The United States will deploy military aircraft and more of special forces to hunt down Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

The US had already deployed 100 troops to help African troops to find him, and will now send another 150 Air Force special forces.

Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army is accused of committing horrific crimes, and African Union troops are tracking down his forces in the border region of Uganda, South Sudan, DR Congo and the Central African Republic.

The Botswana ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Mothusi Bruce Rabasha Palai, has expressed concerns about increasing reports of reprisals against civil society activists, who are engaged with international human rights organisations.

Palai called on members to commit to an end to reprisals and contribute to a better response by the UN.

The statement, supported by 56 other member states of the UN Human Rights Council, comes in the wake of Sri Lanka’s recent crackdown on human rights activists, who sought to highlight disappearances and other abuses on the island, as the Council deliberates a resolution on Sri Lanka.

“We should be clear there’s not going to be a G8 summit in Russia”

“The decision is not a final one, but if it were final, it’s all right. You have to know we are fighting terrorism. We have to deter them.”

Pro- and anti-Assad groups have clashed in Beirut, after a week of factional violence, which hit the coastal town of Tripoli, which left 25 dead.

Tensions between supporters of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and those who support the Syrian rebels have exacerbated in recent months.

Read more here.