The Syrian rebels have seized one of the military's air defence bases in the east of the country, a UK based monitoring group reported.

The attack took place on Saturday in Deir al-Zor province, with the rebels also seizing a number of anti-aircraft rockets, and 16 captives.

See here and here.

A BJP MLA and former aide to Gujarati Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for her role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, which killed over a thousand Muslims.

Maya Kodnani was convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

Judge Jyotsna Yagnik said Ms Kodnani was a “kingpin of riots”.

A three-member team from the International Criminal Court arrived in Mali on Friday to investigate reports of war crimes committed by Islamists in the country’s north.

ICC mission chief Amady Ba told journalists,

"We're in Mali to pick up elements, listen to various people and take a comparative look" 

"This is a time of analysis... We shall be taking our findings back and the (ICC) prosecutor (Fatou Bensouda) will judge if there is a need for inquiries before taking legal action,"

Following criticism from human rights groups and pro-democracy activists, Sudan has withdrawn its application for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, reports the Associated Press.

Sudan’s UN Mission said in a letter on Friday that "it is no longer interested in taking up one of the vacancies available in the Human Rights Council" although a reason for withdrawal was not cited.

The nation was effectively guaranteed a seat as it was only one of five African candidates to fill five African seats, despite accusations of genocide, war crimes and various other human rights violations against President Omar al-Bashir.

China has completed a deal with a German business delegation, headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, to buy 50 planes, worth $3.5 billion, from Europe’s Airbus.

Germany has dispatched its biggest trade delegation ever to visit China and signed ten other agreements according to Xinhua news agency.

The delegation includes seven cabinet ministers and the heads of leading German companies, including Siemens, SAP, Volkswagen and ThyssenKrupp.

A vessel carrying over 150 asylum seekers sank on route to Australia yesterday, approximately 45 nautical miles from Indonesia.

At 4.20am and 5am yesterday a distress call was put out by the vessel to Australian officials, stating that there were 155 people on board including women and children.

Speaking to reporters on the sinking of an asylum seekers' boat en route to Australia yesterday, the Australian Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare, offered his take on the events:

"More than 300 people have died in the last three months and it appears more people have died in the last 24 hours."

The United Nations received reports of massacres in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, that suggest that hundreds of civilians have been slaughtered.

Commenting on the allegations, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, noted that the allegations still had to be verified, but said,

Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian government of committing further war crimes, after reports that government forces have repeatedly targeted civilians, whilst they were waiting in queues to receive bread.

The organisation stated that at least 10 bakeries had been targeted in the last 3 weeks in the Aleppo province, by “artillery shells, rockets, and bombs”.