Clashes between Christians and Muslims in a town near Cairo have left five killed and eight injured, reports Reuters.

Violence reportedly broke out when Christian children were found drawing on the walls of a Muslim institute. As well as shooting and fighting several residential and commercial buildings were burned including a child-care centre.

South Sudan has restarted oil production in the country, more than a year after it stopped operations with its neighbour Sudan.

A deal was inked last month that allowed the resumption of production after the two countries came close to war over the disagreement. Production was halted 14 months ago after disputes over oil revenues.

First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has stated that he would be open to an independent Scotland being home to US military bases, as long as they were non-nuclear, reported the Scotsman.

An obscure constitutional clause has been invoked in Pakistan to bar candidates from election, including former president Pervez Musharaff.

The clause involved subjecting candidates to rigorous tests on religious credentials and 'moral character', after which dozens of candidates were ruled out and hundreds more await 'verification'.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has asked Mali’s government to start a reconciliation process in the country hit by civil war.

Fabius said Mali would continue to receive military assistance from France and called for elections by July.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has suspended their food program in Gaza after demonstrators stormed a compound, protesting against cuts to a cash assistance program.

A spokesperson for the agency, Adnan Abu Hasna, stated,

The Enough Project and Satellite Sentinel Project have released a new report detailing evidence of Sudan carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile region, and called on the International Criminal Court to further investigate the situation.

The report also calls on the United Nations to "immediately establish an impartial commission of inquiry", adding,

A reward of up to $5 million will be awarded by the US for information that leads to the arrest of wanted Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, under the War Crimes Rewards Program.

The UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy to Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, who is currently on tour of the region met with the Algerian Foreign minister on Monday.

The ousted president of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, has accused neighbouring Chad of supporting the rebels who led a coup against him.

French authorities have arrested a Rwandan fugitive in Toulose, who has been wanted by Rwandan authorities over his role in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.

Among the charges that Tite Barahira will now face is conspiracy to commit genocide.

The UN chief Ban Ki Moon said the North Korea "crisis had gone too far" after Pyongyang announced plans to restart its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

Speaking at a news conference Ban said:

The United Nations General Assembly in New York has passed the world’s first global arms trade treaty, seeking to regulate the industry thought to be worth over $70 billion.

The treaty, passed earlier on Tuesday, regulates conventional weapons, ranging from small arms and light weapons to warships, missiles and combat aircraft. It prohibits sales of weapons in violation of arms embargoes or if those weapons were to be used for acts of terrorism, war crimes, and crimes against humanity or genocide.

The resolution was approved by a vote of 154 to 3 with 23 abstentions.

The United States, the world’s largest arms supplier, voted for the resolution. Other major arms producers such as Russia and China abstained, along with other mainly Latin American countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

The 3 countries who voted against the resolution were Iran, Syria and North Korea.