The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said that Israel will not face prosecution for an attack on a flotilla of ships attempting to deliver aid to Gaza four years ago, despite a “reasonable basis” that war crimes were committed.

Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that there would be no further investigation into the killing of 9 passengers on the ship, despite a report from her office describing Israeli forces as “intentionally directing an attack” against civilian targets.

"The information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed on board the Comorian-registered vessel the Mavi Marmara during the interception of the flotilla," said Bensouda.

However she went on to add that the court would not be investigating the case further, saying, "after carefully assessing all relevant considerations, I have concluded that the potential case(s) likely arising from an investigation into this incident would not be of 'sufficient gravity' to justify further action by the ICC."

An Israeli firm which has been subjected to boycott calls by campaigners has decided to shut down its controversial plant in the Palestinian West Bank territory.

According to the New York Times, the SodaStream's stock and revenue have shrunk since actress Scarlett Johansson's appointment as the company's spokesperson caused controversy and her resignation from her post as ambassador for Oxfam International, which opposes Israeli settlements in Palestine.

"The African Union joint U.N. mission in Darfur is calling on the government of Sudan to grant the mission unhindered access to all of Darfur, especially to areas where alleged incidents affecting civilians have been reported, in accordance with the status of forces agreement."

The leader of Burma’s opposition Aung San Suu Kyi has warned against “over optimism” on democratic progress in the country and said that reforms have stalled.

She said that talks with the government had achieved little and no real reforms had been made over the past two years.

“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee.”

“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused.”

The British government has axed most of its aid programme to the Ethiopian police force, amidst increasing evidence of torture, rape and murder by the government, reported The Telegraph.

The decision comes soon after a report by Amnesty International which said that thousands of ethnic Oromos were being “ruthlessly targeted by the state”.

'Because I am Oromo' - Amnesty International report

British ministers decided to suspend most of the £27mn scheme, which was intended to help Ethiopian police “interact with communities on local safety”, help women access the justice system and improve criminal investigations.

Over £1bn in aid, including around £70 million for “governance and security” projects has already been given to the Ethiopian government over the past three years.

The Department for International Development said the project was cancelled because it did not represent “value for money” and because of “risk” in getting it delivered on time and insisted that suspension of the aid was entirely unrelated to the allegations of human rights abuses, saying its decision pre-dated the Amnesty International report.

"We ask the armed forces to transfer power to the civil authorities, and the council has determined a period of two weeks for the transfer."

"The African Union is convinced that the change has been against democracy. However, we know that popular pressure led to the resignation of the president... Those circumstances were taken by the armed forces to get into power, but it originated from the people."