The UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator welcomed a humanitarian ceasefire that had been established in Yemen to allow for aid relief to reach the civilian population.

Valerie Amos, in a statement made after the ceasefire was announced, said,

“I call on all parties to the conflict to respect the vital pause in hostilities. This pause will provide respite for civilians and allow the delivery food, medical supplies and other essential items to people who have been trapped in conflict zones.”

Burundi’s military declared a coup against the current president Pierre Nkurunziza, following weeks of clashes between police and demonstrators protesting the president’s decision to run for a 3rd term in presidency.

The military Major General Godefroid Niyombare, in a press statement said,

“President Pierre Nkurunziza is removed from office, the government is dissolved. All people are asked to respect the lives and property of others.”

A manufacturing company, SodaStream, announced that it was ahead of schedule in procedures to move out of occupied territory in the West Bank.

SodaStraem, which produces carbonation products, came under pressure from the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, for manufacturing products in occupied Palestinian territory, reports Haaretz.

The CEO of the company, Daniel Birbaum, outlining the companies reduction of manufacturing in the West Bank said,

US officials told the United Nations Human Rights Council that the country had much to improve with regards to upholding civil rights laws.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the US, a US justice department official, James Cadogan, told the council,

“We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our civil rights laws live up to their promise.”
The US, during its review, faced criticism for lack in progress in ending the death penalty and closing down Guantanamo Bay.

Armed factions in the Central African Republic agreed to a peace accord that entailed disarmament and accountability for war crimes committed over the two years of conflict.

The agreement signed by 10 groups and the CAR defence ministry on Sunday at the country’s capital, Bangui, also detailed that those involved in the ’crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity’ would be denied amnesty.

The Conservative party confirmed that it would implement previous plans of abolishing the Human Rights act and replace it with a new British Bill of Rights.

The Human Rights Act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law, and was brought in to legislation in 2011.

The British government’s plans to devolve powers to Scotland do not go ‘far enough’, said the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Monday.

Nicola Sturgeon added that the prime minister had ‘no right’ to rule out a second referendum on independence and said that she planned to hold a meeting with David Cameron in the near future, reports the Independent.