“As a Mayanmar citizen, I would like to congratulate her for the honours she has received in this country in recognition of her efforts for democracy,” he said.

Both Sudan and South Sudan have signed deals on trade, security and oil in a move that has been lauded as easing escalating tensions between the two nations.

The deals, penned at African Union brokered talks, were hailed by AU mediator Thabo Mbeki as significant, saying,

"We are convinced that what has happened, which culminated in signing of the agreements, constitutes a giant step forward for both countries."

ICC wanted-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir stated it was a "historic moment for building peace" commenting,

"We will continue talking with the same spirit to solve the other problems such as Abyei and the disputed borders."

The failure to agree on the disputed borders has remains a strong point of contention between the two sides, with Princeton Lyman, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, telling Reuters,

"This has to be a very high priority. If they keep fighting it will be probably hard to secure the borders."

EJ Hogendoorn, the Horn of Africa director for the International Crisis Group also commented that the signing of deals alone cannot guarantee future peace. Stating that “enormous frictions remain”, he said,

 “This basically kicks the can down the road,”

“Oil production will give both governments some breathing room, since their economies were collapsing, but unless there is a resolution to Abyei.”

The former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, has been subjected to a travel ban, preventing him from leaving the capital Male.

A court ruled that Nasheed needs to seek the court’s permission if he wants to leave the capital, a move which, according to the court, is standard procedure ahead of the several court cases he is facing.

Supporters of Nasheed have criticised the travel ban and accused the government of restricting the former president’s ability to campaign for elections next year.

"The regime fears Nasheed will win an election. So they plan to convict him of something so they can prevent him from standing. They know their grip on power is dependent on removing Nasheed from the political equation," Mr Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said in a statement.

The former president says he was forced to resign in February after a coup by his deputy Mohamed Waheed and security forces.

However a domestic inquiry, supported by the Comomnwealth, found that Nasheed had stepped down voluntarily.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressed 'regret' at the recent elections that took place in Belarus on 23rd September.

In a statement, the FCO spokesperson, felt that the Belarus elections were "neither free nor fair".

The spokesperson said,

“We note the OSCE assessment that the elections were neither free nor fair. This is clearly disappointing. Whilst we welcome the improvements to the electoral law made in advance of these elections, they did not go far enough. We call on the government of Belarus to work constructively with the OSCE on further reforms. 

“We remain concerned about the detention of journalists and human rights defenders. We were dismayed by the decision to sentence opposition youth leader Zmitser Dashkevich to an extra year in detention. We send our best wishes to Ales Bialiatski on his 50th birthday and call on the government of Belarus to release him soon. 

“The UK remains very concerned about the difficult conditions in which they and all political prisoners are being held. We call again for their release and full rehabilitation.”

At the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the UK foreign minister, William Hague, met with his Burmese counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, marking an ever increasing welcome extended to Burma over recent months, including the easing of sanctions by the US and EU, despite the persecution of Rohingya Muslims by Buddhist monks.

Writing in Forbes magazine on Burma and Sri Lanka earlier this week, Tim Ferguson, suggests that the Burmese economy may "leap-frog" Sri Lanka's.

See here for full article. Extract reproduced below:

"But a wave of excitement has swept through international investors as Burma’s latently rich natural-resource economy–and remarkable human resources–may be opened up to global markets. Sri Lanka, to be sure, for a time inspired hope following conclusion of its long, bloody civil war between the Sinalhese government and the Tamil Tiger warlords in 2009.

However, the conquering majority in Sri Lanka apparently is not making good on those hopes, continuing policies that repress the potentially productive Tamils (and stifling a free press as well). The ungenerous leadership of  President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his coterie threatens to delay further the realization of Sri Lankan promise, beyond the opening of a few nice tourist beaches."

"For several months Mali has been confronted by an unprecedented security crisis in northern areas (and has been) occupied by armed groups including terrorists, drug traffickers and all types of criminals".

"The Malian government wants the immediate military presence of this force to support Mali's security forces to carry out this mission."

"Let it be understood that there is no question of deploying French troops on the ground... It is up to the Africans, working under a UN mandate, to take the necessary action".

The two US marines who were filmed urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters have been recommended for a trial by court martial, according to the Pentagon.

Staff sergeants Joseph Chamblin and Edward Deptola will face the court martial, a month after three of their colleagues were given administrative punishments for their role in the incident.

Afghan officials praised the action taken by the US.

"We welcome the US move to put those Marines on trial," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi told AFP.

"We want all those people who commit unlawful acts to be brought to justice."

The Taliban however dismissed the move.

"It is just a symbolic move to catch media attention. These soldiers are war criminals and should be severely punished," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said by phone from an undisclosed location.

"They have not committed a mistake, it was an intentional crime."

"I didn't kill anybody, I didn't rape anybody – and I don't even have a traffic ticket here…. I didn't do anything wrong... We could only see the outside, the gates."

The Nigerian military said 35 members of Boko Haram were killed and several arrested during overnight violence in Damaturu.

In a statement, the Joint Task Force spokesperson Eli Lazarus said,

"The operation which lasted throughout Sunday night and continued into the early hours of Monday recorded fierce exchanges of fire between Joint Task Force (JTF) troops and the terrorists,"

"Thirty-five terrorists were killed in the fight while several others were arrested ... two JTF men were injured,"

A group of citizen journalists have been jailed for up to twelve years in Vietnam for blogging about human rights abuses, corruption and foreign policy.

Nguyen Van Hai, Ta Phong Tan and Phan Thanh Hai, founding members of the ‘Free Journalists’ Club’ were found guilty of spreading “propaganda against the state”, and were handed sentences ranging from four to twelve years in jail.

The mother of Ms Tan died in late July after self-immolating in protest against her daughter’s arrest.

The US has expressed that it is “deeply troubled” by the convictions with State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland saying:

"These convictions are the latest in a series of moves by Vietnamese authorities to restrict freedom of expression. The Vietnamese government should release these three bloggers, all prisoners of conscience, and adhere to its international obligations immediately.”

 

The Israeli government has ruled out any changes to the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Egyptians "shouldn't try to delude themselves or delude others," whilst talking to Israel Radio.

Pressure has been growing on the Egyptian government recently to lift restrictions on the number of troops on the Sinai Peninsula after an increase in violence.

The number of troops was restricted by the treaty in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the peninsula.

"Although he's not being charged with any war crimes here in the United States, our investigation is a very thorough investigation and we do gather evidence on his actual foreign crimes and it's our endeavor to share that with any foreign entity charging him."

The interim Libyan leader Mohammad al-Magarief has vowed to disband all ‘illegitimate’ militias in the country, after the killing of the US ambassador Christopher Stevens.

In a press conference on Saturday, Magarief said that all militias which are not under government authority would be disbanded.

"[We want to] dissolve all militias and military camps which are not under the control of the state," he said.

"We call on everyone to stop using violence and carrying weapons in the streets and squares and public places."