Five Indian troops were killed in South Sudan while escorting a UN convoy in Jonglei state.

The office of the Secretary General said that the peacekeepers, serving with the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (Unmiss), were killed during an attack by rebels, along with two Unmiss national staff and five civilian staff contractors.

Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that Bharaini police had arrested 20 opposition activists in the towns near Bahrain’s Formula One circuit in a sign of rising political tension before the Grand Prix in April.

The Grand Prix is the biggest sporting event hosted by the country and the government is hoping to get a big turnout this year despite continuing unrest and dissent over the current leadership.

The Syrian government has rejected attempts by the United Nations to send a team to investigate the use of chemical weapons into the country.

A UN team is currently stationed in Cyprus awaiting permission to travel to Syria.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated,

The postponement of ceasefire negotiations between the Burmese government and Kachin rebels on Friday was because China had objected to the presence of Western observers at the talks, Kachin civil society groups say.

See The Irrawady’s report here.

Human Rights Watch urged the government of Chad to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or bar him from the country, in a news release today.

Al-Bashir is expected to travel to Chad today, to attend the Greenbelt Conference of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, according to news reports.

Israeli-American terror suspect Jack Tytell was given two life sentences with an additional 30 years in prison by the Jerusalem District Court.

Among various other crimes, Tytell was sentenced for the murder of two Palestinians.

According to the indictment, in 1997 Tytell went to Israel with the intention of murdering Palestinians.

The new Chinese President Xi Jinping has given veiled warnings to North Korea on Sunday, saying no country should be allowed to create chaos.

Speaking at regional business forum in Boao, China Xi said,

Syria is denying access to a UN inspection team waiting to undertake a chemical weapons probe, which the government had itself requested.

State-run media announced that Syria was blocking attempts by the UN to 'broaden' the probe to cover the whole country.

Former UK Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, died on Monday at the age of 87.

Known variously as 'milk-snatcher', 'Iron Lady' and the woman who changed Britain, the Baroness was the United Kingdom's first and only female Prime Minister.

Serbia rejected the EU deal on normalising relations with Kosovo on Monday. Speaking to the press, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said:

The militant group Mend, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, claimed responsibility for an attack in South Nigeria on Friday which killed 12 police officers.

The announcement came in an email, and went on to say that the group would relaunch attacks after its leader, Henry Okah, was jailed in South Africa for 24 years for the 2010 bomb attacks in Abuja.

After a new round of talks failed to make progress, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, has warned Iran that talks cannot last forever.

At a start of a trip to the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Kerry said that the process was not an 'interminable' one.

Kerry also called on Turkey and Israel to restore full diplomatic relations at talks in Istanbul.