The leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Saudi Arabia of committing genocide by carrying out air strikes in Yemen against Houthi militants.

"This is a crime and genocide that can be prosecuted in international courts ... Riyadh will not emerge victorious in its aggression," said Mr Khamenei. "The aggression by Saudi Arabia against Yemen and its innocent people was a mistake... It has set a bad precedent in the region,"

Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said today there is no guarantee there will be a final deal after negotiations on its nuclear programme with world powers.

Mr Khamenei said in a statement "it is possible that the untrustworthy side [the P5+1] wants to restrict our country in the details".

"I have never been optimistic about negotiating with America. While I was not optimistic, I agreed with this particular negotiation and supported the negotiators," the statement went on.

The supreme leader and President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would not sign a final deal unless sanctions were lifted "on the first day" of implementation.

The proposed agreement says Iran will cut its stockpile of enriched uranium and the number of centrifuges it runs, in return for a phased lifting of UN, US and EU sanctions once the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirms Iranian compliance.

The University of Cape Town has removed a monument to British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, after students campaigned for its removal.

The statue, targeted alongside other monuments to leaders of the colonial-era, was unveiled in 1934.

Protesters said the statue had "great symbolic power" and glorified someone "who exploited black labour and stole land from indigenous people".

"I contend that we [the English] are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race," Rhodes once said.

Some white South Africans opposed the decision to remove the monument and are rallying to protect statues of 19th Century president Paul Kruger in the capital Pretoria, and 17th Century colonialist Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town.

Canada has carried out its first set of air strikes in Syria as part of a US-led coalition fighting against Islamic State (IS), becoming the first Nato country other than the US to do so.

Canada's Defence Minister Jason Kenney said Canadian fighter jets dropped bombs on IS position in Raqqa on Wednesday, announcing on Twitter, “Canada is helping to ensure that ISIL has no safe haven”.

The Canadian government this month extended its military deployment in Syria into 2016.

A former imam and activist who criticised the Syrian government has been found dead with gunshot wounds in London on Wednesday.

Syrian-born Abdul Hadi Arwani, a former imam at the An-noor mosque in west London,was found dead in a parked car with gunshot wounds to his chest in Wembley. Mr Arwani was critical of the Assad regime, which he described as “more than criminal...less than animals”.

US President Barack Obama responding to Israeli demands, said that a nuclear agreement with Iran would not be determined by Iran’s commitment to recognising Israel as state, reports Reuters.

“The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in in a verifiable deal on Iran recognising Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms,” said Obama on national radio.