An Israeli firm which has been subjected to boycott calls by campaigners has decided to shut down its controversial plant in the Palestinian West Bank territory.

According to the New York Times, the SodaStream's stock and revenue have shrunk since actress Scarlett Johansson's appointment as the company's spokesperson caused controversy and her resignation from her post as ambassador for Oxfam International, which opposes Israeli settlements in Palestine.

"The African Union joint U.N. mission in Darfur is calling on the government of Sudan to grant the mission unhindered access to all of Darfur, especially to areas where alleged incidents affecting civilians have been reported, in accordance with the status of forces agreement."

The leader of Burma’s opposition Aung San Suu Kyi has warned against “over optimism” on democratic progress in the country and said that reforms have stalled.

She said that talks with the government had achieved little and no real reforms had been made over the past two years.

"We do think there have been times when the United States government has been overly optimistic about the reform process," the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy said.

“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee.”

“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused.”