The US Secretary of State John Kerry will urge the the need for political consensus in order to reach an IMF loan, reports Reuters citing a senior US official.

"His basic message is it's very important to the new Egypt for there to be a firm economic foundation,"

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), led by Nato, has apologised for killing two Afghan boys, who were mistaken for insurgents.

A helicopter opened fire on the boys, who were herding cattle in Uruzgan province in central Afghanistan.

Isaf spokesman, Brigadier General Gunter Katz said: "The two boys were killed when our forces fired at what they thought were insurgent forces."

The al-Qaeda commander behind the Algerian hostage attack in January has been killed by Chadian soldiers in Mali, Chad's military said on Saturday.

In a statement read on national television, the army said:

"On Saturday, March 2, at noon, Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base (...) The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar,"

A Japanese court has jailed two members of the US Navy for the rape of a Japanese woman on Okinawa.
Christopher Browning and Skyler Dozierwalker were sentenced to ten and nine years in prison respectively.

The judge at Naha district court said the sailors, who both pleaded guilty, were "contemptible and violent".

"The ruling may seem severe, but the damage to the feelings of the victim and residents is more severe," Judge Hideyuki Suzuki was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.

Pro-democracy activist, Zainab al-Khawaja has been sentenced by a Bahraini court to three months in jail for "insulting and humilating a public employee".

She received her sentence after a court of appeal overturned a previous aquittal.

This week the UN Human Rights Council issued a statement condemning "the continued harassment and imprisonment of persons exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain".

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Obama administration to ban antipersonnel landmines, on the Mine Ban Treaty's 14th anniversary.

The Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel landmines and requires their clearance and assistance to victims, entered into force in 1999, and was signed by 161 nations including the EU and all NATO members except the US.

Arms director at HRW, Steeve Goose said:

A Rwandan born Dutch citizen has been found guilty of inciting genocide and has been sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison.

66-year old Yvonne Basebya was found guilty of inciting genocide in 1994, before moving to the Netherlands in 1998. She was cleared of other charges including perpetrating genocide, murder and war crimes.

Judge Rene Elkerbout said,

The US pledged $60 million in non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition. Speaking in Rome after a 'Friends of Syria' meeting, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would now "extend food and medical supplies to the opposition, including to the Syrian opposition's Supreme Military (Council)."

A death sentence handed to a senior Islamist leader for war crimes, has sparked deadly clashes in Bangladesh, leaving 30 people dead and hundreds injured.

A war crimes tribunal issued the death penalty to Delwar Hossain Sayeedi for crimes including murder, torture and rape during the country’s 1971 war of independence.

Supporters of Sayeedi’s party, Jammat e-Islami, claim that the tribunal is biased, and were involved with clashes with the police across the country.