A South African court has halted the delivery of helicopters to the Zimbabwean military, over human rights concerns.

High Court judge N B Tuchten placed a temporary halt on the delivery, saying it would be irresponsible to provide equipment to a force that was not neutral, ahead of elections later this year. A full hearing will be held on February 19.

A lawyer for AfriForum, a South African lobby group, told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that he was confident the court order would then be upheld.

"We know that Zimbabwe has got a record of human rights abuses," lawyer Willie Spies said.

"We know what happened during 2008 with the second round presidential elections. We know the Zimbabwe Defence Forces are not a neutral defence force committed to defending the Zimbabwean state,

"It's an aggressive force that's been used against the people of Zimbabwe to suppress the opposition."

Israeli are likely to boycott the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a planned session of the UN Human Rights council, in protest against the group’s stance on the Jewish state.

Despite the United States urging Israel to attend the session in Geneva, Israel are expected to refuse. The state broke away from the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC), after the group decided to probe the state’s West Bank settlements, and described the probe as a “blatant expression of the singling out of Israel in the UNHRC and the uncandid approach that characterises the Councils dealing with Israel.”

Noting that it was the ramifications of boycotting the UPR were unclear, the US ambassador to the UNHRC, Eileen Chamberlin Donahoe, said.

“We have encouraged Israelis to come to the council and tell their story and to present their own narrative of their own human rights situation.” she said.

North Korea has warned the South that it will retaliate with “physical counter-measures” if Seoul took part in sanctions by the UN.

In a statement, released a day after it announced a third nuclear test, North Korea said sanctions would mean war.

"If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the UN 'sanctions', the DPRK (North Korea) will take strong physical counter-measures against it," it said.

"'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us."

A UN resolution was passed on Tuesday, which expanded existing sanctions on the reclusive state.

The US condemned North Korea’s plans for another nuclear test.

"Further provocations would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile programme is doing nothing to help the North Korean people," White House spokesman Jay Carney told media.

An UN official has told reporters that the body wants to send troops to intervene in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to fight rebels in the east of the country.

The official said that an intervention force of 2,500 soldiers would be added to the UN’s existing Monusco peace keeping mission in the country.

A political plan to end the violence is also set to be signed in Addis Ababa by the leaders of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Tanzania and South Africa, reported the BBC.

"Following the Goma crisis there was a realization here that after more than 10 years of UN engagement in the DRC there was a need to look at things differently to break the cycle of violence in the east," said the UN official.

"So we tried to go for the heart of the problem and see why these cycles are on-going."

Catalania declared its region as a sovereignty entity on Wednesday in a largely symbolic act which paves the way for a referendum on independence from Spain.

The declaration reads: "The people of Catalonia have - by reason of democratic legitimacy - the character of a sovereign political and legal entity."

The declaration came after the Catalan parliament voted in favour by 85 votes for, 41 against and 2 abstentions.

See here, here and here.

The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) amended its travel advisory to Libya on Thursday, advising all British nationals to leave Benghazi immediately as well as to avoid travel at all to some parts of the country.

The FCO said that they were aware of  "a specific, imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi", claiming that there is a 'high threat' of 'indiscriminate' terrorist attacks and also a 'threat of kidnapping'.

The advisory update also said:

"Following French military intervention in Mali, there is a possibility of retaliatory attacks targeting Western interests in the region. We advise vigilance."

Germany and the Netherlands joined the UK and urged their citizens to leave Benghazi without delay.

Libya's deputy interior minister, Abdullah Massoud however insisted that such a response to security problems in Benghazi was unwarranted, and told the BBC that such actions would just create instability in the region.

"Germany could easily have ignored the case of Demjanjuk, who was neither German nor Volksdeutsche, nor had he committed his crimes in Germany, but the prosecutors in Munich nonetheless made the effort to bring him to trial and achieved a landmark decision".

"Despite a large number of potential suspects, Austria has not convicted anyone for crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust for more than three decades."

The US has decided to end the ban on female soldiers serving in front-line combat, according to a senior Pentagon official.

The official told the BBC that Defence Secretary Leon Panetta overturned the 1994 prohibition and that the change will “initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision, which was made by the secretary of defense upon the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

The formal announcement of the decision is expected to be made on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused armed opposition groups in Syria of deliberately destroying religious sites in November and December 2012, following investigations in mixed areas of Northern Syria.

According to evidence examined and witness statements, a Shia mosque was destroyed and two Christian churches looted after their respective towns fell into opposition control.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said:

“The destruction of religious sites is furthering sectarian fears and compounding the tragedies of the country, with tens of thousands killed. Syria will lose its rich cultural and religious diversity if armed groups do not respect places of worship. Leaders on both sides should send a message that those who attack these sites will be held accountable.”

See here for full HRW press release.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Turkey of abusing anti-terror laws after an Istanbul court ordered the pre-trial detention of nine human rights lawyers.

The lawyers were among 12 arrested last week during early morning raids.

HRW claims that Turkey's 'overbroad' anti-terrorism laws have been used more widely to charge for non-violent political activities and legitimate exercise of rights, with charges often accompanied by prlonged pretrial detention.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch said:

“Police raids against lawyers at 4 a.m., their arrest and imprisonment are part of a wider clampdown on those who oppose the government. What makes the latest arrests particularly disturbing is that these lawyers are well-known for acting on behalf of those whose rights have been violated by the state.”

See here for full HRW press release.

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has appealed last year’s verdict at The Hague, which saw him sentenced to 50 years in prison for aiding and abetting rebels in Sierra Leone during the country’s brutal civil war.

His legal representatives appealed on more than 40 grounds, saying that the verdict was based on "uncorroborated hearsay evidence".

"The colossal judgment, over 2,500 pages in length, is plagued throughout by internal inconsistencies, misstatements of evidence and conflicting findings," his lawyer Morris Anyah said in court papers, quoted by AFP news agency.

Christopher Gosnell, another of his lawyers, said in court: "There is nothing in the trial chamber's findings that would have allowed it to find that Charles Taylor knew that specific weapons or ammunition he had some role in providing would be used in a crime as opposed to a lawful purpose."

The prosecution on the other hand is attempting to increase Taylor’s sentence to 80 years, arguing that he not only aided the rebels, but also gave orders to them, a charge he was found not guilty of in last year’s trial.