<p>A former Serbian police chief and current official within the ruling Progressive Party, Goran Radosavljevic, has been banned from entering the United States due to allegations of human rights abuse.&nbsp;</p> <p>In a statement the US State Department announced that they were publicly designating Radosavljevic under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2018 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Act.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Four imprisoned Catalan leaders who are currently on a hunger strike have sent letters to over 40 European heads of state, calling for their case be heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).&nbsp;</p> <p>The four leaders, Jordi Sànchez, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn, alongside 14 other separatist activists face accusations of engaging in rebellion, sedition, disobedience, and the misuse of public funds.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Zimbabwe's post-election violence, following the victory of Emmerson Mnangagwa, which included the use of live bullets, has been criticised as "disproportionate and unjustified" by an investigation launched by the government.&nbsp;</p> <p>The investigation, headed by the former South African President, Kgalema Motlante noted the “deaths of these six people and injuries sustained by the 35 others arose from the actions of the military and the police”.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Nigerian military has released a statement calling for the suspension of operations carried out by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in the North East of Nigeria, accusing the organisation of having terrorist sympathies.</p>

A statue of Mohandas K Gandhi has been removed from the Legon campus on the University of Ghana in Accra on Tuesday night. 

<p>The US Senate approved a resolution calling for an end to United States military support in the Saudi-UAE led campaign in Yemen.</p> <p>The final vote was 56-41 with seven Republicans defying their party by voting in support of the motion on Thursday.</p>

<p>Chile announced this weekend it would be pulling out of the UN Migration Pact.&nbsp;</p> <p>The pact, whilst non-binding, offers guidance on how to protect migrants, help them integrate into society, and to help them return to their home countries when it no longer poses a risk.&nbsp;</p> <p>So far 150 nations have agreed to be signatories of the pact.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Israel has become the 38th member of FATF (Financial Action Task Force), a Paris-based international organisation which aims to tackle issues of money laundering and terrorism financing.&nbsp;</p> <p>Israel has stated that it has been an observer in the organisation since February 2016 but has now decided to follow up with membership after “successful mutual evaluation”. This would allow it a voice in setting the rules and agenda.&nbsp;</p>

<p>French authorities have arrested Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, a senior leader and the National General Coordinator of a Anti-Balaka militant group in the Central Africa Republic.&nbsp;</p> <p>Ngaissona is charged with having led targeted attacks on the nation’s Muslim’s population in 2013-14.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The UN Secretary General’s envoy for Western Sahara concluded talks between the the Polisario Front and Morocco, in what were the first political negotiations between the two sides in 6 years.</p> <p>Last week, two days of talks facilitated by UN envoy Horst Koehler, a former German president, ended with both sides agreeing to meet for a second round of negotiations in the first quarter of 2019.</p>

<p>Chengdu police in South Western China have arrested dozens of Protestant Church members, in a crackdown on unregistered religious groups.</p> <p>Police are believed to have detained over a hundred members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, making the arrests at their homes.&nbsp;</p> <p>Under China's constitution there is a right to religious freedom, but this has been under attack since President Xi Jinping came to office six years ago.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A US sponsored resolution condemning Hamas' firing of rockets failed to be adopted at the UN General Assembly today.&nbsp;</p> <p>The resolution required a two-thirds majority to be passed, however, only 87 states voted in favour of the resolution.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sri Lanka was one of 33 states which abstained, along side 57 voting against.&nbsp;</p>

Myanmar has engaged in crimes against humanity as well as fostering “long-standing discrimination against the Rohingya population” whilst “ensuring impunity for perpetrators”, a joint report by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide and Fortify Rights concluded.

The report details how the army and police alongside armed civilians “razed villages”, “killed men, women and children”, “raped and gang-raped Rohingya women and girls”, and illegally detained “masses of Rohingya men and boys”, many of whom remain missing.

The report also noted that within October and November 2016, the army alongside armed civilians engage in a “clearance operation” seemingly provoked by ARSA attacks on military outposts.

<p>The United Nations will host the first political talks between Morocco and separatist Polisario Front in 6 years, reports the <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/africa/un-to-host-peace-talks-on-the-f…">National.</a></p>