Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has faced strong opposition, following a decree issued on Thursday, that consolidated power over the judiciary with the president.

Amidst protests in Cairo square, prominent Egyptian democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei called on the president revoke the decree that granted him near absolute powers over the judiciary.

“I am waiting to see, I hope soon, a very strong statement of condemnation by the U.S, by Europe and by everybody who really cares about human dignity,” he said.

Demonstrations in Cairo square continued for a second day, resulting in Egyptian security forces firing tear gas at protesters.

Egypt’s association of judges called for a judges’ strike to bring the judiciary system to a halt, until the decree was repealed.

Egypt’s highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, described the president’s decree as an “unprecedented attack” on the independence of the judiciary.

Ahead of a pivotal election on Sunday, Artur Mas, Catalonia's president, outlined his views on the call for independence. Highlighting the rejection of Catalonia's call for greater tax-raising powers, assaults on the teaching of the Catalan language at schools and the dire Spanish economy, Mas pledged to hold a referendum on independence if he was to be re-elected.

Urging the nation to face the potentially historic choice it has before it, Mas said:

“If we stay in the position we are in now, it will be a disaster,”

“Something important is changing,”

“If Slovenia, Malta, Estonia can be states in Europe, why not Catalonia?”

Though he did caution that the EU's acceptance of the state of Catalonia was significant, saying, "things change if the EU is not on side."

Stressing that such a separation would never be easy, Mas acknowledged that Spain would not let it happen without fierce resistance. However, he said, "you never find a right time to do these things."

Bahrain has convicted 23 medics who were involved in last year’s protest against the kingdom’s regime.

The medics were either sentenced to three months in prison or a fine.

The convictions have come soon after a report released by Amnesty International, criticising the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain. The report said that oppressive practices by the government have become ‘increasingly entrenched’.]

The charges against the medics stem from treatment given to injured protesters, after demonstrations by Shias against the Sunni regime.

Over 95 medics were arrested and 20 of them convicted last year of attempting to overthrow the government.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Simone Gbagbo for alleged crimes against humanity, urging her to surrender. 

Simone Gbagbo is a politician and the wife of the Ivory Coast's former president, Laurent Gbagbo, and campaigned for him during his presidential campaign.

Over 3000 people died in the elections' aftermath after Laurent Gbagbo disputed the election results.

A year ago, Simone Gbagbo was charged with looting, armed robbery and embezzlement, along side her husband.

In a statement, the ICC said:

"According to the warrant of arrest, initially issued under seal on 29 February 2012, Mrs Gbagbo is allegedly responsible, within the meaning of article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute for the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, other inhumane acts and persecution allegedly committed in the territory of Côte d'Ivoire during the period between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011."

Capitalising on his role in brokering a truce in the Israel-Gaza conflict, Egypt's President Mursi declared on Thursday that his decisions could not be challenged until a new constitution was agreed upon.

In a statement, the presidential spokesperson said:

“The President can issue any decision or measure to protect the revolution.”

“The constitutional declarations, decisions and laws issued by the President are final and not subject to appeal.”

The president granted the panel responsible for drafting the constitution, immunity from legal challenges against its formation.

Meanwhile, commenting on Egypt's role in the truce, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said:

“I want to thank President Morsi for his personal leadership to de-escalate the situation in Gaza and end the violence,”

“This is a critical moment for the region. Egypt’s new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace,”

Nato has said it will look at Turkey’s request to deploy Patriot missiles along its border with Syria.

The bloc’s chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the request would be considered “without delay”.

Rasmussen said on Wednesday that he had received a request for the deployment on Wednesday.

If accepted, he said it would "augment Turkey's air defence capabilities" and "contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along Nato's south-eastern border".

Germany has already said it is pushing Nato to approve the request.

"It would be a serious mistake if we were to refuse defensive support to a Nato member country in a moment when this member country feels that it is exposed to attacks from outside," said Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Last month several exchanges of fire occurred after a Syrian mortar attack killed Turkish civilians.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for sanctions to be placed on M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The passing of Resolution 2076, which was drafted by France, comes after rebels stormed Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province, despite UN combat helicopters assisting DRC forces.

The statement from the Security Council

"demands the immediate withdrawal of the M23 from Goma, the cessation of any further advances by the M23 and that its members immediately and permanently disband and lay down their arms".

While Rwanda was not directly named, there was,

"deep concern at reports indicating that external support continues to be provided to the M23, including through troop reinforcement, tactical advice and the supply of equipment, causing a significant increase of the military abilities of the M23, and demands that any and all outside support to the M23 cease immediately".

DRC envoy Seraphin Ngwej however reiterated his government’s belief that Rwanda continued to support the M23 rebels, stating,

"The operations that led to the fall of Goma have benefited from remarkable planning and sufficient resupply, and particularly night vision equipment. This is material that neither the armed forces of the DRC nor MONUSCO have in their arsenals, unlike Rwanda. Even air defense equipment was used against combat helicopters of the armed forces of the DRC and those of MONUSCO".

The Kazakh government has moved towards a ban on the two opposition movements and media outlets supportive of the opposition, reported Reuters on Wednesday.

The leader of the Alga! party, Vladimir Kozlov, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last month for an attempt to lead protesting workers to topple the government.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said that both movements propagated extremism.

"Kozlov's sentence established that the activity of the unregistered Alga! and Halyk Maidany movements, as well as the activity of a number of mass media outlets, was extremist," said Nurdaulet Suindikov, adding that they are seeking the closure of eight newspapers and 23 websites.

Paris-based media group Reporters sans frontiers said that it was “appalled” by the moves.

"If granted, pluralism would quite simply cease to exist in this country. The government is using the pretext of combating extremism to launch an unprecedented offensive against its critics," the group said in a statement.

Sri Lanka gains another likeminded ally (20 Nov 2012)

After eight days of conflict, a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas took hold late on Wednesday evening, although distrust and singular attacks continued after the truce took effect at 9pm.

The deal has momentarily suspended the Israeli threat of a ground invasion of Gaza after bombing and rocket fire left 162 Gazans, including 37 children, and 5 Israelis dead.

Talking to a news conference in Cairo, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said:

"If Israel complies, we are compliant. If it does not comply, our hands are on the trigger,"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had agreed to "exhaust this opportunity for an extended truce", which had been brokered by Egypt and backed by the USA, but also told his people that future approaches may be tougher.

See here for full Reuters report.

The surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks was hanged in secret, the Indian government confirmed on Wednesday.

According to the Home Minister of Maharashtra, R.R. Patil, he was executed at 07:30am local time on Tuesday, after being moved in secret to Yerwada jail in Pune a few hours prior.

Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, a 25-year-old Pakistani, said to belong to the Lashkar-e-Taiba group was convicted over a year ago for his part in the attacks that killed 160 people.

In August, India's Supreme Court upheld his sentence of the death penalty, and earlier this month, President Mukherjee rejected a plea for mercy.

The British Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced that the UK has recognised the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Syrian people and that it is a “credible” alternative to the current regime.

"It is strongly in the interests of Syria, of the wider region and of the United Kingdom that we support them and deny space to extremist groups," he said to MPs.

"A credible alternative to the Assad regime is emerging that has the growing support of the Arab League, the European Union, the United States and an increasing number of other countries."

Mr Hague added that the decision was made after the leaders of the coalition assured that they are committed to uphold human rights and will work towards democracy.

The US, while accepting the group as "a legitimate representation of the aspirations of the Syrian people", has not fully recognised it.

President Obama said he was not prepared to accept the coalition as a “government-in-exile” and is seeking assurances that members of the coalition were not opposed to US interests in the Middle East.

Kosovo’s supreme court has ruled that a former rebel commander, now a senior politician and close ally of the Prime Minister, must face a retrial for war crimes six months after the case against him collapsed.

Fatmir Limaj, a senior commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army, was accused of torturing and killing Serbian prisoners in the Kosovan village of Klecka in 1999. The case collapsed however, after a key witness, fellow KLA fighter Agim Zogaj who was under witness protection in Germany, was found hanging from a tree in September 2011, in an apparent case of suicide.

The court have now overturned a previous decision, stating that,

"The panel also ruled that the evidence of Agim Zogaj, also known as Witness X, is admissible,"

At the time of his acquittal Limaj said that the war he had fought was "a just and clean fight".

However the acquittal sparked anger in Serbia, with war crimes prosecutor reportedly questioning "whether anybody in Kosovo will ever be convicted for crimes committed against Serbs".

Limaj was also acquitted by a UN tribunal in 2005 of similar charges.

The former Chief Prosecutor at the Hague has criticised the release of two Croatian generals by the war crimes court, stating that it was “not justice”.

Speaking to the Serbian tabloid Blic, Del Ponte said she was “shocked” by their acquittal, adding,

"I was very surprised and stupefied. It is completely incredible what happened after the sentence of 24 years in prison for Gotovina. Unbelievable. I cannot accept it. I feel full solidarity with the Serb victims of the crime. The crime, that we backed up with hard evidence."

"The Serbian government and Serbs cannot accept such a verdict, and I agree fully with what I heard them say on televisoin. It is clear a crime was committed - and the question now is, who committed it".

"We will see what will happen next, but this certainly is not justice,"

One of the Croatian general’s defense lawyer Luka Mištić however responded to Del Ponte’s comments by saying he would "report the former chief prosecutor to the Swiss Bar Association" on "ethical grounds".

Del Ponte, recently joined a UN team investigating and compiling evidence of human rights abuses and war crimes in Syria.