The Syrian government holds presidential elections in government-held areas today, reports the BBC.

Opposition areas are expected to not vote in protest of a state that bombs its own civilians report correspondents on the ground.

Though this is the first time Syrian elections have seen a rival candidate, the independence of the candidate has been questioned after the last hours of the candidate’s campaign saw him explain why Bashar al-Assad should win.

Security officials routinely gang rape women in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prisons as punishment for their political activities, said UK- based charity, Freedom From Torture.

The report documented testimonies from 34 survivors who were tortured and raped by state actors due to involvement in political and rights organisations.

A Palestinian unity government was sworn in today in Ramallah, bringing Fatah and Hamas together. (See here, here and here.)

Hailing the event, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, "a black page in history has been turned forever."

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin, Netanyahu, today , called on the international community to not recognise a Palestinian unity government consisting of former rival factions Hamas and Fatah.

Netanyahu, branding Hamas as a terrorist organisation, said that the unity government would strengthen terror not peace, reports The Guardian.

Israel further denied travel permission to three Palestinian politicians wanting to leave Gaza to swear in as ministers of the new unity government in the West bank.

Telangana will be declared the 29th state of India at midnight on Sunday, after decades of struggle for separation from Andhra Pradesh.

Celebrations have been planned across the Hyderabad, with the city painted in pink, the colour of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) who have led the movement for a separate state. Fireworks are set to go off at midnight, when the President's rule is set to expire and after which a new government will be sworn in.

The leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan has hailed the release of 5 Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a captured US soldier as a “big victory”, reported the BBC, after the swap took place on Saturday.

Mullah Mohammad Omar, the head of the Taliban, issued a rare statement praising the transfer and extending his “heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation”.

In the transfer deal, US Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban in 2009 was released in exchange for 5 men, who are thought to be the most senior Afghans from the Taliban being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The United States warned China over "destabilising, unilateral actions" regarding territorial claims in the South China Sea on Saturday, reports Reuters.

"In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea,"  US Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel, told delegates at a Asia Pacific Security Forum, Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.