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.

Speaking to the BBC after his sentencing, Mr Rajab said the sentence was designed to prevent him from speaking up and also accused the British government of silence on his case.

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.

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.

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.

Protests in Niger over the publications of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed have left at least 10 people dead and 45 churches torched.

Hotels, bars and shops were also attacked and looted during the protests over the weekend.

Over 99% of Niger's population is Muslim and many were offended by the depiction of the prophet in the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo magazine, which was attacked by gunmen earlier this month.