The US criticised the prolonged delay in oil exportation by South Sudan and Sudan on Tuesday, arguing that it undermines the peace process. Oil export has been delayed since the two states were unable to come to an agreement on how to withdraw their armies from the disputed border territories.

In a statement the spokesperson for the US State Department Victoria Nuland said:

"The government of Sudan's intent to postpone the restart of oil production until the implementation of security arrangements is complete runs counter to the fundamental principles of the [September] accord and continues to undermine the economic and security situation in both states."

Urging Sudan to talk to the rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), Nuland said:

"Security will only come if Sudan cooperates with South Sudan and begins direct talks with the SPLM-N to address the Two Areas conflict,"

SPLM-North is a rebel group supportive of South Sudan during the civil war. Sudan asserts that the group, which controls part of the Sudan side of the disputed border, is being aided by South Sudan.

"What's happened over the last two odd years ... is basically exactly the same tactics as Darfur except in the interim period the technology of war has improved"

"This is the world's biggest human rights disaster... The tactics they are using point towards war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed with the circumstantial evidence that it is quite strongly ethnically based."

"There's more than enough prima facie evidence that a properly constituted inquiry should determine the nature of these crimes, and I can't understand why that's not happening".

A court in Johannesburg has convicted Nigerian militant Henry Okah of 13 terrorism counts, over a car bombing in Abuja in 2010.

Okah pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied being the leader of the militant group Mend, which claimed responsibility at the time.

Johannesburg High Court Judge Neels Claassen said "I have come to the conclusion that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused,"

South African prosecutor Shaun Abrahams told AP that Okah is likely to face life imprisonment.

He said South Africa worked closely with foreign law enforcement agencies "to make sure justice is done in Africa,"

"This [conviction] is clearly indicative that South Africa cannot be seen as a safe haven for international terrorists," Mr Abrahams added.

A Bangladeshi court sentenced a Muslim cleric, Abul Kalam Azad, to death for crimes against humanity, committed during the war of independence in 1971.

The cleric, believed to be in Pakistan, was found guilty in absentia. The prosecution asserted he had shot dead six Hindus and raped Hindu women during the war.

The trial has drawn criticism however, with some saying the court is not endorsed by the UN and the charges brought against the cleric are politically motivated.

A ceasefire between Kachin rebels and the Burmese government has been broken after Burma's army launched attacks on Kachin positions near Laiza, the capital of the Kachin state, controlles by the rebels.

The Kachin Independence Army claimed that the the ceasefire announced by the government on Friday was never adhered to and that the Burmese Army continued with attacks.

The rebel group has been fighting for more autonomy from the central government for ethnic Kachins.

Kachins have had de-facto rule over the state for over 50 years and the government is now attempting to retake territory from the rebels.

"I firmly believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed, are being committed and should be investigated,"

"I have urged the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court for investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity on the part of all parties engaged in this conflict,"

Two men have been arrested over the killings of three Kurdish activists in Paris earlier this month.

French media reported that both men were born in Turkey and one was the driver for one of the women.

Le Point reported that one of the arrested was the last person to see the women before their deaths.

The three women, all activists linked to the PKK, were found on January 10 at an office, linked to the Kurdish movement.

The Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has warned Farc not to return to violence once its unilateral ceasefire expires on Sunday.

The rebel group declared the ceasefire in November, ahead of peace talks, although the Colombian government refused to reciprocate the move and continued attacks on rebel positions.

The president said the army was prepared for any upsurge in violence but urged Farc not to commit any "terrorist attacks".

India's Supreme Courty ruled on Friday, that the country has the jurisdiction to try two Italian marines charged with the deaths of two fishermen, however, a special feveral court must be set up as the Kerala state courts do not have the authority to adjudicate in the case.

In February 2012, two fishermen were killed off the coast of Kerala by members of a military security team who allege they mistook the fishermen for pirates.

The case has cause a rift in Indian-Italian relations with Indian officials arguing the killings took place in a "contiguous zone" where Indian law applies. Last year Italy challenged India's right to try the marines at the Supreme Court in New Delhi, arguing the incident took place in international waters.

See here for more on Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that he will not dismantle any Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he wins another term in next week’s elections.

"The days when bulldozers uprooted Jews are behind us, not in front of us." he told Israel's Maariv newspaper.

"We haven't uprooted any settlements, we have expanded them,

"Nobody has any lessons to give me about love for the Land of Israel or commitment to Zionism and the settlements."

According to the BBC, the new government is expected to be one of the most right wing in Israel’s history, with the ultra-nationalist religious party, Bayit Yehudi, likely to be part of the coalition.

Tens of thousands of people gathered Thursday in the city of Diyarbakir, southern Turkey, to mourn the deaths of three Kurdish activists murdered in Paris last week, an outpouring that some said was the largest political gathering that Turkish authorities had ever allowed the Kurds to stage.

Fidan Dogan, Leyla Söylemez and Sakine Cansız, one of the founders of the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), were killed by execution-style shootings last week.

Their three coffins, draped in red, green and yellow flags of the PKK, were carried in procession to the main square, as a massive crowd chanted: “The martyrs’ path is our path”

See reports and photographs by the New York Times and The Independent.

None of the Turkish television networks carried the event live. The footage above is from the MCI TV portal.

It is suggested the killings may have been an attempt to derail the recently begun peace talks between Ankara and PKK after three decades of conflict.

While Turkish government officials suggested the killings might be linked to an internal conflict in the PKK, some Kurdish political activists blame what they call the Turkish “deep state,” a nationalist underground network that was behind hundreds of extrajudicial assaults against Kurds in the 1990s and considers any ethnicity a threat to Turkey’s national unity. 

"The genocide that occurred in Srebrenica and Zepa, and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was conducted by Serbian aggressors while blasting this song as they raped, murdered, and ethnically cleansed the non-Serb population".

"We sincerely regret that people were offended by this song… The Secretary-General obviously was not aware what the song was about or the use that has been made of it in the past."

“We are very proud of it, and we wanted to share it with the world with a clearly stated accompanying message of reconciliation for present and future generations."