,"

However, Lavrov's deputy has since tweeted,  "As it stands today, there is no such meeting mentioned in the program of the Russian Foreign Minister."

Farc rebels have killed three policemen in Maicao in the north of Colombia, officials say.

Violence has escalated since the end of a unilateral ceasefire by the rebels, which was not reciprocated by the Colombian government.

Bogota claims that 6 Farc members, including senior commander Jacob Arango, were killed in army operations on Thursday.

"It's a strike of great importance," Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told Reuters news agency.

A three member human rights panel called on Israel to halt further settlement expansion, warning that it could be subject to prosecution as potential war crimes.

In a report the panel argued that the settlements were against the Fourth Geneva Convention which forbids the resettlement of civilian populations into occupied territory, and were "leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,"

A French judge who led the panel, Christine Chanet, said:

"Israel must cease settlement activities and provide adequate, prompt and effective remedy to the victims of violations of human rights,"

"To transfer its own population into an occupied territory is prohibited because it is an obstacle to the exercise of the right to self-determination,"

"We have highlighted states' responsibility because the facts we denounce are known. The problem is nobody is doing anything about it."