The US was seeking to defuse Israel-Palestine tensions the US secretary of state said on Friday.

John Kerry said he would be meeting the Israeli prime minister and senior European officials in Rome on Monday to discuss possible resolutions to help de-escalate heightening tensions between Israel and Palestine.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to help defuse the tensions and reduce the potential for more conflict and we’re exploring various possibilities to that end,” Kerry told reporters.

The European Union agreed to ban the export of jet fuel to Syria from Sunday, reports Reuters.

EU ministers, initially agreed to ban jet fuel exports to Syria in October, and finalised the decision on Friday.

Commenting on the EU decision, the British Middle East Minister, Tobias Ellwood, said,

China offered to help Iraq combat Islamic State militants, Iraq’s foreign minister, Ibrahim Jafari, told the Financial Times.

Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, offered to assist defeat the Islamic state when he met Jafari in New York at the United Nations anti-terrorism meeting in September, reports the paper.


“I welcomed this initiative. I told him we are ready to deal with the coalition and also co-operate with countries outside this coalition,” said Jafari.

Kenya's parliament has passed a controversial new bill which will give the government a range of powers to tackle security issues and terrorism on Thursday.

The bill allows the authorities to detain terror suspects for up to a year and also grants the country's spy agencies permission to tap communications without court consent. Journalists will also be required to obtain government approval before reporting on security issues, facing a fine of $56,000, a three-year prison term or both for violating this.

The opposition political coalition CORD and human rights groups have criticised the bill, with opposition MP Ababu Namwamba saying,

US human rights officials warned North Korea that there would be escalating pressure on the country to end human rights abuses, reports Reuters.

The US assistant rights secretary for human rights and state department’s special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, warned that they had been mandated by the secretary of state to “step it up and do more.”

Speaking at the State Department on UN Human Rights Day, Tom Malinowski and Robert King, said,

Three men were arrested in Burma after Buddhist monks complained about an online flyer that used a picture of the Buddha, reports WorldBulletin.

Following complaints by a group of Buddhist monks known as the Ma Ba Tha, one New Zealander and two Burmese locals were placed in prison after being charged under a law that forbids insulting religion.

The Bar managers could face up to two years in prison.

Earlier this year a Canadian man was deported from Myanmar after locals noticed a Buddha tattoo on his leg.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the funeral of a Palestinian government minister, who died shortly after an Israeli policeman grabbed him by the throat at a protest in the West Bank.

Ziad Avu Ein’s funeral was held on Thursday in Ramallah, with thousands attending a procession from the Palestinian presidential headquarter to a nearby cemetery.

The Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, speaking to the BBC said the death was caused by “Israeli soldiers suffocating and beating up Ziad Abu Ein.”