The British and French governments have summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries, after Israel said it would build 3,000 more settlements in Palestinian territory.

The head of the United Nations Peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expressed disappointment at the recent suspension of Radio Okapi broadcasts, a radio station backed by the UN.

Commenting on the suspension of the Radio station, the head of the Un Organisation Stabilisation mission in DRC (MONUSCO) Roger Meece said,

“We find the timing and lack of notification by CSAC puzzling and regrettable. We will be registering an official protest of this action with Congolese authorities.”

The radio station was created 10 years ago with the aim of contributing to the consolidation of peace throughout Congo. Congo’s media department, The Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (CSAC) decided to suspend the station indefinitley last week.

The decision to halt broadcasts was not communicated to MONUSCO, and reduces the stabilising mission’s outlets in the unstable region of East DRC, North Kivu.

MONUSCO reiterated in a recent press release press release that it was still “fully committed to addressing urgently the humanitarian and security needs of the population in North Kivu, providing full support to achieving a resolution of threat posed by M23 military actions as rapidly as possible, an establishment more broadly of long-term peace and security for North Kivu and the region.”

Burmese president, Thein Sein, has appointed opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi to head a commission to investigate the brutal crushing of a protest by police forces,that left several people injured last week.

In a statement on the presidential website, President Thein outlined that the purpose of the commission was to “investigate the truth” behind the police raid.

Commenting on the violent crackdown, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, said

“If excessive force was used, and it seems it was, then it needs to be established who authorised it and people need to be held accountable.”

The appointment of opposition leader, Suu Kyi, to head the commission comes amidst doubt from international observers about the sincerity of the President Thein’s reforms.
Having already visited the area, Suu Kyi called for an official inquiry into the violence and for the police to apologise to the monks.

A tribunal at The Hague has cleared former Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes for a second time, along with two commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

All three men were first acquitted of charges of torturing and murdering prisoners at KLA camps in 2008, before a partial retrial was announce by the tribunal two years later.

Haradinaj's lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, said after the verdict,

"This verdict, coming after the longest and most exhaustive criminal process ever undertaken in the history of international criminal law, is a complete vindication of Mr Haradinaj's innocence. It proves beyond the slightest doubt that he was a war hero and not a war criminal".

"It is time for the enemies of a free Kosova to accept the verdict of history. This judgment should silence once and for all those senior officials at the very top of government in Belgrade who have been putting out falsehoods about this case, even in the days running up to the judgment".

"Even to suggest that there was some kind of equivalence between the genocidal policies of the Milosevic regime and the resistance of a people's army seeking liberation and self-determination for the people of Kosova was a travesty from the start.

It was the equivalent of putting the leaders of the French resistance in the dock at Nuremberg alongside the henchmen of Hitler's Third Reich".

Kosovo’s government meanwhile, furious at the dragged out retrial, has called for an investigation into United Nations chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, releasing a statement saying,

"These powers and privileges were exceeded and abused to the extent that completely unfounded charges were filed."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has criticised moves by Israel to allow the building of 3,000 settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Talking at a forum in Washington, in front of Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Clinton said that negotiations with Israel are the only way to a separate state for the Palestinians.

She added that the UN vote, granting Palestine non-member observer status, “should give all of us pause. All sides need to consider carefully the path ahead".

The UK also expressed “extreme concern” at the decision.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the UK “strongly advises the Israeli government to reverse this decision".

Amidst strong protests, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has announced a snap referendum on the new constitution drafted by the, Muslim brotherhood dominated, constituent assembly.

Morsi, who recently triggered a crisis by granting himself sweeping powers over the judiciary and allowing the constitution to be tailored by an islamist-dominated assembly, attempted to make amends by calling for a referendum on the 15th December.

Commenting on the referendum announced by the assembly, protestor Sayed el-Erian said,

“We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society.”

A university professor, Mustafa Kamel el-Sayed, who withdrew from the assembly due to its Islamic domination, said,

“ Morsi’s actions display a lack of wisdom.”

The final draft of the constitution has faced heavy criticism in Egypt and abroad. It has been described as weak document that gives precedents to contradiction on issues of Human rights, women’s rights and civil liberties.

Morsi’s call for a referendum comes as an estimated 50000 people, bussed in from the country, flooded Cairo to show support for his constitution.

The legendary singer Stevie Wonder cancelled a concert for the Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) in response to numerous complaints from organisations condemning Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

In a statement, Wonder said:

“Given the current and very delicate situation in the Middle East, and with a heart that has always cried out for world unity, I will not be performing at the FIDF Gala."

The cancellation comes after the Israeli government announced further settlements, in response to the Palestinians being recognised as a non-member observer state at the UN.

The concert was due to be a fund-raising gala in Los Angeles, hosted by the FIDF.

A man accused of partaking in the Srebrenica massacre has lost his appeal against an extradition to Bosnia, the first time a genocide suspect has been liable for eviction in Israel.

Aleksandar Cvetkovic, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in January 2011 after an international arrest warrant was issued. Bosnia and Herzegovina have since called for his extradition, which the suspect was fighting.

In his ruling Justice Salim Joubran said,

"the appellant, along with other soldiers, participated in the murders of hundreds of Muslim civilians, some of whom had their hands bound and their eyes covered, some shot in the back with pistols, others beaten to death with sticks, and buried in mass graves."

He went on to say that Cvetkovic contributed to the

"decimation of the Muslim population in Srebrenica or that he at least turned a blind eye towards [it]."

The Israeli government has approved the building of 3,000 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The move comes less than a day after a vote at the UN General Assembly granted Palestine non-member observer status.

"It is an act of Israeli aggression against a state, and the world needs to take up its responsibilities," a senior Palestinian official told AFP.

The US also criticised the decision to expand settlements in the occupied territory.

"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and East Jerusalem construction and announcements," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The UK has stopped £21m worth of aid to Rwanda, over its alleged support for rebels fighting the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said she stopped the payment to Kigali because President Paul Kagame has broken agreements.

Greening said that the evidence gathered by DfID "constitutes a breach of the partnership principles set out in the memorandum of understanding [between Britain and Rwanda], and as a result I have decided not to release the next payment of budget support to Rwanda".

"We are committed to finding lasting solutions to the conflict in this region and will work with the governments of Rwanda and DRC to secure a peaceful resolution to the situation in eastern DRC," she said.

The nephew of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has been jailed for three years for assaulting a police officer.

Chen Kegui was detained by police during a scuffle when police raided homes of Gunagcheng’s relatives.

Guangcheng escaped from house arrest and fled to the US, but has since expressed concern about the safety of his relatives remaining in China.

Chen Kegui is accused of hacking and wounding police officers.

His father Chen Guangfu told BBC Chinese that the sentencing was unfair.

"I don't think that the verdict is fair. What my son did at the time is for self-defence, but for that he is now sentenced to prison for three years and three months," he said.

"He should have been found not guilty of any crimes because what he did to those who broke into his house [in] the middle of the night was for his self defence."

The UN’s Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that the UN could authorise a 3,300 strong African Union mission to support Mali’s military against rebels in the north of the country.

He said it could "restore the unity and territorial integrity of Mali and reduce the threats posed by terrorist and affiliated groups and transnational organised crime".

Mr Ban warned of the “pitfalls” of such a move, saying that "the focus must be on initiating a broad-based and inclusive political dialogue".

"Fundamental questions on how the force would be led, sustained, trained, equipped and financed remain unanswered," he said.

"I am profoundly aware that if a military intervention in the north is not well conceived and executed, it could worsen an already fragile humanitarian situation and also result in severe human rights abuses.”