The International Court of Justice has ordered the Senegalese government to commence the trial of Chad’s former president Hissene Habre ‘without delay’ or to extradite him to Belgium to face trial.

Mr Habre denies accusation he committed crimes against humanities during his reign.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sanctioned a law which will impose tighter controls on civil rights groups which receive funding from abroad.

Opposition groups have said that the move continues Putin’s campaign to curb dissent, as the law will force NGOs engaged in “political activity” to register as “foreign agents” with the Ministry of Justice and submit a quarterly report to officials.

Attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Burma are on the increase, warns Amnesty International on Friday.

In continuing communal violence, Rohingyas have become targets for killings, rape and physical abuse although the Burmese government has dismissed the allegations as groundless and biased.

Under the terms of a new constitution document drawn up this week, the Zimbabwe's president will not be able to hold office for more than ten years, declare war or dissolve parliament.

The presidency would be limited to two five-year terms.

The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan held talks this weekend, for the first time since April.

Meeting at an African Union summit in Ethiopia, Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir discussed the disputed South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.

Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Syria, creating frustration among the remaining states.

The US senate's finance committee voted to extend the trade sanctions for a further three years on Thursday, despite the attempts of the Burmese opposition leader to work on the removal of these sanctions.

The committee's chairman Max Baucaus said,

A 97-year-old man was taken into custody in Hungary on Wednesday, on suspicion of committing war crimes during the Holocaust.

The suspect, Laszlo Csatary, was questioned and charged with 'unlawful torture of human beings' - a war crime for which the maximum sentence is life in prison.

A South Sudanese long distance runner, Guor Marial, is seeking last minute permission to run as an independent athlete at the 2012 Olympics in London, as the new state of South Sudan is not yet able to send an official team to the games.

Syrian state TV has claimed three senior officials of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime have died in a suicide bomb during a meeting at the national security headquarters on Wednesday morning.