Iran has taken a "significant step" towards meeting its nuclear commitments, by sending a large quantity of uranium abroad, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"I am pleased to report that we have seen important indications of significant progress towards Iran completing its key nuclear commitments under the deal," he said, speaking after Monday's shipment of low-enriched uranium to Russia, which means the amount of time it would take Iran to produce enough fuel for a bomb has now tripled.

Japan has apologised for the rape and forced prostitution of South Korean women during World War 2 in a new bi-lateral accord that seeks to boost relations between the two nations.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that Japan had apologised and expressed remorse reports Reuters.

The Japanese prime minister said,

“We should never allow this problem to drag on into the next generation. From now on, Japan and South Korea will enter a new era.”

Kurdish group meeting in southeaster Turkey called for self-rule amidst heavy fighting in the region, reports Reuters.

A group of Kuridsh non-governmental organisations, the Democratic People’s Congress (DTK), called for self-rule following a two-day meeting in Diyarbakir.

The Kurdish declaration called for the formation of autonomous regions including several neighbouring provinces of Diyarbakir that took into account cultural, economic and geographic issues.

The leader of the largest Syrian rebel groups, Jaysh al Islam, was killed in an air strike on Friday in a suburb of Damascus.

The killing comes just days after the UN passed a resolution outlining a peace plan in Syria.

The air strike is believed to have been from Russian planes which fired at least 10 missiles at the group's headquarters.

Turkey’s prime minister cancelled a planned meeting with the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) after alleging its politics were rooted in violence on Saturday.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was due to hold meetings with leaders of all three opposition parties in parliament to discuss constitutional reform.

Explaining his decision Mr Davutoglu said,

“Recent statements by HDP officials reflect a politics that benefits from violence and tension. There is no longer any point in sharing the same table with this attitude.”

Ethiopian police arrested two senior leaders of the opposition for allegedly inciting weeks of protests against the current governments plans to set up an economic zone that would displace farmers from their lands.

The opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) said that 87 protestors had been killed by police since demonstrations started in the Oromiya region last month.

The chairman of the OFC party said that police had rounded up his deputy and party assistant to be detained on Thursday, reports Reuters.

India has signed 16 deals with Russia during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow.

Mr Modi told President Vladimir Putin that India sees Russia as a reliable friend and said the countries are cooperating in the international and political arenas more actively, according to Russian news agency TASS.

The agreements signed included helicopter and nuclear reactor manufacturing, railways, solar energy, heavy engineering and hydrocarbons.

Mr Putin said that Russia and India were consistently and confidently developing the strategic partnership.