The Turkish government is to submit a reform to parliament allowing defendants to speak in languages other than Turkish in court.

The ruling has significant implications on Kurdish militants, who have been on hunger strike for 56 days so far, with one of their key demands being the right to speak in Kurdish at trial.

Almost 700 Kurdish inmates have been refusing solid food protesting for greater Kurdish minority rights.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said,

"A person will be able to defend themselves in court in the language in which they can best express themselves,"

"The prime minister has given the order to our justice minister to develop this and send it rapidly to parliament to become law,"

However, Arinc also called on the hunger strikers not to "upset" the Turkish government, saying:

"Don't upset us and our nation,"

"Please end these strikes in the knowledge that there is a democratic atmosphere in Turkey where your demands can be discussed."

The Haqqani network has been placed on the UN Security Council’s Taliban sanctions list.

The Pakistani network, close to the Taliban and other militant organisations, has been blamed for many high profile attacks, including last year’s attack on the US embassy in Kabul, which killed sixteen Afghans.

The sanctions include arms embargos, the freezing of assets and travel bans for members of the network.

The US added the Haqqani network to its list of terrorist groups in September.

"I do not cry. I have 10 fingers on my hands. Such was my pain that day, as if someone had cut off all 10 of my fingers. I had seven children. Now I am left with one son. It doesn't bring the dead to life if I cry."

"Why didn't the murderer wait for me... Why did he kill my children but not wait for me?"

We want to see this man hang,... I won't speak his name, I don't want to dirty my mouth. I would like to hang him myself. I'll go to America to the Mahkama [court], to the great court, to see him hang. Then my heart will be calm."

“I want no compensation, from no one. I don't want Hajj [pilgrimage to Mecca], I don't want money, I don't want a villa inAino Mina [a posh neighbourhood in Kandahar city], I just want the punishment of the Americans. I want it, I want it, I want it. And I have laid down my own head in god's will. And if that is not possible, god be with you, I am leaving right now.”

A UN human rights investigator, who was investigating alleged violations in South Sudan, has been expelled, after being accused of publishing “unethical” reports.

The report is thought to be a publication from August, which accuses the country’s army of torture, rapes, killings and abductions.

The UN condemned the move, saying it was a breach of South Sudan’s legal obligations.

"Human rights monitoring, investigation and reporting, and building capacity, is a core element of the mandate of UNMISS which must be protected," said Hilde Johnson, head of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and added that she has sought an explanation from the government.

South Sudan’s spokesperson Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the officer had been "reporting on human rights issues that she could not verify and has been publishing without justifications".

"Genocide is the most serious crime that there is and it can bring a sentence of up to life in prison."

“We have a responsibility to ensure that Sweden is not a haven for suspected war criminals and for those who commit genocide."

Two people, identified as foreign workers, have been killed in a series of bomb blasts in Bahrain’s capital city, Manama on Monday.

A string of five explosions in the city have been described by Bahraini officials as acts of terrorism, and come less than a week after Bahrain banned all protest gatherings.

The dead victims were workers from India and Bangladesh and another Indian man was also wounded.

Sameera Rajab, spokesperson for the Bahraini government placed the blame on statements by some Shiite "religious figures who haven't ceased inciting violence against civilians and police."

BBC’s correspondent Bill Law said:

“The opposition in Bahrain has been saying for several months that what it calls government inaction in dealing with legitimate demands is only stoking the potential for violence.”

“No-one I spoke with was surprised by the attacks.”

See full BBC report here.

Activists have claimed that Syrian rebels have captured an oil field in eastern Syria.

Al-Ward oil field was captured by the rebels after several days of fighting, reported the Syrian Human Rights Observatory.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Observatory, said: "Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days."

Around 40 troops were killed in the attack, according to Mr Rahman.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has sparked widespread anger and condemnation within the Palestinian territories and abroad for publicly waiving his right to return to live in his town of birth.

Talking to Israeli Channel 2 about Safed, his town of birth from which his family fled in 1948, Abbas said:

"I visited Safed before once, he said. "But I want to see Safed. It's my right to see it, but not to live there."

"Palestine now for me is '67 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is now and forever ... This is Palestine for me. I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah. I believe that the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine and the other parts are Israel."

In refugee camps in Gaza, the president’s image was burned in protest of the comments, which were seen as conceding the demand of Palestinian to return to their former homes in what is now Israel.

Gaza’s Hamas leader said in a statement:

"No one has the right, whoever he is – a common man or president, organisation, a government or authority – to give up an inch of Palestinian land."

Mahmoud Abbas rejected accusations of conceding on key Palestinian demands and insisted that he was selectively quoted by the media.

Read full report on the Guardian here.

The Syria National Council held talks on Sunday in Doha in an effort to form a more united coalition, and consider the possibility of transforming it into a government in exile.

Set to take place over four days, the talks are to include younger voices with a view to forming a stronger united leadership for the anti-Assad force.

The meeting comes after the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called for a reshaping of the SNC, saying,

“There has to be representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying in Syria today to obtain their freedom,”

“This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes but have in many instances not been inside Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years.”

"After we have expressed our message of rejecting any play in the constitution, we announce the end of the procession."

The former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has been declared healthy enough to stand trial at the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity, stated judges on Friday.

Judges noted that Gbagbo was well enough to take part in the proceedings against him and found that he was fit enough to stand trial, after complaints from the defendant over his health.

Gbagbo faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape after some 3,000 people were killed in violence following the Ivory Coasts’s 2010 Presidential elections. He was arrested by rebel forces in April 2011 and subsequently transferred to the ICC in November 2011.

Gbagbo is the first former head of state to be brought before the International Criminal Court.

Thousands of Libiyans flooded central Benghazi today to rally for autonomy of the eastern region of Libya, Cyrenica.

Staging a pro-federalism rally, the activists called for the creation of a semi-autonomous region of Cyrenaica, which contains almost three quarters of Libya’s accessible oil reserves.

“Ignoring our demands for federalism has dire consequences on the future of Libiya, “ proclaimed an activist.

The movement released an official declaration, which stated their “full support for the elected government, which won the confidence of the General National Congress, in order to draft a constitution on the basis of the legitimate constitution of 1951.”

The 1951 constitution divided the country into three separate administrative zones: Tripolitania,Fezzan and Cyrenaica. Federalists claim that, the subsequent regime of Colonel Gaddafi neglected the zones that were created under the 1951 constitution.

As a result, the Federalist movement, want the issue of negligence of states to be addressed in the new constitution, by basing it on the 1951 federalist union system.

Libya’s transitional government has condemned the movement for autonomy, and denounced it as the result of foreign plots aimed to disturb national unity and foster instability.

The European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has offered Burma over £62 million in development aid.

The chief met President Thein Sein to discuss plans to boost trade after ending of decades of sanctions.

The European Commission President’s visit is one of many visits to Burma by Western officials since the beginning of the reforms.

The Burmese government also published details of a new foreign investment law which will look to encourage investment from overseas companies.

Trade links with the EU that have, over past decades, been unsubstantial are now beginning to regenerate.

The Chinsese authorities must address the "deep-rooted frustrations with human rights" in Tibetan areas, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, which have led to "desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations".

Speaking on Friday, Pillay said:

“I have had several exchanges with the Chinese Government on these issues. But more needs to be done to protect human rights and prevent violations,”

“I call on the Government to respect the rights to peaceful assembly and expression, and to release all individuals detained for merely exercising these universal rights.”

“I recognise Tibetans’ intense sense of frustration and despair which has led them to resort to such extreme means, but there are other ways to make those feelings clear. The Government also needs to recognise this, and permit Tibetans to express their feelings without fear of retribution.”

“Social stability in Tibet will never be achieved through heavy security measures and suppression of human rights,”

“Deep underlying issues need to be addressed, and I call on the Government to seriously consider the recommendations made to it by various international human rights bodies, as well as to avail itself of the expert advice being offered by the UN’s independent experts on human rights.”

“My office also stands ready to assist constructively on these issues in the region and promoting best practices from around the world with regard to protection of minorities.”