At least 30 people were killed in rocket attacks in the city of Mariupol in the east of Ukraine, as pro-Russian rebels announced a major offensive.

The rockets are thought to have come from rebel-held areas, but Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said his forces had not carried out "active operations" against the city until Saturday.

The attacks were widely condemned, including by the EU who warned “would inevitably lead to a further grave deterioration of relations between the EU and Russia”, according to EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

The funeral of two female Kachin teachers, suspected to have been raped and killed by Burmese soldiers, was held today in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state in northern Myanmar.

Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Khawn Nan Tsin, aged 20 and 21, were in a remote village in Shan state, to teach children on behalf of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KCB), the group's spokesperson Lama Yaw told AFP news agency.

“The victims are dead and can’t point out who did it to them. But everyone in Myanmar -- not only the Kachin people -- knows the truth,” Lama Yawsaid, referring to KBC claims that soldiers were responsible.

Villagers say they were raped and beaten, and that boot prints were found outside their shared home. Activists and local media say Burmese troops were stationed near the village.

The Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, quit on Thursday after Houthi rebels advanced upto the presidential palace, plunging the country into deeper crisis.

Mr Hadi said he could not continue in office after the rebels failed to abide by the peace deal. According to the BBC, Mr Hadi's intelligence chief, Ali Hassan al-Ahmedi has also resigned.

Whilst, the Houthi rebels are yet to officially comment on the resignation, Reuters reported that some figures within the rebel group welcomed the move and proposed the creation of a 'ruling council'.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussain called on Myanmar’s government to condemn Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu for the sexist insults directed at South Korea’s envoy to the country, Yanghee Lee, who had highlighted anti-Muslim sentiment.

Mr Wirathu of the notorious Buddhist nationalist 969 movement was slammed by Mr Zeid, who called the language employed by the monk as “sexist” and “incitement to hatred”.

"I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred including this abhorrent public personal attack," Mr Zeid said in a statement.

Ms Lee had said the country’s Rohingya Muslims faced discrimination and criticised draft legislation, proposed by a coalition of nationalist Buddhist monks, which includes restrictions on interfaith marriage and religious conversions.

Last week the UN passed a resolution, calling on Myanmar to grant the Rohingya citizenship.

The monk criticised UN “interference” and attacked Ms Lee at a rally last Friday.

The Yemeni capital Sanaa has been overrun by Houthi rebels, who have stationed their fighters at strategic points in the city, including the presidential palace.

The rebels defeated the presidential guard and have surrounded the private home of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, but Houthi officials said he was free to leave.

“President Hadi is still in his home. There is no problem; he can leave,” Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi politburo, told Reuters.

The prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to six months in prison over a tweet in which he suggested Bahraini jails served as an "ideological incubator" for jihadists.

The founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has been imprisoned several times for his activism.

A former special investigations chief with Guatemala's national police has been sentenced to 90 years over an attack on the Spanish embassy during a protest in 1980, which left 37 people dead.

Pedro Garcia Arredendo was found guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for his role in the raid on the building, which was occupied by indigenous people, peasants and students, during a protest in the country's 36-year long civil war.

The police chief, who denied the charges, ordered officers to prevent those in the mission from leaving as it burned down.

Among those killed in the fire were Vicente Menchu, the father of indigenous rights activist and winner of the 1992 Noble Peace Prize, Rigoberta Menchu, the Spanish consul and two Guatemalan politicians who had been visiting the embassy, former vice-president Eduardo Caceres Lenhoff and former foreign minister Adolfo Molina Orantes.

A senior leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has arrived in the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Dominic Ongwen, said to be the feared deputy of the rebel group's leader, Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody in the Central African Republic earlier this month, after Uganda agreed he should be tried by the ICC, despite being a critic of the court, the BBC reports.

The ICC in a statement thanked the Central African Republic, Uganda, Belgium and the Netherlands, the African Union and the US - who are not a signatory to the Rome Statute - for facilitating the detention and transfer of Mr Ongwen.

Violent clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo have left at least four people dead, after protests erupted over the future of President Joseph Kabila.

The demonstrations started over Mr Kabila's presidential tenure, which is coming to an end next year. He is blocked from running for a third term by the country' constitution. Protestors say the government is attempting to delay the elections by holding a census.

Protestors demanded that Mr Kabila steps down with the end of his term next year. The government admits the census could delay the elections but claims it is vital to ensure fair and free elections.