Iran called for the formation of a new Yemeni government whilst offering to assist with a political transition, reports Reuters.

Speaking on a two day visit to Kazhakstan, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, said,

“I have the privilege of participating in the Bonn Conference when we created the Afghan government. Actually we didn’t do it, the Afghans did.. We can do that in Yemen too.”

Mr Zafiri’s comments come as Houthi rebels, who Saudi Arabia accuse of being backed by Iran, advance in the presidential city of Aden.

Russia has lifted its ban on the sale of the S-300 air defence missile system, which would enhance Tehran's capability to defend itself from air strikes.

Russia' president Vladimir Putin gave the go-ahead for the sale, after it was suspended in 2010 when the UN imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.

Israel and the US expressed concern at the news, which comes soon after a framework agreement on Iran's nuclear future was reached with the international community.

The leaders of Islamic State (IS) are unlikely to face war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC), chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement.

"The international community pledged that appalling crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity must not go unpunished,” said Ms Bensouda.

At least 14 people have been killed in two bomb attacks in the Sinai peninsula, according to Egyptian security forces.

A roadside bomb targeting an armoured vehicle killed at least 6 Egyptian soldiers in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, whilst as many as 8 people were killed in a bomb reportedly targeting a police station in El-Arish.

The Egyptian army blamed "terrorist and extremist elements" for both attacks, with the twitter account for the the Sinai Province group, linked to the Islamic State, also claiming responsibility for the attack.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) are to jointly launch a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean to help migrants who risk their lives to flee conflicts and reach Europe.

Using the ship MY Phoenix from May to October, the service will attempt to rescue some of the thousands who are predicted to attempt to cross the Mediterranean by boat. An estimated 3,400 people have died so far this year attempting to reach Europe.

Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF's general director, told the BBC the situation was "dire", especially since the Italian navy's search and rescue mission, Mare Nostrum, ended last November.

“Europe has turned its back on people fleeing some of the worst humanitarian crises of our time,” continued Mr Hehenkamp. “The decision to close doors and build fences means that men, women and children are forced to risk their lives and take a desperate journey across the sea. Ignoring this situation will not make it go away. Europe has both the resources and the responsibility to prevent more deaths on its doorstep and must act in order to do so.”

Kenya has given the United Nations a 3 month deadline to remove the temporary housing of over 500,000 Somali refugees in direct response to the University massacres carried out by Somali gunmen, reports Reuters.

The deputy president, William Ruto, in a statement on Saturday, said,

“We have asked the UHCR to relocate the refugees in three months, failure to which we shall relocate them ourselves. The way America changed after 9/11 is the way Kenya will change after Garissa.”

 

Obama and Castro at the summit (Reuters)

US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro today met on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Panama, the first such meeting between the leaders of the two countries since 1959.

"[Obviously] there are still going to be deep and significant differences between our two governments," Mr Obama said, even as he welcomed "the spirit of openness and courtesy" Mr Castro had shown during their meeting.

"What we have both concluded is that we can disagree with a spirit of respect and civility," he said. "Over time, it is possible for us to turn the page and develop a new relationship between our two countries."

The president said the US will not ignore rights issues on the island.

"We will continue to try to lift up concerns around democracy and human rights," he said.

"[Some] of our immediate tasks include normalizing diplomatic relations and ultimately opening an embassy in Havana, and Cuba being able to open an embassy in Washington, D.C. so that our diplomats are able to interact on a more regular basis," the US president added.

Raul Castro, the brother of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, said patience was needed but that Cuba was ready to talk about sensitive topics.

The Turkish government has summoned the Vatican envoy in Ankara after Pope Francis described the mass killings perpetrated by Ottomans against Armenians during World War One as a genocide.

At a mass conducted in the Armenian Catholic rite at Peter's Basilica, the pope said humanity had lived through "three massive and unprecedented tragedies" in the last century.

"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th Century', struck your own Armenian people," he said.

A former senior Bosnian Serb military officer has had his life sentence for genocide upheld at an international war crimes court last week.

Zdravko Tolimir, head of Bosnian Serb military intelligence, had most of his 26 grounds for appeal dismissed by Judge Theodor Meron, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Though Mr Tolimir had convictions relating to the forcible transfer of Muslims from Žepa, a town near Srebrenica and other smaller scale massacres dropped, others relating to his role in the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica were upheld. The sentence remained unchanged.

“In light of these genocide convictions alone, the appeals chamber considers that Tolimir’s responsibility does not warrant a revision of his sentence,” said Mr Meron.