An Argentinean officer, accused of committing crimes against humanity during the country’s bloody “Dirty War”, has been extradited from Bolivia.

68-year old Jorge Horacio Paez Senestrari, who had been on the run since 2011, was detained on Friday in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.

He is accused of aggravated homicide, during military rule in Argentina, where he served as a captain in Argentina's north-western San Juan province.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Myanmar’s leaders on Sunday to continue with their programme of democratic reforms, amidst local criticism that he was “too soft” on the administration, led by former military leader Thein Sein.

Concerns regarding media freedom and constitutional reforms remain in the country, which had been under military rule for decades, before the recent moves to democratise the state and the resulting thawing in relations between the west and Myanmar.

“Is everything hunky-dory? No, not yet. Absolutely not,” Mr. Kerry said. “There are still things that need to be done.”

“Next year’s election will absolutely be a benchmark moment for the whole world to be able to assess the direction that Burma is moving in.”

While Myanmar’s state media praised Mr Kerry’s visit, privately owned media, which have only been able to operate freely since 2012, criticised the Secretary of State, reported the New York Times.

The US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in New Delhi, neither India nor the US need to choose between their own relationship and closer ties with “fellow trustee” China.

Mr Hagel said in a speech to the Observer Research Foundation in the Indian capital that the US has a "unique relationship" with India, and that both countries must seize opportunities to work together on defence issues, including jointly developing and producing arms.

“Just as America need not choose between its Asian alliances and a constructive relationship with China, India need not choose between closer partnership with America and improved ties with China. In our relations with Beijing, both Delhi and Washington seek to manage competition, but avoid the traps of rivalry,” the secretary said.

“We will continue to seek a stable and peaceful order in which China is a fellow trustee, working cooperatively with both our nations.”

Mr Hagel said that the US “strongly supports” India’s growing global influence and military capabilities and the two countries have “shared interests in maritime security across the region, including at the global crossroads of the South China Sea.”

“Thousands of Afghans have been killed or injured by US forces since the invasion, but the victims and their families have little chance of redress. The US military justice system almost always fails to hold its soldiers accountable for unlawful killings and other abuses.”

“None of the cases that we looked into – involving more than 140 civilian deaths – were prosecuted by the US military. Evidence of possible war crimes and unlawful killings has seemingly been ignored.”

A new 3-day ceasefire has begun in Gaza after Israeli and Palestinian officials agreed to a proposal by Egypt on Sunday.

"Israel has accepted Egypt's proposal," a senior Israeli government official told Reuters, adding that if the truce held, negotiators would return to Cairo to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians.

Izzat al-Reshiq, a Hamas negotiator in Cairo, told the news agency: "In light of Israel's acceptance of the truce and their return without pre-conditions, we will inform the Egyptian brothers of our positive response."

Egypt's Foreign Ministry urged "both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement".

A previous truce expired on Friday, which saw an immediate resumption of hostilities. 19 Palestinians died in Israeli air strikes since Friday, with Hamas firing rockets and mortars into southern Israel, leaving two civilians injured.

Hamas urges PA to join ICC

The Middle East Eye reported on Sunday that Hamas is demanding that President Mahmoud Abbas signs the Rome Statute which will allow Palestine to join the International Criminal Court.

Hamas’s deputy chairman and chief negotiator in Cairo, Moussa Abu Marzouk has been instructed to sign the document supporting the State of Palestine as a member of the ICC.

Peshmerga forces are reclaiming territory previously lost to Islamic State militants, after US fighter jets pounded their positions south of the Kurdish capital Erbil.

The towns of Makhmur and Gwer were retaken by the Kurdish troops, as the US launched its fourth wave of strikes against IS targets.

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani on Sunday requested international military aid to help defeat the militants.

"We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state," said Mr Barzani, who was speaking alongside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, in Iraq for talks on the crisis.