Over a dozen peaceful reform activists have been arrested in Jordan over the past week says Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The wave of arrests indicates a reinforcement of intolerance towards calls for political demands in the kingdom.

US President Barack Obama has said that the US does not consider Egypt to be an ally nor an enemy.

His comments came after clashes and demonstrations outside US consulates across the Middle East, which spread after a movie that was deemed blasphemous by some was made in the US.

"I don't think we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy. They are a new government that is trying to find its way," Mr Obama said in a television interview with Telemundo.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found at least four politicians responsible for violent clashes in the Tana River County in August and early September.

A Kenyan MP, Dhadho Godhana was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the violence which is reported to have claimed the lives of at least 110 people and left 6000 displaced.

Cambodia’s long running Khmer Rouge war crimes court has ordered the release of the “first lady” who has been declared unfit to stand trial.

The UN backed court ruled that there was no prospect that Ieng Thirith, who is 80 years old, could stand trial due to a degenerative illness that she suffers from.

Some 1.5 million people took part in Catalonia's annual independence rally in Barcelona on Saturday, the BBC reports, citing police.

Catalonia has a population of 7.6 million.

The US Ambassador to Libya has been killed during an attack by protestors on the US embassy in Benghazi, according to government officials.

Al-Jazeera reported that the ambassador came under rocket fire whilst in a car and died from smoke inhalation with three other staff of the embassy.

An armed mob attacked the compound on Tuesday after a film critical of Islam was made in the US and released on YouTube.

Wanis al-Sharif, the Libyan deputy interior minister, confirmed the deaths to the AFP news agency.

Mustafa Abu Shagur, the Libyan deputy prime minister, condemned the "cowardly act of attacking the US consulate and the killing of [the ambassador] and the other diplomats".

The president of Libya’s national assembly Mohammed Magarief has apologised for the killing of the US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, which has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the Muslim Brotherhood.

"We apologise to the United States, the people and to the whole world for what happened," he told a news conference broadcast live on Al Jazeera television.

US President Obama has praised the courage of the Ambassador and while condemning the attacks, noted that it was Libyans who carried the ambassador to a hospital.

"While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," Obama said in a White House statement.

Kosovo has gained “full sovereignty” after the International Steering Group (ISG) announced on September 10 that it will end its supervision of the country.

A former General in the Syrian Republican Guard, who defected to Turkey in July, has claimed that French secret agents helped him escape.

"The French [intelligence] services helped me get out of Syria and I thank them for that," said General Manaf Tlass to French TV Channel BFM.

A human rights report published today by the US rights group, Human Rights Watch, accused M23 rebels of carrying out war crimes that included summary executions, rape and forced recruitment of child soldiers, since breaking away from Congo’s army.

In the report, Human rights Watch argued the UN Security Council should already be considering sanctions on high ranking officials that were allegedly responsible for violations of an arms embargo as well as international criminal law.

Highlighting the Rwandan authorities’ potential liability for war crimes, Anneke van Woudenberg, senior Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch said,

“From a legal perspective because Rwanda is directly involved in the conflict both in providing recruits and fighting, it could be made accountable for war crimes.”

Tariq al-Hashemi, the fugitive Iraqi vice-president has rejected the verdict and death sentence of a court in Baghdad, claiming it was politically motivated.

Talking at a press conference in Turkey, Hashemi said he was innocent and that the charges were ‘politically motivated’ against him.